Pleasant Leaf Carpeted Lucy Park Walk With Turkey

With the outer world temperature above 50, four days before Thanksgiving, I had myself a salubrious commune with nature at Lucy Park.

I did not venture into the Lucy Park backwoods zone. Instead I stayed on paved trails, when I could see them. A carpet of fallen leaves covered the trail in many locations. 

I found a 12 pound turkey yesterday. Prior to that I had only found turkeys way bigger than I wanted. As in 20 pounds or bigger.

The turkey is currently thawing in a cooler, outside on the patio deck.

The turkey is not going to be roasted on Thanksgiving.

On Thanksgiving I'm making butterflied shrimp and haddock chowder. The turkey is going to get roasted the day before Thanksgiving. Assuming, of course, it has successfully thawed.

The Fosdick Lake Turkey Has Survived Another Christmas While My Mom Speeds Sledding

An hour before noon this Christmas Day of 2014 I left turkey roasting in the oven to roll my wheels to Oakland Lake Park to walk around the Fort Worth inland sea known as Fosdick Lake.

I have never seen as many birds, in as many varieties, as that which I saw today flocking on Fosdick Lake.

Including a big flock of seagulls.

What business do seagulls have being 100s of miles from the nearest sea?

The most surprising bird I saw today was the big turkey you see above. The big turkey seemed to lord it over the flock of odd ducks surrounding the big turkey. The odd ducks looked like the result of an illicit assignation between a seagull and a duck, with the seagull part manifesting itself in white seagull type heads, with below the neck looking duck-like.

My phone alerted me in the middle of the night, advising me to beware of strong winds on Christmas.

Why my phone feels I need this type advising in the middle of the night, I do not know.

The wind was a bit of a nuisance today.

The wind was so strong that during a couple gusts I had to hold on to my hat, lest it go airborne. At one point I sat at a picnic table to reply to an incoming text message. To do so I took off my sunglasses. A gust of wind soon sent my sunglasses flying off the picnic table, along with my walking stick.

Well, the turkey in the oven turned out well. I am now over turkey, except for leftovers, til next Thanksgiving.

Just got an email, sent from Arizona, from Cousin Jones. I have no cousins in Arizona, that I know of. Nephews, siblings, parental units and two in-laws, but no cousins that I know of. The email had a link to one of those JibJab cartoon things. This one had my mom sledding at high speed, along with at least two of my sisters. Maybe three.

How did they convince my mom to get on a sled? Very perplexing.....

Happy Thanksgiving From Google, Me & My Stove Top Stuffing

Lately when I go to Google, Google has been doing some cutesy stuff where the Google logo usually resides.

Like a week or two or three ago it was a video game type deal in celebration of the first parachute jump. Or was it celebrating the first hot air balloon?

I don't remember.

And then there was a complicated video game Myst like deal celebrating something to do with a TV show I've never watched called Dr. Who. Well, I think it was Dr. Who. I am fairly certain "Who" was in the title.

And now today, it being Thanksgiving, the Google logo is replaced with a long animation involving all sorts of Thanksgiving related critters, like a turkey, raccoon, bear, fox and others, dancing along to banjo music, carrying Thanksgiving feast vittles, like pumpkins and corn, ending up at a picnic table, with the final scene turning to that which you see above, the "Happy Thanksgiving from Google" message.

I've got a turkey in the oven, slowly roasting, scheduled to be done by the scheduled arrival of this afternoon's Thanksgiving feasting. I made pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce last night. Cherry pie goes in the oven after the turkey gets evicted. The giblet boiling gravy prep is completed. Spuds are ready to go for their pre-mashing boiling.

I called my mom yesterday via my new Google phone. During the course of talking to my mom I was asked what I was cooking today. When the turkey subject came up my mom asked if I was stuffing it.

I said I was.

Mom then told me I should not do so, that it is now considered to be a dangerous thing to do, to stuff a turkey.

I then told mom that I recollected dozens up dozens of stuffed by mom turkeys with no one getting sick.

My mom then told me that that is true, but that her real reason for ceasing with the stuffing of the bird was that using a store bought stove top stuffing mix was so much easier. And was tasty. And so, I got myself some Betty Crocker Stove Top Turkey Stuffing.

I can already conclude that it was much easier getting the turkey ready to stuff in the oven without first stuffing it with stuffing.

But, I am a couple hours from trying this stove top stuffing method off having stuffing as part of my annual Thanksgiving buffet.

I hope y'all are fixin' to have yourself a mighty fine Thanksgiving.....

Walking With My Mom & The Village Creek Indian Ghosts Before Eating Too Much Turkey

The Village Creek Thanksgiving Blue Bayou

It is another pleasantly warm day in paradise here in the parched part of the planet I currently reside in called Texas.

Speaking of Texas, Top Chef Texas is doing Texas proud. This week I learned how to better make chili and saw Padma ride a horse in a San Antonio rodeo.

Today, prior to my Turkey Buffet, I walked with my mom and the Indian Ghosts who haunt the Village Creek Natural Historical Area in Arlington.

After mom stopped talking to me I left the Indian Ghosts and went to Wal-Mart because I'd forgotten to get olives.

I knew Wal-Mart would be open. I never expected it to be so busy with so many checkers. I asked my olive checker if they got paid more for working on Thanksgiving. She said, "Oh, yeah!" More checkers were going to be on duty by 5 because, apparently, a lot of people come in after eating turkey to begin their Christmas shopping.

My Turkey Buffet went well. Except for the mashed potatoes. Let's just say I changed the name to chunky potatoes. No one complained. But I did not like them. I've never had a problem making mashed potatoes before. I've no clue what went awry.

I had a nice long swim this morning. Since it is currently 65 degrees in the outer world at my location I likely will be able to have another nice long swim tomorrow morning.

I had to take a time out from eating to do my blogging thing. It's time for pumpkin and lemon meringue pie now.

Thanksgiving & Deep Fried Turkey

I erroneously thought that this coming Thursday was Thanksgiving and since it is Tuesday today there was not enough time to thaw out a turkey to cook 2 days from now.

Just minutes ago I learned I have another week til it's too late to thaw out a turkey. Last year I went to the bother of doing the whole classic Thanksgiving dinner. It's way too much bother to go through for 20 minutes of eating.

Maybe Zorro's Buffet is open for Thanksgiving. Or, I could get a bird and drag out the Turkey Fryer. It's a bit scary dipping a big bird in a big vat of super hot peanut oil. But what comes out in about a half hour is the tastiest turkey you'll ever have. And totally non-greasy, which seems even stranger than being able to swim when the water is icy cold.

You can go to my Texas website for more about Deep-Frying a Turkey. Below is a Deep-Fried Turkey Recipe to help you with your Thanksgiving cooking project.

Deep-Fried Turkey

Serves 20

4 to 5 gallons peanut oil

12- to 15-pound whole turkey, at room temperature

Cayenne pepper, optional

Begin heating the oil outdoors in a 10-gallon pot over a very hot propane flame. Don't set the burner to its highest setting, as you may need to increase the heat after you've added the turkey. It will take about 20 minutes for the oil to heat. Use a candy/deep-fry thermometer clamped to the side of the pot to determine the temperature of the oil.

Meanwhile, rinse the turkey well, pat it dry inside and out and set it on end in a sink to drain.

When the oil reaches 375 degrees, pat the turkey dry again and sprinkle with cayenne, if desired. If your cooker has a basket insert, place turkey in the basket and set it over a baking sheet; if not, set an oven rack over a large baking sheet, place the turkey on it and take them outside to the cooker.

Check temperature of the oil. When oil reaches 390 degrees, carefully and slowly lower the basket with the turkey into the oil; or lower it by holding it by its legs or by a long, heavy tool such as a clean fireplace poker inserted into its cavity. (Or, pull a length of cotton twine through the flesh loop that is holding the legs in place. Double the cotton and tie securely, fashioning a handle for dropping and lifting.) Immediately check the oil temperature and adjust the flame so that the temperature does not dip below 340 degrees. You want to maintain the temperature at 365 degrees. As it cooks, occasionally move the bird around in the oil so that it doesn't scorch. The oil near the heat source will be hotter.

A whole turkey takes only 3-4 minutes per pound to fry to perfection. Small ones, around 12 pounds, will take about 35 minutes; large ones, around 15 pounds, will take about 1 hour. When the turkey is done, it will float to the surface with a perfectly crispy, brown skin. If you are unsure, you can test the meat for doneness at the hip joint, or insert a meat thermometer into the breast; it should register 180 degrees.

Using the basket insert if there is one, or by again inserting a long, heavy tool such as a clean fireplace poker into its cavity, carefully remove the turkey from the oil and hold it over the pot for a moment to allow any excess oil to drain back into the pot. Then lay the bird on the oven rack. Allow it to rest for 20 minutes before carving.

Very approximate nutritional analysis per serving: 415 calories, 27 grams fat, 0 carbohydrates, 40 grams protein, 116 milligrams cholesterol, 96 milligrams sodium, 60 percent of calories from fat.