I feel a tradition coming on…

Here it is, Friday after Thanksgiving. Lunch involved leftovers, but CJ had his own ideas of culinary indulgence. “mom, let’s fry some pickles.” We knew this would be likely to happen, as Uncle Navy Dude dislikes frying (greases up his huge gourmet kitchen, doncha know. Can’t cook in a kitchen like that cuz it’ll just get messy). CJ is learning the fine art of the deep fryer, and has made fried pickles before. They’re a great GameDay food, as well as a Post-Thanksgiving Carb OD antidote.

You need a deep fryer, or a really deep skillet like a dutch oven, and shortening. get it hot.
Toss a drained jar of hamburger dill chips in a bowl with a couple of eggs and some milk (beaten together), then toss the chips, a handful at a time, in flour seasoned with Lawry’s or Tony Cachere’s. Fry them a handful at a time (too many and the grease will cool and make the chips kinda greasy). It takes a while to cook them- maybe 12-15 minutes per batch, but keep an eye on them. Pull them out when they get golden brown and serve them with ranch dressing.

I have my own philosophy about kitchen. When you design one, you do it with the knowledge that cooking, really GOOD cooking, is inherently messy. Things spill, burn ,smell funny, and get coated in drips, slops and grease. It just happens.

If I had this kitchen to do over, I’d figure a different way to store the pots, and not have the potrack over the stove. I mean, I love the way it looks and all, and having the pots hanging right there is awesome, but…the rack itself gets greasy and it’s awkward to clean. However, there are aspects of the kitchen I will repeat 100 times over if I have to. Polyresin countertops. O yes. Those laboratory deep black stain/heat/scratch/bullet resistant counters. How I love them so. Melamine lined cabinets. So easy to clean. Laminate floor, easy to clean. I used to think I wanted a BIG kitchen, but now…the only thing I’d change (if I could, which I can’t) would be to make it a bit wider, maybe a couple of feet, so there’d be more room for the island/table. Not much bigger, because I prize efficiency. A while back I stole David’s mat, the rubber thing that went under the weight bench he no longer uses, and put it in the kitchen. It’s just big enough that it covers the area between the sink, table, and stove, where most of the work gets done. Now I have this super squishy comfortable surface to stand on, and it’s black, and sweeps and mops easily. I recommend it highly if you’re one to do alot of standing in the kitchen.

Anyway, there’s pickles a-fryin and fragrancing the air, and CJ is making noises about onion rings in the near future. I may see if he can hold off until tomorrow.