Cooking weekend

Made pretty much perfect pumpkin French toast. I had pumpkin French toast at a restaurant a couple weeks ago, and was sorely disappointed by the lack of pumpkininess. For my in-laws, Chuckro made a loaf of pumpkin yeast bread (which has a fantastically perfect texture), and then I dredged it in a mix of pumpkin, eggs, milk, vanilla, and spices. It was perfect French toast, the texture you rarely get, where the inside has basically completely turned to custard, but it doesn't break or fall apart. Sooo good.

In other news, I'm making a turkey today. ( Skip this part if you're a vegetarian or squeamish about raw meat )

Smug

I cooked a seriously awesome turkey today. 18 hour dry salt rub, salt and baking soda rubbed into the skin, onion and garlic in the cavity, 2 1/2 hours on low heat with the breast down, 45 minutes on high heat breast up, 30 minute rest. It was juicy and seasoned and perfectly cooked all the way through. Plus cranberry sauce (which didn't quite jell but was delicious), chestnut puree, stuffing with apples, sausage, and cranberries, carrots and peas, and fresh pumpkin cinnamon rolls.

And all of it got to the table at the exact time I wanted it to, in the state it was supposed to be in (except the cranberry mold). I am really damn proud of myself.