T Town Tommy

How It All Turned Out

Well all that's left is a half carved turkey carcass and about half of each casserole. I started cooking at 7 am and am pleased to report by 2:30 pm I had a full spread of thanksgiving goodness.

(Click image to enlarge)

So What’s On The Menu?

Rarely do I go to the trouble of a Thanksgiving meal at home with all the trimmings. However this year for some reason I decided a meal at home would be fun and could be enjoyed by my friends in town alone for Thanksgiving. I have the hassle and culinary challenge of making almost everything myself but I can enjoy the day without lines, crying kids, and crowded restaurants. Things always taste better made at home with a little bit of effort and some creativity.

My Thanksgiving Menu for 2007

• The World's Best Champagne Turkey
• Homemade Cornbread Dressing
• Fresh Orange Cranberry Sauce
• Broccoli Cheese Casserole
• Baked Sweet Potatoes with Ginger and Honey
• Green Bean Bake Revisited
• Baked Beans with Honey
• Relish Dish / Deluxe Deviled Eggs
• Giblet Gravy
• Yeast Rolls
• Pumpkin Pie
• Chocolate Cream Pie

Those highlighted are dishes I am making myself with links to the recipe. Wish me luck!
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone hopefully one of these recipes can help with a jam in the kitchen today! Leave a comment with your results if you try one of these dishes would love to hear how it worked out.

 

Popeye's Chicken Not "The Shits!" Anymore

Cell Phone Picture

My partner and I hit Popeye's Chicken last night craving some good fried chicken while cheating on my diet. I think there using dwarfed chickens. I was trying to be good and peeled off the skin and only little bones remained. The red rice and beans looked and smelled toxic with mush instead of anything resembling beans. The biscuits looked like they came straight out of can and not even the dogs would eat them. We dumped the whole thing and had some steamed veggies, rice and milk... Ack!

Good News for Chocolate Lovers

Chocolate and cute blondes have always been a great weakness for me. While the jury is still out on the health benefits of blondes in my life I did find a great article about chocolate. Besides just the added soothing kick to our brain chemistry, chocolate has now been found to be a great preventative for heart attacks and strokes. It has also been proven to improve skin texture, improve your sex life and aid in recovery time after working out.

Don’t go over board on the Hershey’s just yet though; those participating in the recent study had to cut 500 calories a day from their diet to accommodate the additional daily chocolate consumption. The darker chocolates where found to have the greatest benefits while white chocolate was found to have none. Being a chocoholic since I was a kid and loving the more expensive dark bitter chocolates this article comes as great news.

Chocolate Lovers: 6 Reasons to Cheer
by Marjorie Ingall

It may seem like pure indulgence, but chocolate can do good things for your heart, skin, brain, and more.

Listen to the way people malign chocolate: Sinful! Decadent! To die for! There’s even that popular restaurant dessert known as “Death by Chocolate.” But is this any way to talk about a loved one—especially during the season of comfort and joy? Not at Health. With evidence mounting that some kinds of chocolate are actually good for you, we come bearing gifts: six delicious reasons why you should nurture a chocolate habit (within reason) and taste-tested advice on what to try. Merry munching.

continued on Health.com

Ziploc Omelets

"ZIPLOC OMELETS"

Have you ever heard of this?
This works great!  Good for when all your family is together and no one has to wait for their special omelet.

Have guests write their name on a quart-size ziploc freezer bag with
permanent marker.

Crack 2 eggs (large or extra-large) into the bag
(not more than 2) shake to combine them .
Put out a variety of ingredients such as: cheeses, ham, onion, green pepper, tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc.

Each guest adds prepared ingredients of choice to their bag and shake.
Make sure to get the air out of the bag and zip it up.
Place the bags into rolling, boiling water for exactly 13 minutes.  You can usually cook 6-8 omelets in a large pot.  For more, make another pot of boiling water.

Open the bags and the omelet will roll out easily. Be prepared for everyone to be amazed.
Nice to serve with fresh fruit and coffee cake; everyone gets involved in the process and a great conversation piece.