Thanksgiving

Dinner went very well. A good time was had by all. A full review after I get some rest. I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving! Frenchy

T (Thanksgiving) Minus 1 and counting...

Oh Boy!!

The house is clean, the groceries are bought. The linens are ironed and the in-laws are on their way. I have all of the batteries for the cameras (still and video) charging. Attendance is confirmed for all but the King-Wirtses, but I'm sure that is not a problem. I am going to start the cooking this afternoon after Mom-in-law arrives so she can participate if she'd like to. I think we are "good to go" on our Thanksgiving dinner party. I will post some photos later of the food prep as the day progresses. Wish me luck!

In the meantime, enjoy this old chestnut from a couple of years ago. It is still a scream.

Pastry Shops

One of the things I miss from living in Providence is that there are so many wonderful pastry shops in the city. Growing up I used to shop at Scialo Brothers on Atwells Avenue with its Art Deco design and bins of Italian candies and sugared almonds and of course there was The LaSalle Bakery across from LaSalle Academy. They are the kind of bakery where you could buy bread, cookies, pies, cakes, egg and wine biscuits, bread-and-tomato only pizza strips wrapped in waxed paper, and of course pastries. There is nothing of the like that I have found on the Cape. I miss that kind of place so much that I did make a pilgrimage last year to Ladurée while I was in Paris to pay homage to the muses of flour and sugar but that place is, in the words of L. Frank Baum, a "horse of a different color".

Last week, I went "off Cape" with The Contessa and we went to visit Crate and Barrel at the Derby Street shopping center in Hingham, where there is a bakery/pastry shop called White's. We went in for a look around and I felt like I was a child again. Cakes, pies, brownies, hermits, "lobster tails", ricotta pies, rum cake slices and strombolis were in abundance. It really was a great "memory blast".

Well Mr. B and I went back to Hingham to visit the Apple Store in the Derby Street location as he wanted a new mouse for his computer and lo... the bakery swept me up in its Siren's song and I couldn't resist going in for a macaroon or two. I ended up getting a couple of cookies and a few cupcakes just to have around the house in case anyone was hungry, you understand. The cupcakes are still in the fridge but I am not guaranteeing that any or all of them will make it to November 17th but I can tell you they look damned tempting.

Give White's a look-see and let me know of your bakery memories.

T (Thanksgiving) Minus 10 and counting...

A new cooking method for the turkey has been sent in by Linda, La Reine du Barbecue, from LJ's BBQ in Pawtucket, RI. It does sound intriguing. It calls for wrapping up the turkey in foil and baking it at 450 degrees. What do you think?

From Linda:

I expect you will get an avalanche of turkey recipes, but I am SOLD on this method. I have continued ever on and it produces consistently the best ever turkey with moist (yes!) white meat and the foil removed at the end for browning and curb appeal.. Because it is cooked at high heat and less time, you also aren't a slave to the thing. The only tricky part is that it can be so moist that upon transfer to platter at the end it can literally fall apart(legs from body), but you were only going to have to cut it up anyway to serve it, so who cares!

Happy T-Day dahlink!!!

Linda

Foil-wrapped Turkey

8-10# 450 degrees 2 1/4 - 2 1/2 hrs

10-12 # " 2 1/2 - 3 hrs

14-16 # " 3 - 3 1/4 hrs

18-20 # " 3 1/4 - 3 1/2 hrs

22-24 # " 3 1/2 - 3 3/4 hrs

Place trussed turkey, breast up, in center of greased, wide heavy duty foil. Bring ends of foil up over breast; overlap fold and press up against ends of the turkey. Place bird in shallow pan (no rack). Open foil last 20 minutes to brown turkey.

Anyone else tried this one?

How pumpkin pies are made...

Hilarity from a tiny island in Washington State. Thanks MD!!!

Thanksgiving "prep"

Thanksgiving is little more than a week away and I am in full "gay nerves" mode. We are, once again, hosting my in-laws for Wednesday and Thursday night this year as well as the usual suspects for Thanksgiving dinner. They would be Bob, Tobe and The Contessa di Pomodori. That makes 7 for dinner.

In preparation, I have already taken down the drapes and sheers in the living and dining rooms, washed and ironed them, and rehung them. Dusted all art and tchotchkes. Also, the silverware is polished, although I noticed the coffee service needs just a little more care. The table linens have been washed, ironed and refolded so that I won't have to work on them next week. Mr. B and I have also given the living and dining rooms "the big clean" too.

So far the menu looks like this:

Hors d'oeuvre:
Shrimp, crostini varie, asparagus with proscuitto.

Dinner:
Roast Turkey (Cook's Country method, see below)
Sausage and cornbread dressing (my own recipe)
Mashed potato casserole (America's Test Kitchen recipe)
Green beans "Elegantes" (Dr. Joe's recipe)
Puree of Turnip & Carrot (Mom's recipe)
Cranberry sauce (Direct from the can. I made a "scratch" version last year and it was nasty. Plus I got a serious "bead reading" from my side of the family over it, so I am just going to take a can of Ocean Spray Whole Berry sauce and "doctor" it up with some orange zest.)
Squash Rolls (from B&T)

Dessert:
Apple Pie (Mom-in-Law's baking this)
Pumpkin Cake (from the Contessa)
Canoli (also from the Contessa)


Recipes have been pulled and printed from cookbooks and I have also been gathering diverse methods of turkey cooking as my efforts last year were a little lacking. Last year the turkey was as dry as a buckwheat fart but no one complained. (I do have good friends and relatives, don't I?) I am trying to narrow down the method from 3 that I have garnered. The first is just a standard "rub with butter and herbs and toss in the oven" method (Bobby Flay). The second involves brining the turkey, rubbing the skin with a mixture of salt and baking soda to produce a crispier skin and roasting (America's Test Kitchen). The third, which I saw on Cook's Country TV" on Public TV, has a layer of salt pork draped over the breast and leg meat, covered with water-soaked cheesecloth, and roasted (with the cheesecloth/pork on for a little while and then removed). I am leaning toward the third method but I need to decide soon. I haven't purchased the turkey yet so I do have a little time left.

That's it for T (for Thanksgiving) minus 11 days and counting. If you have any tips, ideas or suggestions for me or for any of my readers, please make sure you enter them in the comments section.

Lemon Ice Box Pie

I had a wicked craving for Lemon Ice Box Pie this week and I thought I had Mom's recipe for it, but alas it was not there. So I went to America's Test Kitchen's site and looked to see if they had a recipe. They did not, however they did have a recipe for Key Lime Pie. I knew that they were almost identical in their taste profile so I went with that one substituting lemon for lime in the recipe, and boy was it delicious. I am going to post the recipe here so you folks can enjoy it too. It's a little more complicated than the old lemon juice and condensed milk recipe but it is remarkably delicious.

Key Lime Icebox Pie

Serves 8 to 10.

Be sure to use instant pudding that requires no stovetop cooking for this recipe. We use regular supermarket (Persian) limes-tasters thought bottled lime juice lacked depth of flavor. We much prefer our easy homemade crust to store- bought versions.

Ingredients

Crust
8	whole graham crackers , broken into smaller pieces
2	tablespoons sugar
5	tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
Filling
1/4	cup sugar
1	tablespoon grated lime zest
8	ounces cream cheese , softened
1	(14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/3	cup instant vanilla pudding mix
1 1/4	teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1	cup fresh lime juice from 6 to 8 limes
1	teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. For the crust: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Pulse crackers and sugar in food processor until finely ground. Add melted butter in steady stream while pulsing until crumbs resemble damp sand. Using bottom of dry measuring cup, press crumbs firmly into bottom and sides of 9-inch pie plate. Bake until fragrant and browned around edges, 12 to 14 minutes. Cool completely.

2. For the filling: Process sugar and zest in food processor until sugar turns bright green, about 30 seconds. Add cream cheese and process until combined, about 30 seconds. Add condensed milk and pudding mix and process until smooth, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl. Stir gelatin and 2 tablespoons lime juice in small bowl. Heat in microwave for 15 seconds; stir until dissolved. With machine running, pour gelatin mixture, remaining lime juice, and vanilla through feed tube and mix until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds.

3. Pour filling into cooled crust, cover with plastic, and refrigerate at least 3 hours or up to 2 days. To serve, let pie sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before slicing.

I hope you enjoy this.

Hilariously Tacky Wedding Alert!!

Why will this make it into the "Tacky Wedding Hall-of-Fame"? Is it the "mini-me" kids dressed as the bride and groom? Is it the neon orange bridesmaid showgirl dresses? Is it the plastic see-through pumpkin coach? Or is it the ridiculous bride's outfit? Or something else? You decide.

Thanks to tackyweddings.com for this show stopper.

Didn't I see John Leguizamo as drag queen Miss Chi-Chi "I've got more legs than a bucket of chicken" Rodriguez in "Too Wong Foo" wear that same hat?

Yes I did!

Yeah, Mom, get a nice handful of bosom for the family photo op. Don’t be shy, go for it.

Oh man, oh man, oh man….

Seriously, WTF.

Cape Cod Organic Farm "CSA" Review

As some of you may know I participated in the Cape Cod Organic Farm CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program this summer which promised (according to their website):

A $500 summer membership provides a family of four with a weekly box of vegetables picked as they ripen throughout the season. Box pick-up is every Thursday from 10-5 at the farm stand and each box is topped with a pretty bouquet of freshly cut flowers. As of September, each box will include a dozen farm fresh eggs! The summer CSA season runs from June 18th -November 19th.

Now I have been posting photos of the produce that has been received from the program (see links below) and I can honestly say that the amount of produce never lived up to the "family of four" test. In the beginning I ascribed that to the fact that we had an unusually wet spring and that there were bound to be delays in getting a large box of produce. There was always a huge bag of mesclun greens (at least 1 pound) but until the potatoes started arriving none of the vegetables offered to us amounted to enough for a family of four, even for one meal. This was very disappointing for us as we had hopes of doing some canning and preserving of whatever was left over at our little nest (there is only Mr. B and me here). I really felt as though we were getting the "fuzzy end of the lollipop" in this program.

Well, 4 weeks ago (I wanted to wait until I was not angry anymore) I went to pick up my veggies and I was told that the CSA had ended and that the current week was the last week. The person at the stand told me that emails had been sent to all parties and I was asked if I had email to receive the notices. I told them that I did indeed have email and that I received no notices of the early end of the program. The program ended 7 weeks early!

Now I am a pretty patient person but I do not like being told "stories" about lost emails and I don't like being sold a bill of goods either. When I went to the farm the next week to inquire about why the program ended I could not get a definitive answer, however I did notice that there were vegetables for sale in their farm stand. I would hope that next year, should they offer this program again, that they plan things better, communicate better, and stick to their promises. They will be doing so without me.

CSA 1 CSA 2 CSA 3 CSA 4 CSA 5

Ahhh... Married Life!

You know you've made it into the family when you get an email like this from your Mother-in-Law:

Hello
try this web site for pork I am going to make Pork and Parmesan tonight
theotherwhitemeat.com/porkrecipes

xoxoxoxo
mother

Pork recipes... the In-Law relationship barometer. Hope you don't mind I posted this Mom ;-).

Love, Frenchy

Why am I fat?

20 guesses!

The Cheesy Mac n Rib Melt: BBQ pork, macaroni and cheese in a grilled cheese sandwich.

Deep Fried Brat Loaf: Deep fried bratwurst with bun and sauerkraut battered whole.

Jalapeño Popper Casserole: A layer of Fritos, a layer of beef chili with beans, a layer of cheesy Doritos, a layer of beef chili and a layer of fried jalapeño poppers stuffed with cream cheese, all topped shredded cheese and baked in a casserole dish.

The Sex Panther: Breaded schnitzel, bacon, cheese, ham and steak in a hollowed out bun.

The Sausage McStuffin’: Sausage McMuffins with jelly donuts inside.

The Fat Bastard Burger: Burger with triple beef, triple bacon, triple cheese and carmelized onions.

Deep Fried Jack-in-the-Box Ultimate Cheeseburger

Triple Breakfast Panini: Giant buttermilk pancake stuffed with fried chicken, eggs and cheddar cheese, pressed in a panini press and served with maple syrup and white gravy.

Creamtato Balls: Double deep fried balls of cheddar, sour cream and bacon mashed potatoes!

The Widowmaker: 1.5 lbs of ground beef, 1 package of bacon, 1 package of italian sausage, 1 box of hot pockets, 1/2 package of fried onion strips between 2 Tombstone Pepperoni Pizzas topped with Velveta Cheese and Marinara Sauce.

Texas Benedict:
Eggs benedict with poached eggs, bacon and fried chicken on homemade biscuits topped with Texas gravy.

Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding

Thanks to thisiswhyyourefat.com

Stella appears on CBS News

It looks like our friend Stella (Anne Marie to me) has gotten herself on the TV. During a report on Nick Xiarhos, the son of a Yarmouth police lieutenant who died in Afghanistan this past summer, Stella was asked for her thoughts. Watch the video below.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

STILL not well!

Still not feeling well. My doctor says I should be on my feet soon.
The worst part is laryngitis. I have not been able to speak above a
whisper since Saturday. Mr B seems to be enjoying it though.

I will be returning to my blog as soon as I feel better. Thanks for
all of your kind "get well" wishes.

Frenchy

Sent from my iPhone

Sorry

Hi kids! Sorry I haven't been blogging more. I have had a fairly bad case of the flu and am just now feeling like sitting up after 5 days in bed. More fun soon...

RIP Senator Edward M. Kennedy

Well, we all knew it was coming but it is still a sad day for all Americans. Senator Kennedy passed away at the age of 77 from brain cancer. Every person in America owes Ted a debt of gratitude for his tireless work for the people in our society who have experienced discrimination, want, or the need for better healthcare. We at Frenchy's House Party wish Teddy's family and America at large our condolences.

Lunch at Chew

Here's the sandwich I had at Chew. It's called The Alsatian; roast beef, boursin, caramelized onions, roasted peppers, and arugula on onion foccaccia. F-ing delicious! Get Down here for some fab lunch! Frenchy



Sent from my iPhone

Frenchy's House Party Live from Cafe Chew

Cafe Chew is now open! I am at Chew now and there is a bustle going on here. It really seems like this is going to be a hit! There are lots of smiling people and the sandwiches are flying out the door. The Contessa di Pomidoro is helping out at the door to get people used to the "flow" of the place and Bob and Tobin are behind the line making sandwiches and salads. Here are a couple of photos from the scene.

RIP Preston Stephen Ambrose

Today, we at Frenchy's House Party are mourning the death of our good friend and kitty-boy Preston Stephen Ambrose. Preston died comfortably in his sleep at Pleasant Bay Animal Hospital at the age of 15 years. Preston was predeceased by his brother Leo Felix Ambrose and is survived by his Mummy Frenchy and his Daddy Buzzy.

Preston was born on April 12th, 1994 at Scargo Stoneware Pottery in Dennis, MA and lived there until he was old enough to come home to us at 8 weeks. He was a very good cat and a wonderful friend to us. We will miss him sorely.

We at Frenchy's House Party would like to thank everyone who knew Preston that sent their best wishes.

In lieu of flowers contributions may be made in Preston's name to the Animal Rescue League of Massachusetts in Brewster, MA. Funeral arrangements are private.

Preston and Leo are now back together in Kitty Heaven.

Cafe Chew Update

Cafe Chew, the cannot fail to be, new hot spot in Sandwich is set to open on Tuesday the 25th of August at Merchant's Square. The boys (Tobin Wirt & Bob King) have been killing themselves getting ready for the opening of their new cafe. From what I have seen (and tasted) the place is a "sure thing". I stopped by today and Bob was busy in the prep kitchen, Tobin working on the "working menu" (that's kitchen talk girls) and the Contessa di Pomidoro was working out on the cappuccino machine.
Here's a photo and the menus for the restaurant.

Let's all wish them "Buona Fortuna" and we'll see you at Chew!

Provincetown Carnival Parade 2009

This Thursday was our annual pilgrimage to Provincetown for the Carnival Parade down Commercial Street. This year's parade seemed to be 70's/Flower Power/Woodstock and the costumes bear that assumption out. Notables in the parade included Bruce Vilanch the commedian/writer and the nation's first out newsman, Randy Price (late of WHDH), now of WCVB, Channel 5 in Boston. Enjoy the fun