Posted on 10/01/2025 5:23:58 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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Of course, there MUST be gravy for the mashed potatoes, turkey & stuffing. Here is a make-ahead gravy recipe that takes the ‘nerves’ out of trying to make a good gravy when the turkey comes out of the oven!
Turkey Gravy
https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/homemade-turkey-gravy.html
From the link:
“This is my favorite turkey gravy recipe, and I serve it every year with my Thanksgiving turkey—in fact, it is what makes my Thanksgiving turkey (and it’s just as essential for the stuffing and mashed potatoes!). The recipe is modestly adapted from Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook and is quick and easy enough to make while your turkey rests after roasting. If you’d rather get a head start, you can prepare most of it ahead of time and simply stir in the turkey drippings when reheating.”
Good morning...pouring rain here...but colorful leaves brighten the area. Have a happy day, everyone.
Catching up on the Garden thread. At the airport now and heading back. We’ll know in a few hours how the house/garden fared. Cat sitter said we had freezing temps a couple of nights, so I’m really glad I harvested all that I could have the shishito peppers before I left. I kept about a dozen or so for us to have when we get back.
Our vacation with my siblings was very relaxing, and only one dust up that was fortunately resolved by the next morning. The water was EXQUISITE! Turquoise and the perfect temperature. Dolphins and a Great Blue Heron visited every day, with the heron hanging out by the fishermen most of the time. Not many shells this trip, but sand from my flip flops are in my suitcase! 😁
The shishitos were a BIG hit! I made several recipes so that the fam could see how to use them in a variety of ways. I feel rested and rejuvenated for the first time in a while. I know I have lots of work in front of me, but I’m ready to tackle it again.
Speaking of crock pots, this week was the first time I ever made boiled peanuts in a crock pot. It was the largest pot the unit we rented had available. So I boiled water first then added the green peanuts and the salt, turned it on high. Stirred every few hours. It took longer than in a stovetop, but also was good because we could leave it in the counter and go down to the beach for a few hours without worrying. It took almost 12 hours for them to be ready, but everyone loved them. I think my family is a little surprised that I still know how to cook all the Southern comfort foods better than they do, and when I say all, I mean almost all, better than they do. They go back to our childhoods. The only thing I haven’t mastered is my Mama’s fried chicken. None better, though Aunt Bee’s fried chicken is a CLOSE second.
Ahhh, first heavy frost of the year. Time to put in the garlic!
Stew is back in the barnyard, kicking up his heels and driving the hunting dogs nuts - they think he's a black bear - he LOOKS like a bear!
So now Stewie gets to hang out in the barn eating all the sweet oats and grains and hay he can stuff in his face. Warm beer, massages - it's a nice life! Then *Insert Ominous Music Here* he goes to The Spa come April.
I'll be taking primary care of him (and every other living thing around here) when Beau leaves for Mule Deer hunting in CO next month. (I thought it was Elk, turns out it's Mule Deer this year.)
'Stew' is lower left corner. The Girls are all Holstein with one Jersey in the mix. And, Yes! That IS the bottom half of a toilet hanging on the back fence gate. *Rolleyes*
The fall tomatoes are ripening nicely on the windowsill of the south-facing bedroom. And I don’t mind a bit that they’re small — I’m just glad the plant finally began producing!
Hope all things are going well in your neck of the woods as well.
This is our friend, Harry the Heron.
I’m already looking at ordering seeds for next year and planning on when I’m going to start my onion seeds.
I’ve had poor luck with getting them started. They seem to sprout well enough, but then there’s a lot of attrition and all the videos I’ve seen of people starting their seeds show much sturdier seedlings than I get.
But this video gave me some good advice on how to get them off toa good start so I’m going to try it. I’ll save some plastic containers from the grocery stores.
This is from The Millennial Gardener.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PofS2W8hx60
I just use turkey broth from the cooked giblets and arrowroot powder and then some of the drippings and broth/juice from the roasting pan. I always use enough water in the roasting pan to keep the drippings from burning. That way I get to use them for gravy and later soup cause once it burns, it’s wasted.
Arrowroot makes great gravy but if you use too much, it can get a little snotty looking. However the taste is great.
And for people with celiac, it can give them gravy back.
My son had a co-worker who had celiac and was bemoaning not being able to have Montreal Fries any more. My son suggested arrowroot to him and the guy was eternally grateful.
It was supposed to rain this weekend but so far it hasn't. Mrs. Augie and I are dragging brush out of the garden patch today.
Looks like it could rain so I'm going to get back at it.
I actually have some arrowroot:-) Thanks!
The Cow Chronicles:
This week has seen some changes. The girls are now in the pasture right next to the road so I have gotten a good look at them. They are looking h.e.a.v.y!
The farmer gave them supplement feed twice this week. He’s also driving the fence & wood line, looking I presume, for any cows who have gone off to calve.
I found a gestation calendar & based on when they had their calfs last year & giving them 50 - 60 days until bred again (the norm), it looks like early November is when they could have a calf .... like last year, it will probably be around Thanksgiving & into December. First time mamas tend to have their calfs a little on the early side. He’s got more cows than last year, so there could be some heifers in the herd & that’s probably why he’s checking for calfs already.
My two favorite girls are still in the herd (White Face & Funny Face). I don’t know how old they are, but they both had a calf last year so still “productive” & worth keeping.
“I’ll save some plastic containers from the grocery stores.”
I HATE buying stuff in those plastic shells, but when I have to I save them for mini-greenhouses at seed starting time or use them to grow salad and sandwich sprouts in the winter months.
Isn’t he handsome! Giving Howard a run for the Mascot Money, LOL!
OH! That crystal clear water! :)
I love how they're born white, then they color up with their beautiful markings.
For your friend Stew....a link to some more Frugal Wisconsin barley beverage products that will make Stew Mellow, Marbled, and Wa(y)Goo(d)! At these prices you can join him for a drink when you feed him! Fun!
10 cheap but tasty Wisconsin beers
The only one I have NOT had at some point is La Crosse Lager. The Joseph Huber Brewing Company made IIRC the Beer for The BlackHawk restaurant in Chicago and sold it for a time after restaurant closed!
(Drinking slide.....I drank water from an historical roadside spring in Whitewater WI where Abraham Lincoln had his horse stolen when he was returning home from the Blackhawk War. He had to walk all the way back to Salem IL, no small walk and living rough along the way! slide over!)
Humm.....When your significant other goes bear hunting with the boys do they drink Hamms Beer? )
In the past I have just put out a pot with dirt and seeds sometime in the late winter and early spring and just watered it for my sets. Looks like his produces somewhat better results.
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