Back from nearly a week of traveling on business. While I was gone, Darrell got some strawberry jam done, and is ready for the cement tomorrow morning for a new chicken coop. The strawberry patch is being neglected more than we like this year, but there is so much else going on. The vegetable garden is getting off to a decent start - could not believe how many things had sprouted and how big they had gotten while I was gone! During my trip, I talked with a fellow foodie who recommended two books, which I ordered used on Amazon. One is called "Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking", and the other is "The Flavor Bible". This one just came today in the mail, and the other should be here shortly. Will comment on them after I get a chance to go through them. The person who recommended them was raving about what a great resource they are. He owns a cheesecake business in Grand Rapids, MI called "Cheesecake Jake's", and he uses these reference works to play with flavors and combinations for cheesecake.
Well, our turkey raising experiment this year went well - probably a little too well. We had a lot of orders for birds in the 15 - 25# range and our smallest bird was over 21#. They REALLY thrived out in the pasture. We plan to raise more next year, but probably start them somewhat later (these birds were 22 weeks old) and manage their feeding protocol a little differently. We used the two biggest birds - 41.25# and a whopping 41.90# guy . . . whew! Darrell had written an informational piece about " How to Handle Roasting a Big Turkey ", and I had some of those big disposable roasting pans to give to people who feared their regular roaster wouldn't cut it. So, several of our customers shared their story of what they did with the bird and send some photos. There're also photos at the end of what we did with the two monsters. Leah C. sent these photos and a note about their experience. She had been leery of doing a big bird, so Darrell's instructions and ...
Happy to hear you're planning to check out our book THE FLAVOR BIBLE, which was the brainchild of a Michigan gal (Karen Page, who is from Sterling Heights)!
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