Where You WON'T Find Me on Black Friday...

Today is Black Friday. It is a day when the masses flood the retail stores to snag great deals on holiday merchandise. A day for merriment and joy. A day for glee.

But you won’t find me joyfully shopping, and here are the reasons why:

* It interferes with my dedicated plans for laziness:
I know there are plenty of families who love to round-out a weekend of eating and napping with a high-energy tour of the malls (it’s like retail exercise), but I don’t come from a family like that. Instead, I have grown up in a culture that believes that the four-day holiday break is good for one thing: doing nothing. We sleep in. We nap. We watch movies. We leisurely eat a mountain of leftovers. I just can’t break from tradition. My family needs me.



* I’m a holiday-shopping-procrastinator:
In other words, I’m not prepared for Black Friday. Yes, I’ve typed up and emailed my Christmas list to everyone, but I’m nowhere near determining my lists for others (I may have just confessed to a series character flaw here....). So though I suppose I could go out to the stores, I would just wander the jam-packed aisles with no purpose.

And with no purpose we all know what happens--I end up buying an armload of absolutely adorable gifts....for me.


* Finally, it’s absolutely crazy out there!
I’m not telling you something you don’t already know. The one and only time I’ve ever ventured out on Black Friday I reached the parking lot before dawn only to realize that there were no parking spaces left.
Who are these CRAZY PEOPLE that get up that early and camp out in front of retail stores?!!!

Please...please...if you are one of them, tell me what I’m missing. Is it the deals? The adrenaline rush? The thrill of the sale? The smell of blood in the air?

Because I’m dying to know. I just don’t get it.


So today, when the sun rises, you’ll know just where to find me: in bed, sleeping.

Merry Black Friday. Now leave me alone--I’m trying to rest.

Happy Holiday!

Sides and Pie...

Everyone knows that a Thanksgiving meal isn't just about the turkey. There are the sides, too. Like pie. And stuffing. And gravy. And mashed potatoes.

And did I mention pie?

In the great division of annual holiday labor, the stuffing fell to me this year. Which is funny since I don't even like stuffing. Stuffing from a box, that is. So this year I decided to try a new recipe: Artichoke Sourdough stuffing with Parmesan cheese.

The ingredients include all of those lovely veggies you see above, plus artichokes, parmesan, and sourdough bread.

Everything is mixed together, soaked in chicken broth, and baked in the oven.

Truth be told, I still don't like stuffing, so this wasn't my favorite side, but my husband loved it and said it was a keeper. The already half-eaten container of leftovers testifies that he wasn't lying, so if you're searching for a new recipe, this might be a great fit!

Moving on, have you ever seen such perfect rolls in all of your life? They are the prettiest we've ever made. I believe you might have even caught me cooing at them....

Contrary to the rest of our meal, these babies aren't from scratch, but instead are Rhodes frozen rolls that you can pick up at any grocer.

You have to take a few shortcuts, after all.

Next comes the gravy. Like stuffing, I'm not traditionally a gravy fan, but I have to admit that this year's batch wasn't half bad. What you see above is one turkey leg, the gizzards, herbs and broth getting ready to simmer on the stovetop for an hour or two. Then comes the thickening agent (otherwise known as cornstarch) and seasoning.

I let my husband, who is a gravy enthusiast, concoct the brew. He was pretty pleased with himself. Pretty pleased indeed.

While he was brewing the gravy, I was working on something I enjoy much, much more: homemade apple pie. It is probably the easiest item on the whole menu. It starts with the dough, which takes about two minutes to whip up in a food processor.

And then comes the filling. Fresh Granny Smith apples, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. It's that easy, folks.

If you were spying on me as I pulled this beauty out of the oven, you just might have caught some more cooing. It's just so pretty I can hardly stand it. And tasty, too, all warm and gooey with vanilla ice cream on top.

And of course Guiness, if you're my husband, who stocked up on the dark beer just for the apple-pie-eating occasion.

And the best part of the whole thing, in my opinion, is the leftovers. I've already eaten about half-a-dozen turkey & roll sandwiches for lunch and enjoyed more than one slice of pie for breakfast (you already know how I feel about pie for breakfast...).

And considering that Thanksgiving doesn't even commence until tomorrow, I'd say I've gotten a fairly good head start, wouldn't you?

What are your favorite holiday sides? Share your comments by posting here!

I've Died...(part 2)

...and gone to turkey heaven. Again.

As I mentioned yesterday, my husband and I are deeply committed to cooking the perfect holiday turkey. This year we think we may have found it....

But before I unveil the finished bird, let's review. First there was the 24-hour brine.

And then the butterflying technique whereby the turkey is cut in half and laid out flat.

One additional intermediary step that I unfortunately forgot to snap photos of is the herbed-butter rub. This is where you create an intoxicating blend of herbs (the trifecta again: rosemary, sage and thyme), garlic, salt and pepper, and mix it into a buttery spread.

Then you rub the buttered mix in between the skin and meat of the turkey. This makes the turkey taste divine. Trust me. Divine.

And finally it is ready for the grill. As I said yesterday, this is the first year we have grilled our bird. And it is unquestionably the only way we'll cook our turkeys in the future.

It was that good.

That good, people.

The charcoal briquets were laid into the bottom of an old propane grill we had along with a drip pan and hickory chips (ummm...hickory...), and the turkey was laid out directly over the grate.

I only wish you could smell it.

And here, my friends, is the final result. It is a golden masterpiece if I do say so.

It took about two hours on the grill to get up to 165 degrees (the temp needed to avoid nasty things like food poisoning), and then another 10 minutes to rest.

And the flavor. Oh the flavor. The smoky goodness hits you first, followed by the more subtle hint of herbs. And both the white and dark meats were so juicy.

Let me just say that there were lots of high-fives and self-congratulations at the Hillberry house.

And of course some very hungry dogs hoping to get lucky.

They know a good turkey when they smell one.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the sides, like the artichoke parmesan stuffing I tried, and of course homemade apple pie!

in case you want to try:
recipe for grilled butterflied turkey from Sunset Magazine

I've Died (part one)...

...and gone to turkey heaven.

Every year since my husband and I tied the knot we have been on a quest to cook the perfect holiday bird. We watch the Food Network and take copious notes. We scour magazine recipes looking for tips and hints. We search the internet for prized tricks. And every year we get closer and closer to perfecting our technique.

This year was no exception.


It started with some salt. About a cups worth.

And then some brown sugar.

And molasses, naturally.

Followed by the trifecta of holiday herbs: rosemary, sage, and thyme.

These ingredients create the brine. That's right: brine. It's basically a soak for the turkey. Like a bath, only for Thanksgiving poultry.

And here is the bird. This one is about 12 lbs and has been sitting in the fridge defrosting for several days.

My handy helper is now rinsing the turkey. He gets very excited about turkey.

Very excited.

Now comes the Big Dunk.

See it soaking so happily in that brown brine-y goodness? From here it goes into the fridge for 24 hours.

After the customary soak, we decided to try something new this year. Martha calls it "spatchcocking," but of course normal people simply call it butterflying.

I promised to use the latter phrase because my husband feels uncomfortable with the term "spatchcock." For some unexplainable reason it makes him squirm.... Okay, maybe it is explainable.

It starts with some heavy duty poultry shears. These basically look like pruners, and they're needed to cut the backbone out of the turkey.

Once cut, you flip the bird and break the breastbone. For some reason this is a particularly satisfying chore for a man. I think it's the cracking sound.

Then you tuck the wings under the sides and prepare it to cook.

Butterflying the turkey cuts the cooking time in about half, which sounded perfect for us since we decided to ditch the oven entirely this year and head out to the patio grill.

But more on that tomorrow...

What is your favorite turkey recipe? Share by posting your comments here!

Saturday Sussie: Thanksgiving

In honor of the pending holiday, for this week's sussie I thought I would highlight some of the Thanksgiving recipes that caught my eye this year.  I hope to make them (if I can convince my traditionalist-family to surrender the green bean caserole!), and perhaps make some new traditions.

First--the turkey.  In the past few years I've been cooking my turkey upside down in a paper bag.  Don't laugh--it really works.  The first year was amazing, although admittedly last years was a bit dry.  But this year my husband and I are obsessed with the idea of Bbq-ing our turkey.  Since we live in Colorado, using our outdoor gas grill might be a challenge.  But, we might be able to pull off a covered charcoal grill (maybe we should have a back-up just in case....).  Here is a link to the recipes that got us excited about the grilling option from Sunset magazine.

Of course, we may decide to forego the grill and use a brine recipe from Guy Fieri.  He puts hickory chips into the oven with the turkey to give it a smoky flavor.  Here's the link for the how-to.

I also loved the sound of the artichoke parmesan stuffing, also from Sunset.  It won rave reviews from readers in holidays passed, and even though I don't like stuffing, this one might win me over.

Is anyone besides me tired of the traditional vegetable sides for Thanksgiving involving either butter or cream of mushroom soup?  This year I'm definitely serving up an arugula salad or shaved brussels (even if I am the only one who eats them!).

And to drink, last year I was really pleased with a sparkling Shiraz I bought (a little too pleased, meaning that I was tipsy) but can't remember the name (any will do, I think!).  I might do the same this time around, or go with a pinor noir, which is apparently the best all-around wine for the occasion.  

Previous Saturday Sussies:

How About Orange

Handmade Journals

Champagne Brunch

The New Crewel

Check back in next week for more Handmade Holidays.  In store this week is some embellishing (on fabric--not the telling fibs kind), more DIY ideas, and a great Marketplace Maven!  See you soon!