This and that.

[mrv3000]

• I can't believe it's only two weeks to Thanksgiving! (And one week to my birthday, but that seems less eventful.) It looks like I've managed to get out of going to Random Distant Relative's place this year, and get to do my own thing! I'm possibly more happy about this than I should be. I'll do a small turkey (and live off it for the next year), and make a pumpkin pie. So now I just have to decide what sides to do. Stuffing, obviously. But what to do for vegetables...? (Can't stand green bean casserole, and I don't like that marshmallow yam stuff.)
  
  
• Can I justify making an apple pie this weekend if the following week I'm going to make another pie? I think I can live with myself.
  
  
• Speaking of apple pie, I know that sometimes people mix apples to make pie. (One kind for flavor and one for texture.) Anyone have any good apple combos to recommend?
  
  
• I've been watching a lot of my DVDs while on the treadmill. Last night I pulled out the Lord of the Rings DVDs and started on that. I haven't watched those in a while, so it'll be fun to watch all that again. LotR question: I know this all was inspired by the author's experiences in WWI. Are the different groups (elves, humans, hobbits, wizards, etc.) supposed to represent specific groups of people or nationalities? Or isn't it that literal?

Comments

[unfolded73.livejournal.com]

Alton Brown recommends: mixture of Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Braeburn and Golden Delicious. I know I've done the first 3 with good results, but I think Golden Delicious apples are horrible.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm not a big fan of Golden Delicious either. I'm not familiar with what Braeburn tastes like, but I like the other two.

[chiroho.livejournal.com]

Braeburn apples are close to Gala, if you've ever had that variety, or maybe Fuji. They're a crisp apple, light in colour, and perhaps just a little tart. Probably my favourite variety along with Jonagold.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Oooh, sounds good! I might have to do an apple tasting at lunch. For research. :D

[chiroho.livejournal.com]

Scientific research is always a good reason to do something. ;-)

[larissa-j.livejournal.com]

Fuji apples are awesome second only to Granny Smith. Plus, I love the skins on them ;)

[chiroho.livejournal.com]

Fuji apples are definitely nice. I think I prefer Braeburn just a smidge. Definitely not much in it though.

[frenchroast.livejournal.com]

I was just about to post my suggestion of Granny Smith and Honeycrisp or Pink Ladys. Good to know Alton Brown and other concur. :)

[chiroho.livejournal.com]

You can always justify making another pie. I can, anyway.

I personally use Granny Smith apples for apple pie, but I also soften them with sugar and cinnamon in a saucepan before I actually put them in the pie. Not so much that they fall apart, but enough to soften them.

As for LOTR, my impression was that Tolkien wrote much of his notes as more of an escapism while sitting in the trenches in WWI. Basically as a way to get his mind off the absolute hell which surrounded him for months on end. I don't believe that there was any specific correlation between the races in the books and nationalities participating in the war.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Oooh, good tip! And I think Granny Smith will at least be part of the apples that go in.

Thanks for the LotR info! When I was watching last night, I got up to the point of when Frodo and Sam watched a procession of elves leaving Middle Earth. I started wondering if that was meant to represent something specific or if it was all just part of the fantasy.

[chiroho.livejournal.com]

You know, I don't know. There is certainly a LOT of symbolism in the novels, and maybe there is something to the lines of elves marching away back to the Grey Havens. I'm sure someone must know this stuff.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_thirty2flavors/]

We did LOTR in my class in first year and we didn't talk about anything like that specifically, I don't think. But it was a 3-hour class on a Friday and I spent most of my time playing Tetris on Facebook, so I'm probably not the most reliable source when it comes to LOTR.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

XD But I bet you could give great Tetris pointers!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_thirty2flavors/]

AT ONE POINT, I TOTALLY COULD.

They took it off Facebook at one point and I was devastated. There are a billion free tetris games online, but I had gotten so used to that one particular one's colours and little grid and everything. Hmf.

[sumeria.livejournal.com]

Re the LotR question, I do know that Tolkein, during his life, strenuously resisted any attempt to allegorize the story, and was at times quite vehement in insisting that none of it was meant to represent any real-world people/places/things/events, except in that is stated goal when he first began was to create for himself a story and mythology that was 'English' in a way he didn't feel any other work really was.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Ah, thanks! It's nice to know that, otherwise I'd be sitting there trying to figure out parallels.

[papilio-luna.livejournal.com]

JRR Tolkien always denied that LOTR is an allegory for WWI, though it was clearly very heavily influenced by the experience. But he always insisted there was no relation.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Oh, very influenced. What started my mind whirring was hobbits sitting in the pub, talking about troubles in Middle Earth. But they all decided to ignore it because it didn't involve them. Of course that sort of conversation can probably be found about any war, but it got me thinking of ties.

[makingmywayhome.livejournal.com]

My boyfriend's mother uses Granny Smith and McIntosh, and the result is a beautiful thing.

I think I read somewhere that Tolkien denied basing his books on his experiences. But I see in above comments that we've already figured that out. :)

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

And yeah. :)

[skippity-doo.livejournal.com]

I use Bramleys for apple pie, but they're an English variety - not sure how prevalent they are on the other side of the pond.

It doesn't matter that much as long as you a) get the pastry right and b) chuck in loads of spices and sugar, anyway. :)

Also, hurrah! Relevant icon is relevant!

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

XD

I'll take a look to see if we have those. And there will be lots of sugar and spice. :D

[larissa-j.livejournal.com]

I usually use Granny Smith for French Apple pie as it offsets the sweet of the crumb topping. I use fuji or a combo of fuji+granny smith for everything else (waldorf salad, etc).

I say you can totally justify making a pie this weekend. You want it to be perfect for Thanksgiving, right? Practice, practice, practice.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Oooh, yeah! I am thinking of doing the crumb topping, so I didn't think about the fact that that's adding more sweet.

And yes! :D

[goldy-dollar.livejournal.com]

At our Thanksgiving we did green beans AND brocolli because I don't like green beans and my family loves me.

Also, pumpkin pie!! I love pumpkin pie.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Awww, you have a nice family. My mom makes things without celery for me. :)

[goldy-dollar.livejournal.com]

Awww! Are your parents going to be there for Thanksgiving? Or just you?

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

It sounds like they're coming down on Friday. So it'll just be me sitting in my jammies and watching the parade. :D

[poohmusings.livejournal.com]

I tend to use Fujis for all my apple baking needs. But that's usually because they're always available and I like their crispness.

I have a really good recipe for brown sugar glazed sweet potatoes, if you're interested. My family loves the recipe. We tend to make a double recipe of it for Tday because people gobble it up.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Fujis! Check! Maybe I'll do part Fuji and part Granny Smith.

And I'm not really a sweet potato person. I like sweet potato chips and will eat it if it's in front of me, but it's not something I'd go out of my way to do.

[frenchroast.livejournal.com]

What about Grown-up mac and cheese as another side dish(I subbed cheddar for the blue cheese in the recipe), or perhaps twice-baked potatoes? I realize they're more starches than vegetables...but still very tasty. How do you feel about bell peppers? A quick sautee of them and squash or zucchini in olive oil and lime juice is a nice crisp contrast to pie and turkey.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

OMG that looks amazing!

And I don't care for bell peppers very much, but I do love squash and zucchini.

[frenchroast.livejournal.com]

It tastes amazing, too! And is incredibly easy to make, once you have the ingredients.

You could always do a squash/zucchini sautee. Call it a courgette sautee, and it's instantly British! Which might run a bit counter to Thanksgiving, but think of it as Thanksgiving with the Doctor!

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

XD I like that! Actually, that would work the best since the turkey's going to be taking up the oven. So I'm going to need to do something on the stove.

[janetmaca.livejournal.com]

Okay, according to my intro to fantasy lit professor in cegep (good times, I tell ya) a lot of people assumed that it was based around WWII (it was published after that) but according to Tolkien the story wasn't based on WWII. That being said, he never mentioned WWI. *shrugs* Wikipedia makes it seem like WWI would be more likely

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Oh, WWII and not WWI?

[janetmaca.livejournal.com]

I think it's because it was written during the WWII years that everyone assumed it was an allegory for the war, but Tolkien was involved in WWI and apparently hated allegories. :D

[willowmeg]

To celebrate my hubby getting a job (finally!!!!), my friend came over last night and helped me bake a surprise for him: an apple crisp pie. We basically made a normal apple crisp (which BTW was something I'd never done anyway), and baked it in a pie crust instead of on its own. It turned out DELICIOUS. :D
We used Galas and Fijis mixed - though if I did it again I might change out the Galas for a slightly less sweet apple, the whole thing is very sweet.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Oooh, yum! Mine turned out only okay. I sliced the apples too thick and I wasn't happy with the thickness of the juice. Well, live and learn.