|
myrilinne
|
read my profile
sign my guestbook
Name: Alice
Country: United States
State: California
Gender: Female
Interests: God, community and global health, snowboarding, rock climbing, nature, cooking, good eats, wine, books, writing for fun, "normal stuff" like watching movies and hanging out.
Expertise: Dinner parties and entertaining, feeding hungry boys, finding every possible way to get back to New York, baking, posing as a doctor in my white coat, carving through hardpack, staying up late for no reason, petting my cat- meow!
Occupation: Student
Industry: Medical
Message: message me
Member Since:
11/3/2002
|
|
SubscriptionsSites I Read
|
|
|
|
| Given that my sister and I are the only people in our family that will cook and eat carbohydrates (or even touch butter), in the past, it has fallen to me to cook every part of Thanksgiving dinner except the turkey. No carbs or butter in turkey- at least not how my mom makes it. To her credit, I think she makes the best most tenderest turkey ever.
Thankfully, this year, my sister has had her own place and has been going on culinary adventures of her own, so I'll have a little help! Nevertheless, I am planning to do most of the prep-work at my apartment, because my parent's kitchen is a confusing (and really cold) place where I don't know where anything is kept or what even is clean.
So let's see...
For mains:
Turkey- mom
There will probably only be 5-7 of us... no need for more mains. And I have no idea how to cook a ham.
For sides:
Cornbread stuffing- made it last year and it was delish
Garlic mashed potatoes - maybe this year I'll try to sneak some cauliflower in... I saw that on a blog somewhere.
Lee's green beans- the one thing I always ask Lee to make when we have company
Another vegetable? My parents dislike meals with only one choice of veggie. Maybe spinach? I wish I could make creamed spinach, but that's not an option given the "cream" part.
Cranberry sauce- I make it with a tangerine and very little sugar so my parents will agree to eat it. Obviously, stuffing and mashed potatoes are a lost cause.
Gravy- hopefully there will be some drippings for me to use at home?
For dessert:
My sister and I always bake a pumpkin pie together. I have a recipe from Food & Wine that I want to try. Two, actually. Hmmm....
Maybe I'll make something else yummy with leftover cranberries.
I really want to make this chocolate pumpkin cake whose recipe I've been eying... although that will probably have to wait until post-Thanksgiving.
Oh and there were some pecan bars that looked absolutely delectable too...
And now that we're thinking about dessert, I wonder if I'll have time to send cookies to friends this year for Christmas... I love dessert way too much. This is bad, bad, bad.
Okay, looks like tomorrow I'm going to write a shopping list and get some groceries. Start doing some prep and freezing stuff for Thursday. Woohoo! Thanksgiving!
| | |
| When I take a look at the sort of things that get me worried, it makes me feel... petty. And small. And lucky.
Like, one thing that worries me is who will eat the things I will bake. I hate investing myself and my time into something delicious that goes uneaten. That's why I've always loved things like small group or workrooms. Or school. It's a terrific way to get rid of large quantities of baked goods. It's difficult to only make 2-4 of a thing, which is basically all that Lee and I can (or should) eat.
Another thing that is stressing me out is my wedding. Seriously, I don't think brides who spend tons of money on their wedding are always spoiled. I swear, half the time, they're just BUSY and don't want to deal with the stress of feeling responsible for how the day turns out, which is how I am feeling right now. Despite Fiance telling me I shouldn't, I DO feel personally responsible for my guests having a good time. So I'm worried about the food. I'm worried about the ambiance. I'm worried about the general flow of the day. On a somewhat related note, I'm also worried that my wedding will turn out looking cheap. But that's just my pride.
I am also worried about where we'll end up next year. But quite frankly, it's a minor fear. The match is basically out of our control; all we can do is try to impress the schools we interview at.
Well, compared to most people in this world, my worries are minuscule. Unimportant. But they still keep me up at night.
| | |
| Going to the grocery store the other day reminded me of how much I love this season. Pumpkin pie sugar pumpkins, gingerbread mix, stuffing... there is definitely some good eating during the fall. I love putting away my fan and getting my sweaters and hoodies out- not that I really need that much warmth out here in SD... Now if only the leaves would change. This is when I miss being in New York. We'd be so busy, but would try and try to find a time to get down to Central Park to see the autumn foliage. To make up for a childhood in California, I would romp in the leaves, glad that I wouldn't have to rake them up again.
My Food & Wine magazine (free sub thanks to buying my Kitchenaid mixer) is also featuring Thanksgiving dinner. It's sort of the consummate American family dinner. A little ironic because family dinner has never been a big thing for my family, and Thanksgiving never really is a day that makes me very happy at all. Last Thanksgiving, I remember a lot of frustration and tears. I sort of long for a day when I can work in a big kitchen with my family, cook a big Thanksgiving meal, and then enjoy it without having people turn their noses up on such "fattening" food or making comments like, "It's okay for you to eat this, but I'm going to have to run an extra mile tomorrow!"
I guess getting married is a pretty good excuse to try to join a family who does holidays right
| | |
| Well, my residency application is finally "complete": meaning that three of my recommendations are in (not yet the fourth... maybe I should up the pester-age).
Maybe I'll get some residency interview offers now, eh?
| | |
| I know nobody reads this anymore (should I move to a more "trendy" web blogger???) BUT, I had the best food experience yesterday and I was so excited that I wanted to share. =P
So, I have a problem with store-bought jarred pasta sauce: it's always WAY too salty. In the past, I've usually cut the salt by adding a can of no-salt-added diced tomatoes, but it's always still too salty... and then at the same time, flavorless. Frustrating.
And despite this, can you believe that I've never made my own pasta sauce until yesterday? I've always been deterred by the complexity of it all. You know- I don't have a food mill, I don't want to seed and peel tons of tomatoes, etc. etc. And this is where we bring in Giada's Simple Tomato Sauce.
I added in some tomato paste and milk (I looked at the heavy cream, but decided against it...), omitted the celery (I hate buying an entire bunch of celery just to use one stalk- it always just goes bad in my fridge), omitted the basil (for some reason, Henry's was out????) and omitted the food processor step. Heck, I like my sauce chunky (and I'm lazy and don't own a food processor). And despite all the omissions, this sauce was DELICIOUS. And easy, as advertised. I just had to chop some veggies, open some cans, and stir.
I had enough to add to some ground beef to make us dinner for two days and then I froze a whole bunch more for the future.
I have to say, one thing that's pretty awesome about making your own sauce is that since it is less salty, you can salt the pasta more liberally. I was so surprised how much more flavor it adds when your pasta actually has some intrinsic flavor as well! And this was an accidental discovery- I usually put a dash of salt in my pasta water, but I waaaay overdid it last night. Hahaha.
Big hit with the boy. All that matters. =) I'll be making this pasta sauce again! And again!
| | |
|
