BEHOLD THE GOOSE!

[rachelmanija]

The goose was delicious! Especially the crispy skin. The meat was very dark, flavorful but not as fatty as duck. (I like fatty, so I think duck still has a slight edge as my favorite fowl). But I would definitely goose again.

I completely failed to take photos of anything else as I was overcome by goose, but the meal also featured braised short ribs, stuffing, sweet potatoes topped with candied pecans, mashed carrots with mint, kale and potatoes with rosemary and garlic, brussels sprouts and onions, and for dessert, lemon squares (my contribution), a sort of sweet pizza topped with berries and icing, and homemade S'Mores ice cream. The latter was a big hit. I don't like S'Mores (I hate graham crackers) but they tasted more like brown butter cookies than graham crackers. Brilliant ice cream, would be a bestseller if sold commercially.

I was not called to an emergency, though I did maniacally rush from the table with my phone once, as the area code was that of my answering service and I thought it was a client having a Christmas emergency. Turns out it was my mom calling from India on a new cell phone and a five-second delay between when either of us said anything and when the other heard it. That was an interesting conversation.

I hope you all had good food and good cheer. I have a takeaway plate of goose, short ribs, and kale in the fridge.

ETA: Forgot to mention the appetizers, all homemade: baked brie in pastry, pork rillettes (pate, basically), and mashed peas with chili pepper - I know the latter sounds weird, but it was great. All were delicious but I could have devoured an entire brie if it wasn't for knowing goose was forthcoming. It had a sweetness that I first thought was browned onions but turned out to be brown sugar sprinkled on before popping it in the oven.

Comments

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

It was very fun! Slightly nervewracking at first because my best friend, whom I had expected to be there, had to bail due to discovering that her toddler had lice and had passed them on to the entire family. Otherwise, I only knew the hosts, who were madly prepping in the kitchen. Luckily everyone was very nice and, it turned out, almost all working in TV, so we had plenty to talk about.

[pameladean]

Oh, yes, that would be a stomach-sinking moment indeed when you realized your best friend couldn't be there. And argh, for the lice. It's very tedious to get rid of them, and meditating on history does not seem to help as much as one might think, from my observation.

It makes sense that you should have things in common with people your best friend would have been eating Christmas dinner with, but I wouldn't have thought of that if it had been me getting the news that she couldn't come after all.

P.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

See my ETA above. I sat there for several minutes stuffing my face with appetizers because I couldn't figure out an entry into small talk. Then someone mentioned that she worked on "So You Think You Can Dance," which I am sometimes very fannish about (it's a reality dance show, so it depends on how I like that season's dancers), and conversation proceeded from that point.