Saturday, December 03, 2005

OK, So I Was Late

Cranky and I visited my mom and dad for Thanksgiving, so we didn't have the opportunity to roast our own turkey.
And then we thought, "Oh, yes we do."
Cranky called the butcher at our local Whole Foods and learned they had a Diestel heritage turkey in the freezer, nearly doomed to end up in the meat grinder. And the price was reduced from close to $4/lb to less than $2/lb!_DSC0030 So, a week and a day past the official date, we had a full-on thanksgiving dinner, complete with Brussels sprouts,_DSC0024 cranberries,_DSC0017 and mashed taters with sublime gravy.

Oh, there was some superb stuffing too, but no photo.




Now, this is one butt-ugly photo of gravy (I'm getting a tripod for Christmas, Dr. Biggles), but as Dr. Biggles will tell you, there is really no butt-ugly photo of gravy, if it's gravy. This gravy was incredible. I'm pretty good at gravy, but I outdid myself. I told Cranky, as I stirred and thickened the brew, that I just keep learning more and more how to be a better cook. He answered, "That's why grandmas are always the best cooks in the family. They've been doing it longest."
The turkey was seriously good, too, and it cooked very fast. I'm never goin' back to ordinary birds.

10 comments:

cookiecrumb said...

Allow me to be the first to comment on my own post.
Yes, those Brussels sprouts (Kalyn: BrusselS) have been pulled apart into separate leaves. It's not too hard if you carve out the core with a paring knife, and they cook gently with none of that sulfer odor. Use olive oil and a splash of chicken broth, plus a sprinkling of salt.
The cranberries are very simply stirred with a cup of sugar (and I added some minced sage leaves), covered, and baked for an hour. Honest, simple and delicious.
Also: You do know about spreading a small dab of cranberries on your turkey sandwiches, don't you?
Wow, now I'm hungry again.

Anonymous said...

I wish we'd had Thanksgiving dinner at *your* house; and you're forgiven, thanks to Cranky.

cookiecrumb said...

Mi Mom: Yep. I wish we had cooked for you. It was good. Next year, eh?

cookiecrumb said...

That's supposed to say "Hi Mom," but I was so excited by getting a message from *mi* mom, I goofed.
:D

Kalyn Denny said...

Yes, I have been completely convinced that it is brussel+s sprouts. Who knew? I swear I never I said it that way in my life. Your dinner sounds great.

ZaZa said...

I'd never have thought of separating the sprouts into leaves. I kind of like the little lumps, but that looks very appealing, too. Next time.

So, you didn't try the carrots?

Sam said...

Cranky hasn't had my granny's cooking, obviously.

I am glad you and your mum are speaking again. My mum is speaking to me again too.

Guy said...

Been considering doing a turkey again, too. I wanna try a high roast one, while the only guests are my direct family. Just in case I make turkey jerky, yeah.

Tootles

cookiecrumb said...

kalyn: No, you *do* pronounce it that way, but you can't tell, because of the other S.
b'gina: Ha ha. No carrots. And no scary pockmarked sweet potato.
sam: Oh, right. Your grandmother would be of that generation of not-very-good English cooking.
drbiggles: Just remember to take the plastic bag of giblets out first!

Sam said...

she always did a good sunday roast though - the old school english are very good at that.
plus when i was a kid it was such a treat to go to hers for fried frozen fish and her homemade chips followed by a bowl of tinned fruit and Angel delight. I need to do a post one of these days about angel delight