Oh, these were good. It started innocently enough — I was at the store for something completely healthy. Perhaps it was broccoli or some wheat pasta. Or olive oil. Anyway, I passed the baking aisle and … oh. Mmmmm… Those look good. Huh, maybe I should just see if they’re any good.

Yeah…they were good. They’re gone now.

I want to make brownies from scratch sometime but until that time — the Ghirardelli ones will do. I was actually surprised at how good they were for a box mix and so was jwa.

In other news I am starting to freak out about Thursday’s dinner for 25. Except now it’s 29. And it’s supposed to snow. Wah!

More on that tomorrow.

I just made 58 of these for a work dinner on December 1. I love cooking but I’m glad that this is done! Oh, uh, I only have 58 because I baked two puffs already and jwa and I ate them to make sure they were okay to serve — they were. I froze the remaining 58.

Acorn Squash, Apple & Sage Puffs:
1 box puff pastry, defrosted
1 granny smith apple, quartered and cored
1 acorn squash
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp fresh chopped sage
1/3 block of cream cheese (the low fat kind works well)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp grated parmesan
salt & pepper to taste
flour for dusting work surface
small dish of water
a 3-inch biscuit cutter

Preheat oven to 425. Carefully halve squash. Rub the olive oil on the squash halves (concentrating on the cut sides). Sprinkle with salt & pepper and roast cut side down for about 30-40 minutes — until tender and caramelized.

When cool enough to handle scoop out flesh into big bowl. Add the sage, cream cheese, garlic and parmesan. Grate two quarters of the apple onto two layered paper towels. Squeeze out extra liquid and the add grated apple to squash mixture. Snack on the other two apple quarters.

Sprinkle flour on your work surface. I found it the easiest to break puff pastry along the perforated lines and roll out each rectangle large enough to fit ten circles on — five rows of two. Fill each circle with about one teaspoon of squash.

With dish of water, wet one edge of a circle with your finger, pull and stretch dough a bit to cover squash. Press down the edges to make a seal. Use a fork to crimp the edges. Repeat with all of the circles of dough. Each full sheet (three rectangles) of puff pastry will yield 30 puffs. A whole box will yield 60. Leftover filling makes a great dip or ravioli filling.

To bake:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange puffs on a baking sheet. Don’t crowd. Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden and puffed up. Repeat as necessary to bake as many puffs as desired. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

To freeze:
Arrange uncooked puffs in a single layer on a baking sheet. Cover well with aluminum foil. Put in freezer for one day. Remove and store in freezer bags. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange puffs on a baking sheet. Don’t crowd. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until golden and puffed up. Repeat as necessary to bake as many puffs as desired. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

This, for slashfood’s Lovely Leftovers Day.

This recipe came about because:
1. I wanted to do something for slashfood’s leftover day,
2. I have a ton of turkey to use (12 pound bird for three people!),
3. I had all the other ingredients on hand, and
4. While walking around Penzey’s with my mom, I picked up a recipe card for somthing similar to this (although their version was sans the coconut milk, veggies, tomato, ginger and brown rice).

I made the turkey stock Sunday afternoon by putting the carcass in a big stock pot, covering with water, adding half an onion, a bay leaf, a one-inch piece of ginger and three garlic cloves. I simmered about three hours and skimmed any icky stuff off the top. Then I strained the stock and refrigerated it in a ziplock bag. Now, it’s dinner time.

Turkey Curry Soup with Brown Rice:
1 1/2 cups chopped, cooked turkey
3 cups turkey stock
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
2 heads broccoli (or broccoli florets from a vegetable tray)
A handful of baby carrots, chopped (another great use for raw, leftover veggies — if you’ve got others — throw them in too!)
1 tbsp (or more) curry powder (I used about 2 tbsp)
1 tsp (or more) cumin
1 can coconut milk
2 tomatoes, diced
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 tbsp vegetable or peanut oil
3/4 cup brown rice
Salt to taste
Cilantro leaves and lime wedges for garnish

Heat the oil in a heavy stock pot. Add onion and carrot — cook until soft, 3-4 minutes. Next add garlic, spices, and ginger. Sauté for a couple more minutes, then add turkey stock, coconut milk and diced tomatoes. Stir in turkey. Add rice and let simmer until rice is tender — about 35-40 minutes. Clean broccoli and cut off the florets (if needed). Add to soup and cook until tender (4 minutes or so). Serve with chopped cilantro and lime wedges garnish.

Behold, The Turkey Sandwich:
Also, in the true spirit of Thanksgiving leftovers — here is my lunch Sunday afternoon: a turkey and smoked gouda sandwich with spinach and honey mustard on a leftover dinner roll. Mmm!

So, I pretty much stuck to my Thanksgiving schedule (posted here and here), although I omitted the squash and added some roasted vegetables. The big surprise, though, was the turkey. It turned out so well. I tried the America’s Test Kitchen recipe last year and wasn’t crazy about it but this time we used my mom’s turkey chart from an old cookbook and wow — it was amazing!

& then we cooked the hell out of it…
I brined the night before and then before sticking it in the oven, I stuffed and then used a combination of one stick of softened butter (!), a head of roasted garlic and about 2 tablespoons of fresh, chopped sage and rubbed that creamy, buttery mixture under the skin of the breast meat. The extra, I rubbed over the top of the turkey — “oh, why not?” I thought.

Then, the turkey went in the oven at 11:15 AM, with aluminum foil wrapped over the pan both horizontally and vertically. Wwe also added about one cup of water to the bottom of the roasting pan. The temperature was set to 325 degrees. We cooked it until 2:00 pm (2 hours and 45 minutes) without touching it, then removed the foil, basted and added the vegetables to the bottom of the pan. We basted again at 2:30 and again at 3:00. It came out of the oven at 3:15. The temperatures were about 178 in the breast and stuffing cavity and 200 in the thigh, which freaked me out, as I thought it would be way overdone. But wait. We basted it again really good after it came out of the oven and then lifted it out of the pan and let it rest, wrapped up very well in aluminum foil, for about a half an hour. And it was the moistest, most tastiest turkey ever. Seriously! Go crazy 70’s cookbook, go!

My mom and jwa carved while I got everything else served up and on the table.

The sides:
The sides were great too. They are usually my favorite part of the meal. This year the stuffing had one cubed granny smith apple, 1/4 cup of pecans, 2 tbsp fresh sage, 1 stick of butter (!!), 1 1/2 cups chicken stock, one egg, one tsp poultry seasoning and one tsp rubbed, jarred sage. And, yes, we stuffed.

The stuffing — removed from the bird and ready for consumption.

Goat cheese rosemary mashed potatoes. (I used half and half).

Giblet gravy.

Cranberry orange relish.

Individual green bean casserole.

Oh and the roasted root vegetables. When I posted earlier, I wasn’t sure if I was going to put those in the bottom of the roasting pan — well I did and it worked great. They went in for one hour and fifteen minutes. Then, while the turkey rested, I put them on a baking sheet and turned the heat up to 425. After 15 minutes of that, I turned n the broiler and let them caramelize for about 3 minutes. Mmm!

& then there was pie…
Yes, pie. That was pretty good too. I followed the recipe I discussed before, except I made a different pie crust because I was tired and lazy that night and this crust seemed simpler.

Here’s the new crust recipe:
1.5 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, chilled
2 tbsp unsalted butter, chilled
1/4 cup milk, chilled
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix flour, salt, brown sugar and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Cut in shortening and butter with a pastry cutter, until it resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle milk over dough and work in with your hands until it sticks together. Shape into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch disc. Place in 9-inch pie pan and crimp edges. Prick dough with a fork and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom of pie pan with foil or parchment and line with pie beads or dry beans. Par bake for 45 minutes. Let cool and fill with pumpkin filling and bake.

Oh and another thing I changed — I put a layer of crushed ginger snap cookies on the bottom of the pie crust before filling with the pumpkin. Then, I added pecan pieces to the top (which also helped hide any cracks). Sneaky!

All in all, I am very pleased with how everything turned out! Next year, however, I think I will drop the green bean casserole from the rotation, just because there was so much of everything else and that’s the one item that we all pretty much forgot to eat!

So, my mom is staying with us and the “guest room” is my office with the computer and all. No real update this AM.

This afternoon, however, I will be making the pumpkin pie and will try to take photos of that process and post them later today!

Edited to add — yeah, that didn’t happen…

I work right across the street from a Pizzicato, which is a little weird, because my last job was in the same office park/shopping area as another Pizzicato. I just can’t seem to escape them. But, that’s okay, because they have pretty good pizza and a wonderful pear arugula salad.

The other night I decided to bring one home. I went to the Web site to see what the monthly special was and it said:

Mele e Salsiccia
“The Northwest’s best apples are now in season so we proudly feature one of Pizzicato’s most popular specials, the Mele e Salsiccia. We start with a garlic and olive oil base and top it with whole milk Mozzarella cheese and roasted walnuts. We then add new crop roasted Gala apples, our own Parmesan Italian sausage and Gorgonzola cheese. A final garnish of shredded Parmesan and fresh basil finish off this month’s savory pie. Is your mouth watering yet?”

Why yes, my mouth was indeed watering! I called it in and 15 minutes later was picking it up to take home — it was so very tasty. Although, one thing I have noticed with their pizzas, is that I always want a couple more items on top of it than what they add. This pizza — as wonderful sounding as it was — was no exception. So, when I got it home I added onion, arugula leaves and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar before popping it in the oven at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes — I always order the pizzas half-baked. That way, when I get the pizza home, I can finish baking it in the oven instead of bringing home a fully-done pizza that I would just have to reheat and dry out.

In conclusion, even if you don’t live in the Portland area, you should really try these toppings (garlic, olive oil, Mozzarella, roasted walnuts, apples, sausage, Gorgonzola, onions, arugula and balsamic) on your next pizza! They made it very Autumn-y and quite delicious.

***

On the Thanksgiving front, I made my pie crust dough last night and am storing it (in disc-form) in the refrigerator, wrapped up well, until I roll it out and bake it Wednesday night!

Dense. Spicy. Orangey. Sweet. These waffles were all of these things, as well as cold-weather appropriate and perfectas a prelude to the upcoming holidays. In addition, jwa is a big fan of waffles. I like them too but generally, I am more of a savory breakfast type of person. These waffles, however, were wonderful and well worth making.

One night last week, while watching Good Eats, Alton Brown made these waffles. I turned to jwa and asked if he wanted some sweet potato waffles this weekend — and the rest, as they say, is history. Besides, gearing up for Thanksgiving, I just happened to have an extra sweet potato lying around. Perfect!

I followed AB’s recipe pretty much, except I added 1/4 tsp of cinnamon — a dash or two of nutmeg would probably be nice too.

I also always seem to forget how easy it is to make waffles. Sure, only one can be made at a time but it’s not that big of a project. I just listened to This American Life and sipped coffee while cranking out the waffles. Plus, I got to pull out my cute Fiesta Persimmon waffle iron!

This recipe, by the way, made about six waffles — but then mine never seem to go out all the way to the ends, so ymmv.

Spiced Sweet Potato Waffles:
1 1/2 cups peeled and cubed sweet potato (about 2/3 of a medium-sized sweet potato)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 egg whites
1 cup milk
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Vegetable spray, for waffle iron
1/4 cup toasted pecans

Warm maple syrup
Optional garnish: 1 banana, sliced

Put cubed sweet potatoes in a steamer basket. Place the basket in a large pot of simmering water that is no closer than 2 inches from the bottom of steamer. Allow potatoes to steam for 20 minutes of until fork tender. Mash cooked potatoes and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

In another bowl combine the sweet potatoes, milk, brown sugar, butter, and grated orange rind. Stir the sweet potato mixture into the flour mixture and thoroughly combine. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gradually fold egg whites into batter 1/3 at a time. The batter will be thick.

Using a scoop, place 2 scoops of batter onto a preheated, lubricated waffle iron.

Cook until lightly browned, about 5 to 6 minutes (or until your waffle iron indicated that the waffle is done).

Keep making waffles until the batter is gone. Eventhough my waffle iron is non-stick, I found it helpful to give the surface a shot of non-stck spray before making a new waffle.

Serve with toasted pecans, maple syrup and some sliced banana to make it a healthy breakfast.

This recipe comes from my Crepe cookbook — a present jwa got me a couple of years ago. It’s amusing because one of the recipes in the book is for buckwheat crepes with ham and cheese, inspired by the same dish at Ti Couz, in San Francisco. I’ve been there — and I had the ham and cheese buckwheat crepe, too! I went there a few years ago with Christy, Cindy and Cindy’s friend, whose name I can’t remember right now. Well…I thought that coincidence was interesting.

I go through crepe phases — I make a lot, then I forget about them for a while. The one thing about crepes is that they take planning, as you need to let the batter sit in the fridge overnight (or at least two hours). So, you need to know ahead of time that you are going to want crepes the next day and then you actually have to go make the batter.

Buckwheat Galettes with Ham and Gruyere:
Crepe Batter:
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/3 cup water
2/3 cup AP flour
2/3 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter, melted

In a blender, blend all ingredients for five seconds. Scrape down sides and repeat. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours to 24 hours.

Gently stir batter if it’s separated. Heat a 7- or 10-inch crepe pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan lightly with butter (or you can also use non-stick spray). Lift the pan from the heat and pour two to three tablespoons of crepe batter, tilting and rotating pan to coat surface. Cook until almost dry on top and lightly browned on the edges, about one minute. Loosen the edges with a spatula and flip the crepe over using your fingers or the spatula. Cook the other side for about 15 seconds. Turn crepe out onto a clean towel (or paper towel) to cool. Repeat with remaining batter, wiping the pan with butter as needed and stacking crepes as you go.

Crepes can be refrigerated for up to three days or be stored in the freezer for three months. Makes 16 7-inch crepes or 10 12-inch crepes.

To make the ham and cheese galettes:
4 10-inch crepes
4 thin slices ham
1 cup shredded gruyere or swiss cheese
1 tomato, diced
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp grated parmesan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread 1/2 teaspoon of mustard down on each crepe. Cover each crepe with one slice of ham and 1/4 cup of cheese. Add some tomato and fold over four sides to encase filling and make a square packet. Place each packet upside down on a greased baking sheet. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until heated through. They’re kind of small folded up, so I serve two per person. If you had bigger crepes, like the ones at Ti Couz — which are huge! — one per person would be fine.

A tasty Accompaniment:
1 bunch asparagus, cleaned and trimed
1 tsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and diced
salt & pepper

A perfect side for this is some sautéed asparagus. If the stalks are pretty thick, steam for 2-3 minutes first but if they are skinny asparagus spears, just sauté raw with the garlic for a few minutes in the olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve on a plate with the galettes. Open some wine and heartily dig into your meal. Mmm!

Next week: Photos of restaurants in Flagstaff that I liked, last-minute, Thanksgiving spaz-out, and a couple more things…

The Simple Pleasures of Cheese
Cracker snacks are big at our house. Usually, on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, jwa (or I) will suggest some cheese and crackers and maybe a glass (read: bottle) of wine. In fcat, crackers and cheese will probably make an appearance over Thanksgiving as well. What I like to do is pick out a cheddar, have something creamy (goat or brie) and have a cheese with something interesting in it — dill havarti, white cheddar with sage or some kind of other herbed, tasty combination. If I were more a fan of blue cheese, I would probably add one of those types of cheeses to my cheese platter as well.

In the picture above there’s a sharp, aged, Wisconsin cheddar, a dill havarti, port salut (my new favorite creamy cheese) and for fun — a pepper jack. All in all, I am a huge fan of cheese. It’s probably my all-around, favorite food.

Michael Chiarello (who kind of annoys me as a person but not as much as Bobby Flay), offers the following good Cheese Platter tips:

* The crumbly sweetness of biscotti with big cheeses and red wine is a wonderful flavor combination.

* Serve candied almonds or other candied nuts for an accompaniment with a sweet, salty crunch.

* If serving Parmigiano-Reggiano, drizzle with a couple of drops of aged balsamic vinegar to enhance the flavor.

* Set out and arrange cheeses 1 hour before serving, cheeses are best consumed at room temperature.

You can find more of his suggestions here.

In addition, I’ll just add that there’s something about warm brie and fruit, such as a raspberry chutney or even sautéed apples that is so, so good. I also like to add some grapes to my cheese platter, regardless of the type of cheeses. Vive le Fromage!

So, here it is Day 2 of the massive Thanksgiving Plan post. Yesterday was all about the turkey, stuffing, gravy and squash. Today it’s the cranberry relish, green bean casserole, roasted root vegetables and, god yes, the pie.

The Cranberries:
As I mentioned before, I recently made a cranberry-orange relish to go over grilled chicken breasts. It’s a Martha Stewart recipe and wow, was it good. I plan on making it again for Thanksgiving (along with traditional cranberry from a can). The cranberry-orange relish recipe can be found at the above post and it’s well worth making for Thanksgiving or any other occasion. One of the things I really like about it, is that it can be made a day ahead of time. So, Wednesday night, I will be sectioning oranges. Yay!

Green Bean Casserole:
No, wait, come back! It’s not the yucky kind with cream of mushroom soup! Really! It’s a good kind with a béchamel sauce, wild mushrooms, fresh green beans and parmesan cheese. Perhaps I will go crazy and add a little gruyere. Here again, we have Martha Stewart to thank. I made this last year but instead of one big casserole, I made individual casseroles in one-cup ramekins. This too can be made a day ahead. Last year, I got everything together and in the ramekins and then refrigerated the casseroles until the turkey came out of the oven. Then, I popped them into a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes. I plan on doing the same thing this year.

3 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 medium onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 pound mixed mushrooms, stems trimmed, quartered (I used shitake and button)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
3/4 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch of grated nutmeg
3/4 cup grated parmesan
2 tbsp breadcrumbs
2 tbsp canola oil
2 shallots, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch rings
4 individual ramekins

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter. Add onion, and sauté until it begins to soften, about 4 minutes. Add bell pepper and mushrooms, and cook until softened and most of the liquid has evaporated, about 8 minutes. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Set aside to cool.

Prepare an ice bath: Fill a large bowl with ice and water; set aside. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add beans, and cook until bright green and just tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain, and plunge into ice bath to stop cooking. When cooled, toss drained beans with mushroom mixture; set aside.

Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add 2 tbsp of the flour and whisk constantly until mixture begins to turn golden, about 2 minutes. Pour in milk, and continue whisking until mixture has thickened, about 3 minutes. Stir in cayenne, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Remove from heat, and let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Pour over beans, and toss to combine.

Spray ramekins with non-stick cooking spray. Spread half the green-bean mixture over the bottom. Sprinkle on half the grated Parmesan, and spread with the remaining green beans. Combine the remaining Parmesan and the breadcrumbs, and sprinkle over casserole. Cover with foil, and refrigerate until just before serving.

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Toss shallot rings with the one tablespoon flour. Fry the shallots in batches, turning frequently, until golden brown. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Place in an airtight container, and set aside until ready to serve.

After turkey comes out of oven, heat casseroles in a 400 degree for about 20 minutes, until bubbly. Sprinkle the fried shallots over top, and serve immediately.

Roasted Root Vegetables:
Since I am all about the sides, my plan is to have some peeled turnip chunks, maybe some carrots, shallots and whole garlic cloves roasting in the oven for about an hour, alongside the turkey. I was going to put them in the bottom of the turkey roasting pan, but I don’t want to them to get over-cooked and over-saturated with turkey fat. So, my new plan is to roast them in a separate dish for about the last hour of the turkey cooking time, but to baste turkey juices over them. To start them off I will toss them with a little olive oil and kosher salt. If they’re not carmelized enough by the time the turkey is done, I’ll just leave them in the oven while I crank the heat for the green bean casseroles.

Finally…the Pie:
Last year, I made a pie that I found on foodnetwork.com. I liked it but it didn’t seem quite as sweet as I wanted it to be — although, I did like the crust. So, I’m going to make that crust but try a different filling recipe. Sneaky! And, I am planning on making the pie crust dough Tuesday night and then baking the crust and the pie Wednesday, to make my life a whole lot easier on Thursday.

Crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes
2 egg yolks
3 tbsp milk

Filling:
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp maple syrup
2 eggs
1 (15.4 oz) can pumpkin puree
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk

1 nine-inch pie pan
Heavy whipping cream for garnish

Make the Pie Dough: In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, and salt and mix to combine. Add the butter and continue mixing until the mixture holds together when you clump it, and there are pecan-sized lumps of butter still visible.

Meanwhile, whisk together the yolks and milk in small bowl.

Add the yolk mixture to the flour mixture and mix until a dough forms. Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap, wrap well and store in the refrigerator for several hours. (The dough will keep for several days in the fridge and several weeks in the freezer.)

On a lightly floured work surface, divid edough in half and roll out into a 11 to 12-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Line the pan with the dough and crimp the edges. Chill the pie shell for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line the pie shell with aluminum foil and fill with dried beans. Bake the shell until golden brown, about 45 minutes. Remove the foil and beans. Cool.

Make the filling: Mix sugar and spices together in a bowl. Whisk in syrup, eggs, pumpkin and milk. Pour filling into pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees until the filling is set, about 45 to 60 minutes.

A good thing to know, courtesy of Alton Brown, is that “custard” sets at 160-180 degrees. If in doubt, use your trusty meat thermometer and see what it says to know for sure if the pie is “set”. I did this last year and I’m sure I will this year too.

If you’re not making the pie a day ahead, let it cool to room temp before serving. Then, whip up some whipping cream with a little sugar and perhaps a bit of rum. Top with the whipped cream before serving.

Whew! After eating all of this next Thursday (and cooking it!), I plan on laying around and watching a dvd or something when dinner is finally done. That’s going to be a lot of work — hey, posting it was a lot of work!

Thanksgivings Past
I remember a number of years when I was growing up, that we’d take the train (or fly) to my grandfather’s house in Fargo, ND. He cooked the whole meal (well, my mom would help too, especially with the gravy). We’d eat so much food at Thanksgiving. Then everyone would lay about on the floor and watch TV. One year, Escape from New York was on and no one had the energy to turn the channel. But, always, no matter what was on TV, around 8pm my Aunt and Grandfather would start sneaking back into the kitchen for rolls and turkey meat pieces. Good times, people.