Monumental Pheasant Disaster. At this rate, we'll become vegetarians by default.
No recipe in the world really makes a difference if your fowl is not completely defrosted when you stick it in the oven. Chalk that one up to the "Live and Learn" category, though I think I've lived that one before and evidently forgot.
I ended up roasting the pheasant. Since it was farm-raised, not wild, I thought I could circumvent the dryness problem with tinfoil and a few apples thrown in the roasting pan. It was a 2 1/2 pound pheasant and after 40 minutes the internal temperature was so low it wouldn't even register on my meat thermometer. Meanwhile the tiny little pheasant legs--I'm not sure how those birds keep from tipping over--had already turned into crispy critters.
My husband and I each had one mouthful; the flavor was good, but the next time I buy a $14 pheasant, I'll be more patient with the defrosting process--and I'll probably braise (or bard) the meat. As it was, I was left with a roasting pan so thoroughly disgusting, I was almost tempted to toss it and go buy a new one. But that goes against my principles, so it's still soaking in the sink, 24 hours later.
We feasted instead on rice, carrots and, this is what may have saved the meal, homemade bread. For Christmas I bought my husband the West Bend "Just for Dinner" breadmaker. I never make homemade bread, but I know he likes it, so I thought, "What the heck, the way to a man's heart. . .".(Monica Lewinsky should have read "The Settlement Cookbook") The nice thing about this litle machine is that the bread is baked in 45 minutes and out comes a tiny little loaf, just enough for a small family. The "quick start" loaf I made for the first batch wasn't the greatest bread in the world, but there are lots of recipes to try--including my favorite, cheese bread.
I'd write more but I just wasted a great deal of my life playing The Sims this evening. That was another of my Christmas presents. I had a doll house when I was a little girl and The Sims brings back some of that feeling. But now that I've cheated my way to a great fortune and have our family installed in a nice house with pretty furniture, I think I'll let it burn up or something. And then get on with the tremendou amount of real work I have to do in my own little non-sims house here at 564 9th St.
10:48:46 PM 
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