This was, quite surprisingly, a hit in our house. With one of us (me) picky about meat, and another one low-carb, and another one with food "texture" issues, and another who would prefer to eat nothing but vanilla yogurt and icecream...  everyone ate this meal and liked it!  The trick was to season each element well and separately.  That way the kids could skip the "spicy" (by kid standards) gingery brown sauce and eat separately the noodles that could've stood on their own flavored with oil, garlic, and basil.

It was decided that today would be official Turkey-Soup-Making day! The house smells amazing, and I can't wait for dinner tonight!



We also decided to take a trip to our favorite cider mill to get some of the season's last cider and apples.  This is a MUST here in Apple Country (Upstate NY).   Today's star variety was the Russet Apple.  It's an heirloom variety that is sweet and crunchy on the inside and has a tough outer skin that hints at flavors of grass or hay.  I think they're LOVELY!  I bought a peck of them to make into apple butter later this week, and a gallon of cider.  They were only pressing this particular variety of cider from November 25th until December 1st.  So very, VERY limited and we were lucky to catch them on their last day!

We have turkey at least once a year, as a general rule.  It's actually really hard to get your hands on a fresh one around here... but we FOUND ONE at our local butcher! Ordered it a couple weeks early and it's local, cage-free, bug-and-grass-fed and around $2.75 a pound.   worth. every. penny.   And not really even that expensive, if you think about it.

14 to 16 lbs of fresh Turkey later, we'll all be in a tryptophan coma on Thanksgiving night.  But that's not all!  After all the delicious once-a-year meat has been carved off the carcass it's time to make the best soup EVER... using my grandma's time-tested recipe.

First, you have to roast your turkey!  No deep fryer for me, please... I want this bird done traditionally, so it comes out of the oven looking and smelling like the masterpiece that it is!

 Meanwhile... you can go do something else while your significant other makes:


Pull the giblets out of the (gross little) bag and put them in a 2.5 quart pot.  Add stock to cover the giblets (about 4 cups).   Boil for about 45 minutes.  Remove giblets and reserve liquid.  Melt 1/2 cup margarine in a sauce pan and mix in flour to form a roux. Add stock a little at a time, whisking constantly until it reaches desired consistency.  Add seasalt if desired.

And then, everyone gets to eat this AMAZING bird, with gravy... and the carcass is all that's left.  WAIT!  DON'T TOSS OUT THE CARCASS!  You can refrigerate or freeze it for when you're ready to make: