I didn’t even finish my sentence of explanation before I received a big apology from the manager who was present. The other manager (the one who told me the skillet was worth $85) had checked on its value after I departed the store, only to find he was mistaken. He left instructions that if I was to come back in, to pass on his apology and give me half my money back.

I am so thankful for honest people. That meant more to me than receiving the refund.

I cook the turkey breast side down and in a bath of chicken stock. This way the breast meat bastes itself in its own juices during baking. I also keep the roaster pan covered almost the entire baking time, which allows steam to circulate and keeps the entire turkey moist, not just the part that is bathed in the stock.

About a week prior to cooking a 12 to 14 pound Heritage turkey, I cook two chickens in order to make chicken stock. I use a big pasta pot (mine is 11 quart). In the pasta insert, I put the chicken bones from 2 chickens, 2 inches of ginger root, a few bay leaves, a quartered onion, and about 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Then I put the insert into its base and fill with water to within 3 or 4 inches of the top. All of this I bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer, covered, for at least half a day. After the hours of simmering, I take it off the heat and pull out the pasta insert, letting it drip well before transferring it to a big bowl or the sink to catch remain drippings. Then I salt it to taste and let it cool.

I realize I’m posting this the day before Thanksgiving and it might be too late for you to make your own stock. That’s okay. Hopefully you have some bones tucked away in the freezer you could turn into stock right quick today. Or use purchased stock, preferably from free-range, organic chickens (or turkey). You need 4 to 8 cups of stock.

I prefer smaller turkeys, like 12 to 14 pounds. I figure on 15 minutes per pound for an unstuffed bird, cooking it at 325 to 350 degrees. You may brine your turkey (start this several days before cooking day).

I preheat the oven to 425 degrees while I rinse the fully thawed or fresh turkey and empty the inner cavity. I put the bird — breast side down – in a stainless steel roaster pan, preferably on a shallow rack. I add 8 cups of stock into the bottom of the roaster pan (one can also use 4 cups of stock and 4 cups of filtered water). Then I generously brush all the exposed skin with raw, virgin, unrefined coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil. Then I put the cover on and transfer the pan to the oven, where I let it cook at 425 degrees for one hour.

After one hour, it is time to lower the temperature to 325 or 350 degrees. A 12-pound bird should need about 3 hours total baking time. About every hour or every half hour, I will pull it out of the oven and brush more oil on the skin. When I think it is supposed to be done, I check the internal temperature by inserting a meat thermometer into the deepest part of the thigh. I am looking for 170 degrees, or even 5 degrees below (it will continue to cook from its own heat even out of the oven). If it has reached this internal temperature, then I remove the roaster pan lid, set the oven to broil, and brown the exposed skin. Then, if I am able to maneuver the turkey, I will turn it over and brown the breast skin under the broiler, too.

Now the turkey is done and boy, is it moist! I do let it sit on the counter for about 15 minutes before carving, to let it calm cool down a little. Then it is carving time. My main goal with this is to do it as quickly as possible so as not to lose moisture. I cut off the thigh/drumsticks and the wings and lay them flat in a glass dish (I love my Anchor Hocking refrigerator storage dishes for this). I ladle the broth/drippings from the roaster pan to fully cover these parts and cover the dish. Now it is time to carve the breast. I slide the carving knife under the meat to carefully remove each half breast from the bones. Usually it works allright, but I’ve never done it perfectly. I move each half breast to a cutting board and slice into strips, against the grain of the muscle, transferring these pieces to another glass dish (or dishes). I cover the breast meat with more broth from the roaster pan, adding the dish’s cover when it is full.

Now the turkey is all ready to go. The covered dishes of turkey meat are ready to serve, and any leftovers are already prepared for refrigerator storage after the meal, too. It is time to make the final preparations now — finishing off the gravy by adding broth from the roaster pan to the pot that has been simmering all afternoon with the gizzards; smashing the potatoes; tossing the salad.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I have much for which to be thankful and will surely be thanking God this year for good, healthy, local food and my special family! I am also thankful for you, my internet friends. God bless you and your families!

I saw it at Goodwill and of course, I had to have it. It was $14.99. Brand new condition. Someone probably tried to use it and didn’t season it properly, which would have caused a horribly sticky mess, and therefore they didn’t want to bother with it again. That is surely speculating, but I bet I’m not far off the mark.

Anyway, as I was saying, I had to have it. The price seemed a little high to me. I asked for the manager at check out, and asked him if he could come down a little on the price. No, he said, because they looked up this little pan’s value and saw that it was Lodge’s most expensive pan at $85. I said, I’m not sure about that, because you can get a huge Dutch oven for around $40. He said he wouldn’t come down on the price and I bought it anyway. Got home and Jeff looked it up on Amazon.com… $21 to $31, brand new! Now I wonder if I could get a partial refund if I printed off the amazon page and took that in with me next time? Would the same manager even be there? Should I bother? Well, I’ll have to let you know. I think I’ll try but I’ll still keep the pan no matter what. I like it.

More water than you think will drip out in those few hours. Better to let it drip out than let the sprouts sit in this water when stored in the refrigerator.

After a few hours’ dripping, I transfer the sprouts to a large refrigerator storage dish. They will keep several days in the refrigerator this way, clean and dry. The refrigerator slows the growth.

I still always smell and feel the sprouts when I’m about to use them in a salad. If they concern me the least little bit, out they go to the compost, or I will give them a quick rinse for freshening.

The sprouts shown are a mix of red clover, alfalfa and fenugreek.

This year, a friend asked me about making and sharing a mix of the beans. I thought the sharing was a great idea, because I don’t have room or desire for another 65 pounds of bean soup mix! So I sent out an email to the group of local people who participate in my every-other-month-ordering from Hummingbird Wholesale in Eugene (bulk natural food warehouse). A half dozen people are interested in splitting the bean soup mix. That’s great with me!

The reason I believe mixing the beans ourselves is preferable to purchasing a mix is because we can ensure getting a great variety of all organic beans. The mixes available through Azure Standard are either: a big variety of beans, but they’re conventional beans; or a small variety of organic beans. No mix offers both variety and organic.

With enough people interested, I went ahead and ordered 12 different beans, 5 pounds each, from Azure Standard: adzuki, black, chana dal (small garbanzo), great northern, kidney, pink, pinto, red, navy, yellow split pea, green split pea, and lentil. Due to allergies among the group, I will not be including soybeans or barley. The per pound price turned out to be $1.41. I don’t know yet if all the beans will come in until the order arrives next week.

If this interests you, I’d suggest you consider asking around to see if any of your friends or family would like to go in on the mix with you. It is a great thing to do with a group, but if you can’t find anyone to share the mix, do it small-scale. Go to your local natural food store and from the bulk bins, purchase just one pound of each of any beans you wish to include. Then mix those together for your own manageable size soup mix.

Here’s my recipe for making soup from the bean soup mix. It is so delicious! Everyone I know who’s tried it, loves it.

12-Bean Soup

• 3 cups of 12 Bean Soup Mix
• 2 quarts water or vegetable stock
• 2 Tablespoons dried minced onion or 2 t onion powder
• 2 Tablespoons dried parsley flakes
• 1 Tablespoon cumin
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 large can diced tomatoes
• salt & pepper to taste

Place beans in a large stockpot. Cover with water & soak overnight. Drain the beans. Add water or vegetable stock. Add the seasonings (except salt & pepper) and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours, or until the beans are tender. Add salt and pepper, to taste.

Options:

1) Add brown rice during the last hour of simmering, or serve over warm brown rice.

2) If you’re not allergic to barley or another gluten-grain such as wheat or kamut or spelt, add about 1/3 cup of any of those whole, uncooked berries to the soaking and proceed with the recipe as directed.

3) Add one pound of grass-fed beef stew meat to cook along with the beans (don’t add during the soak).

Crockpot Method

Soak beans overnight. Drain and rinse. Place in crockpot with all ingredients except salt & pepper. Cook on low 8 hours or until beans are tender. Salt & pepper to taste.

Options:

1) Serve over cooked brown rice.

2) If you’re not allergic to barley or another gluten-grain such as wheat or kamut or spelt, add about 1/3 cup of any of those whole, uncooked berries to the soaking and proceed with the recipe as directed.

3) Add one pound of grass-fed beef stew meat to cook along with the beans (don’t add during the soak).

© Copyright 2008 by Wardeh Harmon of gnowfglins.com.

To Give the Mix Away as Gift

You will supply the beans, the seasonings and the directions. The recipient will supply the diced tomatoes, salt and pepper, and meat (if using).

In a quart size jar, put 3 cups of the bean soup mix. You may also add 1/3 cup of barley, or other whole grain berry, to the bean soup mix. Put all the seasonings in a little baggie. Add it to the jar.

Cut and paste the recipe text into a text editor. Please include my name and website (© 2008 Copyright Wardeh Harmon of gnowfglins.com). Print out a copy of the recipe.

Decorate the top of the jar with fabric and/or ribbon, attaching the recipe to the jar by hole punching the corner of the recipe and threading the ribbon through the hole before typing around the jar.

Alternative method: Sew a fabric bag (use sturdy and flexible fabric, about 6 x 10 inches) and use that instead of the jar. Put the beans in the fabric bag. Add the baggie of seasonings. Tie the bag closed with a twist-tie and then cover that with the ribbon, which is also threaded through the recipe’s hole punch.

I have narrowed down the source of the bitter taste I got when using the Blender Baking Method. Vinegar (souring the almond milk) reacts with the baking soda to create a soapy-bitter taste. However, even after eliminating baking soda, the baked goods still yield a bitter taste. There’s another culprit reacting with the vinegar: gluten-free baking powder from Ener-G Foods. I’m not sure which ingredient in the baking powder is reacting with the vinegar, but one of them is.

So in my weekend cornbreads that were semi-successful, my solution was to eliminate both vinegar and baking soda but keep using the baking powder.

Over the weekend, I tried two times to make cornbread, using allergy-free variations of Sue’s recipes. The batch pictured here (100% corn flour) was the prettiest, but its texture was too cakey and not hearty enough for most of the family. Still, we liked it. In fact, I loved it. The other batch (3/4 corn flour, 1/2 buckwheat flour) was heartier, but didn’t rise as well or keep as well, yet most of the family preferred it. Jeff is still looking for that “perfect” cornbread (he loves cornbread).

When these (which I stripped from the branches and dusted) are fully dry, I will store them in the freezer.

I mostly brought home paste tomatoes, for my own processing, but couldn’t resist those brandywines, for regular and fresh eating. I have eaten so many… delicious!

Last year, I was given many tomatoes and I turned them into cooked tomato sauce. This year, I couldn’t bear to cook the tomatoes to death while I preserved them. (Fresh is best, you know.) So I whizzed many of them in the Vita-Mix and froze the chunky raw sauce in quart size zipper-seal freezer bags. Many others, I have sliced into 1/4″ slices for rotations through the dehydrator at a low 100 degree temperature (so as to keep those enzymes viable). I finally broke down and purchased 4 additional trays for my American Harvest dehydrator, to maximize the consumption of energy required to run it. The trays were on sale at Bi-Mart for 10% off. That means I’ve had 7 trays of tomatoes drying at all times. This is far more productive than I used to be, when I could only dehydrate 3 trays at a time.

There’s not been a frost and the tomatoes are still producing at that farm, so they say. So on Wednesday, I’m going to get more. Call me crazy, but how can I turn down the opportunity of acquiring bushels of home-grown, natural, local tomatoes? I have to admit, the kitchen is full of a sickly sweet tomato fragrance, but I think I can handle it for one more week.

• 2 pounds grass-fed ground beef
• 1 medium onion or 2 small onions, diced
• 4 cups cooked and cooled quinoa*
• 2 to 3 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon dried basil

Brown the ground beef in a deep skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Leave it pretty chunky (that’s our preference; you can chop it up to smithereens if you want).

Add the diced onions and let them saute in all the yummy beef juices.

Add the cooked quinoa, salt, pepper, and basil. Mix without smushing up the quinoa. Let it all come to a warm temperature.

Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve.

To add a yummy touch, put a bit of shredded goat cheese on top of each person’s serving.

*To cook quinoa: Rinse 2 cups of quinoa grain in a fine mesh strainer under cold running water for 2 minutes. Put the grain, 4 cups of water, and a dash of extra virgin olive oil in an 8-cup capacity pot. Bring it to a boil. Turn down the heat to maintain a gentle simmer while covered. Let simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat. After about 15 minutes, fluff with a fork.

© Copyright 2008 by Wardeh Harmon.