Thursday, December 10, 2009

Household projects and school have been keeping me busy.....the turkey review is long overdue!  First, we are sad to announce that we will not likely purchase these turkeys again, the bird was so stiff I couldn't tuck the wings or tie the legs, and that did not improve even after 5 hours of slow cooking.  The meat was rather tough (which is to be expected since the bird actually roamed), and so we figure why pay more money for a tougher bird?  My husband found the dark meat to be inedible and this is his favorite part.  I used the carcass to make stock for soup, and after an additional half a day in the stock pot the meat was FINALLY falling off the bones.  On to the flavor...fabulous!  We have found that we prefer the meat the next day, the smoke flavor seems to change a bit after some refrigeration and it makes a delicious sandwich.  The kids wolfed it down- and my son normally won't eat turkey.  They kept saying it smelled like bacon, I think that was the wow factor for them.  Even my dog who could care less about food stalked me whenever I had some turkey.  It was quite entertaining!  (I limited the birds time in the smoker, starting and finishing it in the oven so that the flavor would not be overwhelming.)

I have yet to pull my dahlia tubers out of the garden, it has been so wet.  The temperatures are really going to drop in the coming days and weeks so it is now or never......things certainly are not getting any dryer, my wetlands are looking more like swamplands these days!

We still need to put up a Christmas tree. Again, the kitchen project and wet weather has foiled every attempt we have made.  Do you all have your trees up?  If so I would like to make a request.....would you post a picture of the tree on your blogs?  I would love to see some Christmas cheer (if you have already done this forgive me, i have not 'done the rounds' lately)..... wish somebody delivered the darn things around here.  :)  I have my fingers crossed for a white Christmas here in coastal Massachusetts, that is my wish for Santa.  Happy Holidays!

(EDIT:  The smoker is actually quite simple Thomas.  There are two doors.  The bottom section houses the flame, the wood pan, and the water pan.  The top has racks to place the food on.  This is not a true pit type smoker, it has been adapted for the average Joe via the use of wood chips which are soaked in water prior to being set over the heat.  I took it a step further and went with a propane version which makes controlling the temperature a breeze, I am able to control just as you would on any gas grill.)

2 comments:

Erin said...

I hear you on the bird thing! My mom bought 2 ranged local turkeys and as we were carving them I kept asking "are you sure these aren't ducks?", lol, because they were so fatty! For now I will reserve our hard-earned $$ for the pork and beef, where the taste of the humane pastured stuff is superior. I have been meaning to post a pic of our Xmas decor, maybe today! Yes.... the rain needs to GO AWAY! Our ground is so soggy I am starting to worry if some of our perennials might die this coming summer from the flooding. Would love to hear about how the homeschooling adjustment is going in an upcoming post... it's an idea I keep coming back to, but not ready researching yet. It's hard since I don't know anyone personally to hear of their experiences.

Ruth Trowbridge said...

I was so tired of hunting for good meat only to be disappointed, that I started raising it myself. All my turkeys are memorable taste experiences, that is what everyone says who shares one. The birds you and Erin got where either too old or not cooled properly. It is such a shame. We were having trouble with too many nitrates in processed meats so I too started smoking too. My kid eat anything smoked, beans, pork, brisket, fish and no nitrates - just so good People just don't know what they are missing, do they? Don't have my Christmas tree up yet and I live in a forest, lol - but I got the liver from our beef cut up last night, ugggg what I do for clean meat. Love the post, peace for all