Happy Thanksgiving & Happy Hanukkah!

To all our friends and family, customers and fans, business partners and fellow small business owners, the Carolina Sauce Company would like to extend our wishes for a happy, safe and stress-free Thanksgiving and Hanukkah!

Today and every day, we are grateful to have you as part of our extended Carolina Sauce family.

According to what I've read, the coincidence of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah is an extremely rare occurrence, happening once every 79,000 years or so (don't slam me if that number isn't perfectly accurate - I didn't check the math).

To those who are celebrating both holidays, may this special occasion be marked with double the joy and blessings.

To all others celebrating just one or the other, may you likewise be blessed with the true spirit of the day.

And to anyone who is not celebrating either day, may you nevertheless find happiness and a reason to be thankful for something today.

Enjoy the time with loved ones, family and friends, make sure to remember the true meaning of today instead of getting caught up in the frenetic commercialism and societal expectations.

Most of all, find at least one thing or one person you're thankful for, and let them know. There's no better time than today, and there's no knowing when you'll have another chance.

Safe travels to all who are traveling over the holidays.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Last-Minute Recipes & Cooking Tips for Thanksgiving & Hanukkah

Browse our Thanksgiving Recipes

This post is for anyone who might still be planning their menu for Thanksgiving or Hanukkah.

It's also for anyone in search of last-minute recipes, food ideas and cooking tips for either holiday.

By the way, did you know that Thanksgiving and the first full day of Hanukkah fall on the same day this year? Apparently this is an extremely rare occurrence, and is causing some stress among families celebrating both holidays, both in terms of meal planning, coordinating time with relatives, and properly marking or observing both holidays.

I am here to help, whether you're celebrating either Hanukkah or Thanksgiving, or both -- or neither and simply like to read my blog or learn new recipes and cooking tips.

As to Thanksgiving:  Over the years I've shared numerous Thanksgiving recipes and turkey tips on this blog. You can search for them using the search box on the top left of this blog, or, to save time, you can visit us on Pinterest and browse through our Thanksgiving Recipes & Seasonings board on Pinterest, where we've gathered the best of our recipes, cooking tips and seasonings for this holiday. All of the pins there link back to the original recipe or blog post or product page.

Browse our Hanukkah Recipes

As to Hanukkah:  On this blog I've shared Hanukkah recipes, too, albeit not nearly as many as for Thanksgiving. I've also posted information on Kosher products available from the Carolina Sauces online store. You can search this blog for all of those posts, or you can check out our Hanukkah Recipes board on Pinterest (where you'll also find recipes appropriate for Rosh Hashanah and Passover) and also our Kosher Products board on Pinterest. Click on any pin of interest on either board to go directly to the original recipe, blog post or product page.

We hope these tidbits of information help reduce any food-related stress or anxiety you may be experiencing on the eve of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah. If you find any particular pin to be of help, please feel free to repin or "like" it there, or leave us a comment on Pinterest or here below.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Smoking a Turkey this Thanksgiving? Read This First.

If you're planning to cook your Thanksgiving turkey on a smoker, the following proven tips are guaranteed to produce the juiciest, most succulent and irresistibly delicious bird you've ever cooked:

*Brine for optimum juiciness.  Plan on brining your turkey for at least two days for a fresh or thawed bird, and at least 3 days if starting with a frozen turkey. Be sure to use a lidded container that is large enough to completely submerge the turkey along with some sealed bags of ice (to keep the turkey at a safe temperature). Remember to replace any thawing ice packs with new frozen ones to keep the brine cold enough. If you've never made your own brine, try our basic brine recipe or The Hound's Brine (a classic old recipe), or my personal favorite, Greg's Secret Turkey Brine.

*Do This for Crispy Skin:  Use paper towels to thoroughly pat the turkey dry after brining. Surface water is the enemy of crispy skin. Before placing the turkey in your smoker, use your fingers or a basting brush or mop to coat the skin with olive oil and then pat on a poultry rub such as Gobblin' Good Turkey Rub or Bone Suckin' Poultry Seasoning.

*Choose the Right Wood. This may seem obvious but it's worth saying: Turkey is a lighter, milder flavor than beef pork, and therefore requires a lighter, milder smoker wood that won't overwhelm the bird's natural flavor. Most experienced smoke cooks will agree that hickory and mesquite are simply too strong for turkey. Complementary woods for smoking a turkey include fruit woods like apple wood, pear or cherry wood. Another good choice is oak -- in fact, if you can get wine-barrel wood from a winery or whiskey-barrel wood smoking chips from a distillery, it's excellent!

*Control the Smoker Temperature. Keep your smoker at around 300°F degrees, and smoke the turkey until its internal temperature reaches 180°F. When checking the temperature of the turkey, use a good meat thermometer to check in the breast and in the thighs (make sure the probe doesn't touch the bone, which can give you a false reading) to make sure the entire bird has reached 180°F. This can take around 5 hours for a 20-lb. bird, but your time will vary depending on the weather (cold, damp days mean longer smoking times) and the size of your bird. Do NOT stuff the turkey before smoking it -- that's a recipe for disaster, aka food poisoning! Instead, for the sake of safety cook the stuffing separately -- which I guess makes it dressing rather than stuffing.

*To Inject, or Not? Experts are divided on the use of injectable marinades for smoked turkey.  Some people swear that the best way to ensure that the entire turkey is infused with richly seasoned juices is to inject it prior to smoking with a good quality butter or oil-based marinade. Injecting the breast can also protect against overcooking and drying out while the darker meat finishes cooking (this is especially useful if you're new to smoking, or if your smoker tends to run hot. If you decide to try injectable marinades, I recommend either flavor of Stubb's Injectable Marinades. They're all-natural, made with butter, and easy to use. Choose between sassy-sweet Texas Butter or smoky-spicy Chipotle Butter.

One final tidbit of advice: Don't be surprised if your smoked turkey emits a puff of enticingly aromatic steam when you first cut through the crispy skin and into the breast:  That's proof that the bird is moist and juicy.

Please feel free to share your tips or recommendations for smoked turkey in a comment below.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Greg's "Secret" Turkey Brine Recipe

For years, Greg has impressed family and friends with the juiciest, most flavorful and visually stunning smoked turkeys for Thanksgiving dinner --and yet he would never reveal his secret.

If you've wondered how you can keep your smoked or roasted turkey from drying out, or have wanted to cook a more flavorful and succulent bird, today is your lucky day. After much arm-twisting, some bribery and eventually blackmail (well, not really, but it sounds more dramatic that way), Greg has agreed to let me share his secret recipe for the perfect Thanksgiving turkey:

It's all in the brine. Yes, he brines the bird for at least a day -- at least 3 days if starting with a frozen turkey -- in his own special brine, the formula for which he had kept secret until now.

In addition to a turkey and the ingredients below, you will need a lidded container large enough to keep the bird completely submerged in the brine along with a few resealable gallon-size plastic bags in which to place ice (the ice is essential to keep the turkey safely chilled as it brines). We use a large insulated cooler because it can hold a pretty large turkey as it brines and keep it at the proper temperature using the bagged ice. In case you were wondering, you can't simply add ice directly to the brining liquid because the melting ice would dilute the brine, and diluting it would prevent the brine from working properly (a brine is a delicate balance of water, sodium, sugar and flavoring ingredients, and using the proper ratio of water to salt & sugar is essential to its success).

Without further ado, here is Greg's Secret Turkey Brine Recipe -- which also works wonders with chicken, duck, goose and other fowl.

Ingredients
For every gallon of water, add:
1 cup Kosher salt
1 cup sugar
Juice, pulp & rinds of 1 orange, 1 lime & 1 lemon
1 head of garlic (crushed)
1/4 cup black peppercorns (crushed)
1 to 2 Tbs red pepper flakes
Fresh Herbs: 2 or 3 large sprigs of rosemary, several sprigs or more of thyme, several sprigs of fresh sage

Note: The water-salt-sugar ratio is the most important part of the recipe; feel free to adjust the other seasonings to suit your tastes.

Mix up enough brine to completely submerge your turkey in a container with a lid that can also hold some sealed bags of ice to ensure the turkey remains at a safe cold temperature as if it were in your refrigerator (you don't need ice initially if starting off with a frozen turkey, but may need to add the bagged ice as the turkey thaws in the brine). Place the turkey, brine and ice bags in the container, cover and brine for at least 1 full day (we like to brine a fresh or thawed bird for 36 to 48 hours). You can brine a frozen bird if you put it in the brine at least 3 days prior to cooking. Discard brine once you remove the turkey for cooking.

Before roasting or smoking the brined turkey, pat it dry. You can now season the surface of the bird with a seasoning blend or dry rub for turkey if you wish. A nicely-flavored rub designed specifically for turkey is Historic Lynchburg Tennessee Whiskey Gobblin' Good Turkey Rub.

Greg does not recommend deep-frying a brined turkey because it may "explode" as it hits the hot oil -- the purpose of brining is to introduce more moisture into the turkey, and this additional moisture can cause the hot oil to splatter powerfully, and that in turn could spark a fire if hot oil hits the heat source for the fryer.

What's your secret to juicy, flavorful Thanksgiving turkey? Tell us in a comment below!

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

PS: If you plan on deep-frying a turkey and want juicy, flavorful results, consider using a good injectable marinade, such as the Stubb's injectable marinades, which are currently on sale at the Carolina Sauces online store.

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is an annual reminder that each of us has so much for which to be grateful, no matter what obstacles, frustrations, disasters or tragedies life may throw our way.

If we are blessed--or lucky if you prefer that term--we can be grateful for the love, friendship and company of the people who matter to us. And that's just for starters, when you consider that much of the world's population can only dream of the comforts we likely take for granted on any given day: Shelter from the elements, security from those who might want to harm us, a reliable source and safe supply of food and drinking water, adequate clothes to keep us warm and dry...  As anyone who suffered through recent storms (or worse) knows, it's easy to take basic necessities and everyday comforts for granted, until they vanish even if only temporarily. Indeed, each and every comfort and blessing of modern life--and life itself--is so very fragile, and in reality merely temporary.

Perhaps if each of us were to set aside a minute or two each day to give thanks for just two or three people or things things in our lives, the world might slowly but surely begin to turn away from violence and cruelty and towards greater beauty and understanding...

Why not start today?

Wishing all of our friends, family, partners, colleagues, customers and fans a Zesty and Happy Thanksgiving,
Gloria
Carolina Sauce Company, Inc.

Sweet & Spicy Cranberry Bliss

Spicy Cranberry Salsa

Who knew that spicy hot peppers like jalapenos and habaneros would complement the distinctive tart-sweet flavor of cranberries so nicely? If you are a fan of spicy foods that actually taste good instead of merely burning, try one or both of these hot and spicy cranberry condiments with your Thanksgiving dinner--or, if that's too much of a radical departure from family tradition, use them to jazz up your turkey leftovers, from sandwiches and wraps to casseroles, burritos and even turkey nachos.

First up is one of the newer products on the Carolina Sauce Company online store, Cajohn's Gourmet Cranberry Salsa.  Made from the finest all-natural ingredients, this festive salsa begins with Cajohn's award-winning tomato salsa and then dresses it up with real cranberries (no pie filling or fruit syrups here), jalapeno peppers, turbinado sugar (not corn syrup) and other seasonings and spices, for a bright, seasonal flavor that will complement holiday turkey, ham, goose, roasts, and other hearty fare. The heat level is no more than a mild-medium, ensuring that practically everyone will enjoy its delightfully unique flavor without suffering from too much heat. A natural alternative to that tired, old can of jellied cranberry sauce, Cranberry Salsa is equally at home as part of your formal Thanksgiving dinner, on your party buffet, with your tailgating spread, and of course with your turkey leftovers. You can also enjoy it with chips or crackers, spooned over cream cheese or warm brie, alongside a turkey-filled omelet or crepe, and pretty much any other way you'd use a sweet and spicy salsa.

Cranberry Hot Sauce

Another excellent choice for spicing up your Thanksgiving meal and subsequent turkey-filled days is an old favorite that's made in North Carolina, the award-winning Toad Sweat Cranberry Dessert Hot Sauce. If you're not familiar with dessert hot sauces, think of them as sweeter and fruitier than your typical tangy fruit hot sauce, making them an inspired choice for drizzling over cheesecake, ice cream, fruit, bread pudding, pancakes, waffles, biscuits, and other similar desserts or breakfast fare. This sassy, sweet and spicy cranberry hot sauce blends together real cranberry juice (not cranberry cocktail or "beverage") with habanero peppers, vanilla, cocoa, sugar (not corn syrup) and other all-natural ingredients for inspired gourmet flavor that pairs equally well with dessert as with baked ham, roast turkey, grilled shrimp or chicken, and even as a dip for spring rolls. Its medium heat and superb flavor means that it will appeal to virtually all fans of fiery foods--and you can add it to your homemade cranberry sauce to wake up the flavors, and to your favorite barbecue sauce or marinade recipes, too.

Both the Cajohn's cranberry salsa and the cranberry hot sauce from Toad Sweat are currently on sale at the Carolina Sauces website.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Quick Kitchen Tips to Reduce Holiday Cooking Stress

Whether you're cooking for a crowd or for fewer than a handful of folks, these quick cooking tips will help you reduce your stress and keep everything going smoothly and efficiently in the kitchen.

1.  Have a Plan:  Before starting, read through every recipe you plan to make.  Make sure you have everything you need, including ingredients & cookware.  Have everything you need handy, or at least know where everything is.  Consider what you will make when, and which recipes or cooking steps can be "staggered" or combined for greater efficiency.

2.  Have Room to Work:  Clear off counters, tables, sinks, etc. of anything you won't need before you start cooking.  And once you get going, clean up as you go OR know where you're going to put dirty/used dishes & utensils until you're ready to clean up.

3.  For Cheese Grating or Shredding:  Cheddar and other cheese will grate or shred more easily if first chilled in the freezer for ten to twenty minutes.

4.  Room Temperature Eggs:  If a recipe calls for beating or separating eggs (or both), let the eggs come to room temperature first.  They'll separate more easily, and beat to greater volume.

5.  Making Muffins or Cupcakes?  Use an ice cream scoop to fill muffin tins or cups more easily.

6.  Baking with Nuts, Chocolate Chips, Raisins or other Dried or Candied Fruit?  Toss these "add-ins" with a little of the flour from the recipe (NOT additional flour) prior to adding them to the batter.  This will keep them from sinking to the bottom during baking.

7.  Cutting Marshmallows?  Apply a light coating of butter to the blades of your kitchen shears to prevent sticking.

8.  Hardened Brown Sugar?  Soften it quickly by placing in a microwave-safe bowl with a slice of bread or an apple slice, cover, and microwave for 30 to 60 seconds.

Merry Christmas to all of our Carolina Sauce Company customers, partners and friends who are celebrating Christ's birth!

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Spicy Maple Sweet Potatoes with Apple & Bacon

I made this recipe for Thanksgiving instead of the traditional sweet potato casserole (because I hate the marshmallows on top).  Greg and I both enjoy hot & spicy foods, so I used ground smoked habanero powder for a pretty powerful peppery punch.  For a milder heat level, substitute ground cayenne or other pepper of your choice--or smoked paprika for flavor without heat.  Use any apple variety that you like--I used a Granny Smith.  This recipe serves 4 as a side dish, and you can double it to feed more.

Ingredients
2 slices bacon
2 sweet potatoes
1 apple
1/4 cup maple syrup
Dash to 1/8 tsp (depending on desired heat) ground smoked habanero

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Cook bacon until crispy in a large frying pan.  Remove bacon (reserve the bacon fat in the pan) and place on paper towels to absorb excess grease.  While the bacon is frying, wash and dry sweet potatoes, then slice in half lengthwise, and slice each half into 1/4"-thick half-moons.  Add sweet potato slices to the frying pan and saute in the bacon fat until they start to soften and begin to brown lightly.  While the sweet potatoes are cooking, chop the apple into small cubes.  Add apples to the pan, stir in the maple syrup and cook for a few minutes until apple chunks are slightly softened.  Crumble the bacon into the pan, add the ground pepper and stir to combine.  Transfer everything into a casserole dish and bake until the sweet potatoes are cooked through (20 to 30 minutes, less time for "al dente" results).

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

PS:  If you prefer insanely-hot food, I dare you to use ground naga jolokia pepper powder in this (or any) recipe!

How to make Maple Smoked Pumpkin-Sweet Potato Pie

A few years ago, Greg discovered that he had a knack for making pie.  From old-fashioned apple pie to traditional pumpkin pie to elegant bourbon-chocolate pecan pie, Greg can make them all from scratch, including the pie crust.  To save time, however, he'll often buy good fresh or frozen pie crusts, and instead of going through the trouble of cleaning and cooking a pumpkin he'll use canned organic pumpkin pie puree.

This year was different.  While reading one of my favorite food blogs I discovered an intriguing recipe for Maple Smoked Pumpkin Pie.  The name alone gave rise to several questions:  Was the entire pie smoked?  Was maple wood used for smoking?  Is it possible to smoke a pumpkin?  Could this possibly taste good?

Most of my questions were answered as I read the recipe:  This essentially is a regular pumpkin pie you cook in an oven (not on a smoker), but it's sweetened with maple syrup and made with smoked pumpkin puree.  And according to the blogger, the flavor is rich, sweet, smoky and deeply satisfying.  Naturally, I asked Greg to make this unique pie for Thanksgiving.

The first thing we needed was a pumpkin.  The recipe calls for 2 cups of smoked pumpkin puree, and after some research I decided that the small, 2 lb 6 oz pie pumpkin I had bought would be sufficient (I was wrong).

To smoke the pumpkin, Greg quartered it and scooped out the seeds--which I saved for roasting separately--and then put them on his (already prepped) smoker for about 2 hours until the pulp was soft.  Greg said it was much easier to cook the pumpkin on the smoker than in the oven or using other more conventional cooking methods.  But then again, he's quite adept at using his smoker.

The smoked pumpkin flesh wasn't nearly as dark-brown as we had expected from the recipe, and when scooped out into a bowl the pulp was dry enough to not require any straining to remove excess liquid before pureeing.  Alas, it also didn't amount to the 2 cups of smoked pumpkin puree required by the recipe.  So we improvised:  Greg quickly peeled and cooked a large sweet potato which, when pureed, resulted in 1 cup of sweet potato puree.

The recipe called for 1 teaspoon of "pumpkin pie spice" so I made my own blend (feel free to use a commercial pumpkin pie spice if you prefer):
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
less than 1/8 tsp ground cloves
less than 1/8 tsp ground allspice

Greg then followed the rest of the Maple Smoked Pumpkin Pie recipe, although ours technically was a Maple Smoked Pumpkin-Sweet Potato Pie recipe.

Our verdict upon tasting the pie:  Outstandingly delicious!  It was more complex and darkly richer than traditional pumpkin or sweet potato pie, with the woodsy sweetness that only real maple syrup can impart.  The pumpkin-sweet potato blend resulted in a harmony of harvest flavors with only a slight hint of smoke, probably because of the addition of the un-smoked sweet potato.  Which, of course, raises a whole new question:  Is it possible to smoke a sweet potato?

We'll definitely be making this pie again, and more than once:  We'll try it with a larger pumpkin so as to get the full 2 cups of smoked pumpkin puree, AND we'll also experiment with sweet potatoes on the smoker.  I'm also curious to try smoked pumpkin in other recipes, e.g., soups, casseroles, etc.

If you make this recipe, or any other recipe using smoked pumpkin (or smoked sweet potatoes), please post a comment to let us know how you made it and whether you liked it!



Zestfully yours,
Gloria

PS:  If you love the flavor of smoked foods but don't have a smoker--or if you need a Christmas gift for someone with a grill who likes smoked foods--these natural wood smoking pellets are an easy and convenient way to add REAL smoked flavor to anything cooked on the grill.

Fresh Cranberry & Candied Pecan Salsa

This unique fresh cranberry side dish features bright flavors and colors with pleasing textures and crunch.  Sassy, sweet & tangy, with a citrus-cilantro twist, cranberry salsa pairs perfectly with traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas entrees like turkey, ham, duck, goose and even chicken and roast pork.  My friend Nancy Difede gave me the recipe, which I made it for the first time this Thanksgiving, and it was spectacularly good with Greg's smoked turkey and oyster-sausage stuffing. I'm looking forward to making this cranberry salsa again soon and serving it with venison tenderloin.  With Nancy's permission, I'm sharing her recipe here.

The hardest part for me was making the candied pecans, because I had never melted sugar before and the instructions I found online didn't exactly work the first time around.  If you're used to making pralines or candy or otherwise melting sugar, this shouldn't be an issue for you.  Nevertheless, it's probably a good idea to follow Nancy's advice and make the candied pecans the night before serving the salsa.  I didn't have quite enough pecans so I added a few chopped walnuts to them, which turned out just fine.  Also, if you want a spicier salsa, you'll want to use two jalapeno peppers, or perhaps 1 jalapeno and 1 serrano pepper.  The single jalapeno provided just a barely discernible nip.

Ingredients for Candied Pecans
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Make the candied pecans:  Melt the sugar in a small, heavy-bottomed pot, then stir in the pecans until coated.  Remove from heat and spread the pecans on parchment paper to cool completely.  Once cool, coarsely chop into small pieces.  Set aside (or store in an airtight container) until ready to serve the salsa.

Ingredients for Cranberry Salsa
1 package (12 oz) fresh cranberries
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded & chopped
1/3 cup honey
2 Tbs fresh lime juice
1 tsp freshly grated lime zest
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions (including some of the green part)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Place the cranberries, jalapeno, honey, lime juice and lime zest in your food processor and pulse until the cranberries are chopped.  Stir in the green onions.  Transfer to a bowl, cover and chill until ready to serve.  Just before serving, stir in the chopped cilantro and candied pecans.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

PS:  If you enjoy cranberries and spicy food, you'll love the award-winning Toad Sweat Cranberry Dessert Hot Sauce, made here in North Carolina using all-natural ingredients.

PPS:  Make sure to visit this blog on Monday, November 28th, because I'll be posting an exclusive, one day only Cyber Monday coupon for the Carolina Sauces online store! The coupon will be available shortly after midnight on Monday morning, and will expire in twenty-four hours.
 

Happy Thanksgiving from Carolina Sauce!

The Carolina Sauce Company would like to wish all of our friends, family, customers and partners a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  We will be closed tomorrow Thursday, November 24th, in observance of Thanksgiving Day, but as always our website will still be open for business and you're welcome to send us an email (we'll reply when we re-open for business on Friday).

Here's a heads-up for Black Friday:  We'll be running a one-day-only Black Friday coupon sale for the Carolina Sauces online store on the day after Thanksgiving, Friday Nov. 25th.  The coupon will be posted on this blog shortly after midnight (i.e., very early Friday morning*).  Make sure to check this blog on Friday to get your coupon code and enjoy the comfort of a crowd-free Black Friday sale without having to leave your home or deal with mall mobs, traffic headaches or parking hassles!

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

PS:  No, I personally won't be sitting at my computer into the wee hours of the Thanksgiving night--that's what "auto-post" is for!

Top 10 Safety Tips (& Video) for Deep-Frying a Turkey

Deep-frying a turkey is perhaps the best--and certainly the most dangerous--cooking method for juicy, succulent and flavorful turkey.  If you plan on deep-frying a turkey this Thanksgiving, here are my Top Ten safety tips to ensure a safe and fire-free Thanksgiving:

1.  ALWAYS use a real outdoor deep-fryer such as the Bayou Classic Bayou Classic Fryers With Rack 32 Quart Stainless Steel Turkey Fryer, with the right tools for lifting/immersing the turkey into the oil and a deep-frying thermometer.  Don't improvise or attempt to build your own fryer.  And for heaven's sakes, read the instruction manual and actually follow it.

2.  NEVER deep-fry a turkey indoors, or in your garage.  That's just asking for trouble.

3.  DON'T set up your deep-fryer on a wooden deck, or near anything flammable.  You want a flat, fireproof surface like a concrete sidewalk or paved driveway.

4.  DON'T overfill the fryer with oil, or else it will splash or spill over when you add the turkey, causing a grease fire.  That would be disastrous.

5.  DON'T try to fry a turkey that weighs over 12 lbs, because it will end up burnt on the outside before the inside has time to fully cook.  Nobody likes charred or raw turkey.

6.  NEVER fry a stuffed turkey--no one likes salmonella--and don't forget to remove the giblets and any plastic trussing or pop-up doodad before frying (no one likes melted plastic, either).

7.  NEVER fry a frozen turkey.  It will explode.  People will get hurt. 

8.  NEVER let the temperature of the oil get above 350°F.  Oil can ignite at 375°F.  That's no fun.

9.  ALWAYS have a grease-fire-approved fire extinguisher handy (never use water to try to extinguish a grease fire).  Kitty litter is also useful to absorb any spilled oil.

10.  NEVER leave the fryer unattended, and keep kids and pets away.  Deep-friers tip over with frightening ease.

But why listen to me, when you can listen to William Shatner instead?




Zestfully yours,
Gloria
Carolina Sauce Company

Carolina Sauce Company Newsletter: Turkey Tips, Coupon Sale & Gift Baskets

Earlybird Coupon Sale

           

Our annual Earlybird Christmas & Holiday Coupon Sale is back, and this year we're extending the savings through the end of November!  Use coupon code FALL2011 to save 7% off your product total at the Carolina Sauces online store, good on ALL products including on-sale items, hot sauce gift sets, and, of course, the newly-arrived J.T. Pappy's Gator Sauces.  This coupon is good through the end of November, and will expire at midnight on November 30th, 2011.

           

Add zest to your holiday menu and get a head start on your Christmas shopping with these tasty sauces, seasonings and gift ideas:

           

J.T. Pappy's Gator BBQ Sauces:  These rich & savory mustard-tomato BBQ sauces are finally back in stock, and they're bigger and better than ever!  Now in 18oz glass bottles instead of the small plastic 10oz bottles, JT Pappy's is great for marinating, grilling and cooking meat, poultry, veggies, seafood & more.  Available in original mild Gator Sauce, medium Flamin' Gator, hot Gator Grenade, extra hot Termigator, and smoky-mild Hickory Heaven.

           

Toad Sweat Cranberry Dessert Hot Sauce:  This North Carolina original is perfect for the chilehead who wants to spice up his or her serving of Thanksgiving turkey, and for jazzing up leftovers or even pouring over cheesecake.  For a unique sweet & spicy gift, there's the Toad Sweat Mini 4-Pack with a bottle of each of their award-winning dessert hot sauces.

           

Bone Suckin' Seasoning & Rub:  If you're smoking a turkey or if you're still using your grill outdoors, get yourself a bottle of this all-purpose BBQ seasoning for finger-lickin' flavor the whole family will love.

           

Cheesecake in a Jar:  This lusciously decadent and creamy dessert sauce is fabulous for dipping fruit, cookies or other sweet stuff; for spooning over pie, cobbler and even sweet potatoes; or using as cake frosting.  Makes a great Christmas gift or stocking stuffer for your favorite cheesecake lover!

           

Bone Suckin' Sweet Hot Mustard:  Sweet and sassy (not fiery), this dipping & spreading mustard will make turkey sandwiches and turkey salad sing.  It's also mouthwatering as a ham glaze and in casseroles calling for mustard.

           

Kosher Products:  Looking for full-flavored Kosher products for Hanukkah?  We have what you need!

           

Themed Hot Sauce Gift Sets:  If there's someone on your gift list that enjoys hot & spicy foods, give them a unique gift they can use year-round on all their favorite foods.  These hot sauce gift sets are specially-priced to save you money, and include an amusing Lawyer's Gift Set, an intriguing Pepper Variety Gift Set, a super-fiery Ultra-Hot Gift Set and more.

           

If you're cooking or shopping for folks with special dietary needs, we have Gluten-Free products, Low/No Carb items with no more than 1 gram of carbs per serving, and Low/No Sodium products with no more than 35mg of sodium per serving.

           

Use coupon code FALL2011 when you order any of the above from us to save 7% off the product total!  Remember, coupon expires on 11/30/2011.

             

***Please note, the Fall2011 coupon doesn't apply to products purchased from our partners.***

Gift Baskets & Gourmet Coffee

                       

Gourmet Gift Baskets and Gift Boxes are now available at the Carolina Sauce Company website!  We've selected these beautifully assembled and bountifully stocked gift baskets and boxes from our partners for their inspired selection of fine specialty foods from around the world.  Whether you need a gift for an experienced home chef or for someone who's exploring international cuisines, for a chocoholic or a bacon fanatic, for a loved one or a business colleague, you'll find what you're looking for when you visit our brand-new Gift Baskets & Boxes page.  From there, you can click on any listed item to get more information on it and also to browse through that partner's complete selection of gourmet gifts. 

           

And here's good news for coffee addicts:  Our newest partner is Hunter Bay Coffee, award-winning gourmet roasters trained by European masters.  They begin with premium beans and slow-roast them daily in small batches, ensuring the freshest possible flavor.  In addition to amazing coffee blends, they also offer organic coffee, fine tea, monthly coffee clubs, coffee accessories and coffee gift baskets.

           

The Secret to Succulent Turkey

           

Regardless of whether he roasts or smokes our Thanksgiving turkey, and regardless of how big or small the bird, Greg always manages to make the juiciest, most succulent and flavorful turkey.  Family and friends always want to know his secret.  His answer?  Brining.  Below is his secret recipe for the perfect turkey brine.  Don't worry about the salt or sugar content: the cooked bird won't taste sweet or salty because those ingredients merely serve to facilitate osmosis, the process that will allow the flavor elements (citrus, herbs, spices) and a little water to penetrate the bird to season it and keep it moist.  To brine a turkey, you'll need a cooler that's big enough to submerge the whole bird, and enough water to cover it.  For a fresh or defrosted bird, brine for 24 hrs prior to cooking.  You can brine a frozen bird if you put it in the brine 3 days prior to cooking.  To keep the brine cold enough, add ice in sealed plastic bags so as to not dilute the brine.

           

Without further ado, here's Greg's Secret Turkey Brine Recipe:  For every gallon of water add 1 cup Kosher salt, 1 cup sugar, the juice, pulp & rinds of 1 orange and 1 lime and 1 lemon, 1 head of garlic (crushed), 1/4 cup black peppercorns (crushed), 1 to 2 Tbs red pepper flakes, 2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary, several sprigs of fresh thyme, several sprigs of fresh sage.  The water-salt-sugar ratio is the most important part of the recipe; feel free to adjust the other seasonings.  Mix up enough brine to completely submerge your turkey, and add sealed bags of ice to the cooler as needed to ensure safe refrigeration.  Discard brine once you remove the turkey for cooking.

           

If cooking isn't on your agenda this Thanksgiving but you really want to serve smoked turkey, our partner Johnston County Hams will deliver their delicious ready-to-eat North Carolina smoked turkey (available whole or breast-only) to your home! 

Recipes, Coupons, Product Reviews, Zesty News & More 

The Carolina Sauce Facebook Page is your source for Carolina Sauce news, interesting food articles, and exclusive Facebook-only coupons. For access to these special coupons and the latest zesty news, simply visit our Facebook page and click on the "Like" button to become a Fan. You can then click on the Coupons tab and access special offers. And if you're looking for new recipes, grilling tips, product reviews, and the occasional chuckle, visit this blog on a regular basis. Here's where we post delicious recipes, review new products as soon as they arrive, announce any discontinued or unavailable products, warn of possible product shortages, run special sales and discounts, and provide other useful information. Subscribe to our free RSS feed or NetworkedBlogs feed and you won't miss a single zesty thing! Just fill in your RSS subscription info in the spaces provided in the left-hand column of this blog, or click on "Follow My Blog" in the NetworkedBlogs icon at the bottom of the left-hand column.

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Zestfully yours,

Gloria

Want to Save Money on Holiday Decor?

Click to buy the print on the left at Allposters.com

Our partner, AllPosters.com, offers a dazzling array of prints and posters to suit your personal style when decorating for the holidays.  From vintage to modern, abstract to traditional, and even food-themed posters & art prints, they have what you need to bring your look together, add zesty pizazz to a room, or even give as a Christmas gift.  And for the next three (3) days only, you can get 22% off your product total (excludes shipping & taxes), when you enter the coupon code 22ALL at checkout!  Here's just a taste of what's available from AllPosters.com:

Click to buy the Menorah, Gifts and Candy print on Allposters.com

Click to buy Serenading Christmas Chef poster on Allposters.com

Click to buy the Family Thanksgiving print at Allposters.com

 

Click to buy the Folk Christmas print at Allposters.com

Remember to use coupon code 22ALL to get 22% off at checkout.  And don't delay:  The coupon expires this Friday, 11/11/11.

Zestfully yours,

Gloria