Turkey Brining Recipe

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday; it always has been.  To me, there is nothing better than gathering around a table full of delicious food with your closest loved ones and counting all your blessings the Lord has bestowed you!  Many people consider Thanksgiving to be a stressful time of year; a day of madness preparing and cleaning up for one meal.  Personally, I love that madness!  Maybe because over the years I have almost gotten Thanksgiving down to a stress-free event.  And one that always stars my delicious turkey (yes, I'm bragging, but just a little!!).  Many chefs tell you not to brine your turkey because it's too time consuming.  I'm obviously no chef, but for me, a little prep the Tuesday before Thanksgiving is worth the delicious turkey I get almost every year!  Here's how I do it:

7 quarts (28 cups) water
1 1/2 cups coarse salt
6 bay leaves
2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon black or brown mustard seeds
1 fresh whole turkey, patted dry, neck and giblets removed
1 bottle dry riesling
2 medium onions, sliced
6 garlic cloves, crushed
1 bunch fresh thyme

Bring 1 quart water, the salt, bay leaves and spices to a simmer, stirring until salt has dissolved (be patient, it can take 20 - 30 minutes).  Let cool 5 minutes.

Line a 5-gallon container with a large bag (I use a trash bag) and place turkey in bag.  Add salt mixture, remaining 6 quarts of water (I will substitute some of these quarts with low sodium chicken stock), and other ingredients.  Tie bag, making sure turkey is submerged.  Refrigerate for 24 hours, flipping turkey once. 

On Thanksgiving morning, I pat turkey dry and cover it with oil or butter and herbs.  Typical roasting time is 12 minutes per pound at 350-degrees.  When the breast starts to brown, I cover it with aluminum foil.  When the breast meat reads 160-degrees, your turkey is done.  Let rest for at least 15 minutes, carve, and eat!  Rarely is it bland or dry, so, until I try fried turkey, I'll stick to my brined turkey! 

We are so thankful to have each of you in our lives and wish you could be around our table this Thursday!  Happy Thanksgiving!

It's about time

Well, I figure it's about that time to provide our out-of-state friends and family with a way to keep up with the Figueredos.  Chris and I have had a roller coaster year; but I know that it's one that neither of us would change.  While the year has had it's downs, the ups have been by far better than any I've experienced before!  Not only has it strengthened our relationship with each other, it has also strengthened our faith as Christians. 

Since August, 2009, Chris and I took a long journey (that actually started well before August) through the struggles of infertility.  On Father's Day (June 20, 2010) we discovered that we had reached the end of that journey.  Three pregnancy tests later we hugged in disbelief at those two blue lines - we are finally having a baby!  The best part about the news was that it was completely unexpected.  We were preparing for the next stage of infertility treatments and it was on our "off month" that we finally conceived.  It's true what they say:  God really does have perfect timing!

My goal throughout this blog is to open you all up to the every day happenings for us Figs (which I'm sure you'll all find is quite boring!).  Here's a recent picture for those who haven't seen us lately - I get rounder by the day (but I wouldn't change a thing!).

 November 4, 2010 - 25 weeks, 1 day