Coming Up . . .

This is the year, duckies. The Year of the Home-Corned Beef.

I've been talking about corning my own brisket for St. Patrick's Day for about three years now. And then it's a few days before St. Patrick's Day and there is no brisket in the process of corning, so I once again buy one at the store like a commoner.

THIS year, though, I have the brisket out and defrosted already. The MiL actually bought me a jar of corned beef spices from Penzeys a couple of years ago (although most recipes call for pickling spice, which is available at pretty much any grocery store). I found a recipe. I've considered all the various available receptacles to brine the (ENORMOUS) brisket in.  All I have to do now is . . . well, do it.

It's actually stupid-easy, as long as you get your ass in gear five days before you want to eat it. So I'll let you know how the end result compares to the store version.

I fully expect the store version will be found sadly lacking when compared to the home version, as is ALWAYS the case.

And in related news, I will be cooking this beef on a brand-new stove. I bought a new range today. Yes, they're called "ranges" at appliance stores, although no one I know uses that term in real life. I bought a new one because our old one is OLD. Probably about forty years old, in fact. It was one our neighbors replaced when they re-did their kitchen. They had it sitting in their garage, awaiting disposal, right when the previous stove in our kitchen caught fire.

Literally. There was fire. And we discovered that the electric stove was hardwired into the electric system. Not plugged in. Hardwired. And THEN, when A. tried to cut off the power to that wiring so he could cut the wires without electrocuting himself, he couldn't. Even turning off the main power switch to the entire house didn't do it. When he cut the wires, there were sparks.

It's a miracle he wasn't electrocuted.

Anyway.

We got an outlet installed so we could plug in the neighbors' cast-off stove. So convenient as a short-term solution!

And there it stayed. For six years now. It's rusted. The clock doesn't work. The timer doesn't work. The knobs pop off, despite repeated attempts to glue them with super-strong adhesives. The oven handle comes off on occasion. The oven temperature is about 100 degrees off. It's not even level, so anything baked in the oven is always uneven.

Finally I decided I was through with it and I bought a new one. Pretty much the same as the old one, but it will be new and not rusted and crappy. I hope. It's supposed to be delivered on Tuesday. I'll let you know how that turns out too.

Exciting things in the future, obviously.  Stay tuned.