Today is officially Thanksgiving though we will be celebrating it tomorrow (Friday) to coincide with when my daughters are available. They are with their mom and family today.
I woke up feeling rested after going to bed pretty early last night. After breakfast I got started on today’s cooking.
The two main things I needed to make were the butternut squash soup and a gravy I wanted to make ahead of time. The soup turned out well though peeling and dicing two butternut squash takes some effort. I have made this soup for a few years; everyone likes it.
The gravy I wanted to make ahead because I don’t enjoy the rush to get it made before dinner. I didn’t really grow up with gravy so it doesn’t resonate with me and always seems like a bit of a mystery. (I know fat + flour to make a roux + pan drippings).
So, making it ahead, I need meat. So I roast 3 pounds of chicken wings with vegetables. Once roasted, they go into a pot where stock is added and then they are brought to a simmer for a while. Then I strain out the solids and skim off the fat from the liquid. Then I use that fat plus some extra butter to get enough to go with the flour. Then cook those to make roux, mix in with liquid to thicken and done.
I didn’t have to be active the whole time the gravy was happening, I was working on the soup at the same time. But there did come a point where I started seriously thinking about the amount of time (3 hours elapsed time) this gravy was taking and how I don’t really care about gravy and what that all meant. It does taste really good. I’d say as gravies go I think it is very good. Not sure if it’s worth waiting 3 hours for but as gravy goes I’ll eat it.
I had to make new cranberry sauce because yesterday’s tastes REALLY tart and I do like cranberry sauce and even I wouldn’t like that one. So I made another but that is fast. (Sugar + oj + cranberries).
We had a pretty simple dinner tonight and now I’m tired and am going to bed early so I hopefully have enough energy to comfortably get through tomorrow.