Start How You Mean to Go On

Yesterday we cleaned the first floor, at least, which isn’t quite a whole home clean for New Year’s, but it’s a win, and I’ll take it. And this morning, I fed my people something delicious — bombatoast and bacon, with plenty of fresh fruit. If you look carefully, you will spot the top of Anand’s head, as he waits (im)patiently for me to be done taking photos and call him to eat. 🙂

Sizes

I haven’t quite figured out the shipping yet for sending jars of curry powder (it’s a little complicated, because it involves figuring out what size UPS Priority mail boxes fit which jars, how much padding I need for shipping glass safely in padded envelopes, etc.), but at least for locals, I have jars of curry powder available now, in three sizes:

– 1/4 c. hex

– 1/2 c. tall

– 1/2 c. hex

You definitely get more curry powder for your money if you get it in a bag, but the jars are much more convenient for sitting in your spice rack, so it’s a tradeoff!

I’ll be asking Stephanie Bailey to add these to our Shopify site in the next day or two, so any locals looking for last minute gifts they can pick-up from my porch, consider a cookbook + jar of homemade curry powder. You can add on a tea towel or two as well, to make a lovely package.

Karma Coming

When you invite your former student, now employee, to join in the socially-distanced potluck Thanksgiving, and he signs up to bring some eggplant salad and stuffed cabbage, which surprises you a little, because that seems pretty fancy cooking for a 23-year-old…

…but then it turns out that he’s living with his mom during shelter-in-place, and she loves to cook and feed people…

…and NOT ONLY does she send along sufficient portions of eggplant salad and stuffed cabbage, but she throws in a half-dozen containers of homemade Romanian sweets as well…

…AND a container of extra sweets AND a jar of pickled peppers for the host — well, that’s some karma coming back my way, my friends, and I will gladly take advantage.

Darius, what are those little pastry things with the cream and jam called? They are SO GOOD, I can’t stop eating them.

(Anand loves the cake, he says. Tell your mom.)

Scandalous, Somehow

My first spatchcocked turkey — it does looks a little scandalous, somehow.

The thighs cooked a little fast — if I’d had more energy, I would have taken them off and let the rest finish. They were at 195F by the time the breast made it to 160F. So I think they may end up a little dry. But that said, fast and reasonably easy.

Just Autumnal

Have turned down turkey from 450 to 400, and set up the porch Thanksgiving table with Kavi’s tablecloth. I was pleased to find that our little grocery co-op had three different kinds of intriguing cider, so I hope friends stopping by will take the opportunity to experiment with their apple cider mimosas. And it’s not freezing outside, hooray — just autumnal! So pleased.

Next off to pick up samosas, then filling out petition sheets, so they’re ready for signatures.

This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful for the factors that make it possible for me to run for office — a steady job with reasonable hours, a supportive partner who also has a steady job with reasonable hours, and who is willing to cover childcare on the nights twice a month when I’m in board meetings.

Particularly in a year when so many have lost jobs due to failure of government, I’m acutely aware that we are among a fortunate few. More of our citizens (dare I say, all of them) should be well-supported enough to have the option of such service.

Spatchcocking Research

The turkey is out of the brine, rinsed, and losing a little of the fridge chill. I realized last night that I really had no reason not to spatchcock it, since we’re not gathering for a fancy in-person table. That saved me a couple hours of cooking time and will cook it better anyway, so I got to sleep in, which was nice.

I’ve never actually spatchcocked before, so this will be a learning experience. Stuffing & coffee for breakfast. Perfect. Then, a little internet researching on spatchcocking.