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Sunday, November 20, 2011

TGP returns







The Great Possum. Circa 3AM Sunday, November 20, 2011.

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Good post by BooMan:

Let Me Explain Myself
I say we need to get over being countercultural. I don't mean that we should change our values. I am talking about our disposition, our attitude, the way we carry ourselves, what we expect of ourselves. When I say that we should make the countercultural cultural, I mean that we should have the confidence to behave like our values are mainstream and that we want to and deserve to govern with our mainstream values. We are winning the culture wars. We proved we could create a society color-blind enough to elect a biracial president. We proved we could turn tolerance for gays into a mainstream position. We proved we could enact a major health care bill. We don't have to play the victim anymore. We don't have to be the outsiders anymore. We can seize our place in the power structure again. We ought to be able to believe that the government can do great things again.

[...]

If liberals want to be ascendant again, they have to embrace power again and step inside the system, take responsibility, get their hands dirty, and cut the holier-than-thou bullshit.

We have to act like the natural leaders of this country. When we do, we'll discover that people are willing to let us lead.


"Flower Power was nice, but that wasn't enough power."
~ Wayne Kramer (MC5)

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20 comments:

pansypoo said...

THAT'S what had the fluffy tail! i gotta put some nosh out. oh! maybe some sunflower seeds scattered.

pansypoo said...

isn't NY a bit north for possums? or is it warmer 'by' the ocean?

the farmer said...

Its your basic Virginia oppossum. They wander north into canada too. Live throughout most of the country east of the rockies.

heres a link to a range map (wiki):

http://tinyurl.com/7ovo8hh

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the farmer said...

got me one of those turkey roaster things. its a rival. was $20, marked down from $45 so i figured it was a good deal and would save me a lot of oven space problems. i've never used one before so any tips on cooking a 15 lb turkey in it... let me know.

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pansypoo said...

NPR had an old school roasting system to try, but not doing the t-day bird. try it on a sale breast after. tho, what is inside a jenny o?

the farmer said...

tho, what is inside a jenny o?

hell if i know. is that the fast food turkey burger crap they advertise on the tv?

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pjk said...

pansy- we talking giblets & neck, or some contraption that holds the legs together, or the giant fat plug at the neck (hole) end, or sumthin' else altogether-

like you got a "Golden Ticket" Jennie-O and just didn't know it?

Heroin? Coke? Meth? Diamonds? (Like the Bond film; "ailimentry, my dear Watson!")


Farmer- in so far as I can tell, the only thing you need be concerned about when doing a turkey in such a roaster is (a) follow the directions to fire it up empty either outside or in the garage, in order to burn off the manufacturing oil stank; (b) have a general idea of minutes-per-pound, at what temperature; (c) have an accurate thermometer to stab it with when said time approaches; and (d) treat it like poultry- if it gets close and you encounter a delay, you can always kick it down to Warm (really close and just shut it off).

We've had them come out almost falling apart and still be edible on day 1, even if the bones bleached Death Valley white as soon as they hit the air.

A little water in the pan doesn't hurt either if you humidify the thing under those circumstances.

Everybody but my brother from anutha mutha is gonna be here this weekend; sounds like a turkey in one (I'm optimistic about finding a 25-30# Superchicken) and a whole ham in the other.

We've also used our primary (Nesco) to make cheesy potatoes and the wife's family version of lasagne. Nice thing about those space-wise, is that you can easily make a double batch in that deeper pan, instead of hogging up an oven with 2 13x9's.

Her Grandmother used hers for everything under the sun. In the old days, you could get the 4-legged Made in USA stand to hold it up at counter level, instead of taking up counter or table space.

But they used to have Summer kitchens, too. Another good idea that don't get used much nowadays.

Booman's right. Enough of the bullshit. Get something done, sell your ideas correctly, and quit trying to compromise (aka bend US over) with the even bigger corporate whores on the other side of the aisle.

pansypoo said...

last time i had a frozen turkey breat it had a plastic bag of something. gravy starter. i am not gonna use that. no neck. might buy a wing to start the stock.

pansypoo said...

and hell yeah on no being a wimp no more. fuck conservatism.

mike in pr said...

Happy Thanksgiving, fellow stayedbehinders.

the farmer said...

Happy thankgivings to all. And especially to you Mike, after all you've been through. And I love the "summer kitchen" idea PJK mentioned. Fer fuckin' fucks sake I can do that! I have a screened porch off my kitchen with a big dinner table on it and I can turn it into a kitchen too. Now I can't wait till next summer. I want to hear more about summer kitchens. What a good god-damn idea. And thanks for the tips PJK (did em all) the only thing i think I might do is move the bird to the trad. oven for the last 10-20 minutes to crispy the skin on it. Sisters gonna cook the other bird in the traditoional oven roaster pan so we can compare results.

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pansypoo said...

turkey was good. and i had more than enough skin.

the farmer said...

turkey roaster worked great. can't believe i waited all these years to get one. freed up the oven for the side dishes. gonna make some lasagne and manicotti in it next. and nobody caught a bambi.

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pansypoo said...

what kind of roaster is this? a free standing cooker?

the farmer said...

a free standing cooker

yes. this thing here:

www.rivalproducts.com/product.aspx?pid=1003

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pjk said...

They don't work quite as well for heating the house like a traditional range, but that only matters when your furnace sucks (like ours)- or in the warmer weather moments.

Not really a leftover recipe (the turkey is best within a day, at most) but V. Richards deli hereabouts got us hooked on salad composed of turkey, Jarlsburg swiss cheese (Fontina or baby swiss works well if you don't favor the smoked flavor), and red seedless grapes in a bath of mayo or your favorite salad dressing.

You're wide open to what you might add to that (celery, grape tomatoes, nuts, bacon, onion, etc etc) but strangely enough at least for me the grapes are essential.

Ya don't wanna make it around Easter with a turkey breast @ $1.49 per pound and grapes @ $5. Fuckers put 'em out at half that the day after.

No superchickens available, so we're gonna do 2 13 pounders side-by-side, like two 6-volt batteries wired in series to be a 12 (I took a tape measure to the store), and a 20# ham in the other.

I'll let you know if 2x13=26 in the eyes of the roaster gods, in terms of cooking time.

And yeah, you do give up the browning aspect- but the difficulty in accidental overcooking balances that out for me. I'm thinking if you preheated the regular oven (broiler?), you could get the job done with the bird still in the removable roaster pan. The one person lifts the rack, in order to let person #2 get the removable pan out, method.

Good time to let someone try and turn that pan grease into gravy. Me, I'll wait for the comet before I start feeling the need.

the farmer said...

(broiler?)

I just lifted it out on the rack and dropped it into a regular roaster pan and browned it in the oven at 350 for the last half hour of the estimated cook time. Worked just right.

I'm interested to hear how the 2 birds side by side works out with the cook time too.

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pansypoo said...

i don't care about the turkey except for the skin + it better make good gravy. leftover turkey? best cut up and bathed in said gravy + make more gravy. so, i prefer a small breast that can fit in my old griswald chicken pot. i had someleftover skin crisped in the toaster oven. mmm, like bacon. crispy.

pansypoo said...

1 last day of turkey, but i think a lunch of gravy bread. YAY!

pansypoo said...

turkey all gone.