In order to keep myself accountable, I’m going to keep assessing whether I’m getting things done towards Thanksgiving. If I don’t keep a list, I’ll forget something.
I needed to get some laundry done today, which I did. Yay! Last night I made stock, and this morning I finished it off (boiled it down a bit) and put it in the fridge. So that’s done. It’ll be used for gravy and dressing (oh yeah, I already mentioned that).
I still have a lot of cleaning to do. We need chairs for everyone. And to put the big table together. The menu is not finalized. I’m not even sure what time I should start cooking on Thursday!
The good news is, I got most of tomorrow’s work done today. And that means I have time to work on the house. Clear out some of the clutter. Make some progress.
I really need to feel like I’ve made some progress. *sigh* Tomorrow I think I’ll look for some carrot recipes. And sweet potatoes, too.
Tags: cooking, menu planning, nablopomo, Thanksgiving
We had invited family over, but it appeared that brother-in-law may have to work Thanksgiving. So for a while, it was going to just be the three of us. Then the daughter called and wants to bring her boyfriend. Now we’re up to five. And then bro said he and his wife could make it, albeit not all afternoon, so there’s two more. We’re up to six adults and a toddler for Thanksgiving.
Hoo boy, it’s going to be a crazy week. Our place is tiny, as I’ve mentioned numerous times. So we have to clear out the dining room and see if we can bring up the bigger dining table from downstairs. And I just realized that I don’t even have a tablecloth to cover the old, scratched surface of the table (it was my parents’ table when they got married, and it has two leaves to expand the table quite nicely).
And I need to clean. And vacuum. And make up a menu. And cook. And hubby may have to work Wednesday and even Thursday. We’re not sure yet.
I’m going to work ahead as much as I can. I’ll cook the sweet potatoes a day ahead and just reheat them. I could probably do the same with the mashed potatoes (but I love them fresh). I’ll be heating the dressing in the crock pot, so that’s not a huge deal. Tonight I have a chicken carcass in the crock pot to make broth, which I’ll use in the dressing and gravy.
Rather than make rolls, we’re just going to get some heat and serve. I need to do that tomorrow. And figure out where we’ll get enough chairs. And get some more milk. We have plenty of butter.
Whew. This is why I’ve never had Thanksgiving meal at my place. Did I mention I need to clean? Looks like the next several nights will be filled with rearranging, deep cleaning the bathroom and kitchen, and trying to see if any of our friends have some chairs we can borrow.
It’s going to be a long, crazy week. But it will be so nice to have the family together. We haven’t done that in a while.
I’ll try not to stress too much. No one expects it to be perfect. They’ve all been over so they know our house is crazy. And crowded. But I think we can do it. Hubby helps, so at least it doesn’t all fall on my head. He’ll be right in there with me.
How’s your week shaping up?
Tags: cooking, family, food, holidays, meal planning, menus, nablopomo, shopping, stress, Time Management
Oops. I almost forgot to post today. Had a busy day with picking up our Thanksgiving food box from a local co-op. So the turkey is in the fridge and will slowly thaw over the next several days. I need to figure out what I’m going to make besides turkey and dressing.
And tomorrow marks two years since our son came into our lives. He’s an amazing kid and I love being his mom. I’ll of course have to talk about him on his birthday, right? 
Tags: nablopomo
I’m a big fan of using baskets and bins when you need to store things in plain site. The problem with our place right now is having enough space for even those items. For storage. A one-bedroom place is so tiny. I get frustrated at times with our lack of space.
But what I really need to do is get rid of things and pare down. And then there will be room for the baskets and bins. And shelves. I know we have too much furniture for our place right now. We’re working on it. Putting things on craigslist, tossing what isn’t usable.
We really need some simplicity right now. Too much clutter actually clutters my head. I keep cleaning my desk and it keeps popping up with more stuff on it. (Part of that is my son’s propensity for stacking things on the desk next to me.)
It’s time for some change. I just can’t stand it anymore.
I’m taking it easy on myself tonight. (Do I do that too much?) I’m slowly feeling better from the cold I had/ have. But I don’t want to do too much and get sick again. I debated not even going to the store tonight, but I wanted to pick up a couple of things.
On my way, I stopped by the Goodwill bookstore (I love that place) and found some Dr. Seuss books for my son, a Jacquelyn Mitchard book for me, and Julie & Julia for my hubby (and me). Score!
And now, I’m watching Grey’s Anatomy. And having some pecan pie. And then kicking back before bed.
Because starting tomorrow, things start getting busy. We’ll pick up some friends from the airport. And Saturday I pick up our Thanksgiving box from a local co-op (more on that soon) and then have to plan next week’s meal. And figure out how we’re going to fit a table in here in case everyone shows up.
Have I mentioned this is the first time I’m cooking the holiday meal at our house? I can’t wait.
Tags: nablopomo
I’ve been distracted tonight by watching Top Chef. We watch every Wednesday and it’s getting down to the wire. I’ve learned a lot about food since watching it the last several seasons. I would love to read more about classical French cooking and techniques. And I would love to be a much better cook.
Since meeting my husband, I think my cooking has vastly improved. I’ve learned a lot more about improvising, making a recipe my own, and how flavors go together. I’m a much more adventurous eater and cook since I’ve known him. I am a much better cook due to him.
Along those lines, I made soup tonight. I took the broth left over from the pork roast I made Sunday, and also tossed in all of the leftover veggies and some of the shredded pork. Then I sautéed some veggies, starting with a mirepoix, then adding cubed potatoes and Cremini mushrooms. After the veggies softened up, I added them back into the broth. Then it was a matter of tossing in some more spices and about a cup of already cooked brown rice.
I love building upon flavors. Starting with a broth from a previous dish, adding more ingredients and increasing the depth of flavor. It’s different every time. I don’t always write down my recipes and it can be hard to recreate a dish. But that’s okay because it’s always an experiment with us.
This time, I added a little bit of oregano, some basil, garlic, sweet paprika, pepper, and cayenne. Of course, there was salt & pepper in the fresh veggies, too. Next time I might toss in a pinch of ginger. Or cumin. It depends on my mood. Or what sounds good that night. But I’m really happy when something turns out well, and the soup definitely turned out well. Making soup has become one of my favorite ways to experiment in the kitchen.
Maybe I should ask for a French cookbook for Christmas? Branch out a little more? What are you learning in the kitchen? Anything?
Tags: cooking, experimentation, food, nablopomo, soup
Not feeling well right now. Big cold seriously kicking my behind. Right now I’m trying to get some rest and figure out why my eye is watering, burning, and light sensitive. Made for a rough day of looking at the computer, that’s for sure. Hubby has been helpful, letting me take a nap this afternoon. I needed that. Hope you all are avoiding sickness!
Tags: nablopomo
It’s time to start planning meals. Oh, we’ve been buying groceries that will cover a variety of meals during the week, and we use most of them. But it’s pretty haphazard. Both my husband and I like to have choices – we don’t like an inflexible menu.
So each time I mentioned menu planning, my husband resisted. Why would I want to do that? To save money on our grocery bill. To have ingredients on hand to make healthy meals. And to give us more reason to stay home and eat.
But he didn’t want to be tied down to eating “this” on Monday and “that” on Tuesday. What if “that” just didn’t sound appetizing on Tuesday?
We’re trying something a little different. We’ll make a list of meals that we think will work in the next week. Just keep it flexible, but try some meals that play off of each other. Meals that include the same main ingredient so we can buy the correct quantity – but not so much that we’re having chicken five nights a week.
It’s going to be a work in progress. But we know we need to stop running to the store every 3 or 4 days unless it’s well-planned and within our grocery budget.
Did you start saving more money when you plan your menus? Or have you been thinking about it but don’t know where to begin?
image: morgueFile
Tags: budget, meal planning, menus, shopping
If you want to make some super-awesome rolls that get you praise and accolades without a huge amount of work, then listen up.
Last year, I discovered a no-knead roll recipe at The Pioneer Woman. It sounded pretty simple so I thought I’d give it a try. It’s an easy recipe and you don’t need to do a lot of kneading. When you form the rolls you’re basically kneading the dough and that’s all they require.
You can make the dough a day or two before Thanksgiving and store it in the fridge. Take the dough out of the fridge about 3 hours before you’ll want to bake, so the dough has time to come back to temp. I usually wait about a half hour to hour after it’s out of the fridge before forming my rolls. Then they sit a couple of hours to rise before baking.
And they are fabulous. Light, airy, and full of tasty yeasty goodness.
I made these at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Big hit. And they keep well, too. I had mine in a basket, wrapped in a kitchen towel. They were good the next day. So you can make a huge batch all at once — if you have enough muffin tins — or just make enough for that day and toss the rest of the dough in the fridge. That’s what I did, and when we ran out, I just formed some more rolls, let them rise, and baked them.
Super simple. Your family will thank you for it, and then beat each other down trying to get to the last roll. Now that’s a perfect Thanksgiving.
We had a lot going on today. We saw a printer demo, watched a movie, and stopped to get a copy of Up because we absolutely loved it when we originally saw it.
Remember the roast prep I did yesterday? This morning I put all of the veggies, the roast (which I had seasoned and put back in the fridge last night), and a bit of stock from the last roast, in the crock pot. I put it on high for a couple of hours and then turned it down before we left the house.
And when we got back, it was divine walking back into the house. I wish more weekends were like that.
It was a really relaxing weekend. I didn’t make my stock, but the carcasses are in the fridge for later. Probably tomorrow. I really love having a fridge full of yummy food just waiting for us to nosh on during the week.
How was your weekend? Did you make any progress toward some household goals? What were they?
Tags: cooking, meal planning
