Perfect Gravy

I remember, not long ago, having Thanksgiving dinner at a relative's house.  And I was trying to get noticed at the family party....does that make sense? It does if you've been in the same boat ( not gravy boat). And the hostess asked if anyone knew how to make gravy. This was my opportunity to be noticed! I stepped up and said I could do it! This is not a bad story as my gravy turned out to be the BEST I had ever made. But, I had never made it before!  And I didn't know much about what I was doing. I was just trying to recreate what I had watched my Mom do. Without any measuring, this is what I did:
Gravy drippings had cooled down on their own. I added as much ice to the top of the gravy to make the fat stick to the ice so it could be removed. Once I had the pure drippings without fat, I mixed 1 T water into 1 T of cornstarch.  I heated up with natural drippings and slowly added the water/cornstarch mixture, slowly stirring all the time. I added a little salt, actually more than a little. I didn't add any Kitchen Bouquet ( coloring) and I had made the most delicious, silky gravy, ever!

Halloween sights!

This one above, looks REALLY creepy at night!

                                                  And in the City, some people do things in a very BIG way!

Friday's Foto-Autumn Ales and Appetizers

Last night I took part in a 'Tasting' that was part of a Fund Raiser for a local organization. The theme was Part with Taste. Being October, I wanted to do an Oktoberfest sort of thing. A half hour before I was out the door, I reread my instruction sheet and found that thee was a color theme: black, white and apple green. Oops.
I found my black table cloths which I switched out with the harvest colored cloth. It would work for me. But the rest of the table and theme....I wasn't going to change.

 I presented Autumn Ales and Appetizers. I had 3 different beer cocktails. One was made with a Lager, one with an Ale and one with Guinness.

The Lager ( named On Wisconsin) was  a Sam Adams and lime, worcestershire and Maggi served with Scrambled Bratwurst and Saur Kraut with apples and sweet onion.

The Ale ( DAS BOOT) was the favorite. The favorite Beer cocktail and favorite Appetizer- Das Boot was made with Blue Moon, and an orange and cognac based Courvoisie. The paired appetizer was beer marinated chicken with spices.

One of my sons helped out that night. He was had extensive kitchen training- to my surprise and his favorite was the Guinness cocktail.

This cocktail was made with Guinness, Sweet Vermouth and Bitters. It was paired with chocolate and caramel covered pretzel rods.

It was difficult pulling this off as I didn't know I'd be participating in this event when we moved two months ago. It was very difficult finding the correct serving pieces I needed. I didn't like my room temp appies ( need to buy a heat lamp) as the warming tray and crock are not adequate. And the beer- needed to stay chilled. When a beer bottle was opened, the first glasses were chilled. But I shouldn't have let the extras sit out. It t was probably too costly an idea to do this. Or I should have made some sort of ice mold for the shot glasses to nest into.

We had  many people around our table. That was a good sign. And while I 

wasn't happy with my display, it was better than several others.

I already have an idea for next year. It is a theme I have done 3 times before. And I have time to find my equipment. I hope I'm invited!

It's my Birthday and I'll post what I want!

And I LOVE beets! I found this interesting, delicious combination on Food Buzz today. It comes from Chef Dennis--

Apple Beet Compote with Candied Walnuts

Recipe Type: Side dish

Author: Chef Dennis

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 45 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 3 red beets
• 3 golden beets
• 1 Fennel bulb
• 2 large apples
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• sea salt
• pepper
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter

Instructions

1. preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. clean and peel beets, then cut into small chunks
3. mix each color separately with olive oil, sea salt and pepper and place into roasting pan.
4. cut fennel bulb into the same size pieces and coat with olive oil, salt and pepper, then place in roasting pan with beets.
5. Place the roasting pan into the preheated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until beets are soft*
6. While beets are roasting, peel and cut the apples into bite size pieces and place them in a saute pan with 2 tbsp of butter and 2 tbsp of brown sugar, and cinnamon.
7. Saute apples for 5 minutes just to soften them up some, set aside.
8. In another saute pan add one tbsp of butter and 2 tbsp of brown sugar and mix well.
9. Add the walnuts and over a medium heat coat the walnuts with the brown sugar mixture* tossing to get them completely coated.
10. remove the walnuts form the pan and place on parchment or a plate to allow the sugar to set.
11. When the beets are done, gently mix your compote together and serve warm.

Notes

*sometimes the beets may still feel hard but when you bite one it will be done. so taste test a piece before over cooking!
* cover beets with foil if they roast more than 30 minutes to prevent them from getting too dark.
*if you like a little heat, try adding a pinch of cayenne to the walnuts for a spicy sweet taste.

6 dishes you should know how to make

1) chicken noodle soup
2) chili
3)meat lasagne
4)stew
5)roast chicken
6) chocolate cake
I think a boxed cake should count- don't tell Maggie!

weekly menu

Roast Pork and Potatoes

Kale Slaw

Scalloped Apples

POT ROAST

NOODLES FLORENCE

SQUASH TOMATO BAKE

TOSSED SALAD

RANCH STYLE PORK CHOPS

POTATO DUMPLINGS

BAKED APPLESE

TOSSED SALAD

LOBSTER CAKES

CILANTRO, MONTEREY  STUFFED TOMATO

APPLESAUCE LOAF BREAD

TOSSED SALAD

BAKED SPAGHETTI

PAN FRIED TILAPIA

GERMAN SLAW

Thursdays Thought

If you are suppose to be on a liquid diet the day before for one of  those 'necessary medical tests', why can't it be flavored with gatorade or vodka? Maybe it can and they just don't want to tell you!