Eating Out of the Trash Can for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was pretty darn exciting! We had a great dinner which included eating a turkey cooked in a trash can!
My brother Dave (host and Boy Scout Den Master) was the turkey chef.

Supplies:
Cement board
New Trash Can
Lidded Dutch oven or clean new bricks for a stand
Rod from a deep fryer
Bunt pan
2 18 lbs bags of charcoal
Briquettes Chimney starter
Big Turkey (because this is yummy)

Lay cement board. Stack Dutch oven, rod, and bunt pan (in order) in the center of the board. The rod should go through the bunt pan (the bunt pan collects the juices so you can have gravy). The turkey slides down the rod and sits in the bunt pan. Cover with can. Arrange one bag of charcoal around can. Use charcoal briquette starter to ignite some of the charcoal without starter fluid. Nest small piles of burning charcoal into unlit charcoal until all the charcoal is burning. Add new charcoal as needed. The trash can roaster works on the same principle as a convection oven. It takes about five - six hours to cook depending on the size of the turkey.

Killer Plants

Killer plants are everywhere!
First there was H.A. Rey's Elizabite. After that was Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors. Then there were the yellow pods of Jumanji. Now there is a new evil, and its in my backyard! An innocent looking trumpet vine is attempting to take over the world starting with my garage.

Do you see how it bent and ruined the troughs, and poked a FREAKIN hole right through the roof? It cracked the face board too! This vine would be gone if it wasn't for all the fire colored flowers and humming birds they attract. Even I will forget the damage when I see a Ruby Throated male.

Randy is working on taming the botanical bully, but the battle isn't over yet. I'm afraid we will end up submitting before the plant does.

MUFFIN

Muffin is such a cute word that it gives me joy to make them.
Be sure to drain the pumpkin well!
With the pumpkin I made -

Pumpkin Pecan Oatmeal Muffins
1 c. flour
1 1/2 c. quick cooking oats
1/2 c. chopped pecans
1 t. baking powder
1/2 baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. cloves
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. oil
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1/2 brown sugar
1 c. canned pumpkin or fresh (nicely drained) like mine

Raw Sugar for topping

Mix first eight dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix remaining ingredients except raw sugar. Pour wet into dry and mix just until flour is moistened. Do not over beat! Scoop batter into greased muffin tin and top with a sprinkling of raw sugar. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Optional: Add half a cup of moist raisins to batter for an extra pop!

Heidi is a pumpkin muffin eater
But it gave her a wider seater
On this problem she did not dwell
'cause her husband loves big buns well

Pumpkin Drama

Back in late September, or October I bought a blue pumpkin at that farmer's market.
I think it is a Queensland Blue. Anyway, today I cooked it.
I put it in a pan with 3/4 cup water and covered in with foil.
It cooked rather quickly. When I took it out of the oven it had doubled in liquid. I turned my back to do something and when I turned around to deal with the pumpkin again all the liquid had disappeared!
Some weird magic suction had taken place sending all the liquid into the cavities.
Freaky!
Don't you love the crazy shade of green the pumpkin changed to?

The flesh smells yummy. More about the pumpkin later . . .

Glister

A couple weeks ago I got the second issue of Glister. Glister's home is charm. Did you ever see that movie The Enchanted Cottage? It came out in 1945. It's sappy, but kinda fun. It reminds me of the story of Sir Gwain and the Lady on one level. Anyway . . . Glister's home is sweetly enchanted. That's all I will tell you.

One of my favorite sights on the way to New Ulm was a hillside in Wisconsin that was peppered with cows! They make think of cheese . . . which reminds me of what I had a Tina's . . . Camembert baked in Pillsbury croissants (baked according to manufacturer's directions) . . . then sliced and served on a cold piece of apple. HEAVENLY!!!!!!

Camembert is better then brie, I think. But brie works if you can't find the Camembert. I made some baked brie yesterday and served them up with Pink Lady apples (my favorite). Anyway, apples and baked brie went great with squash soup. Randy liked the brie, too.

Just a reminder to click on the images to get a close-up look! Happy autumn ya'll!

For Real?

Prior to Halloween Ariana would have nothing to do with her costume. But when October 31 rolled around she seemed to calmly, although not enthusiastically, embrace the costume. I am amazed that at six months she seemed to "get" what the holiday was about.

How is it that "Afro Man" can have a smooth hairless chest? Schick, I don't know.

Ah, the beauty of the Wisconsin Dells. We took Kadie to Martin Luther College, in Minnasota, to check out the campus and programs. What a lovely destination New Ulm is. I love it! I think it is a great choice. She has one more place to check out, Tri-State in Angola Indiana. I doubt it is as pretty as MLC, and I doubt that they men with better potential for being a good husband. I might be wrong.