got a bulletproof heart, you've got a hollowpoint smile

[rikibeth]

I was so efficient today I almost scared myself.

Got up, got dressed, fed the cat, made coffee in a travel mug, righted the recycling wheelie bin that the wind had blown over, took the pie dough I'd made last weekend out of the freezer, took my grocery list and the reusable bags with me, drove eternaleponine to work. Drove back, went to the grocery store for those last-few-things, went to Sally Beauty to get a fresh box of vinyl gloves for the house, drove to the library but it wasn't quite open yet, so I walked to CVS and got Hanukkah candles because ShopRite didn't have any, and then the library STILL wasn't quite open yet so I took advantage of those few minutes to clean my car's inside windshield and side windows, and THEN the library was open so I went in and returned Testament of Youth and picked up discs 3 and 4 of season 1 of Mad Men and volumes 1 and 2 of Hellboy.

Came home, unloaded the groceries, started the LAST load of laundry, fielded two phone calls from medical stuff, did the dishes, read some internet, put AWAY the laundry, and made myself lunch.

Plugged the iPod into the powered speakers and the wall charger in the kitchen, and cued up Danger Days. Started on Hanne Blank's onion marmalade. Even saved the trimmings and peels to make stock, at some point.

When the onion marmalade was underway, started the pumpkin pie. The straight unaltered recipe off the can, because eternaleponine won't have it any other way. When THAT was in the oven, started the one that actually took effort -- the Rum Chiffon Pie. Gingersnap crust, a layer of chocolate custard, and a layer of rum-flavored custard with egg whites folded in -- that's the chiffon. The chiffon layer is supposed to be stiffened with gelatin. Not in this house, not any more. I tried to make it with agar flakes one year and it was an abject failure. THIS year, I used agar POWDER. I won't be certain until I serve it, of course, but it seems to be setting up well in the fridge, and so I may be able to reinstate a holiday tradition that means a lot to me. That pie was my paternal grandmother's signature Thanksgiving dish. I was pretty much the only one who learned to make it, and I inherited the silver serving dish for the pie plate and the serving utensil for it (I think the serving utensil was designed for gelatin molds, but she never used it for anything but that pie). I even inherited the particular cardboard box that once held an Olivetti portable typewriter that was the perfect size for transporting the pie in its special dish. The cardboard box eventually went the way of all cardboard, and the silver things are in storage, but I am very invested in that pie.

By the time the pies were safely in the refrigerator and the onion marmalade was thick enough to shut off the heat, I had listened to Danger Days twice through, AND the bonus EP, and also the Cramps and Husker Du and a band called the Reducers that I'd seen a bit of their set back in April with cluegirl and aquila_dominus and bought their CD and just got around to ripping it now, and I think a little bit of shuffle. Anyway I put in about four hours on the project. And I cleaned as I went so the kitchen wasn't even a disaster! And the marmalade was cooked down just about exactly when I had to leave to pick up eternaleponine from work.

Got home, decided the marmalade needed a little more cooking down, made some frozen ravioli for dinner, and OPENED SOME WINE.

Tomorrow's plan: spend the morning doing prep, go to the 2:30 showing of Harry Potter, come back, put the roasted veg and the stuffing in the oven, get the potato soup going, and have Thanksgiving dinner at dinnertime, not midafternoon.

And then there will be PIE.

Comments

[kittenmommy.livejournal.com]

That onion marmalade sounds intriguing.

Have fun at the movies tomorrow. We haven't seen it yet; waiting for the crowds to die down.

Happy Thanksgiving! :D

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

We figure, at 2:30 tomorrow, most people are going to be eating!

Happy Thanksgiving!

[kittenmommy.livejournal.com]

You're probably right. IDK when we're eating; I'm putting the turkey in whenever we feel like getting up, and it'll take 3 to 3 1/2 hours to cook. In the meantime, there'll be wine and nibbles! :D

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I've laid in assorted cheeses, crackers, and Italian bread for pre-dinner noshing, and the onion marmalade should be awesome with that. Nice thing about vegetarian stuff, it'll only be an hour in the oven!

[kittenmommy.livejournal.com]

I wish I'd read your post hours ago before we went to the store; I'd have gotten some onions and attempted onion marmalade tomorrow!

We have two cheeses and some French bread for OM NOM NOM with wine. And I have a DVR full of Thanksgiving stuff: Food Network stuff, plus Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Yay!

IDEK how you can have a vegetarian Thanksgiving. It seems unAmerican! ;)

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I admit I snuck a little container of pate in for my own enjoyment. But my kid and my housemate are vegetarians, and I want to give them a meal they'll be thankful for!

I am also going to brag and say that last year at matociquala's Thanksgiving feast, my roasted winter vegetables were highly acclaimed, and my potato-leek soup has LEGIONS of fans. eternaleponine used to love Stove Top before she went veg, and all the varieties they make have chicken broth.

I would have done stuffed acorn squash or something, but I can't convince either of them to eat squash.

[kittenmommy.livejournal.com]

Stove Top has high fructose corn syrup, so you're better off without it.

The potato leek soup sounds amazing! :D

I bet you could make stuffing with vegetable broth or stock. Let's see... I'd saute some celery and onions in butter (or olive oil, if she's really strict), toss them with some toasted/stale bread bits, moisten them with the vegetable broth/stock, and bake in a covered casserole dish.

Maybe not as OM NOM NOM as stuffing done right, but probably passable in a pinch! ;)

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

The potato-leek soup is SO STUPIDLY EASY. And straight out of Julia Child.

I'm using the Pepperidge Farm pre-seasoned bread cubes, celery and onions, MORE BUTTER than the package calls for (this household is ovo-lacto, not vegan -- I don't think eternaleponine would survive without being able to eat Dunkin' Donuts egg-and-cheese sandwiches), and Imagine Organics' No-Chicken Broth, which the LABEL says is just onions, carrots, celery, safflower oil, water and spices, but which clearly contains MAGIC DUST, because it tastes JUST LIKE chicken broth and is one of my go-to pantry staples. And baking in a covered casserole dish. And I might add a few fresh herbs since I have them. I expect it'll taste not too far off what she knows and loves.

[kittenmommy.livejournal.com]

Sounds passable good! ;)

[kittenmommy.livejournal.com]

PS. We're not having stuffing this year. We already have too much food for just the two of us and all our pets, and stuffing is too fattening to justify! :p

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

See, I just asked what they actually WANTED. We've done the potato soup for Thanksgiving before, I made the roasted veg around Halloween and I've been getting asked for repeats, the stuffing was particularly mentioned, and, well, PIE. And cranberry-sauce-inna-can, because eternaleponine LIKES the kind that retains the shape of the can.

[kittenmommy.livejournal.com]

I love that canned crap too, but it's loaded with high fructose corn syrup. So none this year. Woe.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

HFCS is admittedly evil, but I haven't eliminated it entirely from our diet yet. If I have a good option for avoiding it, I do -- I just bought HFCS-free ketchup today -- but I'm already dealing with such tremendously picky eaters (there are sensory processing issues) that I am loath to abandon things that they genuinely LIKE.

[kittenmommy.livejournal.com]

Well, we have no sensory processing issues here, thank God. So no HFCS here, even though tons of stuff we like has it.

No more Campbell's tomato soup... my favorite comfort food! Woe.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Ooh, Cook's Illustrated has an awesome tomato soup recipe -- you start with canned whole Muir Glen tomatoes and roast them in the oven until they get a little caramelized, and go from there. Want me to look it up?

[kittenmommy.livejournal.com]

No thanks. That sounds like waaaay too much work. Besides, Campbell's Select Harvest Tomato and Basil is even better than the original, and has no HFCS.

[bifemmefatale.livejournal.com]

If the agar doesn't work, I wonder if pectin would?

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

It was setting up when I poked it! The problem with the flakes was more that they made nasty little lumps in the chiffon. The powder dispersed nicely.

[fairylogic.livejournal.com]

I have been listening to that album on repeat ALL DAY. So good! :)

Also, the Rum Chiffon pie sounds amazing and I loved hearing about the history of it.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I have my grandmother's actual recipe around here, but it's intended for a 10" pie plate, not the standard 9", and it has a slight inaccuracy, because it calls for "25 gingersnaps" and the size of an Archway gingersnap has CHANGED since she wrote it down.

If you want to make it, use the Joy of Cooking recipe for Black Bottom Pie, use all 4 egg whites instead of the 3 it suggests, increase the sugar in the meringue to 1/3 cup, use at LEAST 3 tablespoons rum, and skip the whipped cream layer it suggests. Dust with either cocoa powder or shaved chocolate.

[auspeople.livejournal.com]

*asks for potato-leek soup recipe because yum*

You are da woman! Have a great day tomorrow.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

I was so efficient today I almost scared myself.

:-)