nlbarber

Today has been...blah. Perhaps I'm coming down with a cold, perhaps it's just an allergy attack, but the nose has been dripping steadily, ignoring the antihistamine I've thrown at it. I slept too little last night (got caught up in Chima's YA The Wizard Heir), dragged out of bed in time to make breakfast and get to the 9:30 Jazzercise class, then came home, showered, finished the book, ate some soup for lunch, and took a nap. Until about 4 PM. So much for Saturday.

Yesterday was better, with the usual errand-running, Weight Watchers, and stuff. I again baked a challah (missed last week due to the Denver trip, though my nephew asked if I'd baked one when I went over for supper less than an hour after getting home) this time with part whole-wheat flour. Traditionalists may shudder, but I like both the benefit of some whole grain, and the extra flavor. I cooked the entree for the usual Friday night joint dinner next door, a Cooks Illustrated recipe called Glazed Pork Chops with Asian Flavors. Came out very well-flavored and moist, though it did require fairly careful attention for the 30-40 minute preparation time. I will try their other flavor variations on this recipe, too.

I was supposed to get a perm yesterday, but my hair stylist called to say her husband and 2 sons had the flu--despite getting the shot. It seems the strain going around Atlanta was not in this year's vaccine. We've postponed the perm a week, and the cut-and-color another week beyond that, and I will try to eke out the last of the curl with mousse and hair spray.

I left my office to the painters and carpet people yesterday around 1, and came home for the duration. ( phone problems... )

( ...and computer problems )

On a brighter note, my dinner this evening was wonderful, if I do say so. ( Putanesca sauce, used in 2 different dishes )

Let's see...Saturday was the Decatur Book Festival. Sunday was catch-up-in-the-house day. But then, today was too. There's always a backlog in the house.

( weekend puttering )

Pretty quiet Labor Day...

Over on

pegkerr's LJ arose this thread on craving cream tea. And

aome posted a recipe for Gingerbread Scones in the comments, and that hit several of my weaknesses: ginger, gingerbread, scones, and bread in general.

So, younger niece and I made scones this evening. Haven't eaten one yet (this was a post-dinner baking project), but they aren't what I expected: more like a somewhat drier than normal, flat gingerbread, and none of the biscuit/scone character. Good gingerbread flavor, though, judging from the crumbs I nibbled on. The dough was wetter than it should have been (Atlanta's high humidity, probably) and I couldn't cut it into wedges for baking--that may have cause some of the difference.

I'm hoping I can find that jar of lemon curd in the pantry, and I'll have a very indulgent breakfast for the morning. Then I'll be off to the Decatur Book Festival for most of the day.

I made the wonderful, and reliable, barbecued chuck roast, grilled medium rare. (Recipe handed down from my mother.) Sister-in-law provided salad, roasted cauliflower, broccoli, and pasta for them that wanted it. And for dessert I made strawberry shortcake--the shortcakes were Richard Sax's "Buttermilk-Almond Biscuits" from his Classic Home Desserts, with piles of fresh strawberries and a moderate amount of freshly whipped cream (we're all watching our weight).

The biscuits are the cover picture on my copy of the cookbook--looks like there's a new dust jacket now and it's now one of 3 photos.

Today is sister-in-law's birthday--she has the joyous coincidence (not) of sharing her birthday with Tax Day, most years. I got the kids over here this afternoon, and we made a birthday dessert: Rose Levy Beranbaum's Brownie Puddle.

It's a brownie, yes, with Dutch-process cocoa AND bittersweet chocolate and cream cheese, light on the flour, and with pecans. Bake in a tart pan. Take it out of the oven and immediately poke holes in it with the handle of a wooden spoon, and fill the holes with bittersweet chocolate ganache. Keep adding ganache until the tart cools enough to not absorb any more.

We served it with a pile of fresh raspberries and a little whipped cream. I am vowing to make 4 Jazzercise classes this week in penance...

A couple of days ago I decided to treat myself and made a couple of apple dumpings, using bought pie pastry. They came out well, looked like they should (apple enclosed in pastry), and I ate one, gave the other to my niece. Those were made with Pink Lady apples, which is my favorite eating apple.

The rest of the pie pastry was still in the fridge, so I decided on a repeat, but with a real cooking apple--Granny Smiths. And the result is something like an apple explosion--the pastry top is recognizable, but below that is a spread-out mess of apple mush. Has the Granny Smith ceased to be a cooking apple while I wasn't paying attention? Did some unknown variation in water content make these particular apples steam and go boom? I have no idea.

I will scrape up one with a spatula for my dessert tonight, but the other may be discarded as unable to be stored for future use.

I had a yikes! moment yesterday, somewhere between trips to finalize the adoption of the new cat. As: Yikes! I only have Sunday to get some of the Thanksgiving cooking done!

( The plans, the menu, the lists... )

I work tomorrow, then am off until after Thanksgiving weekend. Tuesday morning will be full of errands and shopping, then I'll hit the road. The folks next door will leave after school is out Tuesday afternoon.

Tonight was the annual neighborhood block party, this time with a Hawaiian luau theme in honor of the subdivision name (Diamond Head). Said theme was only present in the addition of a Hawaiian shirt contest and a limbo contest, in addition to the traditional cake walk. The hula hoop contest from the last couple of years was repeated, but seemed to have limited participation.

I wore my genuine Hawaiian muu-muu, which my grandmother brought me from Hawaii when she went. It gets worn about every 5 years, so even though it must be 25 years old or so, it's still in great shape. I didn't win the contest, however--I probably would have if the criteria had been "brightest colors" or "loudest effect"--a muu-muu has so much more square footage than a shirt, you see.

But anyway, I baked a chocolate cake in the castle Bundt pan for the cake walk. I used a different type of mix, and the result was rather full of air bubbles so the cake details didn't show very well. I decided to hide some of that with a chocolate glaze dripped from the ramparts. Must have worked--the first cake walk winner picked it from the selection of 15 or so offerings.

Granite guy did show, though someone called to say he'd be late around 11:05--he got here about 11:30, I think. He admired the kitchen, including a comment (after I'd said I had been worried about the stone being overpowering) that this was the least so he'd seen. Or something like that--maybe it was "most subdued use of it". Well, I take it as a compliment--he also said that with black cabinets, the stone can be too much.

( results of visit )

( Award in absentia )

( And some errands )
Big milestone: first meal for others cooked completely in my kitchen and eaten in my dining room (which is now cleared of most detritus from the remodeling). Nothing fancy, just salads, crockpot chicken, broccoli, and baby lima beans, with mac and cheese to supplement the kids plates. But cooked on the new cooktop, with my utensils and pots and all that.

Spent at home and vicinity--no trips, no Dragon*Con (even though I debated going for one day to meet Elizabeth Moon and Esther Friesner who were both there).

( Decatur Book Festival )

( first Ga. Tech football game of the season... )

( ...and a musical )

And the final weekend activity to mention was moving Summer, the younger of my brother's dogs, back to her yard. And again. And again. It seems once Summer figured out how to get into my yard, it became a haven for whenever the older dog got too alpha. We thought she might be jumping the fence (it's a low chain link) or the gate, but B. spent the afternoon filling holes along our common fence line, and thinks that the deepest one might be how Summer was getting in. Out. Whatever. He's filled the holes and put concrete pavers along the base of the fence, and Summer has been scolded and put on a tie-down after 2 incursions, so perhaps between barriers and behavior modification she'll be convinced to stay in her own yard. We'll see.

I don't know what triggered it, but I developed a craving for barbecued baby-back ribs. Called next door, asked if they had dinner plans (no), and would they like to share if I cooked ribs (yes). So I stopped at the grocery store where the baby-back ribs were conveniently on sale and bought ribs, veggies, and some artisanal whole-clove garlic bread.

Got home, called next door to ask if I could take over their kitchen to make the sauce, thought about it, and just hauled everything over there--trying to deal with big slabs of raw pork either in my dining room or bathroom did not appeal. Slapped the ribs on my grill and started turning and basting with sauce, and about an hour and a half later we chowed down. Craving satisfied...

(The garlic bread was very good, too--a chewy, open-holed white bread with whole cloves baked in it. Sort of like a ciabatta in texture.)

Current Mood: full

Dinner was a bowl of the hot and sour soup I made last night (very hot, indeed, and good), and some leftover Chicken, Asparagus, and Broccoli Stir-Fry made from a recipe in Bon Appetit. After the spicy soup, the stir-fry lacked character, though I'd thought it was fine the first time I ate some. I think the stir-fry also needs the trick of marinating the meat with soy sauce (or something) and cornstarch--the chicken is pretty dry despite the sauce. The recipe is worth saving to work with, though, and it was quick and easy.

I can get a lot of "exotic" grocery items in the regular grocery stores around here--Atlanta's a big city, and DeKalb County is the most culturally diverse county in the State. And if I do need something not found at Publix or Kroger, it can usually be turned up at Your DeKalb Farmer's Market--I get there every week or two for Greek yogurt, wheat grass (for the cats), unsalted dry roasted nuts, bulk grains, things like that.

But yesterday I decided I wanted to make Cook's Illustrated's hot and sour soup, and the Chinese black vinegar the recipe called for was not to be found at YDFM. So at lunch today I went to the Buford Highway Farmer's Market( ...store description behind the cut )

P.S. Postponed the soup making until after dinner, as sister-in-law offered steak. Good thing, too, as it took me an hour and a half to do all the prep and make the soup. Now I have 8 cups or so of what promised to be quite-spicy hot and sour soup--may have to reduce the chili oil next time around. We'll see...

Sunday (I think) I made a crockpot recipe called sofrito chicken. Chicken thighs (the recipe called for skinless/boneless, I used bone-in 'cause that's what I had), sliced celery, bottled sofrito (a tomato/peppers/onion/spices mix, found in the Mexican foods area of the grocery store), garlic, and pepper--mix it up, and cook on low for 8 hours. It needed the boneless chicken, I think, so that you end up with more of a stew.

So as I put up the leftovers, I deboned it and mixed in the sauce. Tonight I had the inspiration to bake cornbread, split it, and dump the reheated sofrito chicken on top. Good combination. Almost as good as my old favorite of creamed chicken on cornbread (a.k.a. chicken shortcake), which dropped off my menus when I figured out how many WW points were in the creamed chicken.

I think for the next batch of leftover sofrito chicken I'll add a little heat with some Tabasco...

The first batch of Aunt Fan's Caramels (var. chocolate with nuts) is just about right--soft and chewy, not so soft as to be hard to handle.

The previously made Bittersweet Shortbread Cookies are also excellent, with a nice intense chocolate burst from chopped bittersweet bars in a not-too-sweet shortbread cookie.

Today: apricot-pecan bar cookies, and more of Aunt Fan's Caramels (vanilla with nuts)...

I make candy once a year, if that. And it's always the same thing: Aunt Fan's Caramels, in the variations of vanilla/chocolate, with/without nuts. For this exercise, I need a good candy thermometer as I've never gotten the hang of dropping blobs of cooked sugar into water to find out if it's "soft ball" stage yet. Finding a good candy thermometer is an ongoing process.

Tonight was the night for the first batch of caramels, so this afternoon I pulled open the drawer of thermometers. Four of the candy variety surfaced: 2 fat glass tubes with the paper scale inside, one by Farberware and the other by Springfield, a dial type made by Taylor, and a metal scale holding the thermometer itself, made by Good Cook.

I plopped all 4 into a pan of water, brought the water to a boil, and observed the temperature reading. The Springfield tube was the only one to register close to 212 F/100C. The Farberware tube was not too far off. The Taylor dial (which only was marked in Farenheit) was significantly low, as was the one from the Good Cook. The Good Cook one was possibly not far enough submerged because of the design of the metal holder--but then, it wouldn't get further under during the caramel making, so it won't work.

I will throw away the Taylor and the Good Cook. I used the Springfield to make a batch of caramels tonight (chocolate, with nuts)--will see how they turn out when I try to cut and wrap them tomorrow. A little too tough is OK, but too soft will run out of the wrapping paper. I hit the "soft and chewy, but stays in the wrapping paper" about 1/3 to 1/2 the time, on average...

Hope the others of you who are celebrating Thanksgiving today had a good one.

We had our turkey and fixings in the middle of the day. I got the turkey into the oven around 9:15, and headed out for a jog to get a little exercise this week (missed Jazzercise Monday night because the facility had to be set up for the Tuesday runoff election, and then left town on Tuesday morning). After lots of storms yesterday, it was clear and brisk--I was in shorts and a T-shirt without being too chilly, but the temps kept going down during the day so I won't try that again this trip. Then it was back to the house to turn the turkey over, then take a quick shower and start the serious cooking. Everything turned out well, with the minor problems of the bottle of wine having a cork that disintegrated with age (1992 Riesling, not stored well)--substituted something from mini-bottles that were already chilled. And I forgot about the almond topping for the broccoli, so that will have to be taken back to Atlanta and used later.

After post-meal somnolence was shaken off, I offered to take the nieces and nephew to the rail-trail to expend some energy--nieces on bikes, nephew walking or running with me. Then sister-in-law got the kids involved in rolling and cutting out a couple of batches of her Chinese gingersnaps, which involve lots of grated fresh ginger and tablespoons of white pepper. At 6 we headed downtown to the festival for the lighting of the Christmas lights. (More on this later.) Came back and had sandwiches or chefs salads (with turkey, natch), and pie. That's it, I've had my limit of the chocolate chess. Besides, there's only a tiny sliver left, and surely someone else will get to it before me...

The turkey carcass is in the crockpot to make stock, so we can have the traditional turkey chowder for lunch tomorrow. (Saute onions and celery, add stock and white rice, cook until rice is done. Add milk and some chopped turkey, and heat. Season with salt and pepper.) Chicken pie is defrosting in the fridge, and Beatrice, the long-time housekeeper, will deliver some cooked vegetables for us to have with it tomorrow. She worked today, clearing most of the kitchen mess while we were eating dinner, but she said she'd rather bring the vegetables fresh tomorrow so she can do fried okra, knowing how the kids love it. Maybe I'd better go jogging again tomorrow...love Beatrice's fried okra, and of course, there's the chicken pie.

We had Thanksgiving dessert tonight. No, we're not confused: Thanksgiving dinner will be midday tomorrow. The idea is to spread those calories around a little, and maybe enjoy the dessert more because we're not stuffed from turkey and fixings. Supper was soup, fresh bread from the bread machine, sandwiches for those that wanted one, and pie.
( Pie details, and fridge-shopping )So, there's a new fridge, the floor got scrubbed under it and the trash compactor (which had to move to get the fridge in), various ancient foodstuffs from the back reaches of the fridge and freezer compartment were pitched, and we're still on schedule with the advance food prep for tomorrow. The turkey has been brined and is air-drying in the (spacious new) fridge, ready to go in the oven around 9:30. Then we'll make the squash casserole, get the green veggies ready to cook, stir the shrimp into the jambalaya stuffing, cook it all, and Eat!

I'm headed to my father's tomorrow, laden with a lot of the Thanksgiving feast components. Some it's easier to buy in the big city, some things I can cook ahead and save the hassle, some things I'd rather cook in my kitchen with my equipment.

( More on Thanksgiving meal planning )

We'll all head back to Atlanta on Saturday, because of various activities that must be accomplished before next Monday.

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Week's end

Trying to work at home

Rest of the Labor Day weekend

Gingerbread scones

Dinner menu

Indulgence

Apple dumplings and apple explosions

Getting a headstart on Thanksgiving cooking

Another castle cake

Granite guy

Labor Day Weekend

Cravings

Dinner

New-to-me farmer's market

Supper

Cooking results

Candy thermometers

Happy Thanksgiving!

Life is short: eat dessert first

Thanksgiving prep

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November 2016

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