How To Cook a Perfect Turkey

With the season of feasting upon us, I thought I would share a new way of preparing the PERFECT turkey, that my
friend Sue shared with me!

How to cook a turkey

Wait a minute… is there really a perfect way to cook a turkey? What you need to find out is, what is the
perfect way for you & your family 🙂

If the thought of …
Juicy dark meat, as well as juicy white meat
All the skin being crispy, instead of half of the bird having soggy skin
Quick cooking times
Delicious juices to make gravy
Having a platter filled with beautiful slices of meat
And my personal favorite… not having to spend half the day picking a carcass clean to get the meat

Then you’ll love this cooking method!

It’s called “Spatchcocking” your turkey.

Here’s a full video to teach you these “secret” methods 😉

Enjoy your feast… and the compliments on the juicy meat… and all the extra free time you’ll have!!

How to Carve a Perfect Turkey for Your Holiday Table

With Thanksgiving almost upon us, I thought I would share some helpful information about the main dish that will be gracing most of our tables… The Turkey!

Many families have different traditions for their Thanksgiving table. Some families have the whole stuffed turkey on the table for a picture perfect presentation. Then, dad takes the carving knife, and serves the pieces one at a time.

Some families decide to pre-slice the turkey, and serve it on a platter. Sometimes this choice is made due to ease of serving, less time waiting for each plate to be filled, or maybe your turkey didn’t come out of the oven looking like the Norman Rockwell paintings that we all strive for 😉

In any case, whether you place the turkey in the middle of the table for presentation, or you pre-slice it and serve it on a platter, I’m sure the following video will help you decide where to begin when you pick up the carving knife 😉


Delicious Summer Pasta – and new visitors to the cottage garden

Salad Mix

This is a quick, easy, cheap, come back for seconds family dish!

Pasta salad is the perfect side dish for any summer meal! You can also change the recipe very easily by tossing in any of your favorite ingredients right from the cottage garden!

Cook your favorite kind of pasta while you’re making the sauce to save time! (we like using small pasta such as angel hair or bow-ties)

* Feel free to double the recipe – or add your own favorite ingredients 😉

While your pasta is cooking, mix together the following ingredients & let sit until pasta is done.

4 cups chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped basil leaves
2-3 cloves pressed garlic
1 can sliced olives (I prefer mushrooms)
2 T. balsamic vinegar
2 T. olive oil
Add salt & pepper to taste

Top your pasta with this delicious sauce & be prepared for seconds 😉

Some ideas for extra favorite things to add:

– Cheese bits (or freshly grated parmesan cheese)
– Diced green, yellow, red, or hot peppers
– Broccoli
– Beans
– Sugar snap peas
– Celery
– Onions
– Chicken
– Pepperoni
– Bacon

I know your family will enjoy this one!

I also wanted to share some of the newest guests to our bird feeder with you!

……………………………………………………….

I call this little guy Fred 😉
I thought he had a piece of string tied to his tail! It took several days of seeing him at the feeder to realize that his little leg was broken. He gets around very nicely – even though he is “disabled” 🙂

My Friend Fred - At the bird feeder

My bird feeder gets lots of traffic! This wild turkey is our latest guest 🙂 Don’t forget… although we have several acres of land surrounding our cottage in the woods, we do live in a little Victorian village! Nice to see such a variety of “guests” come out even in the village 🙂


Wild turkey at the bird feeder