Maiden Voyage
My culinary resume is growing quite robust. The Asian section is looking good thanks to tutelage from a theology prof and his wife, not to mention spending my formative years at Chinese Baptist Church. Italian is easy. We all know about my performance in the outdoor meats category. And let us not forget that I can grill a mean pizza with honey whole wheat crust.
But there is one substantial void in my past performance: I have never had the opportunity to cook Thanksgiving dinner. I know. I can hardly consider myself an adequate cook. But tomorrow, all of that changes.
Not since 1998 have I had Thanksgiving dinner in my own home. I never traveled back to Portland for the holiday during college, and the tradition in Stacy's family is to go to her Grandparent's house on Thanksgiving. It's hardly good manners to elbow an elderly woman off of her own stove in order to prove your worth in the kitchen.
This year we find ourselves tethered to Kansas City by the demands of Stacy's schedule, however. The 30-hour shift that begins at 6am on Thursday followed by another 30-hour shift on Saturday really puts a dent in your opportunity to travel. And instead of leaving the dinner responsibilities to the hospital cafeteria, a fellow husband and myself decided to take on the duties and bring the meal to the hospital.
The meal has been meticulously planned, and the tasks divided up. On this eve of Thanksgiving, I find myself excited. My contributions to our meal are as follows:
*Turkey - I wanted to smoke one, but it's currently far too cold outside for such endeavors. Something about 32 degrees and light precipitation makes me feel as though going outside numerous times in the middle of the night would be a poor life decision. As such, we are going to rock the baked turkey with the apricot glaze.
*Sweet Potatoes - No canned yams here, holmes. Elli and I picked up the real deal sweet potatoes in the produce section yesterday. We have a solid recipe lined up, complete with marshmallows.
*Green Bean Casserole - This dish is not from scratch. I would have been game, but the idea of frying onions myself made me a little nervous. Plus, my only assistance is going to be Elli, so at some point in time I needed to make sure I wasn't over-committing myself.
*The Best Jello Dish in the History of Humanity - cherry jello + pomegranate juice+ fruit + whipped topping complete with cinnamon and nutmeg = a sensation equal to that on one thousand fairies dancing across my tongue. How else would it be able to bump the famed Watergate salad from the menu?
*Rolls - alas, also not from scratch. Sorry.
I dare say, we'll have a nice little spread. And if you can't tell, I'm more than a little excited for this rite of passage.
Fair Dinkum
But there is one substantial void in my past performance: I have never had the opportunity to cook Thanksgiving dinner. I know. I can hardly consider myself an adequate cook. But tomorrow, all of that changes.
Not since 1998 have I had Thanksgiving dinner in my own home. I never traveled back to Portland for the holiday during college, and the tradition in Stacy's family is to go to her Grandparent's house on Thanksgiving. It's hardly good manners to elbow an elderly woman off of her own stove in order to prove your worth in the kitchen.
This year we find ourselves tethered to Kansas City by the demands of Stacy's schedule, however. The 30-hour shift that begins at 6am on Thursday followed by another 30-hour shift on Saturday really puts a dent in your opportunity to travel. And instead of leaving the dinner responsibilities to the hospital cafeteria, a fellow husband and myself decided to take on the duties and bring the meal to the hospital.
The meal has been meticulously planned, and the tasks divided up. On this eve of Thanksgiving, I find myself excited. My contributions to our meal are as follows:
*Turkey - I wanted to smoke one, but it's currently far too cold outside for such endeavors. Something about 32 degrees and light precipitation makes me feel as though going outside numerous times in the middle of the night would be a poor life decision. As such, we are going to rock the baked turkey with the apricot glaze.
*Sweet Potatoes - No canned yams here, holmes. Elli and I picked up the real deal sweet potatoes in the produce section yesterday. We have a solid recipe lined up, complete with marshmallows.
*Green Bean Casserole - This dish is not from scratch. I would have been game, but the idea of frying onions myself made me a little nervous. Plus, my only assistance is going to be Elli, so at some point in time I needed to make sure I wasn't over-committing myself.
*The Best Jello Dish in the History of Humanity - cherry jello + pomegranate juice+ fruit + whipped topping complete with cinnamon and nutmeg = a sensation equal to that on one thousand fairies dancing across my tongue. How else would it be able to bump the famed Watergate salad from the menu?
*Rolls - alas, also not from scratch. Sorry.
I dare say, we'll have a nice little spread. And if you can't tell, I'm more than a little excited for this rite of passage.
Fair Dinkum