Author: Matthew Groff

  • Back at It (Unedited)

    Thanksgiving Vacation ended this morning, and everyone in the family was back at it. The wife was at work, the kid went to school, and I returned to stay-at-home-Dad-ing… To put it mildly, no one was happy about it. Not that we hate work, school, or chores… it’s just never fun to go back to the grind when you have been off for so long. And we did have a long break.

    The kid took it the worst. She really didn’t want to go to school, but she didn’t take it out on us this morning. No, she did all her complaining last night. And I would say that she had a point on using the “night before” as the staging ground for her anger. She is getting used to the “Sunday Night Blues” as my mother would call it – That feeling of dread on Sunday night before you have to go back to work on Monday. I would be nice to tell her that that feeling goes away, but it never really does. You kind’a are stuck with it.

    But, now we are in the next leg of the season – the count down to Christmas. Decorations and a tree are going up in the apartment, and hopefully, that excitement of the Season will camp in our living room soon.

    As of right now, I think I would prefer a nap.

  • I’m Still on Thanksgiving Vacation

    We’ll talk more on Tuesday.

  • The Day After Thanksgiving Soup

    This is also part of our Thanksgiving tradition, as the soup hasn’t let us down in all the years we have made it.

    A note on the recipe, we prefer swapping out the white wine for a very dry rosé, as it adds a depth that you don’t get with the white.

    Creamy Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

    Ingredients

    For the Turkey Broth

    • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
    • 2 onions chopped
    • 1 celery rib chopped
    • 1 turkey or chicken carcass cut into 4 pieces; NOTE: Leftover turkey wings, thighs, or drumsticks can be used in place of the carcass.
    • 3 cups white wine
    • 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth

    For the soup:

    • 1 cup wild rice
    • 2 carrots peeled and chopped
    • ½ teaspoon dried thyme
    • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
    • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
    • 1 cup heavy cream
    • 3 cups chopped cooked turkey
    • Salt and pepper

    Instructions

    For the turkey broth:

    • Melt butter in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.Cook onions, celery, and turkey carcass until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.Add wine and chicken broth and simmer over medium-low heat for 1 hour. Strain broth, discarding solids.

    For the soup:

    • Wipe out Dutch oven and toast rice over medium heat until rice begins to pop, 5 to 7 minutes.Stir in turkey broth, carrots, thyme, and baking soda and bring to boil.Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until rice is tender, about 1 hour.
    • Whisk flour and cream in bowl until smooth.Slowly whisk flour mixture into soup. Add turkey and simmer until soup is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

    Notes

    Recipe source: Cooks Country Magazine, October / November 2007 issue

  • Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

    And it would be nice if the Cowboys won, too!

  • Earworm Wednesday: It’s Ringo’s Turn

    Now, I will go to the mat and fight on any hill available to me when I say that Ringo is one of the truly great rock drummers of all time. C’mon, let’s go!

    But this song does drill into my skull and won’t leave which is rather annoying.

    And I guess it was time to pick on another Beatles and cut Paul some slack…