turkey tango

somehow, i got stuck hosting thanksgiving this year. i've heard and read so many horror stories about "the first holiday" after couples get married and try to cook for the families, and i'm a bit freaked. not really, because i actually cook for my family a lot, but i've never done a turkey before, so i'm just a teensy bit nervous.

i have an idea for a fabulous turkey though. i'm going to gently slit the skin, and rub in butter, sage, rosemary, garlic, pepper and a teensy bit of orange zest, and i'm going to put a bit of chicken broth in the bottom of the roaster to keep the turkey from drying out. oh, and i'll be brining the turkey the night before.

potatoes are also on my list, and i'll be making two small potato dishes - mashed sweet potatoes covered with a rosemary-ricotta spread and toasted frosted flakes on top, and roasted sage/pepper sliced new potatoes. and of course, we have to have the classic green bean casserole. i might also do some baby carrots, because i like carrots.

holiday season is tough because it means blogging without pictures. i have several super-secret projects in the works, and i was very fortunate this year to find enough material in my stash for things that i hardly had to buy anything. maybe a yard of fabric here, or a special hook there (yes, i needed it to do a special technique), but that's really it. i think almost everyone is getting homemade gifts this year, baked or hooked or sewn or knit or somehow otherwise crafted.

i'm blogging right now, even though i'm super busy, because the laundry is going mid-cycle and the paint is drying on my dotee. i still have to finish one last dotee for my swap, but i thought i'd show you what i crafted so far.

this is na'tuin (points if you get the reference, and bairloch, you don't count) - she has trouble keeping her elephants on her back. here she is in her new home:

and here's another version of the op-topus i made for the last dotee swap i was in, but this one isn't a creepy eye-ball octopus, just a regular little blue one.

i still did all the sequins and beading on the tentacles like i did last time, and look! there's lunch under there!

this is the one that's still in progress. i plan to absolutely cover the back of this one in sequins.

darn. washer stopped. time to get back to work!