Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Not Much Going On

It's warmed up to -11°F today and there is a suggestion of warmer weather from the National Weather Service for the coming week. I won't be around to take advantage of it. Last week, my father passed away at the Veterans Home in Oregon. I will be coming down to Oregon for the service later this week and spend the weekend in Corvallis visiting with my family before heading down to San Francisco for the AGU Fall Meeting. The cold temperatures ensured that it was a very quiet Thanksgiving weekend around our house. Or as Bobskoot put it Nada, nothing, NIL. My wife took her younger son to visit a music school in St. Paul, MN, then spent the holiday weekend visiting her oldest son in Grand Rapids, MI.

This year, after seeing the show a number of times over the years, I tried the Good Eats Roast Turkey recipe from Alton Brown's show on the Food Network. We picked up the smallest turkey we could find that still met Safeway's free turkey offer, brined it overnight using boxed vegetable stock and roasted it stuffed only with an onion, a cinnamon stick and an apple. My youngest son declared it a success as the white meat was as moist and tasty as the dark meat. Around our house, I could just hack off the white meat and throw it away since no one even touches it. (Actually, I usually sneak it into other dishes) Making Thanksgiving dinner did bring back some memories as my dad had showed me how to make the dressing back when I was about 12 years old. I'm reminded of it every time I smell the onions and celery sweating in the pan with lots of butter.

14 comments:

  1. Richard:

    so sorry about your Dad. It's nice to reflect on memories past about the stuffing and Turkey. I love turkey, and also I like Alton Brown. You know he rides a BMW and did that concrete series a couple of years ago where he dumped his bike and broke his arm. Great minds think alike . . . I also did a roast chicken yesterday in my new Gas stove. (do you know I just love our new Gas stove).

    enjoy your family time

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast

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  2. Sorry about your Dad. I wish you had a better reason to travel to wonderful Oregon.

    Now that you mentioned the Turkey dinner I feel so hungy!

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  3. Richard,

    Sorry to hear about your father.

    I to have made the Good Eats Turkey in the past and it was the best I've every had.

    GAW

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  4. Sorry for the loss of your father. At least you have good memories. If you need a break and are in town on Saturday stop by Coffee Culture. We'd love to see you. We are usually there from 9 until almost noon.

    Before we went veggie we used the Alton Brown turkey brine recipe. It was the only way we'd do a turkey after trying it. Glad you liked it.

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  5. Richard, I add my condolences to those of the others. I'm glad the turkey turned out. I love it when I try something in the kitchen and it works. I wish you safe travels and a rich time of family and sharing of memories.
    ~k

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  6. Richard,

    As the others have said sorry to hear about your dad.

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  7. That is sad news about your Father. Have a safe trip to Oregon for the service.

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  8. I'm so sorry to read of the passing of your father, Richard. My condolences.

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  9. Welcome back to Oregon but sorry for the circumstances. You know my number.

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  10. Thank you everyone for your good wishes for myself and my family.

    After weeks of temperatures well below 0°F, I'm looking forward to the trip out.

    Richard

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  11. Richard, you are in our thoughts. So sorry to learn of your father's passing. Travel safely and enjoy being together with family.

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  12. Trobairitz & Troubadour:
    I was thinking about stopping by Coffee Culture on Saturday morning if my family didn't have anything planned. Maybe see you there.

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