Things (smoked ham, duck, burgers) I cooked this weekend that were not for Thanksgiving

[wilburpan]

We wound up going to a relative’s house for Thanksgiving dinner, so we had to call an audible on our plans for cooking this weekend. Here’s what we wound up having Smaug make for us over the rest of the weekend.
 
Smoked ham. I made a simple glaze with dijon mustard and brown sugar. The sweet potatoes are destined to become sweet potato casserole. 
 

 

 
More roast duck. One technique to help get you really crispy skin is to hang the duck up in front of a fan. It was a relatively windy day, with temperatures in the mid-30’s, so I decided to use my backyard.
 

 
Last time I made roast duck, I was going for a Peking duck flavor. This time our sides were mashed potatoes, spinach, roasted Brussels sprouts and roasted cauliflower, so this time around I went for more of a French preparation. I seasoned the inside and out with salt and pepper, and put a quarter of an onion, a quarter of an orange, some garlic cloves and rosemary on the inside of these ducks.
 

 
It was dark when I took the ducks off the grill, so I didn’t get an action shot, but here’s how they turned out.
 

 
We had an impromptu play date for our boys, and they wanted burgers. So I made a half-dozen burgers, and grilled some portobello mushrooms as well.
 

 
I don’t know if folks are getting tired of me posting pictures of really tall burgers, but here’s the one I assembled and ate.
 

[tony b]

Careful there, Wilburpan, or your neighbors will be calling the cops on you for animal cruelty by hanging ducks in your backyard - LOL!!

 

And, we never tire of food porn on this Forum - EVER! Great looking burger, AGAIN!

 

Nice china pattern, btw! Noritake?

 

Lastly, another bad flashback to "A Christmas Story" (two in one day??) - "It's smiling at me!"

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5YZ62mgWyE

[wilburpan]

I forgot to mention that while the ducks were hanging in the backyard, a cat came by who was very interested in the situation, until I stepped into the backyard and then he took off.

 

Our china is from Wedgwood. It’s the Oberon pattern, and we got it when we got married. My wife is very practical, and at the time she said that we shouldn’t register for fancy china unless we planned on using it a lot. She thought that this pattern could be used for everyday use, and it’s the only set of dishes that we have. I have to say, she was right. These plates seem to fit well with fancy meals and burgers.

 

I love that scene from A Christmas Story. I crack up every time I see it, although probably not for the reason that most people do.

[tony b]

Have to admit that I'm a dish junkie. I have 6 different sets of dishes. My 8 place settings of china (Royal Dalton) only gets used about once a year, maybe. A mini set of Noritake (small dinner parties).  I have a Pier One blue mosaic set for the patio (it matched the blue tiles on the POSK). Pier One, bamboo, is the "everyday." A four place-setting of an orange/red block pattern (forget the manufacturer) that was a gift from my sister-in-law. It came with matching flatware and place-mats and napkins (she made them to coordinate). It's the "BBQ plates." Last, but certainly not least, is the Pink Flamingo dinnerware/glasses, etc. We used to auction off the annual "Pink Flamingo" dinner at the church fundraiser every year. The deck was totally done in everything with Pink Flamingo stuff we could find. We even made the food pink too. That took a lot of creativity to be different every year. 

 

 

[wilburpan]

Dang. When I saw that picture, I swear I thought that the red balance on my monitor needed adjusting.

 

We really like our china. We’ve used it almost daily since our wedding, and I always chuckle when we use it when eating “mundane†food like pizza or hot dogs. About the only time we don’t use it is when we are making straight Chinese food, when all we need are rice bowls. It would be awesome if Wedgwood made rice bowls in a matching pattern.

[tony b]

 It would be awesome if Wedgwood made rice bowls in a matching pattern.

If they did, and they are anything like my soup bowls for my china pattern, they are $60 each! Cost more than the dinner plates. The one major piece that I don't have in my pattern - I'd need 8 of them (that's $480 for those of you who are math challenged!)

 

Update:  You're in luck, Replacements has soup bowls in your pattern (and, as I suspected, $60 a piece!) There is a cereal bowl in your pattern that might be a better fit as a "rice bowl," but they don't have any in stock right now.

 

http://www.replacements.com/webquote/WW_OBE.htm

 

I'm in luck, they are running a special on mine and dropped the price to ONLY $50 each! But, they only have 4 of them in stock. 

Edited December 2, 2014 by tony b

[wilburpan]

The soup bowls aren’t the right shape for Chinese food/rice purposes. This is what our rice bowls look like.

 

 

The 5†cereal bowl on the page you linked to does look like it might work, but it looks like they are out of production.

[CeramicChef]

Wilbur - Doc, you just tore that cook apart!  KUDOS!

 

And as for fine china, nothing works better!  Or at least that's what both ex-wives will tell you!  They got all the good stuff and I got plastic!  LOL!!!  

[CeramicChef]

And I'm not even going to comment here on those two dead ducks hanging next to the bird houses!  I'll let other point out the massive incongruities!

[tony b]

 Wilburpan, that's what Replacements does as a business - gets out of production pieces, so when you break a plate 10 years later, they are the ones you go to for a replacement (hence, their name). 

 

If you click on their "Find this for me" button, they'll notify you if they ever get in any, usually through estate sales or antique shops going out of business. I bet that bowl would work just fine. Looks "close enough for government work" to me.