Thanksgiving dinner.

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

You's should know that there's a pretty good chance that yer cranberries came from WESconsin, the Cranberry Capital of the World https://www.google.com/search?q=wiscons ... nt=gws-wiz

The lovely and long suffering Mrs. Gotch is trying a new recipe this year: Cranberry Slump https://www.catsfork.com/CatsKitchen/cr ... p-cobbler/

The Gotch

[worth1]

Fruit salad ready for the marinade.
Black grapes.
Honey crisp apple.
Blueberries.
Maraschino cherries.
Kirschwasser. 90 proof.
Port wine 36 proof.
Shot of bourbon 100 proof.
It'll stay outside the refrigerator because it can't possibly spoil.

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[worth1]

Don't know about y'all but I just watched a YouTube cook make and store acidic fruit salad in an aluminum pan.
Not a good idea in my opinion.

[worth1]

Made this cornbread in an aluminum cake pan.
Yes you can get a crispy crust.
I did make the batter too thin but it still came out good.
It's for my cornbread dressing I'm going to add to the mix
I like bigger chunks of cornbread in my dressing.
I also cooked up some onions and celery in a quarter cup unsalted butter.

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[worth1]

Second batch of cornbread less fluid and much thicker.
This happened twice.
It's like ciabatta cornbread and I have no idea why but I like it.
It might be the older baking powder I used.
Both times I used Knorr chicken bullion powder for salt and flavor.

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[MissS]

@worth1 Your fruit salad sounds like my mom's boozy fruit. She would put it in a big jar and let it ferment away for weeks and months. She used it on ice cream and such but she probably was having a LOT of snacks dealing with 5 kids and 3 dogs. I only tried it once and didn't care for it much but it made my mom happy.

[worth1]

@worth1 Your fruit salad sounds like my mom's boozy fruit. She would put it in a big jar and let it ferment away for weeks and months. She used it on ice cream and such but she probably was having a LOT of snacks dealing with 5 kids and 3 dogs. I only tried it once and didn't care for it much but it made my mom happy.

We knew a family in Mountain Grove Missouri.
We were friends with the girl and she would spend the night all the time.
They always had a giant container of brandied home grown fruit on the table 24-7.
Usually plums.
Us kids could eat as much as we wanted.
I loved the fruit.
My raisins are still in the quart jars in the cupboard.
I just used the ones in rum for a baked apple.
The fruit salad is killer you can taste the cherries from the kirschwasser.

[worth1]

Did I mention that I bought 2 large cans of baby oysters for the cornbread dressing.
I love oyster cornbread dressing and it isn't something I was raised on.

[Sue_CT]

I didn’t buy any. There is only me here and we always make our own. But I wouldn’t blame anyone for buying it. They looked good.

[worth1]

I didn’t buy any. There is only me here and we always make our own. But I wouldn’t blame anyone for buying it. They looked good.

Didn't buy any what?

[MissS]

I think that @Sue_CT is referring to the huge Costco pumpkin pie. They can feed an army and they very good too. You can't buy a normal sized pumpkin pie here for $5.99 so it's a great deal. If you are going to get a pie then Costco is the way to go even if you are single just because of the price.

[worth1]

I remember reading that the other day.
I didn't get a pumpkin pie because they never put enough spices in them.

[worth1]

The fruit salad mashed potatoes and dressing are my favorite part of thanksgiving.
I checked the fruit salad this morning and the flavor has calmed down a lot.
At first it burned and was slightly bitter.
24 hours later and all that went away and the apple turned pink.
My bananas are out of the refrigerator in a bag getting ripe.
For the life of me I couldn't remember what I wanted heavy for at the store so I didn't get it.
Now I remember.
It was for the cream gravy but I probably won't get it and just use powdered milk and salt free chicken broth
Not doing the giblet gravy this year.

[worth1]

I just realized I have ingredients for ambrosia salad or at least something similar.
I'll make it after I suck down my drunken fruit.

[bower]

Something you probably don't know about putting fruit in alcohol. There's a class of compounds in many fruit and some herbs etc which are called 'triterpenes'. Some of the triterpenes have amazing health properties. They are anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, immune modulators, and similar type beneficial chemistry. They are insoluble in water, so forget about tea. They are insoluble in pure alcohol as well - that's where you get your volatile oils and such. But in an ordinary booze that is a mixture of water and alcohol somewhere between your fortified wine and your ordinary bourbon, they are soluble and so end up in the juice, and afaik quite bioavailable.

Now if that's not the best excuse ever for brandied fruit, IDK what is.

Only caveat is the seeds of some fruit like apple, might be better to omit as Worth has done.

[worth1]

I added a banana to the topic the drunken fruit salad.
They're coming along swimmingly.

[worth1]

I got up early and put the bird in the brine solution then off to the refrigerator.
Plus the three giant thighs.
According to the weather it was 58 degrees outside and the bird was ice cold.
That gives me 12 hours or more to brine and another 12 or so tonight in the refrigerator out of the brine to dry off if I want in the refrigerator.
Not for sure what I want to do yet.

[worth1]

I just bought a giant bottle of New Amsterdam coconut vodka for my next fruit salad concoction.
What could possibly go wrong.

[worth1]

Watergate salad sorta.
Didn't add the black grapes because I was afraid the things would cause the salad to turn an ugly brown color.
Black grapes are really a dark red and red and green makes an awful brownish color for food.
Ingredients are.....
Mayonnaise.
A whole block of cream cheese.
Powdered sugar.
Dried out Sweet coconut flakes.
A ton of celery.
Diced Honey Crisp apple skin on.
A couple of handfuls of salted roasted peanuts.
One shot of kirschwasser.
One shot of coconut vodka.
Green food coloring.
Just used what I had around the house.
This stuff is the bomb.

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[worth1]

Dinosaur stayed in the brine for around 14 hours.
Took it out on the driveway and dried it and the thighs completely off.
Back in the refrigerator drying until ready to cook tomorrow.