"And if you drop the roast on the floor well...who's to know?"

Hey,

So normally I don't put much (if any) effort into cooking. I've settled on a basic, boring dish that takes almost no effort to make, keeps well and is halfway nutritious. Thanksgiving is the one time when I take up arms against a sea of confusion and try to actually cook stuff.

Last year, with some able assistance, I made an amazing turkey. This year, I did a few new things including:

• I made a pie crust. Not a dough crust, more of a crumble crust. But still, pie crust, in the tin plate and everything.
  
• I made the pie filling, a butterscotch pudding from scratch. I melted sugar, I stirred in the cream and brown sugar and other stuff and I made a butterscotch pudding. First time ever. And I didn't need to wash the saucepan or the spoon or the bowl it chilled in because I licked those suckers clean.
  
• I figured out the difference between boiling and simmering.
  
• I made a gratin. Never did that before, turned out great.
  
• I got to work with brussel sprouts -- which are a vegetable I want to mess around with more. Really, I just want to make the buffalo brussel sprouts they have at highland kitchen (note -- don't let me learn how to do this, I won't eat anything else).
  

So yeah, successes all around and a wonderful Thanksgiving.

later
Tom