Holiday Review

I'm writing a review of the Thanksgiving meal I've been harping about for the past two blog entries.

The upshot: dry brining the turkey was an excellent idea. You do have to start about a week early, and the turkey takes up valuable refrigerator space during that time, but the results were superb: just in the process of carving the turkey, a good cup of clear fragrant juices oozed from the bird, and even the topmost breast meat was tender and moist.

I have yet to find a recipe for candied yams that satisfies me. I think I may have to look at boiling and mashing them, at least slightly, next year: baking alone doesn't seem to be doing it. Still, with brown sugar and pecans and butter, they weren't that bad, just a little crunchy.

The green bean casserole, at least as extolled by the Campbell's soup website, is way too slimy and salty for my taste. And mixing it all in the casserole dish doesn't cut it for me, either. The recipe will definitely get a major tweak for next year.

The cornbread stuffing worked really well, especially with apples and blueberries added in.

I need turkey gravy-making classes. It came out thin, without much taste, but without lumps. Then again, I was definitely burning out on my cooking vibe by that time, so lack of focus may have had a lot to do with it.

All in all, it was a great meal for two. I kind of like spending the holiday with just us. No compromise on who had control of the TV remote; no folks crowding the kitchen, telling how cooking that this way would make it so much better; no minor thoughts of when everyone was going to start leaving while in your postprandial trypyophan haze. And I was a really good cook and stripped the carcass after the meal instead of just shoving it into the fridge.

Now I have admit that Steve and I did go out shopping on Black Friday, but did not buy any presents. In fact, we only bought underwear, four pairs a piece. It was rather what cousin Robin calls a "ninja run": in and out with very little diversion.

Returning home after our consumer adventure in the underwear aisle there was, of course, the Friday leftovers replay (where we heated up the backup jar of turkey gravy from the store). Saturdays are traditionally our "date night" and we went out for seafood to take a break from the turkey.

On Sunday, I paid homage to dad by making turkey a la king. This was a tradition in our house when I was a kid (he made it, as well as clam chowder on Christmas and New Year's eves).

I checked with my sister Kittie, who seems to have ended up the repository of family traditions and recipes, and she did not have a recipe for the a la king, but said, "When in doubt, go to 'The Joy of Cooking,' because that's what mom or dad would have done."

I did, and found a great recipe for chicken a la king which I adapted into the version I remember from my youth (the results of which are depicted here). It was a great way to tie up the holiday weekend.

We didn't get to putting up the tree, but we did get all the laundry done (including the several sets of sheets that had been passed over in previous weeks).

Now all I have to do is dust off the Christmas carols CDs (much to Steve's chagrin). We picked up some egg nog over the weekend, so we're ready to roll.