Sunday, January 29, 2023

T Stands for Tuesday & Update on Inks & Turkey Out of the Smoker

  It is time for T for Tuesday where we share a drink related photo in our post and share over at Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog-find link in side bar.

  Last week I made the avocado ink and was totally thrilled with it. It writes really well too with with the glass dip pen. Part 1 here and Part 2 here  I took good notes in my journal and would make again when I run out of it.

 I am intrigued with the flower petal inks, so have read what I could find online. Some are using fresh but most are drying the petals first and then making the inks. Of course the recipes are all different too-so one just needs to experiment. I had dried lavender petals in my stash that I had picked up at the Amish store a few years ago. They work great to infuse in my soaps, and they still had allot of color-so thought I would try it. 

  Sadly this was a total fail photos will enlarge just click on them These dried flowers may have just been too old to extract color. also I did make the mistake of using tap water instead of distilled which could have contributed to the fail as well




most recipes were using alum to coax the color I still had a big bag of it in my dye supplies You can also use the alum you find in the spice aisle


Got a little color, but the testing strips showed nothing


after letting it sit for several hours with no color, I found this in my dye supplies, I had dyed some cotton blouses with it-so thought I would add a couple tablespoons of it to the pot to see if I could salvage something


Gave a little color on the test papers, but when I used dip pen and "ink" on paper it was very very light Just not an ink worth saving so dumped it out.



  I think I need to wait for spring and summer for fresh flowers This pot sure looked like it would give a nice deep red.


I also found a jar of indigo crystals which sadly I never got around to dyeing with. I contacted the company I bought it from to see if I can mix it with water to make ink-I saw a couple videos of people doing that with a similar product-sounds fun to try and would give a pretty blue I would think.

  With frigid air returning here to the ozarks-and a little ice on everything Sunday morning I made a pot of potato soup with smoked clams. I love potatoes, one of my favorite foods but we rarely eat them any more do to the high carbs. 

This soup was delicious.


Over the weekend pretty sunrises



You can see this sunrise reflected in the window behind the smoker. The turkey came out of the smoker around 11 am Sunday-soooo good-of course I had to try it
   See end of post for smoked turkey photos-google won't put them where I want them 



My drink share is decaf coffee with mini marshmallows-this was an experiment and turned out delicious


The marshmallows melted pretty fast and stirred in like cream with a hint of sweetness. I usually drink my coffee black so this was a little something different


 I can not get my photos to load under the smoker and google three times now is not putting these two photos in order either-oh well 

  Sooo delicious and not as salty as I thought it would be from the brine, These smoked meats would go well with cheeses and appetizer type foods, etc This is really tasty but too rich for a dinner meal.






Happy T


38 comments:

  1. The potato soup with smoked clams looks so creamy and warming, but that smoked bird is my favourite! The sunrise is just glorious.

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    1. Thank you Angie, we are so pleased with the smoked bird-hadn't smoked anything in quite awhile now-came out perfect

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  2. It´s so nice to read about your enthusiasm with the ink!
    I´m so tired still (flu, grey, grey day always , work like long hors too, oh, great excuses...))

    Same with the portaes here, too. Trying low carb those "meanies" are... hm.

    When do you get up for sunrises? Here the sun .. 8-9 earliest and I´m surrpunded by houses, so all I can do is enjoy you pics (thank you for that!).

    Sweetness overload just looking at that, LOL.

    Oh, but the meat.. with cheese.. I´d be in!

    To a happy T! Hugs

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    1. I sent you an email too. these inks are so fun to try and capture the colors. we are early risers-always have been so we are up before the sun rises which is around 7:30 am now I tink.
      the marshmallows actually turned out really creamy in my coffee and very little sweet-I don't like sweet in my tea or coffee. the meat was excellent

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  3. I can't believe it-I think I'm drooling over that turkey! I love animals-they're delicious! I have to admit-turkey is my fav meat. I do love the birds alive! Your soup looks wonderful too. Love the sky in your place-so pretty. Stay warm-we are getting very cold starting Tuesday.

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    1. this turkey turned out sooo good. I took it all apart and most of it is packed up and in the freezer now. the dark meat will be perfect for bean soups I am thinking. we are bitter cold today-came in last night, and we have a light coating of ice everywhere stay warm and safe

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  4. Your turkey looks good!

    Did you paint your deck gray? I want to paint ours that color. How long did it last? Any suggestions?

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  5. You are having a lot of fun and some great ink results! Beautiful photos and I’d have that turkey for a main meal in a minute. Looks great!i

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    1. thank you the turkey was really good tasting. yes I am having fun with the inks

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  6. Smoked turkey is yummy. We don't have a smoker, but on Thanksgiving, if we go to my sister-in-laws, we always have smoked turkey. Yours looks delicious and makes me think of turkey day. It's also good cold weather food, isn't it? The cold is headed our way at the end of the week, so stay warm. Your sunrise photos are really pretty. It must be nice to wake up to such pretty colors. Have a great T day and start to the new week Kathy. hugs-Erika

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    1. thank you so much Erika, this turkey turned out so good-I think Larry enjoyed doing this turkey-it took almost 3 days to smoke it with these cold temps here.
      We feel so blessed to enjoy a different sunrise every morning here-really wonderful way to start the day-Happy new week

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  7. How delicious your smoked turkey looks! I look forward to seeing all the special meals you plan around it. Your sunrises are beautiful. I think winter might be the best time to capture gorgeous sunrises and sunsets. You must be feeling pretty good about all the successes you had with the dyes, even if some didn't work out. I hope you recorded it all in your journal.

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    1. I was really happy with how the turkey turned out-it's rich tasting so can't eat too much at one time. I am thinking too the cold mornings are giving us lovely sunrises. I was really happy with the avocado ink it writes so well too, I did write in my journal what had happened with this latest one. I think I will experiment with that indigo crystals to see if it makes into an ink

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  8. Happy T Day, dear Kathy. I have never cooked a turkey, let alone smoked one. You can really do a lot of good things. Love the sunrise pics. Happy T Day, hugs,Valerie

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    1. thanks so much, Larry is the one that does the smoking-this turned out so delicious

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  9. I can't wait for the dandelions to arrive and I can use them to dye fabric. I know they can go from any color between yellow and light green, depending on how many additives you include. I bet they will make a great ink, too!

    Your turkey looks amazing. I am really hungry about now, so this is making my tummy want some!

    Your sunrises are simply amazing. I have to many trees behind me to get any kind of decent sunrise OR sunset (tree in way, there, too).

    How great the mini marshmallows melted so quickly. It looks a bit like my coffee. Thanks for sharing your failed ink experiment, your sunrises, your turkey, and your coffee with marshmallows with us for T this week, Kathy.

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    1. We were so pleased with this smoked turkey hadn't done this in years-was fun to do. yes dandelions are on the list for ink I will try that this spring. at the woods home same thing we could not view sunrise, sunsets or the moon indoors in the house so this has been really special to look forward to every morning.
      the marshmallows were good in the coffee may do that again smiles Happy T

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  10. Sunrise photos are amazing, and I love the colours of sky. This potato soup looks delicious and creamy. I like potato soup too. And thanks for the update on making dyes.
    Thanks for the share, Happy T Day!

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    1. Hi Amila, thank you we really have enjoyed the sunrises here at the lake house so much-different every morning too. Happy T

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  11. Gorgeous sunrises. I'm sorry the ink didn't work out. Your food looks delicious. And I love cocoa.

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    1. botanical inks and dyes are always an experiment different things can cause failures-my berry and avocado ink turned out well as did my black walnut ink-so all is good. we love the sunrises here-Happy T

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  12. Hi Kathy. I'm so happy you have found ink making. It looks like you are having fun with it and learning a whole new skill. Ohh that soup looks so good. I think I will make some today. It is so cold here right now. Smoked meats are always good, however, marshmallows in coffee brilliant. Have a great day today.

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    1. Yes I am having fun with the ink making-I did do allot of natural dyeing on fabrics and eco dyed papers too, so this is actually much simpler. I love soups on a cold day. feel better and have an awesome day too

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  13. The ice got to us overnight, so hot chocolate sounds like the perfect drink :) (There wasn't an option to sign in with Google this time...) Happy T Tuesday

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    1. we still have a bit of ice here a little warm up tomorrow, google is so weird haha

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  14. I bet you'll have better luck with fresh flowers for making inks. At least, you are enjoying the process. Gorgeous colors in that sunrise. Stay warm and Happy T Day

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    1. Yes I think so too, very happy with the avocado ink though, writes well with dip pen. we really enjoly the sunrises here very much

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  15. Hi Kathy, thanks for your visit. I don't heat up the juice as that would destroy all the goodness. I love your ink experiments. I did a lot of dyeing with plants and making inks a while back, I kept a book of test results, which I need to look out. I don't remember using lavender though. Happy T Day! Elle/EOTC xx

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    1. thats true thought perhaps you could heat it up a little bit for some warmth. I would love to see your test results if you care to share on blog post. lavender might be too light in color but I did see it mentioned as a flower for ink

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  16. Sorry your ink didn't turn out well. Maybe Spring will bring some brighter colours. The sunrise pics are beautiful. Your smoked turkey sounds delicious. Happy T Day, hugs, Chrisx

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    1. Hi Chris thank you, yes I think these dried flowers were too old for this project. my avocado ink turned out really well-I love that one. the smoked turkey turned out so delicious

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  17. I am enjoying your ink experiments. I'd trying to dye papers myself so that failed ink of yours would have made me pretty happy I think. Creating is fun isn't it? The turkey looks great. I'd have to share it with the neighbors or we'd be eating it for weeks though.

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    1. Oh I am glad you are enjoying my ink experiments! I do enjoy it very much. haven't tried dyeing papers yet-I think my black walnut ink would be great for that.
      the turkey was really good-I froze most of it-just the two of us and it is good but rich-can't eat allot of it at one time-more for snacks or appetizer. I froze the white and dark meat seperately too

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  18. Smoked turkey is the best!
    I can't remember if I emailed you back but thank you for the info on the dip pens. I went to purchase them and they weren't as cheap as you got them so I will watch them. Prices change so quickly on Amazon that I am sure they will be down again.
    I ordered that ink book from the library and look forward to reading it. You ink experiments are wonderful to read about.
    Happy Tea Day,
    Kate

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    1. I was wondering how long amazon would have those on sale-the sale price does not show up til you go to check out though-it was surprise. the $9.00 is a really good price too these glass pens are usually around 20.00 for nice ones..
      You will enjoy the ink book-we don't have a library nearby so I end up buying books-I got this for 40 cents with my amazon credits. I find allot of ink recipes online-just need to browse a bit.
      I happy you are enjoying the ink experiments The turkey was sooo good
      Happy T

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