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Last night I made dinner, greatly overestimating the servings needed. I thought there'd be nine and a third guests (including two-year-old Sammy), when, in fact, only Spouse and his parents were home. As Spouse noted in his blog, Aunt Mary decided not to come in protest (and to punish us heathens) because of what we'd done with her nativity figurines, posing them in X-rated acts. As much as I wish there were a God and heaven, I don't believe in either, and our proud atheism often causes trouble with his devout mom and aunt. But, back to dinner. . .
So, I made coq au vin using fourteen pounds (!!) of chicken. The prep work took at least three hours longer than usual, even with my sous chef's help, as each chicken has to be cut into pieces, trimmed, partly skinned (to reduce the fat content of this already-fatty dish), seasoned, floured and browned in rendered bacon fat, and then the frying has to be done in small batches.
Spouse is scarily inept when it comes to using large sharp knives, even after I demonstrated proper technique, but he gets an A- for effort! I was equally inept with the flambe - and nearly burned the kitchen down - when I added two cups of brandy and lit it over a too-high flame. Honestly, I came this close to scorching my face off when the flames shot up about three feet from the pot. I immediately covered the pot with the heavy glass lid, and Spouse said, "Well, now, you've completely extinguished the flame; don't think you wanted to do that." "Really?" I said. "Well, sure, you've just cut off all the oxygen." "Oh." Turns out Spouse was 100% wrong (or the lid not tight-fitting enough). When I took the lid off a minute or so later, the flames shot up again. And once again, I just missed getting scorched. Scary!!
I then added two whole bottles of pinot noir, tons of fresh herbs and an entire bulb of fresh garlic. Two changes I made to accommodate the onion-loathing, vegephobic Raus was to omit the onions and mushrooms completely. As a result - and to my disappointment - this made the dish unrecognizable as coq au vin. Ah well. . .Still tasty, but not as good.
I am still deciding whether to go to Albany. OP has offered to drive me there if I make it up to his place - and this would make for a fun trip, but that's still a lot of time in the car. I'm not concerned about OP's driving skills, but my driving, though much-improved, still makes me nervous. Since that really bad accident coming back from the Maine tourney (wherein I totaled my fairly new Hyundai, and broke my finger), I haven't taken any trip longer than an hour by myself. Albany would mean at least six hours' driving roundtrip, just to get to OP's place. Feel like I'd be rolling the dice no matter how careful I was. I know this may be shocking to some, but I Am a Bad Driver.
BUT 2010 seems like a milestone new year, and it would be fun to hoot an' holler with everyone. . .so, maybe.
So, I made coq au vin using fourteen pounds (!!) of chicken. The prep work took at least three hours longer than usual, even with my sous chef's help, as each chicken has to be cut into pieces, trimmed, partly skinned (to reduce the fat content of this already-fatty dish), seasoned, floured and browned in rendered bacon fat, and then the frying has to be done in small batches.
Spouse is scarily inept when it comes to using large sharp knives, even after I demonstrated proper technique, but he gets an A- for effort! I was equally inept with the flambe - and nearly burned the kitchen down - when I added two cups of brandy and lit it over a too-high flame. Honestly, I came this close to scorching my face off when the flames shot up about three feet from the pot. I immediately covered the pot with the heavy glass lid, and Spouse said, "Well, now, you've completely extinguished the flame; don't think you wanted to do that." "Really?" I said. "Well, sure, you've just cut off all the oxygen." "Oh." Turns out Spouse was 100% wrong (or the lid not tight-fitting enough). When I took the lid off a minute or so later, the flames shot up again. And once again, I just missed getting scorched. Scary!!
I then added two whole bottles of pinot noir, tons of fresh herbs and an entire bulb of fresh garlic. Two changes I made to accommodate the onion-loathing, vegephobic Raus was to omit the onions and mushrooms completely. As a result - and to my disappointment - this made the dish unrecognizable as coq au vin. Ah well. . .Still tasty, but not as good.
I am still deciding whether to go to Albany. OP has offered to drive me there if I make it up to his place - and this would make for a fun trip, but that's still a lot of time in the car. I'm not concerned about OP's driving skills, but my driving, though much-improved, still makes me nervous. Since that really bad accident coming back from the Maine tourney (wherein I totaled my fairly new Hyundai, and broke my finger), I haven't taken any trip longer than an hour by myself. Albany would mean at least six hours' driving roundtrip, just to get to OP's place. Feel like I'd be rolling the dice no matter how careful I was. I know this may be shocking to some, but I Am a Bad Driver.
BUT 2010 seems like a milestone new year, and it would be fun to hoot an' holler with everyone. . .so, maybe.
Current Mood: insomniac
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tired
bouncy
Cannon Beach, OR 
We went over our intended Scrabble quota, despite our intention for this trip to be almost Scrabble free, playing regular Scrabble, team Scrabble, phoniez and anagrams throughout the week. We did manage at least one day where no form of Scrabble was played. Highlights of the trip included a day trip down to the Tillamook Cheese factory in Tillamook, Oregon (we had 6 people crammed into a vehicle and almost ran out of gas on the way!), team Pictionary and the discovery of an abundance of NANG by the ocean shore.
Vancouver, British Columbia
contemplative
happy