Thanksgiving Table Setting....on a tight budget.

As I was getting ready for Thanksgiving I started looking at all the blogs I follow to get ideas for my holiday table.  There were beautiful home decorations, lovely table settings with colorful dishes and place settings.  I wanted to make mine just as beautiful but what do you do when you are on a very tight budget?
I thought for a while and decided to pull out the beautiful dishes my mom gave me many years ago.  Then I decided to turn to nature for some color for our table, and also stop by Macy's to see if I could get a turkey platter at a reasonable rate......

Stephanie went outside and found some
pretty leaves.
She then folded the napkins so that
they would have a small pocket and slipped
in a colorful leaf.  Very nice.

Mom's dishes.

Martha Stewart turkey platter.
On sale for $10.00 with my coupon:-)

I placed a candle in a glass container, placed it on a decorative plate and added a few fall leaves.

 Holiday table.  Simple yet nice.
Once the food was added it looked
great.














This I just had to add.  A blog I follow My Semi-Charmed Life posted this picture because it was adorable.  I agree, so I wanted to share it with you.  Something else to be thankful for, Gods amazing creations.
So cute....:-)

Enjoy your world everyone!

Recipe Review...."Turkey in a Bag" by Cooks Country Magazine

"Oh my", I thought to myself,  "Thanksgiving Day is here again".  This year I wanted to make the "perfect" turkey.  I wanted a beautiful brown and juicy bird to serve at our Thanksgiving table. You would think at my age I would have already devised a plan for the perfect holiday turkey...but no, that is not the case.  I thought my cooking prayers had been answered when I came across a magazine at Borders.  Cooks Country Magazine's Turkey in a Bag.  They had done all the work in their test kitchen so I thought I would give this method a try.   A week in advance I studied the article, highlighted the important instructions, and made my shopping list.  On the day of my cooking adventure I had two trusty assistants, Erica and Joe.  We gathered our ingredients.....
I went to Macy's and bought a roasting pan with a v rack, on sale of course, so that we could do this just as the recipe suggested...

We did as the recipe said and put the liquid and veggies in the bottom of the pan.  The problem was that in about 2 hours after putting it in the oven all the liquid had evaporated and was burning on the bottom of the pan.  With this in mind if I decide to roast in this manner again I would put in more liquid and check it more often.

We made the soy sauce rub.
Its suppose to help with
the browning of the bird.

Put my new v-rack in
my new pan:-)

Placed the turkey in the bag
& rubbed it with the soy sauce
mixture.

Result..beautiful turkey!!

I did have to transfer it to a different container due to the burnt residue at the bottom of my new container.  But the bird was safe because it was in the bag and raised above what had been burnt.

Meal plan....
Turkey, stuffing
mashed potatoes, gravy
mac and cheese,
sweet potatoes,
green beans, rolls,
iced tea and wine.
Feast fit for a king:-)

Joe's Mom's mac and cheese
recipe!

Here is the recipe for Turkey in a bag.  Only suggestion is that you add more liquid ingredients to the pan in the beginning so that you don't have to deal with a dry burnt bottom of the pan as I did.  
We did make gravy.  Pretty easy except for the skimming of the fat from the drippings.  I suggest you get a fat separator, it will make your meal prep a breeze. 


Turkey In A Bag

Serves 10 to 12

We recommend a “self-basting” turkey (such as a frozen Butterball) or a kosher turkey. You will need a turkey-size oven bag and one 2-yard package of cheesecloth. Don’t let the oven bag touch the oven wall or it will melt. If you end up with less than 4 cups of defatted pan juices, supplement them with additional low-sodium chicken broth.

1/2	cup soy sauce
2	tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
7	tablespoons all-purpose flour
	Salt and pepper
1	(12- to 14-pound) turkey  (see note), fully thawed if frozen
3	cups low-sodium chicken broth
2	cups water
3	carrots , peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
1	onion , peeled and quartered
1	celery rib , cut into 2-inch pieces

1. MAKE SOY PASTE Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Bring soy sauce to boil over medium-high heat in small saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until thick and reduced to 2 tablespoons, 5 to 7 minutes. Off heat, whisk in butter, 1 tablespoon flour, and 1 teaspoon pepper; set aside.

2. PREPARE TURKEY Remove neck and giblets from cavity; discard liver. Add broth, water, carrots, onion, celery, neck, and giblets to large roasting pan. Set V-rack inside pan. Lightly spray inside of oven bag with cooking spray. Fold cheesecloth into 10 by 7-inch rectangle. Pat turkey dry with paper towels. Tuck legs into pocket of skin at tail end (alternatively, tie legs with kitchen twine) and tuck wings under bird. Following photos 1 to 3 (at left), transfer turkey to prepared oven bag and rub soy paste evenly all over outside of turkey. Top breast with cheesecloth and cover with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Tie oven bag closed, trim end to 1 inch, and cut four ½-inch slits in top of bag. Arrange bagged turkey, breast side up, in V-rack.

3. COOK TURKEY Roast turkey until breast meat registers 155 degrees, 2½ to 3 hours. Remove pan from oven and increase oven temperature to 475 degrees. Cut open oven bag. Discard cheesecloth, foil, and bag, letting juices fall into pan. Return turkey to oven and roast until breast meat registers 160 degrees and thigh meat registers 175 degrees, 35 to 45 minutes. Transfer to carving board and let rest, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

4. MAKE GRAVY Meanwhile, strain contents of roasting pan through fine-mesh strainer into fat separator; discard vegetables, neck, and giblets. Let liquid settle and reserve 4 cups defatted pan juices. Transfer ¼ cup fat from separator to large saucepan and heat over medium heat until shimmering. Stir in remaining flour and cook, stirring constantly, until golden, about 4 minutes. Slowly whisk in pan juices and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until gravy is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Carve turkey and serve with gravy.

New and Improved Turkey in a Bag

Roasting turkey in the moist environment of an oven bag ensures juicy meat (fantastic)—and flabby skin (uh oh). We modified an old technique to take advantage of the moistness while achieving brown, crispy skin and an all-around perfectly cooked turkey.

1. RUB PASTE After you've placed the turkey in the bag, rub the concentrated soy paste evenly and thoroughly over the skin of the bird.

2. INSULATE BREAST Lay cheesecloth, and then aluminum foil, over the turkey breast to insulate it. The double shield will slow down the cooking of the delicate white meat.

3. BAG & ROAST Place the vegetables, neck, giblets, broth, and water in a pan. Set a V-rack in the pan and place the bagged turkey on it to keep it from stewing.

4. REMOVE BAG & BROWN Cut the bag open. Discard the cheesecloth, foil, and bag, and let the meat juices run into the roasting pan. Return the turkey to the oven to brown.

So how would I rate this recipe on a scale of 1-10.  I would have to give it a 9/10.  Moist and delicious:-)

Happy Cooking Everyone.  

Enjoy your world!

Happy Thanksgiving

Holiday quotes and expressions of thanks on this Thanksgiving Day 2010.  And some photos too:-)

"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, 

"thank you," that would suffice."

-Meister Eckhart

Do not get tired of doing what is good.  Don't get discouraged and give up,
For we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time. Galatians 6:9

Best of all is it to preserve everything in a pure, still heart, and 

let there be for every pulse a thanksgiving, and for every breath a song.  

Konrad von Gesner

Thanksgiving, when the Indians said, "Well, this has been fun, 
but we know you have a long voyage back to England”. 
 Jay Leno

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them,
 is the true measure of our thanksgiving. 
WT Purkiser

Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it 

comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow. 

Edward Sandford Martin

Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on 

what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough. 

Oprah Winfrey

Happiness is the realization of God in the heart. Happiness is the result of 
praise and thanksgiving, of faith, of acceptance; 
a quiet tranquil realization of the love of God. 
White Eagle

I love Thanksgiving turkey...it's the only time 
in Los Angeles that you see natural breasts. 
Arnold Schwarzenegger

 "Those early Pilgrims were thankful for what had happened to them, and we should be thankful, too. We should just be thankful for being together. 

I think that's what they mean by 'Thanksgiving"

Charlie Brown. 

"Perhaps no custom reveals our character as a Nation so clearly as our celebration of Thanksgiving Day. Rooted deeply in our Judeo-Christian heritage, the practice of offering thanksgiving underscores our unshakable belief in God as the foundation of our Nation and our firm reliance upon Him from Whom all blessings flow."President Ronald Reagan, Thanksgiving Day, 1986

 "I do not think of all the misery, but of the glory that remains. 
Go outside into the fields, nature and the sun, go out and seek 

happiness in yourself and in God. Think of the beauty that again and again 

discharges itself within and without you and be happy."
Anne Frank

“Love wholeheartedly, be surprised, give thanks and praise… 
then you will discover the fullness of your life.”
Brother David Steindl-Rast

“Thank you, dear God For all You have given me,
For all You have taken away from me,
For all You have left me.”
Anonymous

“For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food, for love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“May your stuffing be tasty May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!”
Unknown

Thank you, Father, for having created us and given us to each other. 

Thank you for being with us in all our joys and sorrows, for your comfort in our sadness, 

your companionship 

in our loneliness. Thank you for yesterday, today, 

tomorrow 

and for the 

whole of our lives. Thank you for friends, 

for health and for grace. 

May we live this and every day conscious of all that has been given to us.

From The Catholic Prayer Book 

Happy Thanksgiving from Brodie and I.  I hope you have a great day with your family and friends on this special day.  God Bless! 

Enjoy your world:-)