Suddenly realize that THANKSGIVING is this Thursday!!!! AAAACCCCKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!
Thankfully (or maybe not) - "Family" has been reduced to DH and me - so that simplifies things considerably!
But still! Can't do Thanksgiving with what we've got in the fridge (about a quart of questionable milk and a few bags of squishy/fuzzy vegetables in the crisper!) so a trek to the Grocery Store is in order. I managed to cobble-together a list and made a trek to the store on Monday. I didn't want to do a "whole" turkey - now that I've discovered Turkey Breasts (Now that just sounds weird, doesn't it?!). I also didn't want to do a "Frozen" bird - I really wanted something Truly Fresh and Minimally-Processed.
I think I blogged about our Adventures at the San Benito County Fair about a month ago (at least I hope I did!). I actually would have liked to have purchased a fresh Turkey there except that A) They had to be taken home "ALIVE" (and I'm not about to slaughter a turkey at home) and B) They sold for almost $1,000.00 apiece!
Anyway... I consulted Google to try to determine where best to purchase a "fresh" minimally processed turkey and finally settled on getting a Diestel Turkey. Local, organic, range-raised, minimally processed and - as it turns out - ridiculously expensive.
Whole Paycheck - err Whole Foods carries 'em. But I figured Snob Hill might, as well. Yup. Snob Hill had 'em. I got a 9# Diestel Turkey Breast for just over $40.00 ("Ouch!"). But - I reminded myself - that's LESS THAN $1,000.00 *and* I didn't have to slaughter it myself!!!
So now I've got a Turkey Breast brining in the fridge; I've dusted off the cobwebs from my "Big Easy" Oil-less Turkey Fryer; And I think I've gathered together enough ingredients to put-together a halfway-decent Thanksgiving Feast (from which there will be leftovers a-plenty, I'm sure!).
For the brine - I totally "stole" Pioneer Woman's Recipe (but I "halved" the recipe and "added" some fresh sage - since my herb garden is still hangin' in there). I also tweaked the preparation, slightly, because I didn't have a big enough pot - and I reserved some of the brine so I can incorporate it into an injectable marinade tomorrow...
I am also going to make Gulliver's Creamed Corn. It is abso-freaking-lutely AMAZING! One year I made it with a mixture of peas and corn - that was fantastic, too. This year, I'll just stick with corn.
I hope to post a more detailed break-down of the Holiday Recipes tomorrow - once I figure out what I'm doing!!!
The rest will be more basic T-Giving Fare: Mashed Potatoes (I cheated and went with pre-made/nuke-able!); Sweet Potato Casserole; Stove-Top Stuffing on Steroids (I add a bunch of stuff to boxed-stuffing so it ends up tasting more home-made). Canned cranberry sauce ("Sacrilege!!!").
I actually bought a couple bags of fresh cranberries, but I want to dehydrate them with Splenda so I can have low-sugar Craisins! And/Or I might get all crazy and try to make Cranberry Jam - after T-Giving!
Anyway... Like I say, I'll try to post more detailed recipes tomorrow.............
And in other news: I think I alluded to the South Bay Canning Club. P came up with the awesome idea to have a bunch of Canning Friends get together to "swap" stuff. The swap was supposed to have taken place back in October (when my yard would have been fine for hosting a party!). Well, schedules just didn't line-up properly so The Exchange got pushed out to November. This coming Saturday, in fact. My yard is a FANTASTIC place for a Get-Together. My house? Not-so-much! But I volunteered.... Sooooo....
Add THAT to the pile of things to Freak-Out about - Heh! Well, sometimes I *do* need incentive to straighten-up a bit. And, thankfully, Aida is coming on Friday to clean-house. I'll make sure to let her know I am hosting a party and I'm sure she'll do a "better than average" job!
So I cleared-off the bar between the kitchen and living room. Figure we'll serve hors d'ouvres there (out of the dogs' reach!), and I hauled a bunch of crap off the coffee table - we can put our Jam-Exchange Stuff there. Still not sure how many people are coming (I'm guessing - maybe - 4-6 ladies. Mostly P's friends, but I could stand to make more friends!).
I will be serving Tortilla chips, fresh guacamole, pico de gallo, and maybe a bean-dip. And, of course, Sugar-Free Margaritas (and Diet sodas). We'll see if others bring more "finger foods" and we'll make a party out of it!
DH will be off, playing on das boot on Saturday, so the ladies can have their Hen-Fest without fear of offending Hubbie's Macho Sensibilities!
Anyhoooooo.... I thought I'd be blathering more about Mexico, but I've gotten sidetracked again :::sigh::: Hopefully I can go back to reminiscing about that in the days to come....
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