I'm feeling lucky

That's one of the edits on Picassa, and I thought it might be a good talisman for the day. And what I wrote last night about the story being funnier? Well, I'm not sure that's the right word.

I mentioned the stock I made? I cleaned every bit of 'stuff' off the turkey carcass and browned the bones in butter, along with celery and onions. It clanked as I stirred. I added 3 cups of wine and 6 cups of chicken broth and simmered it for about 2 hours. Then I strained it, and put all that goodness in the fridge. I carefully removed the fat, and had it ready to go for the soup I'd be making. So far so good.

Kit asked me to visit yesterday morning to see how organized her house was. She had a crowd of 21 for Thanksgiving and was very proud of the work she had done. I had so much to do, and it was raining, but I went, and spent longer than I planned. On the way home I bypassed the big grocery store (red seedless grapes $2.79/lb) in favor of my local one (.99 cents/lb). Emily loves them! List in hand, I was quickly frustrated. No cilantro. No ginger. No root vegetables. No plain whole milk yogurt. No wild rice. I bought what I could, then headed for another grocery store, in the rain. I found my ingredients there, but only long grain and wild rice mix and not the right kind of yogurt. Could I mix full fat sour cream and whipping cream? I thought maybe yes.

I came home and listened, along with Emily, to her audio book, Hiroshima, by John Hershey, while I cooked. I had three recipes going. I had to roast the root vegetables that would go into the Curried Turkey recipe. I had to parboil the head of garlic that would go into the roasted vegetables part-way through the roasting. I had to cook the rice that would go into the soup. Grate ginger. Mince garlic. Dice and slice many onions. Peel and cube many root vegetables. Measure flour, curry, salt. Shred 4 cups of turkey. Measure peas. Chop cilantro. I was really very organized, even though I was going back and forth between 3 recipes. I washed dishes throughout, and put them away. Everything was measured, covered, and ready to go. I had a break between all the prep work and dinner. When Emily asked for dinner, I was ready. I didn't think she'd like the curry dish, so I made her spaghetti and meatballs just in case. The turkey curry was delicious! My first time making Indian food. The sour cream/whipping cream worked! It seemed like it could have used a little more spiciness, but I'd definitely make it again. Emily tried it, but opted for the alternate. That was fine. I froze two portions and put the rest into a container for tonight's dinner. I began to wash the dinner dishes when I noticed a plastic-wrapped cup on the counter. And there was my 'spiciness': the 4 teaspoons of ginger and 4 teaspoons of garlic that I forgot, but lovingly prepared, for the recipe. The bright side was that it was still delicious without it, although I felt pretty stupid. With a clean kitchen, it was time to finish the soup. I brought the stock to a simmer, and in a pan melted 1/2 cup of butter and stirred in 3/4 cup of flour that was supposed to become smooth and bubbly as I constantly stirred it. It didn't. Finally I slowly stirred in the 2 cups of milk (I included the leftover heavy cream). That photo from last night? That's what happened. It was supposed to be a slightly thick liquid. Could the amount of flour in the recipe be wrong? I tried adding a spoonful to the stock, but it wouldn't 'melt' and just made lumps. I finally gave up and threw the mashed potato-looking mixture in the trash. I added the rice and the turkey to the stock, and it was delicious. The wine in the stock really added to the flavor. I divided the soup into 3 freezer bags, and the rest into a small container. Finally, I was done with cooking. It took the whole day! Emily decided she wanted cupcakes for dessert, so it was her turn in the kitchen.


I didn't decorate, like I planned, but we did bring the tree up from the basement and get it in the stand. I got a lot of cooking done, so it was a fulfilling day. I went to bed reading the paperback version of Emily's book, and slept like a log.

I woke up to a still-wonderful smelling house. I went downstairs and first saw the misshaped and discarded cupcakes on the counter. Then I noticed something I wished I could wish away. The three freezer bags of soup. On the counter. Not refrigerated. See them there?


They were in the previous picture too, but I didn't notice them last night. They're gone now, the contents down the drain. An ironic end to my day in the kitchen.

Here's what's on my dining room table, next to my laptop


I wonder what I'll get accomplished today? At least I don't have any cooking to do.