So...whats for dinner?
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Carole - oh what fun. We'll look forward to hearing about the pot roast. And about the state of the kitchen.
Edited to say - hmm - this probably sounds sexist. Apologies to Eric and any other chef husbands.
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I may have told this before....
Mickey was a microbiology/pre-med major and she knew I worked hard to keep a spotless kitchen. For a lab assignment, she had to go collect bacteria samples from surfaces and "grow" them in the lab. So, she brought over a few of the kits and collected samples from the kitchen.
EEEEWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)
Edited to add
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I'm getting ready to make orange marmalade....good fruit juice made "bad" (with all the added sugar) :-)
This will certainly make a "needs to be cleaned" area in the kitchen.
I also have the sourdough bread dough working on its first rise.
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I've been thinking of Susan as I ate the leftover Three Cheese Garlic Knots from WalMart. She would have been whipping them up and kneading them down and letting them rise again before baking and served warm to her B&B customers, or to her family. I do miss her and wish her well.
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Last night was leftovers
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I miss Susan too and hope she is holding her own!
Tonight was reverse seared sirloins, steamed green beans with lemon pepper, and sour cream and chive mashed potatoes. I bought a clam shell of cut chives for my scalloped potatoes when my SILs we’re here and have been “chiving” as much as possible to use them up, lol
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Lunch as raw carrots & radishes with Hidden Valley Ranch dip. I had to make up a batch with sour cream for a neighbor & kept a bit for myself.
Dinner was half a baked potato smothered in butter.
One of my favorite restaurants from 1957 is closing for ever on 2/21. The parents died, the kids fought, the son who won is selling the land to a developer for low income housing. I'd planned to go each week, but only made it once in January. I'll try again tomorrow.
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Minus, it’s so easy to get used to having a restaurant in town...like a regular nurturing fixture...,so it’s always sad to see it close. But as folks know, family businesses are a challenge, as is the restaurant business, so I guess we should appreciate the ones that survive as long as they do. Hope you get there before the 21st!
I noticed on Facebook that Susan posted one of her beautiful breads. Glad she is back to baking, which she loves!
I am still struggling with this respiratory infection, even called for a doc appt, landing with her NP yesterday who is wonderful. Seems as tho the little germ bug is heading to my lungs, so she prescribed a Z-pac, which I started yesterday, much to the chagrin of my stomach! Tonight it’s a little better. So hoping the meds does its trick....especially b/c we are having little DGD here overnite on Sunday/Monday to cover her for parents working on the Mon holiday. She is such fun to be with now that she crawls, searching for stable floor anchored items on which to pull herself up, and totally tires herself out so her sleeps are long! I really don’t want to give this little peanut a respiratory infection.Yesterday, after my doc appt, I stopped at the grocery store and picked up some turkey legs and breast on sale, roasting them tonight. Sides were sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, bought gravy, and sour dough bread. I was too tired to make a salad (horrors!), so that was it. DH was happy just to see me cooking something! And we have lots of leftover turkey meat now....easy sandwich and soup option for tomorrow. Thursday we’re slated to head to the Celtics’/Clippers game, so will likely enjoy salmon and veggies for dinner at The Harp. It will be my first big venture out since this darn infection. Hoping for some spurts ofenergy...
I hope everyone else is enjoying good health!
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Oh Lacey, I'm so sorry you're fighting the bug too. Hope the antibiotics do their job.
Tonight was chicken and dumplings. Plenty left over for lunch.
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Lacey - fingers crossed for the Z-pack.
I made it to the restaurant just before 2 pm and had the lunch size "spaghetti works". That includes noodles, meat sauce, meat balls, mushrooms - all sprinkled liberally with cheese & popped under the broiler to melt. Oh my do I love their red sauce. And of course two pieces of garlic bread. Thank heavens I ordered the lunch size w/only one meatball. I'm still so full I can hardy move 7+ hours later. I never even bothered to pour a drink this evening.
The original owner's son has given the long time chef permission to use the recipes in another restaurant which he hopes to open. As well he should, since the chef developed most of them. I talked to the chef's daughter for awhile today. They really want to do this but are having trouble finding a place to fit their budget. I did confirm I can still buy sauce by the quart so I think I'll get a couple to freeze.
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Lacey, my respiratory illness kept me down for 2 weeks. The antibiotic upset my stomach, too. I'm finally getting back to normal but still using a lot of kleenex and doing some coughing. I had just celebrated getting through January this year without pneumonia when we went to OK to visit my youngest brother. Along with their surplus yard eggs I brought home this virus or bacteria, whatever it was.
I went to Fresh Market yesterday in search of lamb shanks. None to be had but on Tuesdays their whole chicken breasts and ground chuck is on sale. I bought some of both and also bought some very pricey lamb chops. This is not lamb country. One year I ordered lamb from a farmer in a state farther north.
My cleaning angel has arrived. I should make myself scarce and go to the gym.
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Last night was chicken breast cutlets breaded in panko and browned in small amount of EVOO. Leftover sweet potatoes browned in skillet in small amount of butter. Salad of compari tomatoes, cucumber, avocado (on verge of too ripe), blue cheese, onion for dh. My salad dressing was fresh lemon juice. The cucumbers don't taste like cucumber this time of year. I should give up on buying them.
The panko was too coarse. I should have crushed it.
Tonight will probably be eggplant layered dish. Which reminds me that I saw RAO's at Fresh Market for $4.99 but have so many jars on hand that I didn't buy any.
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Minus....sounds like your visit to the closing restaurant went well!
Carole, glad you are on the mend. I’m hoping to start feeling significantly better soon. Am pushing myself to get to the Celtics’ game tonight. At least I shouldn’t be contagious since I am full of antibiotics and cough suppressant.
I chuckled at your passing up the Rao’s deal since I’ve been doing the same thing given the stash I currently have at home.Last night we used leftover turkey breast meat for sandwiches on sour dough bread with lettuce and a mashed avocado flavored with garlic powder and blk pepper. We had a side salad and Alessi’s chicken noodle soup to which I added fresh chopped kale. We‘ve been enjoying several meals with that soup over the past two weeks since DH has been contributing a bit more as kitchen staff while I fight this infection.
Speaking of Rao’s sauce inspires me to use the ground turkey I bought to make meatballs, sotomorrow we can have pasta with meatballs in a marinara ssuce.
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Costco has been having good prices on Rao's. I think it comes out to about 4..99 a jar. Multiplie jars of course.
I have leftover chicken from a batch of chicken and dumplings earlier this week so tonight is chicken enchiladas. Four inches of snow yesterday and bitterly cold today so a good afternoon to stay in and figure out my new iPhone. I've always had android so I'm feeling like a techno idiot right now
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I too passed on the last Rao's deal. However, on top of the (six) jars of Rao's in my cupboard, I AM going to buy at least 2 quarts of fresh, homemade red sauce from the restaurant that's closing. I'll freeze them in pint containers. I was going to get 3 quarts, but REALLY, ya think that might be a bit excessive for one person?
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carole - glad you’re on the mend!
lacey - hope you’re on the mend soon! Good for you getting out to the Celtics game!
minus - I would get all the sauce, lol! If you have any old ice trays those are good for freezing things and then keeping the frozen cubes in a ziplock in the freezer. I often freeze leftover pesto that way and it allows convenient portioning.
I feel bad for anyone in the cold temps - we are weirdly hot and humid here for February. This is the time of year that usually makes up for our summer misery, but the nice days have punctuated by some really warm and sticky ones. Very strange.
auntie - I was worried about changing to an iPhone but I found it pretty intuitive and easy to use. Now I wouldn’t go back. My husband has an android phone (work issued) and it seems not user friendly - too many steps to do things. Another strong possibility though is user error, lol!
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Dinner was the eggplant casserole/hot dish I had assembled earlier in the day. Delicious as always. Side was a Caesar salad with the addition of avocado. I am paying $2 each for the eggplants but they are sweet and not too long off the bush. I assume they come from FL.
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Hubby and I are doing low-key Valentine’s Day. So it’s a frozen pizza night.
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I must have over used my right hand middle finger while driving...or got a splinter that I can't find...or had a bug bite that I didn't notice....or got a scratch infected while planting the garden. Wednesday night and Thursday morning the finger was itching. By Thursday noon, it had turned into a bright red, overstuffed sausage and I was having chills, so I went to see the doctor. I had a 101F fever. The doctor prescribed Keflex and warm Epson Salt - water soaks and they didn't want to wait until Monday to re-check things, so they are coming in Saturday...just for me..to check it again. The chills have stopped, but not much else has changed.
Dinner last night was nothing. Sharon was skiing and ate at the ski lodge...and I didn't even feel like reheating leftovers. Today will likely be the leftovers that are still in the refrigerator.
I'm glad to hear about Susan. I, too, have been wondering about her.
And, everyone with 'the crud'....get well..soon.0 -
mommy - DD got DH a heart shaped pizza for dinner, lol! Great minds think alike!
I made spaghetti with meat sauce, mostly because I needed to cook the ground beef. The pizza eaters did their own thing. I had a little of the spaghetti and a salad with avocado - which also needed to be used up.
eric - oh no! Hope you see improvement ASAP, that is scary, and yay for a doc that works on Saturday for you! I’m glad they are being attentive
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Made seared scallops with lemon, garlic, butter sauce & paired with roasted brussels & carrots. Splashed some of the sauce on the veg as well. We are usually out of sync with main meal of the day as DH likes to eat heaviest meal around noon-1pm and I am usually out. So cold here today due to an arctic blast that I did not venture out for my normal Zumba Gold class, so we were in sync for once.
Eric - Hope you finger is ok. Sounds a bit scary.
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Oh Celia - seared scallops - YUM.
My timing is even stranger. I like to eat my main meal between 2-4pm, so that makes for a really weird day. If I'm meeting other people for lunch, I try to shoot for 1pm. If I'm meeting others for dinner I try to make it by 5pm. My body just works better on two meals a day and no big meal at night to sit on my stomach as I sleep.
Today was a personal pizza from my Italian restaurant that's closing. Tomorrow will be stuffed eggs covered with a cream sauce w/light curry, then sharp cheddar. then baked. More info later if it works - from the recipe I remember from my childhood. A friend of my Mothers used to make it in the 50s and one of her granddaughters got me the recipe through a cousin who is also now gone.
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The described meals sound appealing. Minus, baked stuffed eggs? That's a novel idea for me. I like deviled eggs, our name for stuffed. Any time they're served at a gathering, they always disappear fast. They're so easy to eat and taste good, made ever so simply. I guess I just like boiled eggs.
Yesterday I had lunch at a Mexican restaurant with my youngest sister and her daughter. We were celebrating my niece's birthday. I brought a lunch home for dh. So we just snacked in place of having a full meal for dinner.
Tonight may be filet mignon from the freezer.
Eric, your finger infection sounds scary. Glad you're paying close attention to healing.
Joyce, we've had some of that warm, humid, windy weather here lately but are enjoying some cooler, dryer air presently. I think that our winter is soon to be over. I'm expecting pollen to make itself known soon.
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Yike Eric! That sounds scary - please take care.
Last night we went to the local diner to eat. They do several things very well - breakfast, fried chicken, fried walleye and a chopped sirloin with grilled onions. DH went with the sirloin and I had the chicken. There must have been a different cook last night because instead of the lightly breaded crispy chicken I usually get, I got a heavily battered version. I still enjoyed it (it's fried chicken after all) but I prefer the old version. Hopefully this is a temporary aberration. For dessert I picked up two giant chocolate dipped strawberries from the local candymaker. It's so ironic that we have very few decent restaurants in town but we have a candymaker who's been in business for one hundred years. (They're famous for their turtles) Priorities.
Tonight friends are coming for dinner. The main dish is beef bourguignon. I forgot how many steps are involved in this dish but at least once it's put together it's pretty hands off.
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Eric, bummer about what looks like a nasty cellulitis in your finger. The Keflex should knock it out, but make sure to take the whole bottle. I had a similar incident all week: last Sat. I went to Target and opened a plastic box to see what a certain "wet/dry detangler" hairbrush looked like inside its protective zippered cover; when I got back into my car and touched the steering wheel I got a sharp, shocky pain in my R middle finger that felt just like a splinter. But no redness nor swelling. My 10X lighted magnifier showed nothing, and the Immediate Care nurse I saw on Tues. couldn't see anything either. Had an x-ray, and...nada. (Whatever was in there---if anything--wasn't radio-opaque). So I was told to do hot water soaks and apply Bacitracin ointment (was given a bunch of packets). Didn't help. Suddenly, on Wed., the same thing happened in my L thumb. Bob (my DH, a cardiologist) posited that maybe I was developing gout due to my high-protein diet and heredity (my mom's first kidney stones were uric acid). The other theory--diabetic neuropathy--didn't work, as my glucose is normal and my a1c is only 5.4. But Thurs. morning the thumb pain disappeared, and yesterday so did the finger pain. (Either the sliver of plastic worked its way out, my body "sequestered" it, or it was a sort of neuropathy to begin with).
Last night (Valentine's Day) after seeing Madame Butterfly at the Lyric Opera, we went to Avec--a Mediterranean-themed restaurant in the W. Loop where we used to be regulars over a decade ago but hadn't been back since its original chef married Food Network's Anne Burrell and moved to NYC. The menu hadn't changed: their signature dish, which they pretty much invented, chorizo-stuffed bacon-wrapped dates, was still on the menu. We also had a chicory-radicchio salad with fried duck egg, wood-roasted "Mer Bleu" NB oysters, and a braised pork shoulder with fava beans, linguiça and morçilla (blood) sausages, rock shrimp and a tomato broth. No room for dessert. By the time the opera was over, it was a frigid 9F out (-1 at dawn), but we lucked out and got a cab to the restaurant right away.
Tonight, since it was a balmy 30F, we walked to Cellars for a belated Valentine's menu: shared an arugula/prosciutto/asparagus/poached egg salad app. with dried cherries (Bob ate the latter). For entrees, he had filet mignon Oscar (more asparagus & crabmeat) with mashed potatoes; I had bourbon-glazed Scottish salmon over julienne veggies and grilled sweet potato. For dessert we shared a cheese & fruit platter: Granny Smith apples, grapes, ghost pepper apricot jam, more dried cherries, water crackers; and brie, Kerrygold cheddar, and Manchego. (He had the fruit, crackers & jam).
Bob's working tomorrow, so I'll drive back there for brunch (likely have the "Fitness Trainer" scramble of egg whites, chêvre, sundried tomatoes and a side of cucumber salad) so I can pick up the 10 bottles of wine we bought at the last winemaker dinner. Our next one will be a belated Mardi Gras Cajun/Creola dinner with French wine pairings on the 27th.
Here's a pic of "My Big Fat Greek...Salad" I made Wed. night--little gem, bibb & red leaf lettuces with kalamata olives, mushrooms, feta, red onion, heirloom cherry tomatoes, anchovies and a lemon-olive oil vinaigrette:
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Oh, and I have thrown in the towel about grocery-store basil. Bought 1 pkg ea. of Meyer Farms and Gotham Greens (Chicago greenhouse-grown), cut the stems (such as they were) on the bias, and put them in small glasses of bottled room-temp spring water. Within a day, all but one sprig had wilted; a day later, the wilted leaves had shriveled & dried up. I called our local garden store, Gethsemane (yeah, I know the irony), and to my surprise they had basil, thyme, sage, oregano, rosemary and even catnip plants in the greenhouse. So today I bought two 4" pots of basil and one of thyme. As instructed, I put them by the kitchen window where they'll get sunlight, but not close enough to the glass to suffer cold damage. I can easily keep the other herbs fresh in my fridge (and my cats like dried catnip, of which I have a whole jar), so didn't buy the others.
We found out this week that our grocery-delivery mainstay, Peapod, is ceasing Midwest operations this coming Tues. Ironically, they were founded in Evanston 26 years ago. But Amazon Fresh (which uses Whole Foods as its supplier) and InstaCart (Mariano's, Plum Market, Pete's, H Mart) were too difficult against which to compete, as Peapod--which hasn't had a "partner" grocer since Jewel bowed out a decade earlier when Dutch company Ahold bought it--needs 1-2 days to deliver while the others can do so within hours. Not just that, but the others offer pickup options, which Peapod can't because it lacks a brick-and-mortar store. Peapod will still operate back east because Ahold owns the East Coast Food Lion, Giant and Stop&Shop chains. So it looks as if I'll be venturing out to shop for stuff Whole Foods doesn't carry and InstaCart won't deliver in my ZIP code. (Peapod's corporate offices & tech operations are staying here in Chicago). We've been using Peapod since you had to use their software on a 3-1/2' floppy disk and dial-up (pre-Internet). Oh, well, nothing lasts forever.
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Thanks. The doctor increased the antibiotic dose from 1 gr per day to 2gr per day because "he wasn't impressed with its effectiveness". I go back on Tuesday for another followup.
My fever is gone and I'm not shivering, so that's good...even if my finger still looks "ugly".
Dinner tonight was actually a kind of late lunch. We met with some friends that I've known for 35 years (Sharon has known them for 31 years) and had a picnic lunch. During the day it was 71F degrees, but got a bit "cool" (mid 50F range) after sunset. We were all glad to have our jackets with us.
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Last night was filet mignon, butternut squash mash and a romaine salad with additions. The fillets were cooked on a new grill DH bought assembled. He was happy about that but reported that the old grill was much hotter. We were both happy to notice yesterday that the someone had loaded up the old grill and taken it away.
Tonight will be speckled butter beans cooked with pickled pork and served over brown rice. Also leftover eggplant layered dish and possibly another salad. Our produce markets sell frozen butter beans and field peas and other frozen veggies. DH went to the nearby produce stand today and bought the butter beans, which I have gotten there before.
Nance, I wish we had a local diner that serves a good breakfast and good fried chicken. We go out to breakfast often during the summers in MN but not here at home.
Eric, keep us posted on the infected finger.
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Backing up to Valentine’s Day...DH had ordered tickets to a “Stories From the Stage” event at WBGH (local public TV station), so we had dinner near the studio at a restaurant at which I last ate fifty years ago! A mid level steak house which hasn’t changed much. The staff was great, the place was mobbed, and we got in and out exactly as quickly as we hoped. I ordered salmon with asparagus and risotto, which was quite good. DH had baked scallops and shrimp with rice, and we shared a lovely arugula salad.
At WGBH we were greeted with champagne, and delightful small desserts. The selection of “stories” were obviously on the topic of love and were quite good...they would need to be to hold my attention, which was waning given my ongoing fatigue. I finished my Zpac and figured I’d be feeling a ton better, but it is going slowly.Meanwhile, we have DGD here thru tomorrow since her daycare is closed for the holiday and both of her parents have to work. When we bring her home, DS2 and DDIL are serving us dinner as a “thank you” for caring for her during their “getaway” before DS2 started his new position. He is cooking for us. I love that he often cooks! And I cannot take any credit for teaching him, since I was rather territorial about the kitchen and meals. During his college summers, he worked in food prep at local country clubs...and since then has been quite comfortable and competent in the kitchen.
The baby’s bedtime coincided with tonight’s dinner hour so it was fragmented. DH finally finished off the remaining turkey leg, with gravy and rice, and I had leftover chicken noodle soup and fresh sour dough bread since my appetite was waning. Last night we had turkey meatballs with penne pasta and a large side salad. I froze a lot of the meatballs for quick pasta meals in the future...or for meatball subs for DH.
Eric...hope you are healed soon! On a less serious finger note.....I have developed a very swollen ring finger knuckle in recent months which is pretty clearly related to my arthritis. At some point (soon) I should see a rheumatologist and see what I can do about it (not looking forward to an injection) so I can wear my rings again. Since it gets painful using it, I’ve taken to taping it to my pinky finger for “use prevention” and it seems to work for now....except that on cold days, I can’t wear my gloves. 🥴 So as my oldbody falls apart, I am taping it together.
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Ahh, WGBH. That brings back some good college memories. The local Arizona PBS station, KAET, would air many cooking shows that were produced by WGBH and those shows were sometimes inspiration for some kitchen experimentation.
The finger is unchanged. I see the doctor on Tuesday about an hour before normal office hours. If the doc came in on a day off and is coming in early on another day, I must be interesting. Personally, this is one of those cases where it would be better to be boring. :-)
I keep herbs growing when I can. Rosemary, garlic chives and the mints do quite well. The remainder of the herbs either need extra care to survive year around, or like cilantro, die in the summertime.
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