Food update: Bacon and turkey
Dec. 25th, 2012 03:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thistlechaserTwo great tastes that taste great together... usually.
On the bacon I posted about last week: I looked at the package and instead of seeing the individual slices, it looked like it had melted and they had run together, so I tossed it out without opening to sniff it. I suspect I saved my nose.
On the turkey I made today. Positive things: I didn't burn my apartment down. I didn't even set off the smoke alarm. I didn't undercook it. It cooked mostly fine without a roasting pan (the skin it was resting on was pale and nasty, though that's no surprise). Negative: I overcooked it a little, so it was dry. It was also tasteless (which isn't surprising, as it only had spices on the skin).
Lessons learned: Why in the world did I buy a whole turkey breast? I don't like leftovers even when something's really good, and how rare is it for me to make something really good? I feel horrible for wasting food, but I know I won't touch this turkey again. I wish I at least had a dog to give it to or knew where a stray one was. First the whole chicken, now the turkey breast. I'm one person who doesn't like leftovers! Stop buying such big things, me!
Additional lesson: I can bake (roast? whatever) meat in the oven! I've always been really scared to do so, because it might not cook all the way through. Small cuts I was fine with, but things like a whole chicken I never wanted to do.
Ellie, who usually has no use at all for people food, actually ate two pieces of the turkey.
Next year I'm going to stick with the frozen dinners or going out or something. My mother is a firm believer that I should "cook something special" at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but not everyone can cook. If I do try again, I'm going to get a much, much, much more reasonable sized thing.
On the bacon I posted about last week: I looked at the package and instead of seeing the individual slices, it looked like it had melted and they had run together, so I tossed it out without opening to sniff it. I suspect I saved my nose.
On the turkey I made today. Positive things: I didn't burn my apartment down. I didn't even set off the smoke alarm. I didn't undercook it. It cooked mostly fine without a roasting pan (the skin it was resting on was pale and nasty, though that's no surprise). Negative: I overcooked it a little, so it was dry. It was also tasteless (which isn't surprising, as it only had spices on the skin).
Lessons learned: Why in the world did I buy a whole turkey breast? I don't like leftovers even when something's really good, and how rare is it for me to make something really good? I feel horrible for wasting food, but I know I won't touch this turkey again. I wish I at least had a dog to give it to or knew where a stray one was. First the whole chicken, now the turkey breast. I'm one person who doesn't like leftovers! Stop buying such big things, me!
Additional lesson: I can bake (roast? whatever) meat in the oven! I've always been really scared to do so, because it might not cook all the way through. Small cuts I was fine with, but things like a whole chicken I never wanted to do.
Ellie, who usually has no use at all for people food, actually ate two pieces of the turkey.
Next year I'm going to stick with the frozen dinners or going out or something. My mother is a firm believer that I should "cook something special" at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but not everyone can cook. If I do try again, I'm going to get a much, much, much more reasonable sized thing.
