Black and Gold Stole My Voice

Sister and sister were pitted against each other last night as Team Black and Team Gold pulled out all the stops in the Black and Gold Swim Meet. This is the swim meet that combines swimmers of all ages from  Andrews; the high school swim team (Aimee), the middle school swim team, and the Aquatics Club (Allie) are all placed on either the black team or the gold team so that each team has an equal number of older and younger swimmers and they duke it out for 3 hours to vie for bragging rights.  In reality, this is a pretty fun swim meet, which serves to get all the swimmers and their families together, and the Aquatics Club provides pizza for everyone afterward.  As far as family night is concerned, it covered all the grounds since it kept us all in one room supporting our family members, enjoying the company of friends, and cheering everyone on until our voices were only a memory.

Allie was especially excited because this was her very first swim meet. One of the things she kept wanting to do in practice was a longer event. They work on improving form and position one lap at a time for the most part, so when she saw that she could sign up for the 100 IM in the the meet, she jumped at it. I wasn't sure how that would go at the meet--100 yards, varied swim stroke, no breaks can be a long time for an 8 year old, but she was determined and she totally nailed it! She cycled through butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle and finished in 2 minutes 45 seconds on her first ever 100!  When we looked at the heat sheet, we discovered that Allie was the only one that signed up for the 100, but that didn't phase her at all. She wasn't nervous about being the only swimmer; in fact, she LOVED it!!  "It was so cool, because everyone was cheering, and the only name I could hear was Allie. Go Allie, go Allie. I was really out of breath by the end and it felt so awesome!"  She truly has some of the BEST friends who were at the sides of the pool cheering her on the whole time.  Besides being great swim competitors, Aimee, Natalie, Grace and Jenna were the best cheerleaders ever! For this particular event, Mrs Duzan, Allie's teacher from 1st grade, was one of her timers! Frosting on the cake. :)

Aimee also had a lengthy race this time. Whenever they pull out the plastic flip charts, you know it's time to settle in for about 10 minutes.  If you're unfamiliar with swimming, the plastic numbers are to dip into the pool, letting the swimmer know how many laps have gone by; for this event, they have 20 laps to complete. Aimee swam the 500, which she hasn't done in a meet since early middle school. The upside to that is that she improved her time by 4 minutes!!  Initially, she wasn't thrilled that her coach had put her in the 500, because she prefers shorter events, but in the end, she loved it.  "I just got into a groove and it felt almost relaxing. When I sprinted the last couple laps it felt exciting." With a time of 8:23, she can definitely be proud of her improvement in a year of swimming!

Lap count numbers (awesome flip turn)

Black or Gold? Who won?! After scoring all the events, a certain number going to to each place, the team with the most points was ... GOLD! The Gold boys had 389, Black boys had 308; Gold girls 339, Black girls received 295.  (Those scores are estimates, since I didn't write them down, but they're close).

Whose team was that?  Well, As I said, Aimee and Allie were on opposing teams.  Allie was also placed on the team opposite her two besties, Jenna and Grace.  But Aimee assured Allie that she had a great team because some of Aimee's fastest swimming buddies were on Allie's team. In the end, that must have paid off, because Allie's team, the GOLD team won.  Of course, swimming is all about beating your own times, right? :)

Some of their other events: (each of the events usually has about 6 - 8 swimmers...I recorded the times for my kids and their best friends. :)  )
Girls 8 & Under 50 Yard Freestyle
Allie (2nd place): 1:13
Grace (1st place): :56

Women 200 Yard IM High School
Aimee:

Girls 8 & Under 25 Yard Backstroke
Allie (2nd place): :29
Grace (1st place): :28
Jenna (3rd place): :33

Women 100 Yard Butterfly High School
Aimee: 1:39

Girls 8 & Under 25 Yard Breaststroke
Allie (2nd place): :38
Grace (1st place): :33
Jenna (3rd place): :39

Mixed 400 Yard Freestyle Relay High School
Jimmy, Patrick, Aimee, and Trish:

Herb Roasted Turkey

This is the turkey I have made for the past few years. I love it. I was one of those few who never understood the draw of turkey at Thanksgiving. This recipe fixed the problems I have with it.  The texture is awesome and the flavor is amazing. Seasoned rub + aromatics + brine + high temp to begin, then lowered = DELICIOUS.

First, brine the turkey overnight. 2 gallons of water + 2 cups kosher salt. Add the turkey to the brine and soak it overnight in the fridge.  The only problem with brining, is that you can't use the pan drippings to make gravy. Otherwise, your gravy is REALLY salty. Trust me. Been there, done that. Maybe you could use less salt for the brine, but the pan drippings are still going to be much more salty and seasoned than you're used to.  I have heard that as long as you still season the turkey with the recipe that follows, it will still be great, but I haven't tried it. If you do, let me know.

1 12 lb turkey, brined overnight
1 dried ancho pepper
1 celery stalk
3 large, fresh sage leaves
1 fresh bay leaf, or 2 dried
2 sprigs fresh thyme
3 large shallots
1 tsp cumin seeds, whole
2 TBSP dried sage
1 TBSP ground cumin
2 TBSP ground pepper
2 TBSP dried thyme
2 TBSP kosher salt
1/2 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 425. Remove turkey from brine and pat dry inside and out. For the aromatics, tie together celery, fresh sage, thyme sprigs, and bay leaf into a bundle and place inside body cavity along with the ancho pepper and shallots. Mix ground cumin, pepper, dried thyme, dried sage, and salt with olive2 oil. Carefully loosen turkey's skin without tearing from the breast and legs, and massage oil and spice mixture all over and under the skin. Tie the end of the drumsticks together over the body opening and tuck the wing tips underneath. Place on roasting rack in large roasting pan and roast in oven for 30 minutes.

REDUCE oven temp to 350 and continue to roast for another 2 - 2 1/2 hours, basting every 30 minutes until thigh temp registers 170. Remove from oven and let turkey rest on serving platter for 15-30 minutes (while finishing prep or making gravy).

NOTE:  I have NEVER had to leave  the turkey in for the whole three hours. After the initial 30 minutes, mine is often done after an additional hour and fifteen minutes to 1 1/2 hours I think. I always have intentions of making a note on the recipe, but I always forget to. Anyway, plan to check the temp after it's been cooking for 1 1/2 hours (total time)

I think a 12 lb turkey is a perfect size. We haven't had giant get-togethers, but a smaller turkey has always been enough for us and whoever we have over. If you have a larger turkey, obviously it will need additional roasting time.