Holiday Fixings....

I hope that each of you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years! It's hard to believe that 2009 is already here! May the new year be full of Blessings and love- remember that through God all things are possible!

This past holiday season definitely was a time of celebrating together- and for Brian and me a time of celebrating what's important in life, our Faith (as we celebrated the true meaning of the season)- our family (it was wonderful to get to see them) and our friends (how blessed we are to have such amazing people in our lives!). The season was filled with new memories as we picked out our tree in the snow (since a few flakes did fall on us as we were attempting to pick out the perfect tree!), decorating the tree with my tin snowflakes.. and since we got to celebrate in our home with family and friends throughout the season... including hosting several holiday parties!

We hosted my Daddy's family here right before Christmas- and I learned an awesome secret to making a tender, juicy and succulent turkey.... Cook the thing UPSIDE DOWN! It makes since when you think about it, but I want to know who first thought of cooking the bird upside down, or did someone just stick it in the oven without paying attention as they wiped the sleep from their eyes trying to get the bird done in time for a holiday lunch? This is a question I will probably never know the answer to, but I did want to share this little tip (and recipe) with any of you who feel the need to try your hand at cooking a 19 lb bird (that can be used as a weapon if someone is mugging you at the grocery store when your loading your car when you buy one!)

Upside Down Turkey

• Butter


• Salt


• Pepper


• Fresh "Poultry Seasoning Packet" or Bay Leaves, Rosemary & Thyme


• Onion (quartered), Celery (split) and garlic


• Aluminum foil

Thaw turkey according to package directions, remove "innards" and clean with cold water. Pat down with paper towels. Take a stick of butter and either a melt it and baste your bird or use a stick of cold real unsalted butter and rub all over bird (inside and out). Next season with salt and pepper to taste. Put onions, celery and garlic inside cavity and "cap" with an aluminum foil ball. Next, put bird breast side down in your roaster and sprinkle your poultry seasoning packet around the bird. Next bake according to package directions- turning bird over the last 45 mins to 1 hr of cooking to brown the breast. Baste your bird when you do this! I had a hard time flipping the bird (okay, no pun intended) and you may need either another set of hands or one of those fancy smancy bird lifters and a spare plate to transfer the bird to and from the pan! I promise this is well worth the work and effort, the juices baste the breast as you cook since they will flow down, preventing this meat from drying out (praise the Lord- dry turkey isn't very pleasant for the masses!)

Since we traveled over Christmas, and didn't get to share a special meal together, Brian and I celebrated the New Year with a wonderful home cooked meal full of the foods a mountain gal's been taught to eat to bring luck and prosperity for the New Year! For those of you unfamiliar with this tradition, here is what to eat on New Year's day: Ham/Pork Products= Health, Collard Greens= Prosperity (money), Black-Eyed Peas= good luck and cornbread= for family. We did lots of ham products (ham biscuits by Brian that morning) and ham steaks for lunch (super good grilled, and there is enough in a pack for 4 ppl easy!) I made a black-eye pea salad (after trying one at a bistro that was delicious) but mine was a disaster! It ended up, uneaten, in the woods behind our house- if anyone reading this has a good, tried and true, recipe for this dish, please pass it on- purtty please with sugar on top! Thank goodness that I made the world's best collard greens that took the nasty taste of the failed black-eye pea salad from our mouth (see recipe below). I highly recommend this (it is a modified Paula Deen recipe, now that is a gal that knows how to fix a meal!) and my husband went all ga-ga over it! We both usually "season" our collards/greens with vinegar (me) and mustard (him) after they come out of the pot, but we didn't touch these they were so good! I promise you need to try these... even if you don't eat greens, they are THAT GOOD! Finally, a Jiffy cornbread muffin mix to make the corn muffins (oh so good!) to top off the meal (which all that ended up on our plates was the ham, collards (large portion) and the muffins (warm, with cholesterol free butter to offset all of the other cholesterol in this meal ;)) YUMMY! This will definitely be our New Year's Day Staples for years to come (and several days throughout the year just because it really is that good... I wonder if we can celebrate the first day of the season... or month... or week... without getting tired of the collards????)

The Greatest Collard Greens I have Ever Eaten...

God Bless Paula Deen!

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound smoked ham hocks, rinse really well to remove excess salt!


• 1 tablespoon House seasoning, recipe follows


• 1 tablespoon seasoned salt


• 1/2 sweet onion (cut into 6 wedges)


• 1 large bunch collard greens


• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions
In a large pot, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil and add smoked meat, house seasoning, seasoned salt and onion wedges. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 1 hour. Wash the collard greens thoroughly. Remove the stems that run down the center by holding the leaf in your left hand and stripping the leaf down with your right hand. The tender young leaves in the heart of the collards don't need to be stripped. Stack 6 to 8 leaves on top of one another, roll up, and slice into 1/2 to 1-inch thick slices. Place greens in pot with meat and add butter. Cook for 45 to 60 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When done taste and adjust seasoning.

Paula Deen's House Seasoning:
1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder
Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months. Note- this is really good on any meat- we use this alot on different things- Boston butts, chicken, steak, venison, asparagus, baked potatoes... yummy!

Okay- so I think I've probably bored any of you who have made it this far... but I did want to put these on here so that I could find them when I want to make them again! I promise that my next post a- will not be so long and b- will be sooner than 4 weeks from now!