Object Lesson

I spent most of my morning today trying to keep up on the news about the terrible earthquake and tsunami that began off the coast of Japan.  My heart goes out to all those who are affected by this catastrophe.

Obviously, I am also very concerned about my missionary who is currently living on the little island of New Caledonia.  I took a page from Enos' book and began to pray nonstop for my son and his companion.  After a few hours of making myself absolutely nuts searching the web for information, I took a break and headed to the fitness center to work off some of my frustrations.

On the way home, my Jeep was hit by another SUV.  

The damage isn't much (yay for Jeeps!) compared to the possibilities.  I was traveling at about 40 mph when I was hit.  There was one near miss immediately after as I was pushed into the next lane.  I ended up in the middle of the most dangerous intersection in Salt Lake County.  But...I could not have felt more safe.  The feeling of safety and protection was overwhelming.

Dealing with the the other driver and the paperwork was frustrating and took such a long time.  So, it was a while before I realized that I had just had one of the most awesome object lessons of my entire life.  It is this:  so if the Master of All Creation could keep me safe in the middle of such a scary and chaotic place, He could most certainly keep my son, His own representative, safe if he chose.

Sometimes, it takes me a while, but I'm still teachable.  My prayers will now include many more 'thanks' and many less 'pleases'.

Turkey Cannon - Experiment #1

Last fall, during a contest sponsored by PinchingYourPennies.com, I won a specialty turkey roaster called a turkey cannon.  Dorky name for a pretty cool product.  My cannon arrived last week (long story), so after my weekly grocery trip where I picked up a whole chicken, I was ready for a test drive cook.

The turkey cannon can be used for a turkey or whole chicken over 4 lbs. in weight.  It can be used in the oven or on the outdoor grill.  It assembles easily and can be just as easily disassembled to be washed in the dishwasher.  The included instruction book had lots of information, but it was a bit disorganized so it took a few minutes to figure out just what needed to be done.  I followed the instructions exactly this time (stop laughing!), but I thought of a few things to try differently next time.  Some instructions are critical to success:

1.   Use a pan with sides in the oven.  Just enough juice escapes that it would be a hazard without an edge to keep it off the bottom of the oven.  I did line the pan with foil which meant that the burnt on drippings didn't need to be soaked and scrubbed afterwards.
2.  Measure the liquid that is poured into the cannon.  The instructions say 1 - 1 1/2 cups of liquid.  I put in 1 cup of teriyaki sauce.  That was all it needed.  One more drop would have spilled out.
3.  Trim all excess fat from the bird before sliding it onto the roaster.  The instructions warn about spattering and there was plenty of that even with a carefully trimmed bird (thanks Harmons for taking care of that!)

Here's the chicken all decked out and ready for the oven:

I used teriyaki sauce in the cannon; salt, Mrs Dash garlic and herb blend, and Mrs Dash Fiesta Lime on the outside.

Ta da!  75 minutes later, here is the finished deliciousness.  We ate a great deal of the chicken for dinner tonight and there is enough for another good-sized meal leftover.  Yum!

Next time I use the turkey cannon, there are a few things that I will do differently...

...more seasoning inside and out.  The meat was juicy and seasoned, but could have used more zing.  I worried that using a liquid like salsa might make the meat too spicy for the gringos around here, but I think that I'm going to try it next.

...plan for more time in the oven.  The instructions say that the bird will cook more quickly using the turkey cannon, but I didn't find that to be true.  This 4+ lb. chicken needed 75 minutes which is what the instructions suggest that roasting a whole turkey would take.

...cook it at 425 for a larger portion of the roasting time.  I was worried about drying the chicken out by cooking it at the higher temperature, but I think that instead of 30 minutes at 350 and 45 at 425, I'll try it all at 425 next time.  The crispy skin was very tasty.

...gotta try the grill, too.  I think that a smoky, grilled flavor would be wonderful with meat that is so tender and juicy!

Thanks again PinchingYourPennies and Camp Chef for my new tool!

In The Garden - March 2

All the new seedlings are up...except for the spinach. Figures, since it's the one I'm most anxious to EAT!  Actually, the spinach always seems to take longer to germinate, so I'm not terribly surprised.  I am amazed at how quickly everything else has sprouted.  They were all up, out of the soil, yesterday, but I didn't get around to removing the plastic bags until today.  I forgot just how well that heat mat works!

In The Garden - February 26

Even though the ground around here is covered with about three inches of snow, I started planting my garden today!  It's time to begin planting all the cold-tolerant yummy things like spinach, chard, lettuce and kohlrabi.

The planting process is pretty simple.  I plant the seeds in small pots where they'll stay until they have their first set of true leaves.  Then, I'll move them into bigger pots where they'll live until they go into the garden proper.  In practice though, the process takes quite a while as everything needs to be completely clean and sanitized to prevent the damping-off fungus that can kill little seedlings.  So, I spent about an hour scrubbing old pots with a brush and then soaking them in a bleach solution to kill any lurking fungus.

After labeling each pot, I filled it with dampened seed-starting mix (contains no fertilizers) and planted the seeds at their preferred depth.  I put each pot into a clear plastic bag to keep the moisture at a constant level and moved them down to the basement to live on a heat mat, under the plant lights.

This batch of seedlings will be able to move out into the garden in early April.  I'll start additional spinach, lettuce and kohlrabi in about a month so that I have a long harvest of those yummy vegetables.  (Truth is, I'm afraid that I'm going to starve to death before I can begin harvesting that spinach again.  I simply can't afford to buy as much spinach as I would like to eat!)

I'll start the more tender plants such as herbs, zinnias, and morning glory in a few weeks.  I haven't grown my own tomato and pepper plants in many years as I have been soooo pleased with the plants that I get at Lambert Floral.  I usually make my first spring pilgrimage there in early April for the tomatoes that I'm also waiting hungrily for.

1/3 of the Way!!!

I've been thinking about doing this post for a few days.  Elder Coffey is actually well into the middle third of his service in Lifou.  He has said that they are making great progress sharing the gospel with investigators as well as strengthening the members there on their little island.  In addition, Elder Coffey and his companions have weathered a cyclone and several earthquakes, learned to build a grass hut, eat bats and spent Christmas Eve in the hospital in Noumea, New Caledonia.  Seems like he's really had his hands full so far!

He is filled with love for the people of Lifou and talks constantly of ways to improve the missionaries' service there.  Based on the information that he has shared with me, I think that he has certainly found his place in the mission field.

You'd think that with Elder Coffey's success and happiness in the mission field, his mama would be so pleased and proud.  And I am.  But I still miss him like he just left yesterday.  I just can't seem to get used to having my son and friend so far away.  And to top it all off, a young friend is preparing a missionary slideshow for her mission farewell and asked for song suggestions.  I, of course, recommended 'We'll Bring The World His Truth' sung by the Moleni Brothers as it has always been a real favorite around here as our family missionaries prepare to go out and serve.  And, silly me, I thought I'd listen to it while I was thinking about it.  BIG mistake.  I immediately began blubbering.  *sighs*  Maybe I'll be in better shape by the time Elder Coffey comes home....

Here's a link to the song so that you can blubber along with me:

WellBringTheWorldHisTruth

Work in Progress

Mike started putting up the chair rail today.  He was so appreciative of all the advice that I kept giving him...not.  Truthfully, I should really do stuff like this myself because I'm such a perfectionist.  That said, the sections that he finished look great.  They, of course, still need caulking, nail-hole-filling and painting when I paint the rest of the room.

And, speaking of paint, I think I've figured out which of my samples to use.  This photo does not show any of these colors truly.  The one I've picked isn't turquoise, isn't aqua and it really isn't blue.  But it is pretty doggone close to the color I see in my head!

Here We Go Again

I love the way that my kiwi green family room turned out (you can get a peek at it in the post above about my "chariot".)  That color just makes me so happy!  Well, now the rest of the house is looking a little tired and boring in comparison.  So, it must be time to paint something else!

Here are the colors auditioning for the dining room/stairs/downstairs hallway.  I can see the color in my minds eye...now I just have to translate that into actual paint!

I've begun removing the wall border (that explains the drippy looking spots) so that Mike can install the new chair rail.  I am in love with this Piranha wallpaper remover.  It makes a difficult, labor intensive job much more doable.  I'm hoping to have all the paper down by tomorrow.