Couple things.

[madbaker]

Not "a couple of things" -- couple things. The wife and I spent yesterday together. The excuse was a post-Thanksgiving meal; since we went over to the Curvy Upstairs Neighbor's Aunt & Uncle's place, we wanted to do our own turkey and such for leftovers. But really, it was just spending a day together. And that was very nice.

The turkey came out pretty well. For the price, I'm not sure that it was sufficiently good that I'd buy another one from the meat store (the same place I've been buying pork bellies for making bacon). But the stuffing, roasted veggies, and champagne were all lovely. As was the split of Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes that we opened.

Today, there's no play rehearsal. So I can sit back and relax, right? Hah. My to-do list for to-day:

English muffins for breakfast (in process)
making turkey stock from the carcass
smoking bacon and duck proscuitto
tearing a whole lot of paper for papier-mache
making a poppy-seed cake for the homeowners' meeting tonight
Braising a pork shoulder with apples, onions, and cauliflower for same
some general clean-up around the house.

I suppose I'd better get to it.

Comments

[loup_noir]

So, tell me about this poppy seed cake. I love poppy seed just about anything.

Is there a way to make *good* turkey stock? I keep trying to develop a taste for the stuff, but there's just something about turkey stock that tastes wrong to me, even with a lot of rosemary. We tossed the carcass into the tall grass for the buzzards/raccoons/skunks/don'twannaknows to take care of. Seemed like a shame. The Willie Bird turkeys are very good.

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I use the same process as for making chicken stock: throw the carcass in a large pot with some white wine, a couple onions, carrots, celery, maybe a few cloves of garlic, and some fresh oregano, thyme, and suchlike. Then simmer it for several hours, strain and freeze.

I don't like the flavor imparted from a smoked turkey (the stock tastes burned to me) but I've never had a problem otherwise.

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I love poppy seed cake. Or poppy seed anything, but a bundt poppy seed cake takes me right back to childhood.