Thanksgiving is over…and everyone wobbled home fat and happy…which is more than I can say for Mr. Tom Turkey. I actually love Thanksgiving…lots of family….lots of food and more food. I wouldn’t consider myself a gourmet cook…but I can manage Thanksgiving…and I always find ways to entertain myself in the kitchen.
I learned that peeling 10 lbs of potatoes can be very relaxing. The day before Thanksgiving I stood at the kitchen sink peeling away…deep in thought…about the next day’s events...and the poor turkey who gave his life. Before I knew it, I realized my potato was taking shape…taking on human form. I took a closer look at it and thought I saw a face just wanting to bust out of the spud. Now I know what Michelangelo felt like…seeing David emerge from the plaster.
So I kept whittling away…and then I saw it. My potato had Abraham Lincoln’s face. I knew I recognized that long face …longing to be freed. But then again, maybe the potato resembled a serious Obama. Another potato to whittle…next up… Bill Clinton.
After carving a series of presidential potato heads…I moved to making cranberry brie. The cranberry topping calls for small amounts of many different spices. An eighth to be exact of allspice, cloves, nutmeg, and dry mustard. As I was adding the spices…I wondered what dry mustard smelled like. Was dry mustard like its cousin…wet mustard? So I put the eighth of a teaspoon of dry mustard up to my nose for a little smell test. With one breath in, I ended up snorting an eighth. I’m still not sure what dry mustard smells like. But I do know…it burns the inside of your nose.
So if you wonder what I am doing in the kitchen the day before Thanksgiving…I am snorting spices and whittling president heads out of baking potatoes.
Who said cooking wasn’t fun?
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