Today I decided to roast the turkey breast I
bought a few days ago.
I had set it to thawing in the ‘fridge …
then the sciatica nerve in my lower back flared up and I cripped around the
house for 2 days … the pain caused by even the slightest movement, had me
gasping for breath; and I felt like crying most of the time.
I dug out Bob’s old heating pad (he had
that thing when we met), and the heat did help – but the pain was still
there when it was turned off: I used it a lot Wednesday and periodically
yesterday. I laid flat on the bed; I curled up in a fetal position … any
position that eased the burn. I massaged the sore areas. I rubbed Blue Ice on
my lower back.
It was a little concerning being alone and in
mass pain, but this is my new life now. There’s nothing that can be done about
it, but to bite the bullet and get on with it.
Bob had lived with; and suffered back
pain all of his life – so, I “manned up”, bit my
lower lip, slowly and carefully shuffled through the rooms of the house … and
prayed for 48 hours that the pain would ease up and go away completely: it
slacked off enough this morning, that I could actually stand without moaning,
and I got the turkey in/out of the oven without hassle.
If Bob could live his life, and do
his jobs without carrying on about the pain … then, so could I. That thought made me laugh, because I could imagine Bob
laughing with me at my rise to the challenge: and applauding my tenacity to
beat the devil back.
When we started dating seriously, Bob told me
he had been born with spina bifida, and I saw him struggle with the radiating
sciatica pain that spread from his back to run down to his calves. He groaned
once in a while, but he never complained.
I pulled mightily on that memory the past 2 days.
While he was married to his first wife, he was
told by doctors that he would be unable to walk and in a wheelchair by his 30’s.
He was 24, and in the midst of a divorce situation when we met, dated, and
married. There were no outward signs of the spina bifida – but his legs did
give out on him several times. When his divorce was final and he started talking
marriage to me, he again brought up the possibility of ending up in a wheelchair
– I told him it didn’t matter to me (marriage, itself worried me: an unforeseen
future with the possibility of him being in a wheelchair, didn’t worry me at
all): it really didn’t.
But it worried him: I was only 17 years old.
I said I loved HIM … ALL of him; not just his beautiful manly long legs: there was more to Bob
than his physical attributes, which were pretty impressive. But I loved
everything about Bob. I said that it was more important to relate on other
levels too, besides just the physical.
Bob checked every box – and rang every bell.
He didn’t need legs to do that 😉
And I meant it.
I dated and married Bob with my eyes wide open.
I married him at 9 PM on August 27th, 1974; and never had cause to regret
that decision.
Thankfully, he was able to drive full time all
of our 44 years together. Bob loved to drive; and he was a good driver. And
even though he was a skillful race-type driver (he had pitted his ’68 Camero
against serious race track drivers at the Speedway up around the Puget Sound area – at their invites: they knew his car was
unbeatable and if they wanted to win the race, they needed to beat his time),
he was a conscientious driver: he never took dangerous risks. He never entered
his car on the track for money races, but he did enjoy the thrill of the
challenge the other drivers gave him.
And he was able to work full time: but there were a couple times, after we married, that he fell down the stairs (9 stairs!) because his legs just gave way. The thought that he may one day go right through the windows skirting the stair landing, and end up under the apple tree outside scared me: so, we eventually moved everything from the upstairs bedroom into the bedroom downstairs.
I breathed easier.
Both kids never forgave us for moving our bedroom downstairs (they were young, and their bedrooms remained upstairs; there were 3 bedrooms upstairs, and only 1 downstairs … they are still angry about that today). But, my main concern was Bob. I had to keep him safe, unbruised, and alive. The kids would eventually grow up and leave home: I never thought they’d be so embittered by something that seemed logical to Bob and I.
Anyway …
Off that topic, and onto today’s topic :-D
I woke up to the sound of rain, falling soft
and gentle.
Around 9 AM, the rain stopped – but the gray
clouds lingered:
I drank a cup of coffee, and ate a bowl of creamed rice with milk and cinnamon: I noticed
when walking to the kitchen sink that I could walk without excruciating burning
pain.
Quickly I got busy with the turkey 😉
I have typed the original recipe …
but my pictures differ because I didn’t cook a
whole turkey – and I’m not much of a follower: I tend to use recipes as a
guide, and tweak things to suit me.
So, keep that in mind while reading the
recipe and seeing the pictures.
I cooked a small turkey breast (that works
best for a solo lobo widow with no man to help heft a large bird in a large
roaster), and I mixed the spices with a bit of butter, and stuffed that
mixture under the breast skin; I like it that way.
If you are cooking for a large family
gathering, follow the original recipe.
ORANGE & SAGE ROASTED TURKEY and GRAVY
Prep: about 45 minutes
Roast: about 3¾ hours
Makes: 14 main-dish servings
1 fresh or frozen (thawed) 14-pound Turkey *
2 large oranges * ½ cup loosely packed fresh Sage leaves * 1
teaspoon Salt * ¾ teaspoons coarsely ground Black Pepper * 2
small Onions, peeled and cut into quarters * 2 cans (14- to 14 ½
ounces, each) or homemade Chicken Broth (3½ cups) * ¼ cup
all-purpose Flour * Kumquats with leaves and fresh Sage for garnish
Preheat oven to 325-degrees.
Remove giblets from turkey; set aside. Discard liver or
sage for another use. Cut neck pieces into several large pieces.
With vegetable peeler, from 1 orange – remove 1 peel strip (4½”
x ¾”); reserve peel for making gravy. Cut orange into quarters. From
remaining orange, grate 2 teaspoons peel. Reserve 3 whole large sage leaves for
making gravy; finely chop ¼ cup of remining sage. In cup, mix grated orange
peel, chopped sage, salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper.
Place orange quarters, onions, and remaining whole sage
leaves inside body cavity of turkey. Fasten neck skin to back with 1 or 2
skewers. With turkey breast side up, fold wings under back of turkey so they
stay in place. If drumsticks are not held by band of skin or stuffing clamp –
tie legs together with string.
Place turkey, breasts side up, on a small rack in a large
roasting pan (17” x 11½”). Scatter giblets and neck pieces in pan around
turkey. Rub turkey all over with chopped sage mixture. Insert meat thermometer
into thickest part of thigh next to bone, being careful that pointed end of
thermometer does not touch bone. Cover turkey with a loose tent of foil,
letting thermometer poke through foil. Roast turkey about 3¾ hours.
To brown turkey, remove foil during last 1¼ hours of
roasting time and baste with pan drippings occasionally if you like. Start
checking for doneness during last hour of roasting. Turkey is done when thigh
on meat thermometer reaches 175-degrees to 180-degrees; and breast temperature
reaches 165-degrees (internal temperature of turkey will rise 5- to 10-degrees
upon standing).
When turkey is done, place on a large platter; cover with
foil to keep warm. Prepare gravy; remove rack from roasting pan. Strain pan
drippings into 4-cup glass measure or medium bowl. Let drippings stand to allow
fat to separate from meat juice.
Place roasting pan over medium high heat and cook giblets
and neck pieces until browned – about 2 minutes. Carefully add 1 can broth to
hot roasting pan and heat to boiling; stirring until browned bits are loosened
from bottom of pan: boil 3 minutes.
Spoon 2 tablespoons fat from drippings into 2-quart
saucepan. Discard any remaining fat. Strain broth from roasting pan into glass
measure with meat juice. Discard giblets and neck pieces. Add remaining can of
broth and enough water to meat-juice mixture in cup to equal 4
cups total.
Stir flour into fat in saucepan; cook over medium heat
about 1 minute or until mixture turns golden brown; whisking constantly. Add
meat-juice mixture, ¼ teaspoon pepper – and reserved orange peel and sage
leaves. Cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, or until gravy boils and
thickens; stirring often. Discard orange peel and sage. Transfer to gravy boat.
Makes about 4 cups gravy.
To serve, garnish platter. Pass gravy with turkey. Remove
skin from turkey before eating if you like.
*What I did: I
portioned the meat out for future freezer meals; and saved the bones and pan
drippings, for homemade soup stock, which I will make next week sometime:
This pretty much took up the whole day;
dishes washed around sunset.
When I moseyed back to the lvingroom and sat
in Bob’s recliner, I caught sight of a colorful sunset unfolding.
It was the perfect ending to a blessed day; and
a beautiful ushering in of the Sabbath Rest.
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