Domestic Geek

Hope everyone out there in American Blogland had a Happy Thanksgiving. For the first time in five years, I didn't have to work on Thanksgiving, so for that I am extremely grateful. Preparing the Thanksgiving meal is one of the highlights of my year. I love to cook, but with just Marcus and I, I rarely get to go all out.

This year's menu included:

• Free range fresh turkey procured from Sunflower Market


• Mashed potatoes and gravy made from this recipe on The Pioneer Woman


• Broccoli/Cauliflower with cheese sauce (the cayenne pepper was a nice addition)


• Shrimp Stuffing (I had to use some stuffing I got at Sunflower since Kellogg's discontinued their stuffing a while back)


• Peas (Marcus always has to have these)


• Buttermilk biscuits


• Corn muffins


• Cranberry Orange dressing


• Pumpkin pie

OK, as promised, here's a couple of pics of the cheesecake I made this weekend. This was definitely up there as one of the better ones. Weather conditions must've been ideal, as it beat up nice and fluffy and there were absolutely no cracks in the surface. Love it!

Here it is sitting on my friend Tina's counter:



I went to Target on the way to my friend's house to pick up the cherry topping and to see what others were available (in case someone didn't like cherries). I saw the Limited Edition Berry Medley on the shelf and just had to try it. I mixed the two topping together and was it good! For the picture below, I topped a slice off with some of the fresh fruit that was also at the party.

Here is a single slice:



I have a couple of tricks I've picked up over the years to have cheesecakes come out really yummy. Many of the tips are summarized here. First, a water bath is a must. I always put parchment paper in the bottom of the pan. Never open the oven door when a cheesecake is baking. After the allotted time in the recipe, turn off the oven and leave the door closed. After an hour and a half or so, I take the cheesecake out of the bath and put it back in the oven. Once the cake has cooled completely, I'll take the springform side off and put it into the refrigerator over night. Instead of a knife, I use craft wire to slice it.

*sigh* I wish this weekend had been as productive as last weekend. There is just not enough time away from work.

Marcus and I finished up the Thanksgiving shopping this evening. We picked up the natural free-range turkey that we ordered earlier from Sunflower Market. Can't wait to see how that turns out. I spent the earlier part of the day at a knitting gathering at my friend's house down in Castle Rock. I got the body of the amigurumi turkey I'm making finished, as well as several rows of a holiday bag I'm knitting. I brought one of my cheesecakes to share and I was quite happy with how it turned out. I'll post pics tomorrow after I get them off of my camera.

Marcus and I actually relaxed this evening and finally watched Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. He downloaded that from iTunes a couple of weeks ago and we hadn't had a chance to watch it. I'll admit that I missed Orlando Bloom's character just a little.

The olive leaf extract that I wrote about yesterday seems to be doing the trick. I felt so much better today. Still coughing up a little crud out of my lungs, but at least I didn't feel like sleeping all danged day.

OK, I'm off to dig through my stash to find orange yarn for my turkey and then I'm off to bed.

We were in Target this evening after work because I needed more NyQuil. Marcus had a craving for canned peas, so we went to the canned veggie aisle to see what was available in organics. We always check the labels of anything labeled organic and do not purchase the ones identified as being from China. I saw the company's address being on Sleepytime Drive in Boulder said to Marcus, "Hey, Sleepytime Drive...we've been there. That's where Celestial Seasonings is." Well, turns out the same company that makes Celestial Seasonings teas also sells organic canned peas. Who knew?

Despite being sick, I managed to get quite a bit done this weekend.

On the crafty front, I finally got around to sewing the watch band for the iPod Nano that Dad and I got for Marcus last Christmas. I swore I'd get off my duff and get it made before this Christmas and I did it with a more than a month to spare.



I've been getting into making amigurumi lately. The first one I ever made was a Yoda for my desk at work. My most recent one is this cute little pumpkin pie:



I also finished knitting a dish cloth that was a test knit for a friend of mine. No picture yet as she has not yet released the pattern.

I made a really yummy dinner on Sunday night. Beer can chicken (free range) with sage, thyme & rosemary stuffed inside, baby red potatoes & broccoli with oregano, olive oil & sea salt and corn muffins. All organic, of course.



We had to board up the skirting where a raccoon tore into it to get under the house. I hate raccoons.

I got all the bedding washed, got the dishes caught up, bathed the rabbit and cleaned her cage, made a sketch for this week's Team Housewares golf poster...whew. Too bad the work week started again and is cutting into my productivity.

I have been wanting chili and cornbread for a few weeks now, but every time I had planned to make it, something came up. Well, today I finally had the time and the universe didn't throw any monkey wrenches in my plans. Except for having to pick up some more whole milk, I already had all the supplies (like I said, I've been trying to do this for a while):



Except for the chili powder and the bay leaves, everything I used tonight was organic, which made Marcus extremely happy. Who knew you can't find organic chili powder? Weird, huh? Even used grass-finished bison for the meat. YUM! Marcus is feeling a little under the weather and since I can't get him to drink my cough remedy with the vinegar and cayenne pepper, I upped the garlic, cayenne pepper and chili powder a bit.

The corn muffins turned out to be the best ones I've ever made. I used a recipe that I found on the Food Network web site: Honey Cornbread Muffins. These things were so moist. It must be the whole milk. Will definitely be making these again soon.



I'm so glad its Fall, I love being able to make stuff like this for dinner!

I'm sitting here enjoying a strawberry banana smoothie that Marcus made in our new blender. He's been looking for ways to get more fruit into his diet and he found a smoothie recipe he liked on cooks.com. After he procured the ingredients, he asked me if we had a blender. We did, but sadly, it's the one I bought back in college (sometime between 1984-1986). The poor thing didn't have much power when it was new and smoothie making was definitely a strain for it. The final straw was the sparking it made. Every time Marcus used it, I crossed my fingers that it wouldn't start the kitchen on fire.

Sunday, we went to Bed, Bath & Beyond armed with my 20% Off coupon that I got in the mail. He had already done his research before we went and he wanted a Cuisinart Blender/Food Processor combo (he hates my old food processor and wants to toss it). We picked the BFP-10CH PowerBlend Duet™ model because it had an additional $20 mail-in rebate. $60 after coupon and rebate isn't too shabby a deal!

Tonight was the first chance we had to try it out. Worked like a dream! Can't wait until summer when I can make watermelon smoothies. Yum!

That's right. Jason's Deli announced today that it is the first U.S. restaurant chain to eliminate High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) from it's food offerings. They're also running a poll on their web site asking customers to vote to have the fountain drinks that contain it removed and replaced with cane sugar choices, offer cane sugar choices in addition to those containing HFCS or leave things as they are. I've personally never eaten at that particular chain, but maybe I'll give them a try.

I've been trying to reduce the amount of HFCS that I consume since I learned about how it was made and its possible side effects in early 2005. It still amazes me when I'm reading ingredient labels what I find it in. A fellow knitter and blogger, La Petite Tricoteuse, is challenging her readers to give up HFCS for the entire month of November. I wonder how many of them will be able to do it and also how many of them will be shocked to find where that crap lurks. I've been trying for almost three years and still haven't been 100% successful.