My "Turducky" was Tur-yucky!

     For reasons unknown even to myself, I've been obsessed with trying Turducken this Thanksgiving season. In the past, I thought it was a gimmick, and I suppose I still do. But the curiosity of it got the best of me. I love turkey, chicken, and duck, so maybe, just maybe, it might taste good together.  

     When I looked to see how much they cost, I was appalled to see it was $8.99 a pound, or about 42 bucks. No thanks, I'm not that curious! Apparently, neither was anybody else, so the day after Thanksgiving, I checked again, and sure enough, they were marked down to 2.99 pound. So I thought I'd give it a try.

    I cooked my turducken following the directions on the packaging. I discovered the ingredients, and wasn't thrilled to see the stuffing had sausage in it, and "jambalaya" spices. I'm not a fan of hot and spicy to start with, much less with my poultry.

     While it was cooking, I put myself out making squash, mashed potatoes, hand-frenched green beans, and corn bread. I also made some plain stuffing to heat outside the bird, to eat instead of the sausage stuffing.  It ended up dry, even though it was in a foil pouch. I was originally going to make green bean casserole with the french-fried onions and cream of mushroom soup, but by then I didn't care, and worried the tastes might clash.

     The turducken did smell good while it was cooking. I basted it a couple of times. When it was done, I was surprised at the abundance of pan drippings for a boneless roast. True, I did add water while it was cooking. I probably should have used an oven cooking bag.  
    I made the gravy, and considering it was more sausage smelling than turkey smelling, it tasted pretty good, and wasn't greasy. As I look back, it was the best part of the bird.
    I was disappointed in the turducken, luckily it wasn't my Thanksgiving meal.  The turkey and chicken meat was OK, but the amount of duck was paltry, and the texture was mushy. 
     But at least I tried it! Now I won't be curious about it anymore, or feel I'm missing out.  I think I may try to make my own version of this oddity, and it will be much easier than actually putting one of these things together.  The answer?
1. Cook a turkey breast, a large chicken, and a duck, all stuffed, at the same time.  Don't use sausage in the stuffing.
2. Make a gravy out of the drippings.
3. Serve some of each with all the trimmings.
4. Put some of each meat on your fork, dipped in gravy.
5. Whatever that tastes like is what a real turducken should be!
Have YOU ever tried turducken? What did you think?
I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving, and enjoy the holiday season!

     

I'm becoming gadget savvy!

   You heard it right, I'm becoming gadget savvy. What does that mean, exactly? Well, about ten years later, I have an MP3 player! I bought a couple of MP3 players at 75% off probably two or three years ago. 

     I'm not sure what inspired me, I think I came across the dusty packages a couple of weeks ago when I was cleaning up (looking for something else). I thought it would be fun to have a gadget that held all my favorite songs, was more portable and less clunky than a "Walkman" cassette or CD player.

     I did a Google search on how to load songs onto MP3, and it's surprisingly easy to do. I had quite a few CDs on my laptop (my excitement from last year, learning how to "rip" cds and then "burn" them onto discs).  All I had to do was plug the new MP3 into the laptop, turn on the media player, hit the "sync" button, a few more clicks and voila! Music to wait for the bus by! 

     This MP3 also came with a speaker. I just need some batteries and then I can try it out. 

      I had a three dollar credit for Amazon MP3 music for filling out a preference form, so I was able to buy three songs that I didn't have: "The Look of Love" by Dusty Springfield, "Come Dancing" by the Kinks, and "Harvest Moon" by Neil Young. 

     I can see how people got into downloading songs back in the day--It's neat!!  I've been a little paranoid about downloading music (free music) after seeing stories about college kids being sued for massive amounts of money.  But lucky for me, there's a lot of affordable music out there.  Whole albums can be had for 6-8 dollars, and there's lots of classic rock I've yet to acquire in a format other than vinyl. (For the record, pardon the pun, I still love vinyl albums the best, skips and all).

     I bought a 99 song collection of classical tunes. Granted, I rarely listen to classical music unless I'm in a waiting room, or sometimes at work. But the bargain hunter in me couldn't resist paying only $1.99 for so much music! Now I just have to find the time to sample the music. I know I'll recognize a lot of it. The only down side is my laptop is running a little slower.  

     The other gadget I've been using a lot these days is my Kindle.  I will always favor a real book that I can pick up and turn the pages on. The digital reader is convenient as far as being able to store many books in a minimal amount of space, and adjust the size of the font.

     My Kindle is the basic one. I wish it was back lit, so I could see the screen in low light. I assume the newer ones have this feature.  The Kindle Fire looks neato, with a color screen, access to apps and video/audio content. But I don't really need one, maybe when the price comes down.  

     I use my Kindle more for games than reading. I guess I already mentioned this recently. Since then I bought "Majong Word". The tiles have letters on them, and you make words and get points, and as you use the tiles, new ones are revealed. It's a fun game. I bought "Scrabble" too, but it's hard to play on the Kindle. Again, I prefer the real scrabble game to a computer replica. I try to play only while I'm waiting for the bus or while my food is cooking. 

     There's plenty of other gadgets I'd love to have, and it's amazing how many wonderful inventions are coming out all the time.  I'll keep you posted when I get my first tablet or smart phone!

     

     

It's That Time Again...Winter!I

     It's hard to believe, but winter is just around the corner! The unofficial start for me is the first day of Eastern Standard Time. I still don't like it, but I'm trying my hardest to embrace the things I don't enjoy but can't change.

     I must say it wasn't that bad this time around.  When I got up today, I actually had forgotten about turning the clock back. More often now, the clocks turn themselves backwards and forwards. Since the TV and my cell phone both did, I didn't even realize I stole an extra hour of sleep without actually sleeping (too) late! I was delighted.

     The payback came later when it was dark before 5:00. I think the best way to deal with it is just to avoid being around a clock when it gets dark. Tonight I was outside at dusk, raking leaves and sweeping the driveway of stones that came down during last week's hurricane.  It seemed like 6:00, but when I went back inside it was only 5:00, so I gained an hour of time. I used it to bake a cake.  If I'm smart, I'll make the most of my extra time, because it only lasts for a day or two and then things go back to normal.

     In a way, I'm excited at the kickoff to the holiday season, if only because the sooner it starts, the sooner it will end, and it will be springtime again!  My pet peeve is having the holidays pushed on me before I'm ready. I'm happy to have Halloween over and done with, and I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. Then, Christmas will be here before we know it. December always goes quick.

     The only thing that will louse up my plan for a quick winter is the weather. Last year New England was blessed with an non-existent winter, something I will be forever grateful for after the previous year, which was all snow and ice. I won't even complain about the cold if we can avoid freezing rain and sleet.

     I hope where ever you are, may it be Bermuda, the Ukraine or even Qatar( a place I never even heard of until I started this blog), the next few months will be easy for you. Happy November!

     Here I'll leave you with a picture of a wonderful sunset from 2010. It's easier to see them when the leaves are off the trees.  Hopefully, I'll get many more wonderful sunsets this season.

     Grammy, I hope turning the clock back is more tolerable for you up in Heaven!! Thinking of you always, but especially on this day, that we always dealt with together. Miss you!