tryska

i'd like to expand this nomination to include any holiday inn continental breakfast, anywhere in the united states. matter of fact - i detest the notion of free continental breakfasts. i'm so glad i currently don't have to travel for business.

well whaddaya know...that's the brand sitting in my freezer ready to thaw.

multiple entries skew the curve, must stop jason from winning it all....

well our mennu has changed since this thread. Seems roomie has decided to reel it in and cook somethign a little more traditional. Can't help but feel this is some sort of competition, now, tho. in any case here's the updated menu: Parker House rolls Roast Turkey with Rosemary and Garlic, plus mushroom gravy (her) Mashed Sweet Potatoes (her) Mashed White Potatoes (me) Green Bean Casserole (i kid you not) Broccoli Casserole - altho now for the redundancy factor, i think i might make it broccoli in a cheese sauce, and call it a day Cranberry relish (her) Cranberry in a can (per guest request) Fried Corn (me) Chestnut Stuffing (her) Sausage Stuffing (me) Flan (her) Gianduia Pie + Whipped Cream(me) Sweet Potato Pie (a friend)

skinning hazelnuts a chore until midnight came blanche, roast, peel - still skins *sigh*

i've always made some variation or another of my sausage stuffing. similar to a lot of people's here - it's cooked outside of the bird, and i like it like that cuz i like a bit of crispness to the edge of my croutons. over the past several years i've made with white bread croutons, with cornbread, with white and corn, with corn and chestnut and so one and so forth. this year i'm going back to Mom's offcial white bread version for old time's sake.

i vote for beer.

ha ha - i understand - i've actually only to been to copeland's here in atlanta once - a friend's husband was the general manager at the time, so we got to eat for free. for free it wasn't bad. but i've never really explored the menu. I don't know of too many places around here that are open and serving on T-day. a couple of restaurants and a strip club. i'm surprised so many places are open on T-day - but lucky you - especially if they are quality.

Well you could do that. they are open. but there are so many other choices that would make you much happier. Copeland's is sort of like Applebee's with seafood and extra salt. ah. i wasn't sure if it was the same in new orleans as it is in atlanta. the atlanta one i know does a thanksgiving dinner. but when i was visiting i thought i saw a copeland's (the original perhaps?) in the garden district, right on St. Charles, i think, which looked a little less pink and blue neon. so they're tacky regardless, huh?

well i've been a bit under weather, and went to bed last night at 7pm and totally forgot to look for those recipes - i'm sorry! however i jsut spoke with my filipino coworker, and he basically told me how he makes his eggrolls: finely shred your vegetables - chinese cabbage, bok choy, water chestnut, bamboo shoots, carrots and add some whole enoki mushrooms (really whatever looks good with produce). stir fry till tender with some soy sauce, fish sauce, some chopped garlic, and a little lime juice. when it's cooked through, make sure to drain it and dry it off very well, and then wrap in your springroll wrappers. for a pork version, take some ground pork, stir fry till cooked with garlic and ginger, a little soy, and maybe some more fish sauce, drain so that it is very dry, and then mix with your vegetable mix. you can roll one version the traditional way, and make little bundles with the other version. make them and freeze, and then the day off, fry in 400degree oil until golden brown.

I gifted one of these useless "tools" to my mother, as they come two to a box. Flimsy. Won't fit in the olive jar like they show on TV. Doubt if it could pick up a fried or hardboiled egg. Cheap locking mechanism. Dumb. ahh...that's why she had 2. i still haven't tried it as a litter scoop, but i will report back when i do!

chicken goo. so i made my first stock this weekend - in a crockpot. i believe the crockpot was 8 quarts. I used 2 lbs of turkey necks, 5 small yellow onions, about a 1/2 pound celery, 1/2 lb carrots, 1 smashed clove of garlic, 1 bay leaf, 1tbsp cracked pepper, dried rosemary, sage, and thyme, 1 tsp marjoram, savory and parsley, sprinkling of kosher salt. i set it on about 4pm saturday afternoon, on high, turned it to low about 7pm. Sunday around 10:30 am i turned the crockpot off, and noon i began separating. i scooped all the turkey and vegetables out, fed shreds of turkey to the kitties, and strained multiple times, first into a colander fit into the sink a couple of times, and then into a sieve over my pot. by about 1-ish it was adequately cooled (5 strainings) and i stuck it in the fridge, and forgot about it. last night (monday) around 7-ish, i pulled it out. there was a minimal fat layer, i scooped that using my skimming spoon (not sure that's what it really is, but it worked for me), and then seived cold again a couple of times so any distrubed droplets got stuck in the seive. i had about 3-ish quarts - i then stuck it on the burner on high for 30-40 minutes, and wound up with just shy of a full quart. I'm not sure if it's jelled or not, but i'll check tonight when i get home. thank you so much for the classes y'all - it definitely took my fear out of making stock for the first time.

i tried an analog to them way way back when my uncle was in the military and it was high-tech equipment. they work well for keeping wounds clean, but i'm not a big fan of bandages, and bandaids and second skin things, simply because if i take care of a wound, i scar. if i clean it well, and let the air take care of it, i don't. of course i've never tried it with a sucking chest wound or anything......

tammy - do you want eggrolls that are vegetarian, or would you like pork in them too? as for the turnovers, they are a bit labor intensive and came from an old good housekeeping recipe, but man are they yummy. you could freeze them and bake them off just prior. i will have ot look in my recipes and see if i've got it or if my mom does.

i agree - even most of the gels you see at the drugstore are full of all kinds of stuff and not aloe. as i alluded to above, if you don't have a plant, jason's Witch Vera (it's witch hazel + aloe) is an excellent fairly pure product. i use it on everything from cuts and wounds to minor burns. scabs up and peels off within a couple of days, msot of the time.

eggrolls. i used to use this fabulous mushroom turnover recipe, but i don't know if it's in my recipes or my mom's.

aloe vera gel.

i had hot sake this past weekend. that was good stuff.

aloe vera. fresh aloes are best, but jason's witch vera is one of my medicine cabinet standbys - man it heals skin quickly. however - this advice goes out the window if you are blistering. applies to 1st degree and small 2nd degree burns only.

copelands?

we actually used the larger one - 8 qt, i think. i used turkey necks, onion, celery, carrot, a dash of kosher salt, cracked multicolor pepper, and dried sage, rosemary, thyme, marjoram and a little savory and parsley. it worked out wonderfully - did my shopping on saturday morning, started the stock around 4pm, set it on high, got ready for my date, and turned it to low at 7pm, jsut before he arrived. ate a fabulous meal at Nuevo Laredo, btw. turned it off sunday around 10:30am, let it cool til noon, seived it several times and put it in a more manageable pot and stuck it in the fridge. it's a lovely clear dark brown and smells wonderful.

*lol* crystal - yum, no more drips, plus, i don't know about you, but it's difficult for me to stop if i'm eating straight from the can. if i chill it first, then i scoop with a spoon, and can suck on it. that way i've got instant portion control, since it takes longer to eat it.

just to give a quick update - roomie has had time to process and digest the goings on of last week, and the menu has been tweaked somewhat. she's ditching lemon meringue in flavor of flan, and i ditched the bread pudding in favor a gianduia pie. we also made stock this weekend - it's in the fridge forming a fat layer at the moment - tonight i will defat, give it a final seiving and reduce it. might also make roux tonight, if i'm feeling ambitious - didn't have time this weekend.

!. Havarti @. Huntsman (best of both worlds imo) #. a nice smoked gouda - bonus points if it contains bacon

citrus is your friend.