cooking de canard

Last weekend Dave and I decided to roast a duck for dinner.  We bought the little ducky while at a local butcher pre-ordering a farm fresh turkey for Thanksgiving. Since neither of of had ever cooked a duck before, we consulted several Internet sites to find the perfect duck roasting process. We used this recipe from the Hungry Mouse blog and followed along, step-by-step.
http://www.thehungrymouse.com/2009/02/11/the-best-way-to-roast-a-duck-hello-crispy-skin/
I guess that makes this a blog post about a blog post.  Huh...
Anyway, the duck turned out delicious! We topped off the meal with garlic mashed potatoes, root vegetables, and a delicious pinot noir! 

As instructed by the Hungry Mouse, I'm scoring the skin of the duck in a diamond pattern

Here's the duck after we finished scoring.

After roasting for 3 hours, Dave bastes the bird.

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The proud chefs

Dinner is served.

Who says Halloween is just for the kids?

Once again this year, the counseling office threw a Halloween party for our staff. It's become an annual tradition and a highly anticipated event at school. It's fun to have veteran teachers bring new staff from their departments to show them the rope (overheard, "you got to get here early to get the pumpkin bars!" and "I come in the morning for some sweets, and back again during lunch for the savories!"). 


This year I dressed in costume.  Inspired by my trip to Pamplona, Spain several years ago, I dressed as a running-of-the-bulls-victim.  My costume is complete with a red bandanna from Sanfermines, and "bloody" bandage from being gored (the bull might lose the war, but he always wins a couple rounds in battle).  To properly convey my character I decided I should play the role of a drunk Aussie, but I couldn't do the accent. 

Here are some pictures from the party:

Check out the full spread!

Angel Teri ministering to the injured bull-runner