Thanksgiving 2009

I'm doing a brine turkey again, 13 pound beaut, with the only change from last year is that I did the drying period between brine and oven. I don't think I did it last year because I'm pretty sure I hadn't read that far in the instructions until oven time. So this time I was a little more prepared.

Defrosting the bird: We bought it on Saturday, frozen, so it had been in the fridge "defrosting" from Saturday until Tuesday night when I did the washing off and noticed it was still an EFFING BLOCK OF ICE! (I had wondered why there wasn't any juice in the bag!) So while I was washing it off, I spent an hour trying to get it somewhat defrosted, since it was going to be put in the cooler surrounded by ice and I didn't want it to stay frozen.

Brine: Crate and Barrel brine pack, again. Gives you the herbed and spiced brine, the bag, and also an herb rub. Tasted pretty good last year.

Drying the turkey in the fridge between brine and oven: I noticed there was quite a bit of juices in the pan, so I hope it doesn't turn out dry!

Stuffing and Trussing: God I hate doing turkeys. I probably shouldn't have slicked up the bird with olive oil and rub before needing to manhandle the fucker; trussing went not so well. I think I got the bits (carrots, onions, celery) to stay inside a little better than last year, so there's that. Also, I think this bird has an abnormal top hole. I can't get the neck skin to stay tucked inside, and it kind of just glops back out and slips around the string. So the string isn't really doing a whole lot to keep the bird together, I think.

Time for the Oven: It's in, breast side down for 45 minutes at 400degrees.

Still on my checklist:
- Garlic roast potatoes from my favorite cook Ina Garten. Well, OK, second fave after Bourdain, but I don't watch him for the cooking.
- cornbread muffins [don't have time!! :( ]
- dressing [in the home stretch]
- gravy! hope it turns out better than last year [it looks goopy. I poured the rest of the last box of stock in to increase volume, we'll see how that goes...]
- candied pecans


[9am] got my first burn turning turkey. Started the gravy with browning the nasty bits.

[9:40am] turned the turkey two more times, now it's on its final run: cook until done. Nasty bits still boiling in broth for 15 more minutes. Got another burn.

[1pm!!] I'm behind schedule, won't have time for cornbread muffins. Time to take the foil off the dressing and take a shower! and I may have a broken toe. Stupid cat.]

[after dinner] dinner was super yummy. Everyone liked the turkey. Hope it doesn't make anyone sick! There was ham, scaloped corn, and pie. There was others, but I only had eyes for turkey, ham, scaloped corn and ham. The gravy turned out pretty well, except I could have removed a little more fat from the drippings.

We're watching football now.
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Party Time

The month of September was a very social one in the Papaya household! We went to two BBQs at friends houses, and hosted a going away party for a Captain who is PCSing. The one we hosted was the most interesting because it involved Rumpelmintz and puking.

I maybe should have taken the problems I had in the lead up to this shindig as I sign for bigger things to come. All I wanted to do was mow the grass. First, I got one of the small front wheels caught along the sidewalk so the rubber just came right off the rim. This was evening time the day before the party, and I already knew I wasn't going to get the whole yard mowed before dark. I just wanted the front and half the back done. So the wheel is off the rim. We get that off the mower, and use the air compressor to try and get it full again, but it was a tubless tire, so you had to make sure the rubber veil or apron or whatever was seated against the rim. We couldn't get it to seat, to I took it the the tire place down the street with 10 minutes before closing. They got it full, but it turned out the valve stem was broken. Awesome!. But I got it back on the mower right quick, and was able to get a couple rows before it was totally flat and falling off the rim again. That front tire doesn't take a whole lot of weight, so you can go pretty good with it flat. But the yard has hills and you end up needing that corner to be supported. So the tire's flat, I decided to call it a day. I got up early the next day and started the thing up (sorry neighbors) and got about 10 feet before the GODDAMNED DECK BELT BROKE AND THEN I COULDN'T MOW AT ALL!!!!!!!!

Our BBQ was put on as a potluck, because it was decided at a BBQ one week prior to the event that it should happen at all. So, potluck is good because it gave me a chance to not worry about food at all. I ended up doing a chocolate cream pie, some roasted zucchini/squash, and some home made guacamole that turned out horrible because the avacados were not good. Ripe, but not good. The thing I'm most proud of, though, was being able to whip up a goop to put on some chicken breasts that came naked. I googled up chicken marinades to see what type of things go into one, and the first recipe had dry mustard, oregano, pepper, brown sugar, etc. in it. Well, I don't have dry mustard, but I have Heinz, so I squirted some of that in a bowl, sprinkled in some pepper, salt, oregano, and brown sugar (I think, I can't remember), and let the designated barbecuer taste. He was genuinely surprised that I could come up with something that didn't taste like ass. I was not offended, I thought it was funny!

Let me just say that if you have any friends from Guam, have them bring and barbecue up the ribs (beef or pork, both super tasty). The pork ribs were so good and sweet like bacon and I wish I had more leftovers in the fridge.

So once the food was done, it was time to move on the booze. The keg was flowing the whole time (only used half-2/3 of a pony!) and Rumpelmintz was brought by one family that I may have to disown. Apparently that shit sneaks up on you to the point where you can be on round 4 or 5 and be feeling fine, but then the next second be in a horizontal position. Not because you've passed out, but because you feel the need to be steadied by the ground. The guy in question, our barbecuer, had been working on beers all day while grilling. The when that job was done and he could relax, he moved on the 100 proof candycanes of death. After 4 rounds he was standing up on the deck talking to us all, and we literally could see the "oh I don't feel so good" look cross his face. That was when he laid down on the plastic bench. (Which I still have in my yard, freaking two weeks after the party, and haven't returned to our friends yet.)

So he's laying down, by this point it's time for a second round of food, so people start eating again, and then people are leaving. And he's still laying down. Then it's just our core friends relaxing inside (it got coooold!!). And I get a request for the plunger. Because when you're sitting in the bathroom cradling your head, of course you're sitting on the toilet for a chair and then when you have to puke the sink is right there. So we needed to unclog the sink. That was taken care of, and he was either locked in the bathroom or sitting at one of our desks which are 5 feet from the bathroom.

Meanwhile, one of our friends who had had a puking incident at our 4th of July party
back in 2008 was relieved for there to finally be another story to come out of the Papaya household that wasn't him puking in the driveway and me hosing it down while he's still puking. Seriously, one of the guys was still talking about that 364 days after the fact. Guy giving up his crown says "I at least owe the man dinner!"

And then the evening wrapped up with the new puke king half passed out in one of our office chairs, and all of us (his wife too!) taking pictures of him and writing on his head. We were back to chatting in the other room when he all of a sudden got up and walked out the door to the car. "Time to go, I guess" is what we all said. So we hastily packed them up some food and they got going. They had church the next day, and his head said "fucking A" on it. These are the kinds of friends I have.

And we have about 30 hotdogs and a big box of burgers that weren't even opened, with buns to go with them. It's two weeks later, and I'm am still eating hotdogs.


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Thanks Obama

Jut tried to eat at our local pizza/sub/pasta joint. Closed forever. It's a pity because that place was really good!


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Bits

1. Addendum to "stuff in my yard": Hubby saw a baby fox in the back yard last week while I was a tupperware party. He should have taken a picture, even though I know it would have come out blurry. I thought they were very protective of their young, so I don't know why one would be out on its own in the grass. But I have noticed the fox activity is up from years past. I have only seen adults, two different ones I think. One is kind of mangy looking, and the other looks in better condition.

more rambling after the fold

2. Biscuit barfed. He had a hairball and ate some grass to alleviate the problem, and he alleviated it all over the carpet. At least it was dark carpet and not the almost white. He's been shedding like crazy lately and I hope it's just the increasing heat and not something serious.

3. Gravy does this thing that I don't know if it comes from being a kitten or her half feral beginnings: if she gets really hyped about a toy or some activity, she'll spaz attack my hand if I am grabbing her. Like with sharp teeth and razor claws really start biting and clawing and kicking hard. She's still little so it may hurt a lot for a kitten but in the scope of cat-damage it not really a big deal. I yell at her ferociously in my angry voice, but I don't think she cares.

4. I was putting the pre-shredded cheese (Kraft brand) on my microwave burrito today, and happened to look at the ingredients. I already knew there was starch or some sort of moisture absorber to keep the individual shreds individual, but it turns out there's an antibiotic in there too (for mold prevention)!! This I was very surprised at. It's natamycin. I've never heard of it, but it's not like I'm versed in antibiotics. I know the few used in aquaria, and that's about it. Anyway, it seems like this would not be a very good thing gut-wise. Or just general superbacteria-wise. Maybe we shouldn't be putting antibiotics in the general food supply? Or maybe we already do? I don't know, it just feels wrong.

5. I watched a few movies recently. hhmm, Netflix says I've watched Boogie Nights, Taken, The Machinist, The Bank Job, Knocked Up, American Psycho, latest James Bond, and the Harold and Kumars.
- Boogie Nights: still love it. "Have you seen my fucking wife?" Love it!
- Taken: I liked it because he wasn't afraid to kill bad guys. Problem is he's ex-CIA in a foreign country and so should maybe not run roughshod over their laws, but still I liked Aslan kicking ass (more that Aslan already kicks ass) a lot.
- The Machinist: I looooove loooove looove Christian Bale in a totally I'll leave my husband sort of way. He lost 60 pounds for his role. Hubby left halfway through because it's kinda artsy, but I enjoyed it. It may have borrowed too much from Memento and ... shoot I can't remember now. Anyway, good and creepy and one that makes you think about what you just saw when you get to the end.
- The Bank Job: not the next in the line after the Italian Job (that's The Brazilian Job) but it has Jason Statham in it as well. Based on a true story. I liked this just fine.
- Knocked Up: Hubby had no interest in watching this, but I found it a little funny, but also a little sweet at the end too. One reason I liked it was the lead actress Katherine Heigl seemed like she really fit the role of upper crust who shouldn't be telling or laughing at dick and fart jokes. Or maybe it was just stiff acting, I couldn't tell.
- American Psycho: again with the Christian Bale! (and guess what's next in the Q? 3:10 to Yuma) People may give him shit for his meltdown, but dude can freaking act! This was a really good movie, and he did a really good job in it. I mean, he really was quite amazing. And I'm not all fangirl with the vapors about this. He really did an amazing job. Sounds like overall, though, the book is much better as usual, just because you get so much more detail about what's going on in that noggin of his.
- Quantum of Solace: I really dislike the name of this one. But I still enjoyed it. What's not to like about a super-secret super-powerful super-embedded group of super bad guys? Except for the fact that head bad guy is a douchey twerp, but I liked it anyway.
- Harolds and Kumars: I actually liked both these movies because they were a lot smarter than I thought they would be.

[OK gotta pause and watch me some crab show]

6. My fish still have fin rot. And I don't know if there are any babies left running around. I just wish I knew why this tank has so many problems. Discus seem to be doing A-OK.

7. "Something has happened in Iran": Yeah, no shit Sherlock. I would say "Turn on a TV and open your ears" but we all know this story is not being talked about except by the internet, as usual.

8. And that reminds me about why this Iran thing bothers me so much. Yes, it's the wanton abuse of the regular people just to scare the rest into submission. But it's also the way they are going about it: stalking to dormatories and killing students who were going to go to, no have been to, opposition rallies. Also the government wanted to try and track Tweets and texts to locate the people writing them. And by locate I assume they mean learn their names and addresses so they can later sneak into their homes and kill them. Now it looks like some stories are saying that Hamas has perpetrated some of these killings, and so the Iranians are sort of consolidating against Palistine. I'm thinking only good things can come from this if that's the direction they are heading.

9. As usual no links to anything because I'm too lazy to look stuff up. Just search the HotAir archives.



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Rhubarb search = PASS

And I got a new word for the ol' lexicon: rutabarb (like rutabaga + rhubarb, I guess)

I'll put that right next to boobarb. It was prolly even the same snot nosed kid as last year. [thought I had a post from last summer to link to about a kid trying to "help" us find some rhubarb. He says bleary eyed "boobarb?" when we asked if they had any. The manager who was closer to our age knew what we were talking about at least.]

Anyway, Safeway had a ton and I got two pies' worth of this thing I hate, but am totally excited to have gotten my hands on.


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HOLY SHIT GUESS WHAT I FOUND AT THE STORE TODAY!!!

BOOBARB!!!

er, Rhubarb, that is.

I actually hate that stuff, but Hubby likes it. So I guess I'm baking a pie tonight.


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Back from Knoxville

Knoxville seems like a pretty cool place. We drove trough downtown and old town a bit. But also made it out to the freak show know at Sevierville. Holy cow what a madhouse that place is. It's the Gate Way to the Smokies, but it's also done up for kids and families that don't do the outdoors: Miniputt, go carts, Ripley's, funhouses, etc. It's not a themepark, but just separate businesses as you go down the street.

Smokies was pretty. Stopped the car when we saw a sign for "Quiet Walkway." The short trail split a few times, and following the most trod path we ended up in a damn cemetery!

Someone who has an account with a heritage site (ahem, Ma) can look up the names. Judging from the dates a nontrivial amount of children were lost due to influenza epidemic in the nineteen-teens.

W.H. Bohanan: March 20, 1845 - June 29, 1880

Martha L. Bradley, Wife of W.H. Bohanan and R.R. Reagan: 

November 11 1848 - September 7, 1918

Clifford Bohanan: November 9, 1895 - October 18, 1896

Pearl Stinnett, Daughter of Eli Russell: May 8, 1914 - 

September 17, 1917

Richard Stinnett, Son of Eli Russell: March 14, 1912 - April 14, 1912

Sarah Jane Bohanan: October 29, 1873 - February 6, 1879

Elmina Bohanan: November 22, 1857 - August 15, 1885

Mary Bohanan: August 8(?), 1877 - December ??, 1877

OK, enough of dead people. Here is one of Gatlinburg, which is totally touristified. Not sure there is anything authentic to see.

And one from the same viewpoint, but of a light dusting of snow in the trees.


This day of driving around started with a nice BBQ lunch at a chain called Buddy's. It was goooood!!

And then was driving through the Smokies, and then on the way back we stopped by some outlets. One was supposed to be a power tool outlet, but they didn't seem to have much in the way of tools. Mostly they had odds and ends and ten this stuff that I though was joke stuff:


But they may be real, for people with bad eyesight. I'm going with joke.

Had Japanese that night. Lots of college kids apparently can afford hanging at the Japanese restaurant on a Sunday. Then Monday we met Idiot Friend in town and had lunch at a nice little Hippie Shack (called Tomato Head) on the market square. The more BBQ at a Famous Daves for dinner. Should have taken a picture of that too, because we got the meal for 4 that comes on a garbage can lid.

So anyway, driving was fine, it snowed but didn't stick all day Monday, and leaving Tuesday morning there was snow in the parking lot but the roads and the rest of the way was clear. the car did excellently the whole way, and we convinced Idiot Friend to upgrade his Subaru.

Even though the trip was fun, we don't have any guns to show for our cost and effort. poop. Click for full post and comments

Less grainy ice cream

My ice cream is grainy. That's from too much ice crystal growth. So, I've just spent the last couple minutes looking up how to get homemade ice cream to be less grainy. I have several options:

1) add about 1 tsp vodka. The alcohol helps prevent large crystal formation.

2) cook ingredients to 170F, put in fridge for a while to chill and mellow before adding to ice cream maker. Does something sciencey with proteins and enzymes.

3) remove milk completely from the recipe I'm using, fill in the volume with the cream and 0.5/0.5. There's a lot of water in the milk, no matter what grade it is. So, remove a source of water and remove a source of crystals.


Option 1 is appealing because it's easy and I like alcohol. Option 3 looks appealing because it's easy and I apparently like being fat. Option 2 is not appealing, as it adds infinitely more work to the process. But this option is probably the real way to do things, like the way professionals do it, you know?

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Tree is up

It's a fake prelit (white lights) we got a couple years ago. It has approximately 1,000 candy canes on it, as I am planning on making peppermint ice cream sometime. I didn't have time to take a picture of it, I'll do that tomorrow maybe. Biscuit has already discovered that under the tree is a good hiding place, but there's no water for him to drink. I wonder if he was expecting that from his past life before I got him?

Also done today is a batch of sugar covered nuts and a loaf of banana bread. The nuts could have come out better because the lady who did them before (who I got the recipe from) used pecan. I used walnuts, and I have to say even though I don't really like pecans, walnuts are not very good for this:

1 egg white + 1 Tbsp water whipped until foamy.
1 pound pecans not walnuts stirred in until covered
1 cup sugar + 1 tsp cinnamon stirred in until covered

bake 250F spread out in a large cookie sheet for 1hr, stirring up and turning nuts over halfway through.

The pecan version was so good. But the walnuts just have too much of a flavor for this to work.


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Turkey Day 2008

So, I'm responsible for the turkey, cornbread, gravy and pies for dinner at a friends house today. It's my first turkey.

Last night: get turkey into brine:
- bought a brine kit from Crate and Barrel, because it had spicy goodies in with the salt. dunno if that makes a difference.
- washing the bird: I realized once I had that sucker unwrapped in the sick I have no effing clue what I'm doing. I washed it some, pulled some yellow gunk off, pulled out a few feather buds. eh, hope it's good enough.
- bird in the brine in the cooler, surrounded by ice, and totally covered in the brine.

Today: what the freak was I thinking:
- woke up at 9 (dinner at 2) got the cavity packet prepared: onions, carrots, celery, spices.
- got the veggies into the bottom of the pan, and washed off the bird.
- rubbed olive oil and herbs all over, and it was icky. most of it rubbed off whenever I turned it over.
- trussing the sonofabitch: I couldnotforthelifeofme get those motherf'ing wings to fold onto its back. And then all my goodies were falling out of the cavity.
- 10:15 finally got the f'ing thing trussed, I guess, and in the oven. This is only supposed to take a couple hours, since there's no stuffing, so we'll see.

- 10:30 starting the gravy. Giblets are gross.

-11:00 first rotation of the bird. It actually went better than I thought.

-11:20 second flip, no incidents

-11:40 last flip, burned my arm on the pan. dammit!


8:00pm, after dinner:
-Turkey came out really well. I cooked it for 2:15, and the pop-up did not pop, but the juices were clear and the real thermometer read over 170F. My cornbread was delicious as always.
-gravy from the turkey didn't actually come up to much volume, and I added not very much flour so it wasn't very thick. I used all* the drippings, and then didn't add any salt. I though it tasted pretty good, if thin.
-The meal consisted of: turkey, ham, scalloped corn, corn bread, sweat potato casserole, mashed potato, baked bread, stuffing with sweet sausage (yum!), pumpkin pies, apple pie. There may have been one or two more items, but I don't remember. I do know I didn't see and cranberry sauce.

whew! I'm tired. Time for a third piece of pie and some TV.

Happy Thanksgiving!


*no I didn't, apparently. I found another half a cup of drippings in the freezer that had been separating, and I forgot all about it! Click for full post and comments

Toasted pumpkin seeds

For one pumpkin's worth of seeds, I put about half a cup of extra virgin olive oil (regular would be fine too) into a ziplock bag with the seeds. Blend them together and pour it out onto a baking sheet. I added about 1 tsp worth of salt at this point, with stirring. Spread the seeds out onto the tray and broil with tray on middle rack for 10 min. I tilted to tray to drain some oil, and added another 1tsp salt, with stirring. These seeds came out mostly lightly browned, with a few darker but not burned.

You can add all sort of spices, but I stuck with salt.


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The Ice(cream) Man cometh

I've lived in this house for close to two years, and today was the first time some one actually stopped the ice cream man for some frozen treaty goodness. He drives down the street at a high rate of speed, usually too fast for you to dig out money and run out the door. But today people were on the street and were able to flag him down. First time of everything, I guess. Click for full post and comments

My Holiday Weekend

Friday we threw a pretty good BBQ. Here's the spread, before the meats and sides and everything everyone else brought. We ended up coming out ahead in the beer department. I obviously didn't carry my weight!

And it was my birthday, along with our country's, so I made a flag shortcake. (SaraLee did the actualy cake part)

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yummy

You know what's really tasty? Mocha Frappuccino poured over Coco Krispies when you're out of milk. Hey, there's some milk product in a Frapp. And man does it get you going in the morning. Click for full post and comments