Text 17043, 208 rader
Skriven 2008-11-29 11:39:42 av hap newsom (1:124/311)
     Kommentar till en text av MICHAEL LOO
Ärende: RE: blud 281
====================
Howdy Michael!

->  HN> Anne usually gets a vacant look on her
->  HN> face and keels over...I can't seem to get
->  HN> accustomed to it, and react quite badly 
->  HN> when she does this!
-> 
-> That does seem to be a signal that she's on
-> minimum. I can see it being sort of distressing.
-> 
Indeed and when she's feeling even the 
slightest bit "off" I tend to keep an extra
sharp eye on her! 
-> =
-> 
-> Yesterday it was the usual fare, more or less, but with
-> the perhaps unique situation that I was responsible for
-> none of it. I'd signed on very late to be with my friends the
-> Fishers, and by this time all the tasks had been allocated.
-> 
The west coast or the east coast ones?

-> The menu:
-> 
-> sweet potato soup with rum cream - this was the Inn at Little
-> Washington's recipe, except that nobody remembered how to make
-> the rum cream, so I made that off the top of my head later on;
-> the result was similar to but much more highly seasoned than
-> the original, which I looked up after the fact. The soup itself
-> was exemplary, though the surface oxidized (that word!)(with
-> oxygen) and turned an unappetizing gray. The flavor balance
-> was good, the level of richness perfect for the meal - a
-> mouthfilling quality but not much fat, so that one could in fact
-> proceed to a big Thanksgiving dinner after drinking a pint of it.
->
Sounds good! Was it a fairly sweet soup then?
I have made a sweet potato soup that was 
made with ginger and served cold, vichyssoise
style, for thanksgiving one year...we quite liked it!
Rum sounds like an interesting flavor match as well!
 
-> arugula salad with balsamic vinaigrette - the usual, but it
-> was cheap cheap balsamic, not worthy of capitalization
->
Seems to be a lot of that around these days...
oddly enough not all from Modena either...hmmmm
 
-> roast turkey - I wasn't responsible for this, and as a result,
-> it was well well done, almost enough so to bring the hostess
-> to tears. I ate half the skin off the bird, which was very
-> brown and decent though nearly fatless, and was about to call
-> it a meal, but then the host gave me a drumstick, which had
-> about a pound of somewhat incinerated meat on it
->
Anne would have loved that! As you know she 
likes her turkey done to the point of dustbowl
dryness. I'm sure you were very dissappointed
as I would have been. What's odd though is that
Anne claims to like the dryest of turkeys..but when
I manage to sneak a sumptuous moist birdy in on her
she oohs and ahhs on how good it is! 
 
-> gravy - I made this, and it was mediocre, sort of brown
-> tasting, as the turkey drippings were weller done than
-> the turkey itself; I didn't like it much but it certainly
-> improved the stuffing
->
I like a good giblet gravy...nice and rich
and filled with good chunks of giblety 
delight!
 
-> bread, walnut, and mushroom stuffing - severely underseasoned
-> - no discernible onion, celery or herb - also undersalted
-> and underpeppered - tasted sort of like wet Wonder bread
->
ewwww! 
 
-> bread and walnut stuffing without mushrooms - better, as inside
-> the bird, but also severely underseasoned
->
Low sodium I don't mind as I find folks
often use way too much...but without
the other seasonings it would be ...well
pretty flavorless...yuck
 
-> brussels sprouts with walnuts and balsamic vinegar - even
-> though made with cheap cheap vinegar, this was pretty good,
-> probably my favorite thing
->
One of my favorite things to make!
Was it a balsamic reduction or just 
balsamic V poured over the roasted
sprouts? I like to blanch my brussels
before roasting them and make the 
balsamic reduction separate.
 
-> sweet potato rounds baked in maple syrup - fine
->
yuck to me, Anne would like them
 
-> mashed sweet potatoes with garam masala and onions - fine,
-> but the garam masala, a whim of the hostess, was unnecessary,
-> as was the whole dish - three sweet potato dishes and one
-> nonsweet potato dish was a bit of overkill
->
Sounds like a lot, but I do like yams with curried 
slants, so that dish sounded good to me.
 
-> mashed regular potatoes - appropriately rich, as I sneaked
-> some turkey fat in when nobody was looking; I thought the
-> amount of butter in the recipe was puny and pathetic
->
Have not had mashies in a looong time
I like em with lotso gravy!
 
-> brown 'n' serve rolls - salty, by report; I didn't try
->
And I can't fault you for that! Choose
your carbs well you do!
 
-> chocolate pecan pie - quite nice and chocolaty and pecanny;
-> I had just a taste
->
When it comes to pecan pie I'm a purist.
My paternal grandmother's was the best.
Even my mom's and maternal grandmother's
were several steps behind..and they were
plenty good too!
 
-> pumpkin cheesecake - quite nice and pumpkinny; I had the
-> smallest piece that the host was willing to cut
->
I like pumpkin and cheesecake and pumpkin 
cheesecake sounds like a winner to me.
Anne and I made a lower carb pumpkin
pie a couple of weeks ago, planning to make
more for Thanksgiving...but we could not 
find any decent pumpkins any where and
I didn't want to use canned.
 
-> various cookies of which I had none, being starched out
-> and fairly full.
->
Well it WAS THANKSGIVING!!!!
 
-> Beverages:
-> 
-> A Chimay Trappist ale tasting.
->
Had em, Not bad but not my thing
 
-> Chimay ales
-> 
-> red (7%) - caramelly, rich, not much punch though despite
-> the high alcohol content. Smooth, enjoyable and clean.
-> 
-> Tripel (white) (8%) - sort of lemony and wheaty; I didn't
-> care for it.
->
Hmmm, wheaty...why am I NOT surprised you didn't 
care for it? (grin)
 
-> blue (9%) - very dark and malty; a bit of acid that was
-> similar to the above, but quite a bit richer on the palate,
-> with coffee/chocolate notes and a bit of spiciness; my
-> favorite of the lot.
->
and most likely the one I would have liked as well!
 
-> Some off brand rose Champagne was fine but sort of wimpy
-> after the Chimay.
-> 
-> A to Z Pinot Noir was rich and meaty, though sort of generic.
-> Cherries, berries, la la la, a bit dusky with dark spices,
-> quite good with many kinds of sweet potatoes; Jezebel Pinot
-> Noir was light red, cherryful, and a quaffing wine. Both I
-> believe from Oregon.
->
Anne had her cranberry wine and I had
a glass of 2005 Barrio La Boca Malbec
from Argentina...very dark color, quite
tabaccoish as well, nice but not as 
good as I'd hoped it would be.
 
-> Hazelnut decaf coffee from "H. T. Traders," Harris Teeter's
-> attempt to be cool and funny like Trader Joe. It was strong
-> and okay.
->
I don't care for flavored coffee's or teas at all.
 
-> On the whole a meal that was funner for the company than
-> the food.
->
Well that is what thanksgiving is for!
We had pulled pork with an eastern
carolina vinegar sauce...it was delish!
 
-> Sweet potato soup with rum cream
-> cat: Thanksgiving, celebrity, soup
-> servings: 10
-> 
Looks good, not cutting edge, no
real surprises, but nice enough on 
it's own merit!
chat with you soon!
hap 
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5a
 * Origin: FidoTel & QWK on the Web! www.fidotel.com (1:124/311)