T-Day Countdown... Day 1

Day one of the work furlough, and I was up at my usual time to get going. Had some breakfast, got in a workout, and headed off to do some shopping. Got some shopping done for my brother & sister in law and my mom (and some for me - hey, this gal was dreadfully low on her Lancome foundation).

Had a lovely lunch with ThatWordGuy and headed home. And it was on to cooking.

First up... the BA Foodist's (aka KindaATool) Mom's Chicken Liver Pate. Why KindaATool? As much as I like his writing and even think he's kinda cute (I am a total sucker for long hair), when he was on the Next Iron Chef thing on Food Network it was like he NEVER had a kind word to say to anyone. Like, EVER. I'm not 18 anymore. I don't have the energy for angst (come to think of it and the boyfriend I dropped right before I hooked up with the hubby, I didn't have much energy for angst at 18, either...)

I am not squiemish when it comes to the organ meats... I'm a fan of pates of many sorts. But I've never tried chicken pate, and chicken livers are dirt cheap at the produce mart. Why not give it a shot?

The mis....


I actually (accidentially - forgot to look at the recipe before I went shopping) bought twice the amount of livers that I was supposed to. Um, oops. Looks like on my outtings tomorrow, I'll need to get me some more good butter.

Sliced bacon and butter into a pan....



Bacon... butter? Is that you calling? Talk sexy to me, baby....


And the whole fine mess after onions, apples, livers, garlic and majoram (which I bought special for the recipe... hey Andrew... herb gardens are long gone by this time of the year).


Food processor action shot!



You then push it through a strainer to get out the big lumpy stuff. I probably should have used a finer mesh. Oops.


... and if you have feral cats that live in the bushes next door (neighbor has actually put out boxes for them by this point in the year so they'll stay warm thru the winter) you can take the bigger bits that are left and put them out for the cats....


They must have liked the cooking smells, since they weren't far when I opened the door. And they were on that stuff like... well... cats on chicken liver pate, I guess. It was gone in like five minutes.

The final verdict.... meh, right now. It's not as strong as something like liver sausage, and I wonder if the flavors will change after a couple days in the fridge.

And since I was home and had time and I think I still have FOUR packages of hot dogs in the freezer, it was bagel dogs for dinner....



Purty, no?

You just make a regular bagel dough recipe, and then cut the dough and roll it into long strips, and wrap them around the hot dogs. Always a dinner that makes the hubby happy, since our supply of store-bought bagel dogs was cut off awhile back. And even though I use a egg bagel recipe that I got from a friend (thanks, Maria!) I think I still need to find a new one. They're just not the yellow I expect egg bagels to be. I suppose I could try doing just yolks next time....

After dinner, it was on to cranberry sauce....

Berries in the pot with the strained wine mixture.....



The "pop pop pop pop" stage of cranberry sauce making......



And now it's starting to look like cranberry sauce....



Wooo.... purty.... and ohmywordthismakesthehousesmellfantastic......



Even if you're not looking for an excuse to have to finish off that bottle of zin that you open for the sauce, it's a nice recipe. The orange and spices are just something that you cannot get out of a can. And really, the zin is one of my favorite parts about it since it is a "spicy" wine that works so well with a sweet/tart recipe like this. If you've just never liked wine, this is one that might make you think twice, since it is just such a great pairing.

On deck tomorrow... the pumpkin gratin, the sweet potatoes, and the browned butter. Might also make my pie/tart dough. And the trip to Hagens. Woooooo!!! Smoked shrimp!!!!!!!!