Thanks(giving) to The Lady Editor

One of the best things on television is the History Channel. Tonight, after our traditional Junk Food night (no real cooking the night before Thanksgiving), we are watching the history of Thanksgiving. Pretty cool stuff. I'm sure the Puritans would be shocked at our interpretation of their somber festival. It was facinating to learn how New Englanders spread the tradition as they spread out in the growing young United States.

By the way, in the 19th century, they served a whole lot more food than we do even today. Take a look at History Channel website to see how unbelieveably huge the typical Thanksgiving meal was. Then again, they danced the night away to popular folk songs, instead of parking themselves on the couch watching football on TV, so they could burn some of those calories.

My favorite part of the documentary is the story of how Sarah Hale, widowed homemaker who published the largest ladies journal of the time, essentially browbeat governers North and South, as well as Abraham Lincoln, into declaring a single, national Thanksgiving holiday. For Lincoln, it was a move to heal the country, but no doubt is was Ms. Hale who was the driving force to establishing our uniquely American holiday. So thanks(giving) to "The Lady Editor" for her persistence!

I love Le Creucet!

The other night I made jambalaya. I've been making it for many years, and like I said in a previous post, people seem to like my "jumbles." One of the things I had trouble with in the past was uneven heating. My large stainless steel pan has a nice bottom but it didn't hold the heat on the sides the same, and cleaning up was kind of a pain. Becca gave me a big Le Creucet Dutch Oven for Christmas two years ago, but that didn't work so well for jumbles because the rice didn't transmit the heat through the middle (although that pot is fantastic for gumbo and beef stew).

For our wedding last year, one of the gifts we received was a 5qt Le Creucet brasier. Wow! I am so in love with that thing; it cooks very evenly, holds heat, the lid is very tight, and it cleans up like a dream. I also love our All-Clad saucier, small pot and fry pans, but for the big stuff I am sold on enameled cast iron. As I cook more things, I'm starting to see the reasoning behind the different types of cooking vessels. Does that mean I'm getting to be a better cook? Not sure about that ... but at least I'm cooking and learning, not just nuking frozen burritos in the microwave like I did for the first half of my adult life.

The Joy of Cooking

Sunday night just seems like the time to cook. Often times, it's Jambalaya Night -- I know how to make it, people actually like it, and it's one of my personal favorite dishes. On Sunday, there is plenty of time and I don't have to rush, so I'll do some prep, walk away and do something else, then come back and start cooking, cleaning up after myself as I go; it's very relaxing, actually. I like the idea of leftovers too -- kind of getting a jump on the week. So Sunday Jambalaya Night is Good. Tonight is Good.