Take Two (helpings)

We went to my wonderful mother in laws house for Thanksgiving this year, so I didn't get to cook the big feast. So, I decided to do a mini Thanksgiving supper here for the four of us. I'm roasting a chicken rather than a turkey, and I brined her for only a few hours in salt, sugar, pepper, and a bay leaf. She had an olive oil massage, and a nice herb scrub of salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. She has an onion quartered and bay leaf in her tummy cavity, she's sitting on a roasting grid atop chicken stock and lemon juice.

With her in the oven is a huge tray of dressing. There was so much left over from the real Thanksgiving, that I just broke it all up, added beaten eggs, a lot more stock, and a little more salt and poultry seasoning, and put it back in the casserole dish and I'm baking it again. It was crumbly instead of cakey, and I like the cakey version a little more.

There are a few new potatoes diced up and sitting on the stove waiting for My Honey to come home from work, then I'll boil and mash them. And Boo has requested green beans. We don't like the traditional green bean casserole in our house, so we're just having steamed green beans, which we all like just fine.

And of course, I'll make gravy. DUH! Brown melted butter a little bit, add gluten free flour to make the roux, then add my home made chicken stock until I've got enough gravy. 

Hahaha! I'm so funny! 

There's never enough gravy. I was just seeing if you were paying attention. 

And yes, I consider all of this to be "real food", as I know exactly where everything came from. Made the brad for the stuffing, made my own stock, and cut up whole potatoes. I didn't grow anything being consumed tonight myself, but there is nothing artificial or unpronounceable in anything in our upcoming supper. Now, it's not Paleo, because I'm having potatoes and using rice and corn flour, so don't send hate mail, nasty tweets or ugly facebook comments regarding my use of the term "real food". 

Might be time to open the Cab Franc for My Honey and I to enjoy with supper. WHAT?!?! Oh, HELL NO, she did not just say she was going to drink red wine with poultry, did she?  U-hum ... Uuuu... Yeah, I did. It's good, and I've been telling y'all, eat what you like. It's simple. Enjoy your own taste bugs. Don't let someone else dictate what you eat or drink based on what THEY like, or what some long dead person once said this is "what you do". A perfect example is Moscatto. I don't care for it, myself, but one of my dearest friends LOVES it, so I have it here for her when she visits. It's not about anything other than what you like. She likes it, and I like her to be happy. So I buy Moscatto when she's coming over because I love her. 

I smell the stuffing, which means it's done. Gotta go check on it.

Stay hungry and play with your food. (You might like it.)

Ps, it looks GOOD!

Bad Girl, Good Girl, I love them both.

I'm going to pour out the last of my sugar free pumpkin spiced latte coffee mate and my sugar free caramel macchiato creamers. I'm wondering if they are, in essence, gateway treats/poison that I'm starting every day with. Am I setting myself up for failure by grabbing an artificial substance and ingesting it...A LOT OF IT first thing in the morning? I'm drinking two or three cups of caffeinated coffee each morning with probably the equivelant of a quarter of a cup total of a sugar free, non-dairy creamer. Ew. Why? (Because it's delicious!) (Argh!) (You know it is!) (Look, damnit! Shut up!)

I'm really going to try to(!!!) focus on foods in their original, whole state. Within reason, of corse. I mean, I'm not going to bring home a whole cow for Christ's sake, the HOA would have a kiniption! But being smart about what we eat really is important to me. Being healthy is more important, and when I look at the fact that I'm pretty good about what I eat, but not good about how much I'm eating, or what and how much I drink, I realize I'm being rather hypocritical with myself. For instance... Why are there foods and beverages I won't let my children consume, but I happily guzzle and scarf up myself? Isn't that odd? And why were there things that I wouldn't dream of touching while pregnant, yet gladly jumped right back into once I was past breast feeding? 

Just because I can make the decision to be stupid, doesn't mean I should decide to be stupid. 

Know what I mean? But it's a constant battle with me though. An amazing war of fights between what tastes great, what's easy, what's available, what's healthy, and then that "easy" part comes swirling into play about ten or more times throughout the entire thought process. 

Wait a minute... So that's the key, isn't it? I need to have things already here that I know I love, that are healthy and ready to eat right away, or prepped and ready to cook. The side of me that craves immediate gratification will need to be satisfied. Let me put it another way, she WILL be satisfied, whether I plan ahead or not. She's a demon, that one. I'm telling you, when she gets it in her head that she wants/needs something, there are few things to get in her way. I'm sure there's some deep seated emotional reason for this. There are psychiatrists frothing at the mouth wanting to get their hands on just one of my psychosis. And believe me, there is quite a stockpile in here.

A few givens here:

1) I love food.

2) I love wine.

3) I love to cook.

4) I need to lose weight.

5) I need my overall health to improve.

All of the above can very easily be taken care of with a little pre-planning (isn't that a given? I mean, how would one post-plan something?) and a little discipline. 

I despise discipline. (Understatement)

But I like being in control. (Massive understatement)

Interesting inner struggle I have going on here... Do y'all have this going on inside too? Do you have the constant battle of the good side and the bad side? How do you satisfy the bad side while letting the good side maintain control? Right now my bad side is fully in control, and I have to find a way to make that switch.

Please share. 

And in the meantime, stay hungry and play with your food.

Baking My First Gluten Free Bread

Here's the recipe from the back of the "Bloomfield Farms Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Mix". 

I'll be using this recipe again with different gluten free flour blends in the future, and I'll report back on the quality. I found this box at HomeGoods, in Gainesville Virginia.

But here's what I did differently than what the package said.

I used all the exact quantities and ingredients listed. Not being a baker, or a chemist, I do tend to follow measurements when baking. 

Sometimes. 

So, I let the yeast bloom in the warm water and sugar.

I cracked the 3 eggs directly into the bread machine's pan. I put the salt directly in with the eggs. I put the flour in, then poured the melted butter onto the flour, being careful to not let the warm butter "cook" the eggs on contact. I put the honey in, then poured the bloomed water, yeast, sugar mixture on top. I turned it onto its "Basic White" setting, and let it do it's thing. I have the same Zojirushi bread maker I bought 20 years ago (OH MY GOD, can that be RIGHT? Am I that old? CRAP!) and it's still making fantastic bread! It cost a flipping arm and a leg, but after 20 years, still worth every penny.

This being my first home baking experience of GF bread, I didn't know what to expect. It didn't look like it was mixing, so I helped it with a wooden spoon. After several more minutes, it still didn't look like it was fully mixing, so I stirred it MORE. It didn't form a smooth ball like I'm use to. It didn't look anything like any bread I've ever made. It looked like a mixture of pancake and buscuit dough. But, it rose. It smelled like bread, and it was rising. Science is science, so let's just let the yeast and heat do it's thing. Remember, this was an experiment, and I was really just hoping for a minimal "bread-like" substance that I could cube up, toast into croutons, then make into dressing.

I let it go through it's full cooling cycle, then out it came. Bread knife in hand, room temp 1 Tb butter on counter waiting, I cut about a 1" slice off the top (which wasn't poofed up like you usually see bread, in fact, it was sunken and looked like a dried bowl of oatmeal), spread the butter on it, and took a bite. 

Yyyyyyyuuuuuummmmmmm.... Warm, soft, great texture, amazing flavor, with a great crumb and crust. Oh yes... This is GOOD!! I even shared it with the kids! Nope, I didn't hide it, or even tell them that it was "special mommy/daddy" bread, which I may or may not have done in the past.

It will be made again. Oh yes... It will be made again.

SH & PWYF.

Thanksgiving Prep: Tuesday Style

It's the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and I'm bouncing foot to foot excited about the prep, the cooking, the feast, the food, the wine, and the stuffing and gravy. We're headed to my Mother-In-Law's house this year for the family feast, so all I'm making is a gluten free dressing for us G-F'ers, and the cranberry relish from yesterday's post.

Today I'm starting the bread baking for the dressing. I have a GF bread recipe in the bread machine, and later on I'll make the corn bread. I'm starting two days early because it has to sit out to get dry and stale in order to be the best dressing. NOT MOLDY, but stale. There's a HUGE DIFFERENCE. Don't mistake them for the same. Not delicious. I'm also starting early because I've never made GF bread before. If it doesn't turn out "right", I'll need to make another batch. I'm also using my bread machine, and the recipe didn't have directions for using a bread machine, so it's an experiment to the fullest degree right now. Y'all know I can't follow a recipe...

If you're making turkey, you can start your brine now if you'd like. You need to brine for at least 12 hours, but longer is perfectly fine, and will not hurt the outcome. Remember to thoroughly rinse your bird after you remove her from the brine before cooking! I've allowed mine to soak in plain cold tap water for about 15 minutes to ensure all the exterior salt is washed away. You don't want the skin to be too salty. Don't ruin that Turkey Candy!

You should also start your stock today. Mama use to be able to find turkey wings and legs (they sell only breasts, don't they... Well, they have to have a few wings and legs somewhere belonging to those turkey's) to make her stock, but I can't find them. I haven't gone to an official butcher or meat counter, or specialty store, however, so please don't think that my half-assed "search" is anything more than just that...half-assed. Put your turkey or chicken parts into your largest stock pot. Add celery, onions, carrots, bay leaves, rosemary, sage, salt, and pepper.. Cover with water, and simmer all day, then let it cool so you can fish out the meat pieces, the celery, carrots, and onions to include in your stuffing/dressing. Refrigerate the parts you want to add to your stuffing, refrigerate your stock, and throw out the bones and herb stems and bay leaves.

If you're using stock you already have on hand, either homemade or store bought, you'll still want some sautéed onions, carrots, and celery to go in your stuffing/dressing, so start that today. Small dice, sautéed in butter over low heat with sage, rosemary, salt, pepper, and thyme. Let cool, then put into a sealable container in the fridge until it's time to mix the stuffing/dressing. This is the preferred method for those of us who work your standard 40-50 hour work week in an office or other job away from the home and you don't have the ability to spend 3 days in your kitchen prepping for one meal, but still want a dreamy homemade taste. Do little things ahead of time using fresh ingredients, and it will taste like you spent hours upon hours slaving away.

And remember to relax and enjoy your day. Yes, this is ONE dog. 

Stay hungry, and play with your food.

Super Bowl of Gravy

Sports fans all have their different, yet individually unique end-of-season finale. Football has The Super Bowl, baseball has The World Series, soccer has The World Cup, and so on and so on. But for us foodies, we have Thanksgiving. We wait all year to wow our friends and family with an extravigent array of foods stemming from some form of a historical version or interpretation if what we think the settlers had after that first years harvest. Our food magazines start coming in September, tempting us with pictures of pumpkin pie, new casseroles made with wild rice, seeds, and different varieties of squash. We start to salivate, picturing something a little like that on our table. Y'all know that I hardly follow recipes, but I do love to see what others are cooking. I take ideas and turn them into things that I want to eat. I imagine the flavors, then I imagine a few of them changing. I can "see" what it will taste like if I make a little change here and a little change there. 

My mom didn't have any of her Thanksgiving recipes written down. At least not that I've found anywhere. My sister may have them, but I honestly don't know. So each year for my Thanksgiving, I just go in blind and try to recreate what my taste bugs remember from childhood. What I would love to have is her dressing recipe written down. I try every year to match what she use to do, and I have yet to get it right. It was cornbread and buscuits. Sautéed carrots, onions, and celery with homemade turkey stock. There as a lot of sage, rosemary, and thyme but I don't know the exact proportions. 

I also enjoy adding new dishes each year. Things that I see on Food Network, or read about in a magazine. I found a cranberry sauce recipe a few years ago that included pears and ginger. I loved it! I grew up with both cranberry sauce, and another cranberry dish that we called cranberry relish. We used the meat grinder to grind cranberries, oranges, and apples, then mixed them all together, added sugar, and let it sit over night. It was my job, since it didn't require cutting or the stove/oven. Mama would cut and core the apples for me, and cut the oranges so they fit into the grinder. This year, I'm thinking I'll make a mixture of the two. I usually make both, and we have way too much. I don't have a meat grinder, so into my food processor, I'll pulse the cranberries and then dump them into a bowl. I'll zest the oranges, then put the sections into the processor to get a good pulse/chop as well. Mama use to do the whole orange, but it think the pith makes it bitter, so I'll take an extra step and zest, then get the sections out separately. This will allgo into the bowl as well. Then the apples will have their turn in the processor. I'll do the pear the same way as the apple, then I'll put a piece of "ginger in syrup" into the processor as well. After everything is chopped nicely and stirred happily in their bowl, I'll add sugar to get to the perfect stage of tart and sweet. 

I'll also be making a batch of gluten free stuffing/dressing, by making gf cornbread and other breads as it's base. I don't think there is such a thing as too much dressing, and to be honest, the dressing and gravy are all I'm after on Thanksgiving. Yeah, the turkey is supposedly the "star", but on my plate, I put the things that assist in getting gravy into my mouth with the least amount of embarrassment. I honestly have anxiety about going to other families homes for Thanksgiving because I know there won't be enough gravy. I could sneak some into a flask, and smuggle it in. And by flask, I mean a 5-gallon Gatorade dispenser. 

Play with your recipes and your food. You might just like it.

Magic

I have a little boy upstairs with a gap in his perfect smile, a special pillowcase with a little pocket sewn in, and his first baby tooth tucked warmly down in that special pockets' safety. He's so excited, he's exhausted. We read extra stories tonight and stayed up a little later than normal. We called GranMa at home, and Daddy at work to tell them that our tooth finally came out. I posted a ton of pictures to Facebook, sent pictures via email to the family members who aren't on Facebook, and those who aren't on the social site very often. 

I really don't know who's more excited about all of this.

Let me back up a bit. I wanted to be a high powered executive in NY with a penthouse apartment with a killer view, a huge grand piano in the center of an immaculate apartment that was perfectly arranged and totally picture worthy at any given moment. I wanted glamor and glitz to the max. I pictured myself in a business suit during the day, a little black cocktail dress at night, and sleeping in satin jammies. Every day. If I were going to watch something on TV, it was because a close friend was featured in a documentary. Kids were always a part of that, but they were in the background somewhere. Perhaps off at a private school, or being tended to by the nanny. This is how I pictured my adult life.

Then, several years ago, I fell in love. I fell in love with a man who had known what his kids names were going to be from the time he was about ten years old. On our second date he told me what our kids names were going to be. I was a little freaked out. I had just graduated college. I was ready to get out of Virginia, head to NY, buy my first suit and grand piano and get going on the glitzy life I'd always dreamt of. There had already been setbacks in my plan. Life and death can't be controlled or fully mapped out, so my path had several rocks, streams, and downed trees along the way. At each of these pauses along the path, I fully enjoyed the obstical. On the rocks, I stopped and looked around. Perfectly happy to pause and breath. At the streams, I grabbed a raft and floated along, not knowing or minding where it took me. At the downed trees, I either balanced and walked along them to the other side, or I jumped and climbed over them to the other side. 

Then, one of these paths led me to an area I never saw coming. I remember the exact moment when I knew I wanted to marry this man and be the mother of the children he had envisioned since his childhood. I no longer wanted the glossy magazine life. I wanted to make supper, do laundry, walk dogs, grocery shop, change diapers, and sleep in oversized T-shirts. I wanted to arrange throw pillows, snuggle in front of the fire watching Disney movies, and tuck the little ones into bed. I wanted to teach a little girl how to braid her Barbie's hair and climb a tree, and wanted to go to little league games and soccer matches. Sudenly, there was an immediate shift from wanting things that would enrich MY life, to wanting to enrich the lives of the people I loved MORE than me. I hadn't even met them yet, but I knew them, none the less.

The lives of these people mean more to me than I ever imagined possible. The sparkle in their eyes when we talk about the tooth fairy, and Santa Clause is far more valuable than the sparkle in a diamond. The smell of their perfectly sweet morning breath when I get my morning kisses, and hear, "good morning, Mommy", is more intoxicating than a room full of exotic orchids. 

The magic in their childhood is a joy to both them and to me. Creating that magic and watching them sparkle and shine is an incredible gift. I wrote above, that I wasn't sure who was more excited about the first tooth fairy visit, and it's the absolute truth, but I kinda think it's me. Being a part of one of the greatest magical moments in a child's life as a parent is honestly better than being the child. Gearing up for Santas visit this year is already exciting for all of us. The tooth fairy's visit, the Easter Bunny next spring. These magical moments in a child's life are the things dreams are made of. Keeping the mean and scary world away, for as long as I can, is what I want. Yes, they'll grow up. They'll see things that make them sad, and they'll see things they don't understand. But through all that, they'll also know they can turn to us, their Mommy and Daddy, and have a hug that will magically make the scary seem less real. There's a certain magic in a Mommy/Daddy snuggle that remains throughout life. 

And perhaps, just perhaps... That magic is deeper, more special, and sparklier when you're the Mommy or Daddy, and you're the one giving the hug to your Boo and Pooky.