What I learned today (Take Two)

Barry, age 50, had never heard of seared duck breast (fine dining isn't something they do much of) and he absolutely recoiled at the thought of eating rare poultry.

I don't blame him. Such is not the common wisdom; only foodies know these things.

In fact, go open Joy or any popular cookbook. I defy you to find a recipe for less than completely done chicken or turkey or even duck.

On usda.gov, right this minute, it says: "All poultry: Cook poultry (ground or whole) to an internal temperature of 165 F as measured with a food thermometer."

[Jenise]

Yes re the gov recco's; isn't it nice to know they're protecting us? Friends are shocked when I recommend pulling their turkeys at 155F. This year we had turkey two days in a row at the homes of friends. Both were a bit dry. (Speaking of which, I'm going to brine my capon tonight.)

Hey, here's something I just learned. Our local high school no longer teaches Home Ec. Now they have a 'Culinary Program' and students even get little brown and orange (I presume that's the HS colors) jackets to wear. Locally a benefit I guess though the restaurant situation here is so poor I fear the careers they're supposedly being prepared for are almost non-existent. I guess this almost means that Apple Crisp is going to become a lost art.

Yes re the gov recco's; isn't it nice to know they're protecting us?

Yes, it is, as a matter of fact. They stake out the conservative position and I have no doubt that the world has less ptomaine and listeria and so on due to their dreary but irrefutable advice.

Friends are shocked when I recommend pulling their turkeys at 155F. This year we had turkey two days in a row at the homes of friends. Both were a bit dry. (Speaking of which, I'm going to brine my capon tonight.)

I find that a little funny. I thought everybody normal used the 'thigh juices run clear' test.

Hey, here's something I just learned. Our local high school no longer teaches Home Ec. Now they have a 'Culinary Program' and students even get little brown and orange (I presume that's the HS colors) jackets to wear. Locally a benefit I guess though the restaurant situation here is so poor I fear the careers they're supposedly being prepared for are almost non-existent. I guess this almost means that Apple Crisp is going to become a lost art.

Let's hope not! I just made a nice one yesterday, as it happens.

[Jenise]

I too love a good apple crisp, Jeff.

The turkeys we had were both done much earlier than expected. One by a very experienced turkey cook who always has a few in the freezer and one by someone who follows the pkg directions to a T and had no idea what to do when her bird was done early. She would never have checked the thigh meat to save her life. They don't even eat the dark meat. The first was a heritage bird and the second whatever free turkey came with buying X amount of groceries at a Kroger store. The latter was better.

I'm brining! Spent the whole day in the hospital yesterday with my beloved. Body temp just over 95 and BP of l00/40. Got released at 9:30 last night. Had slept about six hours total in the previous 48 due to the malady. Hit the sack immediately on arrival home, got up at 5:00 and went downstairs to start the brine (1 whole bottle dry reisling, a jar of peach nectar, bay leaves, garlic, dill, salt, sugar, water--kind of a kitchen sink thing), then went back to bed and slept another five hours. 13 hours sleep total. Much needed!

They don't even eat the dark meat.

::covering ears:: La La La La La, such people don't really exist, La La La La La.

The first was a heritage bird and the second whatever free turkey came with buying X amount of groceries at a Kroger store. The latter was better.

Ouch, that's a shame. I'd like to think the heritage bird was better when it was raw than the supermarket bird. But heritage birds do need different handling -- and certainly not indifferent handling!

Body temp just over 95 and BP of l00/40.

That's really not quite enough of either one. I'm sorry to hear this is such a roller-coaster.

...the brine (1 whole bottle dry reisling, a jar of peach nectar, bay leaves, garlic, dill, salt, sugar, water--kind of a kitchen sink thing)

Peach nectar???

They don't even eat the dark meat.

I was invited to a Thanksgiving dinner a few years ago. Out of 25+ people only three of ate dark meat. I still cringe when I think that three whole turkey legs went to the dogs.

[Jenise]

DanS--the first time I had turkey at the no-dark-meat people's houses, they said they just threw the whole carcas away after cutting off the white meat. Not even the dogs got it! (They had 3 Cavs at the time.)

Jeff, yes, peach juice from a jar of deluxe 'canned' peaches. I save that kind of thing and usually find a good use for it.

I admit not loving (unsmoked) turkey drumsticks. My preference order is thigh, wing, breast (although #1 for sandwiches next day), drumstick. But that doesn't mean I'd throw away a drumstick.
We always do a heritage bird, they run leaner with smaller breasts and require closer attention (esp as they don't have saline injected).

Jenise, I hope Bob is better and you get more rest.

Why not just buy a turkey breast then. You cannot give dogs cooked bones, anyway. I used to buy turkey breasts all the time...family loved them grilled on our gas grill outside. If you can't find a turkey breast, ask the meat dept to cut one for you, and please do not advise anyone to give poultry bones to dogs, especially cooked bones. Good Grief!

I learned that researchers think your tastes in food can signify what economic class you are:
https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2024/12/ ... ut-you-in/

A NYT article on this centered on the stuffed baked potato (apparently skews your score lower-class if you like). Not something I generally make or order, but on NYE Betsy made Eric Kim's version with caramelized kimchi - total winner (and interestingly uses gold potatoes, not Russets)
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/102 ... d-potatoes

Articles like that make my blood boil. So, just because one loves a baked potato, one is declared a low life? I actually prefer a baked potato over a steak any day. I used to use butter, salt, pepper, and sometimes sour cream, but now, I prefer a good Yukon Gold, drizzled with Worcestershire Sauce, salt, and light pepper. Hum, I wonder what that would say about me? It's not something I would serve to the company, just for ME.
I also like corn on the cob, without anything, just good corn! I like most foods without sauces of any sort, just fresh, healthy, well-cooked food. I love my salads without heavy dressings, a good Lisbon Lemon evoo, champagne vinegar, garlic salt, light pepper and it is heaven. OK, what does that make me?

Happy New Year!

Um, lowlife and lower socioeconomic class are not synonyms!
I did take the test, and as expected showed up upper middle class.

Um, lowlife and lower socioeconomic class are not synonyms!

Indeed!

Those tests are inevitably over-simplified and infuriating for people who are sensitive to complexity. But the premise is not crazy. The causality is not that eating baked potato makes people lower class. It's the opposite.

The idea is that people with different class backgrounds tend to have different cultural practices, on average. Lots of fascinating stuff about how this works, especially from the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, and of course plenty about wine culture as well. But the online quizzes are just for 'fun'!

Yes, I should have said lower class. My error! I got a little feisty...

It's hardly a revolutionary move, but we have a bunch of egg nog leftover and will probably not find much occasion to drink it. So I decided to use it as the milk/liquid in this morning's waffles. Predictably delicious.

It's hardly a revolutionary move, but we have a bunch of egg nog leftover and will probably not find much occasion to drink it. So I decided to use it as the milk/liquid in this morning's waffles. Predictably delicious.

Pshaw. Every day is a good day for eggnog. Just as every day is a good day for brandy and a sprinkle of nutmeg.

It's hardly a revolutionary move, but we have a bunch of egg nog leftover and will probably not find much occasion to drink it. So I decided to use it as the milk/liquid in this morning's waffles. Predictably delicious.

Pshaw. Every day is a good day for eggnog. Just as every day is a good day for brandy and a sprinkle of nutmeg.

I will try to take that inspiration!

I feel beaten down. About every day I have to search for something. Today I wasted a half-hour looking for my Mason jar of curry powder. And I never found it nor the waffle iron missing since December 2023. Somewhere in the house is a hidden black hole. And I live with a David Copperfield clone. Aargh.

I loaned my waffle iron to a friend many years ago and he never gave it back. If I want a waffle, I go to the diner.

A whole mason jar full of curry powder? Now, that is a lot to lose.

I have sympathy. Our clothes dryer not only eats socks but it has also eaten two headbands and, for whatever reason, displaced one of the dryer balls two rooms away, under the Christmas tree.

My mother's waffle iron is older than I am (almost 50). They don't make 'em that way anymore. It's certainly many times heavier and deeper than the thin modern one I bought a few years ago.

I think it was Douglas Adams who observed that things like socks and biros (British for ballpoint pen)--and probably mason jars of curry powder--are secretly intelligent and able to slip through small wormholes in space to escape to distant planets where they can live happy sock- or biro-orientated lives.

A corollary to that is the observation (by Terry Pratchett, I think) that the big bang theory is wrong and the steady-state theory is correct. But the new matter doesn't appear as hydrogen or subatomic particles as Fred Hoyle postulated. Instead the new matter is created as that knife you can't remember buying that is jamming your cutlery drawer.

-Paul W.

In my case, it's my wife who disappears things better than David Copperfield. She must have a cloaking device.

My mother's waffle iron is older than I am (almost 50). They don't make 'em that way anymore. It's certainly many times heavier and deeper than the thin modern one I bought a few years ago.

Speaking of waffle irons…. I mainly use mine now to crisp up leftover stuffing the next day and top with fried eggs

My mother's waffle iron is older than I am (almost 50). They don't make 'em that way anymore. It's certainly many times heavier and deeper than the thin modern one I bought a few years ago.

Speaking of waffle irons…. I mainly use mine now to crisp up leftover stuffing the next day and top with fried eggs

I've heard about these more creative uses for waffle irons but have never dabbled. Psychological barrier, but I should get over it!