A Beastly Feast

For me, Thanksgiving is generally a happy holiday. Growing up, Thanksgiving Day was a big affair in my family. Mom always made a feast fit for a beast, and sometimes we'd spend it with friends or my grandparents. Yessir, I do love me some turkey (fuck you, J.D. Vance), as well as most of the associated dinner trappings. Above all things, I consider Thanksgiving a time for friends and family (not to mention eating well). Since I am the last of my original family, Ms. B. and I always try to host the folks from my "second" family whenever they can make it. Dick & Martha Wickliffe were my parents' best friends since not long after I was born, and my brother and I grew up alongside their kids, Gretchen, Todd, and Scott. Martha died some years ago, but Dick is still around, and today, he, Gretchen, and Todd came over to feast on some dead bird with us.

We fixed ourselves a pretty good pile of food—a big honking turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, cranberry relish, rolls, and cheesecake (all homemade, of course), and the Wickliffes brought a green bean casserole. All this was accompanied by a couple of bottles of a decent Pinot Noir. So, no, we did not starve, and we followed dinner with a couple of hours of solid family time.

Afterward, the tryptofans set in. Brugger napped, and I kicked back in the recliner and spent about an hour and a half writing this short little blog.

It's gonna be a mellow night.

Two-Thirds of 666

Well, another revolution around the sun completed—66 of them now. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, all that good stuff. I may not be quite the energetic, daft young fellow I was yesterday, but I'm doing all right. Ms. B. had surgery earlier this week, so I've been playing almost-nurse maid for a couple of days, but she's doing as well as can be expected, and she felt up to going out for dinner tonight (though not up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and Chateau Morrisette, which was our first choice prior to knowing her surgery schedule.

But I jump ahead. I woke up right about sun-up, buried by the usual furry suspects, though I lay in bed for another hour or so. Once up and about, I decided to head down toward Reidsville for some traditional birthday geocaching. There were 17 mostly park & grab caches awaiting my presence, so I knocked them out and got back home at lunchtime, so I treated myself to a grilled cheese sandwich. Hopefully, all that cheesy, buttery goodness won't subtract a year from the life clock. Lord knows I haven't eaten all that healthily since the first of the year. But I've been walking my ass off daily; as of now, my 365-day average daily number of steps is 8,890 (4.03 miles per day).

 

So, for dinner, we went to TAD Tavern, Martinsville's most upscale restaurant (which I hope is doing okay because there wasn't much of a crowd tonight). I had a fantastic bison steak, with martini, and Kim had a brussels sprout salad with chicken and a Chardonnay. Then we came home and spent the usual late evening watching TV together (Godzilla vs. Destroyah and Dexter: Original Sin).

 

Ms. B. gave me a Godzilla figure as a present. Any birthday with Godzilla is a lovely birthday. Hopefully, we'll all make it till next year and there will be more Godzilla. Peace out.

Damned Rodan’s Damned Egg Foo Young

Egg Foo Young is one of my favorite Chinese-American dishes, and several of the Chinese restaurants in our old Greensboro neighborhood did it very well. Sadly, the one nearby Chinese place in Martinsville is temporarily closed — at least, that’s what their sign says, but it’s been shuttered for quite a while now. A shame, since I quite like the place. I had an Egg Foo Young craving last night, and I knew that if I wanted to satisfy it, I had to make the Foo myself. I do this now and again, and I really love it; sometimes, though it’s just nice to have somebody hand over a ready-to-eat dish. Alas, not this time.

Anyhoo, here’s my recipe for Shrimp Egg Foo Young. This serves four. You’re basically making an omelet with whatever protein you wish — shrimp, beef, pork, chicken... about any dead critter works well. You can put small, raw shrimp right into the egg mixture, as it cooks well with the other ingredients. For other meats, chop fairly fine and cook until about half-done in advance.

Damned Rodan’s Damned Egg Foo Young
What You Need for the Sauce:
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 tbsp corn starch dissolved in 1/4 cup water
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil

What You Need for the Foo:
6 eggs 

1 1/2 cups protein of your choice (I use small, raw shrimp)

1 1/2 cups bean sprouts
3/4 cup green peas (I use frozen, thawed)
3/4 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup diced water chestnuts
3/4 cup chopped green onions
4 tbsp cooking oil (I use extra virgin olive oil almost exclusively for every savory dish I make)
2 tsp (more or less, depending on your taste; I use a lot) black pepper
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp ground ginger
dash of soy sauce
dash of hot chili oil

What You Do For the Sauce:
Stir the ingredients (except for the corn starch) together in a saucepan and bring to a slow boil; then reduce the heat to medium-high. Stir in the dissolved corn starch until the sauce begins to thicken. Reduce heat to simmer, stirring occasionally while the Foo cooks.

What You Do For the Foo:
1) Add the cooking oil to a wok or skillet (I use cast iron) and heat on high until the oil begins to smoke. Reduce heat to medium high.

2) Scramble the eggs thoroughly. Dump the rest of your ingredients into the eggs and mix well.

3) For each serving, ladle a quarter of your mix into the hot skillet. You can use a spatula to shape the spreading mix into a rough circle. Let cook for about five minutes, then reduce heat to medium. Flip your patty over (the cooked side should be a nice golden brown) and cook for another four to five minutes.

4) Plate your Foo and spoon a goodly portion of the sauce over the top. If desired, garnish with additional bean sprouts and/or green onions.

5) Eat up. Holler!