Holiday Cooking

I have the small cast iron skillet in the oven; I'm making cornbread, which I'll later turn into stuffing for the turkey.  Yes, the holiday cooking continues.  It's chilly here, so it's a good day to have a turkey in the oven.

Stuffing is such a strange thing:  I'll be disassembling a loaf of homemade sourdough and a pan of cornbread to create stuffing for the turkey, and I'll likely have some left over for a pan of dressing.  

I'm planning a repeat of Thanksgiving:  a turkey, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, both the jellied and the chunky cranberry sauce.  It's one of my favorite meals, and tomorrow, I'll make soup out of the bones.

Today I'm feeling a bit of sorrow as my favorite time of year, mid September to late December, comes to an end.  I'm enjoying these days off, while at the same time wondering if I should be doing more with this time off instead of just cooking.  And yet, the cooking brings me joy.

Let me capture some of my cooking of the past week, and the Facebook posts I made of them.  I did make some Santa Lucia bread and brought some to work.  On Dec. 23, I made this post to go with the picture below:  "She wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him on a bread board--wait, that's not how that Gospel goes?"

I thought about making a later post with a picture of the sliced bread, with a caption "Oh Sacred Head Now Wounded," but I worried I would fall on the far side of the disrespectful line.  

Later in the day, I made this post:  "When I bring baked goods to share with colleagues at work, I always list the ingredients, in case anyone has allergies or other reasons for avoiding ingredients. When I think of annual reviews, let me remember this one:"

When we did the kitchen remodel for our last house, back in 2003, we thought about getting a double oven, but at the last minute, we changed our minds.  I realized that we would only use the double oven a few times a year, and so it wasn't worth the extra expense.

It's the time of year when I'm surprised by what I haven't cooked yet.  This year I've cooked lots of bread, but not as many cookies.  Still, I'm filled with the contentment that comes from pans waiting to go into the oven, with stock simmering on the stove top, with the knowledge that good meals are ahead.