House Of Koenig » holiday

Smoked Turkey

Matt — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 06:03:00 +0000

We had a small group gathering today and decided to do a pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving. I bought a 17 pound turkey and was going to do the traditional roasting but after seeing a Food Network show on favorite Thanksgiving recipes I decided to smoke the turkey first. I had some mesquite chips in the garage from the summer barbecue season so I took a few handfuls and soaked them in water. Then I spread them out in the bottom of a heavy roasting pan. Next I put a metal rack on top of the pan and placed the turkey on top of that so the turkey was basically sitting on the rim of the pan. The idea was to have lots of space between the chips and the bird. Then I wrapped the whole thing in aluminum foil and placed the pan on a stove top burner and turned the heat up to medium (5). As the wood chips heated and started to smoulder you could smell the sweet mesquite. I left this on the burner for about 1.5 hours. The bottom of the bird started to cook a bit but it was all good. After the smoking time I rubbed it down with olive oil and sprinkled salt and black pepper on the skin, covered it in foil and popped it into the oven. I let it roast covered for about 4 hours on 325 F. For the last 45 minutes I uncovered the bird and took the foil off so the skin would brown up and get nice and crispy. After a 30 minute cool down I carved it all up. The meat had a nice smokey flavor to it, especially the skin. If you are looking to do something different this Thanksgiving try smoking the turkey before roasting.

Veterans Day

Matt — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:51:25 +0000

Today was Veterans Day here in the US. It originally started as Armistice Day as a commemoration of the end of World War I and made a national holiday in 1938 by President Woodrow Wilson. Veterans Day is about honoring those who wore or continue to wear the uniform of our armed services. These are the men and women who choose to serve our country. They choose to fight for our freedoms and protect us from harm. But while they are protecting us who is protecting them? Who protects them from those who take advantage of their sacrifice and needlessly put them into harms way? Much like the sidearm of a police officer our military should be used as a last resort when all diplomatic discussions have failed. Our men and women who proudly serve should know that when they get deployed there is a damn good reason why. I salute all the men and women serving today. May your sacrifices not be in vain.

Christmas Lights 2008 – A Tour

Matt — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 07:06:02 +0000

Tonight I took my boys on a tour of some of the Christmas light displays around town. Here are a few photos of some of the more spectacular displays. You can actually take a limousine tour of the displays throughout the city. We probably saw 5 different limos cruising the neighborhood. I’ve always thought that it would be fun to fill a limo with friends and family and enjoy the lights. More photos can be found on my Flickr site.

The Great 2008 Christmas Tree Hunt

Matt — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 01:58:58 +0000

Today was our annual pilgrimage to find the perfect Christmas tree. Under cloudy and at times rainy/snowy skies we headed out with Grandpa to Northern Lights Christmas Tree Farm When we arrived we first scouted out the small store where they sell trinkets and wreathes as well as hot chocolate and cookies. My boys were interested in the animals around the farm which included cows, pigs a lone goat and 3 turkeys. After looking at the animals for a bit my oldest son reminded us that we were here to get a tree, not look at animals. So we boarded a trailer pulled by a tractor and headed out into the wilds of the farm to find the perfect tree. First we checked out the Canaan Fir but they were still pretty young and not very full. Of course every tree we came across the boys wanted to cut down calling it the “perfect” tree. But I wasn’t satisfied with anything we had seen yet. So we moved down to the Noble Fir section to see if the perfect tree was hiding down there. Since it had rained the ground was very muddy and our boots soon became twice as heavy as mounds of mud caked them. We realized that the search for the perfect tree wouldn’t be easy. Suddenly the clouds parted and a light shined down from the heavens and lit up one tree in the field. It was the perfect tree. We quickly marked it as ours when Grandpa put his red baseball cap on the top. Grabbing the saw we started the chore of separating the tree from the soil that had nurtured it for so long. Our tree turned out to be 10 years old which we calculated by counting the rings in the stump that was left behind. Soon our tractor returned to bring us back to farm headquarters where our tree was shaken on a device to remove all the dead needles and any other thing that may be hiding in the midst of the sea of green needles. Finally our tree was pulled through the baler which makes the tree easier to handle by wrapping up all the branches in twine. Our quest complete we headed for home with our catch resting in the bed of our pickup. Another successful Christmas tree hunt complete.