A Watched Pot...

Well, it does boil.  Sometimes if I want to make pasta right on time, I'll heat the water to boiling ahead of time, then turn off the burner.  The water holds heat quite well, so fifteen minutes before dinnertime, you can just reheat the water back to boiling and add in the pasta.

Nothing on a Bad Day

Sometimes when I'm having a bad day I listen to this song and I feel better.

I think someone called it the anthem for nihilism.

Think what you will.

Thanksgiving Trial Run

So Thanksgiving is definitely coming up.

There are a few things I want to try this year, but Lil' Sis and Bro are sticklers for tradition.  So I'm gonna try out these recipes ahead of time, just to be sure.

In lieu of stuffing, savory bread pudding. Cranberry-Pecan bread pudding, to be exact.

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of turkey.  Chicken is so much juicier and more flavorful, and duck is even more so.  Game hens are adorable.  Turkey is just... massive and unwieldy and difficult to fry.  I've become rather disillusioned with whole roast turkey over the years.

I will be making Zuni-style roast chicken tomorrow night.  What makes a roast chicken Zuni roast chicken?  You need a small chicken, no bigger than 3.5lbs, you need to season it at least a day in advance, and roast it first at a high temperature before finishing it off at a lower temperature.

I'm cooking using these recipes; here, and here, and here.  My bird is thoroughly dried and seasoned.  I've got salt, black and white pepper, as well as a little garlic powder on the skin, and tiny bundles of sage, rosemary and thyme under the skin.  We'll see how it turns out tomorrow.