A quiet house

Hello yawl!

I hope your week-end with the family has been fun. I also hope you have had a restful week-end. You know I didn't hit the mall, but there was a lot happening with the family. We have always had a lot of traditions for the holidays. I'll be telling you about them later. But this year traditions had to take a back seat to new work schedules. That's very sad for me and yet the family reassured me that those traditions will return next year.

With Amie's move to Florida and Ken just getting started on his new job, their time at home is limited. Jamie is still working hard to recover from his accident and there simply isn't enough time to do everything.

The house seems unusually quiet without the children. Not really sad...just a little confusing. I keep wondering why I feel a little down. Why can't I just enjoy the ability to rest? Why don't I just sit back and enjoy that I will have a little more time? Why don't I spend some time working on one of my novels?

I think the answer is in the fact that we trust our emotions too much. We think if we "feel" something that it must be true. With our emotions at a frenzy during this month, we can't expect them to tell us the truth. We are overworked, hyped up on sugar, sleep deprived and overzealous about trying to get so much done in 25 days. When our life seems like it's not meeting our expectations of the "perfect" Christmas, we get scared. That fear translates into mild sadness or even full blown depression.

How can you fight it?

1. Understand that emotions "lie". Don't let yourself dwell on those emotions. Instead center on what you do have and how much it means to you.

2. Get plenty of sleep.

3. Drink plenty of water.

4. Fun for the holidays does not depend on how much you splurge. Try to eat as normal as possible.

5. Relax. Whatever you can't do this year can become top of the list for next year. Take your list of priorities and try to whittle them down to five or ten things that you know you can accomplish. If the rest of your list happens, great! If it doesn't, don't get upset. It wasn't a top priority anyway.

6. It's not your job to bring Christmas joy to everyone on your list. It is their job to "receive" Christmas. In other words...you are not responsible for the "bah humbug" of every person on your list. Do your best and remember them with love. Their reception of joy is their responsibility.

7. This is the most important. Say "Merry Christmas" as much as you can to as many people as you can. Say it with gusto. Say it with the excitement of a child. Say it with a belly laugh. Pretty soon your mind will start to believe you.

And to help your stress for Christmas I'm going to share my "Turkey" recipe. I feel so sorry for people who stress out over the turkey. It's easy to have a wonderful tasting moist turkey that falls off the bone.

If you have the extra cash and can purchase the following roaster, your turkey will take only minutes to prepare. If you don't have the extra cash, you can use tin foil. Thank you so much for using this link. It helps support this site and a portion of the proceeds will go to fund scholarships for Family Training Center classes. I've also included a general link so you can do all your amazon shopping through this site.







Debbie's Turkey....guaranteed to be the best you've ever tasted!

Buy any turkey - even the cheapest you can find. It really doesn't matter.

If you want to thaw the turkey you can. If you run out of time...don't worry.

Place turkey in the roaster. If you are using tin foil, cut two sheets of foil long enough to cover the bottom of the pan and still fold up and over the turkey. Lay the foil slightly overlapping in the bottom of the pan. Place turkey in the pan and check to be sure you can fold the foil up and over the turkey. Kind of like wrapping a baby in a blanket. Foil isn't necessary in the roaster.

Take one stick of butter and slice into squares. Place two squares in each wing cavity. Put several squares in the open breast cavity. (If frozen, you can do this later) Lift the hind skin and place several squares in that cavity. Place four squares across the breast meat. Salt, pepper and add any other spices you like to the outside.

Bring foil up and fold together. Continue making folds until it rests on top of the turkey. Close the ends. For roaster simply secure lid and put in 400 -450 oven. Bake according to size. I usually get a 20 pound turkey and it takes between 4-6 hours.

If the turkey is frozen I start it the evening before. I bake it at 300 for two-three hours. This will warm it up enough so I can take out the giblets and neck. PLEASE BE CAREFUL. THE TURKEY WILL BE HOT. I use tongs and plenty of oven mitt. Once the giblets are out I put butter in those cavities and more on top of the turkey. Close it up and continue to bake for another 4-6 hours. It's great to put the turkey on while you sleep. It fills the entire house with a wonderful smell. Just be sure and set your clock so you won't overcook.

I've been doing this for 33 years and it has never failed. The steam bakes the turkey to a luscious golden brown - just right for snitching!

God loves you,

Debbie