Sunday, December 25/2011

I am not impressed!

Santa Dog

I'm a good boy!

The Turkey is on

Hey! Were's my bone 

Bricketts are on

Done!

Let's eat!

Finished off the night with a fire!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!  Wow, can't believe that it is Christmas and of course Santa found me out here in the desert!!  He really is a remarkable little elf!!
The sun is shining and it looks like it will be another gorgeous day and there is no wind!!  BONUS!!
The birds are busy at the feeder and are enjoying this wonderful morning.  I have the door open already this morning and that is a real good sign.
After getting my arse kicked in our annual Christmas game of yahtzee, I started to get organized for our Christmas supper.  I am not sure who will show up for supper but know there will be four of us for sure.  Whether or not anyone else shows up is up to those invited.
Both John and I sat outside with an eggnog and spiced rum while we started getting the trash can ready for the turkey.  The galvanization had to be burnt off so a fire was started inside the can until that was done.
Keith wandered over while we had the fire going in the trash can and chatted for a bit.  He is quite interested in this whole "trash can" turkey process.
I had put the turkey into a brine on Saturday, and so I got it out and prepared it for the stand that it would sit on while cooking.  The brine smelled awesome and I hope that it would turn out to be a wonderfully moist turkey after the cooking was complete.  I have never brined a turkey before so this was new territory for me.
John had the briquettes ready and the turkey was ready for the "oven".  Into the trash can it went and the briquettes were placed around the base and onto the top of the can.  That being done, all we had to do was wait for the sizzling to start.  While the turkey was cooking,  Charlotte was busy cooking pumpkin pie and getting potatoes, yams and dressing ready.  I was responsible for the condiment, vegetables and the gravy.
As it turned out, there were only the four of us for supper and so we didn't have to bother with setting out a table outside.  Instead we gathered around our table and totally enjoyed our fantastic Christmas meal.  The turkey was cooked to perfection (thank you John) and in fact was incredibly moist.  It is hard to believe that a 20 pound turkey can cook in 2 hours and 15 minutes!!  The pumpkin pie was so good - I so love pumpkin pie - thank you Charlotte!!
With all four of us stuffed and totally satisfied, we sat out around the fire and simply enjoyed the evening thanking our lucky stars as to how blessed we are to be able to live this kind of lifestyle.  All four of us have a lot to be thankful for.
We chatted with the kids and they too had a good day.
As you can see from the pics, I had bought Hogan a Santa suit and he was most impressed when I put it on him!!  It was an extra large but it was a bit tight for our little elf!!
Tomorrow, there will be no cooking required cause there are plenty of leftovers to reheat.   Another thing to be thankful for!!