Talk..Please!

Gripe, growl, rejoice, complain-- this is the Chatter box and it is too quiet.

Thanks!





Say what you think--if you are wrong, you will be told by someone.





Do you wish your parents had been gay and had adopted you?

Hiya, Alice.

Happy New Year to you.

I'm getting back to the writing biz, editing the next novel in line, pushing aside the chocolate for a bit.

Hope this finds you well!!

Rhett

I am eating lots of chocolate--love dark Dove chocolate.

Christmas is still going on here. Dave and his family arrived yesterday, and stopped by for a late lunch before heading on to his dad's. Today, I am getting ready for tomorrow, while he sees his Aunt Carrie and Uncle Ron for the first time since before Jaycie was born. Tomorrow, they will be here for the day, and we are cooking dinner for Lynn and Chris as well, after we get back from taking Jaycie sight-seeing. We haven't decided where yet. I'm pushing for the Institute of Texas Cultures, since I need to go by there anyway, as it has a recreated 19th century village as well as a depiction of a Comanche camp. It's just off the Riverwalk, in the old Hemisfair Plaza, so it should be fun for Jaycie. They plan to stop by for a few hours on Monday before they fly back home.

It looks like I am cooking another turkey dinner on Thursday for family night. Lynn's in-laws got a free one for Christmas that is still in their freezer, and I found myself agreeing to cook it since Linda "doesn't know how." So, on Tuesday, she and I are going shopping for fresh vegetables to go with it.

Hopefully, by the end of the week, the holidays will be officially done with and I can get my life back to something like normal.

Ann

Thank you, Ann,


Ours ended yesterday. Our son-in-law left. We took him to the airport at 4:30 in the morning and were sleepy all day.

The kids and our daughter had flown away on Monday. Christmas is never long enough. We get ready and then it is over so fast.

Jonah, our youngest grandson--7--whined all the way home and said, "I want to be at Grandma and Grandpa's house,"

SInce they landed in a snowstorm in Chicago and their flight was canceled they had to drive on treacherous roads.

All is well that ends well,

The trees came down the day after our daughter and kids left.

I am glad I was not adopted by a gay couple. One mother was enough two would have been too much. The same for the fathers.

Alice, I used to think, sometimes that my parents did adopt me. I seemed to be so different from the rest of them.

Speaking of parents, I have had much opportunity to see a couple of delightful ones in action. I spent most of the day yesterday getting out and around with Dave, Lyn, and Jaycie. We took her downtown to the Children's Museum and to the Institute of Texan Cultures.

Jaycie is growing into a delightful little girl, partly because she is very bright and good-natured and partly because her parents are doing a spectacular job. She is getting old enough now to converse and to reason things out. Dave and Lyn are careful about giving her options, and she responds well to their direction. Of course, she is still two, for a few more months, so she goes through periods of frustration and disappointment when she can't do things she wants to do. They are so calm and rational with her, though, that she feels secure with them, and listens, after a bit, to reason.

Yesterday was so funny, because I heard my son speaking to his daughter with the same tone and words that I had found to be effective in dealing with him, at the same age, especially in his insistence that she verbalize, in one way or another, that she knew what behavior was expected of her in a given situation.

She is really intelligent for her age (says her grandmother). While we were driving through downtown, we saw a man (or woman - you couldn't tell) dressed in a bagel costume, in front of a coffee shop, hawking bagels. As we were coming back, several hours later, when we reached the same spot, she asked what happened to Mr. Bagel Man. We asked her whet she thought might have happened and she decided that he went into the shop to eat a bagel. Her mom asked her is she wanted to eat and she said yes, because she was hungry. I knew that Mommy and Daddy were hoping that she might sleep on the trip back, since we had more plans for the evening, so I asked her if she thought Mr. Bagel Man was taking a nap. She looked at me very firmly and said, "No, Grannie Annie. He isn't sleepy." It was the last thing she said, because when we looked back a few seconds later, she was out, and stayed that way for several hours. It had been a busy day.

Last night we had dinner at Aunt Lynn's and Uncle Chris's. You may remember this pic of Lynn's living room during the holidays a year ago, when Lyn's dad came with them for their trip.

Last night, when she walked back into that room, for the first time in over a year, she looked at those two chairs and asked, "Where's Popop?"

Needless to say her grandmother was amazed at another sign of her astute memory and recognition skills.

We are getting together at some point today, one more time before they head back to NJ.

I have new pics on my phone, but no time to get them uploaded just yet.

Maybe things will get back to normal routines afterwards.

It's been a long, stretched out holiday. Normal will be nice.

What is normal? I'm not sure I remember?

Ann

Talking about cooking turkeys. As a young bride the thought of cooking a turkey was daunting. My mother in law came to the rescue with the following:

Do not stuff the turkey. Empty out the two cavities of their parts and cook them separately before cooking the turkey. Use the meat to stir in with the stuffing mix to give it an authentic "cooked inside the turkey" taste. For stuffing, use wild rice and brown rice with walnuts and turkey pieces.

Wash thoroughly and season the turkey inside and out. Put a large, clean, paper grocery bag in a roasting pan with the roll up side accessible. Put in the turkey, breast side down. Pour a cup of seasoned butter over the top of the turkey, fold up the end of the bag and clip it shut with metal clips after putting a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the bird.

Cook at 350 degrees for the number of hours dictated by the weight of the unstuffed turkey. Do not open the bag until time to check the thermometer.


I was terrified about putting that turkey in a paper bag in the oven. It cooked beautifully. The "stuffing" was delicious. Everyone thought I was a great cook.

I remember my mm doing the turkey-in--bag thing. It worked quite well.

I will probably do this one the the way that has become my fave since I discovered the recipe in a Real Simple magazine. It was part of their "No Mess - No Stress Thanksgiving issue about 10 years ago.

I lift the skin of the breast and rub the turkey with herbed goat cheese, stuff it with orange quarters, halved garlic bulbs ( the whole bulb - don't bother to peel), and fresh sage leaves. Then roast it on a bed of whole carrots and leeks. The drippings are heavenly, and make a rich, fruity/savory gravy.

We've decided not to do a dressing, just find a couple of the freshest vegetables, whatever they might be, while we are shopping tomorrow, and roast them along with the turkey.

Linda is a very nice lady, but she doesn't like to cook, so when she says she doesn't know how, she really means she doesn't want to learn.

But you are right. That paper bag trick really works.

Ann

Happy New Year 2012 to all!!!!

Been so busy....preparing for licensure then PhD studies begin again in April....thinking of you all! Hoping all is well for everyone!

Great to see you back, Lee.

Hi Alice,

Now that I'm back up and around, I'm going to try and post more!

Hope Everyone has a GREAT NEW YEAR!!!!

We'll look forward to talking with you, Don.

Glad to hear it, Don, I like to hear from you.

alj wrote:

I remember my mom doing the turkey-in--bag thing. It worked quite well.

I will probably do this one the the way that has become my fave since I discovered the recipe in a Real Simple magazine. It was part of their "No Mess - No Stress Thanksgiving issue about 10 years ago.

I lift the skin of the breast and rub the turkey with herbed goat cheese, stuff it with orange quarters, halved garlic bulbs ( the whole bulb - don't bother to peel), and fresh sage leaves. Then roast it on a bed of whole carrots and leeks. The drippings are heavenly, and make a rich, fruity/savory gravy.

We've decided not to do a dressing, just find a couple of the freshest vegetables, whatever they might be, while we are shopping tomorrow, and roast them along with the turkey.

Linda is a very nice lady, but she doesn't like to cook, so when she says she doesn't know how, she really means she doesn't want to learn.

But you are right. That paper bag trick really works.

Ann

Turkey just came out of the oven:

We bought the veggies ready to roast. Will use the celery and red bells as part of a crudite tray.


Linda will be here soon, with the ingredients to make a new recipe for both of us, Sweet Potato Spoonbread. I think it is going to be much like my grandmother's Sweet Potato pone.

We are going to make he spoonbread together.

We've been having fun with this. Did the shopping together Tuesday, and will visit while we put the rest of the dinner together for tonight.

Good times!

Ann

Looks delicious!

It was. I just wish we got an image of Linda's spoonbread. I will scan the copy of the recipe that she gave me. It was incredibly delicious.

Ann

I am waiting patiently.

Sorry about that. Scanning text is always a freaky experience. I think I corrected everything, though.


Sweet Potato Spoon Bread
"For perfect consistency, gently fold in egg whites, leaving visible swirls," Sara says. "Spoon bread is 'a cross between grits and corn bread, with a lovely dense pudding-like texture, I never need an excuse to bring sweet potatoes into the mix—I add them to just about everything. In this case, they reinforce the silky texture while adding color and sweetness."

prep 25 min. bake 45 min. + 35 min stand 10 min. oven 400°F/350°F

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter (l/2 stick), melted
2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 lb,)
2 1/2 cups milk
1 Tbsp. fresh thyme
1 Tbsp. light brown sugar
2 tsp. coarse sea salt
l/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 cup finely ground white or yellow cornmeal
4 large eggs, separated
2 tsp. baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Generously grease 2-quart souffle dish or casserole with 1 Tbsp. butter.
2. Wrap potatoes in foil. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until soft to touch. Remove from oven. Discard foil; cool. When cool enough to handle, remove and discard peels. In large bowl mash potatoes.
3. Reduce oven to 350°F. In large saucepan, bring milk, thyme, sugar, salt, and pepper to alow boil over medium heat. In slow steady stream, whisk cornmeal into milk mixture. Cook, whisking constantly, 4 to 5 minutes, until mixture is thick and pulls away from bottom of pan. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Add potatoes, egg yolks, remaining 3 Tbsp. butter, and baking powder to milk mixture; stir to thoroughly mix.
4. In large mixing bowl beat egg whites with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gently fold whites into the potato mixture.
5. Spoon batter into prepared dish. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, until internal temperature reaches 165°F. Edges will be firm, and the center a little soft. Remove from oven. Let stand 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Makes 8 servings.

each serving 234 cal, 10 g fat, 127mgchol, 576 mg sodium, 28 g carb, 1 g fiber, 8 g pro.

Make Ahead: Bake and mash potatoes up to 3 days ahead. Store, covered, in refrigerator.

(I think this came from November's Better Homes and Gardens, but not sure. The clipping didn't have the source info.)

Ann

This blog has an article on the same BGH recipe, which includes pics.

http://ladygouda.blogspot.com/2011/12/sweet-potato-spoon-bread.html



Except, our dish didn't have any left over.

Ann

Ann,

THANK YOU!

Did anyone ever tell you how you brighten up this place?

If not, now is the time.