Halloween Decorating

 A gorgeous and relative to the last week, warm weekend!  I managed to drag my two youngest boys and my husband to see"Where the Wild things are" I thought it was really well done. I really couldn't imagine how they could make a feature length movie around the book but I was pleasantly surprised. The cinematography was stunning. That was a huge fave for all 3 boys when they were little and my husband  and I still know it by heart. That and "In the Night Kitchen". I really miss those days!

Love my red Maple, I can sit and stare at the colour for hours!

Gotta love the premade  Gingerbread kits -ready to decorate!

Our Ghost is a huge hit, we've had people stop and take his picture!

Thank goodness I still have #3 who is more than willing to still be  a "little guy" He and I spent a good part of the weekend preparing for Halloween and I thought I would share some of our decorating  with your today.

Turkey Recipe-yummm...

Ok so here it is my new favourite, not so top secret recipe for Turkey. I will admit I have borrowed liberally from the William Sonoma cookbook"Thanksgiving". The most important thing you need to do is buy yourself one more kitchen gadget! The injector!! I don't know what the official name is but that is what we call it around here. I found mine at Bed,Bath and Beyond and it was very reasonably priced-under $20.It looks like a giant needle.

I had no oranges in the house so used about 5 clementines.

The marinade I used for the turkey was orange/rosemary. Squeeze the juice from 3 oranges(or a few more clementines) after having zested them and set the zest aside. Finely chop  2 tblsp rosemary and add to the juice along with  about 1/4 cup of  olive oil. Mix this marinade well and then use the injector to inject this into the turkey in all the juicy meaty parts! No shortage of help with this task. My 16 and 13 year old boys actually fought over it and my 9 year old can't wait until he's old enough to inject!

Love my Nigella Lawson  citrus juicer.

Take the zest from the orange you set aside and mix with 1tblsp of finely chopped rosemary and 1 stick of softened butter.  It's best if this is done a few hours ahead of when you will be needing it so the flavours blend.

Zest waiting to be turned into Turkey massage butter!

I don't stuff my turkey with stuffing so I placed a handful of rosemary and what remained of the oranges inside the turkey and then patted the yummy rosemary butter all over the turkey. Baste the turkey the first few times with the remaining injector marinade. Roast at 325 until your meat thermometer registers 170 and then let it sit another 30minutes under foil before carving. I usually start it uncovered in the oven and then cover with foil when it looks yummy and brown! I never bother tieing the legs or anything like that.

This is  such a nice change from my usual apple cider/sage type of  marinade. I can't wait to use the injector in other roasts. We really noticed how juicy and flavourful the meat was.

YUM, almost makes me want to cook another turkey!

Giving Thanks..

Another week half-way through. Don't you love a long weekend? My kids have "special" lunches at school this week on Thursday and Friday so only 2 lunches  to make this week-yeah!
yes it really does take that little to make me happy...
Thought I would share a few pics from the weekend. It was cold! We did manage to squeeze in our annual apple picking at Willis fruit farm. We picked three big baskets. Mainly gala,snow and empire. I love Macs but they get too mushy if you are storing them. I can't wait to turn some of them into pie,crumble and applesauce. For now we have all been eating them like crazy!

YUM

Fruits of our labour

So  easy to pick this year..all that rain this summer??

Tiny nest in the apple tree!

Set for dinner.

Bought from a bakery I have to admit!

 Yesterday I thought I even felt a bit of snow. Since we are Canadian and celebrate Thanksgiving early in October I always hold off on the full blown Halloween decor until after turkey! I have grabbed some great deals this year which I will share with you tomorrow. We are having a little Halloween party here for #3 and we are trying to cook up some ideas-wow there are some creative gals out there!  What is your favourite Halloween  craft/baking/party idea?? 

My cooking inspiration this year.turkey was amazing I'll share the recipe soon!

Sailor looks cozy doesn't he!!

Tonight i am excited to curl up and watch my new favourite show--King of Crowns on TLC. I just love that show, LOVE Cyrus. Makes me laugh and fascinates me. LOVE all those southern gals! What's your guilty TV pleasure?? 

Thanksgiving!

already! It's hard to believe. Time has gone by so quickly since the boys went back to school. It's thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, always one of my favourite holidays. No pressure, no gifts to buy, just a focus on giving thanks for the many blessings we have. Of course we have hockey but hopefully the weather will co-operate and we will get in a nice hike and some apple picking. It's cold and rainy  now so I'm not so sure! I have a  lot of cooking to do so tonight I'm going to keep it simple with one of my standby's
Spicy Chicken Thighs-quick and easy and everyone loves them. The are also one of those crossover meals-good in any season. In the summer I do them on the grill but on a rainy day like today they are lovely under the broiler. I think this is originaly a cooking light recipe but I'm not sure!

Spicy Chicken Thighs
Cover a pan with foil, spread thighs out on top of foil. Sprinkle with cayenne(we like lots but use less or none at all depending on your family likes/dislikes) cumin, paprika, chili powder and garlic powder. I also add a wonderful sweet chili spice I have. Sprinkle on both sides of chicken and then spritz lightly with olive oil. Place under broiler on high for 5 minutes. Flip chicken over-broil other side for 5 minutes. Remove pan from oven and brush a mixture  of honey and cider vinegar over the chicken thighs. Broil one minute-watch closely. Remove from oven and devour!!
I serve these with sesame noodles(noodles with sesame oil,chili paste,hoison sauce,rice vinegar and soy sauce.) and green beans. VERY quick and delicious!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mother of the year??? Not likely....

Well today was one of those days, managed to send pretty much the entire household out into the world in tears!  Not good... too much running around and everyone is tired and sick!

 Enough complaining right! I need to get out today with my puppy and enjoy the lovely fall day we are experiencing.

 My jobs can wait, right??

 Some pictures for you to enjoy on this lovely day!!