Three-fer Thanksgiving

MMMMMM Thanksgiving. Gravy and stuffing and rolls and turkey. Yes, I have that in the correct order. And if you disagree you need to show up next year and taste test my throwdown and tell me what you think. Rode to the parents on the Silver Sled after staying with Clark and Suzy at the Albany Bed and Breakfast. Got in late Wednesday and Thursday AM got up early to make a quick trip to Walmart for a couple last minute ingredients for the stuffing. The chopping and cooking started at 7am sharp, Johnsonville sausage, bacon chunks, garlic, onions, carrots, celery, apples, and a heap of stale french bread and 7 grain bread chunks. Mix it all up in a bowl with some turkey stock from boiling the innards, a little heavy cream and some chicken stock from concentrate. wrapped up a pile of the stuffing and put it in some cheesecloth and gave it a 5 minute microwave kickstart and then stuffed it in the bird, put half of the rest in a backing dish and the last lot of it scooped out into a muffin tin. Three types of cooked stuffing, check! Rubbed the bird down with olive oil and butter then salt and pepper. Threw it in at 475 to brown off the outside quick and then cranked it down to 350 for the duration. Mom had brined the bird the day before so there was a lot of juicy juice action going on. Pulled it out at 168 degrees and put the bird on the dish wrapped in foil to let it settle down, and then I got busy with the drippings. Due to the brining and the moist stuffing there was a lot of liquid and it was a deep maroon color, very good looking. Put it on the stovetop and scrapped all the good stuff and then added some water and a little more chicken stock for a little more volume. Made up a blonde batch of roux and started thickening it up. Did not have to add any salt and the only other kick was a "splash" of brandy half way thru. Ended up with about a gallon plus a little of the best gravy I have mixed up. About then the guests showed up and we had the green beans , mashed potatoes, baked sweet potato casserole, rolls and carved turkey on for the feast. All very tasty and it was good to have the family over that we did. Grandma was over from the nursing home thanks to the Angels on Wheels van service and the Orlando group had a safe trip over. After the main course we had a plethora of pies including pumpkin, mince meat, and a new one from Lisa that was a bourbon chocolate pecan pie that was off the hook. Overall a very nice day from start to finish especially since I cooked and that got me off the hook for dish patrol afterwards.

Friday I was back in Sebring and went into work for a little while and then had lunch with the supervisor and a cheeseburger and a couple beers and then a righteous 2 hour nap. Cleaned house and was thinking all night that it was Sunday and there was work coming the next day. Thankfully that was a wrong thought.

Saturday AM I got up around 7am and fired up the computer and asked it where I should go for a ride. Firth thought was a bicycle ride with the local group and lord knows I need a little bicycle action, but then I hit the CFLRiders website and there was a posting for a west Orlando group ride at 9:30 from the Ocoee area. So I did a Batman quick shower and change and was on the bike and out the door in 27 minutes. Filled the tank in Avon Park and was up in Ocoee at the meet point with 10 minutes to spare. This is the first time I had ridden with a motorcycle group, but I have done a lot of time in bicycle packs, so I figured I would hang in near the back and chill and see what the deal was. 6 other riders showed up and we all grabbed a quick bite at the Hardee's. NO we did not get the monster Country Breakfast Burrito. UGH1!!!! We all mounted up and gassed up and we spent the next 2.5 hours motoring around the west Orlando-Clermont area. It was great riding, no incidents and no tickets. The only little downer was that when I was a wee lad and worked at Disney in the late 80's early 90's I used to drive a lot of these roads and they were a lot more rural and a lot less crowded back then. Now they are slowly becoming urban sprawl, but fortunately there are a lot of undeveloped area's left, you just have to know which way to go. So we had a good ride with some great people. Pointed the bike south around 1pm and while I was cruising home I was getting H U N G R Y. I cruised down Alt 27 and when I came thru Frostproof I stopped at the Cool Treats Ice Cream and More shop. I have driven past this place a hundred times and never had the opportunity to stop in. Well you can add it to the list of revelations and places to visit. The cheeseburger was amazingly good, the fries were fresh and hot, and the chocolate shake was Breyers absolute hand dipped best. Got home with a tally of almost 310 miles for the day and still had time to fit in a power nap while "watching" err sleeping thru Spidey Man 3.

So Thanks for family, thanks for friends, thanks for turkeys that give us good gravy, thanks for our health and thanks for beautiful days and 4 day weekends.