I've had occasion to see and talk to my cousin Mary quite a bit over the last month or so. She's about a half-a-generation older than me, but very cool and very funny. She's also a pretty decent cook. Though I wouldn't (yet) classify her as a "foodie," she takes more interest and pride in her cooking than most folks.
I had dinner at her house around Christmas last year and she made a beef tenderloin. I asked her if she had trimmed it herself and she gave me one of those "I didn't know you could" looks. We then got into a long conversation about cooking... blah, blah, blah.
She must've had that conversation in mind when she called a couple weeks ago and invited us to Thanksgiving. She said that she hoped that I'd plan and cook the meal with her so she could "learn a thing or two."
I really like cooking with (and for) people who appreciate the craft, so I was really excited at the prospect of cooking a holiday meal with her. I've been thinking of doing a huge, blow-out meal for a small crowd for some time, and this seemed like a great opportunity (or at least good practice).
Actually, I was so excited by the idea that I was awake until about 2:30 that night thinking about possibilities for the meal. Let's just say there was a cranberry and Grand Marnier sorbet intermezzo involved. ;)
I e-mailed her the next morning and simply asked "How ambitious are you feeling?"
Her reply: "Well, if you're thinking about brining a turkey, we tried that a couple of years ago and it didn't go over too well..."
The remnants of a nine-course menu now reside at the bottom of my paper shredder.
Friday, October 3, 2008
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5 comments:
Wow you sound like me...up late planning a meal, lol.
Don't give up. Let them eat the dried up turkey and wow them with all the rest (or bring a smaller brined turkey and let them taste the difference)
Heh. The funny thing is - I wasn't going to brine it.
Yep - I've done that.
It starts with something basic and innocent ... "oh, and maybe you could bring dessert" ... and before I know it, I'm cleaning out the garage searching for my "holiday goodie" binder and wondering if bringing three cheesecakes would appear to be boastful, even 'tho I REALLY wanna bring four.
She asked me to help plan, so I don't know what she thought she was getting into.
I'm thinking I'll just skip the whole thing.
When I read that, it felt like a punch to the diaphragm.
it must feel something like when I go to make homemade dressing for the greek salad with imported Kalamata olives and feta...and my sis says, "Why don't we just put the bottles on the table and let folks decide? Would that be ok?"
Uff!
"Sure, it's...ok."
(Quietly wonders...does my dressing suck that bad?)
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