On Tuesday we had my inlaws over for dinner, and I had this amazing menu planned. I was going to make prime rib. I did make prime rib. Since I'd never made it before, I found a recipe and I got the stuff, and I went to work. As far as I can remember, I've never even oven-roasted a regular roast before, speaking to my lack of experience. I really kind of messed this one up. The recipe said to put it in for 2 1/2 - 3 hours, depending on how well-done you want your roast to be. I put it in the oven for 3 hours because it was a slightly larger roast than the recipe called for, and I wanted it to be more to the medium side than the rare side. I had a thermometer in it, and after about an hour, it was already up to 113 degrees. I panicked a bit, picturing the 6-pound, $40 doorstop that was surely forming in my oven and thinking there was NO way that was going to happen. So I turned off the oven for 45 minutes or so, and when I turned it back on, put it to 200 instead of the 250 recommended in the instructions, thinking, ok, this will work - use this last hour to get it from 110 to 130, then let it sit on the counter for 15 minutes while it rises to 135-140. Great. I had it under control and was thinking I was pretty smart.
Until the meat thermometer got to 127. And stayed there. And stayed there.
I'm guessing that this is something I didn't know about roasts - maybe they warm up while the outside is cooking and therefore the inside warms up....and then they get to a point where the the internal temp stagnates for a while, while the inside of the roast cooks. I dunno.
So the roast was sitting there at 127 degrees, and in the meantime the rest of my meal was approaching the finish line. The potatoes were mashed, the green beans were steaming, the rolls were ready to go in. I had no choice but to get that silly thing out of the oven. It sat for a few mintes but still didn't get any warmer. Brian came in to carve it and it was bright red. Actually, there are some out there who would have said it was perfect, but it was practically still mooing and too rare for us.
So I did it.
Ugh - I can hardly believe I'm admitting this.
Jamie, don't drop your coffee.
I microwaved it.
Can you believe I microwaved prime rib??? I was so mad, but felt I had no other choice. I was picturing hockey pucks at this point. But actually, it ended up being all right. I used a lower power so that it didn't completely nuke the meat slices, and they didn't get too brown or tough. So all was good. The flavor was wonderful. And Brian's family was very appreciative.
In all, the prime rib was saved, the garlic mashed potatoes & parsnips were very good except for the garlic cloves that didn't mash well (I thought the KitchenAid would take care of them but it really didn't - I was perfectly ok eating them though, and I told the kids that they could pick them out). I wasn't overly impressed with the dessert - it was good but not quite worth the calories it entailed. Live & learn, I guess.
I learned some things thorugh this experience. I've learned that I'm more of a novice cook than I realized. And I'm also quite out-of-practice after three years of not really doing much of this kind of thing. I picture myself someday giving fantastic dinner parties - even being known for it - and I have lots of practicing to do in order to get to that point.
Another new adventure for me is that I went out & got myself a crème brûlée set. I loooove crème brûlée and have always wanted to learn how to make it. This kit came with the torch, but the torch didn't come with any butane. Now I have to figure out how to get my hands on butane in a way that I can use it to fill a tank. Where do you buy butane? I guess I'll try the restaurant supply store. If they don't have it, I don't know where else I'd look. Does anyone know?
So that'll be my next adventure, crème brûlée. I'll try to remember to document the process.
We've returned from our ski trip and have to unpack, do laundry, repack, and leave for Jamestown by tomorrow afternoon. We can't pick up the U-Haul on New Year's Day so are leaving a day earlier than planned. Oh well, one more day to see our friends there!
This time last year -- in fact, it was exactly Christmas day -- Damian took this photo of Francie on the trail. She had just spotted that dog in the background coming her way, and -- super obedient and submissive girl that she was -- immediately dropped to the ground in a nonthreatening posture.
I now have this photo beautifully framed in my home. I think of her and love her every day.
One sewing project...
...and one very patient cat...
...and one very creative little girl.
Plus, one phone call to AAA, lunch with one friend, and one birthday cake to be made for tomorrow.
Hope your day was as lovely as mine!
Long ago, when I lived in Boston, my roommates and I had a problem with mice. Now, we were clean people, so it frustrated us that half a dozen mice had taken up residence in our house.
We set out traps and one morning my roommate Julia and I found a poor little mouse stuck to an icky sticky trap. Neither of us had the stomach to deal with it right after waking up, so we walked to Dunkin Donuts and had breakfast.
While we were gone, Kate and Hillary cleaned up the mouse.
Now, living back in California, I have no roommates. So if I go out for donuts, no one will be around to catch and clean up the mouse that is living somewhere downstairs.
I have GOT to get a roommate.
And I need a donut.
My head is absolutely buzzing with ideas and planning, goals, projects and lists. I should be a professional project creator. I have come to the conclusion that there are simply not enough hours in the day. What should one do? Sleep less? Hardly! But managing my time more effectively would probably go a long way towards helping me accomplish every harebrained scheme I think up.
What a delightful weekend we just spent. Sherlock Holmes was interestingly done and well worth a watch. I remember my mum reading Sherlock Holmes to me and my sisters at bedtime. The story of the speckled band scared the proverbial crap out of me. I remember reading the story to Jesse and Libby when they were still quite young (we were living in Hawaii at the time) and they were completely unruffled by it.
I wanted to go to the zoo today (yes, in December) but the snow was coming down thick and fast.
Todd didn't fancy negociating icy roads all the way to Indianapolis so we stayed close to home.
Ice skating wasn't the same without our English cousins but we're planning to get them stateside next winter.
The kids aren't allowed to get up before 6:30 on Christmas Day. The boys were standing by our beds watching the clock at 6:27.
Lily is not an early riser and nobody's allowed to wake her up when unnecessary or she's a BEAR! She was up by about 7:30.
Our plans got crimped a little due to a blizzard. My grandma stayed out at my aunt & uncle's and they were stuck at their place out of town. My brother and Amy did brave it and come in the 40 mile drive from the ranch.
We had a superb dinner of beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes, corn pie, salad, and double pumpkin cheesecake. Since Amy's a chef, she baked TONS of goodies that we got to munch on all day.
Before opening presents, Lily sang us several Christmas songs.
Grandpa & Grandma got the boys these chairs to coordinate with their new rooms.
I've been eyeing these boots for a few months.
I've wanted a stove-top egg poacher for several years. Poached are my favorite type of eggs and my mom always used to make them. She's been spoiling us with lots of poached eggs at breakfast while we've been living with them but now I'll be able to make my own!
When Ray & I were married, my aunt made us a cookbook composed of recipes that she obtained from everyone who we invited to our wedding. It was a tremendous treasure.
In honor of our 15 year anniversary in 2010, she revised and updated the cookbook for everyone's Christmas gifts. The cover is composed of tons of tiny family pictures from several generations and there are other pictures throughout the cookbook. It truly is a treasure!
I hardly had the chance to take any landscape photos this year so I made calendars from family photos.
The rest of the day was spent doing puzzles and playing cards.
Now, we're packing as we're off on our annual ski trip to Bozeman in the morning. Our good friends from Jamestown will meet us there as well as 2 families from here and my brother and his girlfriend. It should be a blast!
Father Christmas brought everyone what they wanted, but Mother Nature didn't bring us any snow.
We have a family tradition of making sugar cookies. My brother and I always made them with my Little Grandma and now my kids make them with my mom.
We went to church at 3:30 where the kids' choir sang a song with the adult choir. It was fun to sing with my kids. The church service was just beautiful!
These were taken at church.
We had a wonderful lasagne supper and then opened gifts.
See you in 2010!
