Your Own Private i(da)Ho

Is it can be Caturday yet plees?—or—My Day

It started with a power failure at 9 a.m., whereupon the machine I needed in my lab for my presentation today was fried. At 11 I went to the doctor, because I am losing my voice due to yet another sinus infection.

Then, right at noon, my colleague came to me looking for a big box with a lid. She had found a stray kitty outside our building, skinny and shivering but otherwise in seeming good health. We have feral cats on campus, and she was afraid he was wild and wouldn't come with her, hence the box. But he let her pick him up without fussing, and didn't even make a peep as we took him upstairs in the box! We fed him some of my Lean Cuisine chicken (we scraped off the sauce), and he purred and purred while he ate it all up. After my friend finished teaching, she took the adorable critter to the vet and then home, hopefully to adopt if her husband says okay. (Kitty was the redeeming part of the day! He is a cute orange tabby, about four months old, so sweet-tempered!)

In the early afternoon a bunch of CDs I made for the lab turned out to be bad. Then my PowerPoint presentation crashed the machine I was trying to show it from. I had to edit it ON ANOTHER MACHINE five minutes before my talk at 3 p.m., because the computer attached to the projector crashed every time I tried to edit the offending slides. Thank heaven for jump drives.

The presentation went fine, but now my voice is about gone. In cyberspace nobody can tell you have laryngitis.

I fear no leftover turkey, for I have a turkey gumbo recipe.

This is kind of a rerun, but I feel like I need to bring the Good News of turkey gumbo to leftover turkey sufferers.  This gumbo is so delicious that I look forward to extra bird, and would be upset if there weren't any.

BTW, if you don't have any creole seasoning, a good mixture of cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt, paprika, and garlic powder will do the trick nicely.  Also, I don't put filé powder in, because the gumbo is thick enough without it.  So if you can't find it in your store, don't worry about it.

Enjoy!

Oh, yes, and I fixed the link below to Mean Kitty:  Episode 1.  It's so totally worth seeing!

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Turkey Gumbo

• 1 cup oil • 1 cup flour • 4 large onions, chopped • 4 bell peppers, chopped • 4 ribs celery, chopped • 6 cloves garlic, minced • 6 quarts turkey stock • 3 bay leaves • 2 teaspoons Creole seasoning, or to taste • 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste • 1 large turkey breast OR a pound of leftover turkey, cut in bite-sized pieces • 2 pounds andouille or other SMOKED sausage, cut into 1/2" pieces • 1 bunch scallions (green onions), tops only, chopped • 2/3 cup fresh chopped parsley • Filé powder to taste Cut the turkey breast up in to 1 1/2 inch cubes and season with salt,pepper and Creole seasoning and brown quickly. (Skip this if your turkey is already cooked.) Brown the sausage, pour off fat and reserve meats. In a large, heavy pot, heat the oil and cook the flour in the oil over medium to high heat (depending on your roux-making skill), stirring constantly, until the roux reaches a dark reddish-brown color, almost the color of coffee or milk chocolate for a Cajun-style roux. If you want to save time, or prefer a more New Orleans-style roux, cook it to a medium, peanut-butter color, over lower heat if you're nervous about burning it. Add the vegetables and stir quickly.  This cooks the vegetables and also stops the roux from cooking further. (By the way, this is the "OMG" moment of making gumbo, because a strange and beautiful alchemy occurs, and the aroma of the roux and frying onions, garlic, and peppers is wonderful!) Continue to cook, stirring constantly, for about 4 minutes. Add the stock, seasonings, turkey and sausage. Bring to a boil, then cook for about one hour, skimming fat off the top as needed. Add the chopped scallion tops and parsley, and heat for 5 minutes. Serve over rice in large bowls. Accompany with a good beer and lots of hot, crispy French bread.  NOM NOM NOM! YIELD: About 12 entrée sized servings.

Mean Kitty Monday

Okay, if you haven't seen these videos already, I promise you will laugh yourself right of any Monday funk when you do!

Mean Kitty Song

Mean Kitty Episode 1*

The latter reminds me (in a good way) of Fry and Laurie's "Bishop and the Warlord" sketches, which is totally a bonus in my book!

Have a good one!

"Here, kitty kitty!"

*oops, wrong link before, but now I've fixed it!