Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving this year ended up at our place.  I was kinda excited, kinda scared, kinda nervous, kind of YESS all at the same time.  I like to cook and host so of course I was excited. I was responsible for the turkey so I was freaking out. We decided to FRY the turkey, so i was scared/nervous the house was going to burn down.

But there’s only one way to tackle those fears, right? By DOING IT. First off, the fryer. We bought a turkey fryer. At first I thought to myself OMG WHY but then I read a user review saying it can double as beer making tools.  I immediately added that to my cart and bought it.  🙂 So, expect some big beer posts at some point.

I bought a bird which was more of a mind game than anything.  I looked for the “perfect” sized bird, which took way too long in my opinion, so I gave up and took the one that was in my cart. Which, really, was fine.

Now, frying. I asked a few friends for some tips.  Between this website and the directions that came with the fryer, we was set. Another tip. When buying peanut oil, do some price comparison. I ended up getting the best deal at Home Depot. Three gallons of peanut oil for $31 and some change (including tax). Take that, Giant Eagle, and your $19.99/gallon price!!!!

My bird, Patrice, seasoned up and ready to take a swim in some peanut oil. Patrice was also THAWED and DRIED completely. I can’t stress that enough.  Water and hot oil do NOT mix well.  Trust me.

When it came to dunking the bird in the hot, hot oil, I was scared. I can’t lie. You really can screw this up if you’re not careful or paying attention. So I made sure I was doing extra of both.

Lower the bird S-L-O-W-L-Y into the oil so you don’t create an overflow and then everything goes to hell in a hand basket and catches on fire.

This is what success in process looks like.

Rule of thumb is 3~3.5 minutes per pound, so that put us around 45 minutes.

45 minutes later, a delicious looking bird.

And then this 15 minutes later. My sister brought the sides and pies and we had a quaint Thanksgiving dinner! Mom showed up just in time to get a sampling of everything before we all scarfed it down.

The sides were amazing as usual and the fried turkey turned out delicious. Looks like we’ll be having that at holiday dinners from now on!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

New England Clam Chowder

i love clam chowder.  i’ve consumed it at many restaurants and have made it out of a can a few times, but i’ve never actually tried making it from scratch.  i came across this recipe at epicurious.com and thought it seemed pretty simple.  after sending it over to ian for further review, i went ahead and made it for our weekly hanging out of watching tv trash-ness.

you’ll need:

• 1 1/4 pound canned clams, minced, juices reserved – about 3 cans
• 2-3 cups bottled clam juice
• 2 bacon slices, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves, chopped
• 1 pound potatoes, peeled, diced
• 3 cups heavy cream or half and half
• Salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Tabasco sauce, to taste
• Worcestershire sauce, to taste

bombay potatoes from Tasty Bite

i discovered this amazing ready-to-eat (and shelf stable) food from Tasty Bite.  in my grocery store, the indian section is directly across from all of the pastas.  loving indian food, i decided to give one of these bad boys a whirl.  i picked up bombay potatoes and let me tell you this thing is DELISH.  and not bad for you, either!  vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, all natural.  what could be wrong with that?  bombay potatoes is “potatoes, chick peas and spices slow cooked in a tomato sauce.”  it had an amazing flavor and just enough kick.  i brought it in for lunch and ate the whole thing (2 servings).  it would have been more amazing if i brought rice to eat along with it.  this would go great with chicken for a really quick meal.  i will definitely be trying out more of these ready-to-eat sides from Tasty Bite soon.  what a great way to shake up your meals.

breakfast egg bowl

This is one of my favorite breakfast foods.  I got this from Hungry Girl.  So delicious.

1 tray Green Giant just for one Broccoli & Cheese sauce
3/4 cup frozen potatoes
3/4 cup fat free liquid egg substitute (today I used Egg Beaters southwest style)
2 tablespoons shredded fat free cheddar cheese

Prepare the broccoli and cheese sauce according to the directions and put aside.

Heat a non-stick pan with nonstick spray to medium heat.  Add the egg substitute until cooked.  Put aside in a bowl.

Re-spray pan and add potatoes cooking until just golden brown and thawed.  I add a little salt here.

Add the potato mixture and broccoli and cheese sauce to the eggs and mix.  Add the cheese and microwave for about 30 seconds or until just melted.  Enjoy!

You get a huge portion (this is one serving!) and it is quite delicious.