Turkey & intentions

Well we’re not convinced about brining the turkey. The meat itself looked quite different when it came out of the liquid, as though it was par-cooked. While it roasted, I couldn’t help being distracted by the smell of cinnamon – there was a half stick in the brine. At the end of the day the turkey had a non-turkey taste, a little acidic.  All a little odd. I just hope the leftovers will be okay.

I did once try marinating a turkey in spicy yogurt mix, tandoori style, & that worked well – something I would consider doing again some time. Brining I will not be doing again!

The gales & rain keep slashing down. We’re hoping to get into Lancaster one day to get ourselves a calendar but I can’t see us doing so until the weather improves. We’re also contemplating having another go at getting a Satnav. It might be useful when we’re on holiday in France. However, this time we’re going to Halfords where the stock should be more up-to-date, & we’ll take our time to decide which one to buy.

Meanwhile I’m trying to sort out the transport & hotel part of the French holiday. We’re intending to go by rail again & have a few days in Dijon & some in Beaune. We’re hoping to come home having decided whether we prefer a self-catering or a hotel holiday. It should be an interesting experiment.

Wind & turkey

The winds have really arrived today. The banshees are howling down the chimney. The pilot light of our gas fire has blown out. In the background I can hear the squeak of the garden gate. I look out at our front garden & can see the bay tree, sage & rosemary bushes tossing this way & that in some wild dance. But for all the wind it is better than yesterday. That turned so dark that you needed lights inside even early in the afternoon. We did venture out to the fish shop for the smoked haddock. As we were out we went along to the golf club. The place was virtually deserted as people stayed safely tucked up at home.

Today we're having roast turkey for dinner - a bit late I know, but I came across a recipe for turkey which involved soaking the crown in spiced brine for a couple of days before cooking. I found some frozen crowns at reduced price when we went shopping on Wednesday. Once the crown had thawed out, I put it in some brine with various flavourings & it's been sitting out in the cold of the garage ever since.

We did have a more conventionally roast turkey in December, but you can never have too much leftover turkey in our opinion.

I will admit the recipe has made me think what equipment cookery writers think normal home cooks have. In this instance you need a pan big enough to hold the crown, covered in water. Okay I have a roasting pan big enough to roast the turkey in but it's not deep enough for all that spiced brine. As for my biggest saucepan, that is too small for the crown as a whole piece. I've ended up cutting it in half to get it all submerged in the liquid with a lid on. I suspect I'm not the only person who would be in that situation, even if they have a family. The domestic kitchen tends not to need such huge pans as the professional kitchen. Most people do not cook for more than 4-6 as a norm. When they cook for more it tends to be a roast or a boneless casserole, neither of which need such a big pan.

Still we're curious to see what this brining does to the flavour & moisture of the bird. But I will be keeping a careful eye on the cooking as I'm half-expecting it to take less time as I'm going to be roasting two small joints rather than one big one. We'll find out this evening.

In a dither

I’m in a bit of a dither. There’s a large bit of me that’s eager to get out the Mean Machine, my electric scooter, & get off down to the fish shop. Hopefully we’re having a smoked haddock kedgeree for dinner tonight. Although the weather doesn’t seem too bad at the moment there are some strong winds forecast. I gather in Scotland there are already winds of over 100mph & it’s coming our way. The promenade, which is the route I would go, is very open to winds at the best of times. If I got caught in a wind that strong I’m not sure if the Mean Machine wouldn’t be blown over even with me on it. I’m telling myself we can easily pop down this afternoon in the car. As it is I’m a bit distracted by the sounds of the gusts & howls outside.

Instead I think I’ll have a further look for holiday ideas to celebrate our wedding anniversary on. I confess Austria is not a place I’ve seriously considered holidaying in before. I’m really quite enjoying finding out a little bit about it. Certainly the idea of a holiday partly in a city, such as Vienna, & partly in an Alpine landscape does appeal.

Not to be

I’ve just been on the phone about a possible holiday for us.

As I’ve said before, it’s our ruby wedding anniversary later this year so I was thinking of organising a ruby-themed holiday for us at that time. For our pearl anniversary we did this & ended up having an enjoyable holiday in Gouda, in the Netherlands, spending the actual day in The Hague seeing, among other things, Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring”.

I discovered there is a river cruise ship called the Scenic Ruby. I found out where it would be at the right time & the availability of an adapted cabin. So today I rang to find out the finer details of access.

To be fair, the assistant was very helpful. The ship itself should be no problem with. Admittedly I wouldn’t be able to go on the sundeck, but we would have a private balcony so I could get fresh air. All the bars & restaurants I could get to. The only other place I couldn’t get to the wellness facility. Still, I told myself I probably wouldn’t have used that anyway, though a massage or a hairdo on gala nights might have been nice.

However, the real problem is that the trips, even from the airport to the ship, are in non-accessible coaches. And even worse, the ships often double-berth which would mean they couldn’t guarantee I could even get on or off the ship, even at the start or end of the holiday.

We have been toying with the idea of this holiday for a while. We enjoyed our river cruise in 2011. We’ve dithered about this trip because of the sheer cost of the holiday. It is expensive but we’d concluded it would be an unforgettable experience of a lifetime, cruising from Budapest to Amsterdam, &, after this Christmas, why not blow some money & enjoy ourselves while we still can.

However, having garnered this information, I’m now left wondering why adapt a cabin for a wheelchair user, if no wheelchair user is likely to go on the trip as they can’t be confident of getting on & off the ship at both ends of the trip. I can only assume they are catering for those who have minor mobility needs e.g. someone who uses a stick & needs to hold a grab rail or be able to sit for a shower, maybe uses a wheelchair for long walks only, rather than one who would use a wheelchair for the majority of the time as I would. To walk beyond the cabin would be too much for me.

Oh well, it’s back to the drawing board & Plan B. At present the idea of a holiday in Vienna appeals – there’s a Ruby Hotel there. If anyone has any good suggestions, or even ruby related thoughts that might send me off in some direction, don’t hesitate to let me know.