A Culinary Digression

Nannie opened and heated several of the microwave-able packets for Thanksgiving leftovers.

In graduate school, it was a special treat, when I could afford all the ingredients.  

As newly-weds, it was a satisfying dinner that TBG was happy to prepare; it was certainly not kosher and therefore most certainly did not come from my side of the family.

It was a meal that satisfied the entire family when The Cuters were at home.  

Stouffer's stopped making those square, orange boxes somewhere in the last decade or so.  (The older I get, the more time compresses... but that's fodder for another post)  

No more uncovering the plastic container of frozen cheese, designed to be poured over turkey, tomato, bacon, and hard boiled egg slices resting on a freshly toasted Thomas' English Muffin.  It was a real loss to the limited repertoire of delicious and acceptable dishes I was capable of recreating, reliably, without consternation, on auto-pilot.  

Cooking Blue Apron dinners opened my eyes to the fact, given the right guidance, I was capable of creating other acceptable and delicious meals.  When the Penzey's store opened here in Tucson, perfectly placed along my most frequent routes,  I tossed out or donated everything else and began to season with gusto.... sometimes too much gusto.... but I learned what worked and now there are a few more regulars in the rotation.

At some point I decided to try my own Welsh Rarebit.  I found a recipe with ingredients  I could manage,  and began the quest.  I've been working on it for years, with some notable  failures (last Christmas) and one or two successes, but nothing I could repeat.

It's not been a total disaster.  My procedure is more refined than it was when I started.  I use the same utensils and pot. I line up the ingredients in order.  I bring out the recipe to double check myself (a lesson learned from sad experience), but it's become more rote over time.  

My latest attempt at greatness involved redefining low heat, as in Cook over low heat.  I have learned (again, from sad experience) to be a literalist when it comes to recipes.  My cooktop has a low setting.  

Easy peasy, right? 

Apparently not.

Tonight I decided that turning the gas a little higher, to somewhere between 2 and 3, was  low heat.  That's lower than 6, which the appliance tells me is medium.  Therefore. I reasoned, low heat.  And so I did everything I always did, only with just a little more heat. 

And I was right.  It wasn't too thin and it wasn't too thick.  It wasn't the usual tasty but soupy version.  It didn't drip all over the plate.  It even had little granules of freshly grated sharp cheddar.  

See for yourself:

I said It looks just like Stouffers!!!!

Now I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing. 

 

I do know that thinking it made me laugh.