Italian Flair Turkey

This turkey is not your usual turkey! My husband's niece has been making this turkey for Thanksgiving for several years now. Since this side of the family is quite large, there are typically two turkeys made each Thanksgiving. Her turkey is always the preferred one (not to bash the other turkeys that have been served along side it, by any means) It is just that this turkey is always so moist and the flavor unique. When I pegged Eliza down to share her recipe, she said she wings it every time she makes it, based on what spices she has in her cupboard. So this can be changed to suit your herb tastes.

This is how I made it: Mix your mustard and spices and slather it over the turkey

Bake for 1 hour and pour spaghetti sauce over turkey. Baste at least once an hour, until turkey timer pops out.

Italian Flair Turkey

1 onion, flowered

1 C mustard

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp seasoned salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp rosemary

1/2 tsp sage

2 (26 oz)cans Spaghetti sauce (I used Hunts garlic and herb)

1/2 spaghetti sauce can of water

Wash and pat turkey dry with paper towels. Insert onion into cavity. Combine mustard and all seasonings. Coat turkey all over with mustard paste. Bake uncovered at 325* for 1 hour.*** Pour spaghetti sauce all over turkey and add the water to the pan (this prevents it from drying out and makes basting easier). Cover and cook until turkey is done (this varies depending on the weight of your bird), basting at least every hour. The turkey takes a little longer to cook due to losing heat every time you open the oven door to baste. After turkey is done, remove from oven and tent with foil. Let rest for 20-30 minutes. Carve turkey and pour pan juices over the meat. (You will want to use your baster to get below the layer of grease in the bottom of your pan, or use a fat separator)*** I use a counter top roasting oven to free up my oven space. In my case I cooked it with the lid on the whole time, so I didn't need to worry about cover or uncover.

Chicken and Dumplings

Hmmmm.... What to have for dinner when you didn't plan ahead!?! I wasn't thinking until this morning that we didn't have any meat defrosted. I have been blog stalking at Sisters Cafe (one of my FAVORITE food blogs... go check them out!) They posted last year (O.K.... so that was only 4 days ago ;-)...I couldn't resist) a recipe for chicken and dumplings. I had Costco canned chicken, so I decided to adapt the recipe and make it for dinner. It was super fast, easy AND delicious. I do think it would taste better with chicken not from a can, but in a pinch it works! I was also out of Poultry Seasoning, so I made up my own! The dumplings were flavorful, light and airy. I hope you enjoy my version... we all did :-)

Chicken and Dumplings

3 (12.5 oz) cans chicken chunks (or 3 C diced, cooked chicken)

1/2 C butter

1/2 C flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

2 (14 oz) cans chicken broth (afterthought... If I were to make this again with canned chicken, I would use the juice from the chicken as part of the broth, but would not add the extra salt)

1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of chicken soup

Dumplings:

2 C flour

1 T baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp poultry seasoning (1/4 tsp each of rosemary, marjoram, sage, thyme and a dash of nutmeg)

1 tsp celery seeds

1 C milk

1/4 C vegetable oil

Spread chicken evenly in a 9 X 13 pan. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over med high heat. Add the flour and cook for a couple of minutes to cook out the "raw" taste of the flour. Add the chicken broth and cook, stirring frequently until it is thickened. Stir in the cream of chicken soup until it is smooth and pour over the chicken. In a medium bowl, combine dry dumpling ingredients. Add the milk and oil all at once and stir just until it is combined. I used a medium (# 40) scoop to drop the dough onto the gravy. I yielded 18 dumplings. Bake uncovered at 425* for 25 minutes.