Marlene

I did forget to mention that the gumbo recipes I need must include Turkey since I'll have a ton of it left!

The turkey is now "dressed" in bacon and a soaked EVOO cheesecloth and has gone in the oven. I put two cups of turkey stock in, as recommended, although I must confess, I had to use stock that I bought at Bruno's. Monday will be my first stock making attempt ever! What a wonderful Christmas, cooking related gifts included: 2 and 4 qt all clad stainless steel pots a belgan waffle maker (can anyone say breakfast tomorrow? ) a pizza stone of all things! 3 bottles of wine: 2 - 1999 Brunellos and a 1998 Barolo a nut tray Cook books: Les Halles Bouchon All about Waffles William Sonoma's Pies and Tarts William Sonoma's Soups and Stews. I also got a half day at a spa, a new lighter, a Robert Bateman limited edition signed print and a book to go with it, and wait for it - a diamond tennis bracelet. My men take good care of me Now it's off to set the table, peel potatoes, and think about the stuffing. I've taken the Prime Rib for tomorrow out to thaw. Back with more pics later.

Breakfast is done, the dishwasher loaded (yet again) and I'm waiting impatiently for Ryan to get here. In the meantime, I'll occupy myself by getting the breakfast pics up. This is much better peameal bacon than we had the other day. We bought this from the butcher so we could slice it ourselves. Note the coating of cornmeal. We slice it fairly thickly and breakfast is served. Peameal bacon is quite salty, and those crispy bits are to die for. We both like to dip our toast in the egg yolk, but then Don tends to eat the whites and leave the yolks, while I'm the opposite. I'll eat the yolk and leave the white. Between us, we can eat one whole egg. Today will be relaxed because we don't have company until tomorrow. In keeping with my Southern Christmas dinner, I've got my favourite country music station on (did I mention I'm a country girl at heart? I even have 3 pairs of cowboy boots). Today just seems like a day to have music to prep by. I'll be along in a little while to relate the loot I receive and to update you on the turkey, squash and dressing preparations. In the meantime, can y'all think gumbo? I need gumbo recipes for Monday!

Merry Christmas everyone! Breakfast will be peameal bacon and eggs which Don is cooking up right now. Ryan will arrive at noon and then we will open stockings and presents. Right after that, the turkey will go in the oven. I'll be back in a little while with breakfast pictures.

Dinner! We've been for our walk (it's just a little cold out there), but we missed church after all. There's just been too much to do. Oh well. Don did a stir fry tonight. Here's the prep and results: FOr a man who cooks once or twice a year, his knife skills are way better than mine He's got garlic, snow peas, bean sprouts, peppers and onion here. Bless his soul, the man knew I'd been missing my beef all week Cooking or should I say woking? The final product Me, trying to eat with chopsticks while I finalize Sunday plans with my brother on the phone. Even worse, I'm trying to eat right handed and I'm left handed. Again, Don's skill with chopsticks far surpasses mine, although I'm getting better. It's Christmas Eve and our tradition is to open one present each on Christmas Eve. One of our three cats, Muffin watches us I got a very cool three pack of 1/2 bottles of Wolf Blass Wines A wonderful evening. We played pool, walked in the snow, my husband cooked for me. What more could a girl ask for? I'll see you folk Christmas morning. May you receive all you ask for and may you give more than you get.

Hell, there's different squashes? Who knew? It is indeed butternut squash, so maybe this will really suck

Here we go folks. But first a view of some of the snow we got the other day. I don't think it's going to melt anytime soon. First I made the squash casserole. I haven't baked it yet and tomorrow, some of the cracker and cheese crumb topping will go on top before baking. Next it was pie crust time. I made dough three times in all. The dough I made last night just didn't work for me. Then I made another batch, same thing. It was way too dry and crumbly and I couldn't get it to roll out. In desperation I turned to a cookbook from the 1950's and there it was - "Bride's Pastry" for the woman who has never made successful pastry. Hey it worked! I didn't know how to "flute" the edge, so I used a fork. Maggie's tip for rolling it out between sheets of waxed paper worked like a charm. I wasn't brave enough to try to pick the dough up with the pin though so I picked up the dough, waxed paper and all and inverted it into the pie plate, then peeled the wax paper off. And voila! Pecan Pie I also started the turkey prep for tomorrow. The recipe a la southern style calls for a mustard rub to be applied the day before. Tomorrow I'll lay the bacon strips on, put butter between the thighs and cover it with an EVOO saturated cheesecloth as per Brooks' and lovebenton0's instructions. I will try to get back here tonight with dinner pics, but if not it will be in the morning along with breakfast pics while we wait for Ryan to arrive. Until then, Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

All right folks, I'm on a roll. I finally found a dough recipe that seemed to work for me. I had enough for two pies so that's what I made. Pies are in the oven, pics of everything will follow in just a bit. Now I've got to make the rub for the turkey and clean up my kitchen (again.).

And to you and yours Jake! I'm tired just thinking about you cooking for all those people! She says blighely being the Queen of Crust. I'm on my third batch of dough here folks. And counting....... I hope your Christmas is wonderful Dark Lady. I want a mincemeat tart! Aha! See my box of ritz crackers doesn't come like that. They're all just jumbled together. Merry Christmas back at you!

I"m working away and will post pics when I'm all done. I'm about to roll out the pie crust and I've just made the squash casserole. Southern recipes never cease to amaze me. They're kinda intituive at best. For example, here's Brooks' recipe for Squash Casserole: Delta Delight-Squash Casserole 2 cups sliced yellow squash 1 cup chopped white onion 1 stack Ritz crackers 1 Cup good cheddar, grated fine 1 Large egg ½ cup milk 1 tsp salt 1 tsp black pepper ¼ lb. Melted Butter Cook squash with onions until done (transluscent onions). Crush crackers and mix with grated cheese. Beat eggs with milk. Add to cooked and well drained squash and onions mixture. Pour into greased casserole and sprinkle with remaining cheese cracker mixture. Bake a 400F for twenty min. or until bubbly and slightly brown. I'll bet any Southerner can take one look at this and know exactly what to do. Me? I had questions. "Cook squash with onions until done". Ok, but how do I cook them: boil, saute? etc. It took me a while to figure out that I should saute them in the butter. Becasue no where in this recipe does it tell me what to do with the 1/4 lb of butter it calls for. Great, next: "Crush crackers and mix with grated cheese. Beat eggs with milk. Add to cooked and well drained onion mixture. " I had to assume that I mixed the crackers, cheese, squash, milk salt and pepper together. Only because near the end of the recipe it says, top he casserole with cheese and cracker mix. Since it also didn't tell me what to do with the salt and pepper, I just assumed it went into the mix too And finally, can anyone tell me how many crackers constitute a "stack"? The recipe for the Turkey is the same. It gives me all the ingredients for the paste, but not the quantities. So I'm gonna have to guess. I don't speak Southern very well I guess!

Ah well, best laid plans and all that . I'd completely forgotten the cleaners were coming this morning, (as they do every Friday, so you'd think I'd know ). Thus, I can't get into my kitchen until they are done, which means Ryan got a quick peanut butter and jam sandwich and Don and i have yet to eat. Given the time, all my cooking preps and pie making will now take place this afternoon

Good morning Marlene, Yep, sounds good....now, take the dough out, give it half an hour to become workable, sprinkle your work area with a bit of flour, add a bit of flour to your rolling pin and start by flattening out the dough with the pin, then roll from the centre out on all directions, moving the flattened dough often to prevent sticking. Yes, you can add flour here and there. When you're done, brush off all the excess flour on the dough with a pastry brush before putting the crust in the pan. Voilà! Put it back in the icebox while you're preparing the filling. Your men will be soooo grateful! ← Ok, the great pie crust experiement will begin this morning. Veggies. Gotta have em once a year or so. Good morning everyone. It's Christmas Eve. Perhaps even more than Christmas Day, this is my favourite day of the year. It's a busy day, but it's also a family day. Once the bustle of last minute shopping and wrapping is done, Christmas Eve is pure magic for me. We'll sit in front of the tree with some mulled wine that Don will make for us and watch the lights sparkle. After dinner tonight, we'll dress and go to the 8: pm Christmas music service at the church, and then we'll take walk around the neighbourhood, boots crunching in the snow, to gaze at the Christmas lights. There is a neighbourhood here in Oakville which has long been considered the "rich enclave" Fairway hills. Every year, all the houses are decorated to the nines and cars line up for blocks to drive through and see. A few years ago, the neighbourhood association brought the Salvation Army to the gates of the community. While donations are not required most everyone gives something on their way out. Every house lines their driveways and sidewaks with candles in paper bags. They have a lighting ceremony at 6:00 p.m. It is so beautiful and just contributes to the magical effect of Christmas Eve. This year, Ryan will spend Christmas Eve and morning with his father. We trade every year. So I'll take Ryan to his Dad's around noon, run around like a fool with the rest of the last minute shoppers and finish my wrapping. I'll be making the pie this morning and the squash casserole. I'lll also prep the turkey for dinner tomorrow. Don will make breakfast. We have better peameal bacon so we may have that. And we're in for a special treat for dinner because Don has agreed to make a stir fry. My husband makes the best stir fry on the planet! I know many of you will be busy with your own preparations for Christmas today. I hope that each of you gets a moment to pause though and enjoy with me the magic that is Christmas Eve.

" Aboout - It's special Canadian-southern speak. eh. That would be about right. I re=checked the syrup I have and it's a Canada #1 Medium. Oh yeah. Even with the garlic substitution

For Brooks. All aboout the Grades of Syrup Canadian Grading

I'll be using a Grade B. If my dough works. Otherwise, I'll be buying a frozen pie crust tomorrow!

I'll let you know tomorrow Brooks. I made dough. It's in the fridge, chillin. I've a question about this "work it into a smooth ball" though. It was still pretty dry and crumbly. I added a bit of water but I didn't want to overwork it as everyone says, so eventually i kinda mashed it together and rolled it in Saran wrap. Is its supposed to be that crumbly?

tonight's dinner: Tonkatsu: Voila! A green vegetable. Sesame-ginger asparagus A word about the sauce. I've been making a ketchup based sauce which we liked. Dave the Cook persuded me to try a new sauce and in keeping with experiment week, I agreed. In a word, wow. This sauce is spicy and very different from the the sauce I usually make. It was an instant hit in the house. I had doubts when I saw the ingredients, but it was totally awesome. Tonkatsu Sauce by Dave the Cook 1/4 C chopped, dried apple slices 1/4 C chopped onion 1/4 C minced fresh ginger 1 t vegetable oil 1/4 C raisins, soaked in mirin or dry sherry to cover 1/2 C mirin, or 1/4 C dry sherry plus 1/4 C white wine 1 C soy sauce 1. Saute the apple, onion and ginger in the oil until soft but not browned. 2. Add the mirin (or sherry-wine mixture) and reduce by half. (It will look almost like syrup.) 3. Turn everything (don't forget the raisins) into a blender or food processor. Add the soy sauce and blend until smooth. edited to add: I just noticed that I misread the ingredients for this sauce when I made it. I used fresh minced garlic instead of onion. Of course, you'd really have to like garlic to use a 1/4 cup of garlic instead of onion, but we liked it!

I'm not really surprised by this. I've never been big on leftover deep-fried chicken, both for the reasons Marlene cited, and because I greatly prefer the pan-fried crust, both right out of the pan, and the next day. In fact, I'll come completely clean and admit that I'm not a fan of deep-fried chicken in general, unless you're cooking for a crowd. Pan-fried is my method of choice. ← Marlene? Can you say "Now you tell me!!!" Cornbread looks just right. You can probably start breaking it up anytime now if you haven't already. These meatballs sound taaaaasty. ← No kidding. Men. I did break up the cornbread, right after it cooled. Thanks! Of course he noticed. He notices everything. New dress, new kitchen gadget. He keeps telling me that as an accountant, he's a trained observer. We like to share with Ottawa. We're so close and all. The gumbo is Monday's experiment because I need to make stock from Saturday's turkey first. The pie? I haven't made it yet. That's a good idea, I think I'll try that.

I am a politician. In fact I ran for public office last year! But no, that was the simple truth. I would not tell a lie in my blog.

Following up on the last part of the chicken experiement. Next day cold chicken. If, as Dean says, the ultimate test of fried chicken is how good it is the next day, then Brooks' recipe wins hands down. No one except me would eat it, so I got one piece of each and stood over the kitchen sink as directed to eat it. Brooks' chicken skin was still crisp and the chicken was nice and moist still. Dave's chicken skin on the other hand, had turned somewhat soggy, and the chicken had dried out somewhat. So if you want fried chicken for dinner and don't care about left overs, Dave's is the way to go, although I think that Brooks' will be more equal to Dave's if you spice the chicken before flouring. On the other hand, if you want to make chicken for a picnic for your family or perhaps a special someone for a picnic for two, make Brooks.

breakfast was French toast and bacon as promised: then I made cornbread And put on some hot chocolate for the boys-turned-into icicles. I've got one of the ovens on clean right now, and shortly I'll be starting the honey garlic meatballs. The great thing about these meatballs is they can be made several days ahead of when you want to use them. Don and I will have some tomorrow night, and I'll use the rest for nibbles on Sunday.

I dunno ... what do you have to trade? Not an NHL season, I know that for sure! 2 more days until the World Juniors start!!! Sweet hockey release! A. ← We're countrymen, we're supposed to help each other. I'm sure I've a recipe or two I could send your way

Yay! Another cookbook to buy! Snickering from the West Coast while I get ready for a quick round of golf I don't know what your kids are complaining about ... they apparently don't have to eat veggies Really enjoying this Marlene. Taking notes for a Souther-Style Pig-Thing I'm planning for this summer. I'm helping Varmint with his kitchen ... he's helping me with the BBQ. This eGullet trade-off thing seems to work well for us Canucks eh?? A. ← I so want to be golfing right now. The cross border trade offs work very well. How come you're not helping me with my kitchen?!

Breakfast is done, pics will follow later. Time to get the cornbread going, and pound the pork for the tonkatsu and maybe I'll make some honey garlic meatballs for appetizers on Sunday. Don has promised to go shopping for me later, because I will need more pecans before I can attempt the pie. I know how thrilled he is about this pie. The boys have gone out side to throw snow at each other, and in theory they'll shovel off the walkway for me while they're at it! They are extremely irritated that it would be a snow day if they were in school. They feel slightly ripped off

Why not? Although the cast iron skillet worked extremely well. I also want to mention that the Waring Pro deep fryer I have is excellent. The recovery time between batches of chicken was literally seconds.