December 3, 2006
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Party Time! Excellent!
It’s Party Day! In an hour friends will start arriving for our fake Thanksgiving/hoiliday party. Yesterday I spent a blissful day doing one of my favorite activities: cooking and listening to This American Life. With all of the party food prep for today, I got through all the 2005 reruns in the NPR archive! Love it. Here’s what I made:
Party Menu
Pear, Prosciutto, and hazelnut Whole Grain Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes with Buttermilk, Cheddar, and Chives
Ham and Apricot Mustard Finger Sandwiches
Turkey and Gingered Cranberry Relish Finger Sandwiches
Oatmeal Apple Pie
Apricot, Almond Jewel Cookies
Pomegranate Holiday Cocktail
Beer & Wine
Plus, whatever friends bring over.I thought about cooking a bird, but when I read the recipie and found out it entailed cramming my fist up a dead bird’s ass and ripping out it’s internal organs (and saving those nasty bits for the gravey), I decided I am never going to cook a bird in my life. Because that is barbaric and nauseating. And I don’t give two shites about meat, anyhow. So if anyone wants it, they can root around in a carcasses ass and make it themselves. I’ll stick to the delicious side dishes and sandwiches, thank you. So, this is how traditions are born. When my future child one day asks why we don’t have turkey for holidays, I will relate the story of the gore involved and encourage them to make it their own damn selves if they have the craving.
Today, Shaun and I stashed our bed in the apartment storage room, got creative with the furnature, and made our bedroom into soiree central. Check it out!
Now I’m chilling with a pre-party drinkey and danicng around like a freak while Shaun finalizes the playlist.
I’m sure I’ll get around to posting pictures of the actual party someday. And our pictures from the magnificent Isle of Skye last weekend. But in the meantime, I leave you with this question:
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What are your thoughts on fisting dead birds?11 pm EDIT: The party was GREAT! A full post is coming shortly. One thing that I’m going to mention, in case it is helpful to anyone who has just made friends with Muslims who are very strict about their religion: they don’t eat pork. So don’t put prosciutto in the stuffing. Also, they probably don’t drink alchohol (and some don’t drink caffine) so make sure you have plenty of fruit juice on hand, which luckily we did (for cocktails). But not all Muslims are like this, of course. My best pal here is Muslim and has a tatoo (which she laughingly says is enough to get her into hell so why not eat the ham in the stuffing and have a wee drink or two), so its best just to keep in mind and ask. I should have. I always will now! But even with a few people straying away from the stuffing, it was all gobbled up by the end of the night by everyone else. So our first ever diner party was a sucess. Hurrah!
Comments (7)
The menu sounds very good. I don’t have a problem with the dead bird thing. The innards come in a bag inside so there is no fishing about for that. I don’t enjoy it, but frankly, if left up to my mother the bird ends up more a bit of leather than anything else. And it’s very easy. Salt it, pop it in a cooking back and wait. All birds are not created equal though, duck requires more attention than chicken or turkey. The sandwiches certainly took more care and they sound delicious too.
The cookies look great and chocolate dipped too! Nice! I hope it was a great time. You have all the elements in order.
Glad you got to spend a day listening and creating in the kitchen. That can be so much fun.
I went to party last night myself and pop culture trivia was great, but at some point it became obvious that I was the only single person there. Yeah, and all that goes along with that. I need a walk I think.
Sounds awesome. You’ve got some creative and yummy sounding items on that menu.
I look forward to seeing the party pics and shots from the Isle of Skye.
As far as the sticking your hand up a dead bird’s ass, I don’t find it particularly pleasant, but I love turkey so much that I put up with it. This is only the second year I’ve cooked my own and this year’s was juiciest I’ve ever had. It’s all about the brining. I can completely sympathize with not wanting to deal with it though. It is gross and kind of weird.
Happy partying!
Yes, I have had to fist dead birds before. It helps to think of them as dinner, not an ex-turkey.
Glad the party went well … but just from the menu, your preparation and the obvious enthusiasm, I knew it would be a success.
Fisting dead birds is just what we do in Vermont. (Kidding!) The party sounds wonderful.
I am most intrigued by the “pomegranate holiday cocktail,” and would love to know what goes in it. Anything that involves liquor and delicious red fruit juice is probably a contender to be a good friend of mine.
Sounds like a great time, and the menu sounds nummy!
I guess I’m a little less squeamish about fisting birds, disembowling fish, whatever. I’ve killed and gutted a deer, so I guess I’m a barbarian, butI did not claw my way to the top of the food chain to eat vegetables (which are just soemthing they give away free with the meat).
I had Hindu friends in grad school, and some were not only vegetarian, but mondo-vegan, so no cheese either. It does make party time in Texas interesting. : – )
It looks like you and Stella are having a great time.
I am all for NOT making a turkey. Having watched my mother do it several times, I know that there is nothing grosser than removing the insides to a dead bird. Ick. Sure, okay, so I don’t really eat meat anyway, but for me Thanksgiving has always been about the side dishes. The turkey is secondary! (Though I did indulge in some turkey that my cousin cooked for Thanksgiving—it was good, but not as good as everything else on the table).
Ah, it’s the usual conundrum. I like the turkey, but I agree about the gore in making the roast bird. We get a smoked turkey, pre-cooked, every year. It’s a tradition in Brad’s family and I’m happy to go along with it.
I’d probably fit right in with your guests in that I don’t drink alcohol. It’s nice to have a mixed crowd, I think. I never would have thought there was pork in prosciutto, though.
RYC: Yes, Chicago got dumped upon. But Milwaukee got a whole foot of snow, so I’m thinking we lucked out. It’s as cold as…as…well, it’s damn cold out there. So much for global warming
Lynn