Post-Turkey Day Stock and Soup

Thanksgiving was a fun time.  Our friends and their baby boy joined us and we made an obscene amount of food for only four of us! We are grateful for a lot this year.  Matt lost his job but was only jobless for four weeks before finding a new job for a small company that he really enjoys! The whole experience has been the best bad thing to ever happen to us.  I am thankful that God knows exactly what we need exactly when we need it and always provides.

 This post is about thanksgiving leftovers.  Due to the loss of my sanity over the past few weeks with finals, it is severely delayed, but don't leave yet. The tastiness can be enjoyed year round.

First - make homemade stock.  I've had several people express shock and admiration over the fact that I make my own stock.  But the secret is that there is no set recipe, you can make it very easily with things you usually have in your pantry and fridge, you can make a lot at one time, it freezes well, and it just tastes better.  

Here's how I make it:  Whether you're using a turkey or chicken, clean as much meat and fat off the bones as you can.  Or if you don't feel like it - then don't!  While the stock cooks all the extra meat will fall right off the bones and you can fish it out later.  Throw the bones (I really don't like to use the word carcass...ugh) into a large stock pot or crock pot.  If you have a turkey and it is too big, you may need to get it into pieces.  I'm sure there is a technical way to do this, or you can just be like me and hack and rip at it and work out some energy.  The bones of a chicken usually fit perfectly, and using a rotisserie chicken eliminates cooking the bird.

Now, at this point you could literally just fill the pot with water and some salt and let it go.  But, because you want loads of flavor you can add any or all of these ingredients:

Onion (about 1)

Leek (about 1)

Celery (about 2 stalks)

Carrots (about 2)

Whole peppercorns (about 1/2 tbs)

1-2 bay leaves

Kosher salt  (just a light sprinkling. Go low sodium!)

The amounts really do not matter! Use what you have!  Use enough for good flavor but not so much that you won't have any room for water.

Because you're just sucking all the flavor out of everything, you don't need to worry about peeling stuff or even throwing out the ends! In this batch I just threw in some boiling onions that I had in the freezer.  And speaking of the freezer, I'm going to share a tip that makes throwing some stock together even easier.  This is courtesy of my dear friend Ashley, we're such a good team!   Get a gallon freezer bag and label it "stock," when you have any of the above veggies that are at the end of their fridge life, or you have ends/peels/scraps throw them in the bag in the freezer.  When you have bones to make stock you can pull the veggies straight out of the bag and throw them in the pot!!  Genius or what?

After this, fill up the pot with water.  If doing it on the stove, bring it to a boil and then simmer, covered, for at least 3-4 hours but really as long as you want.  The longer the better. You can also put your crock pot on low and let it go for 24 hours.  By the way, your home will smell very very yummy.

When it's done.  Remove the large chunks with tongs and then pour the rest through a sieve and into a large bowl.  Go through the solids and dig out any extra meat that came off!  Allow to cool.  I often just stick it straight into the fridge without the lid on.  When my mom makes stock in the winter and it's cold out, she puts the bowl out on the porch!  Here in Texas, we rely on the fridge... Anyway, once it sits for a while the fat will rise to the top and harden.  You can then skim it off and throw it away or if you're feeling really fancy you can use it as a starter for some gravy.  

After that, bag up the stock (I use quart size freezer bags of 2-3 cups of stock).  Lay them flat in your freezer.  Once they are frozen they will be perfectly stackable!  This batch made about 8 cups of stock and I had enough bones from a turkey to make three batches!  I ended up throwing some bones and leftover veggies into a bag in the freezer for making more stock at a later date.  I have lots of stock.  Must make soup.

Speaking of soup, I have to brag on my husband.  He came up with this Turkey Tortilla Soup - inspired by a soup at Chuy's, our favorite Tex-Mex place.  This was seriously some of the best soup I've had in a long time.  

Turkey Tortilla Soup  (or make it with chicken) - 4-5 servings

Drizzle of olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 cloves garlic, chopped  (The chunks of garlic really added something extra!)

1 serrano pepper, chopped   (For less spice, remove all or some seeds)

3 cups stock

1- 1 1/2 cups chopped turkey

1 can diced tomatoes

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Juice of 1/2 lime

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1 avocado, chopped

Tortilla chips

Brown onion and garlic in large sauce pan in olive oil.  Throw in serrano for last 30 seconds then add all other ingredients through lime.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer one hour, covered.  Garnish with cilantro and avocado and serve with tortilla chips.

Christmas on Your Thanksgiving Table: Spiced Cranberry Sauce

My mom, the Kitchen Goddess, puts together an awesome Thanksgiving spread.  One dish that we never did without was her cranberry sauce.  I think cranberry sauce tends to get a bad wrap, something that most people really think is just ok and a traditional dish to have.  I never hear anyone getting really excited about it.

But....I get really really excited about this cranberry sauce.  It's special.  It throws you into the holiday season.  It tastes like Christmas. It smells like Christmas.  It makes your whole house smell divine while it cooks.  It is excellent with turkey.  It is fantastic to eat like jam on fresh biscuits or rolls.  If you enjoy cranberry sauce, or you have always wanted to enjoy cranberry sauce, or you're a skeptic - please try this dish.

What makes this dish so Christmas-like?  Oranges, cloves, and candied ginger!  Heaven.  Here's the full list of goods:

Cranberries, sugar, oranges, crystallized ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves

What is cardamom? I'm glad you asked.  Cardamom is used in many Indian dishes as well as Scandinavian dishes, which is why my mother cooks with it, being Danish and all.  It is the secret ingredient to her pancakes.  It is also a common spice in the popular and tasty Chai tea.  Cardamom  is an expensive spice, but oh so tasty and a little goes a long way.  It pairs very well with the "fall spices" like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg and it makes people stop and wonder what magic you have infused your dish with.  For these reasons I highly recommend the splurge.  If you choose not to use it, you could add some nutmeg to the sauce for the good fall spice flavor.

Crystallized, or candied, ginger is another addition you don't want to skip out on.  (You could do ground ginger...but again, not really the same.) If you have trouble finding it, check the bulk sections of your local grocery stores, especially places like Whole Foods or Sprouts.  Chop it up finely.

Set aside your measured spices and then zest two whole oranges.  And here is what makes this cranberry sauce so incredibly aromatic and flavorful!

1 tsp Cinnamon, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1 tsp cardamom, 2 tbsp crystallized ginger, and orange zest of 2 oranges!

Measure out three cups of sugar and set that aside. Peel the two oranges that you just zested and chop them up.  Use a sharp knife to trim off as much white pith as you can.  Take two more oranges and squeeze the juice into a two-cup measuring cup.  Add water to the juice to total 2 cups of liquid. 

The prepped ingredients.  Your kitchen will already smell super yummy.

Combine all ingredients, except cranberries, into a large saucepan.

Bring to a boil.  Throw in the cranberries!

Bring it back to a boil.  Keep stirring until cranberries begin to pop.

Now the intoxicating smells will waft throughout your home to bring joy and delight to all!  Put the lid on and turn down the heat to low.  Simmer for about an hour.  If you happened to use frozen cranberries, as I did today, then take the lid off for the last 10 minutes since they will be juicier. 

Bonus: While you're waiting and cleaning up, go ahead and throw some of those orange peels into your garbage disposal while you run it for a fresh smelling sink. 

Here's the best part. After an hour, taste it!...Then taste it again...and maybe again.  Add any extra sugar or spices that your heart may desire.  (This is a pretty sweet sauce!)  When you are satisfied, take it off the heat and allow to cool before transferring to containers and moving it to the fridge.  It will have a thickened, syrupy consistency and will set in the fridge to become more jam-like.  You should make it at least a day before Thanksgiving for it to set and all the flavors to mingle together in glory. 

Here it is the next day after it has had time to set!

 Enjoy, friends!

Spiced Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:
4 cups cranberries, washed and picked over
3 cups sugar

4 oranges - and this is what you do with them:
2 cups liquid: Juice from 2 oranges + water = 2 cups
Zest from 2 oranges
Orange sections from the 2 zested oranges, chopped

2 tbsp crystallized (candied) ginger, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Directions:
Combine all ingredients, except cranberries, into a large saucepan.  Bring to a boil. Add cranberries and continue to stir until berries begin to pop and it is back to a boil.  Put the lid on and allow to simmer for about an hour. **  Taste and add sugar if desired.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Chill until ready to serve.  This is best to make one day before serving.

**UPDATE - I've found that this recipe followed exactly can occasionally make some fairly runny sauce.  To increase the consistency to a more jelly-like texture, remove the lid around the one hour mark and allow to simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes.  This makes it about the consistency of fruit preserves.   Increase the time without the lid on even more if you like it really thick or you're using frozen cranberries.  Expect it to stiffen a little more once it's been chilled as well.

Freezer Breakfast Sandwiches

I was blessed to grow up in a home with a mother who loved to cook and was amazing at it.  She would go to the store multiple times a week on her way home, get fresh ingredients, come home and cook us up homemade from-scratch dinners on a regular basis.  Nothing was ever frozen and we rarely ate anything out of a box mix (except for maybe macaroni and cheese and brownies! Yum..) I wanted to do that for my family just like my mom did for us!

Then I grew up!!  Need I say more?  I realized that my mother is a kitchen goddess. So I still like to cook fresh homemade meals and I try to about once per week, but really... I like for meals to take up less of my time.  I grew up and I discovered the miracle that is the freezer.  So I'm always excited to find new meals that freeze well that can be pulled out, warmed up, and eaten in a jiffy.

My Bestie had her baby at a birthing center last month.  You get to eat food there if you want!  So when she was in labor at the center her husband called and said, "The only thing my wife wants is cornbread. Can you help us out with that?"  So cute.  So I whipped up a batch of corn muffins so that they were easy for her to grab and hold as needed and they worked out perfectly.  After baby was born I decided to supply them with some breakfasts since their church had dinner covered.  I wanted to again provide them something that could be easily grabbed but was delicious and filling.  So I made pumpkin muffins and breakfast sandwiches!  The beauty of them both is that they can be individually wrapped, put in a freezer bag, and when you're ready to grab one they can be heated up in about a minute and be eaten with one hand.  Perfect for the brand new mommy and daddy!

I used this pumpkin muffin reicpe,  but in half of the muffins I added chocolate chips and chopped pecans! Yum!

The new parents both have a love affair with bacon - so bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits it was!

To make 12:
12 Thomas' English Muffins - I used the original
1 dozen eggs
2 packages Hormel uncured bacon - or get cured, whatever floats your boat.  You will have some left over, so load up a few with extra bacon or make some extras.
12 slices white sharp cheddar - or other tasty cheese of choice
salt and pepper

Slice all the english muffins in half and lay the bottoms out on a rack with a paper towel underneath to catch crumbs.

Fry up the bacon,  pat off the grease on a paper towel, break each strip in half and place three half strips on each muffin bottom.

Fry the eggs a few at a time and break each yolk with the tip of a knife.  Salt and pepper the eggs.  When they're good and ready, flip them over.

Place a cheese slice on each egg.  Let the cheese start to melt.  Cook the egg until set (no runny center for these....like in this picture.  I got flip happy).

Place the eggs on top of the bacon.  Allow to cool.

You guessed it. Top them with muffin tops!

Wrap each individually in plastic wrap.  This is when you'll know if you didn't let them cook all the way through because the yolk will explode out when you press on the sandwich.  Live and learn.  Place them in labeled freezer bags and stick them in your freezer.

When you're ready to eat them just unwrap and microwave for 60-90 seconds!  These are really tasty - way better than fast food breakfast, and healthier for sure! I need to make some for myself with early morning clinicals starting soon.

Hipster Baby Shower

We were so excited when my bestie and her hubby moved here to Austin last summer!  God certainly had a plan for them because soon after they became pregnant with their first.  I'm so thrilled that I'll live near them and be able to be an "auntie" to their little boy!  We had a baby shower for her a couple of weeks ago - and it was CUTE!  So even though I really can't take the credit for a lot of this (lovely ladies from her church did most of it!), I thought I'd share some ideas and pictures, since basically everyone is popping out a kid these days...except me. Phew.

The theme was...."Hipster!"  So we had lots of plaid, bowties, ties, and buttons.  This is a theme you could really run with.  

These cookies were thick, fluffy, and buttery but stayed together beautifully!  Sorry I don't have the recipe, but I need it.  As you can see...bowties, buttons, and ties for the little man.

The food was perfect to satisfy after-church lunch cravings.  I found these cute multi-colored plaid napkins at Michael's.  And, notice the use of mason jars. I'm convinced mason jars make any party better. 

This cheese ball was a big hit!  Again, I don't have the recipe, which is at this very moment being added to my to-do list.  But, it's the prettiest little cheese ball I've ever seen with the almonds and roasted red peppers and spinach all wrapped up in it, and it was incredibly tasty.

Another recipe that I need - this punch!  I just kept drinking it.  It was some sort of unique combination that was just irresistible.  We had adorable mason jars wrapped with mini "bowties" to serve it in. I can't believe I missed getting a picture of those.     

Mini quiche, salads, and small ham sandwiches with different kinds of mustard, that cheese ball with little toast crackers, those buttery cookies, and punch! - sure to satisfy any hungry lady.

The game: guests are split into teams and given magazines, paper, scissors, and glue and asked to make a picture or collage representing the new baby!  Then each team has to present to the baby mama (which is the really funny part) and Mama gets to pick a winner.  I've done it twice now, and both times people had lots of fun and got creative.  It can make for some big laughs!  Incidentally, we just had a similar activity in my class and we even enjoyed it there - cutting up magazines is fun! End of story.  
Oh! I also made these cute clothespins for the occasion, then Mama got to take them home with her to hang baby's clothes or stick on her fridge.  They are a quick easy craft with scrapbooking paper and mod podge.  This was my first time using mod podge and I have a lot of leftover mod podge which means you can prepare yourself for whatever I decide to try with mod podge next.  I like the word mod podge!   View the tutorial here.  

Someone made this great name banner with paper and they hung up some of the cutest and most colorful cloth diapers with more of the clothespins.

And these are just the sweetest prayer cards for everyone to fill out!

This was fun - can't wait for the next shower!