Monthly Archives: November 2012

The ONLY Thing That Will Cause Me to Leave the House on Black Friday

Because, seriously, Black Friday has never, ever sounded like a good time.

So what tomfoolery was I engaged in, being IN A LINE on Black Friday? In the morning, even!

Beer, of course. Good beer.

Actually? Leaving the house on Black Friday seems so hazardous, it had to be better than “good” beers. “Excellent” beers. “Rare” beers. “That one beer I’ve been trying to get my hands on for a year or more.” These are motivating.

And motivate me, they did. As they have for three years running, now. In 2010, it was Bourbon County Brand Stout (BCBS) Rare. In 2011, it was King Henry. In 2012? Well, this year was a little different.

Every Black Friday, Goose Island Clybourn1 throws a shindig.… Continue reading →

No One Got Sick at Our Thanksgiving! Win!

Thanksgiving at our house turned out far, far better than it had any right to be. We’re a very lucky couple.

As we have the last two years, we decided to throw open our Thanksgiving to anyone who didn’t have any place else to go (or didn’t want to go the where they did have, I suppose). The net effect of this is that we never quite know how many people we’re going to have until Black Friday. This year, we were settled for a good long time on two guests, so I ordered a turkey that was a little big for four people, just in case one or two more people decided to join us at the last minute.

A bit more than one or two more guests later, I decided to go looking for a bigger turkey.… Continue reading →

Redo Two!

Okay, we’ve probably actually redone this particular recipe, the White Bean and Spinach Soup from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, seven or eight times.

However, I think this is only the second time I’ve posted about a replication. The first time, found here, is about the garnishes Katzen calls for (and how they were no good). This time, I want to discuss freezing the soup.

Basically, it doesn’t freeze well. Most of it does, but the greens do not. I’m not really sure why they don’t, since I expected it to freeze well. However, the freeze and reheat cycle leaves them disintegrating and not terribly palatable. I’m sure this isn’t a microwave issue, simply because reheating the following day is fine.

This makes a pretty sizable recipe, though, so I’ve been considering ways in which it could be changed to freeze better.… Continue reading →

I Love a Thunderstorm. And Tea.

Yesterday, I checked the weather and was a bit boggled to see Chicago was looking at 70F and rainy all day. Boggled and unhappy, to be perfectly honest. I’m not really a fan of 70F in Chicago in November. Makes me worry, a little, that we’re going to have another not winter.

The rain? The rain doesn’t faze me. I admit, I don’t like to be out in it, but that’s mostly because I haven’t yet bought boots to keep my feet dry. I don’t much mind being rained on, though. I’m too much of a desert baby to hate rain. Precipitation. Water.

Water.

I may be a desert baby, but I live in a land of (seeming) water excess. Of people I know who grew up in this area, none have ever even thought of things like water rationing or xeriscaping.… Continue reading →

Ham Ends. But Not the End of Ham.

I don’t remember quite how old I was, or how the story came up, but I remember my mother telling me the story about the end of the ham. You probably know the one.

When your grandmother was young and first married, she was chatting with your grandfather while making a ham. As she went to put the ham in the pan, she cut the end off. Your grandfather asked her why she did that, and she responded with, “I don’t know. My mother always used to do it.”

Later that day, she spoke to her mother and asked about cutting the end off the ham. Her mother replied, “You know, I don’t know. That’s how my mother always did it.” So your grandmother eventually asked her grandmother.

… Continue reading →