Zoe is back at school. I miss her so much already. Just having her around makes me more cheerful. Although, not having her here makes it easier to try to get some of the projects I have planned for her Christmas presents actually completed...or even started. Nah, paltry recompense.
We got her unloaded and were able to take fairly good measurements of her various parts before Amanda, her roommate, arrived bearing toilet paper. We watched a Simpson's episode with Stephen Colbert in it, and I took off.
We drove up, stopping at the giant Joann's. I bought a Clover Mini Iron II, which is exactly what it sounds like. This kind has different heads that you can switch between. It was on my list, but was 50% till tonight and my pragmatic streak decided Rob would be hard pressed to get a better price so I got it for him for me...yes, I think that IS what I meant to say.
I also got some computer printable fabric. It's a new brand to me, 200 count pima cotton. I also got some super thick interfacing "for fabric bowls" that I will have to see what it's really "for."
I wanted to get Zoe some fabric, scissors or something but she was right there and I am big on the surprise element at Christmas--although with my lousy secret keeping abilities you'd think otherwise. I settled on some extra-fine flower head needles for the silk.
I dropped by Walmart--den of evil--to get some dog food and picked up some small magnets and sparkly plastic snowflakes and stars that are much prettier than they sound.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Turkey Day 07
Turkey Day 07
We had a good Thanksgiving even though:
The turkey was frozen, which meant I had to cook it with the neck and bag inside since all in the center were solid and rock-hard. Luckily I found a USDA recipe for cooking the turkey from frozen to done. I loves me the USDA!
Rob put the candied yams in to broil--to brown the marshmallows. However, not ever having broiled marshmallows before he didn't know how long it would take. So he cranked it up to high and wandered off to do other things. After a bit he looked in and the marshmallows were on fire. They were black and crispy. He ended up scraping as much as possible and we did without the marshmallow-y goodness this year.
The frozen turkey recipe said not to put the bird in a pan with sides as the bottom would end up getting less heat--so I decided to use the two-part broiling pan--but this meant that the juices could have gone everywhere if the bag burst. Mid cook, ominous crackling noises could be heard coming from the oven so to be safe I decided to siphon off the juices using the bulb baster. I sucked a big bulb full up through a slit in the bag, tipped it up so it wouldn't drip and I could put it in the de-fatting cup and a hefty stream of piping hot juice/fat leapt from the baster bulb onto Rob's bare feet. This is what I mean by entropy having a perverse precision.
Zoe is a vegetarian. No turkey for her...or gravy. We bought a Tofurkey (and vegetarian corn dogs just in case) and used vegetarian stuffing--cooking it on the stove-top. However, we couldn't find room in the oven for the Tofurkey, and the recipe on the package was adamant that we not microwave it--no way, no how! Rob went on the website and although they also said not to microwave it in big bold letters at the top, at the bottom of the page they grudgingly gave up some microwave instructions. Phew!
When the turkey was finally done I discovered that I had put the turkey in upside down so it browned on the bottom rather than the top. This also meant that the thermomater was inserted into the bottom of the bird instead of the top where it's supposed to go.
But, except for being hungry, we mostly kept our good tempers. The turkey was done and tasted really good (it was a butterball), as did the Tofurkey. The bag didn't burst and we had plenty of juices for gravy. Rob didn't have blisters and the candied yams absorbed a bit of the marshmallow taste even though we had to scrape the marshmallows--and you could hardly taste the charred bits. The green beans were perfect and delicious.
Dave, Rob's brother, came up for TG. It's nice to see him. Ooof, to tired to go more into detail.
Darwin LOVED the turkey and thinks he should have some every day.
Rob bought 4 pies when he went to the Pennsylvania Dutch Market in order to get some rhubarb pie to try. A guy in his office described rhubarb pie as a life-changing experience. Unfortunately, Rob thought this version was too sweet and his life remained unchanged. The pumpkin and apple were delicious though and the raspberry was amazing!
We had a good Thanksgiving even though:
The turkey was frozen, which meant I had to cook it with the neck and bag inside since all in the center were solid and rock-hard. Luckily I found a USDA recipe for cooking the turkey from frozen to done. I loves me the USDA!
Rob put the candied yams in to broil--to brown the marshmallows. However, not ever having broiled marshmallows before he didn't know how long it would take. So he cranked it up to high and wandered off to do other things. After a bit he looked in and the marshmallows were on fire. They were black and crispy. He ended up scraping as much as possible and we did without the marshmallow-y goodness this year.
The frozen turkey recipe said not to put the bird in a pan with sides as the bottom would end up getting less heat--so I decided to use the two-part broiling pan--but this meant that the juices could have gone everywhere if the bag burst. Mid cook, ominous crackling noises could be heard coming from the oven so to be safe I decided to siphon off the juices using the bulb baster. I sucked a big bulb full up through a slit in the bag, tipped it up so it wouldn't drip and I could put it in the de-fatting cup and a hefty stream of piping hot juice/fat leapt from the baster bulb onto Rob's bare feet. This is what I mean by entropy having a perverse precision.
Zoe is a vegetarian. No turkey for her...or gravy. We bought a Tofurkey (and vegetarian corn dogs just in case) and used vegetarian stuffing--cooking it on the stove-top. However, we couldn't find room in the oven for the Tofurkey, and the recipe on the package was adamant that we not microwave it--no way, no how! Rob went on the website and although they also said not to microwave it in big bold letters at the top, at the bottom of the page they grudgingly gave up some microwave instructions. Phew!
When the turkey was finally done I discovered that I had put the turkey in upside down so it browned on the bottom rather than the top. This also meant that the thermomater was inserted into the bottom of the bird instead of the top where it's supposed to go.
But, except for being hungry, we mostly kept our good tempers. The turkey was done and tasted really good (it was a butterball), as did the Tofurkey. The bag didn't burst and we had plenty of juices for gravy. Rob didn't have blisters and the candied yams absorbed a bit of the marshmallow taste even though we had to scrape the marshmallows--and you could hardly taste the charred bits. The green beans were perfect and delicious.
Dave, Rob's brother, came up for TG. It's nice to see him. Ooof, to tired to go more into detail.
Darwin LOVED the turkey and thinks he should have some every day.
Rob bought 4 pies when he went to the Pennsylvania Dutch Market in order to get some rhubarb pie to try. A guy in his office described rhubarb pie as a life-changing experience. Unfortunately, Rob thought this version was too sweet and his life remained unchanged. The pumpkin and apple were delicious though and the raspberry was amazing!
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