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Today was full of FAILURE. Okay, not really, but I was expecting a nice, relaxing day before tomorrow's enjoyable-but-draining festivities. hahahaha NOPE.
My plan for today was to bike to the grocery store to buy ingredients for strawberry pie, wash the GIGANTIC pile of dishes so I could actually bake said pie, and take the dog for a long, leisurely walk before 4pm. None of that happened. Well, okay, I did finish the dishes. But that was it.
Anyway, my mother called me at noon to ask what my brother and I would be making for Thanksgiving; we don't bring food every year, but when we do it's always a dessert. My brother brings cake because he's good at making baked goods; I bring strawberry pie because I'm mostly a terrible cook but goddamnit, I forced myself to learn how to make a fucking awesome strawberry pie and everyone must acknowledge its excellence. Also, my mom usually brings a shit-ton of appetizers, and sometimes my sister does, too, so that part of the day is covered.
SO. I told my mother I was making strawberry pie and she was like "REALLY because I'm making cherry pie WHICH I HAVE NEVER DONE BEFORE and I could just put strawberries in it too!" and I was all "WAIT WHAT we can't bring two fruit pies THAT WOULD BE MADNESS" and I promptly freaked out because obviously two fruit pies at Thanksgiving would be the absolute worst thing that could happen. (Look, sometimes your brain just gets fixated on stupid things.) My mom, utterly unconcerned about bringing two pies, asked if I wouldn't mind going grocery shopping with her because she needed almond extract, and I said yes because I was feeling kinda lazy and didn't want to bike five miles.
My mother picked me up (I am a hipster douchebag and don't have a car because SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT, YO.) and I was quickly reminded of that one of the pros of bike riding is avoiding traffic. Luckily it was only bad on the major streets, although the parking lot got a bit dicey. (Apparently, during the holidays no one can park in one space.) The grocery store was naturally busy, and the ten billion or so Thanksgiving displays didn't help navigation, but we managed.
Until we found out the store had absolutely no fresh strawberries in stock. DUN-DUN-DUUUUUUUUN.
So at this point I was all OH GOD WHAT DO??? because I had become convinced that I must not appear at Thanksgiving without some kind of dish, despite the fact that I come empty-handed more often than not. I tried to think of something that I could make that was relatively simple and Thanksgiving appropriate, which took awhile because, as previously mentioned, I am a horrendous cook and have like, maybe three things I can prepare off the top of my head, tops. Two of those things are curry and chicken katsu, which are not exactly ideal appetizers or side dishes. I finally settled on lamb meatballs because they are literally just balls of seasoned meat and even I can pull that off.
Alas, my plan was cut short because all the ground lamb was way more expensive than I remembered, like $9 for two pounds expensive, with the only other option being to buy like a $16 leg of lamb and ask for the butcher to grind it. So that was out. Then I had a completely stupid moment of wondering wtf I could POSSIBLY substitute because apparently I just like forgot that anything can be a meatball. (You know, meatwise.) I mention this because it was kind of hilarious in retrospect, like, I was going back and forth between 'lamb' and 'nothing at all' until my mom said GOD JANE JUST USE BEEF OR TURKEY OR WHATEVER and I was all Oh yeah that's totally an option HAHAHA WHOOPS.
So yeah that's what I'm making for tomorrow. Turkey meatballs. Which is maybe redundant on Turkey Day, but turkey meatballs pair better with tzatziki sauce than beef ones, I think. That, and I don't really like beef.
I celebrated conquering this self-manufactured problem by having dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets for dinner. I know, I know, my sophistication and maturity impress even myself.
My plan for today was to bike to the grocery store to buy ingredients for strawberry pie, wash the GIGANTIC pile of dishes so I could actually bake said pie, and take the dog for a long, leisurely walk before 4pm. None of that happened. Well, okay, I did finish the dishes. But that was it.
Anyway, my mother called me at noon to ask what my brother and I would be making for Thanksgiving; we don't bring food every year, but when we do it's always a dessert. My brother brings cake because he's good at making baked goods; I bring strawberry pie because I'm mostly a terrible cook but goddamnit, I forced myself to learn how to make a fucking awesome strawberry pie and everyone must acknowledge its excellence. Also, my mom usually brings a shit-ton of appetizers, and sometimes my sister does, too, so that part of the day is covered.
SO. I told my mother I was making strawberry pie and she was like "REALLY because I'm making cherry pie WHICH I HAVE NEVER DONE BEFORE and I could just put strawberries in it too!" and I was all "WAIT WHAT we can't bring two fruit pies THAT WOULD BE MADNESS" and I promptly freaked out because obviously two fruit pies at Thanksgiving would be the absolute worst thing that could happen. (Look, sometimes your brain just gets fixated on stupid things.) My mom, utterly unconcerned about bringing two pies, asked if I wouldn't mind going grocery shopping with her because she needed almond extract, and I said yes because I was feeling kinda lazy and didn't want to bike five miles.
My mother picked me up (I am a hipster douchebag and don't have a car because SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT, YO.) and I was quickly reminded of that one of the pros of bike riding is avoiding traffic. Luckily it was only bad on the major streets, although the parking lot got a bit dicey. (Apparently, during the holidays no one can park in one space.) The grocery store was naturally busy, and the ten billion or so Thanksgiving displays didn't help navigation, but we managed.
Until we found out the store had absolutely no fresh strawberries in stock. DUN-DUN-DUUUUUUUUN.
So at this point I was all OH GOD WHAT DO??? because I had become convinced that I must not appear at Thanksgiving without some kind of dish, despite the fact that I come empty-handed more often than not. I tried to think of something that I could make that was relatively simple and Thanksgiving appropriate, which took awhile because, as previously mentioned, I am a horrendous cook and have like, maybe three things I can prepare off the top of my head, tops. Two of those things are curry and chicken katsu, which are not exactly ideal appetizers or side dishes. I finally settled on lamb meatballs because they are literally just balls of seasoned meat and even I can pull that off.
Alas, my plan was cut short because all the ground lamb was way more expensive than I remembered, like $9 for two pounds expensive, with the only other option being to buy like a $16 leg of lamb and ask for the butcher to grind it. So that was out. Then I had a completely stupid moment of wondering wtf I could POSSIBLY substitute because apparently I just like forgot that anything can be a meatball. (You know, meatwise.) I mention this because it was kind of hilarious in retrospect, like, I was going back and forth between 'lamb' and 'nothing at all' until my mom said GOD JANE JUST USE BEEF OR TURKEY OR WHATEVER and I was all Oh yeah that's totally an option HAHAHA WHOOPS.
So yeah that's what I'm making for tomorrow. Turkey meatballs. Which is maybe redundant on Turkey Day, but turkey meatballs pair better with tzatziki sauce than beef ones, I think. That, and I don't really like beef.
I celebrated conquering this self-manufactured problem by having dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets for dinner. I know, I know, my sophistication and maturity impress even myself.
really late comment XD
Date: 2012-11-28 04:28 pm (UTC)From:Meat's been expensive this year in general, usually it's 50% more than last year's prices in most places here. It's from the drought earlier this year.
You have to show me a picture of strawberry pie sometime :D