Tomorrow, thought I'd make some homemade bread, by scratch, with real yeast and unbleached flour.
Nick (16 year old son) will be doing that. Baguette, yeast rolls, bananas Foster (his choice). We joke - semi-seriously - that he's going to become a celebrity chef.
I've been reminiscing about my dad's early experiments with fried turkey -- this rage, like so many others, started in South Louisiana. He used to get used beignet (Cajun donuts) frying oil from the Coffee Call, although he could certainly afford fresh peanut oil, he was just too cheap. That was before you could buy it in 5 gallon cubitainers everywhere at Thanksgiving time.
One Thanksgiving after he separated from his second wife, who had a black belt in entertaining, he said he would make Thanksgiving dinner that year. He wound up serving turkey deep fried in used beignet oil, and deep fried elk, also fried in used beignet oil. Everything tasted like used donut oil.
That was the Thanksgiving I discovered that even McDonald's isn't open in Baton Rouge on Thanksgiving!
But here in DC metro area you can get anything you want on Thanksgiving, all the restaurants will be open.
Not for us. Three days of non-stop bacchanalia begin tomorrow. In some ways, the highlight of the holiday is Friday, the Feast of St. Ralph, the patron saint of leftovers. No cooking, just eating. No cleaning, even. On St. Ralph's day, we use throwaway plates, in honor of St. Ralph.
But no fried turkey!
We have much to be thankful for. Another year of no terrorist attacks, and the re-election of George Dubya Bush are towards the top of the list. |
