Turkey Soup

I spent the afternoon in the kitchen cutting, scraping, simmering and picking and ended up with some very good Turkey Soup. Tami gave me the bones of yesterday's bird and today my kitchen smelled wonderful. I made soup after Thanksgiving for many years but when we started having turkey at one of our kids' houses, I lost the left-overs and the soup. Thank you, Tami. You didn't have to pick the bones and we had supper. I also have two 9 cup containers and two 6 cup containers filled to put in the freezer.

Recipe...
One turkey carcass
Celery
Onion
Carrots
Salt
Pepper
Barley
Rice

Put the turkey, a couple of stalks of celery, half of a large onion - cut up, a couple of carrots - chunked, about 1 teaspoon of ground pepper and salt in a big pot. Add enough water to cover everything. I have a stock pot that is just perfect. It is tall, holds a lot but isn't larger than my large burner.

Bring to a boil then simmer for two hours. Fish all of the solids out of the stock. Make sure to get all of the little bones that end up on the bottom. Strain if necessary. Drain.

Add 1-1/2 cups barley and 1 cup rice (not Jasmine - it is too soft), 2 carrots, 1/2 onion, and a couple stalks of celery - all cut in small pieces - to the stock. Add additional salt and pepper if needed. Bring it back to a boil and cook for about 1/2 hour - until the barley is soft.

When it is cool enough to handle, separate the meat from the rest. Save the meat; give the soft stuff to your dog; throw the bones away. It takes about that much time to pick out the meat. When the barley is done, add the meat and eat.

Thanksgiving Friday

Getting together with our four kids (three of whom work different shifts), their spouses, our five grands plus Bob and I is wonderful. They are all married, three with inlaws living in the area - and that makes for a logistics problem for every holiday. This year two (and their families) spent yesterday - Thanksgiving Day - with their inlaws, one (and her husband) came over for dinner here and one (and his family) is spending tomorrow, Saturday, with his inlaws. Today was ours.

Alexis was waiting at the window looking for the first arrival.

We had the most delicious food. The turkey was moist, the smashed potatoes, green salad and green bean casserole were barely enough and hand-made chocolates and a from scratch bundt cake were wonderful.

We are truly blessed. We are not without problems but the fact that the whole bunch of us like to be with each other and are each other's friends is truly priceless.

Although reading the ads yesterday was enticing, Bob and I didn't get any shopping done today. I woke up at 4 a.m. - I know, just in time to get the 'good' deals - but I was very tired. I finally was able to get back to sleep at 7 and slept until 10. We were able to relax and get everything gathered to be able to get to Aaron and Tami's by 1 p.m.

Their house is comfortable - there is space for everyone to spread out. They got new cupboards this year and it was wonderful to work in their new kitchen. As the rest arrived all the women were talking about watching the FOOD Network's Thanksgiving preparation programs yesterday. It does make it seem do-able when you can watch someone do it. It is just too bad they aren't on before the day you are supposed to be cooking.

The day was quite pleasant. We ended with some of us playing games (my new thrill - to be able to play games again) others played with the kids or sat and talked. Bob got in and got dishes cleaned up, much to everyone's appreciation. By the time 7 p.m. rolled around we were ready to leave - a very pleasant day added to our memories.

Holding on to good

Well, it has been a few days since I wrote anything. I’ve been coming out of the fog. I haven’t taken pain pills (Vicodin) for a few weeks and I’m seeing myself getting some things done. I’ve been using the can opener with my right hand pretty well which was a major accomplishment. I get frustrated because I can’t reach around my back like I used to – yet. It makes dressing and undressing something I have to ‘think’ about instead of just doing.

I don’t have the reach I used to have with my right arm so turning off the light above the stairs is difficult. But, I can lift up my grandkids! Natalie jumped into my arms yesterday when we went over to baby-sit. It’s funny how you get used to doing things like picking up a kid and when I couldn’t, I missed it.

Bob and I watched Alyssa and Dan’s kids Saturday. Bob was in the family room with Nat and Zander and 14 month old Hayden stayed around me in the kitchen. He was in his high chair for a while but I couldn’t see him and I wanted him to get to know me better. Because of Bob’s surgery and my broken arm, we haven’t been around him as much as we would have. So, I picked him up, sat him on my hip and made mac and cheese. He was good about not reaching out so I cooked and stirred, sat him down on the floor to drain the mac and picked him up to fix the sauce.

I was getting things out of the cupboard and asked Nat if she knew if her mom had any dried onion. “I don’t like onions,” she said. When I found some I explained they were so small she could taste it but she couldn’t see it. That seemed to be all right. Of course when I put it in the butter they all turned brown and, if she thought of it, she could see it.

When I put it into the oven I thought I had made more than we could eat. Finally the buzzer went off and dinner was ready. The kids had been very busy up until then. You forget the normal din that three little kids can make when your baby is 25. Nat prayed and Zander prayed and that was the last sound they made until someone’s plate was empty and “More, please,” was heard. By the time they were done there was only a healthy tablespoon left. Dan finished that off when they got home. Nothing for the next day’s lunch. Alyssa had warned me that they had good appetites. Yes.

Dan took Alyssa for a “date” to McMenamins for dinner and a movie – Talladega Nights. http://www.mcmenamins.com/index.php?loc=3&id=30

Earlier Pearls of wisdom from grandson Zander: When your mind is full and your stomach is empty it is very hard to sleep.