One hundred-ten years ago today, on November 29, 1898, was born a man of immense common sense and abundant imagination, who had a jovial love for God and life that penetrated every syllable of his writing. As I like to remember him in his own words:
"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me."
The turkey came out great. I covered it with foil, and it browned perfectly even under the foil. Inside, the meat was perfect, and not overcooked or anything.
Just two comments - first of all, it took ten hours. It was the biggest turkey we've ever gotten - 21 pounds. Usually we get a 9-13 pound turkey, which is supposed to take five hours if you bake it frozen. But we rarely eat meat, so the few times we do have it, it goes fast. This year, having three big boys, I decided to indulge them and get a huge turkey. I was barely able to get it in the oven, and I couldn't get it out of the oven. If I indulge in that much turkey again next year, I'll get two smaller turkeys.
And, second, after three hours in the oven, the turkey was thawed enough to get the plastic bag of giblets out. I looked inside with a flashlight and couldn't find another one - but when the turkey was completely done, I discovered a second bag inside the neck. Luckily, it was still fully intact - if it had melted, the turkey would have had to go in the trash because of toxins from the plastic.
"This dreadful recent movement in the direction of regulation and regimentation is the cankerworm at the root of the State. The ultimate tendency is to repress all independence, originality, and individual initiation: to crush genius in the womb and utterly destroy the freedom which has been our national character and boast."
Dr Hely Hutchison Almond, 1832-1903, Headmaster of Loretto School in Scotland, lamenting government interference; in particular, government plans to test schools in order for them to be certified.
Food safety people are recommending that turkeys be roasted frozen. Since I've never successfully thawed a frozen turkey in the fridge (they seem to stay frozen no matter how many days I let them defrost), I'm just going to put it in the oven totally frozen this year.
"Cooks have discovered, and the USDA has endorsed, cooking your whole turkey while it is still frozen. It is safe and any size of turkey works, but the cooking time will take 25% to 50% longer than a fully thawed turkey. (A 14-pound turkey may take five hours versus four hours.) This method also promotes better food-safety practices. When the turkey is frozen, no juices are able to leave the turkey and transfer onto sinks, counter tops and towels. This greatly reduces the risk for cross contaminating food." [Grassfed Recipes; they also have instructions for cooking a frozen bird]
This is from the USDA's fact Sheet:
Cooking an Unstuffed Turkey from the Frozen State
It is safe to roast a turkey from the frozen state; however, it will take longer than a fresh or thawed bird. To determine an approximate cooking time, consult a timetable for oven-roasting a whole turkey. Use the timing for the size turkey you have; then add 50 percent of that time to the original time. Do not smoke, grill, deep fat fry, or microwave a frozen turkey.
Roasting time is approximate, so check the turkey often toward the end of the estimated cooking time. Insert a food thermometer in the innermost part of the thigh when it has defrosted enough to easily insert one. Cook to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. The turkey is safely cooked when the food thermometer reaches a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees F in the innermost part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast.
Giblet Packages. Giblet packages and the turkey neck may be found inside the turkey cavity and/or tucked under the flap of skin at the front of the breastbone. When the turkey has sufficiently defrosted, the packages can be removed carefully with tongs and/or forks during cooking. If giblets were packed in a plastic bag, and the bag has been altered or melted by the cooking process, do not use the giblets or the turkey because harmful chemicals may have leached into the surrounding meat. If the plastic bag was not altered, the giblets and turkey should be safe to use.
Do Not Cook a Frozen Turkey in an Oven Cooking Bag or in the Microwave. It is not recommended to cook a turkey from the frozen state in an oven cooking bag. It is unsafe to open the bag to remove the giblets during cooking because scalding may occur. Also, spilled juices and fat may cause an oven fire.
Cooking a frozen turkey in the microwave is not recommended because it can cook unevenly and might not reach a safe internal temperature throughout. The turkey may, however, be thawed (using the defrost setting) in the microwave. Cook the turkey immediately after thawing.
One article says, "A recently completed study by Dr. Peter Snyder at the University of Minnesota confirms that cooking a turkey from the frozen state can yield a safe, high quality product. According to Dr. Snyder, 'Cooking from the frozen state is much simpler than cooking a thawed turkey, and greatly reduces the risk of spreading pathogens all over the kitchen from the drippy turkey.' The USDA meat and poultry hotline has some instructions for cooking turkeys from the frozen state, and one company sells frozen turkeys in bags that are intended to go right into the oven, in the bag, to cook. Dr. Snyder cooked turkeys of 12 to 13 pounds in a standard 325 degrees F oven. Cooking these birds from the frozen state took between four and a half and five hours, compared to three to three and a half hours to cook a 12- to 13-pound thawed turkey. Snyder found that cooking a frozen turkey could actually result in a better meal because the frozen water in the breast meat takes longer to melt than the water in the leg and thigh. This means that the leg and thigh come out well cooked and tender, not tough, and the breast is still juicy. The giblets in the bird can be removed during cooking, once the turkey has partially thawed, and used for dressing or gravy. To cook a turkey from the frozen state, remove the wrapping from the turkey and place the turkey on a rack in a pan that is large enough to catch any drippings, or use a covered roasting pan. Place the turkey in a pre-heated oven, at least 325 degrees F. Cook for four to six hours, or until done, basting as desired. The time required for cooking will depend on the size of the bird. Dr. Snyder’s research showed that a 12- to 13-pound bird will take approximately five hours to cook from the frozen state; a larger bird will take longer."
Cooking A Solidly Frozen Turkey
A whole frozen turkey without giblets and neck can be roasted, braised or stewed without thawing. Turkey parts can also be cooked without thawing. The turkey should be cooked in a preheated 325F oven.
Timetable for Roasting Solidly Frozen Turkey
12 to 16 pounds - 7 1/2 to 8 1/2 hours
16 to 20 pounds - 8 to 9 1/3 hours
20 to 24 pounds - 9 to 10 hours
A mob of homosexuals . . . assaulted a group of Christians praying together in the city's Castro District last week, in apparent retaliation for the recent defeat of homosexual marriage in California.
The Christians, a group of Evangelical Protestants who regularly go to the predominantly homosexual Castro District to sing songs and pray with passers-by, say they were holding hands and singing "Amazing Grace" when a angry mob began to shove and kick them, steal their belongings, pour hot coffee on their faces, and . . . assault them.
"We'd been there for a couple of nights just singing worship songs, people would come up and stand with us and join us, we got to pray for some people," said one participant in an account filmed at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City (YouTube interview), "but on Friday night it just was different."
The rest of the article can be read here. Parental discretion is advised with both the article and, presumably, the YouTube video of the incident, which I haven't watched.
The incident is eerily reminiscent of Genesis 9.
Miss M had her fifth birthday while we were out of town. So we took her to the park, bought a cake and a local grocery store, and had hot chocolate at Dunkin Donuts.
There are a few more pictures here.
The last flames of fallThis was posted on a message board; I want to save it for future reference. I'm just including a quote from near the beginning, but the whole article is enlightening.
Obama's Abortion Extremism
"... According to the standard argument for the distinction between these labels, nobody is pro-abortion. Everybody would prefer a world without abortions. After all, what woman would deliberately get pregnant just to have an abortion? But given the world as it is, sometimes women find themselves with unplanned pregnancies at times in their lives when having a baby would present significant problems for them. So even if abortion is not medically required, it should be permitted, made as widely available as possible and, when necessary, paid for with taxpayers' money.
The defect in this argument can easily be brought into focus if we shift to the moral question that vexed an earlier generation of Americans: slavery. Many people at the time of the American founding would have preferred a world without slavery but nonetheless opposed abolition. Such people - Thomas Jefferson was one - reasoned that, given the world as it was, with slavery woven into the fabric of society just as it had often been throughout history, the economic consequences of abolition for society as a whole and for owners of plantations and other businesses that relied on slave labor would be dire. Many people who argued in this way were not monsters but honest and sincere, albeit profoundly mistaken. Some (though not Jefferson) showed their personal opposition to slavery by declining to own slaves themselves or freeing slaves whom they had purchased or inherited. They certainly didn't think anyone should be forced to own slaves. Still, they maintained that slavery should remain a legally permitted option and be given constitutional protection.
Would we describe such people, not as pro-slavery, but as 'pro-choice'? Of course we would not."
Update:
Snopes.com has posted about this; not quite as helpful as I had hoped. They say, yes, it's true, but coincidences with lottery numbers aren't unheard of. I actually expected them to say it was a hoax.
666
Look it up yourself.
(From The Time Garden by Edward Eager. The setting: Jack, Eliza, Roger, and Ann travel back in time to the days of the Revolution with the help of the magical Natterjack. Having mustered the minutemen, caused an Indian massacre, and nearly gotten themselves killed, they return to the Natterjack with guilty consciences for all the mayhem they've caused. Oh, and the Natterjack is a Cockney Natterjack, you should know, so 'e 'as trouble with 'is haitches.)
"We've been thinking now," said Ann. "And I've been wondering. About those people."
And she told the Natterjack her worries about the Indian massacre.
The Natterjack was silent in thought. Then it spoke. "I 'ave 'eard," it said, "that the h'evil that men do lives after them..."
" 'The good is oft interred with their bones,' " Ann finished the quotation. Then a look of horror came over her face. "Do you mean the bad things we do last, and the good ones don't?"
"That wouldn't be fair," said Roger.
"It would be just like magic, though," said Eliza, "always thwarting us!"
"I was thinking," said the Natterjack, "more the other way round."
"You mean...?" Roger puzzled it out. "You mean the mistakes we make come out of the adventure with us, and don't do any harm, but the good things we do stay buried in the past, and turn real?"
"That," said the Natterjack, "is the general h'idea."
I was searching for pictures of Byzantine buildings (for my humanities class) when I stumbled across this site. Stunning 360-degree virtual-reality panoramas of historic buildings around the world, from the Parthenon to Santa Croce to Mont Saint Michel. It's going to be difficult to finish my homework now...
Hybiscus
Red Ginger; this was in a garden at the Hanalei shopping area.
These star flowers grow on bushes that were planted all over around at a hotel we stayed at in Kaua'i.
Taken along the sidewalk by the public restroom at the Diamondhead gravesite.
In the garden by Queen Emma's summer palace.
Airport parking lot.
Plumeria - these grow on trees all over; they must be native.I hope everyone had a good Halloween! I spent mine at a Harry Potter party with a company of college friends. There were about a dozen of us, all dressed as different characters. Harry and Ginny were there, in Quidditch uniforms, and Hermione and Neville and Ron and some of the other Weasleys. A professor came as Dumbledore, and his wife dressed as Professor Sprout. There were Rowena Ravenclaw and Fleur Delacour and Lily Evans (Potter). And I was Snape. We had a great time: there was a trivia contest and a movie, and plenty of nerdy discussion and merriment.
We had an excellent lecture in chapel last week about All Saints' Day, and its importance as a Christian holiday, celebrating the church itself: the saints present and past--the company of believers we live among and the cloud of witnesses that fights with us. I wish I had time to write more about it.
Meantime, there are a couple of quotes that struck me this week. This one was in the chapel service: "Perfection, in a Christian sense, means becoming mature enough to give ourselves to others." That's from Kathleen Norris, 20th century poet and Benedictine oblate. While looking up that quote I found several others from Kathleen Norris that were good, among them: "Just the knowledge that a good book is awaiting one at the end of a long day makes that day happier." I think I shall have to read some of her writings.
I also liked this quote from the photographer Gary Monroe: "One must have an appetite for failure. Ninety-nine percent of my photographs are near misses. I don't make photographs for recognition. I make them for my edification."
