Monday, November 14, 2005

Happy Thanksgiving?

The French CDs that I listen to on my way to work are doing their magic; my high school French is coming back to me and I will be able to order my wine, duck and oysters as needed. But the French have a different way of speaking. I can't describe it, but in order to make the French sounds and accents, you place your tongue and jaw in a slightly different position than we do over here. After my 45-minute ride to work, repeating the CD, my jaw and neck are quite sore.

Last night accidentally ended up being Thanksgiving at our house. With Paris coming up, we are not going out to eat (to save money). So we went grocery shopping. While at Kroger, on the hunt for a good comfort food dinner, and discussing that we would be in Paris on Thanksgiving, we ended up making Thanksgiving early.

Our 2005 Thanksgiving menu
Rock Cornish game hens, stuffed with garlic mashed potatoes
Acorn squash, baked in maple syrup

We brined the hens first, too. If you never tried brining a bird before roasting it, I have to say that I am now a staunch advocate of the process!

OK, it's not really the massive spread that makes up most Thanksgiving meals, but it was just the two of us, and we are usually lucky if our meals consist of more than one dish. Counting the potatoes, this had three!

We also had a great bottle of sparkling dry riesling from Shady Lane vineyards, located in Zilla's neck of the woods.

I realize it's been a while since I updated my list of blogs I frequent, so I wanted to give a shoutout to these guys, and I will be updating my sidebar soon:
Chepner
The Jamoker
Segue
FineArtist

These guys help me get through the day.

When I was in high school, before the advent of the Interweb, my friends and I put out a zine. For those of you too young to remember, a zine is an honest flesh and blood magazine, presented in a format that isn't hampered by things like production values, content editors, or common sense.

We cranked out one of these things once a month, focusing on punk and heavy metal music. We had about 50 readers, and the thing ate up money in printing costs and postage. But we did get a ton of free records and cassettes out of it.

Now we have blogs. This is like the zine, except it's slicker and less expensive. I also like to think that over the years I have refined my skills as well. I have more than 50 people who read it, and they are more intelligent and interesting than our former metalhead readership. And it's more interactive; we comment on one another's sites, and we all read each other's opinions.

Again, it's like a real magazine, except it doesn't rely on production schedules or the need to cater to advertisers.

If this is the future, I like it.

7 comments:

tanagrame said...

Once you've brined, you'll never go back!

I'm still planning on that online mag...just got to start the design.

If you see something out there that strikes your eye, let me know.

Segue said...

"Brine"? As in, pickle the poor hen? Weird.

My family cooks their turkey on a Weber grill. Very tasty.

I have yet to try a deep-fried turkey, but I'm in no rush, either.

Thanks for the plug!

alpharat said...

Pretty close. The birds were soaked in salt water for three hours prior to cooking.

Last year, when I hosted Thanksgiving, I grilled up the bird, too. I was planning on doing it again this year, but then then the French foiled my plans!

Paprika said...

yay brining! i'm a recent convert, as well. it makes it possible to both sear and bake big chicken breasts (in our house: w/ stuffing, usually) without drying them out. try adding a little brown sugar to the salt next time, it's TASTY! thanks americas test kitchen!

Anonymous said...

It's all true. I overcooked the poop out of that chicken, too. The skin was nice and crispy, and even the white meat was tender and juicy after a day-later microwave reheat.

As for the deep-fried turkey-- my brother always does that, and scary as it is, it makes a good bird.

Angeline Rose Larimer said...

Sounds like a beautiful dinner.

What CDs are you using? I want to learn French.

I adore those four link people, by the way. As I do you and Abishag...Good folks. Lovely put, helping you get through the day. I agree. I'm very thankful this year.

Chep said...

Thanks for the shout!

I myself have never brined - but I love me some cornish hen.

This year we are going to my parents in NWIN and holding ourselves a good ole fashioned Thanksgiving tailgate! Fried turkey and beer. YUM!

Thanks again for the link - and for reading - I must be the comic relief for the day - because I am not what you would call...deep thoughts... :)