That cute kid...

So I can't get over this cute kid. Here's some more for you:

His entire purpose was to get the whole cracker in his mouth.


The dogs loved him...


It was not mutual.


Notice the tongue.


Smooch!


And get away!

FFR

My First Thanksgiving Turkey...

Thanksgiving, like every other holiday, was a busy day around our house. This year I had the terrifying pleasure of cooking the turkey. I have cooked a turkey once before, but not on Thanksgiving. Believe it or not, turkeys do exist even outside of Thanksgiving. Anyway, that went well after much coaching by MIL J. So this year, she felt like she could pass the big bird on to me. Less coaching was needed this year to get the 14lb bird done, but I was definitely appreciative of what she did help me with.

I told you I would be channeling Pioneer Woman, and today I will be doing just that as I show you how to make MY turkey.

It all starts with the prep:

Four turned out to be too many for our turkey. Three would have been enough.


Cut into chunks.


Fresh garlic is key. Peeled and smashed with the flat of the knife, just once.


An onion, cut in quarters and pulled apart.


And now the bird. Wash him really good, remove any remaining feathers, and pull out his giblets and organ bags. One of these will probably be in his neck area. Once you've washed him, DRY HIM. Inside and out, very very very dry.


Then stuff his neck with the apples, garlic, and onion.


Fold over the neck skin and close as best you can. It can be really useful to use the bigger layers of onion to keep the apple in.


Now stuff his butt, and you can see how the big layers of onion can be used here like in the neck.


Put the big boy in the roasting pan on the rack.


Now for the massage...for the bird.


Take that room temperature butter and rub him over good. Cover the neck skin and get in his butt what you can without disturbing your stuffing.


Liberally salt (with COARSE salt) and pepper him.


Pour in a whole bunch of chicken broth (this is what transfers the heat according to Working Man).


Who could live without this stuff?


Wrap his wing-a-dings. We don't want them to burn.


If they don't fit, cut the wings off at the joint and toss them. No one eats them anyway.


Cook for several hours all the while basting with the chicken broth and have a beautiful turkey.

Note: The white part on his back is fault of the roaster. The lid was sitting on his back because he was too big. So that part didn't get brown. He was a mighty tasty bird though.

Next year, more garlic...maybe some on his skin. Garlic powder would be lovely.

FFR

PS: Next year, I won't eat so much...That's a lie, especially if I put on more garlic.

More on Cousin F's Son and Henry

Remember how cute the family pictures were? And how much more Working Man had to work at loving me for making him stand and hold Henry for both of those photo sessions? Well, before it got that bad, we put Cousin F's son up on Henry by himself and Working Man didn't have to work too much harder at loving me. In fact, it looked like he was positively enjoying himself. WM really likes kids and he's really good with them.

It's amazing how he was not afraid, he was positively cheerful


Look at that happy grin!


He had to have his hat, Cousin F had to run back into the house to get it for him


Such a photogenic child


It was a stunning day for Thanksgiving. Very cold, but stunning.


Yeehaw!


I love this kid.

FFR

The Long-Awaited...

Thanksgiving around here consisted of a LOT of different things going on. One of those was Cousin F, her husband S, and her son F all getting on Henry for a family Christmas picture. Poor Henry...this is what happens when you're a big boy and a good boy...even if you have a hard head.

Since we just finished the floor in this room and we just got the computers up (maybe two hours ago...I had to pay bills first before I got to this), I am just now getting the photos up. These were the most time pressing pictures. The rest are totally interesting, if not more routine, but they'll not be going up now. The pictures of us stuffing our faces and me trying to channel Pioneer Woman will come later.

It all started like this...


Cute and fun


Then someone...ahem...MIL J...had a bright idea...


Let's add a big red bow and get everyone on Henry again!


Henry protested...he was hungry...it was HIS Thanksgiving too...

In the end, there were 3 great pictures taken, 2 should've been pictures of Working Man dragged to the hay, and one very cute Christmas card to be.

FFR

And then I lived up to my name...

We woke up the next morning, having slept in and slept comfortably, to a winter wonderland...of sorts.

No, those aren't all cars, some of those are where cars WERE overnight.






I told you that I thought our stop in Boomtown would be the best chance to get a picture of the truck with snow. Remember that? I was incredibly wrong.


And I thought we would be spending all of our time going through the casino or to the car, so I wouldn't need good snow shoes. Plus, we were in Reno, where the snow doesn't stick. So my fine friends, your narrator lived up to her name and wore her flip flops...in the snow.


It wasn't deep, just deep enough.


Working Man had far more sensible shoes. I had sensible shoes...they were just in the truck...and I refused to put them on.


I don't like ice, it makes me fall.


And the snow stuck to the bottom of my flip flops...just so I could slip a little more.


Notice my toes...they have curled in on themselves because they were very cold. I'm starting to rethink my name here.

Better yet, we went to Cabela's in Boomtown and the fudge lady looked at my feet and said, "And you're wearing flip flops!" Why yes, yes I am. Next time I'll consider socks and shoes. Consider mind you.

FFR - Frozen Foot Rider

On a side note, I'm going to be offline for a couple of days while we put wood flooring down in our living room. Please, do not revolt, I will be posting again when I come back.

And then it snowed...

So we went to Reno to renew our vows. Seriously, try and say that three times fast. I couldn't even type it once without many errors...and it has nothing to do with my typing skills.

So here's one of only a few pictures of me. Remember? The face rebellion?


I was able to photoshop the face rebellion in this one. I didn't mess with all of the flaws, if I had, I would have been working on it for hours. I just took care of the big generals in the army on my face. On that note, I love my eyes. Beautiful.


After the renewal.


Aw, we're so cheesy. I love us.


And then it snowed...in Reno! According to the limo driver, not too uncommon, it just doesn't stick around.


So I thought, no big deal. The snow will be gone from here tomorrow, no biggie.

Or so I thought.

FFR - Flipping Frozen Rider