music-city-missy
Well-known member
Got up & knew I wasn't going to work so I got up and took one of DH's tamaflu pills and fenergan or whatever for the nausea but took DD to school and climbed back in bed.
Got up around noon and kept thinking what am I going to do. At least I have headed off a full blown case of this like DH has.
Finally decided to get started. Went to get the ducks from the garage (out of fridge space and it was pretty darn cold out there last night) and realized I have become my MIL. Every Thanksgiving we have been there, she puts everything in the garage instead of the fridge. Of course she lives in OH but instead of putting stuff out there that makes sense, she leaves her bread in the fridge and puts the turkey she cooked 3 days in advance AND sliced in a pan loosely covered with foil. Oh well - you get the picture and the shock of realizing I have become her.
The ducks were still pretty darn frozen. Ran water over them trying to at least thaw them enough to be able to work with them. Finally got them semi-workable and started parting them out. Decided since I had two ducks and 12 folks to feed (well it's more like sample) but I think I'll go ahead and confit the breasts and use them also (saw that in several recipes doing my research so figured what the heck).
So now I had all these piles. Duck to be salted. Carcasses to do something with. Organs to do something with. Skin & fat. And two packages of orange sauce. Washed the packages of orange sauce with hot soapy water, placed in plastic bag and threw in freezer - chicken a l'orange? Why not? Carcases and organs went in separate bags and into the freezer - I'll figure out what to do with them later. Legs and breasts into a bag with salt and seasonings and into the fridge.
Cut up the fat into Pyrex pan and decided to render them on the grill. Preheated it and put the pan out there. Worked great - no smell in the house. Beautiful duck fat and tasty cracklins though I dare not sample right now. Stomach still not good.
Next up, the pork stew. Sauteed the vegetables inside and browned off the pork. But took outside before I topped off with the bean broth from last night. So far, so good, no odors sneaking in the house.
So all I have left is cooking the duck later and I'll do that outside. When my oven was down for a week, it was amazing how I learned to use the gas grill just like an oven so now I have a backup oven.
Oh, BTW, have been wearing gloves and mask to cut down on any risk of germs and I have washed my hands so much they are scaly. Starting to feel like some creature out of a sci-fi movie. The Cassoulet Monster or something.
Got up around noon and kept thinking what am I going to do. At least I have headed off a full blown case of this like DH has.
Finally decided to get started. Went to get the ducks from the garage (out of fridge space and it was pretty darn cold out there last night) and realized I have become my MIL. Every Thanksgiving we have been there, she puts everything in the garage instead of the fridge. Of course she lives in OH but instead of putting stuff out there that makes sense, she leaves her bread in the fridge and puts the turkey she cooked 3 days in advance AND sliced in a pan loosely covered with foil. Oh well - you get the picture and the shock of realizing I have become her.
The ducks were still pretty darn frozen. Ran water over them trying to at least thaw them enough to be able to work with them. Finally got them semi-workable and started parting them out. Decided since I had two ducks and 12 folks to feed (well it's more like sample) but I think I'll go ahead and confit the breasts and use them also (saw that in several recipes doing my research so figured what the heck).
So now I had all these piles. Duck to be salted. Carcasses to do something with. Organs to do something with. Skin & fat. And two packages of orange sauce. Washed the packages of orange sauce with hot soapy water, placed in plastic bag and threw in freezer - chicken a l'orange? Why not? Carcases and organs went in separate bags and into the freezer - I'll figure out what to do with them later. Legs and breasts into a bag with salt and seasonings and into the fridge.
Cut up the fat into Pyrex pan and decided to render them on the grill. Preheated it and put the pan out there. Worked great - no smell in the house. Beautiful duck fat and tasty cracklins though I dare not sample right now. Stomach still not good.
Next up, the pork stew. Sauteed the vegetables inside and browned off the pork. But took outside before I topped off with the bean broth from last night. So far, so good, no odors sneaking in the house.
So all I have left is cooking the duck later and I'll do that outside. When my oven was down for a week, it was amazing how I learned to use the gas grill just like an oven so now I have a backup oven.
Oh, BTW, have been wearing gloves and mask to cut down on any risk of germs and I have washed my hands so much they are scaly. Starting to feel like some creature out of a sci-fi movie. The Cassoulet Monster or something.