How to Feel Young Again

I was feeling old today and was nostalgic for my youth. And I'm not even 30 yet. It's interesting, I question how to feel young again and wonder if I can incorporate the things that used to make me happy back in to life. Here's an interesting article about it: Every Day Health

I think I'm feeling this way because Kevin is away working in Sweden on a job. Mom is gone and I just miss her so much. I want to be a child again and run up and see her. It makes me horribly sad that she's dead and I'll never see her again. She was such a wonderful mother and she died and suffered before her time. I'll be watching What Dreams May Come tonight and thinking of the world outside of this one. What is heaven, or hell? Can they be found or is it a world we create? Is Hell just a life that we never lived properly? Those who feel young and act young don't worry about this. In many ways I still do these things. I don't have children and my husband and I don't plan on taking that path. And that doesn't make me sad that I won't have my own kids. It's just when I think of my mom and realize she brought me on to this Earth... I am just overwhelming grateful that she decided to have a child. Only one. Me. And here I am. I create beauty everyday. I create good feelings in others and perhaps bad ones too.

The night before my first day working at SHS, I had a dream. My mother visited me in this dream and I KNEW with every fiber in my being that it was her. If I was a holy person, I would say that night I found God, but in this case I found mom again. I woke up from the dream and I couldn't stop crying. For a long time, I just cried and cried I was so happy but so sad that she was gone again. That I couldn't be with her. When I was younger she was with me and as a child you always take those moments for granted. When she got sicker as I was older I realized that I was lucky to have her in my life.

The world I have created for myself is wonderful and blessed. I have created a beautiful home. I have found my way to a rewarding and blissful and a career that has the capacity to make me feel young again. I think I need to call a friend and have them share a special moment with me.

Le Grand Continental Video of my Performance

Le Grand Continental Sept 20, 2012 Pioneer Courthouse Square from Magaurn Video on Vimeo.

30by30: 30.) Commit time on Rosetta Stone - UPDATE

I haven't been great commiting time on Rosetta Stone and I figured I needed practice conversing with others in Japanese. So, long story short is that I signed up for a Japanese Level One class at Bhodi Tree Learning Center in SE Portland. It may not be great considering how much cheaper it is then college credit classes, but I am hoping that I will at least get some grammar and honorific basics since Rosetta Stone doesn't focus on those things at all.

30by30: 11.) Take 30 dance classes - COMPLETE + EXTRA CREDIT

Wow! This goal went even better then I had originally expected it to! In my willingness to take 30 dance classes, I actually became involved in White Bird's 15th Anniversary celebration which was comprised of a performance of a French Canadian choreographer's work called Le Grand Continental.

I signed up for discounted classes at Northwest Dance Project via a Living Social special. I took 10 classes through them: Lyrical Jazz, Contemporary Fusion, Ballet Barre and Hip Hop.

Then I auditioned and made the Le Grand Continental with a good friend, Erin that I have known since high school. She and I have been working with the other 150+ Le Grand dancers to perform on September 30th in Pioneer Courthouse Square. We meet every Tuesday and Thursday at the Oregon Expo Center from 6 to 9 pm. It's been a wild and amazing journey. At the end of the performance, each dancer will receive a complimentary DVD of our performance. Here is a video you can watch of the Montreal performance, which was the original: http://vimeo.com/35144677

New Thing: Take the new/old bike for a ride along Marine Drive

Can I just tell you how much I love this old bike I got down the street for $20? Kevin got me a sweet helmet for my birthday and also helped me attach the sparkly streamers. I'm so stoked. I took it for a 7 mile (that's a long ride for me) bike ride along Marine Drive. It was enchanting and rode like a dream. I love my bike!

30by30: 18.) Two more bouquets

For Kevin's Birthday BBQ, I had these two bouquets made at the Parkrose Farmer's Market.

30by30: 8.) Began the Sheep cross-stitch of mom's

Mom's portion of the cross-stitch, completed most likely in the early 1980s.

Found another neat-o art project that mom never finished. This is a cross-stitch of a shepherdess and sheep that she started. With the other art projects I have scheduled for this coming year, I may or may not have it completed by my 30th birthday. But I am willing to try and I have started working on it where mom left off. I'm filling in the sheep right now :)

30by30: 8.) Raining Cats & Dogs Block of the Month Club

With some of my 29th birthday money, I signed up for this Block of the Month quilt club through Pioneer Quilts in Clackamas. It's called Raining Cats & Dogs and one thing that really drew me to it was the colors being used. It's a full sized quilt, so not large enough for our bed but will work well as a guest bed quilt. This is an applique heavy quilt, which is something I've never worked with before. How it works is you go to the shop once a month and pick up the block packet with that month's block instructions and fabrics. Then you cut everything out, sew it together and begin your hand applique work. I'm doing everything with just the needle-turn method because it seemed the easiest as well at the method that would stand the test of time the best. After I am done assembling it, I will most likely combine hand quilting and long-arm machine quilt it since there is a LOT going on with small details. The picture is just the top of the quilt, but each pattern shows the quilting that is expected. Guaranteed this quilt will take me longer then until my 30th birthday to complete, however, since I'm beginning to work on it now it all naturally counts toward that 30 art projects before 30 goal :)

30by30: 21.) Join a Book Club - COMPLETED

So this completed 30 by 30 posting is both a success and a failure. During my Masters program, I became friends with everyone in my cohort. Some of us had similar tastes in literature and the four of us decided to create our own fantasy/ sci-fi book club. Success, right?

Well, since the start of September all of them except me have gotten employed full-time in their first role as a classroom teacher. Because of that I haven't heard back from anyone about the book club. We had even picked and read our first book, The Neverending Story by Michael Ende which is a fantastic book if you have never read it. Sadly, no one has been returning my calls about scheduling our first meeting about it.

I think this was still a success but instead of having a monthly meeting, maybe we have a quarterly meeting? Or maybe we just read each other's book recommendations via email?

Extra Credit: Enroll in an Aerial Fly class

Though not on the original list, I saw a performance put on by A-Wol Dance Company in Portland and the dancers simply blew me away. They made the silks and trapeze look so freaking easy that I thought, "Hey I can do that!" I began looking for Group-Ons and low and behold I found one for the aerial fly beginner class. Boy, was I out of my league! I don't have any upper body strength and I tore my hands up pretty badly. But it was fun :) Here is a video of some of the same Things that I did during my beginner class:

30by30: 8.) Quilt Tags

I decided to make embroidered quilt tags for the quilts I've previously made.

30by30: 8.) Hawaiian inspired batik quilt throw

I took a three session beginning quilting class at a local quilting shop thanks to a GroupOn discount I purchased. Here is the finished product! I was so excited to learn so many new tips and techniques. This is definitely something you can't only learn from a book. I chose batik print because it reminded me of my husband and I's trip to Hawaii this year. I still need to hand-turn under the binding to finish it, but I plan on giving it to him as a birthday gift this year. What fun!

30by30: 18.) Blue inspiration flower arrangement

30by30: 8.) Sewed my own kobukusa

A kobukusa is a ceremonial cloth that is used in the Japanese Tea Ceremony to hand people warm tea. It is always carried in a hostess and guests fukusa basami and is generally one of the many fabric motifs that are famous in Japan. Today, one of my sempai Kate showed me and other students how to create these clothes. Kate provided practice fabric in this soft green with a beautiful chrysanthemum motif on it. Though only appropriate to use in the miziya, this cloth will be folded in half and tucked away for future use.

30by30: 18.) Flower arrangement

The canvas behind the arrangement was taken by my husband Kevin.

30by30: 26.) Repair, furnish and decorate backroom, update

Kevin's friend finally got around to installing the round window overlooking the Japanese Garden space. It looks so much better from the original window.

Before - October 2011

After - August 2012

30by30: 2.) Lasagna :)

My parents used to make lasagna from scratch all the time and I decided I would try my hand at it. This is from the original Joy of Cooking book. I subbed 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 sweet Italian sausage instead of including any veal.

30by30: 27.) Learn how to play 30 songs on 30 instruments of my choice, clarification

I felt that I needed to clarify something on the musical inspired #27 of my 30 by 30 checklist. When I wrote this, I had originally planned on learning 30 songs on my favorite instruments and then playing them flawlessly. But after much self-reflection I realized that was not what this goal symbolized for me.

In essence, what I want to do is play a song so passionately, with so much emotion that it jars an emotional response from me. Whether that be a serene feeling (thus the picture of the beach), a sad feeling (where I begin to cry as I play) or a feeling of such happiness and joy that I smile and laugh as I play. When I have my head in the piano, this comes very naturally for me. That instrument feels like it was made for my body. I just let my brain go and play. I was trained to play flute for several years and I struggle more on that then my piano. I usually don't tie myself too much to the music, as I do for what playing the music correctly gives me. I'm not a stickler for perfection in this part of my life, it seems. This is surprising to me. I also hope to learn a few folk songs on mom's guitar so I can see if it is mindlessly beautiful like the piano for me, or if it's more like the flute where I have to think and concentrate the whole time.

I hope I was able to clarify this one. Remember, it's not in the flawless execution of a piece but rather it's creating that emotional response from myself. Where I move myself so completely that the piece becomes part of my body and I forget myself.

30by30: 22.) Finish mom's Jungle Quilt and Duck Embroidery - ALTERNATIVE COMPLETED

Before the quilting

I randomly found the following cross-stitched squares in mom's stash of embroidery items. I liked them so much, that I decided to turn them into a quilt. Though my original 30 by 30 goal was to complete mom's Jungle Quilt and her Duck Embroidery, the point of this one was to complete a sewing project that mom had started and never completed. Though I can't be 100% sure that mom had intended for these pieces to be turned into a quilt, I believe that she would be satisfied by the result. The backing has a tree ring print that matches the tan of the cover. The front really reminds me of mom's sense of design and the back is a fun and flamboyant print, which is totally me. I think it's a good combination of both mother and daughter in this quilt. In a twist, the cross-stich squares still have the hand-quilting dots on them, so I plan to hand-quilt it myself. Eek! Never done that before. :) I'm glad I was able to give these squares a new life versus them just sitting in a bag somewhere, hidden away and forgotten because they are really quite lovely. It will make me think of mom every time I look at it. I will make sure to note all those important notes on the quilt tag also.

Completed quilt, after hand-quilting and binding

30by30: 2.) New Recipe: Crackers for Bentos

The July Daring Baker's Challenge was to experiment with making crackers. I'd never made savory crackers before and I've never made things frozen as logs and cut up in coins to bake. Here's the recipe that I used:

Cheddar, Rosemary and Walnut Icebox Crackers (form into a log and slice):

Servings: Approximately 48 crackers

Ingredients

1 stick butter, well softened
2¼ cups grated aged Tillamook jalapeno cheddar cheese, firmly packed
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose (plain) flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary

Directions:

1. Combine butter, rosemary and cheese in a stand mixer and beat well (can also be done by hand)
2. Add the flour, salt and nuts and stir to combine
3. Form the dough into two tight logs and wrap with cling film
4. Chill for at least an hour and up to several days. The log can be frozen at this point for several months.
5. Heat the oven to moderate 325°F
6. Slice a log into 5mm (1/5 inch) coins and place on a parchment lined baking sheet
7. Bake about 10 minutes until golden brown
8. Store in an airtight container and eat within three days
9. Try this recipe with different cheeses, nuts (or no nuts), and spices. Get creative!

30by30: 8.) Calligraphy postcards and seasonal haiku

In 2009, when I began studying chanoyu (the Japanese Tea Ceremony, or the Way of Tea), I started out taking an introductory class with my Sensai that covered many grab bag basics of Japanese culture. One of the things that we tried our hands at was calligraphy. Samurai would study tea and calligraphy as a means to attain balance along with their martial arts study. My Sensai took Calligraphy lessons in Kyoto and he said that you could never truely know a stroke until you wrote it 1,000 times. Thus, 1,000 ichis was born for her (or writing the word "one" 1,000 times!).

Sensai had a wonderful idea that I am copying. For four years (from 2002-2005), she focused on one word to learn in calligraphy. She would practice and practice the strokes of that one word and then, after she felt that she had mastered it, she would send a postcard to everyone with the calligraphy on the front in that beautiful black ink on a white notecard. On the back would be written the word in hiragana, it's essence in English and also a corresponding seasonal haiku or zen phrase written on the back. I don't plan on sending them to people. Not until I get some practice and I think doing the ones from 2000 will be a good starting point. By the end, Sensai was sending them to 75 people and she said it was getting out of control. I don't have the money or the patience to commit to that right now.

I thought this would be great fun if I went back to the start of the Millenium with the year 2000, I know (13 years! What am I thinking?) and do one for each month. I've already picked out each word and haiku for the last 13 years (I stayed up until 2 am doing it) and I'm really excited to get started. I know this isn't something you learn in a day and it will really feel more for me like DRAWING rather then writing, but I think it will be great fun to see the development from 2000 to 2012 and onward from there.

It's the spirit of the art that counts, not its masterpiece. The new themes are announced by the Imperial family each year at the utakai hajime, the annual New Year's poetry selection.

2012: Shore (kishi)
2011: Leaf (ha)
2010: Light (hikari)
2009: Life (sei)
2008: Fire (hi)
2007: The Moon (tsuki)
2006: Smile (emi)
2005: Walking (ayumi)
2004: Happiness
2003: Town
2002: Spring
2001: Herbaceous Plants
2000: Time

30by30: Extra Credit #4 Sit in front of my own gas fireplace COMPLETED

We completed the renovations to our fireplace. Here are the before and after pictures. We already had gas installed in the house, so we called All Pipe Systems to come in and lay additional pipe and run it down the wall. Small 6 in x 6 in hole to patch up on the backside, facing the kitchen. However, the fireplace tray and black lava rock look really sharp. We used some black heat-resistant spray paint to clean up the fire box. I think it looks great and will be fabulous in winter when we need it also for it's value as a heater. Right now it creates a wonderful calming mood in our space.

Before

                                                                          After

30by30: 2.) En Papillote (asparagus)

Pretty decent side dish. One comment is that it needs more oil or I just need to bake it for longer. The asparagus was a little too crisp for my liking.

30by30: 2.) Roly Poly Rolled sandwich inspiration

Today I made my very own version of my favorite rolled sandwich from Roly Poly. It has Tuna and BBQ sauce and here is how you can do it at home.

Ingredients:
Albacore Tuna
Tortilla
Cooked Bacon
Sauted onions
Half a small avocado
Thinly sliced cheese of your choice
BBQ sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste
Mayo or Sour Cream or combo

Directions
Drain tuna. Feed tuna water to your cat if you have one. They will love you for it. Then add BBQ sauce, mayo and sour cream to tuna and stir. Salt and Pepper to taste. Place the cheese in a half of the the tortilla, making sure to spread to about 1/2 inch from all edges. Then take half of tuna and spread it in a log in the middle of your tortilla. Add bacon, onions and avocado near tuna. Fold sandwich in thirds and cook on skillet until it is crispy. (Use low setting so it doesn't burn). Cut sandwich in half. Sandwich may drip, which is totally normal. This is a perfect size for one person and I heart it very much!

30by30: 18.) Flower arrangement

Dahlias, lilies, and filler :)

30by30: 24.) Finish the blanket for Project Linus - COMPLETED

This stupid knit blanket took me TWO YEARS to finish and I don't even like it that much, so I'm not posting any pics of it. In fact, it is SOOO ugly that I can't donate it to Project Linus because I would feel sorry for the person who received it. It's a red and black wooly knit blanket with one side DRASTICALLY wider then the other. I am thinking I might be able to turn it into a shawl instead. However, since the blanket IS FINISHED that I had knitted for Project Linus I am counting this one as part done :)

30by30: 2.) Experiment with Tahini

Tahini is delicious! I've never had it until today, but anything with sesame seeds in it must be delicious and imagine a "peanut butter" sub sesame seeds and voila! Tahini! 

Pictured is tonight's dinner of roasted chicken and asparagus with tahini sauce. Delicious! Much more subtle then peanut sauces, in my opinion. The recipe was again from Ruth Reichl's "Gourmet Today" cookbook.

30by30: 2.) Seared Salmon with Sesame Bok Choy & Spinach (new dinner & bento lunch)

Today for dinner I made Seared Salmon with Sesame Bok Choy and Spinach. The recipe I got from "Gourmet Today" by  Ruth Reichl on page 340. It was delicious and had enough for a cute bento box for lunch.

30by30: 3.) Four yoga classes in San Francisco

While I was visiting a girlfriend in San Francisco, I took four daily yoga classes. They were tons of fun, though I realized how completely out of shape I am. I've lost a lot of flexibility since my colorguard days, so I think yoga is a great way to get that back plus some of the yoga poses really require strength training. Especially when you are trying to balance and do back bends you really need to be able to hold your own weight.

30by30: EC: Go to Hawaii - COMPLETED May 6-18, 2012

In celebration of me earning my master's, Kevin and I flew to Hawaii for a two week vacation. It was a wonderful trip. We went to Oahu, Maui and Hawaii. Here is what we did:

• Hiked Diamondhead (Oahu)
• Observed an Urasenke tea lesson 
• Ate at the Hukilau Cafe (from 50 First Dates)
• Visited Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial
• Participated at the Polynesian Cultural Center
• Hiked the Ia'o Valley (Maui)
• Viewed a Haleakala sunrise (twice)
• Made it to Hana in a car
• Snorkeled with tropical fish and a sea turtle
• Discovered a romantic waterfall
• Devoured Spam and eggs for breakfast
• Found a new drink (Maui Brewing Company root beer + vodka = delicious and refreshing)
• Enjoyed Mother's Day lunch at Mama's Fish House
• Watched lava glow and ooze (Hawaii)
• Stargazed from the front seat of a convertible Mustang
• Basked in a lovely sunset with my hubby
• Swam with more tropical fish via snorkelling
• Ate at Sam Choy's
• Went on a brewery tour of the Kona Brewing Company
• Went on a coffee farm tour at Greenwell Coffee Farms

30by30: 25.) Organize Garden Shed - SECOND HALF COMPLETED

This completed #25 on the list. Kevin and I went to IKEA and picked up a couple of the wire racks for a laundry room that have shelving that slides in and out. I pulled everything out, swept the floor and the shelves and it looks great. Much more organized then it did. It isn't perfect yet. The organizational system needs a few tweaks to make it more intuitive, but I believe that will come with time too.

30by30: 16.) Square Foot Gardening - UPDATE

Though I already completed this on my 30 Before 30 list, I just wanted to let you know that we got the second bed in the garden. The first one was 4 x 10ft, this one is 4 x 8ft. We put in corn and sunflower transplants from the other bed plus seeds for chives, carrots, okra (2), brussel sprouts (2) and green onions.  It's going to also have tomatoes and green peppers. The two raspberries are in pots for now, I'm not sure where I'm going to put them.

30by30: 2.) New Recipe: Biscuits and Gravy

What would my favorite breakfast be without a healthy (in this case, "large") serving of the all time yummy Biscuits and Gravy. As much as I love this dish, I have never made it for myself. The hubby and I munched on this deliciousness this morning :) Though not a new "dinner" dish, it could easily pass for any meal but was really worth it.

My Aunt Bev makes amazing B&G with venison sausage. The sausage is definitely a must for any B&G recipe, but what people fail to consider is the quality of biscuits.

For the best B&G I've tasted (besides my Aunt's), check out Pine State Biscuits in Oregon. A yuppy, preppy place that should be featured on an episode of Portlandia. You get a plate and it's to DIE for!

This breakfast was just made with Pillsbury biscuits, "country" style ground sausage and McCormick's Country gravy packet. Not form scratch; however, in a pinch this is still delectable! Plus, it only took 20 minutes for everything, which was a nice time saver. Saved myself the $6 for the B&G at my all time fav Gateway Breakfast House, also very good but more country-diner-style.

30by30: 18.) Flower feature: Courtesy of George Fox University

Glass-blown vase with fern, baby's breathe and beautiful pink flower.
From the George Fox University for my Reading specialization.

30by30: 1.) Earn my Graduate Degree - I'm a Master! COMPLETED

I have finally completed my Master's program at George Fox University. I earned a Master's of Arts in Teaching as well as my teaching license. I will be able to teach Middle School and High School age students, grades 6th through 12th. The subjects I'll be specializing in are Language Arts, Business and Reading. This is such a tiny post for a journey that has lasted 16 months, through tears and heartache, through joy and laughter. I've met some wonderful people. There has been death and there has been birth (thankfully, no birth announcements from our household). The folks who took this journey with me have a special place in my heart and many of them I will talk to for years. Some of them I hope to be life-long friends with :)

The Hooding Ceremony was today and I'm so grateful to have taken this journey. Mom knew that I would be doing this and I'm so thankful that she has been by my side, in spirit, from start to finish.

From left to right: me, Ally and Allie :)

30by30: 11.) Take 30 dance classes - Bought a class card on LivingSocial

Technically, I haven't started this 30 by 30 goal yet. But, I wanted to let you all know that I am being proactive about scheduling dancing time in to my daily agenda. I purchased a Ten Dance class card through LivingSocial for NW Dance Project. With the use of that card, that will get me a third of the way toward my goal! Plus, it expires by July 25th, so it encourages me to get moving again.

I made this a goal because I really miss all of the extensive dancing I did in college. I wrote for Dance Spirit magazine when I lived in New York City for goodness sake! I was a good dancer. I can be a good dancer again. But, more importantly, I just want to have fun moving my body again.

30by30: 8.) Action Research Trifold

For my Master's, I needed to create a trifold with my Action Research Group. Our topic was researching classroom management strategies that reduced disruptive behavior in a typical high school classroom.

Here is the brochure we made.
Materials:

• Blue wrapping paper
• Neon computer paper
• Glue
• Yarn
• Garage sale stickers

30by30: 18.) Flower feature: Zen vase #2

Zen Vase: Red camellia, daffodil and peony (I think).

30by30: 16.) Build and Plant a Square Foot Gardening Plot - COMPLETE

Well, this took a LOT of work for both my husband and I. First Kevin dug and leveled the space in the yard and he brought home the board. Then I painted the boards to match our deck. We got the paving stones from another area of our yard that the previous owner had left and made a checker board pattern.  We got 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite (medium size) and 1/3 compost to nearly fill the space. We mixed the dirt well and planted the veggies. We then threw a piece of netting over it to protect from critters and birds, which we are blessed to have many of but after all that hard work I just couldn't stand the thought of having a cat use it as a litter box.

The reason why it's cordoned off is because I'm doing a square foot gardening technique. In the garden so far I have 24 strawberries (from the previous owner), 3 hops, 4 broccoli, 1 artichoke, 1 rhubarb, 4 romaine lettuce, 8 head lettuce, 2 butter crunch lettuce, 1 section of sunflowers, 8 sections of sweet corn from seed, 4 various annual flowers, 1 cilantro and adequate space for 1 tomato plant. I couldn't have done this all without my wonderful husband! Three cheers to him :)))

30by30: 2.) New Dinner Dishes - Sour Cream Noodle Bake

This Sour Cream Noodle Bake was simply heavenly! It's sort of weird, but it calls for cottage cheese and it's very good in this recipe. It's sort of like healthier, yummier hamburger helper if you want an idea for texture.

Again, this recipe is courtesy of Pioneer Woman:

Ingredients

• 1-1/4 pound Ground Chuck
• 1 can 15-ounces Tomato Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 8 ounces, weight Egg Noodles
• 1/2 cup Sour Cream
• 1-1/4 cup Small Curd Cottage Cheese
• 1/2 cup Sliced Green Onions (less To Taste)
• 1 cup Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown ground chuck in a large skillet. Drain fat, then add tomato sauce. 1/2 teaspoon salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Stir, then simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.

Cook egg noodles until al dente. Drain and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and cottage cheese. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Add to noodles and stir. Add green onions and stir.

To assemble, add half of the noodles to a baking dish. Top with half the meat mixture, then sprinkle on half the grated cheddar. Repeat with noodles, meat, then a final layer of cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until all cheese is melted.

Serve with crusty French bread.

30by30: 2.) New Dinner Dishes - Caveman Pops (Baked Turkey Legs)

Today's new recipe was again from The Pioneer Woman. I loved the idea of these "caveman pops" and decided to try my hand at it. Kevin ate his with a knife and fork, which was very endearing. I ate mine like a true caveman, minus the napkin clutched to my chin to catch the yummy juices. It was very very good.

Here is the recipe, courtesy of Pioneer Woman:

Ingredients

• 10 whole Turkey Legs
• BRINE:
• 4 quarts Water
• 1 cup Kosher Salt
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Seasoning Blend (I Used Montreal)
• 1 whole Bay Leaf
• Dry Rub
• 2 Tablespoons Chili Powder (less If You Don't Like Things Too Spicy!)
• 2 teaspoons Seasoning Blend (I Used Montreal)
• 2 teaspoons Paprika
• 2 teaspoons Onion Salt

Preparation Instructions

In a pot, combine water with the salt, sugar, brown sugar, 2 tablespoons seasoning blend, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil then remove from heat. Allow to cool, then pour into a large container or bowl filled with ice. When mixture is cold, submerge turkey in the brine. Cover the container and brine in the refrigerator for 4 to 6 hours, more if you have time.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix the dry rub ingredients. Remove the turkey legs from the brine and rinse them under cold water. Pat them dry. Rub the dry rub all over the turkey legs, getting under the skin when you can.

Roast on a baking sheet in the oven for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 300 and roast for another 15 minutes, or until turkey is cooked through. (Update: larger legs will require longer cooking time.)

Remove them from oven and wrap the bottom of the legs with aluminum foil for serving.