On day 2 of a 5 day weekend....
Nov. 24th, 2005 12:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hel_anaSo it's Thanksgiving down here. My brother-in-law and his family came east from Texas for the holiday, so I finally got to meet them. I liked them very much. However, their travel arrangements were a bit odd -- they flew into Orlando on Saturday, and are flying out of Orlando today at 5:30 or 6pm. (Note to my northern friends -- please do not fly into Orlando to come visit me. WestJet flies from Toronto to Tampa. Use that. Please. Unless you're renting a car, spending a day at Disney, and driving over to see me. Then you can fly into wherever you want.)
As a result, the family Thanksgiving was yesterday, and Ross and I cooked it in my mother-in-law's house, while Dee, Scott's wife, helped when she could and certain other in-laws managed to get in the way at exactly the wrong time a lot. However, the meal was fantastic, and we all had a lovely time. Ross and I have now cooked a second Thanksgiving meal together with no tension or arguments.
I made the baked french soft cheese with pomegranate sauce, though as it turned out, camembert is *not* an acceptable substitute for brie in such a recipe. But other than that, it turned out well, and was simple if a bit time consuming... starting with about a cup of POM pomegranate juice and a whole bunch of sugar, I boiled that for a while, then added the seeds of a whole pomegranate. That got me a fairly thin syrup. I poured that over a whole cheese, still in the wax, and then baked for about half an hour at 355. Cut out a slice, and voila, all the liquid camembert comes oozing out into the pomegranate sauce, and you scoop up a mixture with the mini french bread slices. Or apples, but I didn't have any.
I also, since I had been under the impression that the veggie choices were going to be limited to green bean casserole and sweet potato stuff*, made a baked squash, which turned out incredibly well, given that I didn't have the spices I thought I had. And because it was so good (the only person who didn't love it was my younger kid, who we will dub Anti-Mikey for the purposes of this discussion), I will now share (what passes for**) the recipe.
Put 3 similarly sized acorn squash (mine were on the small size), halved and with the contents scooped out in a baking dish.
In a bowl, dump 2 cans (more or less depending on the number and size of your squash) of mostly-drained crushed pineapple. It should be the kind packed in juice with no added sugar. Do not use the stuff packed in syrup.
Mix in (note that these are approximations -- I started small and built up with the spices, and I certainly wasn't doing so with a measuring spoon, so I'm going on what's *left* in the bottles, since I started with new ones):
Scoop the mixture into the scooped out hollows of the squash, cover with tinfoil, and bake. We did them in a 355 degree oven for about an hour and a half, but it'll depend on the size of your squash. You should easily be able to put a fork into the squash.
Scoop out contents into a serving dish and mix together.
It's delicious -- the squash, sweet pineapple and the mild bite of the spices work really well together. And I'll probably never make it again exactly that way. ::sighs::
Ross and the kid went to see Scott and Dee this morning, and to take pictures of all the kids. I was supposed to go, but was completely wiped from the combination of the strep throat and yesterday. As it turns out, the person who agreed to drive them to Orlando didn't show up, so Ross is taking them over again.
And that's about all the news.
------------------------------------------------------------
*I should note that I completely underestimated my husband in thinking a) that he would make green bean casserole, and b) that he wouldn't make any other veggies. He cooked fresh green beans to a beautifully crisp texture, and did the same with fresh baby carrots. And no, cous_cous, neither dish had *any* meat in them at all.
**I don't think it's any secret that I take a completely fly by the seat of my pants approach to cooking. If it was, and I've ever fed you, I apologize for disillusioning you.
As a result, the family Thanksgiving was yesterday, and Ross and I cooked it in my mother-in-law's house, while Dee, Scott's wife, helped when she could and certain other in-laws managed to get in the way at exactly the wrong time a lot. However, the meal was fantastic, and we all had a lovely time. Ross and I have now cooked a second Thanksgiving meal together with no tension or arguments.
I made the baked french soft cheese with pomegranate sauce, though as it turned out, camembert is *not* an acceptable substitute for brie in such a recipe. But other than that, it turned out well, and was simple if a bit time consuming... starting with about a cup of POM pomegranate juice and a whole bunch of sugar, I boiled that for a while, then added the seeds of a whole pomegranate. That got me a fairly thin syrup. I poured that over a whole cheese, still in the wax, and then baked for about half an hour at 355. Cut out a slice, and voila, all the liquid camembert comes oozing out into the pomegranate sauce, and you scoop up a mixture with the mini french bread slices. Or apples, but I didn't have any.
I also, since I had been under the impression that the veggie choices were going to be limited to green bean casserole and sweet potato stuff*, made a baked squash, which turned out incredibly well, given that I didn't have the spices I thought I had. And because it was so good (the only person who didn't love it was my younger kid, who we will dub Anti-Mikey for the purposes of this discussion), I will now share (what passes for**) the recipe.
Put 3 similarly sized acorn squash (mine were on the small size), halved and with the contents scooped out in a baking dish.
In a bowl, dump 2 cans (more or less depending on the number and size of your squash) of mostly-drained crushed pineapple. It should be the kind packed in juice with no added sugar. Do not use the stuff packed in syrup.
Mix in (note that these are approximations -- I started small and built up with the spices, and I certainly wasn't doing so with a measuring spoon, so I'm going on what's *left* in the bottles, since I started with new ones):
- a 1/4 to a half cup of golden sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon of ground cardamon
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- a few shakes of pepper
- a bit less than a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
- some butter, melted - I think I used about a tablespoon, which may have been too much -- I think I'd cut that down next time
Scoop the mixture into the scooped out hollows of the squash, cover with tinfoil, and bake. We did them in a 355 degree oven for about an hour and a half, but it'll depend on the size of your squash. You should easily be able to put a fork into the squash.
Scoop out contents into a serving dish and mix together.
It's delicious -- the squash, sweet pineapple and the mild bite of the spices work really well together. And I'll probably never make it again exactly that way. ::sighs::
Ross and the kid went to see Scott and Dee this morning, and to take pictures of all the kids. I was supposed to go, but was completely wiped from the combination of the strep throat and yesterday. As it turns out, the person who agreed to drive them to Orlando didn't show up, so Ross is taking them over again.
And that's about all the news.
------------------------------------------------------------
*I should note that I completely underestimated my husband in thinking a) that he would make green bean casserole, and b) that he wouldn't make any other veggies. He cooked fresh green beans to a beautifully crisp texture, and did the same with fresh baby carrots. And no, cous_cous, neither dish had *any* meat in them at all.
**I don't think it's any secret that I take a completely fly by the seat of my pants approach to cooking. If it was, and I've ever fed you, I apologize for disillusioning you.
