Here's what you do with leftover turkey -- Turkey Gumbo!

This starts with simmering the carcass for a few hours. 

 Throw in some onion and left over veggies if you like.  When it’s done just put the whole pot in the fridge.  Or if there is no room and if you live where I live, by the basement door where it’s cold.  You can skip this step but I think it adds richness to the stock.

The next morning, take the carcass out of the pot and pick off the meat.  I’m a terrible carver so there’s always plenty left on the carcass but there’s always something.  You can also use leftover turkey you carved.  Save that for later.  Strain the liquid and save that.  Freeze it in quart bags.   Keep a pint out. It should be very gelatinous.

What makes a gumbo is the roux.  

It’s all about the roux.  This takes time. You need to stand by the pan and watch and stir your roux.  You don’t want it to burn.

A roux is equal parts fat and flour.  I had fried up a bunch of bacon for loaded mashed potatoes so I used a quarter cup bacon fat and a quarter cup flour.  You can use butter, olive oil, lard, any fat.   

Melt the fat, and add the flour and mix it well.  Then cook on low heat until it is a dark caramel color. It takes about 40-45 minutes.  Don’t rush it.  Stir it and don’t let it stick to the pan.

Then add 1 chopped onion and one chopped red bell pepper, a few cloves garlic, chopped and stir it up so that it is all covered in the roux.  

This is when I add the spices. 

 Salt, pepper. You can add cayenne pepper if you like heat.  I use Penzey’s Cajun mixture.  And sage, since sage is good with turkey.  Stir it up and cook low for about 5 minutes.  

Add about a half cup wine.  Red wine, white wine, whatever.  It will become a big sticky glob.  That’s what you want.  Cook that on low for about 10 minutes.  

Add your pint of turkey stock.  Depending on how thick and rich that stock is, you can add water (or wine) to thin it to your taste.  I like it thick.  I also add about a tablespoon of brown sugar.


Add the turkey.  You could add some carrots. Turn up the heat and bring that to a slow boil. Then dump it in the slow cooker (or turn heat down again) and cook it for about two hours. Eat it with rice.  It’s rich and tasty. 

You will want to make sure you have enough left over turkey to make this every year.

Enough with the Black Friday Shaming Already!

Hey remember me?? 

I used to blog.  For myself.  Now I blog for the Northeastern Iowa Synod.

But I got something to say about Black Friday shaming. 

 I think we should stop it.  

Because while you think it’s all about fighting anti-consumerism and commercialism and everything that is wrong with our economic system, it’s not.  

It’s just making people who like to shop on Good Friday feel bad.  And making you feel superior because you don’t do it. 

This is the thing.  We have a crazy economic system that depends on people buying stuff.  I don’t think that is a good thing.  I don’t even understand how it can be sustainable. 

And you don’t have to tell me about how bad people in retail are paid and treated.  

Hello??? I worked at Staples last summer.  I went 5 hours on my feet without any breaks.  I was expected to be kind of smart about figuring out stuff, be fast on the cash register, know where to find the blue #3 sharpie, smile and take grief all for a little over minimum wage. 

I get it.  There is something wrong with our economic system. 

But we ALL participate in it.  Some of us benefit from it more than others; some of us suffer from it more than others.  But nobody gets a pass.  

You don’t get to be all superior for not shopping on Black Friday. 

Disclaimer:  Yes I have shopped on Black Friday.  

Got up early, took my kids, got some deals, went to lunch, and came home and took a nap.  We did this even at the evil capitalistic center – Mall of America.  

Nobody died.  Nobody even got punched.  Or trampled . Most people were very pleasant.   

But then again I never tried to buy a Plasma TV for $5. 

Frankly I’m tired of seeing memes comparing Black Friday to the Hunger Games.  And people trying to make me feel like I’m more greedy and consumerist than those who shop on say, Monday.  

And if I’m tired of it, trust me; the folks in the pews are tired of it.

And you know who else is tired of it?  The good people in your pews who own stores.  

They are tired of being made to feel like they are responsible for taking Jesus out of Christmas cuz they sell stuff in December.  

So let’s just stop it.

I don’t know how to fix our broken economic system.  I don’t know how to make the world a more just, fair and kind place.  I just know that making people feel bad about going shopping is not working.

So if you are looking for a deal this Friday – Sin boldly!  AND remember the poor.

#Amightyfortress

A Mighty Fortress

Is not just brick and stone

A Mighty Fortress

Is the fierce loyalty of a friend

that defeats the cruelty

   we often impose upon ourselves

A Mighty Fortress

              is a shield of grace

                             against the spears of judgment this world hurls

A Mighty Fortress

              Is a tender love that provides a balm

                             which heals the scars this life can leave

A Mighty Fortress

              Is the place where love and grace can make us brave again.

A Mighty Fortress is our God.

Visiting Poverty

I know, I never post here anymore.  I keep it because of the old stuff I posted.  For those who are still following, this is from where I do most of my writing:  God's Work, Our Blog, our synod blog.

My sister & I

The past two weeks has been something of a roller coaster of emotions as I took personal time to first celebrate with joy and pride my son’s graduation from college and then flew to California for what is probably my last visit with my sister who is in the late stages of breast cancer.

My sister has worked hard her whole life in a variety of low paying jobs, mostly waitressing and factory work.  She always enjoyed her jobs and the people she met and made the most of life.  But now she lives only on her Social Security check, in Southern California where rent is so expensive she is left with $40 a month to live on.

She lives in a cockroach infested apartment on a busy street.  But she does have a place to live. There are many homeless who sleep in cars and under shopping carts on her street. She knows and speaks to many of them.

When you are poor you wait for hours in the clinic for care.  Even if you have cancer you can wait months to see a specialist.  She needs to give herself shots after her chemo treatments and one time the doctor forgot to include a prescription for the needles.  The doctor is only available on Wednesdays.  She needed to give herself the shots beginning on Thursday.  My sister is good at coming up with creative solutions to problems.  She walked down to the local homeless shelter which has a free needle exchange program for drug addicts and talked them into giving her some needles.

When you are poor you have to be clever to survive.  People who think the poor are lazy and dumb must not actually know any poor people.  One of my sister’s neighbors spent two days, 12 hours a day wearing a hot costume and dancing on the street to attract attention to a local business for a few hundred dollars.  Out of her $40, my sister gave him $10 to wash her floor for her.  

She gets food stamps.  A few times a week she has someone take her EBT card (they don’t use stamps anymore) to the Jack in the Box on the corner to buy her a hamburger.  A lot of people resent that the poor can use food stamps to buy fast food.   But remember she has 4th stage breast cancer and is undergoing chemo.  She doesn't always feel like cooking.

While I was visiting she bought us a couple of steaks with her food stamps.  People with money resent that too.  But she only gets a set amount of money for food each month.  If she spends $12 on steaks this week, it means she will eat rice and beans the rest of the month (which she likes).  But why should we begrudge her the ability to buy her sister a nice dinner?  Why should we insist she buy hamburger every week rather than steak one week and beans the next?

I went grocery shopping for her and she gave me her EBT card but I refused to use it.  Of course I had money and wanted to buy her groceries so her food stamps would last longer.  But there was a less noble and generous reason I refused to use the card.  I was ashamed and did not want to be seen using the card.  “Oh don’t worry about that,” she assured me “Everyone here uses that card.  You will fit right in”

The truth was, I did not want to fit in. I did not want to be seen as one of “those people”.  But as I spent the week with her and “those people” and saw how much they cared for and took care of my sister, how hard they worked for the little they had and how clever they were at surviving, and what positive attitudes they had, I realized I could do a lot worse than “fitting right in” with this crowd.

As Christians we know we are obligated to help the poor.  But I know we can be awfully judgmental about the poor and we don’t often actually get to know them.   Jesus was about more than just "helping" the poor.  He was about abolishing the barriers we put between “us” and “them”. This past week has challenged me to think about ways we can move beyond charity to expanding our notions of who our neighbor is.

My Review of the New Noah Movie

I do all my blog writing over  on the Synod Blog now.  Mostly newsy stuff but once in awhile I get to have an opinion.  This week I review the new Noah Movie. 

Lent is Coming

And really if I were still in the parish I'd get this Lenten Devotional for my congregation even if I didn't write part  of it.

Honestly this gig helped me pay for my insurance when I was doing my time at Staples this summer.  

Too Deep for Words:

This pocket-sized, full-color devotional takes you through Lent with daily readings from Romans. Each reading is accompanied by a photo, quote, reflection, and prayer.

And if you miss my blogging - I do all my blogging over here these days:

God's Work Our Blog