Gross? Now, I used to be vegetarian and still have strong vegetarian sympathies, but it doesn't seem gross to me. And even though I'm a city type, I have killed and dressed 3 chickens. (and I do have photos, but will spare you). I figured, if I wasn't willing to kill them personally, I shouldn't eat them. Now that had some gross parts (especially since they were aged layers and one had disease, so I guess I should say I killed 3 and dressed 2). Deboning an already dressed chicken is a labor intensive, but I don't think it's really any grosser than any other whole chicken prep. Galantine bird is a very nice prep (even if I can't do it anywhere near as fast as Pepin). As a roast it results in more evenly cooked meat than whole bone-in bird, is visually very nice at the table, and without the bones, very easy for guests to eat.

Oy vey, braised chicken breast shanks anyone?! A classic example of how my "eye for details" NOT gets me in big trouble. I pulled out of the freezer what I thought was a big ol' hunk of frozen turkey thighs, and put it in a bowl of water to thaw while I made some cookies. Now I see that I have thawed three chicken breasts, which I had bought for a totally different purpose! Now I have to make them for dinner either tonight or tomorrow night, and tomorrow (Thanksgiving) BF and I had planned on dining on roast chicken! So that means I either have to make the turkey tomorrow and BF will have to have a less than favored meal for Thanksgiving, or serve chicken for dinner two nights in a row. LUCKILY, BF is a paragon of patience and tolerance, and a man who, in his own words, "knows what he likes and sticks with it" so I think it may be chicken both days. Just yesterday he told me that he could eat chicken for dinner every night of the week. I don't know if he was being sarcastic or not, be careful what you wish for! M-rivergirl you got that right! I don't know what I would do anymore without BF to help me keep track of my keys, shoes, mail and other necessities of life. On the plus side, I bring excitement into his life! :) And I may not have an eye for details, but I can remember the name of that movie, you know the one, with that actor, you know the one who is on that TV show, you know the one with that blonde actress that he likes . . . C'mon, you must know what I am talking about!! If I ever do manage to make the turkey thighs, I think I will use the Julia Child approved recipe linked below, with maybe some dried mushrooms thrown in that I have in the pantry. Then I can serve it with this apple-mustard braised kale recipe in my "to try" folder. Here is a link that might be useful: Braised lamb shanks

I want to say thank you as well. I thanked malna directly for her cabbage rolls. I also want to thank caliloo and deborah_ps for their prime rib recipes. I used caliloo's herb marinade and deborah's method. It came out perfect, thank goodness. I was so worried about ruining such an expensive roast. The flavor was wonderful and the pinkness was even from one end to the other, which was good since we like it medium rare. I hope they see this. It was so good that I had plenty of au jus just with the pan drippings and some red wine added. I didn't need to make additional. I'd sure love to do another one for New Years... maybe they'll be on sale, LOL. And thanks to everyone on this board. It's so nice to have people to talk recipes with. Now, let's all sing Auld Lang Syne together. :) Tammy ************************************************** Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And auld lang syne? CHORUS: For auld lang syne, my dear, For auld lang syne, We'll tak a cup of kindness yet, For auld lang syne! And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp, And surely I'll be mine, And we'll tak a cup o kindness yet, For auld lang syne! We twa hae run about the braes, And pou'd the gowans fine, But we've wander'd monie a weary fit, Sin auld lang syne. We twa hae paidl'd in the burn Frae morning sun till dine, But seas between us braid hae roar'd Sin auld lang syne. And there's a hand my trusty fiere, And gie's a hand o thine, And we'll tak a right guid-willie waught, For auld lang syne Meanings auld lang syne - times gone by be - pay for braes - hills braid - broad burn - stream dine - dinner time fiere - friend fit - foot gowans - daisies guid-willie waught - goodwill drink monie - many morning sun - noon paidl't - paddled pint-stowp - pint tankard pou'd - pulled twa - two

Wanda, I like those Jennie breast in a bag for busy summer evenings and haven't been able to find them locally in the last few months. I've never used the gravy packet, if you say its good maybe I will next time I buy one (find one). We won't have leftovers here either, but DH isn't broken hearted. He would rather have roast chicken than face 3 days of turkey ;0) I promised I would make his favorite pie on Saturday when we're home and he was happy with that.