Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Pre-Thanksgiving

My lower back is one large fist, but I'm having a blast. Threw together the brine, which was easy, but is proving the most pesky, because we left it covered when it should have gone in the fridge. I need the stock pot to make the apple butter, and at this rate, I may be knocking that out tomorrow morning. Popped the half frozen pumpkin in the oven. Peeled and sliced the rest of the apples (mental note: apples really do keep better in a fridge, if you don't have a root cellar). Those suckers were only a month old, but heading south. Peeled the skin off the pumpkin and pureed it, which was so ridiculously easy, I've decided to only buy canned now when it's out of season.

The apple peeler and corer is such a wonder too! Slices as it peels, just turn the crank! Then I realized the cover needed to come off the brine, and then get refrigerated. So I made the pie crust, which was also a little too easy to justify ever buying pre-made again. Popped that in the fridge, then made the breakfast casserole. Now I'm waiting just a bit longer for the brine to cool. Since the apple butter takes at least an hour on the stove, I'm thinking that'll be a morning task.

So on the docket for tomorrow morning will be the apple butter, the breakfast casserole, the potatoes, and then the pie; with the Macy's and the National Dog Show on the tube in the background (or NCIS in the bedroom, cuz I'm an addict and they're running a marathon on USA)...and green beans with orange peel last, cuz they're stove short-timers. I tossed the idea of rolls, since we're doing mashed; but I'm making those suckers this weekend too, cuz they look awesome. The turkey just went into the brine, in a bag in the roasting pan that I inherited from Mom, that hasn't seen action in some time (looks like this one). I love being able to give a 2nd life to Mom's old kitchen stuff. The potatoes will likely go into one of the Corningware casserole dishes I inherited too.

I'll dig out the cloth napkins and a table runner. If the Yule log is on On Demand, we may put that on, though neither of us is feeling the Christmas music yet. We're not huge football fans either, unless the Jags are playing/losing, so maybe we'll put on a movie tomorrow evening. We own Hunger Games, 2 of the last 3 Harry Potters, and Where the Wild Things Are, and have never watched them...real life gets in the way. I'm grateful for the chance to slow down.

No comments: