On 11/25/2011 2:11 PM, Jean B. wrote:
> This Thanksgiving was a challenge because I have a lingering cold and
> almost NO sense of taste and smell. Eeeek! This is obviously not a good
> time to try new things, but I did think that these problems would be
> gone by the time I set about to cook.
>
> I guess the first issue was this. I decided to try the make-ahead gravy.
> So, I roasted some wings and then proceeded to make the stock. Well, I
> smelled NO turkey smell as the wings were roasting, and the bit that I
> could smell of the stock just smelled odd. I had to ask my daughter to
> sniff things, and she (who hates turkey and tried to avoid it) said she
> guessed it smelled like turkey. I then realized that I couldn't exactly
> tinker this or anything else to perfection! Bah!
>
> That led me to buy backups at Whole Foods--and I had little confidence
> that these things tasted good "as is" either. I had to have my guest
> taste and season things!!!!! Sigh. This experience was an interesting
> challenge at the very least!

I hope you feel better soon! I'm now on one week of this cold and while
I have more energy now, the cough and dripping nose is not going away.
My SIL said her family all had it except my brother, and it took them
all up to 3 weeks to completely recover. I think it's a flu virus and
not a common cold virus.

You're right about the challenge of cooking, especially for others, when
you can't smell.