Thanksgiving is a-coming
... and the geese are gettin' fat? Wait, no, that's not right.
Anyway, there is news in my life!
Big news: I have a niece! Katie had a daughter, Elizabeth Marie (they're going to call her Ellie) on Monday afternoon. I still haven't seen pictures (hint, hint!)
Other news:
-My generals are going to be on January 19th. OMG.
-My Irish class is eating my life. SOOOooo much planning, and grading, and creating assignments, and ... augh. It's endless. Except that it's going to end really soon, and OMG I'm not ready for the semester to be over yet!
-I've discovered that knitting colorwork in the round is just the right level of brainless to do while reading. So I'm knitting the new baby a blanket, to be steeked and backed with ... mmm, maybe flannel?
For backing, I think this might be too busy and/or matchy-matchy, but what about something like this? Or this? Or even this? Or would something simple (plain white or green) be better? Anyway, I'm going to order a bunch of swatches when the blanket gets closer to being done, so we'll see then.
-Thanksgiving. I'm going to be doing a little Thanksgiving this year -- me, Matthieu, Erin (my cohort), Sìm (awesome new faculty in the department), maybe Carrie (friend met through knitting, finishing her PhD in archaeology), and maybe Erin's friend from Maine. So. Maximum of 6 people. Still, I cannot fathom having thanksgiving without at least the following dishes on the table:
-Turkey. (Or *maybe* a chicken, since it'll be a maximum of 5 meat-eaters.)
-Stuffing. Big casserole of it.
-Cranberry salad (secret family recipe).
-Carrot-turnip gratin.
-Roast brussel sprouts.
-mashed potatoes.
-biscuits/rolls/some kind of bread.
-pecan pie and/or
-pumpkin pie and/or
-possibly this because it looks amazing.
Now. The questions. Erin is a vegetarian, so to maximize the dishes she can eat, all casseroles, etc made with chicken broth will be made with veggie broth. Now, I have several bags in my freezer of the leafy parts of celery, the green bits of leeks, carrots that needed to be eaten before they went off that I just couldn't face eating, leftover sage and thyme that I couldn't find a use for, etc -- in short, all the makings for vegetable broth. HOWEVER, I've never made vegetable broth, and you're never supposed to serve something for company that you've never tried before (nevermind that I'm thinking about attempting to serve my guests a custard cooked in a pumpkin). I'd be concerned about getting the proportions (and salt!) to the right levels for cooking with. What do y'all think? Buy veggie broth and save the frozen goodies for later, or make my own broth?
Also a question: The turkey will be the only non-vegetarian-friendly dish on the table, BUT there's only one green thing on the menu. Should I make green beans or a salad or something, just to round out all the starch and cream?
Another question: Drinks. I'll get some white wine, I guess; should I also make a crock-pot of apple cider? What else should I have on hand? (Maybe I should just ask my guests to bring some beer and/or wine ...)
Finally: I'm not sure I'm going to have quite enough bakeware for all this. Forgive me for using LJ as a tally, but it looks to me like I'm going to need 1 casserole dish (stuffing), 1 square 9x9 baking pan (carrot-turnip gratin), 3 cookie sheets (2 brussel sprouts, 1 bread -- though I can use a casserole dish for half the sprouts, so that's OK), 3 big serving bowls (mashed potatoes, cranberry salad, brussel sprouts) plus a basket for the bread. I have 3 casseroles, 1 9x9 baking pan, 2 very old, gross cookie sheets, and 3 serving bowls (earthenware, glass, and wood -- I think I shouldn't put anything too wet in the wood one, though, so that'll be the bread basket?).
I think I need to go to Target today: my mixing bowls are on their way out (three out of five have cracked across the bottoms, now -- grr!), and I think I need another serving bowl and a new cookie sheet (or two). (And I need to go to Target anyway for conditioner, so I'll be there). Oh, crap; I also need to take stock of how many of my dinner plates and coffee mugs are cracked or chipped, and be sure we have six presentable ones.
And I haven't even thought about making a grocery list yet. OMG.
OK, on that note, I need to get my work done for the day so I can get to target and take care of all the last-minute kitchen-stocking. See y'all on the other side?
Anyway, there is news in my life!
Big news: I have a niece! Katie had a daughter, Elizabeth Marie (they're going to call her Ellie) on Monday afternoon. I still haven't seen pictures (hint, hint!)
Other news:
-My generals are going to be on January 19th. OMG.
-My Irish class is eating my life. SOOOooo much planning, and grading, and creating assignments, and ... augh. It's endless. Except that it's going to end really soon, and OMG I'm not ready for the semester to be over yet!
-I've discovered that knitting colorwork in the round is just the right level of brainless to do while reading. So I'm knitting the new baby a blanket, to be steeked and backed with ... mmm, maybe flannel?
For backing, I think this might be too busy and/or matchy-matchy, but what about something like this? Or this? Or even this? Or would something simple (plain white or green) be better? Anyway, I'm going to order a bunch of swatches when the blanket gets closer to being done, so we'll see then.
-Thanksgiving. I'm going to be doing a little Thanksgiving this year -- me, Matthieu, Erin (my cohort), Sìm (awesome new faculty in the department), maybe Carrie (friend met through knitting, finishing her PhD in archaeology), and maybe Erin's friend from Maine. So. Maximum of 6 people. Still, I cannot fathom having thanksgiving without at least the following dishes on the table:
-Turkey. (Or *maybe* a chicken, since it'll be a maximum of 5 meat-eaters.)
-Stuffing. Big casserole of it.
-Cranberry salad (secret family recipe).
-Carrot-turnip gratin.
-Roast brussel sprouts.
-mashed potatoes.
-biscuits/rolls/some kind of bread.
-pecan pie and/or
-pumpkin pie and/or
-possibly this because it looks amazing.
Now. The questions. Erin is a vegetarian, so to maximize the dishes she can eat, all casseroles, etc made with chicken broth will be made with veggie broth. Now, I have several bags in my freezer of the leafy parts of celery, the green bits of leeks, carrots that needed to be eaten before they went off that I just couldn't face eating, leftover sage and thyme that I couldn't find a use for, etc -- in short, all the makings for vegetable broth. HOWEVER, I've never made vegetable broth, and you're never supposed to serve something for company that you've never tried before (nevermind that I'm thinking about attempting to serve my guests a custard cooked in a pumpkin). I'd be concerned about getting the proportions (and salt!) to the right levels for cooking with. What do y'all think? Buy veggie broth and save the frozen goodies for later, or make my own broth?
Also a question: The turkey will be the only non-vegetarian-friendly dish on the table, BUT there's only one green thing on the menu. Should I make green beans or a salad or something, just to round out all the starch and cream?
Another question: Drinks. I'll get some white wine, I guess; should I also make a crock-pot of apple cider? What else should I have on hand? (Maybe I should just ask my guests to bring some beer and/or wine ...)
Finally: I'm not sure I'm going to have quite enough bakeware for all this. Forgive me for using LJ as a tally, but it looks to me like I'm going to need 1 casserole dish (stuffing), 1 square 9x9 baking pan (carrot-turnip gratin), 3 cookie sheets (2 brussel sprouts, 1 bread -- though I can use a casserole dish for half the sprouts, so that's OK), 3 big serving bowls (mashed potatoes, cranberry salad, brussel sprouts) plus a basket for the bread. I have 3 casseroles, 1 9x9 baking pan, 2 very old, gross cookie sheets, and 3 serving bowls (earthenware, glass, and wood -- I think I shouldn't put anything too wet in the wood one, though, so that'll be the bread basket?).
I think I need to go to Target today: my mixing bowls are on their way out (three out of five have cracked across the bottoms, now -- grr!), and I think I need another serving bowl and a new cookie sheet (or two). (And I need to go to Target anyway for conditioner, so I'll be there). Oh, crap; I also need to take stock of how many of my dinner plates and coffee mugs are cracked or chipped, and be sure we have six presentable ones.
And I haven't even thought about making a grocery list yet. OMG.
OK, on that note, I need to get my work done for the day so I can get to target and take care of all the last-minute kitchen-stocking. See y'all on the other side?