The ULTIMATE Turkey Brine

This one is a winner folks. Your crew will be oohhhing and ahhhhing over this turkey. If they like ham that is....

Smokey Turkey Brine (from my mom's kitchen)
3 quarts water
3 cups sugar
2 cups Tender Quick (a Morton's product)
12 bay leaves
1 tablespoon liquid smoke

Enough for a 10 to 16 pound turkey. Mix all ingredients and pour over a turkey in a large container and place in the refrigerator for 48 hours. If you do not have room in your fridge, place the turkey and brine in an appropriately sized cooler and place in the garage. Fill gallon sized plastic storage bags with ice cubes and place on top of the turkey. Replace ice as needed. You'll probably need to flip your turkey if it is not submerged completely in either method.

This Year's Specialtea Samples

A couple of weeks have passed since this year's Holiday Specialtea at church. As always, it was a great event with a WONDERFUL meal and lots of samples. If you don't know about the event, we provide samples of recipes along with recipe cards for each. The idea is so that the ladies can sample and see what might be a recipe to include in their holiday celebrations. So we always try to include some unique recipes. This year's theme was Cookies & Candy. Here is a list. Just click on the name and it will take you to the recipe link. All got good reviews, however, the Cracker Candy topped the list for ease and taste.

Cracker Candy

Mounds Candy

Whipped Shortbread Cookies

Spring Lime Cookies

Buckeyes

Panocha Fudge

Butterscotch Gingerbread Cookies

Peppermint Snowball Cookies

We had two others: Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies & Chocolate Coconut Log but alas, those don't have web links. If you'd like me to type them out, then please leave a comment.

Tartar Sauce

Here is my tartar sauce recipe.

Tartar Sauce
1/3 cup mayo
1 Tablespoon dill relish (heaping)
1/2 tsp lemon pepper
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 dash of cayenne pepper
Salt & Pepper to taste

Mix well. Can be stored in the fridge for a week (or more but shhhh, don't tell anyone).