The Turkey

Adam was indignant that I didn't include a shot of THE TURKEY in my Thanksgiving recap post. So here he is.

Kitchen Chemistry: Thanksgiving Cranberry Sauce

Are you prepared for Thanksgiving?

We're still mulling over ways to scale down the feast for our party of two this year. At least one thing is certain- we'll be fixing our signature Cranberry Sauce. Cranberry Sauce really is the gem of the Thanksgiving table, isn't it? This one has a sparkling taste you'll enjoy as well. Beyond spicing up your turkey, it's also beautiful on red meat (we served it with beef at our wedding!), sandwiches, cheese platters, and ice cream. 

We gave out our secret recipe as a thank you to our wedding guests. I thought you might enjoy it as well...

Mr. & Mrs. WarLock's Thanksgiving Cranberry Sauce

Start by simmering one can of Whole-Berry Cranberry Sauce over low heat

Stir in 1/2 shot of Calvados, 1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon of Ginger, and a pinch of Salt

Squeeze in the juice from 1/4 of a Large Orange, simmer until thickened

Chill, then garnish with Orange Zest and Cinnamon Sticks

Kitchen Chemistry: Beer Can Chicken & Potato Salad

Still wondering what to get Dad this Father's Day? How about a wishbone, a funny bone, a case of beer, and (best of all) leftovers? Here's a meal that truly commemorates dear old Dad...

I found fabulous instructions for Roasted Beer Can Chicken in Martha Stewart Living, which I followed almost exactly (though I substituted rosemary for thyme). As a side, I made up a pan of roasted red potatoes seasoned with olive oil, sprigs of rosemary, pepper, and rosemary salt for extra flavor.

Our chicken was a fairly tubby specimen, but he was still extremely stable on top of the beer can in the oven (I was surprised!). He took a little longer to cook than expected, so I basted several more times than Martha recommended. When done, the skin was crispy and the meat was tender. I'd been skeptical about using stout with white meat... but the Guinness flavor was so complimentary that I might never cook chicken without it again. I made Martha's gravy as well, but found it to be weak and unnecessary (don't bother with it!).

Just like Dad, this is a meal that gets better with age (har har). Though we did our very best to take down that dinner, we had two wings, six ounces of thigh meat, and a pound of potatoes leftover for the next day. I told Adam I wanted a delicious potato salad to take on a picnic, and he didn't disappoint. Here's what he came up with:

Combine the chicken (shredded or in chunks) and potatoes in a large bowl with a small diced onion and a quarter cup of chopped Italian parsley. In a smaller bowl, mix together about a half a cup of mayonaise, a quarter teaspoon of garlic powder, a half tablespoon of paprika, a tablespoon of cracked black pepper, a pinch of cayenne pepper, and a teaspoon of white truffle oil. Spoon this mixture over your chicken and potatoes and stir until well coated. Lastly, add one or two large dill pickles (diced, per your taste), two hardboiled eggs (diced), and salt (keeping in mind that the potatoes and chicken are already salted and may not need much more).

The result is a mouthwateringly zesty salad that pairs well with (what else?) a velvety Guinness.

Happy Father's Day, and Happy Weekend!

xoxo,

Elizabeth

Easter Leftovers

We certainly did. The sun shone, the wine sparkled, everyone had seconds of the ham. Of course, we haven't stopped at seconds (or even thirds). We're enjoying many culinary reincarnations of our coca-cola glazed ham for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! It's delicious (so delicious), but favorite Easter leftover is the bouquet of purple tulips that my very sweet guests brought. 

I've got the enormous bunch arranged in a footed apothecary jar so that each stem arcs out gracefully. Every time I walk by the dining nook I feel the urge to take a picture. We'll polish off the ham and potato salad in a couple days, but I'll be enjoying these pretties forever!

Kitchen Chemistry: Stuffed Pork Chops

Between work and projects and chores and wedding planning, Adam and I have had quite a bit on our plates lately. Metaphorically, at least. All too often our dinners have come to us in styrofoam packaging! I decided it was about time I put some real food on the table, so I surprised Adam (and myself, honestly) by creating a pork chop recipe that was not only yes-I'll-take-thirds delicious, but also quick and affordable. Take that, take-out. 

Kitchen Chemistry for Valentine's Day

That's right- we scrapped our plans for the laundromat and made dinner instead! What better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than with some chemistry in the kitchen?

We dashed through the rain to the market, where we found a fabulous deal on salmon fillets. Since stuffed salmon rolls are one of our favorite collaborative recipes, it seemed meant to be! 

We've served dish with several variations (I'm partial to a goat cheese & thyme version that I dreamed up!). This time around we decided to spoil ourselves with a luxe crab & artichoke filling. Adam melted 2 parts cream cheese, 1 part butter, and 1 part cream, then poured it over crabmeat and artichoke hearts. I stirred in a few tablespoons of parmesan cheese, a dash of onion powder, and plenty of salt and pepper. We added the lovely fresh dill we had on hand, but you could use any chopped herb of your choosing. 

A crunchy topping gives the rolls texture. Adam likes to use a mixture of panko bread crumbs and grated parmesan cheese, with a sprinkling of herbs for color and a dash of salt and pepper.

Your rolls are done when they are warmed through. You can test this by pulling out the bamboo skewer and feeling the middle. The crust should be browned, and you can broil it briefly to speed this up.

Stuffed salmon is so incredibly rich, you'll want a light green vegetable as a contrast. We garnished with lemon wedges and continued the theme with a pitcher full of sparkling vodka lemonade. Conversation hearts in our glasses were a sneaky way to sweeten our beverages!

Hope your Valentine's Day was as delicious as ours!

Love,

Elizabeth & Adam

Kitchen Chemistry: Savory Shortbread

Happy Friday, readers! Here's my easy (and tasty) recipe for Parmesan Thyme Shortbread to try out this weekend...

Enjoy! See you on Monday...

Still Giving Thanks

So many thanks to my family who came down from Seattle to spend Thanksgiving with us! We had a busy weekend sharing our favorite shops and sights, being the only 5 people in Berkeley pleased to see the Huskies beat Cal, and feasting upon Ferdinand the turkey.

Mom apparently had Thanksgiving and Christmas confused, because she arrived bearing gifts (who was I to correct her?). This week's blog posts may have a "wonderful thing my Mom got me" theme! For instance, she brought me this charming little pitcher, which not only had the perfect sentiment for the occasion, but also matched my table setting. How does she do that? 

Ferdinand turned out to be the most marvelous turkey I've ever eaten: tender, fragrant, and slightly apple-flavored thanks to his cider and Calvados brine. We'll be enjoying him on sandwiches and in soup for several more days, along with leftover mashed red potatoes, sourdough & green apple stuffing, cinnamon-spiced cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie!

I got a bit caught up in family and food and forgot to take pictures of my Thanksgiving table, but my bouquet of roses, cabbage, and feather sprays is still looking lovely and reminding me of all of our holiday fun. Mom, Dad, Drew (and Ellie & Paige), I miss you already!

I swear I'm still feeling the soporific effects of all of this sumptuous fowl, so I'm spending the day with the Nutcracker ballet and a pile of December magazines. Can it be time to decorate for Christmas already?

How was your Thanksgiving?

Ferd the Bird

The blog may be quiet this week, but my apartment is certainly not! Adam and I are hosting a Thanksgiving feast, and the preparations have definitely thrown my OCD switch. Totally normal to rearrange your bedroom furniture in expectation of dinner guests, right?

We finished our grocery shopping this week, and Adam and I spent more time interacting with potential turkeys than we did with potential new kittens (Phineas was an easy choice, obviously). After a lot of weighing and examining, we chose a hefty young bird, toted him home, and named him Ferdinand. I'm training him to be delicious.

Ferdinand is being brined, so I keep peeking to see how he's enjoying his salty apple cider bath. Every time I take the lid off our pets appear, eagerly sniffing.

Isn't that the most gloriously full refrigerator you've ever seen? 

The cats agree. "If we pull this off, we'll eat like kings!"

Tildy the Cat is dying to get her paws on Ferd the Bird.

LOL. "I can haz Tanksgivins?"

Okay, back to work. Pies to bake, cranberry sauce to make, a linen closet to reorganize (hey, it's possible that someone might look!). 

Food for Thought

It's the weekend, and time to curl up with a good book- mine! As a first time participant in NaNoWriMo, I'm learning a lot about my writing process. I'm never at a loss for words... except when I have to type them out, in tiny black font on an intimidatingly blank page. I have the strangest notion that if I were able to dictate to someone, I might already have my novel and its sequel done. As it is, I'm lagging behind, but finally starting to develop a strategy. Incentivizing! Yesterday's reward was a walk to the farmer's market. It's literally about dangling a carrot in front of my nose...

This afternoon's goal is 1,000 words, and the prize is a pumpkin spice latte (a grande for a grand seems appropriate). Happy Friday!

How We Turned Things Around for Halloween

As I pouted on Friday, our Halloween Party got axed when the attendees dwindled. To add insult to injury, my Tildy-Pumpkin's face caved in. The perfect Halloween that I had envisioned was literally crumbling- and so was I!

I'm getting to know myself fairly well. I'm a perfectionist. I like to plan. I'm not always graceful about disappointment. I'm also realizing that "perfect or not at all" isn't the best philosophy for happiness. 

So this is how we turned things around for Halloween.

First, I literally turned our pumpkin around.

Then, Adam coerced/guilted/bribed/bullied a handful of coworkers into coming over for drinks and snacks on Friday after work. In the hour before our guests arrived we whipped up some guacamole, corn salsa, goat cheese bruschetta, a batch of salty-spicy-sweet toasted pumpkin seeds, and a cinnamon apple crumble. We lit some candles, and we had a party. Was it the costume party I'd imagined? No. Did my guests stand around and talk about science, thereby boring me to death? Kinda, yes.

But we had a good time (and my guacamole was really tasty).

For the rest of the weekend we were without any plans, so we donned our costumes, took the Bart to San Francisco, and found ourselves in the midst of a Giants/Halloween celebration. Plenty of orange and black, many beards to fear, blaring horns, dozens of Mario + Luigi pairings, and what we hope was just a pipe bomb. California knows how to party!

Adam's costume was indiscriminately creepy. Vampire? Werewolf? Zombie? Miscellaneous undead creature? It was open for interpretation, and judging by how few people dared to look him in the eye, it was a success.

 I went as a Mad Men-inspired secretarial type.

All in all, a good Halloween! How was yours?