Holiday Party Menu

Colby's watching Dexter right now and I can't bear to watch it. It's way too suspenseful for my taste and it makes me feel jumpy as hell. Instead, I'm in the home office (doors closed, of course) writing out the recipes for my Holiday/House warming party. You should probably come if you're in the Austin area. :) And just for a taste of what's to come, here's my proposed menu

garlic potato bites with prosciutto
hummus w/red+green veggies
sun dried tomato dip adapted from the Gourmet Today cookbook
baked brie wrapped in puff pastry
endives with mascarpone cheese and habanero jelly
gnocchi alla Romana (also from Gourmet Today)

chocolate chip cookies
rice krispie treats (because why not?)
rum balls (from Chris)
sugar cookies (from Baked)
coconut oatmeal cookies
thumbprint cookies (maybe)
gingerbread cookies (perhaps with a decorating station)

mulled apple cider
spiked hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps

re-dishing thanksgiving

I posted a lot in November. I didn't quite make it the whole way through NaBloPoMo, but whatever, I tried. After like.. 27 posts or something ridiculous, I'm sort of out of things to say. Also, after prepping and cooking Thanksgiving for what seemed to be hours, I'm also a little burned out on the food front, although I did manage to make some tasty Thanksgiving "remixes".

Potato Croquettes (Adapted from Paula Deen)

1 T flour
1 T milk
3ish C mashed potatoes
2 eggs
s+p
panko breadcrumbs
3-4 T olive oil

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Mix flour, milk, mashed potatoes, 1 egg, and salt+pepper to taste. beat the other egg in a separate bowl with a little bit of water. form little disks (~2 in diameter) out of the potato mixture, and then dip them briefly in the egg wash, shaking off the excess. Dip into the panko and repeat for all. Working in batches, fry up the croquettes in the hot oil and flip when golden brown. Make sure there's enough space for each of the croquettes (they shouldn't touch). Serve with hot mustard because we all know that these are basically stand ins for knishes.

I watch... Glee. :(

I resisted for 11 episodes, but I finally caved over Thanksgiving... :( Yes, I'm watching Glee.

It's sort of like Freaks and Geeks minus good writing and likeable characters + music.

And in other news, my in-laws have left, my Thanksgiving dinner went really well, and I'm super looking forward to the end of the semester. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

last vanilla ice cream recipe that you'll ever need

Sometimes the simplest things are the best. Like seriously. Not joking.

Best Vanilla Ice Cream like evAr:

1 can evaporated milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1.25 c cream
vanilla bean, split and scraped

heat evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla bean on medium heat, stirring constantly, until it simmers. Remove from heat and in a separate container, add cream. Stir together. Place in the fridge overnight to chill. Remove vanilla bean (and rinse and add to a sugar jar) and strain. Place in your favorite ice cream maker.

I am (not) thankful for stellar seminar

Operation mise en place is in place. I've decided to prep things this time, instead of measuring everything out at the last minute. It turns out that being prepared makes things go more smoothly. Who'dathunkit? So far I have the brine mix (minus the liquids), tarte tatin dry goods, and pumpkin pie filling and crust stuffs ready. Colby's currently hacking through a loaf of sourdough bread for the stuffing and I'm cramming information in my brain to make sure that I don't sound stupid when I give my talk tomorrow.

"What talk?" you ask. Well, see, I'm a genius and forgot that Thanksgiving came at the end of November and decided that it was a good time to give a talk. I'll be giving a 30 minute presentation on isotopic lithium abundances in metal-poor stars. Since you're all on the edge of your seat about it, I'll tell you the punch line: lithium-6 is SUPER hard to observe and unless you're the world's most careful scientist, or a liar, you haven't seen it in the sense where you have a legitimate detection.

blahbityblahbity

I've sort of given up on NaBloPoMo... although this technically extends my streak. This week I have to present at Stellar Seminar, make a Thanksgiving dinner for the in laws and resist the urge to run screaming from my own house.