Beer Can Turkey!?

Yesterday was incredible in so many ways!  Have you ever had one of those days were you feel like superwoman and are able to get all your tasks complete?  I did!  I woke up and transplanted a few plants in my garden that I have been meaning to take care of, Neal and I went on a great hike with the mutts, I vacuumed & mopped the house, and we cooked a HUGE turkey for us and some friends.  I felt complete prior to our friends arrival.  Vacuuming the house actually makes me feel like I did something "important" because you immediately can see the difference. Two dogs = lots of fur!

Now...look at our yummy turkey - and the Mountains are Blue :)

When our friends came, they brought dessert,!  You will have to scroll down for more on this beauty!

I would LOVE to show you pictures of the garden I worked on, but some of my plants look wilted and I don't want to display them when they aren't at their prettiest.  However, I thought this was hilarious!  I was digging, really putting the shovel deep in the ground, when I came across this buried in our front landscape:

HOLY COW!  That would have been nice to know prior to starting!
The hike was splendid!  We went to Audubon State Park and hiked on the pet trail.  Sadly there is only a 0.9 trail for pets, all other trails are for humans and wildlife only.  I packed lots of water for us and the mutts as well as some yummy PB&J's.  You really can't go wrong with a PB&J!  This was the first time we had been to Audubon, and we were pleasantly surprised.  There was a nice lake, a golf course, some cabins you can rent out, a beautiful museum and welcome center, and as we drove around we could see other trail heads.  We will have to go again and leave the mutts at home so we can explore more. 

After our hike, Neal started prepping our bird! We have a turkey that has been frozen for quite some time.

So You Wanna Make Beer Can Turkey

After thawing out the bird in the fridge for a few days, Neal brined it in a salt water bath.  He drained and dried the turkey a little, then he covered it with Creole seasoning and beer can chicken seasoning, put a can of Murphy's Stout beer inside w/ our Beer Can Chicken Holder, and put it in the oven at 350 for 3 hours.  About 30 min in he poured another beer into the bottom of the container because he noticed it was pretty dry.  (I know, the picture does not show the beer we used, but everything except the can is homemade beer the men made!  Maybe I can get them to do a guest post on beer making sometime.)


I wish that I hadn't of been so hungry and remembered to take a picture.  TRUST ME, it was beautiful, tasty, crisp on the outside, moist and tender, and overall perfect!


We served our Beer Can Turkey with a side of garlic mashed potatoes.  Our friends made a yummy spinach and mixed spring salad with bacon, parmesan, tomatoes, and a balsamic dressing.  They also treated us to the beautiful coconut cream pie shown above! 


My dinner plate:

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

3 baking potatoes, cleaned and diced up into 1-2 in cubes (leave skin on for nutrients)

Water w/ a little salt

6 garlic cloves (I LOVE GARLIC)

2 T butter

1/3 C Milk

1. Boil your water and salt.  Put your taters and garlic in to your pan and continue to boil for 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.  Drain.
2. Get a smasher, I love this one, or you can use a fork, and smash up those potatoes
3. Add your butter and milk, adding more milk for creamier potatoes.
4. Enjoy!

Here's my slice of coconut cream pie before I devoured it!

It felt like a modified version of Thanksgiving!  I could have beer can turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, and coconut cream pie at least once a month! 


Did you do anything this weekend that made you feel accomplished?