Martha is My HomeGirl

"You were the sunshine, baby, whenever you smiled
But I call you Stormy today
All of a sudden that ole rain's fallin' down
And my world is cloudy and gray
You've gone away
Oh Stormy, oh Stormy
Bring back that sunny day"

Dennis Yost & Classics IV, 1968

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3S63vA67PI

It's another one of those blindingly sunny days in metro Denver, one of the 300 such days we get every year. According to the Chamber of Commerce. If you count the days we get any amount of sun, it's probably true. But, even if it isn't true, it's close enough.

In the spirit of bipartisanship, I have instituted new regulations at "When Pigs Fly." I wouldn't want things to get out of control for lack of oversight, resulting from a failure to lead. Or, worse, a failure to predict every unknown outcome in the future to the satisfaction of every man, woman, and child in the blogosphere.

So, henceforth, let it be known that Monday through Friday will be reserved for anything I want to write about. Saturday, however will be reserved for cooking and football. And, not necessarily in that order. Sunday will be reserved for God. No blogging on Sunday. He didn't just ask for it, He commanded it. And, His Word is good enough for me.

I have purchased - either on the newstand or through subscription - every issue of Martha Stewart Living since she started the magazine. At one point, I had actually SAVED every one of those issues. But, the immovable object also known as our tiny Northern California crackerbox without a basement met with an irresistable force also known as my cookbook collection. What was 10's became 100's; so, the magazines had to be "edited." Thinned, if you will.

A 12 x 18" rattan file box was procured from one of the stores among the many Williams-Sonoma brands that changed my life forever in the Bay Area. One of their many stores of my dreams, "Hold Everything." These stores used to stand alone in malls and sold through mail-order (and, eventually, the internet), but were later "absorbed" into other W-S brands in the summer of 2006. I guess "The Container Store" came along and made it obsolete, with it's unending SKUs of everything imaginable to hold stuff, carry stuff, store stuff, send stuff, travel with stuff. Etc. You get the idea.

But, back to the file box. It holds dozens of files of magazine clippings, sorted by menus, occasion, course, or whatever I wanted to sort separately. Like, cheesecake recipes. That became the home for Martha's countless recipes, which were ripped - triage-style - from the issues before they were discarded.

At first, it hurt a lot to throw any part of those books away. When Martha began implementing her full-on brand extension and merchandising expertise in her business, the cross-channel items began appearing. Many or most of those recipes I had carefully stored began appearing in newly-published, large compendiums of "the best of." I have some of those, too.

I don't care that Martha went to jail for a possibly trumped-up "insider trading" infraction when so many in Washington, D.C. commit more heinous crimes in plain view and actually get reelected for unlimited term after unlimited term. Barney "Fannie & Freddie are Fine" Frank comes to mind. But, I digress. No more politics on Saturday. (If only it worked that way in real life.)

I started the menu planning for Thanksgiving, which is a hilarious statement in it's own right. What's to plan??!! We have the same thing every year. And, no variation. Every dish has it's own set of fans. For some, it won't be Thanksgiving without the best, fresh turkey money can buy. For others, it won't be Thanksgiving if we don't have my homemade yeast rolls. For one, it won't be Thanksgiving or worth living at all if we don't have an enormous bowl of mashed Yukon Gold potatoes.

But, for me, it won't be Thanksgiving without a tub of gravy. Yes, folks - my fear of Thanksgiving originated in the idea that I would never be able to make gravy. I mean the real kind of gravy. Not the stuff that comes in a jar, gets reconstituted with water from powder, or reheats in the microwave, straight from the Safeway deli. Because all of those folks for which Thanksgiving just won't be Thanksgiving without the turkey and mashed potatoes require mass quantities of gravy. They need enough gravy to leave pools of it on the plate when they are too full to eat more stuff that would soak it up.

All of this "planning" to do the same old thing reminded me that, except for one item, the entire menu is basically cooked the way Martha wants me to cook it. But, NOT the Green Bean Casserole. Not for anything.

Campbell's created the mother-of-all ubiquitous holiday recipe decades ago, and it is definitely not up to Martha's standards. Now, Martha did have one of her editors take a go at it -- to make it more Martha-like, lower in calories and fat, etc. I like fresh beans and "real" mushrooms as much as the next guy. I'm just not sure they have any place at Thanksgiving.

Sorry, Martha. I know this dish sticks out like a really sore thumb against all your other handiwork on that Fourth Thursday in November. It makes no sense that I, in my imaginary Marthaesqueness, even like this dish. But, along with gravy, it wouldn't be Thanksgiving for me without Green Bean Casserole.

There it is -- I said it. It's about the only thing that gets seconds on my plate.

How did I overcome my Fear of Gravy? One word. Stock.

Thanks, Martha. It takes hours to make your Stock. And, mere moments at the table to realize Stock was worth every minute of it.

TURKEY STOCK

Makes About 9 Cups

Active Time: 30 min. Start to finish: 5 hr

Martha says: "Using turkey meat rather than just bones adds a deep richness to this stock. Although you have to buy the extra parts, you'll be happy you did; great stock is the key to outstanding gravy, and everyone knows that you can never have too much of that at Thanksgiving."

6 lb turkey parts such as wings, drumsticks, and/or thighs

3 medium onions, left unpeeled, trimmed and halved

3 celery ribs, cut into 2-inch lengths

3 carrots, cut into 2-inch lengths

5 qt cold water

6 fresh parsley stems

1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf

10 whole black peppercorns

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

Put oven rack in lowest position and preheat oven to 500 degrees F. If using turkey wings, halve at joints with a cleaver or large knife. Transfer turkey parts, skin sides down, to a dry large heavy roasting pan and roast, turning over once, until golden brown, 30 to 45 minutes total. Transfer to a large stockpot, then add onions, celery, and carrots to roasting pan (arrange onions cut sides down) and roast, stirring once halfway through roasting, until golden, 10 to 20 minutes total. Transfer vegetables to stockpot.

Straddle roasting pan across two burners, then add 2 cups water and deglaze pan by boiling over high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, 1 minute. Add pan juices to stockpot along with remaining 4-1/2 quarts water and remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, skimming froth as necessary. Reduce heat and gently simmer, partially covered, 3 hours.

Cool stock, uncovered, to room temperature, about 1 hour.

Pour stock through a large fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, discarding solids. Measure stock: If there is more than 9 cups, boil in cleaned pot until reduced. If there is less, add enough water to total 9 cups stock.

If using stock now, let stand until fat rises to top, 1 to 2 minutes, then skim off and discard fat. If not using now, cool completely, uncovered, then chill, covered, before removing fat. Reheat stock before making Turkey gravy.

Stock can be chilled in an airtight container 1 week or frozen 3 months.