Turkey Time!

Well this post has been a while in the making, mostly because of my broken wrist and then forgetting my camera when I went home for the holiday. So I'm posting it now! Because its 3am and I can't sleep so why not blog?

This was a 20 Pound Organic Local Heritage Turkey. This thing was MASSIVE and brown instead of white. It was also wider than a normal turkey with way bigger legs. The boyfriend and I drove about an hour out to a little place called Vernon to Sweet Grass Farms. Got a bit lost but we made it! It's a great little farm and was well worth the drive.

So for this potluck thanksgiving with all my friends I took charge of the turkey and to tofurkey. Now for those who scoff at that word I promise you it's amazing. (At least my version) We had about 5 Vegetarians and Vegans so how could I exclude them!? It looks funny I will admit... REALLY funny but it tasted amazing and thats what counts.

So onto the main course! (See what I did there?) <-- It's past 3 am just let it happen.

Roomate: Rach there a turkey in our room...?

Me: YUP

 It's a big one people.

 That's an extra large pan there. It didn't fit the roaster that my boyfriend's mother lent me, so I used that for the tofurkey and had to buy this. 

Don't use the packet with it! It's a lie! There are WAY better ways to cook this deliciously.  

 I don't recommend the gravy it's flat out terrible. Sorry. I made my own and regret buying this.

 So you can start this part the day before. I made rosemary, maple butter. (OMG IT SMELLED AMAZING.) 

 Just let 2 sticks sit out and use about a 1/4th cup rosemary to to taste and a 1/4th cup REAL maple syrup. Not that aunt jemima crap.

 

 Yes, it came with all the body parts. You can make some seriously yummy giblet gravy with these. Plus turkey liver is yummy. ( I know I'm weird, most people just ignore it.)

 I smother this turkey in the butter, I also took pieces and rubbed it under the skin and put chunks under there so it would be self basting. 

 Don't forget some basic salt and pepper. I also put some chopped sweet potatoes in and around the turkey and some turkey stock in the bottom of the pan. Heritage turkeys bake at higher temperatures for a shorter amount of time. 425 for only a couple of hours. 

Giblet gravy is beyond easy. Pour some turkey ( or chicken) stock into your pot of turkey giblets (photo above) Toss in half an onion, a few smashed pieces of garlic, some salt, pepper and a copped up carrot and a stalk of celery. Let simmer for a couple of hours while the turkey cooks. 

NOW, onto the tofurkey. I told you it looks funny!

I put some wedged butter potatoes, carrots and onions with a few smashed pieces of garlic around it for the baking process. 

Now this is a bit of a strange combo but I swear it's yummy. 

3 simple ingredients. Red wine (SHHHHH), olive oil and apricot jam.

I put the whole jar of apricots in there and eyeballed lets say two cups red wine and maybe half a cup to a cup of olive oil. The key to this is tasting as you go. 

Let simmer for half an hour and then pour over the tofurkey. Bake tofurkey 

It's time to tent the turkey, and use parchment paper with heritage turkeys! Its essential. 

How amazing does that bird look?

It smelled amazing too. Don't worry if it looks dark in those spots, its because I poured some of that yummy NY maple syrup over it to caramelize on the skin. 

I still had a broken wrist so it was up to the boys to take this hefty bird out of the oven!

And this is what happens when you invite 19 people to a potluck. AMAZINGNESS

I got to carve the turkey! Took some time with the broken wrist but it was worth it!

The tofurkey just smelled amazing with the apricot-red wine reduction!

Fresh bread from Wegmans! and Salad cause we are greenies.

There is even a dessert table! See those pies at the end? Made from scratch by the rainbow haired kid you are about to see in a photo below. Phenomenal. 

Omgosh so many people!

A mishmash of plates, cups and silverware erupted to make sure everyone had something. 

o_0 More kept arriving.

And like true hungry college students we ate. 

Just a sample of my plate. 

After the food it was lazy coma hang around time. 

And still people picked because all that food was there. 

This guy is the pie guy! (Thats how I will refer to him) And he is in a food coma. 

I think I woke the boy up?!

The boyfriend and the pie guy have a bromance nap.

Boyfriend deciding if he should/is physically able to eat more.

Told you the Tofurkey was a hit. Demolished. I'll make this again for sure. 

Most of the food was eaten.

Look it's the girl! 

Photo shy shenanigans. 

Who wants to move after all that food, Not this girl!

The sad and triumphed remains of a once amazing 20 pound turkey.

So all in all this was a complete success. Everyone brought food, took food and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I'm glad I was able to create this whole event. Because the truth is that being around all of your friends while eating a ton of good food and having a loud fun time is priceless. 

By the way we had SO many people that we had to do this whole thing in the downstairs conference room and still we had to push some tables together! Good times!

Songs of this meal: Camouflage, By: Bran Paisley & Rain Is A Good Thing, By: Luke Bryan

On a few side notes: The cast is off! Hello right hand! I missed you so! Today is 1 month+N with my boyfriend. N being the month we dated before hand. Our anniversary is a math equation... Only at ESF. 

Ha ha anyway its almost 4:30am so let me say I hope everyone had a wonderful Turkey Day/ Holiday and a fun NOT MACED black friday! (I did! Got all my holiday shopping done!)

A big project is coming up soon so stay tuned, fight off the zombie horde and read my blog!

Sorry about the spelling >.< Its late! 

PEACE OUT

Midnight Baking Madness With Cornbread and Mug Cake

SO, what do you do when you are bored college students on a thursday night? BAKE of course! Now I was going to bake my famous cornbread anyway because it's about the perfect time for it, but I got a special request for an experimental super chocolate mug cake! How could I refuse, I mean it's CHOCOLATE?!

A few quick notes before I get into the baking fun, first: Two weeks ago I flipped over the handle bars of my bike avoiding a car and running into a pothole on my way to work. Knocked myself out for a few minutes when I smacked my head against the ground and gave myself a nice concussion. Also apparently I had put my arms up to try and shield myself when I flew over and thats how I ended up breaking my wrist. So I've been a one arms gimp for a bit as my friends call it. So I'm sorry about the spelling, it takes a great amount of time to write these posts when you are one armed.

Two: I smashed my wonderful love of my like iPhone 4 when I flipped over, but the coffee mug in my bag on my back somehow survived. I'm not sure what gods thought that was funny. BUT the new screen today and my super genius tech friend was able to spend over an hour taking the phone completely apart and replacing the screen with some youtube instructions and a replacement I bought off amazon. <3

NOW!
ONTO THE NOMS!!

My super simple delicious cornbread! In a Cast Iron! This is in high demand! I used to make it twice a week last semester. 

 Yes, thats a WHOLE stick of unsalted butter (the best kind) 

 Lots of sugar, why? Because cornbread needs to be sweet people!

 Drop the sugar into the melted butter, remove the pan from heat and drop in two eggs. Keep stirring!

 

 Add in the buttermilk quickly and keep stirring!

 I put just over a cup of cornmeal in. 

 Then just under a cup of flour.

 Mix until it looks this delicious.

 Bake on 375 for 30 min

 AND WHILE WE WAIT, SOMETHING CHOCOLATE THIS WAY COMES. 

 The Starfox mug is mine :D

It's all so simple!

 Add Flour

 Brown sugar!

 A little (a lot) of my love

 This is what it looks like dry

 Then add two table spoons milk and vegetable oil

 Mix!

A staple in every dorm room.

 Why you ask? Because I can. 

 Pop in the microwave for a minute, but make sure to monitor it, depending on the size of your cup you might need more or less time. 

 ............*dies of happiness*

 It fills up about half the mug.

NOM! 

AND NOW, BACK TO THE CORNBREAD!

Tap the top and center of the cornbread to make sure that it is fully cooked. The more you make this the more you realize by the color and touch when it's done.

 You can put a toothpick in it if you are unsure.

 How perfect is that cut?!

 I think it was enjoyed by the friends

Mostly since this guy polished off his and the rest of hers. 

 I think they were good! Can you tell?

 Midnight baking is fun, but the highlight of my day is that fact that the new screen for my iPhone4 came in! And since my wrist is still broken my friend swapped them out for me! Apple charges 180$ and they just give you a new phone, amazon charges 35$ and you can spend an hour doing it yourself. It's EXTREMELY tedious but it's worth it.

 I messed this up real good.

 This was in the hand with the broken wrist, it came in direct contact with the ground when i flipped over the bike.

It strangely worked just fine too, I was shocked and for two weeks walked around and used it just fine. So glad I don't have to look at my phone and cry now though. 

Anyway guys, Happy Midnight Baking! 

OH and this Thursday I'm heading out to a farm to pick up my 20 lb organic Heritage turkey! But more about that later!

Music of the night: Spirit, Stallion of the Cimmeron sound track. 

Bake on!