With Thanksgiving less than two weeks away it is about time to determine just how you are gonna cook that tasty bird.  I’ve had deep-fried turkey (good), smoked turkey (even better), but my favorite way to cook a turkey for Thanksgiving (or even Christmas) is brined and roasted. Yes, I’ll admit that I borrowed the original recipe from the amazing Alton Brown a few years ago, but I’ve made some minor (and delicious) changes, oh yes.

Start with a 14 to 16 pound turkey.  You can use a smaller bird or a turkey breast, but be sure to reduce the other ingredients proportionally.  You’ll also need a 5 gallon bucket.

Brine stuff:
1 cup of salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
1/2 tbsp allspice berries
1/2 tablespoon candied ginger
1/2 cup cognac
1 gallon iced H20

Aromatics:
1 red apple, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 sage leaves
canola oil

So what you want to do is combine all the brine stuff (except the iced water) in a pot and bring it to a boil.  Stir until the solids are dissolved, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until chilled. It is generally best to do this the night before. Save a little bit of the cognac for yourself and have a drink while you’re at it.

Early on the day of cooking, combine the brine (what you made above) and ice water in the clean 5 gallon bucket.  Mix it up and place the thawed turkey breast side down in the bucket, cover, and refrigerate or set it in a cool place for 6 hours. It is generally pretty chilly here around Thanksgiving so on the back porch works for me.

Just before you are ready to roast, heat your oven to 500 degrees.  Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and cup of water and microwave on high for about 5 minutes.  Once you get the aromatics in the microwave, remove the bird from the brine and rinse inside and out with cold water.  Discard the brine.

Place your turkey on a roasting rack inside a wide, low pan and pat dry with paper towels.  Add the aromatics you just microwaved to the cavity of the bird along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck back the wings and coat the bird liberally with canola oil.

Roast your bird on the lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F. for 30 minutes.  Remove the turkey from the oven and cover breast with a double layer of aluminum foil and return it to the oven, reducing temperature to 350 degrees F.  A 14 to 16 pound turkey should require 2 to 2-1/2 hours of roasting.  Use a probe thermometer if you’ve got one and set it for 161 degrees.  Let your bird rest, loosely covered for 15 minutes before carving.

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I spent my evening on the southside last night, maybe that’s why the Cubs got crushed.  But I digress.  I spent my evening with a group of women and we ate breakfast…for dinner.  And that’s alright with me!

MDA (Midwest Dairy Association) and Edelman brought 3 local Chicago bloggers together; Erin of the state that i am in (I think I’m in love…with baby Rufus! ), Caroline of Whipped (she had me at Bougatsa ) and yours truly of, you know, here, there and everywhere.  We gathered with our friends together at Chicago’s Washburne Culinary Institute (yes, WCI is where Season 4 of Top Chef was filmed! – yay Ted Allen!)

The three of us introduced ourselves and talked a little about our blogging addictions habits and what fascinates us about dairy products.  We went around the room and everyone in attendance shared their favorite breakfast.  I was inspired by…..

some of the breakfasts that were mentioned.  Some like cereal, some like omelettes, bagels and…donuts!  Yum!  Of course, I shared that I’m a freak about Special K’s Yogurt and Berries – can’t live with it (because I’m always eating it all), can’t live without it.

We sampled dairy products and a variety of Cabot cheese – my favorite: the Chili-Lime Hand Rubbed Cheddar, LE YUM!  Then, we all joined registered dietitian and National Dairy Council’s spokesperson, Melissa Dobbins in the kitchen for a recipe demo of Cheddar and Red Pepper Breakfast squares.  Melissa answered some dairy questions for us while cooking up this delish dish.

After the presentation, we went back out to the dining area to enjoy a fully catered breakfast for dinner!  The spread was fantastic.

Of course, none of us left empty-handed.  We were all given a 3-A-Day of Dairy cooler bag full of great products!

The contents included: A Tastebook and 5 Tastebook coupons, 3-A-Day of Dairy measuring cups, apron, cereal to-go container, handouts, and a ridiculous amount of coupons for free and discounted products!

The special giveaways weren’t too shabby either.  I would have loved to have won the gift basket, which included a Crate and Barrel cheese board and tools, a cheese making kit, a Williams and Sonoma Pizza Stone and a Williams and Sonoma Cow Creamer.  Other giveaways were copies of Lisa Drayer’s new book, “The Beauty Diet” and a Mukka Express Machine.

I have to say, it was a very “good morning” kind of evening.  Thanks MDA and Edelman for putting this lovely event together!  You can view more of my pictures from the Chicago 3-A-Day meet-up HERE.

Who else is talking about 3-A-Day?

Popular bloggers like, CityMama over at BlogHer, The Pioneer Woman and Gather among others.

Now, being so dairy-inspired, I’m going to post a few of my favorite recipes over the next couple of weeks.  Stay tuned!

*To my guests: Joanne and Sarah, thank you for coming!  I am grateful that you were able to attend!

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There are three things that everyone (including parents) aspires to be these days. It really is very simple. People want to be: 1) Eco-friendy, 2) Healthy, 3) Hip and/or cool.  If you said otherwise I wouldn’t believe you.

So to be those three things, all you need to do is hydrate yourself with nature’s finest. That’s right, just drink water. More specifically, the right water.

You need to drink Tap’d NY water.

Tap’d NY doesn’t hide the fact that all they really do is “purify and bottle New York City’s famous tap water, leaving out the malarkey and far journey included in other bottled waters.” Basically, there is no BS with Tap’d NY. The water in their bottles isn’t from exotic sources (like Fiji) and doesn’t pretend to come from springs, mountain streams, or other pristine locations. It is (after all) just water, like any other water.

Instead, Tap’d NY hopes that you (yes, you) will refill and reuse your bottle a few times before finally recycling it. Sure, you could reuse the bottle from any other brand of bottled water and we hope you do too. Better yet, buy a Tap’d NY Sigg bottle and reuse it until you break it or lose it at the beach. Tap’d NY isn’t trying to change the world… well, actually they are.

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Sometimes dads (and moms) just need to unwind a little after the kids have gone to sleep. I speak from experience and know that one solution would be a gimlet, martini, or some other cocktail made with Reyka Vodka from Iceland. Reyka is made from glacial water and is so smooth that you can sip it without a mixer plus the distillery is “green” and powered by geothermal heat so you can feel good about feeling good.

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