Archive for November, 2007

Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 22nd, 2007

This year we almost had a strike on our hands. Amelia threatened to whine all the way through the holiday and Wiley…actually, Wiley didn’t seem to actually give a damn.

That’s my boy.

The problem? Our guest list for Thanksgiving. There isn’t one. A guest list, I mean. It’s just us. Us and Grandma and Roland but they don’t count as guests what with living under the same roof and all. To be honest, I just wasn’t feeling very Thanksgiving-y this year. Usually I can’t wait for November to roll around because:

A) Halloween is over!

and

B) I love Thanksgiving.

I love to think about menu possibilities, I love to look at glossy food porn magazines and imagine how delicious the stuffing will be this year and what I’ll do with sweet potatoes…yum. I love it. But this year I’m totally not into it.

That is, I wasn’t into it until we started cooking this morning. Then I got into it. It may be just the 7 of us, but we’re cooking like we’ve got a full house.

Thanksgiving 2007 menu

  • Best Way Brined Turkey from the San Francisco Chronicle. In the past we have used Alton Brown’s recipe but I couldn’t find it right off the bat, so I used this one.
  • Sausage Sourdough Stuffing
  • Cranberry Sauce #1
  • Cranberry Sauce #2
  • Cranberry Sauce #3
  • Mashed Potatoes
  • Burbon Mashed Sweet Potatoes
  • Green Beans with Shallots
  • Pumpkin Pie

Recipes will follow for anything worth repeating.

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Jalapeno and Serrano Hot Sauce #2

Sunday, November 18th, 2007
  • 1 head of garlic
  • 2 doz ripe red jalapeño chillies
  • 10 ripe red serrano chillies
  • 1/2 large white onion
  • 1 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 cup water
  • 3/4 tsp sel gris
  • 3 dried chipotles that have been hanging around in the back of the pantry for god knows how long

Simmer 20 minutes, or until you remember through your margarita fueled haze that there’s something cooking on the stove, hey, when did the buzzer go off?

Blend.

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Kelsey’s not going to comment on this one

Sunday, November 18th, 2007

I wanted to make something with the Cherry Heering (mostly because I just really like saying “Cherry Heering” because of the way it makes me want to say “Cherry Herring” which makes me think of swedish fish, which, really, taste-wise, is not far off) and I found recipes for Singapore Slings and variations of, from which I concocted my own devious cocktail.

And when I say “devious”, I obviously mean “grossly sweet and girly”. I didn’t mean for it to be so. But I guess you can’t have Cherry Heering, Benedictine and St. Germain together without getting something, you know, sweet.

So here it is. A drink we may never try again. It’s not bad, really, just wussy.

1 1/2 oz Junipero gin

1/2 oz Cherry Heering

1/4 oz Benedictine

1/4 oz St. Germain

1/4 oz lime juice

dash(es) Angostura bitters

Shake gently with ice, strain into glass and top with soda water.

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Saint Revivers

Saturday, November 10th, 2007

When I first tasted St. Germain I wasn’t confident that we’d be able to mix it well. Too floral. Too tropical. Too different. But, very, very delicious; Emily’s been sneaking it neat. However, I read that it should work well in place of Cointreau. In comes the Corpse Reviver Variation #2, a fabulous drink featuring my many of my favorite spirits: Gin, Cointreau, Lillet Blanc, and Pastis… Especially the Pastis.

Saint Reviver #1

  • 3/4 oz Junipero Gin
  • 3/4 oz Saint Germain
  • 3/4 oz Lillet Blanc
  • 3/4 oz lemon juice
  • splash of Herbsaint

The first attempt was promising and exotic, the blend of flavors and smells coming together as something familiar but unnamed, lychee or star fruit, but not well balanced. The St. Germain featured prominently but the lemon juice was overpowering and muted every thing else. My second pass with the St. Geramin was a Leo Special Cocktail with the cointreau swapped out for our feature again. Even better but I had to come back to the Saint Reviver.

Saint Reviver #2

  • 1 oz Junipero Gin
  • 1 oz Saint Germain
  • 1/2 oz Lillet Blanc
  • 1/2 oz Herbsaint
  • 1/2 oz lime juice

I’m at a loss for words. It’s wonderful. Hard to believe that only a few months ago that if you said Gin, I’d think Tonic. Cheers!

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