Quick Holiday Report - Pix Later
A very lovely Thanksgiving Day with cordelia_v and meri_oddities and their families.
I started celebrating a day early at Macy's, when I got off work early on Wednesday. I met Leit in Macy's on Herald Square and ended up with a new winter coat on half-price sale. It's knee length, single breasted, in very soft charcoal gray wool. Happy! Then he went to work and I got going in the kitchen.
First I made my annual cheese ball with a mix of gorgonzola and cream cheese, studded with toasted almonds and dried cranberries plumped in cherry juice. Then I got going boiling five pounds of Yukon Golds. A few were set aside from mashing, upon request from some of the younger diners. The rest were sliced into a casserole where they were layered with chipotle cream and topped with lots of shredded cheddar. Eight ounces of cheddar cheese will make anything delicious. I also baked a pumpkin pie from the basic Libby's can, adding a bit of extra cinnamon and a glug of butterscotch schnapps.
The next morning dawned cool and sunny. Meri, Mr. Cordelia, and CordyBoy met us bright and early on our street corner to go view the Macy's parade. We live a few blocks from where the parade begins, and I always prefer to go up near the starting point where you can see all the floats lining up and the balloons starting to rise. There's a certain quality of "backstage at the circus" about watching the marchers arrange their costumes and have that last cup of coffee before they set off. I have some photos yet to be downloaded. I know my favorite is the big purple Care Bear head on a pike... you'll see.
The others sped back to New Jersey by train, as we packed up our car with goodies and then spent more than an hour trying to get into the Lincoln Tunnel with all the other parade-loving folk. (This is normally about a 15 minute ride.) We got to New Jersey just as the turkey was finishing up, so I handed off the salad making (Asian-style Waldorf with apples, carrots, and celery garnished with craisins and toasted almonds in sesame-ginger dressing) and took over the gravy. If I say so myself, this was one of my best gravy-making moments ever. I only used the pan juices I could get with the baster, because the turkey was still in there, and got the roux exceedingly well blended. I made the whole gravy with a spatula, no whisk at all, and it came out absolutely smooth. I used a bottle of Rolling Rock for the liquid. A little bitter, mostly bright, light golden and yummy.
Cordelia made a kosher turkey that was extremely flavorful and juicy, and a cornbread stuffing that had an incredible texture, tender without being at all soggy. I suspect a lot of butter. She also did a fluffy baked yam dish with a crunchy pecan streusel topping that I would happily eat for dessert any day. Mr. Oddities made a mess o' greens that included collards, chard, and dandelions braised in a lemon-infused olive oil that was just dreamy. There were lovely bakery rolls and canonical cranberry sauce and a wonderful red wine from Tuscany and some nice Duvel ale and then we were STUFFED.
After taking a breather, we returned to the table for three kinds of pie: my pumpkin, Cordelia's pecan, and an apple pie brought from Maryland by Meri. I had to have slivers of each, topped with whipped cream. It really does taste better when you make it yourself, as Cordelia did. All so very yummy.
Still later there was a reviving walk and hot tea followed by board games and of course the omnipresent background of football. There was also the strangely modern phenomenon when everyone repaired to separate rooms to place cell calls to their own families far away. It was a lovely day.
I'm thankful for many things this year, but most of all I still feel incredible gratitude and wonder for Leit. He has brought me so many things I never expected to have and makes my life richer every single day.
I started celebrating a day early at Macy's, when I got off work early on Wednesday. I met Leit in Macy's on Herald Square and ended up with a new winter coat on half-price sale. It's knee length, single breasted, in very soft charcoal gray wool. Happy! Then he went to work and I got going in the kitchen.
First I made my annual cheese ball with a mix of gorgonzola and cream cheese, studded with toasted almonds and dried cranberries plumped in cherry juice. Then I got going boiling five pounds of Yukon Golds. A few were set aside from mashing, upon request from some of the younger diners. The rest were sliced into a casserole where they were layered with chipotle cream and topped with lots of shredded cheddar. Eight ounces of cheddar cheese will make anything delicious. I also baked a pumpkin pie from the basic Libby's can, adding a bit of extra cinnamon and a glug of butterscotch schnapps.
The next morning dawned cool and sunny. Meri, Mr. Cordelia, and CordyBoy met us bright and early on our street corner to go view the Macy's parade. We live a few blocks from where the parade begins, and I always prefer to go up near the starting point where you can see all the floats lining up and the balloons starting to rise. There's a certain quality of "backstage at the circus" about watching the marchers arrange their costumes and have that last cup of coffee before they set off. I have some photos yet to be downloaded. I know my favorite is the big purple Care Bear head on a pike... you'll see.
The others sped back to New Jersey by train, as we packed up our car with goodies and then spent more than an hour trying to get into the Lincoln Tunnel with all the other parade-loving folk. (This is normally about a 15 minute ride.) We got to New Jersey just as the turkey was finishing up, so I handed off the salad making (Asian-style Waldorf with apples, carrots, and celery garnished with craisins and toasted almonds in sesame-ginger dressing) and took over the gravy. If I say so myself, this was one of my best gravy-making moments ever. I only used the pan juices I could get with the baster, because the turkey was still in there, and got the roux exceedingly well blended. I made the whole gravy with a spatula, no whisk at all, and it came out absolutely smooth. I used a bottle of Rolling Rock for the liquid. A little bitter, mostly bright, light golden and yummy.
Cordelia made a kosher turkey that was extremely flavorful and juicy, and a cornbread stuffing that had an incredible texture, tender without being at all soggy. I suspect a lot of butter. She also did a fluffy baked yam dish with a crunchy pecan streusel topping that I would happily eat for dessert any day. Mr. Oddities made a mess o' greens that included collards, chard, and dandelions braised in a lemon-infused olive oil that was just dreamy. There were lovely bakery rolls and canonical cranberry sauce and a wonderful red wine from Tuscany and some nice Duvel ale and then we were STUFFED.
After taking a breather, we returned to the table for three kinds of pie: my pumpkin, Cordelia's pecan, and an apple pie brought from Maryland by Meri. I had to have slivers of each, topped with whipped cream. It really does taste better when you make it yourself, as Cordelia did. All so very yummy.
Still later there was a reviving walk and hot tea followed by board games and of course the omnipresent background of football. There was also the strangely modern phenomenon when everyone repaired to separate rooms to place cell calls to their own families far away. It was a lovely day.
I'm thankful for many things this year, but most of all I still feel incredible gratitude and wonder for Leit. He has brought me so many things I never expected to have and makes my life richer every single day.