Divisions and Precisions

Weekend update

pointed this out to me. So funny. I'd get one of the kits, but I don't know how often I could bear to explain why I was cross stitching "Go fuck yourself" on a project.

This Thanksgiving weekend has been, in a word, glorious.

Wednesday was spent cooking and last-minute shopping and getting ready. Thursday was a laid-back, quiet day with me and Mom and my aunt and uncle. The food was yummy and way too plentiful, and I actually won two games of Rook with my aunt. On Friday we put up the Christmas tree and lights on the windows and such, and I made turkey stock (my first attempt ever, more on that later). Today was much lazier. I finished up the turkey stock, did my laundry and made turkey noodle soup--this doesn't sound lazy, but trust me, it was. In between it all, I cross stitched like mad, to the point that I had to stop tonight because I got a shoulder cramp. My project is getting close to being finished, so I can't bear to stop. I'm fairly certain this one's going to be a Christmas present.

I've enjoyed this weekend in a large part because I've gotten so much time to play around in the kitchen. I've always wanted to try and make homemade turkey or chicken soup. I tried chicken soup once early in my marriage and it was an undeniable disaster. I ended up with greasy water. But, on a whim, I saved the turkey carcass on Thursday, and stuck it in the fridge. Friday I threw it in a stock pot with water, carrots, onions, celery, garlic and a bunch of spices and let it all simmer for a couple of hours.

At this point I was nervous. I had greasy water that kinda tasted like turkey. But I strained out the big pieces and let it cool overnight in the fridge. This morning I skimmed the fat off the top, and after obtaining cheesecloth, strained the whole mess again. Did some re-seasoning and voila! Pretty tasty turkey stock. I froze a bowl-full and set aside another bowl-full to make rice in the next day or two.

To make the soup (interestingly enough, Emeril was on TV also making turkey soup as I was doing this), I just heated up the stock, tossed in more celery, some frozen vegetables, and some cubed turkey, followed by parsley, rosemary, thyme, and pepper (any near-reference to Simon and Garfunkel is entirely unintentional). After it simmered for a bit, I put in the egg noodles. It was phenomenal. I was so pleased. It was a perfect dinner for a cold and windy afternoon. I definitely want to keep experimenting with soups this winter.

(I'm starting to wonder if I should make a cooking filter.)

I had to laugh tonight, because my weekend would seem so horribly boring to some people. I mean, I spent Saturday night sitting with my mom, cross stitching and watching figure skating. But I loved it. This has been the most peaceful, relaxing four days I've had in a long, long time.