November 27th, 2013 
Blog, Chicken & Turkey, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner 
Comments Off on Quickly Thawing a Frozen Turkey in Water 
It’s the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Stores will be closed tomorrow. Hopefully, you’ve already bought a turkey if you plan to have turkey for Thanksgiving dinner.
If you bought a frozen turkey, here’s the quickest safe way to thaw it. Plan on 30 minutes thawing time per pound – about 6 hours total thawing time for a 12 pound turkey, 7 1/2 hours for a 15 pound turkey. Read more »
November 26th, 2013 Blog, Dessert, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner Comments Off on Pie Crust: Rolled vs. Pressed 
I’m fairly new to making pies but have already learned a lot regarding flavor and efficiency. Most importantly, I’ve learned NEVER to make a pie crust that’s just a bland container for a flavorful filling. No way! Here’s a picture of a crust I made recently loaded ground almond, chocolate multigrain cereal, dried cranberries, chocolate chips, shredded coconut and much more. I’ll put together a picture book recipe soon – after Thanksgiving.
I also learned very recently, after my daughter asked if we could try it, that pressing pie crust dough into a pie pan is so much easier than rolling out the dough like this:
Here’s how I do it now – much easier:
For more practical Thanksgiving help, check out the Gotta’ Eat, Can’t Cook Thanksgiving Help Page by clicking any picture on this page.
November 25th, 2013 Blog, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner Comments Off on Start Now if Thawing a Frozen Thanksgiving Turkey in the Fridge
If you’re planning to thaw a frozen turkey for Thanksgiving as safely as possible – no matter the size of the turkey – start thawing it now by leaving it in its original packaging, putting it on a plate to catch any condensation and putting it in the refrigerator. As you can see in the picture of the “estimated thawing time” label below, thawing a turkey in the refrigerator takes days of time. After 3 full days of thawing in the refrigerator, I checked my 15 1/2 pound turkey last night and found the bottom was still crunchy frozen.
Read more »
Using a good dose of imagination and lots of enthusiasm, Armstrong first graders and I flew Armstrong Air to all kinds of places around the world. Armstrong Flight Day has become a traditional part of a geography segment in which students learn about the countries and cultures they and their families came from. Read more »
November 21st, 2013 Blog, How To & Tips, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner Comments Off on Thawing a Frozen Turkey in the Refrigerator 
Just for the fun of it – this stuff is always fun – I got a 15 1/2 pound frozen turkey yesterday evening to find out how long it really takes to thaw it completely in the refrigerator as recommended on the packaging. All I did was put the rock-solid frozen turkey on a plate at 6pm and slide it onto the bottom shelf in my refrigerator, which is set pretty much right at the refrigerator manufacturer’s recommended temperature, probably about 40° F (4° C). Read more »
November 19th, 2013 Blog, How To & Tips, Thanksgiving Dinner Comments Off on Heavy Cream vs. Evaporated Milk 
There’s just about nothing else that adds a more comforting flavor and texture to food than heavy cream. The only downside is that heavy cream can also leave you feeling excessively full – very quickly, and there are two good reasons for that as you can see in the nutrition label comparison below.
The bottom line is that heavy cream has more than twice the calories and five times the fat content of evaporated milk. The first thing to notice in the label comparison above is that the serving size for heavy cream (1 tablespoon) is half the serving size of evaporated milk (2 tablespoons). That means ounce for ounce (2 tablespoons = 1 ounce), heavy cream has 100 calories, all which are attributed to fat as follows: 10 grams total fat, 7 grams of which are saturated fat, and a cholesterol content of 40 mg. The same one ounce of evaporated milk has 40 calories, 20 calories of which are attributed to fat like this: 2 grams total fat, 1.5 grams of which are saturated fat, and 10 mg of cholesterol.
Nutritionally, the differences are significant, though I’ve found that both evaporated milk and heavy cream have similar cooking and flavor properties, especially when used in recipes like mashed potatoes, gravy, pasta al Fredo, pumpkin pie, and more. That means substituting heavy cream with evaporated milk is a great way to add comforting texture and flavor without taking on excessive calories and fat.
November 15th, 2013 Blog, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner Comments Off on Fresh Mashed Potatoes and What’s Your Favorite Thanksgiving Side Dish?
Yesterday I promised today I’d ask: what’s your favorite Thanksgiving side dish? You bet I’d like to hear. But having asked, it’s only fair I lay down my cards first.
My favorite side dish is fresh mashed potatoes because they’re fantastically flavorful and comforting all on their own and do a great job blending with every other flavor on the Thanksgiving plate. As if that’s not enough, they’re also incredibly easy to make as shown in the step-by-step picture book recipe you can get here by clicking the picture above. (One quick tip: I love having ’em with skins still on both for flavor and added nutrition. Great!) The same recipe is also available in either of the complete Thanksgiving Dinner step-by-step video and picture ebooks you can check out by clicking the picture below.
I ripped out on the bike early yesterday for a gorgeously cool and clear blue sky late fall ride through Ashland, Holliston and Hopkinton intent on getting to Pine Grove Cemetery in Westborough at 9:30 for our town’s annual Veterans Day event. Just like every time I’m on the bike, while my legs spin, eyes watch the road and ears listen for cars around me, my mind takes off to wherever it wants to go.
Yesterday morning, as I usually do on Veterans Day, I thought about friends who died serving – all of them from training, none from combat. I remember them mostly for their smile or laugh – great guys, all of them – and those memories keep them alive in my mind.
Then I thought about what joining the navy meant for me. I never was a scholar, but the recruiters told me I’d written my way to becoming an Intelligence Officer. At the time, that was the most significant shot of confidence in my life. And that confidence only grew stronger the more I did in the navy with those around me. I loved it – and still do – and, over time, learned that more than anything that confidence is linked to serving something that’s a lot bigger than me – all of it in the here and now.
Here and now is all we have, and the challenges we face are fantastic. I’m glad for the confidence I gained serving with the terrific people I got to know in all our armed forces. I’m even more glad keeping that spirit of service fresh, alive and in the present with the terrific people I’ve gotten to know in our town and now across our state.
I know from experience service makes a difference and is something we all can do. It’s all about participating in and contributing to life.
November 11th, 2013 Bar Drinks, Blog Comments Off on Whiskey Sour – 1st Bar Drink I Learned (Long Ago) 
The whiskey sour, also known as a bourbon sour, is the first mixed drink I learned from my dad quite a few years ago. Below are a couple tips. Just click this link or the picture above for a complete step-by-step picture book recipe.
Whiskey (Bourbon) Sour TIPS:
1. Rule of Thumb: For every 1 ounce of lemon juice, add 1 teaspoon sugar, and 2 ounces bourbon. The goal with this drink is to create a full, slightly sweetened but tart “Wah!” of flavor. Just great!
2. About the ingredients: Making the drink with a quality bourbon is important, though it’s the lemons that make the most significant difference in the drink because lemons can vary so much in sweet and sour flavor. For the best possible drink, use fresh lemons that are heavier in weight and slightly soft to the touch as they should also be juicier and more flavorful than those that are lighter in weight and rock hard to touch.
Who says we older kids have to miss out on trick-or-treating? No way!
Took a terrific Halloween ghostly grey sky ride to the Wayside Inn in Sudbury, MA this afternoon. Passed Week’s Cemetery at the corner of Sudbury and Concord Roads in Marlborough. Read more »
