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I'm thoughtful like that. And guess who admitted that they "hate cooking?" If you said my MiL, then you would be correct. Maybe this means that she won't try to take over holiday cooking... "You seem to really like cooking...." UM, YEAH. Glad you noticed after 10+ years.
But back to the fantastic bird I roasted and the chai spice cake that was crazy delicious. If you're not brining your turkey, you are missing out. It's so simple, requires less work over all (no basting!) and makes the juiciest, most flavorful meat ever. My recipe and instructions for brining under the cut. (And don't feel bad if you don't know how to cook a turkey. Neither do any of these people. LOL.)
( Turkey for me, turkey for you, I love to eat turkey in my big brown shoe... And that is seriously one of the lamest songs ever. I apologize for the ear worm. )
Chai Spice bundt cake
I used a doubled version of this recipe (the original recipe only makes one layer), poured half into my buttered and floured bundt pan, spooned dollops of pumpkin butter* all around, then poured the rest of the cake batter over it. Things to change: Pour almost all of the batter in - it's very thin, and the pumpkin butter sank almost to the top. Not that it's a problem, but it would have been prettier to have it in the center. I also baked the cake for 35 minutes - it was still moist, but it was cooked through. I basically waited until the cake was pulling away from the sides and was firm and springy when I touched it. I did not make a glaze for it, but I think that would be excellent (the glaze, not the whipped topping the author preferred.) We also had a pecan pie, so I worried about sugar shock. :)
*I made this pumpkin butter in Fall of '08 when I had a random growth of pumpkins in my compost heap. I ended up with something ridiculous like 48 pumpkins. Everyone got pumpkin butter and puree for Christmas last year. :D That's a fantastic recipe - made in a crockpot, and you could even use store bought pumpkin puree (not pie filling, just pumpkin.) Pumpkin butter is delicious. We made stuffed French toast with thick slices of homemade wheat bread, a slit in the side stuffed with cream cheese and pumpkin butter, battered, griddle'd, and dusted with powdered sugar. Fabulous Christmas Day breakfast, imo. Decadent and once a year. Mmmm.
I am NOT shopping today because why would I? When will people learn that the prices are jacked up today, you have to fight horrible crowds, and you can get anything ONLINE. I mean... today is a day for lazing about and watching movies, am I right? *cough* Anne of Green Gables, for those wondering. It's tradition. My little atheist self will be decorating the house, however, because I love twinkle lights. It's a Festivus for the rest of us thing at our place. :D
[ETA] I meant to talk about this. This article will either make you very sad, or feel very vindicated. (I feel very vindicated.) I am a proud wine snob. Yes, I'm self taught, yes, I've only been drinking wine for a few years, but dammit, I have excellent taste. Lol. SHORT HAND: if on your bottle it reads "PRODUCED AND BOTTLED" by such and such, you have a true vineyard/winery that is growing, making, vinting, and bottling on site. If it says "CELLARED AND-" or "VINTED AND-" then you are getting Mansanto-style produced grape juice that is being tinkered with artificially, with a pretty label being slapped on to convince you it's old school wine. It's not.
Also, I'm happy to note that with the exception of ONE wine I routinely drink/buy (Clayhouse, but thankfully they pull wine from a local Central coast grower, and it's organic/old school, so I'm still drinking it), all of my wine (which is typically French because I love me some Bordeaux) is made "in house." Look for Mis en Bouteille au Domaine or Mis en Bouteille au Château for French wines. And![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dovil will be happy to note that no Australian wines can be trusted. Ahahaha. I'm joking. Kinda. :D Long story short: if you don't give a rat's ass that your Two Buck Chuck comes from where it comes, no worries.
But back to the fantastic bird I roasted and the chai spice cake that was crazy delicious. If you're not brining your turkey, you are missing out. It's so simple, requires less work over all (no basting!) and makes the juiciest, most flavorful meat ever. My recipe and instructions for brining under the cut. (And don't feel bad if you don't know how to cook a turkey. Neither do any of these people. LOL.)
( Turkey for me, turkey for you, I love to eat turkey in my big brown shoe... And that is seriously one of the lamest songs ever. I apologize for the ear worm. )
Chai Spice bundt cake
I used a doubled version of this recipe (the original recipe only makes one layer), poured half into my buttered and floured bundt pan, spooned dollops of pumpkin butter* all around, then poured the rest of the cake batter over it. Things to change: Pour almost all of the batter in - it's very thin, and the pumpkin butter sank almost to the top. Not that it's a problem, but it would have been prettier to have it in the center. I also baked the cake for 35 minutes - it was still moist, but it was cooked through. I basically waited until the cake was pulling away from the sides and was firm and springy when I touched it. I did not make a glaze for it, but I think that would be excellent (the glaze, not the whipped topping the author preferred.) We also had a pecan pie, so I worried about sugar shock. :)
*I made this pumpkin butter in Fall of '08 when I had a random growth of pumpkins in my compost heap. I ended up with something ridiculous like 48 pumpkins. Everyone got pumpkin butter and puree for Christmas last year. :D That's a fantastic recipe - made in a crockpot, and you could even use store bought pumpkin puree (not pie filling, just pumpkin.) Pumpkin butter is delicious. We made stuffed French toast with thick slices of homemade wheat bread, a slit in the side stuffed with cream cheese and pumpkin butter, battered, griddle'd, and dusted with powdered sugar. Fabulous Christmas Day breakfast, imo. Decadent and once a year. Mmmm.
I am NOT shopping today because why would I? When will people learn that the prices are jacked up today, you have to fight horrible crowds, and you can get anything ONLINE. I mean... today is a day for lazing about and watching movies, am I right? *cough* Anne of Green Gables, for those wondering. It's tradition. My little atheist self will be decorating the house, however, because I love twinkle lights. It's a Festivus for the rest of us thing at our place. :D
[ETA] I meant to talk about this. This article will either make you very sad, or feel very vindicated. (I feel very vindicated.) I am a proud wine snob. Yes, I'm self taught, yes, I've only been drinking wine for a few years, but dammit, I have excellent taste. Lol. SHORT HAND: if on your bottle it reads "PRODUCED AND BOTTLED" by such and such, you have a true vineyard/winery that is growing, making, vinting, and bottling on site. If it says "CELLARED AND-" or "VINTED AND-" then you are getting Mansanto-style produced grape juice that is being tinkered with artificially, with a pretty label being slapped on to convince you it's old school wine. It's not.
Also, I'm happy to note that with the exception of ONE wine I routinely drink/buy (Clayhouse, but thankfully they pull wine from a local Central coast grower, and it's organic/old school, so I'm still drinking it), all of my wine (which is typically French because I love me some Bordeaux) is made "in house." Look for Mis en Bouteille au Domaine or Mis en Bouteille au Château for French wines. And
dovil will be happy to note that no Australian wines can be trusted. Ahahaha. I'm joking. Kinda. :D Long story short: if you don't give a rat's ass that your Two Buck Chuck comes from where it comes, no worries.
