Turkey Day

For the first time ever I will be cooking a turkey. Usually we have chicken or ham. Michael likes ham and Patrick & I like chicken so we switch each year. This year we have company, my friend Cheryl and her daughter Katie. They came to live with us at the end of September. We compromised since our Thanksgiving traditions are very different. So this year we are having turkey. Now since I have never cooked a turkey and have heard that they are fickle creatures, I did some research. So not only am I cooking a turkey for the first time but I am also proud to say that I am brining it as well, which incidentally I have never done before either.

Which is why last night I mentioned to Michael that maybe we should take out the hamburger meat that we have in the freezer as a back up. You know that saying of "if it can go wrong it probably will." I have high hopes though. I am excited to be doing something that I have never done before as well as having more people for Thanksgiving. I am excited this year to be sharing Thanksgiving with family and friends. Of course I may have thought of something less complicated.

Who new that you have to brine the meat for about an hour for each pound? I am doing a combination of some brine recipes that I found on the internet. Water, kosher salt, sugar, bay leaves, thyme, garlic and pepper. Well it's a good thing that I did research. Because according to the experts (Martha Stewart and Alton Brown - brining is the only way to go and once you do it you will always want to do it that way). So - I am going to brine the turkey for 11 hours, then it has to be rinsed off, then it has to sit in the fridge for about 5 hours so that it soaks up all the juices and the skin will come out crispy after it is cooked. THEN it is going to be baked for 3 1/2 hours. Of course that doesn't take into account the chocolate pie, walnut pumpkin pie, carrot pudding, lima beans, corn, rolls, stuffing and gravy that needs to be made. Compromise - who knew it could be so busy.

Well, this year we have so much to be thankful for, including the food that will be on our table. So I guess all of the work is worth it. It's a shame that it goes so quickly though. Well, here's hoping that I know what I am doing and that it all turns out good. I'll let you know after dinner tonight.

All who are weary

As I was driving home last night I was thinking about Thanksgiving and thinking about what we needed when I drove by a homeless man on the side of the road. He was just sitting there near the underpass with a grocery cart full of this belongings. As I passed, even in that short time span, I felt time stop and I could see every detail of his face and his belongings. He was an older man with very soft, yet sad eyes. I instantly felt somber and thought, even if I do not have a traditional Thanksgiving, this man may not even have a place to sleep or food to eat. Even though I just passed him on the street instantly I kept thinking about him all the way home and into the evening. I could see his face and it just burned inside of me that I needed to do something.

We live in a society that has such wealth and excess, that it is sometimes hard to fathom that there are people out there that have nothing but what they have on or what they can carry. Even though I have been to points in my life where I was afraid that I would not have enough food to eat or a place to live - I was fortunate enough to never end up on the street. This man, these people were not as fortunate. We live in a country where on each corner is a McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, etc... and yet we have people that are starving. We have houses being built all around, new development everywhere and yet we have people that are homeless. We have numerous churches in every town, city and state and yet there are people out there that feel so helpless and worthless that are ignored, abused because they are less fortunate than we ware. It truly saddens me to think that this Thanksgiving and Christmas that there are people out there that have so little to be thankful for. Not just this time of year but all year round.

It saddens me that even with the auctions, collections, donations, that there are still people out there that will do without. The need is so much greater than the response. The pain, the suffering seems out of control. People are being displaced due to natural disasters, lay-offs, overall money problems, health issues. Why does it seem so hopeless, that things are just not getting better? I want to help them all, each one on the side of the road that wanders in search of food, shelter and some compassion and hope. I want to be able to save them all and yet I know that I can't.

But I know who can and I do have hope. My only recourse is to go and look, learn and take to heart what I read.

Matthew 9:35-37 (New King James Version)
Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

1 Corinthians 15:56-58 (New King James Version)
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Galatians 6:8-10 (New King James Version)

For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.