CLAY'S TURKEY AND APPLES

22 October 2009



Came back from St. Louis and taking the grandkids back to Utah, decided to harvest one of the turkeys. The two Bronze are getting pretty big and they are the first to go. Not sure if one is bigger than the other or not, but this one weighed in at 24 pounds, dressed and skinned.

I did this one just a little different. I strung him up just like always and slit the throat. All the other birds were out when I did this and they freaked. Then they went in the front and got really quiet. Smart birds, maybe? OK, so while he is still hanging up, I figured I’d skin him. I was going to take it up on the deck and skin it there, but thought of this instead. Worked pretty well. Just can’t start at the legs. Started on the breast and went all the way around, then up to the legs. The tops a pretty difficult where the feathers turn into the skin on the legs. Then I did the wings. Had to pluck all the flight feathers, the big ones and the littler ones. Some of it I was able to cut off.

Then I did the front crop area. Peeled the skin around it, being careful not to puncture anything. Was able to get it all undone and pulled loose, then cut the trachea and esophagus further down. I started the cut on the gut, but decided to take it down and set it in the bowl. I think the came out and some fell on the ground, but so?? I put all the waste in an empty feed sack and then took it out into the back woods a ways and left it. Something will get it and hopefully it is far enough away from the coop to keep them away.



So I started about 1745. It is almost 2000 and I have the first batch in the canner and about 60 minutes left on it. The breasts look huge, but don’t think I got as much as last year. The gizzard had a layer of fat on it, but I couldn’t tell how much was under the skin.

I am thinking that the plucking them while hanging will be a lot easier, too. In my opinion, most of the feathers come out pretty easily. It does take time however. Suppose that if I were going to do very many at once, I could blanch them and then they should come out easier. Or make a feather plucking machine.



OK, it is almost midnight, and I am getting ready to take the second batch out. Broth, with 2 quarts full of meat bits.



Got up the next morning and reheated the broth, got 5 more quarts. Have them in the canner now. Total of 19 quarts for one turkey. Could have gotten by with less, by not doing the broth, but we will use it for dumpling next year. Going to need to butcher another one soon.



26 October 2009.

Peeled all the apples that I brought back from Utah. Daughter has this apple tree that hangs over into her yard, covered with apples and they fall in the yard. So I went out and checked one out, took a bite of it. Was the best apple I remember eating in forever. So I got a whole sack of them, filled up a box and put them in a carry on for the plane. Brought them all back and today we peeled and cored them. A lot of them were like bruised on the inside, so we wasted a lot. But even still, the pieces we ate were delicious. Made 8 pints and 1 quart of apple filling, canned them. There was a little left that wouldn’t fit in the canner, so I boiled them up and made apple sauce out of it. Mashed it with a potato masher and put it in the fridge.

I still have some sweet potatoes and carrots in the garden that I need to dig up. Not sure what to do with them. Going to check into canning the sweet potatoes. Next year I need to plant more and I can put them in the canner to preserve them.

WINTERS ALMOST HERE

Well my incredible grandbabies have gone home. They were here for 2 months this time. I can't believe that by the end of March that I will have 5 grandbabies. I love that 3 of them are so close in age and birth dates. My youngest baby just turned 25. WOW

I look outside and I my green forest has gone. I either have bare trees or yellow, gold, red, really dark red, just all these beautiful colors. Right now with the transition from summer to fall and now sliding into winter, I LOVE IT. I love the cold, the wet, the overcast days. I love the change of the seasons. Weather should not be constant, weather gives us unexpected challenges and surprises every day. It helps keep our lives interesting. I am sure that by spring I will be sick of winter but for now I am enjoying it.

Clay "dressed" the first turkey for the year the other day. Between just turkey and turkey broth we wound up with 8 quart jars.

PUMPKIN PATCH

Feeding left overs.

Cornstalks, not quite a maze, but still fun.

Shucking left over corn.

Which pumpkin should we carve?

COUNTRY MOMENT

We just had a wonderful country moment.

Kids went down for a short nap and a storm passed over and by the time it had stopped raining the kids had woke up and climbed up on the bed with me. We all lay on our bellies looking out the window and what a show we had this time.

Right outside our window was 2 big turkeys and a few of our chickens, then we noticed right in the middle of them was a little rabbit. Eating grass and weeds right along side our turkeys and chickens. We were talking and moving around and it did not phase the rabbit. He just kept right on eating. Just as we were staring at him out a little further in the yard a squirrel ran as fast as it could from the left side to the right side past where we could see him anymore. We went back to watching the rabbit when here comes the squirrel back pausing at times but this time he had a huge black walnut in his mouth, storing up for the winter.

It was like nature had put on a little show just for us. They loved it and I loved being able to see these things just over an arms reach.

I will miss having them here and sharing these kinds of things with them. They also have been noticing the leaves turning different colors and starting to fall.

ANNUAL HAYRIDE

one last ride for the night

on a hayride seeing the baby buffaloes

food always tastes better cooked and eaten outside

i love this picture

he looks like a natural, maybe there's a horse in his future