"I feel confident that we shall be triumphant!"

[serinde]

Got up at 8:30 or so to commence operations. I was still in an epic state of wibble over how to handle 2x small fresh, brined turkeys where I had been accustomed to dealing with one large, previously-frozen, injected Butterball; I took advice on how to approach this, but mostly got a lot of "You don't want to cook the stuffing *inside* the turkey!!" which is how I've been doing it time out of mind. Fuck the FDA, the potential for O Noes Teh Bacteria hasn't killed me yet; but it was pointed out that having a giant squidgy mass inside your bird wreaks merry havoc with heat distribution, which is probably why I've had such variable cooking times.

So I wibbled about this while starting my kuchen dough--why did I fixate on doing this for breakfast when I have very little yeastwork experience? Because that's how I am--and assembling stuffing. And then my dough didn't look like it was rising, and the stuffing didn't look like it'd be enough (even though it filled my largest bowl, which is actually a punch bowl), and I sliced my finger cutting giblets for the cats, and I realized the green beans recipe only serves four, and and and and. I got enough of a grip to realize it was time for fudz, and made some French toast (N.B. Trader Joe's "texas toast" loaf makes really awesome payne perdu, there). By the time I had finished eating, the dough was rising, the beans recipe really looked like it ought extend a bit further, particularly on our groaning board (2lb. of haricots vert for four people? Yer what?) and I made an executive decision on the turkeys. This is going to go just fine, even if I managed to end-load a whole bunch of tasks AGAIN.

[15 min. later.] The kuchen has just come out of the oven. This is something Grandma always used to make, and it feels like home and Saturday mornings and happiness (which is probably why I was so driven to make it). Though there are a variety of fruit toppings to do, when Grandma was feeling rushed she'd just use canned cherry pie filling; and in a similar spirit, I used a jar of "Barefoot Contessa" cherry-raspberry fruit stuff that'd been sitting in the back of the cupboard for ages. Success!

Comments

[arkham1010.livejournal.com]

Sounds good. My apple pie came out looking tolerable. I forgot to put the butter on top, so alas, parts of the crust[1] are burned, but hey, what ever.


[1] Yes, crust made from scratch, thank you very much. I turn up my nose at the store crusts.

[must-sew-faster.livejournal.com]

Not to worry, the bacteria is really only an issue if you stuff the bird and then toss it in the fridge for a good long while, or leave it on the counter and give them a head start growing.
So if you stuff and then toss in the oven, it's not a problem as far as the bugs go. But you're right, it does kind of mess with the cooking time.

Not much cooking for me this time around; Tim's folks went to Dallas to visit his aunt and uncle, and we're going to my dad's for dinner tonight - unfortunately his gf is from the deep deep South, so everything is very mushy and sweet. I'm bringing the beans with almond slivers. At least they won't be mushy. Too much sweet= corned bread stuffing, sweet potatoes with the marshmallows on top, and the sweet rolls, and don't you want to wash that down with some sweet iced tea?
Aunty Sharon is cooking again in Independence on Sunday, so that's where the really good food lives.
Big Brother and his family of 8 went to Connecticut to visit some of her family, so we're just not going to get to see them this holiday I guess.