Good Deeds

Today I had the opportunity to watch someone perform a good deed.  I remember hearing somewhere about how good deeds just brighten everyone's day.  Not just the person for whom the good deed was done, but also for the person who performs the good deed.  What I found interesting in all of this is just how wonderful it made everyone in the store feel to see it happen.  I know it made my day.

The good deed was, a woman with a couple of small kids had ran out of money to pay for her groceries.  Now this wasn't a huge sum of money, and the woman behind her handed her the cash to cover the rest.  The look on the woman's face was worth a thousand words.  She didn't appear to be in desperate need, and said she could run home and get the money.  The other woman just said, "I hate dragging the kids all over, this will just save you the headache of doing that.

Every mother within hearing distance had to be feeling the thrum and thinking, Oh yeah take the money and be grateful for the effort.  I know that I always offer to help when and opportunity to aid someone who needs a hand.  It doesn't need to be money, but a hand with lifting and carrying things.  Putting an old person's cart back for them.  Shoveling the widow next door's sidewalk.  It doesn't take much, but it does so much for everyone involved.  I know it makes me feel wonderful when some youngin' does something nice for me.  Well it also might be and oldster who offers help too.

Thanks to all the do gooder's out there.  You make my day, in a really good way.

Namaste

The Best Roast Turkey “Ever”

I have been making this turkey for years.  I got the original out of the Meijer's Thrifty Acres add years ago.  I know that it was part of a spice company add, I think McCormick, but I have updated the processes a bit to keep up with the times.

Ingredients 

1 Tablespoon of Italian Seasoning

2 Teaspoons Seasoned Salt

1 Teaspoon Dry Ground Mustard

1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

½ Teaspoon Pepper, Fresh Ground if you have it.

1-approximately 12 pound Turkey-Adjust seasoning for much bigger bird

2 Bay Leaves

2 Stalks of celery

1 onion, quartered

1 small orange quartered-I prefer the Florida juice oranges, and well washed

1 to 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil-I prefer a good expeller pressed olive oil

Instructions

1.     Preheat oven to 325°F.

2.     Combine first 5 ingredients.

3.     Wash the turkey and remove giblets.

4.     Place turkey on a rack in a shallow baking pan.  Shallow is 1 ½ inch sides or less, just remember they will make drippings, so you want to make sure that those are all caught.

5.     Sprinkle 2 Tablespoons of dry seasoning mix from step 1 inside the turkey.

6.     Stuff bay leaves, celery stalks, onion and orange inside the turkey.

7.     Rub oil over the surface of the entire bird.

8.     Loosen the skin on the breast and rub 3/4 of the remaining rub under the skin, and sprinkle with rest of the seasoning mix on the legs, thighs, and bottom.

9.     Tie the legs together with bakers twine, and tuck the wings under the bird.  Wrap the small part of the leg with foil to keep it from browning too quickly.

10. Loosely tent with foil, I like the heavy duty type best.  Bake for 3 ½ to 4 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 180°F in the meaty underside of the thigh closest to the body.  Get close to the bone, but do not touch it.  If you have a pop-up device, so much the better.

11. Baste several times with pan juices during the baking time.  Remove foil during the last 30 minutes of cooking.

12. Let the turkey set for at least ½ hour before carving.  This gives you time to make gravy from the drippings and set up the food on the buffet or table.

Notes:  I have used lemons instead of oranges, and that was good.  I have placed a couple of slices of the orange and bay leaves under the skin, and this kept the breast a little moister during the roasting process.  I have added Teaspoon of ground bay leaves to the rub mix, which was really nice.

I tried roasting it breast down once, and we didn’t like that.  It didn’t do well in a roasting bag either.

I use the giblets to make broth for the gravy, and add pan drippings to that.

Ah Herbal Flavored Lemonade

2 Cups of Water

1 Heaping Tsp. Fresh Lavender Tops or a 2 inch sprig of Fresh Rosemary

¼ Cup Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice.

¼ scant Teaspoon of pure Stevia Powder, with no fillers, or 1/3 Cup Sugar (you can use whatever substitute you wish in the amount to give you the sweetness you like.  The measurements I give are what I like in mine.)

Pour boiling water over the herbs and let steep for 10 minutes.  Stir in the sweetener of choice to hot water during the steep time, this allows it to melt properly.  Pour all the ingredients into a quart jar, and add sufficient water to fill the jar.

Let this cool in the refrigerator until cold, and serve over ice.  Very Yummy, and very good for you.

You can serve this with a sprig of the herb that you used for a very elegant presentation.

I’m really fussy about my Stevia.  I don’t want any other ingredients with it.  I look at the ingredient list, and if it has anything but Stevia Extract listed, I don’t buy it.  So the minute amount of the Stevia listed here is plenty for the lemonade.  If you have on that has fillers, then you should use the equivalent of the 1/3 cup of sugar.  I actually would start out it ¼ cup sugar, as that seems like a lot for the amount, and adjust the sweetness if necessary.