Two significant cooking items today: one large chicken, and one pumpkin pie. There'll be side dishes too, of course.
Got the chicken unwrapped, giblets removed, and tucked into a giant zipper-bag with seasoning (cooking oil, balsamic vinegar, a little salt, a little red pepper, some thyme, and all the tarragon - this called for a trip to the basement to confirm the presence of a backup supply of tarragon).
Have to start the pie soon, so it'll be done in time for chicken-roasting to commence. Planning an early dinner today, so everything has to start early.
Update: In between my baking the pie and starting the chicken, Joy was busy in the kitchen with other things. Coming up on chicken-roasting time, she informed me that the handle on the upper oven (the one we haven't been using for cooking of late) had come unmoored: the hole in the plastic handle into which a self-tapping screw is scrod (one such at each end of the handle; one still more or less working, one not at all) had gotten all worn out, and the threads would no longer engage it. Examining the situation, I came up with a plan: stuff the hole with Acraglas Gel (great for all manner of home repairs, when duct tape just isn't good enough), goober the threads of the screw with the release agent, assemble, and somehow clamp the thing together while the gel sets up.
Well... my Acraglas kit is several years old, and spent most of those years were spent at uncontrolled room temperature. The goop itself has gone all grainy and unmixable, and the release agent has gelled into a rubbery lump.
Ah, well. Spray the threads with PTFE-based dry lube and hope for the best; mix up a batch of JB Weld and goober the holes (at both ends, because the other one will fail soon enough); assemble; hold in place with many pieces of Frog Tape. We shall see how that goes.
And, yes, the chicken is now safely ensconced in the lower oven.
Turns out dinner doesn't really need to be as early as originally planned, so being half an hour or so behind schedule isn't a big deal.
Comments