Smacks
Shoutbox Elitist 
Smacks from the Dead
Posts: 2,904 
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Post by Smacks on Nov 22, 2016 13:53:53 GMT -5
So the weird thing about Mrs. Snape asking me to do mac-n-cheese is that she did so with an air of "make your mac-n-cheese." Thing is ... I don't have a standard mac-n-cheese recipe. It's such a violently unhealthy dish that I just don't make it very often. I don't have a version of the dish I consider my own. So, uh, anyone got a favorite mac-n-cheese recipe? I first learned how to make mac-n-cheese (among other things) from the old Betty Crocker tome. After learning the basics I pretty much tweak it however I feel with herbs and cheeses, but the one thing I will never ever go without adding is the splash of Worcestershire in the roux. It gives it a savoriness and earthiness that I miss in other macs-n-cheeses. I swear I can tell it's there. |
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Post by pairesta on Nov 23, 2016 8:17:53 GMT -5
For Saturday's TGiving Part 1 feast, I splurged on a heritage turkey. Actually it says "heirloom" and I'm wondering if that means it's one of those descriptors that doesn't mean anything (e.g., "All Natural"). But I just trimmed it and salted it in my attempt at dry brining. I have to say that it's very promising so far. It has this intense "TURKEY" smell to it, even just raw. There's lots of fat under the skin. The breast isn't a basketball. So I'm very curious and excited to see how this goes. We look forward to your report. It was entirely unremarkable. I was really disappointed. I'm back on wet-brining after the dry brine did nothing; the white meat was dry and flavorless. All that fat did nothing to add to the moisture of the meat. I did listen to Splendid Table's Thanksgiving episode earlier this week, and Lynn urged a listener to wet brine her heritage turkey since they tend to be drier than the industrial kind. But there wasn't even added flavor to make up for the drier meat. Arggh. |
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Post by pairesta on Nov 23, 2016 8:19:46 GMT -5
Hi Liz n Dicksgiving , pairesta , all y'all! I desperately want to go to sleep and wake up on New Year's Day, but I can't, so to preserve my sanity I'm skipping the big family gatherings. With Ma's family, anyway; I'll be spending Thanksgiving with my sister's husband's family. I can't opt out entirely because the big to-do is happening here and there's no way I can pull off staying in my room. I still have to cook a couple things for Ma, tho: sweet potato casserole and cranberry-sour cream upside-down cake. And I just now remembered I have everything to make gingerbread loaf, which will be in heavy rotation for the next six weeks or so. Glad you're back! |
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Post by pairesta on Nov 23, 2016 8:21:55 GMT -5
So for Thanksgiving proper, my mom and I hashed out a menu of mashed root veg, roasted Brussel sprout gratin, wild rice casserole. We were going to do either turkey breast or capon for the meat. Then when she was shopping, Mom saw some fresh duck in the butcher case and bought those instead. I'm excited; the menu sounds like duck would go better with it anyways. My wife however, did very little to hide her disappointment at the menu. Also there's a high risk factor as I've never successfully oven-roasted a whole duck.
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Post by Superb Owl 🦉 on Nov 23, 2016 9:27:41 GMT -5
I suspect there may be so awkwardness for Thanksgiving this year (dad's conservative family, trucking Owlette's mom along with us because she had nowhere to go), but it's ok because the bar has already been set so low by SADSGIVING 2014, the year that my FIL asked MIL for a divorce 2 days before Thanksgiving and then disappeared, my sister-in-laws refused to alter their existing holiday plans, and Owlette, myself, and the kids went up to spend 2 days alone with the woman and an amount of food that had been prepared for at least 8 adults because she'd never cooked a Thanksgiving for anything less than that.
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LazBro
Prolific Poster 
Posts: 10,280 
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Post by LazBro on Nov 23, 2016 10:00:05 GMT -5
Thanks all for weighing in. I ended up buying an assortment of cheeses, and we'll just have to see how it turns out. Sharp and mild cheddars, gruyere, havarti, goat ... and I feel like one more but now it's not coming to mind. Also, though I'm not using this in the mac or for Thanksgiving in any way, my store was doing BOGO on these tasty brie "logs" so I was all, yep!
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Post by pairesta on Nov 23, 2016 12:31:18 GMT -5
So I've decided to begin a futile, one-man war against the use of cranberries at Thanksgiving. Cranberries belong in my pre-feast cocktail and that's it.
We had a perfectly good dressing my MIL made (bread, sausage, apples), except there were fucking cranberries in it. She even admitted that it's not normally part of the recipe, but because we didn't have cranberries anywhere else (wrong; there was a jello) she decided to include them.
I understand in principle why they're there, but they never work. They take over. And they ruin the wine. And that cranberry jello is always the thing you find in your fridge and throw out when you're cleaning it out in January.
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Post by ganews on Nov 23, 2016 13:17:14 GMT -5
So I've decided to begin a futile, one-man war against the use of cranberries at Thanksgiving. Cranberries belong in my pre-feast cocktail and that's it. We had a perfectly good dressing my MIL made (bread, sausage, apples), except there were fucking cranberries in it. She even admitted that it's not normally part of the recipe, but because we didn't have cranberries anywhere else (wrong; there was a jello) she decided to include them. I understand in principle why they're there, but they never work. They take over. And they ruin the wine. And that cranberry jello is always the thing you find in your fridge and throw out when you're cleaning it out in January. The salesman is just too good. |
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LazBro
Prolific Poster
Posts: 10,280
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Post by LazBro on Nov 23, 2016 13:34:14 GMT -5
So I've decided to begin a futile, one-man war against the use of cranberries at Thanksgiving. Cranberries belong in my pre-feast cocktail and that's it. We had a perfectly good dressing my MIL made (bread, sausage, apples), except there were fucking cranberries in it. She even admitted that it's not normally part of the recipe, but because we didn't have cranberries anywhere else (wrong; there was a jello) she decided to include them. I understand in principle why they're there, but they never work. They take over. And they ruin the wine. And that cranberry jello is always the thing you find in your fridge and throw out when you're cleaning it out in January. The salesman is just too good. This is, no joke, Mrs. Snape's favorite standup bit of all time. We find any opportunity we can to reference Cranberry Man. |
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LazBro
Prolific Poster
Posts: 10,280
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Post by LazBro on Nov 23, 2016 13:38:19 GMT -5
So I've decided to begin a futile, one-man war against the use of cranberries at Thanksgiving. Cranberries belong in my pre-feast cocktail and that's it. We had a perfectly good dressing my MIL made (bread, sausage, apples), except there were fucking cranberries in it. She even admitted that it's not normally part of the recipe, but because we didn't have cranberries anywhere else (wrong; there was a jello) she decided to include them. I understand in principle why they're there, but they never work. They take over. And they ruin the wine. And that cranberry jello is always the thing you find in your fridge and throw out when you're cleaning it out in January. Ha. My family does real, from-scratch whole berry cranberry sauce and the cranberry jello from the can, because different people like each of them. I'll usually take one bite of the whole berry kind. Although, I'm trying to summon the strength tomorrow morning to make this cranberry-lime pie. I mean, I already bought all the ingredients for it. So I really should. |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Nov 23, 2016 17:28:39 GMT -5
My pecans are cooling on the counter and the potatoes are in the fridge. The potatoes are: seven medium Yukon gold, enough milk + cream to cover, half a stick of European butter, three cubes of garlic and approximately half a pound of cheddar cheese.
oh, and generous salt & white pepper.
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Baron von Costume
TI Forumite
Like an iron maiden made of pillows... the punishment is decadence!
Posts: 4,683
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Post by Baron von Costume on Nov 24, 2016 13:06:17 GMT -5
I'm late I know (been sick all week) but my go-to Mac and Cheese has become Modernist Mac. When I'm feeling less effort-y than that though the Alton Brown baked mac is pretty good.
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Post by The Stuffingtacular She-Hulk on Nov 24, 2016 13:18:34 GMT -5
Cranberry haters to the left. Give me your homemade relish, your jelly from a can, your craisins!
I'm currently reformatting resumes/CVs for a contract bid that got dumped on me by someone else and the only thing getting me through it (I have to have them in by tomorrow morning, along with an event report for my own contract) is this mango bellini leftover from brunch. My parents are watching the Macy's parade that they DVRed so they can zap through commercials and the lamer performances in between occasionally yelling at each other over something stupid. Last night they got into an argument about salad dressing which was inadvertently my fault, but whatever, they're grown people, they can figure out how silly they sound.
We won't have dinner til around 6, so I have approximately 4 more hours to get all my work done. I'd just finish up a few of these tomorrow morning, but I'm helping my mom make pizzelles and she's already pissed I'm leaving to have lunch with my high-school best friend for a few hours.
This is actually pretty much what all our holidays are like - boozy brunch, lots of time in between to goof off and drink and/or nap, then dinner, then falling asleep in our respective armchairs/sofa positions. I love it. I'm not even wearing a bra. Not having company for holidays RULES.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2016 14:46:21 GMT -5
It's not the worst thing in the world, but the awesome person I've been seeing for a short while REALLY wants me to hang out with her on Thanksgiving evening, and I think it's because she knows I don't have family in town for the holiday. The thing is as I told her, Thanksgiving is not a huge deal for me so I was kinda looking forward to just sitting at home, relaxing and doing literally nothing all day.
I'm still going to head out to see her. That means I'm doing the passive-aggressive thing correctly, right?
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Nov 24, 2016 14:52:03 GMT -5
It's not the worst thing in the world, but the awesome person I've been seeing for a short while REALLY wants me to hang out with her on Thanksgiving evening, and I think it's because she knows I don't have family in town for the holiday. The thing is as I told her, Thanksgiving is not a huge deal for me so I was kinda looking forward to just sitting at home, relaxing and doing literally nothing all day. I'm still going to head out to see her. That means I'm doing the passive-aggressive thing correctly, right? If it's not a big deal then you shouldn't mind hanging put with her? Sounds like it matters to her! I get wanting alone time, but it sounds like you've had some of that today. |
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Post by Ben Grimm on Nov 24, 2016 20:40:46 GMT -5
I think I cooked a perfect leg of lamb today, folks. It may never turn out that well again.
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Post by Jimmy James on Nov 24, 2016 22:40:10 GMT -5
I flew home for Thanksgiving for the first time in nine years, after spending the last few with my aunt who's a short drive away. I had planned on making a pie, but as it got closer, I found myself put in charge of more and more of the dishes. I think I hit a good spot between something different without being frou-frou or pretentious- roasted brussels sprouts with pears and pistachios, a sweet potato souffle topped with pecans and oats*, and a cider-sage gravy were all pretty good, though the first time roasting a turkey with some herbs and butter turned out a little dry. As someone who chronically struggles to get dinner done on time, getting all of this together, along with standard mashed potatoes and corn bread, at 2:57 with a target of 3:00, will make me insufferably pleased with myself for a week. Pie was done the night before- pecan augmented with some whisky and chocolate chips. I was able to find golden syrup this time, which turned out a lot better than making it with just corn syrup.
* This was always the highlight of my aunt's Thanksgiving, and I tried to recreate it without a recipe. Turned out pretty well.
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SLOW
Shoutbox Elitist
Scarlett Letter O'Whora, at your service.
Posts: 1,091
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Post by SLOW on Nov 24, 2016 23:17:33 GMT -5
So I've decided to begin a futile, one-man war against the use of cranberries at Thanksgiving. Cranberries belong in my pre-feast cocktail and that's it. We had a perfectly good dressing my MIL made (bread, sausage, apples), except there were fucking cranberries in it. She even admitted that it's not normally part of the recipe, but because we didn't have cranberries anywhere else (wrong; there was a jello) she decided to include them. I understand in principle why they're there, but they never work. They take over. And they ruin the wine. And that cranberry jello is always the thing you find in your fridge and throw out when you're cleaning it out in January. Ha. My family does real, from-scratch whole berry cranberry sauce and the cranberry jello from the can, because different people like each of them. I'll usually take one bite of the whole berry kind. Although, I'm trying to summon the strength tomorrow morning to make this cranberry-lime pie. I mean, I already bought all the ingredients for it. So I really should. That pie looks fantastic and I'm gonna make one at the first opportunity. |
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SLOW
Shoutbox Elitist
Scarlett Letter O'Whora, at your service.
Posts: 1,091
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Post by SLOW on Nov 24, 2016 23:20:57 GMT -5
I flew home for Thanksgiving for the first time in nine years, after spending the last few with my aunt who's a short drive away. I had planned on making a pie, but as it got closer, I found myself put in charge of more and more of the dishes. I think I hit a good spot between something different without being frou-frou or pretentious- roasted brussels sprouts with pears and pistachios, a sweet potato souffle topped with pecans and oats*, and a cider-sage gravy were all pretty good, though the first time roasting a turkey with some herbs and butter turned out a little dry. As someone who chronically struggles to get dinner done on time, getting all of this together, along with standard mashed potatoes and corn bread, at 2:57 with a target of 3:00, will make me insufferably pleased with myself for a week. Pie was done the night before- pecan augmented with some whisky and chocolate chips. I was able to find golden syrup this time, which turned out a lot better than making it with just corn syrup. * This was always the highlight of my aunt's Thanksgiving, and I tried to recreate it without a recipe. Turned out pretty well. That all sounds SO GOOD, but I'm especially intrigued by cider-sage gravy. Do you have a recipe? |
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Post by Nudeviking on Nov 25, 2016 3:01:07 GMT -5
I hate all of you so much right now.
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Post by Jimmy James on Nov 25, 2016 8:30:27 GMT -5
That all sounds SO GOOD, but I'm especially intrigued by cider-sage gravy. Do you have a recipe? Recipe came from Food52, which has supplanted Epicurious as my source of choice. I liked it, but I'm not sure if it wound up a little too sweet. A splash of cider vinegar might be good next time around. |
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Post by pairesta on Nov 25, 2016 12:54:51 GMT -5
So I've decided to begin a futile, one-man war against the use of cranberries at Thanksgiving. Cranberries belong in my pre-feast cocktail and that's it. We had a perfectly good dressing my MIL made (bread, sausage, apples), except there were fucking cranberries in it. She even admitted that it's not normally part of the recipe, but because we didn't have cranberries anywhere else (wrong; there was a jello) she decided to include them. I understand in principle why they're there, but they never work. They take over. And they ruin the wine. And that cranberry jello is always the thing you find in your fridge and throw out when you're cleaning it out in January. The salesman is just too good. Extra upvote for it being Brian Regan. |
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Post by pairesta on Nov 25, 2016 13:00:37 GMT -5
YOU GUYS. My duck was fucking amazing. However bad I felt about my piece of shit heritage turkey from last weekend, I feel that much better about the duck(s). Everything I love about duck: deep, rich flavor, perfectly roasted, crisp skin I couldn't stop eating it. I was literally up in the middle of the night thinking fondly about how good it was. Not tough, not underdone, perfectly, meltingly tender.
I used the low heat methods in my All About Roasting and Duck Duck Goose cookbooks: 300-325 for an hour and a quarter, hour and a half, then removed, turned up the heat to 500, and blasted them 5 minutes a side to crisp the skin. Dead on. I totally want to do Peking Duck this way now.
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Post by pairesta on Nov 25, 2016 13:16:01 GMT -5
So I've decided to begin a futile, one-man war against the use of cranberries at Thanksgiving. Cranberries belong in my pre-feast cocktail and that's it. We had a perfectly good dressing my MIL made (bread, sausage, apples), except there were fucking cranberries in it. She even admitted that it's not normally part of the recipe, but because we didn't have cranberries anywhere else (wrong; there was a jello) she decided to include them. I understand in principle why they're there, but they never work. They take over. And they ruin the wine. And that cranberry jello is always the thing you find in your fridge and throw out when you're cleaning it out in January. And you know what does the job, even better than cranberries? Pomegranates. Yes, they're a pain in the ass. But you can get packets of just the seeds now in frozen food and refrigerated sections. |
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Post by Jimmy James on Nov 25, 2016 17:40:11 GMT -5
And you know what does the job, even better than cranberries? Pomegranates. Yes, they're a pain in the ass. But you can get packets of just the seeds now in frozen food and refrigerated sections. I've been using the method of separating the arils and pith in a big bowl of cold water, so you can just scoop off the floating pith and then drain the seeds. I'm so delighted by it that I use it any chance I can, and I don't even particularly like pomegranate. |
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Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Nov 28, 2016 11:29:59 GMT -5
So I've decided to begin a futile, one-man war against the use of cranberries at Thanksgiving. Cranberries belong in my pre-feast cocktail and that's it. We had a perfectly good dressing my MIL made (bread, sausage, apples), except there were fucking cranberries in it. She even admitted that it's not normally part of the recipe, but because we didn't have cranberries anywhere else (wrong; there was a jello) she decided to include them. I understand in principle why they're there, but they never work. They take over. And they ruin the wine. And that cranberry jello is always the thing you find in your fridge and throw out when you're cleaning it out in January. Count me in on your war. I was getting ready on Wednesday evening to make the cranberry mostarda that had become a standard at our Thanksgiving the last couple of years, then decided I just didn't have the will to go on with it. The recipe makes about three cups of what is, admittedly, a superior condiment for leftovers sandwiches, but of which we only eat about 1/4 of a cup. "Guys?" I said, "Do you mind if I don't bother with the mostarda?" The answer was crickets chirping. So... yeah, no one cared about that. I did have a can of the Ocean Spray smooth can-shaped jelly stuff for Boomer, but I forgot to put it on the table on Thursday and she didn't realize it wasn't there until much later (namely, when she observed that there was no need for a tupperware to hold 9/10ths of the can of cranberry sauce). There was never any moment during any consumption of Thanksgiving food over the holiday at stately Dick n Hisses Manor when anyone said, "You know what this is all really missing? Cranberries." |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Nov 29, 2016 8:24:43 GMT -5
Belated reporting because now I have a proper keyboard to write on... My salad was damned delicious, thank you, but it turns out my in-laws aren't big fans of nuts (my husband likes them so it didn't even occur to me) so they ate around my beautiful candied spicy pecans. But they did like the rest of it. The potatoes were gorgeous but as I suspected the aged cheddar was a bit lost on them. It was a bit lost in the taters too. So I'll stick with the regular white cheddar for the potatoes next time and eat the fancy stuff on my own  But they were luscious and creamy and delightful. |
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Post by songstarliner on Nov 29, 2016 17:49:19 GMT -5
But ... but you guys: I LOVE cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving. It's sweet and tangy and a tiny bit bitter, and cuts through the rich fatty savoriness of the rest of the meal. It's like tomato chutney with pakora.
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Post by Floyd Diabolical Barber on Nov 29, 2016 22:33:21 GMT -5
I know this is late, but anyway. this year we once again went to spend a few days with my aunt. At 90, she is pretty much the only close relative I have left who lives less than 20 hours away. Usually it's just me, my girlfriend, and her, and we get dinners from her local grocery store, so she (and we) don't have to cook.
This year was a little different. She has a caregiver who stays with her nights, and this nice lady invited us all to her family dinner. Honestly, it was the first big family Thanksgiving I've been to in maybe 15 or 20 years. It made me nostalgic and a little sad thinking about the holidays we used to have at my grandma and grandpa's farm, with the aunts and uncles and cousins. I hadn't really thought about how much I missed all that.
Thanksgiving dinner with the caregiver's family was really nice, even if it wasn't my family. The food was good, nobody got in a fight, there was good conversation, and I don't have to worry about one of them calling me up complaining about something another one said.
I think it worked out nice for everybody. We got to enjoy a "family" dinner instead of eating overpriced cafeteria food, and having strangers as guests maybe kept everybody there on their better behavior. (I suppose it's possible they might just be much nicer folks than every single family I ever knew well and ate dinner with, but I kinda doubt it.)
Maybe I should develop a service to match up people without families with other people having family dinners. This might help reduce a couple of common holiday problems. The service could vet clients to try to prevent the guests, or host families they get marched up with, from turning out to be complete jerks. People who wouldn't otherwise be able to, could enjoy a nice family dinner over the holidays, and having outsiders as guests might just persuade Uncle Ahole and Aunt Sneer to keep their usual drama to a minimum.
Of course, someone like me would benefit from a system like this, so maybe I'm just looking for something that would allow more big meals, I don't know. Just a thought.
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Nov 30, 2016 9:30:53 GMT -5
Floyd Diabolical Barber I think it's a nice idea. I'm all for versions of friendsgiving for people who don't have family near. When I first moved to the Chicago Burbs I had to work on Thanksgiving (newspapers) but one of our press guys invited me and another single copy editor to eat with him and his wife nearby and we had a nice meal together before going in to work. And my mom's side of the family especially has always been about rounding up the "strays" to come eat with them.
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But they were luscious and creamy and delightful.
