Tasty Turkey

Last night I decided to roast up the turkey breast that my amazingly sweet visiting teacher had brought over last week. She is constantly surprising me with her acts of kindness. I decided I did not want to go the traditional route with my bird since I've never really liked it any way we have done it before. I used something I remembered from a recipe I had read on the Butterball recipe site mixed with a little imagination.

The original recipe was found here: http://www.butterball.com/recipes/detail/citrus-glazed-turkey-breast, and although it is simple, called for more ingredients than I had around.

I unwrapped my 7.6 pound turkey breast and followed the directions on the package:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
Remove the outer packaging and the gravy packet
Rinse the turkey breast inside and out
Pat dry

I then put it in a 9x13 glass baking dish (that I sprayed for good measure). Here is where the fun got started. I took a small can of concentrated OJ (partially thawed) and mixed it with about a cup of Apricot Pineapple Marmalade. I couldn't find a brush so I used the back of a spoon to spread it along the outside of the bird (I had removed about half of the skin for personal preference). I covered it with aluminum foil and put it in the oven for 3 1/2 hours (time will vary by size). At that time I rotated the turkey and ladled juices from the bottom of the pan, into the cavity of the turkey for the final 25 minutes.

My kids decided they liked it with a little bit of soy sauce and my husband put it on yeasty rolls from Sam's Club. I thought it turned out well and was super moist. A moment of bravery for my cooking resume!

Yay!!!! I finally have a computer again!

December 2013 was a little rough. Some of you know that I'm a bit a bargain shopper. Christmas is the time when that shines through quite a bit. I rarely pay 25% of the retail value for the presents I do buy. Therefore, I am not a last minute holiday shopper. By the first week of December all presents had been purchased and those that were shipped had already arrived. In fact, I had already wrapped and stashed the presents, including a new Nikon I had gotten for myself! Mid-month our chest freezer decided to start a house fire. It started on our back porch where it blew a few propane tanks and went into the attic and spread rapidly. Luckily all of the family (we didn't have any pets) got out. The Christmas presents weren't so lucky. I had stowed them away atop the china hutch in the back room....close to the attic.

The kitchen was a total loss and that was where my laptop sat on the built-in desk. Life has been a bit difficult without a computer all these months. There are some tasks for which an iPhone just won't do. I haven't blogged, or used my coupons, or made invites for my kids birthday parties. I haven't been able to run the CDs of photos that we salvaged from the wreckage to see if the files survived the heat. I finally have that ability again!!!!!! I can't wait to get started. But right now we are up by Flagstaff at Boy Scout Camp so I have to hold-my-horses until we get back home. :( Such hard work.

I had an Olympus Tough camera which survived the flames, and the firefighters soaking. I tossed the charger cord because it smelled of smoke and the type of rubbery plastic it is, I couldn't make it go away. Well, the battery died and I have yet to find a new charger. It's a specialty end and I can't even figure out what it's called to try to find another. Hopefully that problem will be remedied soon.

I really want to get this blog moving and grooving so it actually gives me an outlet. We will see how it goes. I would love to start posting pics of the rebuild and my projects for the house along the way. Happy trails from Scout camp!