All Quiet on the Western Front

Spending all day on his feet Thursday was really pushing it for Scott, so we’re been staying very close to home since then. I’ve been playing with the new coffeemaker I bought off of woot.com, am finally caught up on all my back episodes of Studio 60, and Scott’s been wresting with an installation of Vista on his computer.

I’ve urged him to put up a post here detailing some of the challenges he ran into and how he solved them, so that once Google gets it, other people will be able to find some solutions. Perhaps he will.

We need to venture out at some point for a few supplies, and we might even get to a movie later on. Thrilling, I know. I need to start posting something more interesting here.

Shopaholic?

I don’t hit the malls on the day after Thanksgiving. After having put in a few years in retail during the hoilday season, any small amount of joy I might have taken in the hype, the sales, and the “official” start of the holiday season got ground out of me.

Plus, it’s really getting crazy out there in shopping-land. Last night, as we drove home from dinner, I saw a line of people already waiting outside the CompUSA in San Mateo. There’s something seriously wrong with you if you feel the need to stand outside in the cold all Thanksgiving night just so that you can buy some discounted electronics at a sale the next morning. What’s next, taking the whole family to stand on line all Thanksgiving day and eating your turkey in a pup tent in the parking lot, just so you can be first in line?

Pure insanity, as far as I am concerned.

However, I’m not a hardcore Buy Nothing Day person, either. I did venture out to Trader Joe’s to buy a gallon of milk and some crackers late this afternoon.

Update

Sorry I’ve gone dark. Scott had a health issue come up and I’ve been focused on dealing with it more than anything else right now.

He’s going to need surgery, which will probably take place in December, but assuming all goes well with that he should recover completely.

So now I have something else to be thankful for tomorrow.

Pre-Holiday Recipe Sharing: My Favorite Stuffing Recipe

Yesterday, while I was up on campus at an all-day class thing (ugh), Scott met with our friend Katie to plan out the menu for Thanksgiving. I won’t be doing much for the festivities other than acting as Scott’s prep cook, but I will be making the stuffing as well as an appetizer.

I originally found this recipe on, of all places, the now-defunct webvan.com site back in the fall of 2000, when Scott and I were getting ready to cook our first big Thanksgiving dinner. I’ve made it pretty much every year since then. It’s tasty and not at all difficult; the biggest challenge is the prep time, which can take a while what with all the chopping and bread drying.

Anyway, here it is. I’d be happy to e-mail a file with the recipe on request:

Cornbread and Sage Dressing

Ingredients:
1 9″ x 9″ cornbread
1 16-ounce loaf sourdough bread
2 cups diced bacon
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced carrot
2 tablespoons fresh sage chiffonade
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup chicken stock

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375° F. Cut the cornbread and the sourdough bread into 1/2 inch cubes. Spread onto baking trays and bake for 15 minutes or until the bread has dried out. Set aside in a large mixing bowl.

Cook the bacon in a large frying pan over medium heat until it begins to crisp. Add the onions and carrots. Cook until the onions soften and start to turn translucent (about 5 minutes). Add the sage, salt and pepper. Turn heat to low and cook an additional 10 minutes.

Add the contents of the pan to the mixing bowl and gently mix with the bread cubes. Add the stock and the half-and-half, continue mixing until the dressing is moist and well blended. I usually use my hands for this but a large wooden spoon is good too.

Put the mixture into a 13″ x 9″ x 2″ greased baking pan. Cover with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake an additional 15 minutes or until the top is crispy.

Substitutions:

If you want to add more turkey flavor, use turkey stock instead of chicken and/or spoon some turkey pan drippings onto the dressing.

Use 1 teaspoon dried sage instead of fresh sage if you can’t get fresh.

If you can’t get sourdough bread, then nice peasant bread would work too.

Notes:

This is dressing, not stuffing, and should not be cooked inside the bird.

I use a cornbread mix to make the cornbread, but if you want to save time, buy one from a store.

Prepping the bread can be done the day before and the bread kept, loosely covered, overnight. Use day-old bread for faster drying.

I usually use beef bacon instead of pork due to having been raised in a somewhat kosher home, although given that there’s also half-and-half in the mix, this recipe is in no way kosher. If you used all kosher ingredients and replaced the half-and-half with more stock, it could be easily made so.