Stock in trade

My cookbook exhorts me to make my turkey stock early the morning of the day following the turkey feast. Meaning that I ought to have made my stock a good 48 hours ago.

Oh, dear.

Everything now takes longer than expected, and I'm making my turkey stock today.

I'm sure that, once finished, it will be happy in its containers in the freezer, longing for the day so far in the future when it will be used to make a risotto alla funghi...

Kanadasalat

My family's potato salad is as simple as it is delicious. Embarrassingly simple, to tell the truth. So simple that I'm embarrassed to share it with others.

Three ingredients:

• Potatoes (did I really need to say that?)
• Diced apple
• Miracle Whip

Yes, Miracle Whip. That bottled mayo-esque substance. It lies at the heart of my family's potato salad.

There, I've said it. The metaphorical cat is out of the bag. (The litteral cat is begging me to throw her mouse.)

This is the kind of food that is best enjoyed at home with those who won't judge. As good as it tastes, I don't think I've ever brought it along to a potluck, for instance.

But when my in-laws were visiting from Europe in the spring, I made it for them. My mother-in-law loved it. At least, she said she did. She couldn't quite believe me that there were just those three ingredients. My German is quite poor (Ich spreche nur ein venig Deutsch.), but the receipe is simple enough that even I could describe it in German. And, as it happens, Miracle Whip is available in Germany. (Of course, it is pronounced more like Mirakel Vip.)

So my mother-in-law (and this is probably a good place to point out that, unlike too many women, I actually like my mother-in-law, and she seems to like me, too) decided to make this salad, which she dubbed Kanadasalat (because, of course, she first tasted it in Canada), for Christmas Eve.

The cat is not only out of the bag, it has scampered across the pond.

My reputation as a reasonable cook must be in tatters.

I hang my head in shame as I pass the bowl for seconds.

9:20 pm

That's when we finally sat down to our Christmas supper.

For turkey cooking time guidance, I checked my trusty Canadian Living Complete Cookbook and my Mom, too. Both provided times based on a stuffed 6.5 kg bird, about 3.5 hours at 325F. Our turkey was just 4.6 kg, so surely it would take no longer, right?

Wrong.

I got the stuffed critter in the oven at 3:12 pm. Five and a half hours (and a few incremental jumps in oven temperature) later, I hauled it out for the last time. I'd used one digital instant-read thermometer and one dial-type leave-in thermometer to monitor the bird's progress, and they were finally closing in on the magical 82C mark. The juices were running clear. The scent of roast turkey had finally permeated the house.


During the turkey's rest (nap?), the veggies (potatoes, yams, butternut squash, carrots, parsnips, and shallots) roasted, the white asparagus steamed, and I made a Hollandaise sauce and (yuck) gravy. The cranberry sauce I'd made earlier in the day. When Werner carved the turkey, we were reassured that the bugger was well and truly cooked (though not overcooked, which I would have expected after that long in the increasingly-hot oven.)

The meal was good, if far too late in the evening for our liking. By the time we'd finished eating, it seemed too late for dessert, and the Yule Log, which I'd struggled to finish on Christmas Eve, was left untouched.

That's it, I'm baking

I've had a crappy day. The baby has spat up on me, as always, but courtesy of leaky diapers (damn those Huggies) has also pooped on me during his first feeding and peed on me during his second.

Werner has taken him out for a walk. This is the first time I've had the house to myself since the baby was born.

I'm baking chocolate cupcakes.

A moment!!

The baby co-operated long enough for me to get a cake in the oven!

Of course, he woke up, hungry, six minutes before the timer was set to chime. Maybe it was the scent?

The recipe: Applesauce Spice Cake with Brown Sugar Icing
Source: Canadian Living Holiday Baking 2006

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1-1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup buttermilk

Grease 9x13 inch metal cake pan; line bottom with parchement paper. Set aside.

In large bowl, beat butter with brown sugar until fluffy; beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Beat in vanilla.

In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and nutmeg. Stir into butter mixture alternately with applesauce and buttermilk, making three additions of dry ingredients and two of the wet.

Bake in centre of 350F (180C) oven until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack. (Make-ahead: Cover and store for up to 2 days. Or overwrap with heavy-duty foil and freeze for up to 2 weeks; thaw before icing.)


Icing ingredients:
1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbsp corn syrup
2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted

In saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add brown sugar and corn syrup; bring to boil, stirring constantly. Boil just until blended, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Using wooden spoon, stir milk and vanilla into butter mixture. Using wooden spoon, beat in icing sugar until smooth and spreadable; let cool for 1 minute. Spread over top of cake just to edge, letting icing drizzel over slightly.

Makes 12 servings.

Nutritional information:
Per serving: about 508 calories, 5 g protein, 18g total fat (11 g saturated fat), 83 g carbohydrates, 1 g fibre, 99 mg cholesterol, 527 mg sodium. % RDI: 8% calcium, 18% iron, 18% vitamin A, 3% vitamin C, 32% folate.

Butchery

We received a care package from our church's 'pastoral care' committee. Unlike all the other presents received in recent weeks, this one was primarily for us. Sure, there were a few books and a toy, but most of the contents were for the benefit of the tired, overwhelmed parents. Juice, nuts, chocolate, biscuits.

And a fresh, whole pineapple.

We are both fond of pineapple, so this was a welcome gift. But the effort of preparing it for consumption got me thinking about the act of preparing said pineapple. All that peeling, coring, slicing... It seems to me that I didn't so much have to prepare the pineapple as butcher it.

Just a thought. A sleep-deprived thought, at that.

Wishful thinking? Masochism?

I'm not sure this is such a good idea.

I've been reading cookbooks.

I received Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for More Food for my birthday, and bought the "director's cut" version of I'm Just Here for the Food soon afterwards. As always, I bought Canadian Living's latest magazine-style cookbook, this one filled with holiday treats, and got suckered in by Fine Cooking's special chocolate issue.

Countless new, enticing issues. Neither time nor opportunity to try them.

{sigh}

I used to love cooking; now it seems a chore. Baking¹ used to be my favourite stress reliever; now I can only endulge if the baby is either asleep (and will be for a long enough time) or my husband is able to care for him while I'm in the kitchen.

How can I be an overeducated Hausfrau if I don't present my family with healthy, love-steeped meals on a daily basis?


¹ Yes, baking. I certainly do like nibbling on the yummy outcome, but it is the baking I enjoy most. Thank heaven I have a husband who enjoys homemade goodies (are there husbands who don't??), so I have a willing consumer of said yummy outcomes!

I am so glad I planned - and prepared - ahead!

Last night I took a lasagna out of the freezer. Enough for four servings, so good for two suppers.

Hooray! It was delicious. I'm so glad now that I took the time then - when I was nine months pregnant! - to make homemade noodles.

Damn, that was tasty lasagna! Maybe it tasted better because it was such a treat? Homemade, yet no effort (at the time, anyway)?

In any case, I am so glad I filled the freezer. Aside from the lasagna, we've had a raspberry pie and cannelloni. There's still lots to choose from, and I'm glad of that. Seems like it will be a long long time yet before I get to really cook...

I'm gonna need some warm gloves

The freezer is so well stocked that getting things out is a bit of a challenge. The ready-made homemade food is a welcome treat now that I don't have time to cook, but I think I'm at risk of frostbite!

Mmmm... tastes like summer!

I've fished one of the pies from the freezer. Raspberry pie - tastes just like summer! What a treat!