Wait before I say anything– Jessica Kesselman, I drove for an hour on the country roads… last week, I kept my shit together while 16 enormous turkeys commandeered the road which was very twisty and hilly.
That being said, I really should be writing more, it’s not like there’s nothing happening I am just not that inspired to type and spell check, it’s not even the writing its the boring stuff like sentence structure that I am just not finding easy to manage right now. Of course I want to publish my awesome recipe for Butternut Squash Mac& Cheese for 150, but uch all those lists and semi colons and bullet points and orderly progressions of tasks. Why not just stream of consciousness this bitch.
Its my blog I can do what ever I like. It’s so cold and rainy here today, just gray gray gray gray gray.
I’m making soup and doing laundry and planning my day tomorrow.
I’m Head Cook at soup kitchen and we’re doing Mexican(ish) as in Mexican lasagna (ground beef, enchilada sauce, cheese and whatever else I can scrounge layered with flour tortillas and baked … and the ever ambitious and quite terrifying rice & beans– I have 2.5 hours and volunteers of varying degrees of skill can I get rice for 150 in the oven and beans on the stove and simmering by 10:00 (kafee klatsch time).
The Wednesday Crew is awesome, I’m hoping I can pull them away from salad and get an assembly line working working working — also hoping I can get an extra half hour early on so I can make sofrito- all will be good once I can get the sofrito chopped and sweated— if only I could cook it for like a couple of hours but not happening…maybe can brown meat in hot oven then pour off grease add sofrito and get it in the pan to bake????
You know the internet is so very unhelpful I must have gone a zillion different websites looking for soup kitchen recipes (beans for 150….) and ok,it’s not the internet that is stupid, it’s people, people who are on the internet are fucking stupid… recipes are not “oh you should make pizza” or ” we make Hawaiian Haystacks” (BTW I wish I could un-remember what that is…it is a dish people in Utah make its starts with cream of chicken soup and involves pineapple, coconut, mandarin oranges, chow mein noodles and canned bean sprouts and about 50 other things) – anyway back to the point those are not recipes they are suggestions… obviously no one is sitting around the soup kitchen going if only I could think of something to make besides clams casino they probably want to make vegetable soup or do something with 45 pounds of random pork chops: Providing a recipe for their vegetable soup for 200 would be helpful yes???? Or even saying we made pork chops with all the different jam we could find and some mustard and it came out great .
Maybe I should write a cookbook for soup kitchens…maybe not still have to get to working on my ebook- Dinner Every Night
You can pre-order it by clicking here and it will be ready December 19th— tell ALL YOUR FRIENDS to buy it, it’s only $3.00… right now it says 11 pages but it will be more I put the first chapter in as a place holder.
Also I am getting so sick of Political Ads and emails…Nancy Pelosi sent a email stating that she was really disappointed with me, well Nancy I am disappointed with me too,
Enough ranting and raving here are some pictures of some stuff…
This week’s Menu
Farm share : Yellow Beets, Escarole, Arugula, Winter Squash, Onions, Swiss Chard, Potatoes, Carrots, Parsnips, Rutabaga
Sunday Night
Roast Chicken w Dukkah & Zhug
Beets, Carrots & Parsnips- Roasted Maple Soy
Brussels Sprouts & Potatoes with Bacon & Roasted Lemon
(Dukkah is an spice mix with a nuts – the one I made had Hazelnuts, Coriander, Cumin, Black Pepper, Fennel, Poppy seeds , Sesame Seeds & Salt – Zhug is a Yemeni or Israeli ( I think) Sauce its green & spicy I made this with jalapeno, Parsley, Water Cress, Garlic, Lemon Juice, Cumin & Aleppo Pepper)
Monday
Rigatoni w Lamb Ragu ( Made 2 weeks ago from bones & trim and kept in freezer)
Escarole Salad w Red Wine Vinaigrette
Garlic bread
Tuesday
Chicken Noodle Soup with Chard
Warm Brussels Sprout Panzanella
Wednesday
Pot Roast
Mashed Rutabaga & Potato
Peas
Thursday
Montreal Style Pork Pie
Beet Salad
Friday
Beef Soft Tacos or Enchiladas w leftover pot roast.
Anyway other than that I’ve been a bit down in the dumps, not finding a job and not having any money to spend of frivolous stuff makes me cranky— we have everything we need but not stuff that I want and I just want stuff like a whole bunch of big white candles and some silly crackers and better wine and a pair of embroidered UGGs and I am little worried about Thanksgiving since its going to cost ALOT to make a dinner for 10 they way I want it but am willing to concede that it’s ok if the desserts are not perfect or are in fact non-existent because I’d rather a cheese plate and more wine after a meal like that then an espresso, an after dinner drink and something tiny, sweet and fanciful…
I know most people like ok we’ll get through Halloween then think about Thanksgiving but since I learned that we get like ZERO trick or treaters I don’t really care about Halloween at all anymore….I need to make friends with some kids s.o I can make them spider cookies and ghost sandwiches and stuff like that.
Here’s my thing with Thanksgiving dinner- the fun part is the planning and the making not the eating…. I like the Turkey Butt, the Neck & the Wing I could care less for gravy or mashed potatoes and I really only like the burnt edges around the sweet potatoes and whatever veg there is esp if it is bitter & sour. Also warm rolls with butter.
Everything else (stuffing,cranberry, turkey meat) I like as a sandwich with mayonnaise late at night or for breakfast. Really I’d rather sit down and talk and drink wine while everyone’s eating because I already had my favorite parts in the kitchen preferably by myself since no one in my family is going to be around to share them with me and it’s our thing.
Especially my dad and the wings… he ate them both before anyone showed up, he ate the wings and I ate the butt and the neck …hours before dinner. And it’s exhausting cooking all that…and you have to taste as you go… I’m never interested in actually eating ..maybe I can get away with it this year…a token plate a few brussels sprouts buttered roll, a few glasses of wine while everyone else eats… I’ll be so much more comfortable not being stuffed.
So for fun here’s my Thanksgiving Menu— yeah I’m a planner this has been planned for weeks, it may change slightly but not much.
Pre-Dinner:
Sparkling Wine
Smoked Trout Butter w Crostini & Radishes
Salami & Olives
Almonds & Aged Gouda
(all easily obtained at Trader Joes for cheap – except trout butter which is SUPER EASY its like 1:2 smoked fish & unsalted butter + fresh herbs/onions/aromatics, citrus juice & zest, black pepper and just whip it all together easy and so delicious like you could make a smoked mackerel butter with pink grapefruit, scallions, soy & ginger or smoked trout butter with chives,Meyer lemon & black pepper or smoked salmon butter with dill,orange & coriander or anchovy butter with garlic, lemon & Parmigiano cheese the possibilities are endless)
Dinner:
Wine TBD
Maple Dry Brined Turkey w Dry Cider Gravy (dry brine Maple Sugar + Smoked Salt + Black Pepper)
Mashed Potato with Black Pepper & Cream
Pureed Sweet Potato with Vanilla Chili Meringue (I LOOOVE the marshmallow top this is my grown up version and will use the yokes in my Pumpkin pie)
Brussel’s Sprouts with Roasted Lemon & Bacon vinaigrette (Tart & Smoky)
Cornbread & Sausage Stuffing – ( My no longer secret ingredient is low sodium Ritz cracker crushed up and added with lots celery carrot & onion + butter and a few eggs its more of a savoury bread pudding than a stuffing it slices beautifully the next day for a sandwich and it’s really really good cold)
Rosemary Parker House rolls I will bake dinner rolls !!!!!!!
Cranberry sauce from a can because that’s what everyone wants anyway.
I want to throw one more veg in there but I don’t think it’ll be eaten,— something crunchy & raw.
Cheese Plate: A Creamy Goat Cheese + Gooey Triple Creme + Bitter Greens, Raw Apples & Toasted Pecans
Pumpkin Pie
Coffee & Tea & After Dinner Drinks TBD (Tawny Port? Bourbon? Nocello?)
Some kind of chocolates
Whatever else happens for dessert I’m not concerned, it will all sort itself out.
Stay tuned for more about Thanksgiving……did I mention that it’s FREEEEEZING here???
The Maine Course 