The Turkey Recipe

1 (10 to 12-pound) turkey

Remove the neck, giblets, and liver from the cavity of the turkey. Rinse the turkey inside and out under cold running water. Soak the turkey in the brine, covered and refrigerated, for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.

Brine:
1 cup salt
1 cup brown sugar
2 oranges, quartered
2 lemons, quartered
6 sprigs thyme
4 sprigs rosemary

To make the brining solution, dissolve the salt and sugar in 2 gallons of cold water in a non-reactive container (such as a clean bucket or large stockpot, or a clean, heavy-duty, plastic garbage bag.) (We used a small cooler!!) Add the oranges, lemons, thyme, and rosemary.Note: if you have a big turkey and need more brine than this, use 1/2 cup salt and 1/2 cup brown sugar for every gallon of water.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse well under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels, inside and out. Place in a large, heavy roasting pan, and rub on all sides with 4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature. Season lightly inside and out with salt and pepper.

Stuff the turkey with:
1 large yellow onion, cut into 8ths
1 large orange, cut into 8ths
1 stalk celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs thyme

We used one of the cooking bags instead of basting it. It turned out great...and I did not use 4 TBSP of batter to rub on it....just a little bit.

Remove from the oven and place on a platter. Tent with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 minutes before carving.

Christmas Dinner

I put this in here to show Tom's contribution to Christmas dinner...he cleaned up and did all the dishes. He tried desperately to get my mom out of the kitchen so he could do it and I think she finally relented but this must have been while she was still helping out. Thanks Tom and Grandma!!


The kids sat and drank the sparkling cider Tom got from work while we did our final preparations.
This was our turkey. It was so succulent and moist that it fell apart when we moved it out of the pan so this is the best picture of it. We "brined" our first turkey...and it was so worth it. I have never had turkey leftovers gone that quickly. Truly a wonderful recipe!! Thanks Kim!!
I made matching aprons for all the girls helping out with the dinner...(my mom did help, however, because I was finishing them up on Christmas Eve) I love how Benjamin managed to get in the picture as well. All these females that he puts up with...I'm grateful that he is such a great little boy!
This was the dinner table before the eating began. We ate in the kitchen so we could all be together. Rebekah made the name-tags. It was a great meal and a truly wonderful day!!

Christmas Eve

Reading the story of Christ's birth on Christmas Eve...Mom wrapped 25 Christmas books and we opened up one for every day in December. It was a great way to countdown for Christmas.

Opening up the Christmas Eve present...which is always new PJ's...
Even Mom participated as a shepherd...Esther was the angel...Ben was Joseph and Rebekah was Mary. Emery kept trying to steal the baby!!
This was what I grew up doing every Christmas Eve...acting out the Christmas story. It was so neat to do this in our own home, with Tom reading the words from Luke 2 with my mom there. It was a wonderful experience for the kids.
Making sugar cookies...a tradition that came from my childhood. The kids loved doing it with Grandma. And I only sortof burned one batch. Yeah!!

Esther's Gingerbread House Raising at School

Although this is not the best picture of my beautiful Esther, it's the only one I've got!! (Thanks Megan!) On Friday morning, I went to school to help Esther with putting together her gingerbread house. It was amazing how many parents were there!! The support of parents at our school is quite spectacular.

Kid's Christmas Party

I had this crazy idea to let each of the kids invite two or three kids from school to a Christmas party at our house, without another adult with me...it was fun...but a little crazy...as all parties should be. Here are some pictures...

Christmas Eve Program

Emery and Nana playing the piano. Esther has taught Emery to growl so she does it all the time now." That couldn't have been me growling in that picture." This is the "Emery cycle." Do something crazy or naughty and then look all innocent and cute. Oh, and please disregard the black eye...no need to call child's services...Emmy just flipped a lid into her face and got her first black eye.
The girls and I...




We call this the "Emmy Wiggle" toward the end!!

The Nutcracker in Seattle

Aunt Merrilee, Aunt Kim, Nana, Cousin Julia, Esther, Rebekah and Me all went to the Nutcracker the Friday night after Thanksgiving. Other than poor Rebekah suffering from "raging" strep throat, we had a wonderful night. The sets were amazing and the dancing was magical. The girls have been dancing around like ballerinas since then.