Happy Thanksgiving!

There’s a giant turkey coming to room temperature on my counter. In about half an hour I’ll put a baggie full of ice on it’s breast.

There are two pies looking (mostly) gorgeous on my sidebar and a lobster jello mold full of of (not very gelled) cranberry sauce. There’s less than perfect mashed potatoes in my fridge, but they’re quite pretty (our CSA gives us pink potatoes!). There’s also roll dough in the fridge to be rolled out and shaped (“and dunked in butter, apparently”:http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/11/parker-house-rolls/).

All that’s left for this household is sweet potatoes (some preparation; I may change my mind at the last minute, depending on the mashed potatoes), making the dough into rolls and roasting a turkey. I think. Oh, and cooking up some brussels sprouts.… Continue reading →

Thanksgiving prep

Today is the big push for making Thanksgiving recipes. Tomorrow I’ll roast the turkey, of course, but I’m going to try to get a lot done today.

So I thought it would be fun to have a ever-growing post about cooking for Thanksgiving. Kind of like “live tweeting” the event, but less prone to losing me my few twitter followers and a larger character limit.

The goal for today:

# The mashed potatoes
# One pumpkin pie
# One apple pie

The maybes for today:

# Cranberry sauce
# A second pumpkin pie

Tomorrow we’re looking at turkey, brussels sprouts with garlic, roasted sweet potatoes and celeriac (and onions?), and rolls.

I wonder what I’m missing.… Continue reading →

Made-Up Minestrone

I apologize for the lack of photos. I think my camera ate them (or I forgot to take them), but I promise to see if I can get at them.

_ETA: 28 November 2010 at 8:08 pm. I found a few! So please enjoy some ingredient photos!_

h2. Ingredients

Leftover beans w/Italian spicing (From “the Italian pot roast recipe.”:http://metacookbook.com/archives/119-63-Italian-Style-Pot-Roast.html)
Leftover “broth” w/Italian spicing (See above.)
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 small onions, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
~1/2 – 1 lb greens (I used a mix of spinach & kale.)
4 c chicken stock (THAT I MADE.)
Kosher salt (Table salt would be fine too.)
Ground oregano
Dried thyme
Dried basil (shoosh)
Red pepper flakes
~3 tbsp olive oil
~1/2 lb pasta, cooked (In other words, that’s how much I think was leftover from last night’s stroganoff that we’re out of.)… Continue reading →

Wondering what was coming?

Well, if you wander over to “recipe #67”:http://www.metacookbook.com/archives/123-67-Skillet-Cornbread.html you’ll find out!

Slowly, but surely, more of that to come. I can’t promise, but I’m going to try from here on out to do that with each & every new recipe post.… Continue reading →

[70] Grandma Ella’s Banana Nut Bread

Once upon a time, I was going to ask the family of a friend of mine to take care of my cat for while. I don’t recall how long or why. I think it was during a holiday from school when almost no one would be around. I didn’t have a lot of money, so paying in cash wasn’t doable. So I asked my friend if payment in baked goods would work. I was advised that yes, and banana bread was the right answer.

I hate banana bread.

Thus, I didn’t have a recipe for it and was completely unwilling to taste test a bunch of recipes. So, I did what any sane college student would do: I asked my great-grandmother for her recipe. She was a fabulous baker (at least by the time I came around), and so I knew whatever I got from her would be delicious.… Continue reading →