Out of this World Turkey Brine

Hello everyone!

I've been M-I-A ... sort of.
The long & short of it, I've been taking a break from all things 'technology' ...
blog, FB, Pinterest, email, phone, etc.
And while I've been missing all of you & your beautiful blogs, I have not missed being 'connected'.
In fact, I've been much more productive than usual.
I have completed several neat projects & I'm excited to show them to you soon,
especially my burlap ruffled ottoman!
It's super cute!

It's now only a couple days away from Thanksgiving!!
It's my hubby's favorite holiday ... & it ranks right up there with me too.
Since our sons were little guys, we've taken extra care to make sure we were truly observing
this special holiday in it's true spirit ... cultivating a spirit of gratefulness for health, home, & family ...
& taking time to count our many blessings.

It's my year to make the turkey for Thanksgiving Day,
so I wanted to share with you the recipe I use for turkey brine.
This is my all-time favorite way to prepare a turkey.
It comes out so moist & delicious.
My dad, who's eaten a-plenty of turkey of his day, said it's the best turkey he's had.

This is our brined bird from Thanksgiving 2010

If you aren't familiar with the brining method, it's a pretreatment of the turkey {it works for chicken too}.
It's similar to marinating meat, only using a salt water solution known as brine.
The result: a very moist and well-seasoned turkey.
There are many various recipes, but the bonus for this one is that it uses common ingredients
that you generally have in your pantry/fridge.

Out of this World Turkey Brine

2 gallons of water
1 cup table salt
3 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. black pepper
1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce
1/3 c. brown sugar

**if using kosher/canning salt, use 1 1/2 cups

In a large bucket or container large enough to hold your turkey, mix together the water, salt, garlic, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Store in a refrigerator, and soak turkey for 2 days before smoking or roasting.

I measured my fridge space & bought a very large stock pot, specifically for brining.
I make sure to buy a turkey that's not too big to fit in the pot, usually an 18-20 lb bird.

After it's soaked in the brine for 2 days, rinse it well & bake in the method of your choosing.
I think you'll be pleased with your plump & super moist turkey!

James did such a good job carving it up!  Boy, I'm getting hungry ;)