Bellevue

Last weekend we went to Bellevue for there winter wonderland shopping extravaganza. We ended up leaving late b/c Jordan had to work till one on Saturday. Kohen fell asleep in the car on the way down. We got to the Hyatt (which is an amazing hotel and if you're looking for a good deal they have a holiday package available in December. Its $149 dollars plus a $50 Gift certificate to Bellevue square and free buffet breakfast) we then headed over to Bellevue square. It was packed and we spent a lot of time just looking around. We then went to Red Robin for dinner and headed back to the hotel to bundle up for snowflake lane. Theirs fake snow, big snow animals, drummers and loud Christmas music. Kohen loved it, though he was a little tired. Next year we hope to hit up the Christmas carousel, ice skating and the lighted botanical gardens. I would recommend heading to Bellevue during the holiday season to anyone! We did all our Christmas shopping on Sunday and then came home! It was a very fun packed weekend!

Turkey Time

This year I did my first turkey. It was a small Turkey and I figured if I can cook a whole chicken then it should be a piece of cake to do a turkey. I started out by brining it the night before. I used the Pioneer woman recipe (I love her and if you haven't checked out her recipes-you should www.pioneerwoman.com ). I then took it out of the brine washed it off with cold water, rubbed butter and herbs all over it, put stripes of bacon over the top, and placed it in an oven bag. I cooked it 10min per pound. It was AMAZING! So moist! Here is the Brine recipe-

Ingredients

• 3 cups Apple Juice Or Apple Cider
• 2 gallons Cold Water
• 4 Tablespoons Fresh Rosemary Leaves
• 5 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1-½ cup Kosher Salt
• 2 cups Brown Sugar
• 3 Tablespoons Peppercorns
• 5 whole Bay Leaves
• Peel Of Three Large Oranges