Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Twas The Night Before Thanksgiving
| OK, so the night before Thanksgiving you know you have to go and get Krystals to make your stuffing. But how many? What do you get on them? What about fries and a Coke? As if Thanksgiving and worrying about dry turkey wasn't enough, now you have Krystal pressure! Let me help you out. Go back to yesterday's post and review. You'll notice while describing stuffing I mentioned bread,meat, and onions. I never mentioned pickles, ketchup, or mustard. That's right. You want to order your Krystals nearly naked. Step up to the counter and proudly ask for your Krystals "no pickles, no mustard." You'll be fine. I have actually gotten one or two krystals with mustard mixed in without realizing it. While it won't kill you, it does put an odd twist to your stuffing. I'm sure you can see the problem with the pickles. Actually, I order mine with the pickles and then eat the pickles while I prep the Krystals. I love pickles. And not that you asked, but some of the best pickles on Earth come from North Carolina. So now the big question is: How Many? Well at least 10 for the stuffing. And since you're so close to 12 why not just get a sack full? Then again with 10 going into the stuffing, that leaves only 2 to eat and who can be satisfied with only 2 Krystals? Plus you may have to fend off others at home who try to sneak off with a Krystal. Better go for the Steamer and get 24! But whatever you do, it's better to get too many than too few, because once it hits Thanksgiving, Krystal is closed and you can't get any "last minute emergency Krystals." (Unless you keep a few frozen for just such an emergency.) OK, so now you get your bundle home. Now what? The first thing to do is get them out of their boxes. The boxes keep them warm and steamy, but in this case we need to let off as much steam as possible. Soggy Krystals are BAD for the stuffing. While I am unboxing them is when I usually perform the Pickle-ectomy. I also will eat my Krystals so I dont start chowing down on the Krystals reserved for the stuffing. When I was little, my mother would always make appetizers of celery stuffed with cream cheese and pecan chips. Its an amazingly quick, easy, and tasty appetizer. It was only years later I realized the real reason for this. It kept everyone busy and out of the kitchen, and also helped protect the stuffing (and turkey) from poachers. Sort of like throwing the steak to the left and running right to avoid the guard dog. Magicians call this "misdirection." OK, so the last thing that needs to be done is to tear the Krystals up. Yes, you heard me right. We have to tear them up. I find this easier to do if the Krystals have "rested" for a while. At least a few hours, or overnight. Fresh, hot Krystals don't tear easily, and frequently they get smushed. Smush-age is bad. Absolutely do not try to cut them with a knife as this causes massive amounts of smush-age. Use your hands. A cook who refuses to put their hands into their food isn't a real cook. Obviously, you should wash your hands before and afterwards. How small you tear the Krystals is up to you. This will determine the "chunkyness" of your stuffing. I like my stuffing rather smooth, so I find the "pinch, twist and pull" method using only my thumb and index finger works best for breaking down my Krystals. Once you have them all disassembled, set them aside and let them rest. They deserve it, and so do you. (And now so do I!) Come back tomorrow folks for the final release of my "Secret Stuffing!"  |
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Hey that's a really nice post.....and very informative too. This will prove to be very useful to many of us out there. At least I learned a good lesson from your blog. Please visit my Thanksgiving Blog as I've put together a few Thanksgiving stuffs myself. Be sure to let me know what you think of it. And have a great Thanksgiving.
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