This is my very first blog, one that I hope to dedicate to the many joys I find in daily life. Having just begun my 26th year, I am currently a graduate student (with a special interest in contemporary Irish theatre and poetry), the wife of a newly certified pilot/ high school sweetheart, an avid reader, traveler, and an amateur artist/crafter/musician/culinary enthusiast. I hope to use this blog as a platform for sharing my experiences, thoughts, and experiments. Feedback and interaction is highly encouraged! I look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas (whoever you are!).
To kick off the new blog, I thought I’d share of one my greatest pleasures: cooking. While I fully intended to spend this Thanksgiving writing papers on Yeats, Eliot, and Sam Shepard (and indulging in some curry), my kitchen beckoned with promises of meditative chopping, mixing, and mashing. Soon after waking on that deliciously cool, grey Thursday morning, our little apartment was warm and cozy, our oven wafting a rich mixture of smells that promised a satisfying meal. It would just be the three of us (me, my husband Evan, and our little dachshund named Atticus) to enjoy the bounty of the season. Our little family, in a little apartment in the city, has so much to be grateful for, and we expressed our thanks around the table with some terrifically cheap wine. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, no matter how you spent it. Now on to the fun part… food!
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| Washed cranberries are tossed into a pot with 3/4c orange juice, 1/4c water, and 1/3c sugar. |
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| Add heat... |
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| Here we go! |
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| Sauce in the making... |
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| The clouds parted; there was turkey and it was good. |
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| Classic deviled eggs keep bellies happy until dinner time. Simply mash the yolks of boiled eggs with a dash of white vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper, cayenne pepper, lemon juice and Miracle Whip to taste. Spoon mixture back into halved egg whites and dust with paprika. Yum! |
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| The finished product: Brined and browned turkey breast, green beans with lemon juice/zest, mashed potatoes & gravy, cranberry sauce, crescent rolls, Au gratin onions and plenty of cheap, delicious wine! |
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| Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! |
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| Hope springs eternal... Atticus sniffs out the turkey. |
