Sometimes I'm a Real Turkey!

The turkey:
In the past I have always eaten at in-laws, but this year I had to attempt the task of cooking a turkey on my own. What could be difficult about that, 20 minutes to the pound, about a 20-pound turkey, approximately 400 minutes or about six hours ought to do it.

So at around 10 p.m. I put in the turkey and about 4 a.m. it was cooked and I attempted to carve up and serve a breakfast thanksgiving dinner on Friday morning. Unfortunately the top was hard as a rock, I figured that I had overcooked it because there was no little tee that popped up. I picked off what I could and enjoyed the veggies instead.

The next day as I began to strip the turkey, for my usual Indian curry, I turned it over and hey, presto, there was all that meat I had been looking for. I had cooked it upside down! It was quite a discovery because the meat that was cooked upside down in the juices and herbs was absolutely delicious - so juicy.

The trip:
As Christmas approaches and I plan my first visit to Scotland in over 10 years, memories of past trip disasters flood my mind. I had been practicing for a few months prior to my first visit to the States. My plan was to cycle around the four corners area as a way to prove to myself that, despite suddenly being afflicted with arthritis, it wasn't going to hold me back.

I made it to the States in one piece and arrived in Pheonix in ungodly heat. I had brought a long for the journey a fold-away bicycle, unfortunately it didn't survive the airport luggage people, who generally just throw luggage around. I can say this because I have watched them do it repeatedly. I ended up hitch-hiking around the four corners, it was quite the adventure. My brother always says that somehow I always seem to fall into the cow pat and come up smelling like roses.

The last time my brother came to visit he brought with him my favorite Heinz (American company) product which is made for the British market: Branston Pickle. This totally yummy saucy pickle comes in a jar. My brother had carefully smuggled it in his suitcase; unfortunately for him those luggage people had struck again and it had smashed all over his clothes. He didn't mind the trip to Wal-Mart for a splurge.