A Cold, A Rainy Day, and a Few Thanksgiving Experiments

It's been a long week and now I have a rainy Saturday and have to work this afternoon. On top of that this bug we've had has somehow morphed into a bit of a cold so I am sniffing and blowing my nose. Yesterday Ernie and I were both so bleh that we didn't do our Friday lunch, we turned down meeting Ann and Bob, whom we see WAY too infrequently, and didn't use the tickets we had for the San Francisco Symphony. I'd been excited about taking the boys so we got tickets.....super cheap tickets up in the choral balcony so it's not as those we wasted a ton of money but still....I was disappointed not to go. We just were not up for it. We curled up on the couch and watched some bad tv while the boys reveled in it being Friday afternoon after a difficult week. We cooked dinner and I crawled into bed early. Just one of those weeks.

I've been trying to plan some Thanksgiving recipes but I haven't even been cooking well. Here is picture of my failed attempt to fix a failed batch of cranberry sauce. How on earth can you fuck up cranberry sauce? I decided to try putting kirschwasser in it because, well, because I had a bottle that I made Ernie buy for a recipe and it's just been sitting there looking at me.. Turns out I hated it with cranberries (probably because I put too much in) so then I attempted to doctor it up and disguise that flavor with harissa and toasted fennel seed. Yeah, I know...sometimes there's an up side to actually following a recipe. Well, that all actually went in the trash.

Last night I seared a pork tenderloin and then finished it in the oven and brushed it with some Japanese okonomiyaki sauce. It was wonderful, as were the beautiful little golden potatoes that I got from Farmer Greg....I tossed them in the microwave to cook a bit and then sliced them roughly (oops, had Ernie slice them roughly) and browned a bit in butter over lowish heat. My brussels sprouts....eh, not quite there. I was trying to base it on a Union Square Cafe recipe for brussels sprouts that I'd read a few days ago but I couldn't quite remember it. I put the sprouts in the food processor with the slicing blade....whoops...turned out to be the shredding blade. Then I cooked them over a highish heat in a bit of olive oil and lemon juice and poppy seeds with salt and pepper. We tasted it and shrugged. Added a little salt and pepper. Better. Shrugged again and added some rice vinegar and more salt. Eh, they were o.k.

My only relatively successful Thanksgiving experiement was when I cooked butternut squash the other night. I just cut into chunks with the peel left on, drizzled it with olive oil and roasted in a hot oven (425ish) until browned. Then I drizzled a mixture of soy sauce and butter over it. It was delicious. I'd like it if the sauce were a bit thicker....maybe reduce the soy sauce a bit? Then you'd probably have to add some sweet and acid to balance the salt though..... Something to think about.

So thus far my Thanksgiving recipe experiments are no, meh, and possible. It's a good thing I've got two weeks left. Of course this is exactly what I do every year. Obsess and experiment and come up with menus....and then cook the exact same damn meal I do every year! However, in the meantime Thanksgiving recipe suggestions are welcome.....particularly for brussels sprouts!

Oh, and apropros of nothing....this is how I can tell if Owen has taken a shower....