Thanksgiving from the Woos

It's a rainy morning that started with a diaper that leaked onto her clothes and our bed, but from our little nest to yours, hope you're having a wonderful Thanksgiving! There's much to be thankful for all year round :)

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever. Psalm 107:1"

Psst! Cardstore.com has been having big sales. They address your envelopes and even add postage for free!

AB, see you again

I would feel bad about posting my wish list before posting my Thanksgiving post if there weren't Christmas decorations and products along many, many aisles even before the turkey's been purchased. But back to Turkey Day...

Alton Brown is my hero. You might remember my first interaction with him away from the monitor/TV screen here. So when it came to my turkey this year, there was not a second of hesitation of who I'd call to help me out in the kitchen.

My quest began with finding a hefty bird and pulling out this trusty recipe. The only modification I wanted to make this year was buying a bigger turkey so that I could have leftovers. That's right, I wanted to experience slapping cranberry sauce and tender turkey meat between two slices of bread or rolls.

So it began, again. Here's what happened over the course of approximately 3 days:

Birdie sitting happy, waiting.

Who needs Love Potion #9?

It's like a spa.

Mr. Woo's contribution.

I decided that since I made two turkeys last year that I'd repeat my duel in creating dual friends and bring upon myself an annual tradition. However, I didn't want to do the same fruit and cheese turkey, so I made a bird that would last longer than two hours.

How Mr. Woo prepares for the "big moment," aka carving the turkey. Requests a special knife.

I went for a more rustic look this year.

A peek at how it looked before we tore it up:

And what is a fun-lovin' group to do after eating a feast? Have fun playing games of course. I think they also had a time of sharing, but I was in the kitchen so I don't recall much of what was said. :(  Oh, but I did get in on some of the action:

 

 

This was the practice round of just one of the games:

 

Oh, the memories. :)

Thank you to everyone who joined us this Thanksgiving! And y'all who spent time at home, I hope it was a blessed time together!





The taste of success. I really wanted a drumstick this year.


Did you notice any changes in our living since last year?

Bye Bye Birdie

It was beautiful! But since I'm a fan of details and the chronological order of things, I'm going to walk you through the entire process.

Minus 7 Days
Research, research, research. I'm not kidding when I say that Google was a good friend. My first decision was fresh or frozen.

Minus 4 Days
I bought fresh because it was on sale. It sat happy in the fridge until further notice.

Minus 3 Days
Eventually, I came across Good Eat's Alton Brown and his brining method. Yeah, brining? Had never heard of this term until after I bought my turkey. Who knew this bird cooking world was so complicated??

Minus 2 Days
Being caught up in how to make the turkey taste good, I forgot that I would need some sort of device to cook the bird in. With a mass e-mail sent to WEW, I was able to borrow a roasting pan with rack and a thermometer probe from Tiffo. (Thanks, Tiff!)

Next, I decided I wasn't going to buy allspice if I was never going to use it again, nor candied ginger (though I did purchase powdered ginger). I bought everything else between Trader Joe's, Safeway, and Berkeley Bowl - except salt. How could the TJ and SW not have kosher salt? The leading grocery stores! Oh, the horror. I even looked in the pantry at church - no kosher salt. So what's a woman to do? This one called KevinNish and got her some kosher salt. (Thanks, Kevin!)

Then, I made my brine mixture in the largest pot I could find. It was too difficult to hold the bottles of spice, the measuring spoons, and not make a mess I'd have to clean up so I just "eyeballed" everything. I like a clean kitchen. But the ginger started to smell really strong so I added more peppercorn. At this point, Mr. Woo said it was smelling good, so I shrugged off my unwillingness to be precise and kept going.

Minus 1 day

Thinking about sticking my hand in the turkey's cavity made me feel yucky so I asked my brave knight Sir Woo to get the neck and giblets out of the freezing cold turkey. That was another funny and new word to me: giblets. I'm glad they packed in nicely in a bag to make the search easier. Next came the actual process of brining. I finally made the decision to not use an oven bag when cooking. It did serve a grand purpose in keeping the bird sitting happy in the brine. It's not a good idea to use a trash bag in preparing food as there are chemicals and other harmful materials that you probably don't want contaminating your hard work. I did line a sturdy box with a plastic bag before I lovingly placed my plucked and oven-bagged friend into it. Problem: the brine was causing the bag to "go flat." I grabbed all the root beer bottles that I had used as decoration in the study room to prop up the liquid so that there would be as much submerging as possible. Back to the fridge it went for 15 hours, flipped (and bottles rearranged) half way.

Mrs. Woo: Wish us well!
Mr. Woo: "Us?"
Mrs. Woo: The turkey and me!
Mr. Woo: Oh. (looking at the turkey) Hang in there, buddy... tap, tap.

 
D-Day
About three hours before guests were to arrive, I excitedly urged Mr. Woo into the kitchen to take out our friend so that we could rinse he/she off. After being patted dry, I tossed in some coarsely diced onions. That's when I found out that the cavity inside is actually smaller than I thought. Since we don't have a microwave, I heated up my aromatics in a sauce pan for a couple minutes on medium heat before adding it to the onions. Then some sage, rosemary, a couple of cinnamon sticks. We liberally rubbed the turkey with some olive oil, made our "turkey triangle" (a sheet of foil constructed to prevent the breast meat from drying out), freshly ground some peppercorn on top for aesthetics, and spent several minutes trying to tuck in the wings. To keep the smoking to a minimum (and hoping for a non-existant) I added a few cups of water to the bottom of the pan, and into the 500oF oven it went for 30 minutes. Then in went the thermometer probe into the center of the breast meat (thank you, Mr. Woo!), and down to 350oF until "the fat turkey thermometer sings" at 161oF. It rested for about 45 minutes, cooked a little longer while doing so, and turned out beautifully!

While it was cooking, I had time to make another turkey and appetizer.

Wait, that's not how it should look. It's supposed to look like this (see if you can spot the difference):

It was my first time cooking a turkey, and Mr. Woo's first time carving. (While I was YouTubing videos from Good Eats, Mr. Woo was watching people teach how to carve!) He did a fantastic job. (With the first incision juices flowed out - super moist.) Jaffrey did help speed the process, but we were waiting for the potatoes anyway.

We had 14 happily munching people in our living room. I wish I could have talked more with our guests, but it seemed like my attention was needed elsewhere often.

Feel free to come over again, and we'll have a more intimate dinner then. Thanks for joining us for our very first Thanksgiving as a married couple! We're glad that you had a place to celebrate and give thanks.:)

Yum.

After a quick vacuum, scrub of the floors, brush off the tablecloth, and finish the last dishes, all 3 Woo's headed out to visit my parents. We ate BBQ ribs (which made 3 days in a row) and galbi; I did my Black Friday shopping at 5am; and came back home Saturday afternoon in preparation for Sunday worship. Whew! Exhausted? Yeah. Fun? Yeah. :)

Mary, Martha, and Turkey

Boy, I like Google. It's helped this first-time hosting, first Thanksgiving turkey experience go rather well - from the logistical point of view. I had my 5-day plan and grocery list ready to go for this one meal, just like I would my Black Friday plans. Too bad it's become an idol.

I've gotten so caught up in trying to make the "perfect" turkey that I've pushed aside important responsibilities, especially spending time with the Lord. Rather than cultivating a hospitable heart, I've brewed up a prideful one. Opening up our home wasn't a bad thing, but I lost sight that being hospitable doesn't mean perfect food. It was about my attitude.When I realized this, I thought of Mary and Martha.

"Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, seated at the Lord's feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me." But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her."" -Luke 10:38-42

While discussing with Mr. Woo today, he pointed out a detail that I had overlooked. Martha, in all her business, got frustrated/mad when asking that Mary help. That's me too! In the heat of an argument, I not-so-secretly got frustrated that Mr. Woo wasn't going to cook anything. Ugh, I'm so wicked. My poor husband...

BUT with God's overflowing grace and the help of my patient husband, I'm once again sitting at the Lord's feet to listen. Please pray for me in the days to come that I would be reminded to sit and listen, so that when I prepare for Thursday's dinner, I would do so with a humble, hospitable, loving heart. :)

Tips on How To Cook A Turkey, from Mrs. Woo's 3rd graders

We're opening our place to those who aren't able to go home this Thanksgiving. It's quite exciting as it'll be my first time hosting for a holiday. I'm even ambitious enough to cook a turkey for the first time!

For a variety of educational reasons I give my students an assignment titled How To Cook A Turkey around Thanksgiving time, in which they list the ingredients that they would need and then the directions to cooking the bird. It's fun to read what they come up with, and a very fortunate protocol that most home oven temperatures starts at 325oF. Read on to see why...

Student #1:
Heres how to cook a turkey.
First put the raw turkey in a oven 80oF and watie 5 minutes
next stuff the turkey.
third put the turkey on a plate.
Fainally cut the turkey
Mmmm you can eat the turkey now.

Student #2:
...Put the time 97oF. Then step away and don't touch the oven or you'll get burned!... 

  
Point taken - Set the correct temperature so that the FDA does not come knocking on our door.

Student #3: 
How to cook a juicy turckey. First you get a turckey. Next you make some sauce. Then put in sugar in the sauce and pore it on the turkey. Next you put on flour. Then you put it in the oven for 10oC and cook it for 2 and a half hours. While it's still cooking you get a platter and put lettus on the platter to make it look pretty. Then you get the tukey on the patter, but be careful. Last, but not least, put on a little bit of pepper on the tukey. Thats how you make a juicy turkey.  

Student #4: 
...Sixth put baisil on the plater around The turkey. Seventh put the rosemary on top of the turkey...

Point taken - Make it pretty and fragrant.

Student #5:
It is time to cook a turkey! First put ketcup and salt on the turkey. Then put peper and onion. Next put the turkey in the oven and time it to 369oF 2 hours. Finaly, get A cup of water. Have fun making more turkeys.

Student #6:
It is fun to make a turkey. First you put flour on the turky. Next you put powder. Then you put cream. Next you put ketchup. Then you put soy sause. Next you put it in the oven. You need to put it in the oven for 30 mins. Then you put some vechtables on the top of the turky. Next you eat it!

Student #7:
firs get a Pot! Next get boiling water. (!30)(mins) Then put the turkey in! finally cut it with a knife! last but not least set the table! HAVE FUN!

 
Point taken - It'll be fun. (But I am not making more than one!) 

Student #8:
It is easy to cook a turkey. First, set the temperature of the oven to 363oF and then stuff the turkey with the mashed potatoes and put it in the oven and set the timer for 6 hours. Next, wait until it's done. Then, spread extra virgin olive oil on it. After that, spread the alfredo sauce on the bread. Next, put the bread around the turkey. Then, put the gravy on the remaining mashed potatoes. Finally, eat it. If you put all your effort into cooking it then it will taste very good.

Student #9:
It is easy to make a turkey. First I get one turkey and cut of its head and pluck its feathers on hot. Next, I put it in the oven over 5 minutes and put them on for 2 minutes on medium. Then I get salad, and mushrooms. Then, I get a tasty drink of lemonade which is cool. Next, I get some plates, forks, knives, and caps. Finally, I have a wonderful time with friends.

Point taken - It'll be gross, wonderful, and easy. Note to self: "put all [my] effort into cooking it."

Psh, well I guess I have nothing to worry about. This is a road never personally traveled, so it's a big adventure for me. I'll keep you posted on what happens on Thursday.

What's the best tip you've received in cooking for the holidays?

Join the Woo's in giving thanks!

Just in case you didn't receive it, Mr. Woo sent out an e-mail to EBCBmail inviting y'all to join us for Thanksgiving if you will not be going home for the holidays. Here's what it said...

Hi family,

If you're not going home for this Thanksgiving, my wife and I are opening up our place to the church and would be delighted to have YOU over for dinner.  Here's the information:

Who:   You
What:  Thanksgiving Dinner
Where: The Woo's Residence - Transportation will be arranged later
When:  November 26th (time still to be determined)
Why:    To celebrate and thank the Lord for His faithfulness, to partake in an encouraging time of fellowship, to enjoy the rich blessing of delicious food in abundance, to have some relaxing fun with our brothers and sisters, and other stuff

This dinner will be potluck style, so start thinking about what you can bring to share with others.  Off the top of my head, it'd be nice to have a turkey (or two) with gravy + cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, candied yams, bad-for-your-health-but-so-tasty-in-your-mouth stuffing, refreshing apple cider, biscuits and rolls, hearty ribs, and many other things (I guess a vegetable would be healthy).  [Mrs. Woo] will coordinate this later so don't concern yourself with the specifics of food just yet.

In the meantime, please shoot [Mrs. Woo] an email if you're interested in joining us for the evening.  Her email address is ________ (I wonder if we'll ever get that changed).  Feel free to invite others if they're going to be in the area and please RSVP by Nov 21st (next Saturday).

P.S. Feel free to contact Hong and Tami, Daniel and Cassie, or JonTsai as well.  Their places are also open.

Two minutes later, a Gchat window opens up. It's Becca, saying:

hehe
your husband's email is funny

it's so clear that he got pretty excited about eating as he started listing the foods

they get more and more detailed

It's like she was in the other room when Mr. Woo said those exact words! He had just told me the same thing except he added that he was drooling.

Oh, Mr. Woo - how food brings thou much happiness...

Sometimes, you're enjoying it so much that you like you're in pain. Oh the joy! :)

What's your favorite Thanksgiving food?