Marlene

I've just skimmed the last of the fat from my stock. I'm very pleased with how it turned out, and a stock pot is now on my list of must have kitchen tools. Gumbo making is about to commence. I'll be back after it's done with pictures etc, and then that will just about do it for this blog. I have to say this has been a tremendous amount of fun. I learned so much this week, and I probably wouldn't have tried some of these things otherwise. Special thanks to Brooks, Dave, Judith and Rachel (who stayed up the other night to give me a quick Stock 101 course via AIM), and everyone else who contributed their ideas, recipes and techniques. This truly has been an interactive session, and I am the richer for it. Thanks for your patience as I stumbled my way through cornbread, pizza, biscuts and more. I'm looking forward to this gumbo.

I have two All Clad stainless steel roasters and I swear by them.

What, the pics of your gumbo? Mine should look half as good. "Might even"? You can't start your gumbo without one of the "Holy Trinity." ← I say might, because it's not something I normally keep in the house. Except I did have some for the pizza the other night. The rule today is, if it's not in the house, we go without it.

One more today. Alton Brown's "Im Just Here for More Food"

Strange ... I always though it was so-named for the fisticuffs that went on during the post-Christmas Day sales. A. ← No one really knows how it came to be called Boxing Day although the theories Jaymes and Jensen expressed are common ones. Box Day. All I know is it's a good day for me to stay out of the stores . Just be careful how you turn them out! We did have waffles again for breakfast, but I didn't take pictures this time. I was more careful about pouring the batter in though and this time they didn't leak all over the place! Now for the gumbo, I have onion, celery and I might even have some bell pepper. No green onions, and I'm too tired to go out and buy some. Can I substitute shallots? Yeah, I know they aren't green. Everyone is gone, and Ry has gone back to his Dad's for a couple of days until he comes here for our Open House on New Year's Eve. (yes, more cooking this week - sigh). I feel like a tornado has gone through the house, and I'm exhausted. However, we have gumbo to make, and I'm probably going to make some crusty bread in my small breadmaker to go with it. Just because. Does anyone have anything to add or change in Dave's recipe? Otherwise it's the one I'm going to have to go with since y'all haven't chimed in with an abundance of advice Lunch, a nap and then gumbo. Turkey and cranberry sandwhiches coming up for lunch.

Morning everyone. My apologies for not posting dinner pics last night. It was a night of much laughter,food and drink. It was 1 am when we all went to bed and I figured I'd be stretching it, not to mention inchoherent if I tried to post them then . And so: The roast is ready to go in the oven. Brushed with EVOO and some kosher salt I always put a bit of lard in the pan, even though this time I wasn't roasting potatoes. And I always use a remote thermometer like this Ready for carving: And carved: Honey glazed carrots: Molten Mashed coming out of the oven Turned out: A note about the potatoes. These need to sit for a few minutes before trying to turn them out, and then the utmost delicacy is required when you do so. I confess, in my haste, I did neither. I was most indelicate when I turned them out and as a result, most of them kinda smashed. On a postive note, the ones that didn't smash leaked gravy quite satisfyingly when cut into. These were really good. The layers of the cheesecake: I'm probably going to make waffles again this morning for everyone. Then I'll get Ry ready to go back to his dad's. And then folks, let's get ready to gumbo! I'll be back with breakfast pics and pics of my stock making in a while.

Add 5 more for me. Yay Christmas!

Trust me, you'd need your flannel up here right now A bubble bath is starting to sound better and better all the time. I still have eggnog. And if my brother doesn't get here soon, he can finish the dinner prep.

Um, Maggie, I have it on good authority that you are the Queen of Pastry. Perhaps I can persuede you to post some pics of those tarts you made, and maybe you'll teach me how to "crimp" the edges. But I was thrilled with the way mine turned out. And I made the whole thing in my KA. (And I've heard it said, in fact I may have said it myself, that a girl can never have too many diamonds )

My brother, is as usual, running late. He lives about an hour and a half away from me, and he has to stop and pick up my mom on the way. Since he is just now picking up my mom, (it's 3:40), that should put them here around 5:00. I forgot that I when I want my brother here at 3:00, I need to tell him to be here by 2:00. Then he's on time for 3:00 Ah well, it gives me a chance to rest a minute, and have a nice calming drink.

Whew. I'm ready. At least I think I am. The roast goes into the oven at 3:15 and should take just under 4 hours at 9.5 lbs. The waffles were a success: I made tortilla crisps because my husband loves these. They're a mix of butter, parmesan cheese, garlic, onion, parsley, oregano, and sesame seeds. Spread over 6 inch tortilla shells in a very thick layer Cut them into triangles and bake them for about 10 minutes. These are highly addictive. The molten mashed potatoes are ready to go in the oven. Keeping in mind Dave's problems with loose potatoes, I kept my batch fairly firm. This allowed me to "mold the potato more into almost a shell, keeping a thick enough layer on the bottom, but leaving lots of room for gravy. Doing this, I only had to freeze the shells for about 15 minutes prior to putting the gravy in. Buttered breadcrumbed muffin tins Potato shells filled with gravy Topped with more potato They are in the freezer now, and I'll take them out about 20 minutes before I'm ready to bake them. The table is set: The horseradish sauce is made: And the carrots are in the slow cooker which I will plug in about the same time as I put the roast on. I've got about 5 minutes before they arrive so I'll just use that time to breathe. slowly. Deep breaths. See you after dinner sometime!

Jaymes, I'm not at all sure I made it right, and so I will be trying it again, just to see what I can do differently. Ryan didn't roll out of bed until almost 11:30 today which meant I got behind again as I tried to juggle waffles, and other prep work. Pics will follow in a little while, but I want to tell you the waffles were damn near perfect. This may be my new favourite toy! I did put too much batter in, and it kinda oozed on down the side of the waffle maker, and I forgot to spray the grid, so they we're a little tougher to get out, but they still didn't stick. I used a waffle mix I got from WS a blueberry one (yes yes, I'll get to scratch batter in a few days, when I have just a bit more time on my hands to play with it ), but the waffles turned out very well. Crispy and light, my boys loved them. I've made tortilla crisps, and finished setting the table. I'm working on the molten mashers now, the half shell is freezing for a few minutes, then I'll add the gravy and top them up. Oh yes, my stock has been simmering since this morning. I'm going to prep the carrots in the slow cooker shortly so that all I have to do later is turn it on. (I must remember to do that. ) As soon as Don gets back with my supplies, I'll make a horsradish cream sauce. Somewhere in there, I'll have a shower and get dressed. My family arrives at 3 although it's been snowing all morning, and my brother has never been on time for anything in his life. As everyone is spending the night, it is possble I won't get dinner pics up until the morning, first thing. In the mean time, feel free to continue sharing gumbo, cornbread dressing and waffle techniques here. Please.

morning all. It's Boxing Day for those of us in Canada and in the UK too I think. It's a statuatory holiday, which means that since Christmas and Boxing Day fall on a Sat and Sun this year, everyone has Monday and Tues off as well. Boxing day is also the biggest shopping day of the year. People will have been lining up at stores for hours waiting to get in to look for deals. Only the brave venture out today. Fortunately, I have far too much cooking to do, so I'll send Don out instead Today will be waffles when everyone wakes up. Lunch will of course be turkey sandwhiches and dinner, is Prime Rib. I'll be making Dave's potatoes up this morning in advance and a couple of nibbles as well. I'll see you all in a while.

I thought it was hillarious! Well I have two ovens so I can make two different pizzas at once. No, as Judith said I baked it as a casserole. Pictures would be most welcome! The dressing was baked in a skillet or casserole, as onions, celery, parsley were inserted in the cavity of the turkey. Marlene, I think it's more a matter of not knowing how the dressing should look and feel before it goes into the oven. Cornbread should be broken up fairly well while drying to absorb the liquid and flavors fully. As not all cornbread absorbs the same at any given time due to differences in cornmeal, humidity, etc., some adjustments might be necessary a la minute. And for us, personally, those little crispy bits around the edges combined with the moist dressing are to die for. ← I think that's right Judith. A lot of succesful cooking is knowing how things look. That's why this has been such an interesting week. I don't know how half of this stuff is supposed to look. And gumbo on Monday. Today I have to get through family Christmas dinner.

Um, all of the above? ← Well, if you used all of the components and nobody liked it then I guess some folks just aren't made to like cornbread dressing. Some people just prefer the bread dressing -- which I also like very much. We always ate bread dressing the few years I lived up north, 'cause no one else wanted the cornbread dressing, they wouldn't even try it. C'est la vie . . . ← Maybe, but I don't think that was it. I think I missed something somewhere. Oh well, the rest was perfect thanks to you, Dave and Brooks!

Um, all of the above?

lWell, see...richere's where you went so horribly wrong, Sugar Pot. Us Southern gals always have bourbon. In fact, I think I'll have some right now. ← I'll work on it mama, I'll work on it.

Well of course you need to come up here Jaymes! I really don't know what went wrong with the dressing. I'm still thinking about that. And i'd have made bourbon balls if I'd had any bourbon! Of course, there's my New Year's Eve open house to cook for yet, after this blog is done. All is not lost yet.

Um, no, I set the table for dinner tomorrow night. The only thing I don't put out the night before is the silverware. Breakfast we'll eat in the kitchen! ← Where do you eat lunch? Where I grew up -- a sizeable apartment for New York, but with the big room being the livingroom -- the kitchen was too narrow to set up a table, let alone put chairs around it. We ate our meals at the dining room/hall table (the room has both functions), as my parents still do today. ← Lunch? People eat lunch? Same thing. Dining room eating is reserved for 4 people or more. We eat at the island in the kitchen most times, and Ryan tends to eat in front of the TV when we let him.

Your squash was underdone because yellow squash would be done as the same time as the onions in the initial saute, winter squashes take a long time to cook. You could always micro/steam the butternut squash to parcook it, if you liked that in the casserole. ← Ok, that make sense. I have more butternut squash, so on Tuesday I'm going to try this again.

Um, no, I set the table for dinner tomorrow night. The only thing I don't put out the night before is the silverware. Breakfast we'll eat in the kitchen!

I can't get grits here, what makes you think I can get okra? (god is sometime merciful )

Oakville does Gumbo. You go girl. I think it looks like a great thing to make.

Very nice Dave, thanks! I need step by step stuff! Maybe I'll need to start the stock tomorrow while I'm prepping everything else. dinner pics, but first a couple of presents: Waffles for breakfast tomorrow! Wines: and woman does not live by food alone! On to dinner: Placing the bacon and the butter: shroud en turkey, cheesecloth soaked in EVOO Squash casserole ready to go in the oven Dressing ready to go in: Turkey's done! We've already eaten the bacon Squash is done: The pan drippings make an awesome gravy! For some reason, I don't have a picture of the stuffing coming out of the oven. A few observations: The turkey. I may never cook turkey any other way but this ever again, it was that good. Don and I ate the bacon in the kitchen standing up while the turkey was resting. The skin was crisp and flavourful,and the turkey was as moist as I've ever got it. A definate winner The Squash Casserole The surprise hit of the night. I did not expect either of the guys to like it, and generally I'm not a fan of squash. However, everyone pronounced it wonderful with the caveat that I need to cook the squash a bit more next time. Who knew? The Gravy: some of the best gravy I've ever made, bar none, and I make a lot of gravy. The bacon and butter add a great deal to the mix of gravy making drippings here. The Stuffing Um, I must say, this was not a hit. I don't know what I did wrong, but no one liked it particularly. Maybe it was the cornbread, Don said it was dull and needed "something", and maybe it was just one too many new things for everyone. The Pecan Pie. Again, I wasn't expecting either of the guys to like this, particularly Don, who hates nuts in anything. Both of them devoured their slices. I was way impressed with the crust myself, . The crust was flaky, tender and not dry or tough at all. Who knew I could actually ever make a decent pastry crust? All in all, for my first Southern Christmas dinner, it was a huge success. We're stuffed. I've cleaned off the table and started to re-set it for tomorrow. Tomorrow is company day and there's lots of prep to be done between now and the time they arrive. I'm doing a Prime Rib which I can do in my sleep, but I'm going to attempt Dave's Molten Mashed Potatoes and I've nibbles to make etc. And don't forget, it's waffles for breakfast!

I am not at all sure I can get file powder. What is it?