Lifetime Recipes Made Easy
Okay so who knew that there were so many different kinds of potatoes or yams? On a field trip with my culinary class, we were able to explore different types of markets, one of which was a Chinese market. I was surprised as when we got there, I was introduced to a Chinese purple yam, I knew that I just had to try them.
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A few weeks ago I was home preparing dinner when my good friend Susan called to see what I was doing. I told her I was making dinner, an appetizer, some soup, homemade biscuits and a dessert. She too was making a fabulous dinner.
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The Red Room – 17499 Ventura Blvd., Encino, CA – March 29, 2011
Last Friday night I was invited to The Red Room which is located in Encino, CA. We had a friend that was visiting us from Tennessee and I’m grateful I was invited as it was a blast to see my friends. I had never heard of The Red Room but I was open to trying it out. We carpooled and I was glad we did as the parking is not great. It’s a cute restaurant that caters to the wine connoisseur, the wine collection is amazing! I shared a bottle of red wine with my girlfriend, it was the Mossback Pinot Noir 2011..it was such a smooth wine. The cost on the wine was $40 or $11 per glass. I’d highly recommend it!
Now for the food…they promote it as a “Tapas Bar”, but I didn’t feel that it was the “Spanish” flair that usually matches the word “Tapas” and they had full portions for food so if you are going to visit it on your own, know that you can get appetizers, salad, pizza or a main meal.
We ordered 2 different salads…the shaved artichoke salad, with shaved Parmesan and a lemon/olive oil dressing on arugula, the cost of the salad was $12
The second salad was the Kale Chopped Salad with kale, quinoa, toasted almond, Parmesan cheese and a lemon vinaigrette dressing, cost for this salad is $9
I got the pizza with wild mushrooms and brie cheese, $10
I shared my pizza with others as it was a large pizza for just one person. My girlfriend had gotten the salmon dish with I believe was $18, she shared it with someone and they LOVED it, I’m sorry I don’t have great shots but it’s my first of many more reviews coming your way!!!
It’s a week before Thanksgiving and all through the house,
I have recipes all scattered…and you won’t find a mouse.
The turkey is bought, yes it’s a week still away,
the fixin’s are all counted for and I know I won’t stray.
I’ll make the same thing as last year as everyone left content,
I want to skip on making the peas…wait did i just say that? It’s not really what I meant.
I hope you all find joy and happiness and make sure to give thanks,
and if you can’t make a turkey, you can always make yourself some franks!
Ok so that was my attempt at a cute Thanksgiving fun. I can’t tell you all the stories I’ve encountered with making turkey for Thanksgiving but I can share that there has been uncooked turkey, overcooked turkey, butterball turkey…and every other kind of turkey story in between. A few years back, I called my Zia (aunt in Italian) and asked her how she prepared her turkey as my mother is no longer with me and I wanted some family advice, she gave me some of her pointers and I included my normal Thanksgiving turkey fixins and now I have what I consider to be the best turkey recipe ever!!!!
1) First off, I always start with a brine, I use the William Sonoma brine which we just love and I just follow the directions on the package, the brine is great because you do it the night before and I do really believe that it helps with keeping the turkey moist.
2) I always give my turkey a “wine bath” I basically purchase a cheap bottle of white wine and after the brine, I pour white the wine to wash off any of the brine.
3) I always use sliced oranges on the bottom of the pan with fresh bay leaves.
4) I always stuff put some butter that has been left at room temperature and mixed with chopped herb sunder the skin of my turkey.
5) I always stuff my turkey with lemons, apples, oranges, celery or whatever else I have around, this year i even used onions!
6) I try to get a turkey that is 17 pounds or less as it’s much more tender then the bigger turkeys (I have been known to even buy two turkeys for larger parties)
7) Finally, I always follow the baking rules for the turkey I buy.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as it’s my “no fail” amazing turkey!
Ingredients
Directions