The Christmas clock is really ticking. This morning, we picked up our turkey and December's meat share at Cooper's farm. We picked a turkey weighing in at about 18 pounds. On Christmas day, we will take our turkey down to my sister's house. My brother-in-law, Jake, will cut the raw turkey up into manageable pieces. An hour or two before dinner, he will roast the breasts, thighs and legs on a baking sheet, while a turkey stock simmers away on the stove (made from the back and any other odd bits from the turkey). I don't know whether Jake coined the phrase "relaxed turkey" or not, but that is what we call this method, which makes for a very easy clean-up. My Mom always makes the stuffing, but now we cook it in the crock-pot, moistening it with the turkey stock (or chicken stock). I still love the look of a whole bird in the oven, but with the relaxed method, that's the only thing you'll miss. The smell of roasting bird is still wafting through the house during the day because of the turkey stock and the stuffing.
The kids and I assembled an Ikea gingerbread house. It is a great size and the kids had a ball decorating it. When I think about an idyllic Christmas, decorating a gingerbread house is right up there on my list of things to do. However, the reality is seldom the stuff of dreams. Besides giving plenty of decorating instructions to Gavin & Ellen, who couldn't have cared less what my vision for the gingerbread house was, I found myself losing my cool more than once. "Whoever eats another decoration is going to their room!!!" I yelled, very close to the top of my lungs. Christmas has the magical power to bring out the best, and the worst, in people. Note to self - Lighten up!
To go with the tourtiere on Christmas Eve, I want to make a nice beef gravy. I thought I was buying 5 pounds of beef bones, this morning at the farm. Turns out I bought almost 20 pounds of bones, more than enough to make my beef stock. I roasted the bones in the oven for about an hour and a half, then spread tomato paste on the bones (not too much) and roasted them another half hour. Then into the super-sized canning pot with carrots, onions, parsley and celery, filled to the top with water and simmered for about 4 hours. The stock is currently out in the snow and tomorrow I will take the fat off the top and divvy it up into litre containers. It will make a nice gravy to go with our Christmas Eve dinner, with plenty left over for rest of the winter.
I haven't done a lot of baking this year. Earlier in December, it seemed too early to have all sorts of baking sitting around the house. All of a sudden, it's getting a bit late, but I have finally gotten started. We made shortbread cookies this morning with silver dragees. They are the cornstarch shortbread cookies that basically melt in your mouth. They are tasty little cookies that always bring back memories. I have two batches of rugelach dough in the fridge, ready to roll out in the morning. I will make raspberry rugelach (June '08), my favourite variation of the cream cheese cookie.
I picked up two packages of smoked trout today. One will be made into smoked trout dip (Dec. '07) and I have a plan for the other one. On my sister's instructions, I'm going to make creme fraiche and serve it with potato rostii and the smoked trout. I can't wait! Tonight, I made a big pot of ribollita soup (Jan. '08) to have on hand for lunches or light dinners. I'm feeling pretty good right about now. Let's hope that I have done enough ahead to be able to enjoy these holidays to the fullest. I hope the same for you, too. Merry Christmas!
*The picture above is Oscar (on the left) and Soul (on the right) and me in the middle, at the Christmas tree farm last weekend.
