By the Way….

In my post Turkeys Take Forever To Thaw, I lamented that my turkeys always take their sweet time defrosting even when I place it in the fridge according to the recommended guidelines.

Well, as a followup– I placed the frozen turkey in the refrigerator on December 21. One week later, I removed it to cook it for Christmas dinner.

THE STUPID TURKEY WAS STILL FROZEN INSIDE.

:-p

I managed to wrangle the glacial neck and giblets from the cavity before throwing the bird in the oven. I always over-bake my turkeys because they just never seem to completely thaw inside. WEIRD. Is it just me?? Do I have such terrible luck with turkeys or something??

LOL…..

Homemade Cranberry Scones

My daughter made some scones the other day– Cranberry Scones. Oooooooooooo oo oo oo. They are amazing. She makes three batches all at once, and the family eats them up almost immediately.

Cranberry Scones
2 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup butter (no substitutes)
1 cup chopped cranberries
3/4 cup buttermilk (or Half n’ Half with lemon juice)

Combine the dry ingredients. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the cranberries. Stir in the buttermilk just until moistened.

Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead 6 to 8 times. Divide the dough in half. Pat each half into an 8-inch circle. Cut into 8 wedges.

Place the wedges 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 400 F for 15-18 minutes.

Devour while still warm. SO GOOD.

The glorious finished product.

Believe me, these are simply amazing scones. They are not sweet like muffins. The scones are perfect with tea or coffee, and are perfect as a light breakfast or brunch. Kudos to my daughter for making these! Er, maybe instead of kudos she’d prefer a gold bullion.

Try them, you will like!

What’s Your Apron Style?

I admit, I was never much of an apron gal. I SHOULD be, Lord knows. I’m probably one of THE messiest cooks in the kitchen. I usually have a dishtowel draped over my shoulder, or a large flannel shirt that I wear to, um, wipe my hands if necessary. No matter how careful I am, I always manage to get my shirt spotted and speckled with cooking crud.

I think the problem was that I didn’t have a decent apron. The one I got — I got it from a well-intentioned friend as a bridal shower gift — was a jade-green flimsy wrap-around housecoat/apron type of contraption. You sorta put it over your head and then insert your arms through the holes and sorta tie it… oh forget it, I’m not wearing this thing! It was so lightweight that all food seeped through right onto my shirt, anyway. So for years, I wore no apron– although that jade-green apron hung, ignored, in the pantry closet for 20+ years.

Over the years, I’ve kept my eyes open for a decent replacement, but never got one. Maybe it was inertia or maybe it was because I never found any suitable kitchen apron. Oh, I could grab one of those Marcus scrubs and use that, but I don’t want to look like a surgeon in the kitchen…. although the image of me in a doctor’s suit holding a cleaver and cutting board makes me snicker, hee hee.

And when looking for a replacement, I saw a lot of stuff that repelled me. Frills, pretty fabric, super-tight bodies, skinny ties that would tangle. What the heck?! Are we going to cook or are we going to compete in the Miss America contest?! These are supposed to be aprons not kitchen cocktail dresses!

But a couple of years ago, my husband came home with an apron he’d got from the grocery store he worked at. He had ended his work there and he could keep the apron. I kept the apron but never used it because I’d gotten out of the habit. But today I had to hack away at huge pork loin and didn’t want to soil my clothes.

Oh my word, what an apron! Why don’t they make them like this for housewives?! This thing is thick linen, like canvas. And you simply put your head through a small loop. The strings are extra long, so I can tie it loosely in the front and not in the back (I could never manage to untie the blasted knots after I’d made them– someone always had to rescue me after the kitchen work was done, lol). The store apron is thick but very comfortable. And no matter how much you slobber that juice, broth or batter, it’s not getting through the tightly-woven fabric. Nice!

So I think I finally found my apron.

How about you? Are you an apron wearer? What kind meets your needs?

Bulk Buying, Storing, Cooking

When the kids were younger (and our incomes smaller), I was a fanatic about buying food in bulk and pre-making meals for the week. I’d get one of those huge 10-pound ground beef rolls, cook it all up at once, and bag it in freezer bags. I also remember going on fruit and vegetable binges, where I’d grab 50 pounds of discounted, bruised peaches or green tomatoes. I’d spend days peeling, chopping, slicing, bagging, freezing. (I don’t can my food because I don’t know how to do it, and I don’t have the supplies).

I feel out of all that work a few years ago. I can’t put my finger on why I stopped, exactly. Maybe it was when the kids hit a certain age and they were able to make their own meals. Or maybe it was when I started babysitting a bunch of kids and became too busy for all that kitchen work. Or maybe it was when I started my at-home job. That takes a lot of time and energy, actually. And I’m getting older, too. I sure wish they had a Battery charger for us as we age. Coffee just isn’t working so much anymore, lol.

Well, ANYWAY, I’m thinking about bulk cooking because I actually did some today. It has been a loooong time. I have been taking advantage of some good sales, and one of them was on a 20-pound slap of boneless pork loin. I’m not too fond of pork (no one is in the house), but the price was right and I figured I could make a couple of meals out of it. Which I did, today. Can you believe it— it’s not even 10 am and already the entire loin is washed, chopped, bagged and stored! Some of it is simmering in a crockpot with carrots, onions and black beans. I feel so… so… domestic!

Regarding canning– I would love to learn how to can. The food prices make me queasy and sometimes when I read the news headlines I get a little nervous. Everything seems so tenuous. Is it just me? Is it truly tenuous? Or does every generation always feel this way? I imagine how it must have felt for folks going through the world wars…. wow. Anyway, I think I will try to get back into the bulk food preparation habit again. Maybe I’ll even shell out the bucks and get a canning set.

Fall and Fish

Well, fall has only just begun. I haven’t yet kicked into high gear with my cooking. My daughter made a delicious black bean and ham soup yesterday, though. And cookies. And she made apple pie! And we’ve already made beef and barley stew…. but I’m really not going hog wild cooking, just yet. Part of the reason is that my jobs keep me pretty busy. Another reason is that I’m not terribly motivated to cook just yet. However, I picked up a frozen turkey at WalMart today, on sale, so we all know what that means. And cinnamon was on sale, too— oooooh the smells of roasting turkey and baked goods with cinnamon– yum! I think once I made that turkey, I will suddenly enter the “cooking season” until April, lol.

When at WalMart, I purchased a ton of frozen fish. For the FIRST TIME EVER (that I have experienced), fish is less expensive than red meat, pork, and most chicken cuts. I was shocked. Red meat is $4 or more a pound! Frozen salmon was just under that, as was flounder and tilapia. I bought a ton of fish and now my freezer is stuffed like a bank vault full of scott kay jewelry.

I haven’t posted very many recipes here lately. Like I said, my work and the lack of inspiration has cooled my cooking jets. I will have to be investigating some new recipes, however, because the old ones are boring now. And I have NO IDEA how to cook the fish, besides broiling it (boooooring).

If you have any fish recipes or ideas– let me know!

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