On The Blackwater

Musing on retirement, writing, puppies, and whatever else strikes my fancy

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Spending my life in 20-year increments: DC, Calif, Maine, & now in the BlueRidge Mountains of VA, where my YoChon, Sadie Mae, has started to blog...

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Spent the whole day in the kitchen

Whew! It was easy roasting the smoked turkey breasts; they only needed to be heated through, one hour in the oven. I'm proud of the dressing...after looking at recipe after recipe (remember, I can't use bread unless I've baked it from a gluten-free mix) I took a recipe that Gia cook had on the Today show this morning and changed it around using stale cornbread that I'd baked last night. Mah-velous, if I do say so myself. She had a few exotic ingredients that I just didn't use, but her recipe was spot-on.

I made notes on the printed-out sheet so I can fix it again. Every recipe I'd seen for cornbread dressing began with a mix or with bakery corn muffins. Have people forgotten how to bake cornbread? Anyway, Gia used panchetta where I used turkey bacon, so that worked.

After that, I made some easy candy: nuked some chocolate 'bark,' added chopped toasted almonds and dried cranberries. Put on wax paper, into fridge for 15 mins. Done. Good, too.

Then came the main event, which did take a lot of ingredients and mixing: a Weight-watchers pumpkin cheesecake. Supposed to be in a graham-cracker crust, but that's out with Celiac, so I just spritzed a china pie plate. By finishing that, I allowed The Great White Hunter to get into the cranberry-nut candy.

Anyway, it was a long busy day on my feet. Dick carved up the turkey breasts, so everything is in the big outdoor fridge (the sunroom) to carry to the church tomorrow. I'll make GF gravy in the morning to take along.

My next book will be called: My Church is Making me Fat!

Actually, if I can stay with what I'm bringing for the Feast, I'll be OK. I'll wear my navy blue church shirt (name embroidered in red, which will help our guests know who the worker bees are if they need help) and pants, and new cushiony sneakers. Choir robes can cover a multitude of sins!

Sorry for a boring blog, all about cooking a week before Thanksgiving. But it's done and I'll be able to take a major break tomorrow and next Thursday.

Happy Turkey Day, everybody. We have so much to be thankful for. A roof over our heads instead of seeking safety at the Family Resource Center (Shelter)...a life hopefully without mental or physical disability...enough food that we can easily share without going hungry. Friends and family, no matter how dysfunctional they might be! Sometimes I wonder if they think WE'RE the dysfunctional ones....hmmm.

2 Comments:

Blogger Amy Hanek said...

You are posting these so quick, I don't have time to comment on them all! What a blogging machine you are!!

I am not hosting dinner at my house this year and have only two side dishes to prepare. I am not jealous of you and look forward to my prep and short amount of cooking time later - while I labor over the bottle of wine I intend to open!

It's boring to just bake and cook, but to get it all done early makes the big day much more enjoyable!! Cheers!!

9:24 PM  
Blogger Beth said...

Marion, I, for one, don't find it boring at all to read about your cooking. In fact, I love it. I love food, whether reading about it or eating it (though I vastly prefer eating it)! Your dishes sound so tasty, your church dinner sounds wonderful, and your writing about it is vivid and lively.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

9:10 AM  

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