Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and soon the month long feasting and imbibing (Thanksgiving until New Years Day) will begin.

I want to share a turkey brine recipe, and some tips, with those of you that will bravely try to fry turkey for the first time this year. I guarantee, after you taste fried turkey it will be the last time you’ll want to cook a turkey in the oven.

I found this brine recipe on the internet a few years ago, and have been tweaking it every Thanksgiving.

Ingredients:
6 quarts hot water
2 Bulbs of crushed garlic
1 pound kosher salt
1 pound dark brown sugar
5 pounds ice
1 (13 to 14-pound) turkey, with giblets removed
Approximately 4 to 4 1/2 gallons peanut oil*

Other necessary items:
FIRE EXTINGUISHER!!!
Turkey Fryer Kit (pot, stand, propane, tools, etc.) 
Meat Thermometer
Candy Thermometer
Old long sleeved shirt
Thick Leather gloves/Cooking Mits
Several gallon sized zip-lock bags
Aluminum Foil

***** TAKE HEED! – THIS STEP COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE, OR YOUR HOUSE! *****
In order to determine the correct amount of oil, place the turkey into the pot that you will be frying it in, add tap water just until it barely covers the top of the turkey and is at least 4 to 5 inches below the top of the pot. Pull the turkey out, and take note of the water level in the pot without the bird. This will be the amount of oil you use for frying the turkey. Pour the tap water out.

MAKING THE BRINE (the evening before frying):
Place the hot water, garlic, kosher salt and brown sugar into the cold fryer pot and stir until the salt and sugar dissolve completely. Add the ice and stir until the mixture is cool. Gently lower the turkey into the container. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure that it is fully immersed in the brine.  Fill 1 or 2 gallon sized zip-lock bags with ice, or water and close the bags. Use these bags to weigh down the buoyant bird. The reason we do this is to keep the water/ice in the bag from diluting the carefully measured brine. Cover and set in a cool dry place for 8 to 16 hours.

FRYING THE BIRD:
After 8-16 hours remove the turkey from the brine, rinse and pat dry. Allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes prior to cooking. Dump the brine (do not save, or reuse).

WARNING: Regardless of how cold it is outside, DO NOT fry turkey indoors, or in the garage. If an accident happens it is better to set your grass on fire, than your carpet. Be safe. Do it outdoors, and do it a good distance away from any flammable structure.

Place the oil into the turkey fryer, and set over high heat on an outside propane burner with a sturdy structure. While checking with a candy thermometer, bring the temperature of the oil to 250 degrees F. Once the temperature has reached 250, slowly lower the bird into the oil and bring the temperature to 350 degrees F. Once it has reached 350, lower the heat in order to maintain 350 degrees F. After 35 minutes, check the temperature of the turkey using a probe thermometer (Make sure to insert the probe in the thickest part of the breast, and not contacting the rib cage. This will provide a false high reading). Once the breast reaches 151 degrees F gently remove from the oil, cover with a loose tent of Aluminum foil, and allow to rest for a minimum of 30 minutes prior to carving. Once the bird reaches an internal temperature of 161 degrees F, due to carry over cooking, carve as desired and serve.

Note: On cold windy days I set up a wind break around the fryer. I use 2 pieces of ductwork that almost completely surrounds the pot. This keeps the outside surface of the pot warm as the rising heat from the propane burner warms the space in between the ductwork and the outer pot wall. I don’t enclose it completely as that would suffocate the flame from lack of oxygen, and be unsafe.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! ENJOY!!!

It started out like any normal day at a major attraction. The lines into the building snaked around the facility’s grounds, the sun was beating down on us. Children complained, parents grumbled. Finally getting into the building was a treat. We paid our admission fee and blended into the crowd of stroller pushing shlubs.

We meandered through the aquarium’s many vignettes, alcoves and rooms that peppered the facility until we came to a large enclosure that housed animals of the Pacific Northwest coast. Because it was supposed to emulate the Northwest I looked forward to it being nice and cool. Instead it was hot, crowded and noisy. A very large group of people dressed in bright yellow T-Shirts had taken over the facility and were climbing all over the chairs, handrails and static exhibits, shouting, laughing and yelling as they cavorted around the furniture. There were other people with the same yellow shirts with the words "STAFF", or some other similar word, emblazoned across their shirts scurrying about trying to keep the peace, but because of a combination of the staffers ages, inexperience, and general "outnumbered-ness" they were doing a pretty inefficient job of it.

I took a quick assessment of the situation and realized that the group was made up of individuals of varying ages and mental disabilities. I loosened my jaw and calmed down a bit. I have a difficult time with unruly behavior. I don’t allow my kids to act like wild animals, specially in public, and I expect other parents to do the same. This situation was different however, so I went from rolling boil down to tolerant simmer.

My baby sister belongs to a "Type C" group and they go on field trips all the time. She is considered "High Functioning", similar to some of the aforementioned yellow clad individuals, and is extremely affectionate – sometimes to the chagrin of family members. I am pretty familiar with individuals, and groups, of this nature.

I scanned the main room and found a small observation area tucked away behind a submarine display where we could view the Beluga Whales under water . I navigated my family through the melee and hustled them into the cavern like doorway. I breathed a sigh of relief as we ducked in and I started looking at all the informational plaques and doodads on the wall

Only a couple of minutes went by before I heard exited female voices shouting a boy’s name and "NO! STRANGER, STRANGER!" repeatedly. My parent radar snapped on as I whipped around and looked towards the source of the commotion. I fully expected to see a little boy running towards a group of people he didn’t know as his smother-mother ran after him, instead all I could see was a large, towering, big boned man on the other side of the little room as he lumbered quickly towards me. Two 5′ 2"/ 100 lb. women were wrapped around his waist and arms, trying desperately to keep him from walking in my direction. We locked eyes as he barreled towards me, as oblivious of these two small women as he would have been had he had dryer sheets stuck to his shirt. I reluctantly readied myself for a physical confrontation.

In the few seconds after bracing myself I realized that although he was much larger than I was, and his unblinking gaze looked very determined, he meant me no harm. He wore a yellow shirt, just like the rest of the group, and an inordinately small child’s backpack was strapped to his back. The "dryer sheet’s" shirts helped clue me in also.

He finally reached me and grasped my shoulders as I put my hands on his shoulders to hold him at bay. This finally gained the girls some leverage. He struggled to pull me towards him as one of them caught her composure and sternly said his name along with "He’s a stranger! We don’t hug strangers!" to no avail.

I realized that developmentally he was probably the equivalent of a five year old and only wanted some affection, so I told the girls that it was OK (like there was any difference at this point). I loosened my grip on his shoulder and he gave me a big bear hug (something my sister likes to do to me). I hugged him back and patted his back. After a few seconds he gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek, released his hug, and allowed the girls to easily lead him away from the small crowd that had developed behind us. One girl gently, but firmly, tried to reinforce the "STRANGER!" rule to him as the other, in damage control mode, apologized to me profusely, and thanked me for understanding. I waved off her apology telling her there was nothing to apologize for.

As they walked away I unclenched every joint, and muscle and tried to shrug off the adrenaline. I knew that I had just broken a cardinal rule that the staffers try to reinforce to all their "kids" time and time again, but just saw no other way around the situation. I hoped they understood my position, and I hoped I didn’t just undermine everything they worked so hard to instill in their wards.

I replayed the incident in my mind several times over the course of the day and tried to figure out why he was so focused on hugging me specifically. There were other people in that room, and I am not particularly cuddly or huggable, just ask anybody who knows me (If I were a zoo animal I’d be more of a porcupine, skunk, or possibly even that dung flinging monkey). Of all the people that it could have happened to that day I’m glad, and thankful, it happened to me! Can you imagine how bad it could have been for him had he chosen to hug a jumpy homophobe, jacked up on testosterone, as he tried to impress his cadre of similarly minded, intolerant friends (I saw a few of those in the facility that day). The outcome could have been very, very different.

Pay close attention to your child’s growth. Children almost double in size every year for the first few years of their life. The car safety seat manufacturers know this and have made allowances for this growth by having multiple shoulder belt slots all the way up the back of the car safety seat. It us up to us, dear parents, to know which slots to use at which stage of the child’s life. Once you seat your child in the car seat look at the shoulder belts. Do they disappear below and behind the shoulder? This means you need to move the belts up to the next slot you big meanie. If the shoulder slots being used are lower than the shoulders then by clicking the seat belts into the buckle you are using the slots as leverage to pull the shoulders down forcefully, compressing the child’s torso, and making it hard for the child to breathe, hence my equating it to torture. The child has to endure this restrictive, “breathtaking” pose for the length of the car ride. If the last slot available is still below the child’s shoulders, then get a bigger car seat. Your child has outgrown the seat.

Another thing to take into account is the weather.

• WINTER: Chances are good that your child is bundled up, effectively making him/her “bigger”. Again, check the shoulder level and adjust the straps accordingly.
• SUMMER: Your child is probably wearing shorts and a T-shirt. This means that their inner thighs are exposed to the searing plastic and metal safety seat buckle between their legs. Places like Arizona can get up to, and above, 110 degrees F, and ever hotter inside a parked vehicle. Hold the portion of the buckle that will be in contact with your child’s thighs. You’ll be able to tell if the buckle is too hot, but “you” have the ability to pull your hand away from the pain. Your child has no choice but to endure the pain. Cool the buckle down with a damp cloth before putting your child in the seat.

Most people have great difficulty pulling the car seat in and out of the car to be able, or want, to continuously fiddle with the shoulder straps, or move the seat from one car to another. We own 3 vehicles, and 2 car seats. Every time I decide to use my truck, and have to take my daughter to day care, I have to pull the car seat out of one of the other vehicles and install it in the truck. I have shaved some time off this procedure by having a plastic clamp in the vehicle (a large binder clip would do the trick too). I pull my truck’s seatbelt out as far as it will go, then attach the clamp to the car’s seatbelt right before the shoulder swivel. The clamp keeps the belt from yanking itself back, thereby making it easier for me to fiddle with getting the correct tension on the portion of the belt that goes through the child’s safety seat.

 
That completes my public service announcement. If I’ve made you stop to think about your child’s car seat and, at least, check the straps for the correct shoulder height then I’ve done some good being an advocate for those who still can’t speak for themselves.

In my various travels online, and while listening to podcasts like Jumping Monkeys, I’ve been introduced to a few tools that can help ease the worrisome mind. I’ve no affiliation with the products mentioned below nor is this part of some referral program. I just care about our kids.

In very basic terms SafetyTat is a temporary tattoo that you would place on your child before they head out to the amusement park, beach or school field trip. If you’re like me you might even apply one before taking the kids to watch a movie though this might become expensive over time.

The folks behind SafetyTat have managed to make these little gems very attractive. They’re much more attractive than you might achieve with an Avery label and sharpie not to mention those Avery labels can’t hold up very well in water. The tattoos come in several different categories and designs and even include tats for medical alerts and special needs.

$20 gets you 30 SafetyTats.

The USB flash drive contains the database where your families information is stored. It also contains the software used to collect this information. The design of the application is such that none of the information gathered, or programs used for collection, are stored on a computer.

A username and password is required to access the application and the data is encrypted; however, I wasn’t able to determine the type of encryption being used. Once the data is collected you have the ability to produce several reports (ID Card, Missing Poster, Fingerprint Card, etc) containing just the information you do not want to be hunting around for if an actual emergency were to occur.

The identakey would also be useful in day to day life, not just in emergencies. Simply having all this information in one place may be all the incentive you need to pick one up.

The identakey is available through several online sources and a few brick and mortar. It looks like the going rate is $29.99 per key.

InstantAmber might be considered the online equivalent of identakey. With InstantAmber you gather and collect your families information online. The online model does create the opportunity to easily share the information with law enforcement. With this service there is even a password you set that is designed specifically for law enforcement. In the event of an emergency you would supply your email address and law enforcement password to an appropriate person, direct them to the InstantAmber site and they would have access to your information.

As with any online service, you need to be comfortable trusting them with your data and especially so in this case. Their site indicates the data is secure and encrypted.

This service runs $29.95/year per child.

There you have it. Three opportunities for you to be prepared when your children aren’t within arms reach.

The geek in me is considering collecting this data on my own USB drive within a TrueCrypt volume. If tech DIY is your kind of thing you might want to check out TrueCrypt yourself. Storing this same type of critical information in a spreadsheet, along with pictures, would seem to get the job done as well.

Have you taken the steps to gather your families information in one place, and if so what method did you use?

With summer bearing down on us and the school year coming to an end in the United States its a fine time to begin looking at which activities you can get the kids involved in that may actually provide some lasting positive growth opportunities and lessons.

Enter 4-H

My wife was involved in 4-H from her eighth birthday up until she graduated high school. Today there is a 5-8 program which I’m sure will be the official introduction for our kids.

4-H is all about building community, kids mentoring one another, gaining direction and building leaders. Making the best better. It is an avenue for exploring interests and making lifelong friends.

Not having a history in 4-H myself I always thought it was all about the county fair. Those farm kids with their animals. While this is still a part of 4-H (depending upon the club) there are many other opportunities for discovery.

And the list goes on. Even savvy city folk can find something in here that will interest their children.

A key part of making 4-H a success for your family involves being in the right club. 4-H clubs can be found all over the country. You best bet is to contact the 4-H extension office in your county and share with them what your child(ren) are interested in. With this bit of information they should be able to point you in the direction of a club that would be a good fit.

Most clubs focus on a particular area while participating in many areas. The last thing you want is to join a club that is focused on equestrian activities when your kid is afraid of horses.  In the event you get in with a club that isn’t a fit, don’t throw in the towel. Go back to the 4-H extension office and encourage them to get it right.

So, when the dog days of summer are beating down on you and you just can’t bear to hear, “turn on the sprinkler!” one more time visit one of the links below and get in touch with a 4-H club. Who knows, maybe their next meeting will be in a nice air conditioned hall.

• 4HUSA.org
• Find a 4-H club
• National 4-H Headquarters
• 4-H Council