Sunday, November 30, 2008

TGTO, Russian Biscuit Agression, And How to Read Instructions

TGTO. Thank Goodness Thanksgiving is Over.
I had a great time visiting my brother and his family. They cooked a 22 pound turkey and enough stuffing and mashed potatoes for an army. They cooked the turkey in a bag. I'd never done that before. Nice golden brown on the outside, juicy and delicious. I have no idea how they seasoned the bird, but it turned out really well. The stuffing was his wife's secret family recipe, cooked in the turkey- the horror!!- naw. I've never seen so much white bread turned into something good before.

Visiting the Cleveland area made it possible for me to enjoy baked delicacies that I've not had in quite some time: Coconut Bars and Russian Tea Biscuits from the Davis Bakery. You have to understand that these had been a staple of every visit to Cleveland I'd ever had whilst growing up. When I think of Cleveland these are the things I dream about. Either one of the delights and a cold glass of milk is heaven on earth. My brother mentioned that someone had found a recipe for the Tea Biscuits and had good success making their own. This is one of the few baked goods I would like to become proficient at making. The walnuts, raisins, cinnamon, sugar, and hard crumbly biscuit dissolve slowly in the mouth. The dough is wrapped around the filling much like a roulade Gawd- wonderful. The embedded link is a start. I've not tried this yet and I'm not so sure about the raspberry filling. While performing a quick search earlier (russian tea cakes- a different animal) I did run into a recipe that called for vodka in the dough. Always a nice thing. I do somehow think that there might be some vodka or alcohol in the filling. I'll think about this some more

Before I left for Thanksgiving I did turn out a batch of Cincy Style Chili. This batch had the right flavor; however, it was too soupy. Too much liquid left in the mix. I just realized why (duh). I misread the quantity of water- I read 2 quarts instead of 1. That would explain it. So- if I follow the recipe as directed things should turn out well enough. -um yeah.

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