Gator Pam

在新的一年里，祝你龙飞凤舞，事业有成。 In the new year, wishing you soaring success in your career as the dragon and phoenix dance in the sky.

Enjoy!

Traditional meal involving sausage (ground hog) tonight. I think we’ll do bangers and mash with onion gravy.

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Greater Seattle area had its cold spell last week where lows were in the teens and highs in the low to mid twenties. But it was dry and we had no snow. Lows overnight were in the low twenties and we’re expected to get into the upper thirties this afternoon, with temperatures hovering around there for the next week or so. As far as I know, all of the school districts remained open during the bitter cold last week, but both districts that I sub for today are closed due to “hazardous road conditions.” So far no snow still, but there is rain and I guess icy conditions are expected. With the steep hills in some areas, apparently buses may be unable to complete their routes, so the districts are closed. We’ll see if that continues as these temperatures and rain is expected to be ongoing for the next week or so.

Here in the Greater Seattle area we’re coming out of our week long cold spell. Overnight lows dipped into the teens, which is very cold for us, but it was partly sunny and dry the entire week; no snow accumulation to speak of at all. PSE said there was strain on “the grid,” but as far as I know there were very few outages. We had no issues at all. Later today I’ll swing by my box garden and see how the leeks and leaf lettuce weathered the cold. I’ll uncover the 45-gallon black garbage bag from my rosemary bush as well and see how it did over a week without light. Lows are supposed to stay in the 30s for awhile.

Merry Christmas!

366 New Days 366 New Chances

Rabbit Rabbit! Rabbit!!

As we enter the New Year, may we reflect upon these words as we go forward .

For those of us who follow US date formatting. …and anyone else who would like to join in.

Blessed Yule! https://youtu.be/xuFeympRuj8?feature=shared

Any chance you could make something that travels well for him and have him take it home after the meal at the restaurant?

How did the party go, if it’s happened? What did you bring, if anything?

I did my holiday “baking” (frying) yesterday by making latkes.

https://pin.it/4vKpY99

My holiday shopping is done. Hanukkah gifts for 5 people. Stocking stuffers for 3 people, 2 the same as the Hanukkah gifts Birthday present for 1 person (actually 2, but the second birthday isn’t until March) Christmas gifts for 8 people, 5 the same as Hanukkah gifts

Rabbit Rabbit! Rabbit!!

I’ve been posting my Thanksgiving meal with photos and a planned over meal in the Thanksgiving Plans thread. Come on over and join in.

My favorite use of Thanksgiving planned overs. Be forewarned, this is a long one. Here is the recipe I base my version on in case I didn’t. https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/main-course/turkey/bennigans-monte-cristo-sandwich.html Doctored up Copycat Bennigan’s Monte Cristo Sandwich I started with the planned over crockpot stuffing. I then heated up a thin level of extra light olive oil in a pan Whipped an egg and mixed into the stuffing as a binder Shaped the stuffing to be about the same size as the keto sandwich slices and fried it up to help it hold together Almost ready The recipe doesn’t call for it, but I like putting Gulden’s mustard on the ham side and Best Foods mayonnaise on the turkey side American cheese on the ham side and provolone cheese on the turkey side to start. We had some bacon left from Sunday morning, so I decided to add that to the ham side as well Two slices of ham rolled up and split in half on one side, planned over turkey meat on the other. We’re only 3 or 4 typically for Thanksgiving, so I used Boar’s Head sliced ham from the deli. But if one has both planned over turkey and ham, this is a good use for it I reversed the cheese I covered each side with, so both sides have a slice of American and a slice of provolone on them I put the stuffing patty over the turkey side, as I felt the ham side would be the easier side to flip over without things falling apart and out Triple decker assembled I had forgotten that the sandwich holds together better if wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and allowed to sit overnight with a weight on top. So, I did it for an hour In the refrigerator being pressed for an hour. Overnight would be better Egg and water whipped together, salt, sugar, flour, and baking powder to make a thick batter for dipping After the hour under weight in the refrigerator The recipe doesn’t say to cut the sandwich in half before dipping into the batter, but that is my memory of how Bennigan’s did it. So, the toothpicks are placed for two triangular halves As Kenji says: “Triangles taste better!” Pressed, picked, and sliced in half. Ready for batter The recipe calls for deep frying, but I don’t have a dedicated deep fryer other than my turkey deep fryer, and I dislike using so much oil in a pan. I have found with gentle handling, shallow frying works fine. Start by frying the long cut edge of each half Continue to flip and cook the edges first. I find this helps prevent items from falling out Last of the three edges First full side Flipped and doing the other side Finished in the pan and resting on paper towels The two halves now cut in half and showing the exposed innards Plated for service with a dusting of powdered sugar and planned over cranberry sauce for dipping instead of the usual raspberry preserves

Alright. Thanksgiving feast 2023 is complete. The spread A different angle showing where the crockpot with the stuffing was Individual items: Deviled eggs Half topped with paprika, half topped with dried dill weed Bird is the word Mostly carved for service for four, with what’s left kept aside for planned overs Crockpot stuffing No starch thickener gravy Homemade cranberry sauce Green bean casserole Corn pudding fresh out out of the oven An interior shot of the corn pudding. I finally made my taller pudding! I used a 2-quart 8”x8” Corningware casserole. The cooktime took about 90 minutes, due to the deeper casserole, rather than the 35 to 40 minutes for a 9”x13” pan stated in the recipe My dinner plate, minus a slice of pumpkin bread. The person who made it didn’t want individual photos of her contributions (pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie), but you can see the Bundt shaped pumpkin bread in the table long photo of the full spread up top The turkey broken down and packaged for planned overs Far left: the breast meat which was still on the bird sliced for sandwiches Middle: legs, wings, what was left from service, and what I was able to pick off of the carcass Far right: the carcass broken down and bagged to be frozen until I make my next batch of Instant Pot bone broth If anyone wants recipes for anything, I’m happy to share.