Holiday Recap (How Not to Make a Turkey), Postmates Review, Prime Rib Recipe

Talking Turkey - Holiday Recap

Escapee

I called this blog post "How Not to Make a Turkey," because ... well, I really f'd it up this year. It was my first turkey ever.  I solicited input from about a dozen people, and got a lot of great recipes.  I just couldn't get the job done. It was probably an omen when I took the turkey out of the refrigerator and the grocery bag broke, sending the poor turkey careening onto the floor.

Brine leaking from the oven bag

I had dreams about this turkey people. I was stressing all week.  I mean...I cook. I love to cook, but this turkey had me all kinds of stressed out.

Our first mistake was brining the turkey in an oven bag, which somebody on the internet suggested. Matthew and I ended up basically covered in raw turkey juice. It was awesome. From here on out I'm going to stop believing everything I read on the internet, by the way.  It was just messy and ... anyway, we brined it over night, I cooked it breast down and turned it over, and then overcooked it.  It was edible, but I basically ruined Thanksgiving and resolved never to make a turkey again. At the bottom of this blog post, you'll find my mom's prime rib recipe.  Stick with that if turkey isn't your thing, like it isn't apparently mine.

"Well I'll say." -My aunt, when I said I might have overcooked it

All in all, my family had a wonderful holiday.  This is probably the last year that my youngest daughter will believe in Santa, which is kind of a bummer.  I had my kids so young that I think I took for granted a lot of this kind of stuff...and that they'd always be little. Anyway, I hope all of you guys had a fantastic holiday...and now back to reality.




Oh as a side note I found these plates/utensils at Safeway this year. I'm big on having a nice looking table, but I knew that I had "Friendsgiving" scheduled the day after Thanksgiving and was reticent to serve on china and all of that, because I knew that after cooking all day, I wouldn't want to deal with the dishes. I found these, Mozaik to be a perfect solution. They're disposable and look pretty. $10 for service for 8. I think it was $10.







Postmates Review


Have you heard of Postmates?  I'm doing a review here because I find myself recommending it so frequently, I want to share it with both of you that read this blog. It's an app/website that allows you to have things delivered to your house.  Having a work meeting and can't get away for coffee? They deliver Starbucks (or Dunkin if you like coffee that actually tastes good). I have had them deliver groceries, prescriptions.... I work out of my home so there are days that I just can't get to the store to get what I need.  They will deliver from any restaurant as well.  If you decide to give it a whirl, please use my invite code (ys7r) because then I get a $10 credit (and so do you).

Pros:

• They deliver anything.  Restaurant food, groceries, prescriptions...  Except alcohol. See Cons below.
• It's all done on the app. No cash changes hands.  
• It's pretty quick - usually within an hour.

Cons:  

• They don't deliver wine. You knew I was going to try, right? 
• They are mostly very young people that don't really know how to shop for groceries. You gotta be super specific...I try to be and still ended up with Clorox wipes instead of CLR one time.
• It's a little pricey ($7 plus a tip), but if you hate the grocery store, it can be your best friend. 

My Moms? (I don't know if it's hers, but she's the one who told me about it) Prime Rib Reicpe

What you'll need:

- Standing rib roast, cut off the bone and tied back on:  The butcher is your friend, and he or she will do this for you. If you want to save time, call ahead. As a side note, I have the butcher do all kinds of stuff like cut the skin off of fish, cut up whole chickens. They're there to help. That was one of the themes throughout Julia Child's cookbooks. I usually ask the butcher to season the prime rib as well. Otherwise, you can make your own, or buy Montreal Steak Seasoning or something similar. You want to buy about a pound per person. Our prime rib for Christmas was 12 lbs. We had 13 people, including kids, and I ended up with a little leftover that I used to make soup.  Around the holiday, stores usually have a $4.97 per pound special, so shop around before you buy. On a 12 lb roast, it can save you $36.
- Large Roasting Pan
- Oven (duh)
- Paper and Pen, tape

You'll want to leave your prime rib out before cooking for 1-2 hours so it can get to room temperature.   Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Put your roast in the oven for one hour.  Once an hour has passed, turn the oven off.  DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN. This is where the pen and paper come in. I usually tape an expletive-laced note to the oven that tells my family that opening the oven will result in death and/or dismemberment.

Leave it in the oven for like, I don't know, 6+ hours.  90 mins before you want to eat, turn the oven back on to 375 (again, don't open the oven).  Let it pre-heat, then start the timer for an hour.  Once an hour has passed, remove the roast from the oven and let it rest like 20 mins before cutting it.

Perfect prime rib every time. Fuck a turkey.

Shameless Plugs: 

• My friend Ron Valderrama has started a blog on living a simple life.  His zen way of looking at life has always inspired me so I'm excited he's going to share his secrets :) 
• Luis Gonzales/XTreme Stitch is my go-to person for embroidery both locally and nationally. He's currently working on some custom work for Dodie Boy Penalosa Jr.'s Everlast fight outfit.   He is well-priced, and his customer service and quality are unmatched. He does custom patches and embroidery, merchandise and custom boxing outfits. Visit him on Facebook, and if you've got embroidery work, he's your guy. 

Okay bye.