a quote to remember...

"If you want to build a ship, don't herd people together to collect wood, and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea."

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-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

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a quote to remember...

Baked Turkey Spring Rolls

Baked Chicken Spring Rolls (modified using turkey)
From: Cooking Etcetera

Ingredients:
* 3 cloves crushed garlic
* 2 cm grated fresh ginger
* 2 cups shredded cabbage
* 1 carrot, grated
* 2 cups bean sprouts
* 1 cup chopped turkey breast
* 1 tsp fish sauce
* 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
* 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves
* 1 package spring roll wrappers
* 2 boiled eggs, cubed

Directions:
1.) Cook garlic & ginger until fragrant. Add Turkey.
2.) Add carrots & cabbage. Stir in oyster sauce
3.) Close to finishing, toss in bean sprouts, dash of fish sauce.
4.) Remove from heat. Toss in coriander leaves
5.) Lay spring roll wrapper on a flat surface on an angle so it looks like a diamond.
6.) Spoon 2 tbs of the filling at the bottom corner of the wrapper
7.) Fold in the 2 sides. Seal the top of the wrapper with egg white
8.) Continue rolling up to form a tight cylinder
9.) Bake in an oven 200C until crispy or turn golden brown◦

Baked Turkey Spring Rolls

Turkey Curry

Diana Rattray: Use leftover turkey to make this tasty turkey dish...

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons curry powder
4 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups chicken broth
1 can (8 to 9 ounces) crushed pineapple, undrained
3 cups cooked diced turkey
2 tablespoons lemon juice
hot cooked rice

Preparation:

In a large skillet, heat curry powder in butter, stirring, for 2 minutes. Stir in onions; continue cooking, stirring frequently, until onions are softened. Blend in flour and ginger; add chicken broth and pineapple. Heat to boiling; simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes.
Stir in turkey. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes longer, or until heated through. Stir in lemon juice. Serve with hot cooked rice.Serves 4.

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Turkey Curry

Turkey and Mashed Potato Croquettes

Got Leftovers? Here's one of the yummiest recipe's I could find for leftover turkey. Please feel free to leave any other wonferful nuggets in the comments...

Turkey and Mashed Potato Croquettes
Diana Rattray

Make these turkey croquettes for a post-holiday meal or make smaller ones and serve as appetizers. Freeze these croquettes before breading, then complete with coating ingredients and instructions after thawing. These are delicious served with leftover or store-bought gravy and cranberry sauce.

Ingredients:

* 2 cups finely minced leftover turkey
* 1 cup leftover seasoned mashed potatoes
* 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
* 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
* ***Sauce***
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 6 green onions, with a few inches of green, thinly sliced
* 1 clove garlic, finely minced (omit if using garlic mashed potatoes)
* 4 tablespoons flour
* 1/4 cup chicken broth
* 1/4 cup milk
* 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
* ***Coating***
* 1/2 cup all Coating-purpose flour
* 2 large eggs, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water
* 2 cups finely ground fresh bread crumbs

Preparation:

Combine the turkey, mashed potatoes, parsley, and black pepper.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add green onions and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the flour and stir until well blended. Stir in chicken broth and milk. continue cooking, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add salt, to taste. Combine with the turkey mixture, blending well. Cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, about 1 to 2 hours. Put 1/2 cup of flour in a plate. Beat eggs in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of water. Put the finely ground bread crumbs in another bowl.

Shape croquette mixture into 1 1/2-inch balls (a little smaller if you're making appetizers). Roll gently in the flour to coat, then in the egg until coated. Coat with the bread crumbs. Place on a waxed paper or foil-lined cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining turkey mixture and crumbs. I keep plenty of paper towels and a bowl of water handy to keep my hands relatively clean.

Let the croquettes stand for about 30 to 45 minutes to dry a bit.

Heat oil to about 360°. Fry the croquettes in small batches for about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, depending on size, or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve with hot turkey gravy and cranberry sauce as part of a post-holiday meal or as appetizers for guests.Makes about 16 to 18 1 1/2-inch croquettes.

Yum!!! I love this time of year!◦

Turkey and Mashed Potato Croquettes

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday! I hope your day is filled with warm smiles, and joy filled times to cherish and remember with loved ones and friends!

~

Happy Thanksgiving!

.

-robert

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Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Pizza Petril's...

This is my cousin's pizza shop. It's called City Pizza, and it's located at 16th & Oregon Ave in Philly. You can claim my bias here, so I invite you to ask anyone within range in South Philly, and they will tell you it's one of the best pizza shops in all of Philadelphia. And, it's completely full of Petril Peeps! Let me introduce them to you...

This is Robert Petril. He's the owner, and he's jammin' on the main ovens.

And then there's another Robert Petril, and he's jammin' the back ovens...

Then we have Anthony Petril rockin' cheesesteaks on the grill...

And then another Anthony Lebo Petril wheelin' the pies all over South Philly...

Ok, then we have Nick Petril laying down sauce, cheese, and toppings on the fresh dough that Bruce was just tossing...

The list goes on. Some more Petrils just had the night off. Like this mug here named Dio Petril. He was probably home sleeping...

And, Gianna Petril upstairs rockin' the tanning salon...

City Pizza is SO busy! The phones downstairs are always off the chain crazy!

Here's a clip of what City Pizza "Rush Hour" looks like. It's a well choreographed pizza ballet...



If you're in South Philly, you just gotta stop here and grab a pie!

Seriously! How lucky am I to have a pizza army like this in the family!?

City Pizza, 16 & Oregon, South Philadelphia, 215-755-8888

Tell them "Buzzy" sent you.

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Pizza Petril's...

More Fancy Gap Photos

I can never be in North Carolina without having a scratch-made sausage biscuit for breakfast. OK, so these things are not on the top of the healthy foods list, but they are soooo good!!!

It was a great week spent with my client Metro Home Furnishings. But now it's time to go back to Philly...

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More Fancy Gap Photos

furniture, mountains, and shooting stars

This week in North Carolina is all about doing the final tweaks to our new furniture designs at Metro Home Furnishings. We're going over every inch of the new modular concept, and we'll be applying some great new fabrics that I've totally fallen in love with. I may even be proud enough to post some photos soon.

While I'm here, Robert Thomas the Sales Manager for Metro, is graciously hosting me at his mountain top cabin home in Fancy Gap, Virginia. It's just over the state line from Mount Airy, NC, and it's a magnificent place! His property borders the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The luckiest part is the meteor shower. Last night I woke at 3AM to see it, but it had become cloudy. I was so bummed I was missing it. But tonight I went outside and the sky was completely clear! Pitch black! The stars are so vivid up here at 3,000 feet with no light polution. You can see dense clusters of stars. It's totally awesome! And I've seen 4 shooting stars so far tonight :-)

I wish I had a really good camera with me, but here's some decent photos I took with my sony phone. Oh! Did I mention there's a horse out back too?!

I had to stop and photograph this old house on the way down the mountain this morning. It just makes my imagination wander to the history it must have sheltered over the many years. I really love this photo.

And finally, tonight's dinner was pork tenderloin in the oven with peaches, ginger, garlic, and other spices, with baby red potatoes and a Caesar salad. It was SO good!

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furniture, mountains, and shooting stars

InFusion & Frogfish

One of my favorite places to have a business meeting is in a great coffee shop! Last week I met with the Frogfish peeps, at a place called InFusion Coffee & Tea in the historic section of Philly called Mt. Airy.


Before we started the meeting, I had to kick things off with an awesome ham and egg omelet pizza and a cappuccino. It was SO good!

Now I have to show you some of the other choices behind the glass. It was a tough decision...



The meeting was really great. Frogfish is an amazing technology company. I am a client of theirs, and we're actually talking about much more. Soon I may have some really cool and exciting news to share. In the meantime, here's some more scenes from beautiful Mt Airy.


I'm on my way this morning to North Carolina, to work on the final samples of our new designs at Metro Home Furnishings. I can't wait to see them in final cover. I will post some photos soon.◦

InFusion & Frogfish

Yo Tony Luke's

Last Saturday night I went to Tony Luke's for a sandwich. When you go to this place you can feel the heart and soul of Philadelphia. You stand in line, and you listen to all the chatter about the Phillies, the Eagles, the SEPTA strike. It's just one of those soul quenching experiences.


They are famous for their roast pork, and roast beef sandwiches with sharp provolone on a fresh baked long roll. My mouth is watering now as I remember the taste!

You stand politely in line, and you follow the rules, the vast menu, and the different windows. You place your order, and then you wait. You can smell the onions cooking on the grille inside. You're watching all the peeps sitting at the tables eating theirs. And finally, you hear your name called! Awesome!!!

When you're in Philly, you can't miss Tony Luke's! It's on Oregon Avenue at Front Street in South Philadelphia.

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Yo Tony Luke's

African chillout

This music inspires me so much! It's one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard.

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African chillout

flea marketing again...

Flea Marketing is so much fun! As I mentioned before, my Mother and Step Father are hardcore Fleamarketeers. So, it's so great to be able to take advantage of my time at home, and go with them, to help with their setup. I even brought another chunk of my old CD collection to sell. Of course this weekend's theme was Halloween. Take a look at some of the scenes from the day...

Tony, the Flea Market Director

It was a gorgeous day!

Excuse me sir?

Oh...sorry!

So funny!

I think I saw him move!

Of course I bought it!

The best of show! My mother's display and hand made jewelry.

She stayed busy like this all day!

It was a great day! And, Flea Market peeps are so great. I had so much fun!

I'm really going to miss Philly when we go back to China.

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flea marketing again...