Tuning In and Turning Off

Thus far, 2011 has been rather uneventful on a personal level.  Shiloh is still with us (mostly because I'm living under the hope of somehow getting she and Tabby to a place where they can be under one roof) and she's recovering from her recent "getting fixed and chipped" surgery.  It finally snowed a decent amount here (last night) and we've been spending our down time taking inventory of "our stuff" for insurance purposes.  All in all, though, it's been pretty uneventful.

Sadly, the same cannot be said for things being uneventful for the general population.  With all that has happened in Arizona in the past few days, it wasn't shocking that the topic on the NPR show I was listening to on the radio was guns and gun control and the rights the population has in regards to guns and gun control.  I won't share all of what I heard, or thought, while I listened but I will share this:

It seems that the handgun ... a Glock ... used in this latest tragedy was, at one point, limited by law to have no more than 10 rounds per magazine - which is to say that one can fire 10 bullets without reloading.  But, since the early part of the last decade, that law expired and magazines could be purchased that had 33 rounds.  (Keep in mind that this is a very quick-firing gun and that one could easily use all 33 rounds in 90 seconds, as demonstrated in Arizona).  The radio show asked the guests to give a non-predatory situation where having a handgun that fired more than 30 bullets in under 90 seconds would be more useful than one that fired 10 shots in the same time and the guests went silent.

And then, as if on cue, the representative from the NRA spoke up and reminded the listeners that real life situations are so frequently NOT like what is shown on television or the movie screens, that it very rarely takes just a single shot to stop a burglar invading your home, that not every bullet finds its intended target ...

I turned off the radio.

Nineteen people were shot, more than a dozen were wounded, and six were killed.  The individual responsible was stopped only because he was in the midst of switching from his now-empty magazine to a full one.  While it is true that a disturbed person hell-bent on violence will find a way, it's not too much of a leap to wonder if the magazine size law had never changed, would those same people still be involved or injured or dead?

It seems to me that if John Q. Public wants to exercise his right to carry a weapon, he'd better be a good enough shot to stop an intruder in 10 shots, 'cause I dunno if I want him to be shooting at all otherwise.

Goodnight, Sweet Boy

A Meal To Be Thankful For

Thanksgiving 2010 is more than a week past (geez, can that be right???  In so many ways, it feels like yesterday) and so it is time that I document what we did right, what we did not-so-right, what needs to return next year and what we can retire.

We had a total of 13 at the table, most of whom knew what to expect from The Awesome Boyfriend's kitchen work.  The newbies were funny to watch and listen to ... lots of "wait, so this ISN'T what you do for a living?" and quite a few offers of hiring us out to cater (not gonna happen), etc.  We also noticed that this year seemed calmer for both of us.  I guess just knowing what we were capable of and doing dishes that we'd mostly already created once before really helped.

Oh - and whenever I say "we" here, I really mean "he".  I know my limitations in the kitchen and if I can just keep up with the dishes in the sink and do a few basic tasks, it makes it easier for The Awesome Boyfriend to do what he does best ... which, in this situation, is pretty much everything else.

So now, here we go:

Rosemary Roasted Cashews.  Very much a hit, very much appreciated, kept folks out of the way while we finished with a few of the first courses and took all of about 8 minutes to make.  So yes, they'll be made again next year.

Toasted Cornbread Coins with Pear Preserves, Cracked Black Pepper, Bleu Cheese and Candied Bacon.  A hit.  These went so fast that I never got to try one.  In fact, they went before I could even tell everyone what it was.  Like the cashews, we made just the right amount, too.  They should appear at the table next year.

Oysters Bingo.  A huge, tasty hit.  I don't think anyone passed on these and we even had folks ask for more (which we had).  We purchased the right amount of oysters, had just enough left over for lunch the next day ... yes, another success.  As the only "fish" on the table, they should reappear next year.

Creme of Artichoke Soup with Truffle Oil.  I was surprised by how well this was received, actually.  The Awesome Boyfriend traditionally makes a different soup that I thought folks would expect but, once again, we had requests for recipes, etc.  We over-bought on the amount of artichokes and I think wound up using just half but, other than that, this was another hit (and easier than what he traditionally makes).  It'd be fine for a repeat next year.

Duck Fat Biscuits. A hit - and great to grab the last bits of soup with, too.  We should have maybe put one on each plate next to the soup, just to ensure everyone got each last drop but folks figured it out pretty easily.  We made enough for leftovers, too, but not too many.

Cranberry Champagne and Spiced Apple Cider Sorbets.  A nice way to make a clean break between the pre-meal and the main event.  Not sure how we could have better garnished this 'cause getting the apple slice to behave was damn near impossible, but the flavors were bright and clear, not overly sweet and gave everyone a chance to "take 5" while we got the main dishes on the table.  We may have made too much of the apple sorbet but I liked that flavor the best and will go have some when I am done writing about this.  :-)

Cornbread Stuffing with Sausage, Bacon, Apple, Dried Cranberries, and Toasted Pecans.  I refuse to just call this "stuffing" as it has so much more than just bread cubes in it.  For me, the apple is the star of this dish ('tho I've a fondness for apples) but it wouldn't be as successful if you removed anything from it.  We bake it in muffin tins, so that it's easier for folks to take a serving.  As usual, we made waaaay too much and had too many leftovers.  I've noted this on our recipe file and hope we get it right next year.  Flavor and texture wise, 'tho, this is a terrific stuffing.

Golden Corn Pull-Apart Rolls. Ok seriously - it was ridiculous how many of these we made.  And I got carried away on the size, too so not only do we need to cut the recipe down, but I need to be more judicious on how I factor these.  (And yes, on this dish, when I write "I", I mean "I" - these were my babies this year.)  They're delicious and tasty but we coulda fed 3 times the number of folks we had with them.

Green Bean Casserole and Creamy Parmesan Corn Casserole. If there was a way to make half recipes of these, we'd have the perfect amount. The flavors are terrific, the dishes are expected, and they reheat nicely so they work great for meals like this. We just had quite a bit to send away at the end of the meal. (And yes, for those with sharp eyes, that IS a can of cranberry you see on the table. Last year we tried various other ideas and what we learned is that there are somethings you just can't improve upon. Besides, the ridges tell you where to slice off your portion.)

Truffled Mashed Potatoes.  Creamy, earthy, not pasty or overly thick ... just right.  Not that many portions leftover either.  These potatoes stand up very nicely when you pour ...

Turkey Stock Gravy over them.  We added fresh thyme just before serving this up and it added a nice herbal note to it (and made everything a little less brown).  Next year, I'll make this a day ahead to deal with any thickness issues but, other than that, this worked very well.

Sweet Potato Streusel. I'm not a huge sweet potato fan and, honestly, I didn't have any of this - there wasn't room on my plate. This was easier to make than the sweet potato dish from 2009, 'tho, so at least we aren't locked into a difficult dish.  Folks seemed to enjoy this and we have our one sweet potato fan who volunteered to take the leftovers so I'd call this a hit.

Dry Brined Roast Turkey.  Everyone has THEIR way of doing a turkey.  Everyone swears by THEIR method  And that's fine, of course.  We're a dry-brined turkey family.  We serve a dry-brined turkey because we've served turkey cooked via other methods and we see and taste a difference.  If you try to dry brine a bird and you say your way of prep is easier or or produces a tastier bird ... well you're just wrong is all.  When we served our dry brined bird last year, we converted everyone at the table to this method.  It happened again this year.  No one left without their selection of leftover turkey and I know their meals the next day were awesome.

Kahula Chocolate Trifle.  We count on one of our guests to bring this each year.  It's chocolatey and kahula-y and is topped with crushed Heath bars (or crushed Skor bars).  This also is a dish where the leftovers are claimed as soon as the meal is over.

Chocolate Goldschlager Truffles.  Come on - it's cinnamon.  It's chocolate.  Of course they're good.  These were a last-moment add to the meal and probably not "required" but damn tasty anyway.

Pecan Pie with Bourbon Ice Cream and Brown Butter Caramel Sauce.  I'm not a big fan of pecan pie but I still enjoy a small slice from this recipe.  The Bourbon Ice Cream boosts the flavor nicely and the Brown Butter Caramel Sauce added a good richness and balanced the sugar well.

So, aside from making LESS of some things, we didn't have a clunker on the table.  Of course, what made it a great meal wasn't the food ... but it did give us all one more thing to be thankful for.