Soup and a Sandwich

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration yesterday. Surprisingly, yesterday's preparation and dinner went off without a hitch at the Fox household. However, we are now faced with that same yearly dilemma of what to do with all the leftovers. And, if you are like me, you may have a whole package of carrots leftover (because you only needed one carrot for the gravy and they just don't sell one carrot at the grocey store) staring back at you from the crisper drawer begging not to be peeled and sliced and added as just another member of a crudite platter for munching on during the college football games tomorrow. And you may also have a ton of cranberry sauce left because you were a bit overzealous in thinking that the rest of your family might eat cranberry sauce this year (even though they hadn't wanted to eat it for the past 30-something Thanksgivings) because you made it with 1 part water to 8 parts sugar. So here is what I'm making with the leftovers: My Creamy Carrot Soup and Turkey and Cranberry Cornbread Panini

Creamy Carrot Soup (yields 6 servings)

Ingredients
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/8 cup butter, cubed
2 1/4 cups sliced carrots
1 large potato, peeled and cubed
2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth
pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/8 tsp freshly cracked pepper, plus more to taste

Directions
In a medium stock pot, saute onion in butter until translucent. Add carrots, potato, 1 can of broth, nutmeg and ginger. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium and cook for approximately 30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.
Transfer to a blender or food processor, cover, and blend until smooth and silky texture. If too thick, gradually add some additional chicken broth from the second can. Return all to the pan; stir in the cream, rosemary, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat until heated through. Add additional broth to bring soup to correct consistency. (You may not use all the extra broth.) Correct seasonings.

Turkey and Cranberry Panini (yields 2 servings)

Ingredients
1/3 cup of cranberry sauce (from whole berries, not the jelly stuff)
4 slices of corn bread (or whatever leftover bread you may have)
4 oz turkey breast, thinly sliced
3/4 cup corn kernels (optional)

Directions
Spread the cranberry sauce over two slices of bread. Scatter the corn kernels over it, then top with the turkey. Top with the remaining slices of bread and toast in a panini grill (or George Foreman, or in a skillet pressing down with another skillet, a sandwich press, or possibly a clean brick?) for approximately 2 to 3 minutes, or until bread is golden and crispy.

A Quick One

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice.

~Meister Eckhart

My First Thanksgiving

Because of a series of unfortunate events that occurred over the last week and a half, it was decided a few days ago that my family would celebrate our Thanksgiving holiday here, at our house, instead of at my in-laws' place. While I've always wanted to be in charge of cooking the Thanksgiving feast, I never wanted to have to do it under the circumstances surrounding our last-minute change-in-plans. And, when I say "my family," I mean, my husband, my daughter, and me....just the three of us. You see, we've been, what you'd call "quarantined" from the rest of the Fox brood because of the rampant spread of illness throughout our home: My daughter, currently recovering from pneumonia and double ear-infections, my husband, currently suffering from a terrible cough, high fever, and God knows what else (he hasn't visited a doctor in 18 years), and my cat (oh, yes, my cat!), diagnosed with feline lower urinary tract disease just this morning. In the best interest of my father-in-law, who suffered a freak accident last week and is now without the use of his legs for the next three months, we all figured it was a good idea not to expose him to "the germs" (it's the last thing he needs right now!)

So, in preparation, I scoured my many cookbooks and my favorite websites for Thanksgiving recipes. Specifically, a turkey recipe and how to go about cooking one. You see, while I can go on and on about how much I love to cook, I've never once roasted a turkey! I promptly went to the Williams Sonoma website and downloaded their 15-page pamphlet, "A Well-Planned Thanksgiving," in search of some sort of guidance. Since there will only be two of us actually eating turkey (my daughter does not eat meat...except hotdogs...if you call that meat), I needed to know how big a turkey I actually had to buy. According to the pamphlet, I needed to allow approximately 1 1/4 lbs of turkey per person. I was left wondering "where does one find a 2 1/2 lb turkey?"

Once I had finalized my menu (last night), I was off to the grocery store (last night). I had been to the store briefly on Sunday to fetch more Motrin, Kleenex, kitty litter, and wine, for my daughter, my husband, my cat, and me, respectively, and much to my dismay, the lines (even the express lane) were ten persons deep, and the aisles were as clogged as I imagined my arteries were going to be after I eat a hearty helping of pecan pie and brandied cranberry and orange sauce over Breyer's Vanilla Ice Cream. Needless to say, I was fearing the worst for last night's trip. To my surprise, the store was fairly quiet, no lines, and as the automatic doors slid open, I exclaimed to the grocery-store worker walking in beside me, "wow, I should have waited until today to do my Thanksgiving shopping! It's so much less chaotic than it was on Sunday!"(Not wanting to look as if I was some sort of naive Thanksgiving newbie, who would wait until a day before Thanksgiving to buy all her ingredients, which is exactly what I was.) He chuckled and said, "Good thing you were here on Sunday, you'd be lucky if there were anything left on the shelves today!"

Great.


So I figured, I should start preparing some of the side dishes today, as well as begin to brine my turkey:

Lesson Number Two (Lesson Number One was to always do your Thanksgiving day shopping the weekend before, in case you missed that): always keep your eye on the boiling cranberry sauce! Trying to scrape the burnt sauce off a glass cooktop is a real bitch.

Lesson Number Three: Read the label before purchasing....as in, read the label on the turkey BREAST you just purchased (you idiot) before you buy it, mistaking it for a whole five pound turkey and not realizing it until you get home, take it out of the packaging, and start rummaging through its innards for the giblets you need for your Savory Herb Gravy, which are not there because you bought a turkey BREAST, you idiot!

Lesson Number Four: Don't Panic!

Lesson Number Five: Breathe.

However, I must say, my pecan pie tart looks spectacular and smells amazing! (I just have to keep my husband from snaking a piece of it in the middle of the night.) My green beans have been boiled and my turkey is currently brining away in apple cider in my refrigerator. I must admit I do not remember sitting down today, between all the cooking, shopping, bringing my cat back to the vet for her sub-Q fluid injections, and supervising my daughter's nebulizer treatments! You readers must feel pretty special right now knowing that the first time I sit down today is to write to you all!

Okay, then, that said, good night to you and have a very happy Thanksgiving!

My Favorite Quotes

For a fresh start, I have decided to include one of my favorite aspects of my "other blog" (Project Pennywise) as part of the Fox Chronicles - Quotes. So, when I have nothing interesting to talk about, I will just throw in one of my favorite quotes or maybe a recipe (and do I have some good ones for the upcoming winter season!) But for today, a favorite (and relevant) quote:

Democracy is…the conviction that there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people.
— Harry Emerson Fosdick

While we were disappointed in the amount of negativity in the 2008 election, we were also overwhelmed by the renewed sense of obligation and privilege the American voters felt while waiting (sometimes hours) in line to cast their ballot for new leaders of this country. They came to the polls in record numbers, knocked on neighbors' doors, and called supporters, each with the feeling that they, a single, ordinary person, could truly make a difference.

The Wack is Back

Hello, my friends! (Hey, it worked for McCain when attempting to excite his fan base...so here's hoping it riles up my reader base!) I know its been a while and, to be honest, I've had my hands full these past few months: my daughter turned "3", I've been starting up my new business, and we had a very historic, record-breaking presidential election! I have to admit that I did throw around the idea of turning this site into a political blog (wanna talk some Polly-tics, anyone?), but after careful consideration, I realized the shelf-life of such a thing is approximately 3 months and then what do you talk about? But I am truly excited about the outcome of the presidential race and at the prospect of a president being able to bring not only our country, but this world, together. Have you seen the worldwide reaction to an Obama presidency? From Canada to the Philippines, from Japan to Argentina, people are celebrating. They are celebrating the thought that once again the United States of America will be the world's beacon of hope, where absolutely anything is possible if you are willing to work for it. They are celebrating the prospect that the United States will again be a leader and promoter of successful foreign relations, environmental conscientiousness, and peace. It is certain, Barack Obama has the world's attention. And with this attention, will Obama, unlike no other man we have seen in decades, have the ability to implement the change he has been orating about for the last two years? He has a lot on his plate and a mound of high expectations to fulfill...we will have to wait and see.