So...whats for dinner?
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Eric - gee, sorry that the finger is still unchanged. Please let us know what the doc says tomorrow. I don't remember - dominant hand or not? I'm sure you're not kneading bread or stirring large bowls of stuff.
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Yes, it's my dominant hand...and I'm not making any bread right now. We're going to have to *buy* some bread..oh the horror!!!!!!!! :-)
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I bought a loaf of sour dough bread at Fresh Market recently and it really did have a sour taste. Is that typical?
Last night we ate at our nearby seafood place, Crabby Shack. I thoroughly enjoyed our meal and was delighted not to have to cook. We shared a dozen raw oysters. Then we shared a seafood basket with fried oysters and shrimp and fries. As always the shrimp and oysters were cooked perfectly.
I was planning to roast a chicken for dinner tonight but I put it back into the refrigerator when I learned that dh has a woodworkers' guild meeting tonight. We'll have a tossed salad and leftover butter beans and brown rice.
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This morning...the finger was somewhat better and the doctor thought so too. So I'm continuing on the same antibiotic at the 2gram a day dose..
DD was over today and we made orange marmalade. My tail is dragging..but it's a good dragging.. :-)
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The taste of sourdough bread depends on the acidity of the starter—some commercial ones that add yeasts instead of relying on the ambient yeast can have batches that are really, really sour (Boudin was so sour once that my aunt couldn’t eat it).
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Carole, I didn't see your post. I *MUST* be tired. :-)
Yes sourdough is sour (tangy). The "sourness" of the bread depends on the starter used and the temperature of the dough during the rise process .
Lower temperatures make for longer rise times and this gives time for the lactobacillus (the "sour bacteria) to make things more sour.
I have two starters. Depending on the starter I use and whether I have the dough rise in the refrigerator or a warm oven.....I can make bread "kind of sour" all the way to "almost painfully sour". :-) The painfully sour bread takes about 3 days to make and the kind of sour bread can be made in a few hours.
Edited to add...
I've seen some commercial "sourdough" breads that added ascorbic acid (vitamin C) to make the bread taste more sour...sigh...
For what it's worth, I tend to think of sourdough bread made with bakers yeast to be faux sourdough.
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Good explanations on the sour taste of the sour dough bread. I didn't really like the taste of my bought bread.
I plan to butterfly the large fryer I've been thawing and will roast it for dinner tonight. A side will be roasted potato chunks. I bought a packet of seasoning for the potatoes, an impulse buy, that will probably be too salty as most prepared seasoning mixes are.
Alas, it's actually too warm to use the oven. Our weather changes so fast and so drastically that it's hard to time using the oven.
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I grew up in the SF Bay area, so of course I love real SOURdough. One the best gifts is when my son sends a couple loaves of Boudin's SF Sourdough.
Carole - I'm with you on the seasoning packets. I usually just use 1/2 of most packages.
The last few days have been high 70s. Woke up yesterday with the house at 75 - with no heating or air. Like Carole - way too warm to use the oven. This morning it's 56 outside and won't get much higher.
Went for the last time to the restaurant that's closing with my old Chickenfoot group. Had one of the old staples - Heartland Salad. Originally it had breaded chicken with the greens & avocacos, eggs, tomatoes, etc. Now an alternate for healthier grilled chicken, but I had the old stand by for memories sake. Of course wonderful garlic bread. Two of my friends had the delicious shrimp salad and one had a huge poor boy.
Another friend is driving today to check out a "new" used bookstore. It's NW of town so we'll eat at the PF Changs out there and hit Total Wine. Oops more about wine later since I need to put on my shoes before she gets here.
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When I *buy* sourdough I always compare it to what I make. So far, mine nearly always wins out. Mickey, with her microbiology undergrad degree, taught me enough about sourdough to know what's going on with it and also what to do to encourage it to do what I want.
I slept about 13 hours last night/this morning and my energy level has returned with a vengeance....even if my finger is only about 3/4 of the way back to normal. Today I picked 250 pounds (110kilos) of oranges and juiced them. I had already picked that amount early last week and I think I only need another 100 pounds of oranges to fill the freezer with orange juice. So, I'm getting close to being finished
If I don't get deployed, I'll get the tree as bare as possible and let DD take them back to her apartment for her friends and roommates. Last night she took back about 15 pounds of oranges and she said "they disappeared within about 10 minutes".
It was 80F degrees today, so it's warming up here too and I think it's supposed to get warmer tomorrow. Winter may be done here...we'll see. When it gets too hot to use the oven inside, I switch to the outside oven. I am so happy that I have a 2nd kitchen range!!!!!!!!!!!
Seasoning. I *LOVE* salt, but with high blood pressure, I have to be careful. So I usually make my own seasonings. I've found dried and nearly powdered lemon peel does a good job at brightening up the flavor without the salt.
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The roasted chicken and potatoes were good. I used a little less than half of the seasoning packet and did not find the potatoes too salty. The entire breast is left since we both like the dark meat. I will probably use part of the leftovers for chicken enchiladas.
I stopped off at a Rouse's supermarket on my way home from the gym yesterday. It's a fairly new store and not my "usual" supermarket. The seafood counter had Louisiana oysters. I bought a carton for making oysters Mosca (Italian oysters), probably tomorrow night.
Eric, that's a lot of orange juice. I have been buying navel oranges and eat them for snacks.
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Had my weigh-in yesterday and am only 8 lbs from goal. NP is happy with my "only" 6 lbs-in-9-wks loss, and is beginning to transition my diet to include the occasional real whole wheat bread, brown rice/quinoa/other whole grains, whole wheat pasta and citrus fruits 3x/wk. At goal, I will switch to a low-carb version of Mediterranean, which would make me limit red meat & sat fats but allow me 1-2 servings a day of whole grain stuff--plus increase legumes to count as a limited veg rather than a carb. Bob is relieved that we can still go to steakhouses, but corn & white spuds will remain "forever-nevers." 1-2 drinks/day, but I average only 3/wk (a scant pint of wine) to keep my MO happy.
Today he called from work and asked if I wanted him to bring me home a pačzki--and I said no thanks (he had 2!). I've learned that the slightest slipup of a trigger food (like pastries & donuts) will cause me to plateau for a week, or even gain. This will be my first Mardi Gras in a decade w/o pačzki or king cake (and my first hamantaschen-less Purim). But I don't mind. (Would have killed me, though, to have been in NOLA for Folk Alliance and had to forgo beignets & oyster po'boys).
Not sure about dinner tonight--depends on when Bob gets home or if he wants me to Uber it down to Greektown after my Apple Store appt. (this time for a cracked iPadPro screen after it fell off my lap and separated from its case this morning--one day after getting back my MacBookPro for a replacement of its cranky keyboard).
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I am filled with “orange envy”, listening to you, Eric. Although, I’m not sure I would not feel quite overwhelmed looking at trees with so many oranges that needed picking/juicing. Admiring your renewed energy!
Talk about Rao's sauce seems to have inspired our menus this week. We had Rao's marinara with turkey meatballs and penne pasta on Tues, and last night had the leftovers of that, heated with mozzarella added as a topping. Tonight we had Rao’s puttanesca sauce with sautéed veggies and baked pollack over little ear pasta. While I enjoyed those dinners, I’ll be happy not to have pasta for a while. We had side salads with all of those meals.
Tomorrow night we will attend a Celtics’ “Watch Party” at their new practice center (they’ll be playing in MN), where a casual dinner will be served. Yay...no cooking for me!
I feel like I am finally over that virus, but DH seems like he’s on round two (which he probably caught from our little sweet germ factory who was coughing and dripping the whole time she was with us earlier this week). After taking her home, I disinfected everywhere, and sanitized the many toys she used. Fingers crossed that DH gets over his symptoms quickly, and I escape them!
Congrats on the weigh loss, Sandy.
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Weight loss envy. Good for you, Sandy. I admire your discipline.
The chicken enchiladas last night were good. I spread the center of the tortillas liberally with a canned refried beans before adding the chicken and diced mild chili filling. Canned Hatch enchilada sauce and packaged Mexican cheese blend. Condiments were home-made (by dh) guacamole and sour cream. Easy meal that was enjoyed by both of us.
Tonight will be oysters Mosca with French bread and a romaine salad. I use the recipe in Cooking Up a Storm.
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Good job, Chi.
I've still got 17-18 pounds to go.
And, I'm all done with the oranges. I've got 35 gallons of orange juice freezing/frozen. Tomorrow I'm going to take a bunch of whole oranges and some orange juice to DD.As for eating the oranges. If I eat anymore, my hair will turn orange. :-)
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Very disappointed with PF Changs last week. If it wasn't innovative, you could always count on a decent meal. The egg drop soup was cold. The appetizer ribs were great big honking 6-8"Texas beef ribs (WTH - chinese appetizer ribs?) and the meat was really tough. The vegetable spring rolls had absolutely no taste - even dipped in the chili sauce. I brought home my order of Singapore noodles and will be having tonight. Hopefully they are edible.
Eric - do you do Meyer Lemons too? People keep bring me lemons. I've juiced more than my freezer can hold so my latest experiment is cutting them in quarters, tossing them in a bag & freezing them that way.
Carole - I always forget to put beans INSIDE my enchiladas. Thanks for the reminder. Lacey - oh my, sorry to hear you are still passing the germs back & forth. Hope DH doesn't give it back to you but you can hardly ask him to sleep on the couch. Joyce - good to hear from you back in Florida. Hard choices - heat or snow. Celia - hope the arctic air has moved on. Nance - how did the beef bourguignon turn out?
Special - we miss you.
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Minus, have you tried preserving the lemons? It's very easy and they last forever.
The beef Borguignon was outstanding. It was even better the next day. Tonight was stroganoff made with a piece of beef tenderloin from the freezer. Living high on the hog here.
It's supposed to be in the 50s tomorrow. I think I'll grill chicken.
I have orange envy too Eric.
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My MIL told me to go get a bunch of lemons off of her tree. As near as I can tell, they are Lisbon Lemons. It's not legal to sell Meyer Lemons in Arizona as, according to the University of Arizona, that variety can carry the Citrus Tristeza Virus. Apparently that virus is devastating to the varieties of citrus grown in Arizona.
I used some to make orange marmalade and juiced the rest. I think I got a quart of juice from about 30 lemons, which I froze in 1/2 pint mason jars.
DD has both strep throat and the flu..confirmed by lab tests. She's taking both an antiviral and an antibiotic. We took a care package to her today and also took special care to minimize our exposure to "the cooties". She called tonight and said she's sweating like crazy and her fever has dropped to 100F degrees. So, hopefully the meds are doing the job.
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Hey all!
Made some chili last night and cornbread with honey butter. I went out to lunch yesterday with a friend, had a Kimmelwick beef sandwich, special roll, shaved beef, fried green tomato, lemon aioli served with a potato hash with mixed peppers and pimento cheese - so good. Ate half, brought half home. Went to lunch today with my former boss (with whom I go to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers games) and two former co-workers. At work one day we discovered we were all born in 1956, so we formed the 1956 Club and go to lunch together once a year - we have now been doing this for about 8 or 9 years. The boss still works for the original company, she is a transfusion services compatibility testing lab manager, but the two others moved on to an assisted living facility and to the VA hospital. I “retired” after the breast cancer diagnosis and started collecting Social Security 18 months ago. I had a steak sandwich on sourdough which was yummy, but did not compare to the dessert - almond cake with chocolate mousse layered and coconut ice cream, and a slice of Oreo cheesecake with peanut brittle crumbs and dulce de leche sauce. We got four forks and shared - so yummy!
eric - how is your hand? Sorry about DD - mine is also sick, fortunately had an existing follow up appt with her primary care so was able to get antibiotics. Is doing ok with that and symptom management.
joyce - did you have a cold couple of days like we did? Friday was cold, windy, and drizzling. Warmer yesterday, beautiful today.
minus - I find PF Chang’s has lost the luster, now just a chain experience. We have a super family owned Asian fusion restaurant a few mins from the house - really, really good, but I know how lucky we are to have ot
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Dinner was a delicious baby spinach & baby red chard salad. I've gained several pounds eating extra pasta meals at my restaurant that closed. Now I'll be paying the price with only salads for while.
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Saturday was oyster poboys at Landry's restaurant, near Jeanerette, LA. DH and I and younger sister and her dh drove 3 hours to visit our middle sister and her dh. The restaurant is close to their house and is owned by local people.
Last night was take out pizza. Needless to say, my wedding ring is tight today.
It's rare that there are serious injuries during the many Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans. This year there have been two deaths. Both sound like carelessness on the part of the people in the crowds who get within touching distance of the huge floats. Needless to say many parade watchers are not sober.
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I have to correct my previous post - the weight gain isn't from the pasta. I didn't eat that much pasta. It's from eating the baskets full of garlic bread over the last two weeks at my restaurant that closed. I even brought the leftover garlic bread home (because of course they would just have to throw it away) and ate a piece or two for my bed time snack several evenings. Bread & butter is my all time favorite food. Better than chocolate. Better than.... Unfortunately it "sticks to the ribs", and other unfortunate places.
So today I was going to make French Toast with some sourdough. Oops - bread. Hmmm. Smoked salmon on rye? Oops - bread again. Guess I'll have a salad again - with no crackers on the side.
My BFF's coming to town Thursday. The two places we've considering for lunch are Angela's Oven and Common Bond - both bakeries. Sigh!!!
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Minus you sound like me! Bring me the bread and no one gets hurt. Well my waistline has been affected so I'm dialing that back. Or trying.
Stuffed shells with fresh ricotta and Rao's (Carole) sauce and a salad for dinner. Delish. DH brought home some Rao's jarred soup over the weekend so Sunday night supper (which he made as I had a busy church day) was grilled cheese sandwiches on multigrain bread and Rao's pasta Fajule (not sure of spelling) soup. It always tastes better when someone else cooks. 🙂
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Last night's dinner was delicious and easy. Home-made crab cakes out of the freezer, cauliflower mash (a whole cauliflower) flavored with reduced fat cream cheese and small amount of butter, and a romaine salad with avocado, kalamata olives and blue cheese.
Happy Mardi Gras!
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Tonight is pork chops coated in Panko bread crumbs, mashed potatoes and applesauce
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DD is starting to feel better...and my finger is very much improved...so all is improving on the health front.
I just realized that it was a couple of weeks ago....in 2012....Sharon got the call regarding the (unwanted) biopsy results. So, it's been a bit over 8 years since the diagnosis.
Reader, I agree with you about the bread. And, Minus, I take the sourdough and make it into garlic toast, which is "most excellent"...but I have to run a bunch of miles to offset eating that.
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Happy Mardi gras! Tonight is jambalaya made with brown rice, Cajun sausage and shrimp and a baguette smeared with butter and garlic. At Fresh Thyme I picked up the last of the paczki, which fortunately turned out to be my favorite Bavarian cream. Nothing but carbs here tonight.
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eric - glad to hear you and DD are on the mend!
Happy Mardi Gras to all!
Helping DD move into an investment house we got, so we are having Greek takeout tonight. Fortunately it is relatively cool so that’s a plus but it is supposed to rain tomorrow. We have loaded/driven/unloaded twice from her storage unit into and out of a 15’ U-Haul. I’m feeling more than my 63 years right now! Lol
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Special, I'm afraid that's going to be me (us) when we (Sharon and I) move. She hates the heat and I hate the city and that leaves a lot of places to move to.
DD is home. She's over the worst...just tired now. Where my finger was so red, the skin is acting like a blister is healing.
Tonight is a pizza night.
I got the new computer and the scanner going.. I've been scanning pictures, slides and negatives.
There are lots of memories for the stuff that Sharon and I "took" and quite a history lesson for the images taken by my grandparents and parents.
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Glad everyone is healing!
Tonight was sheet pan fajitas made with flank steak. Nice because only one pan to clean up - the cast iron skillet I heated the tortillas in. The sheet pan was covered with foil. Pretty tasty
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I am up ridiculously late due to a Western Conference Celtics game. It was an exciting unexpected win, and I certainly can’t sleep, so figure I might as well post an entry I’d planned to do today.
Last night we ordered take out from a newer Turkish “kebab house” in town. I was pretty hungry after a day of prep for a colonoscopy, then spending most of yesterday with anesthesia effects wearing off. Clearly being “elderly” results in a longer recovery time from those drugs. I don’t recall being unable to just carry on with my day after previous procedures. So, I was not about to cook. We had a very generous take out order that included three different preparations of lamb and beef...lamb adana, lamb gyro, and kofte (beef meatballs with Turkish spices)....that came with a “shepherd salad” (tomatoes, cukes, radish slices and parsley), bulgur wheat pilaf and tzatziki and another spicy red sauce. The restaurant’s menu obviously expected readers to have some knowledge of their cuisine. I bet Susan could have helped with that! The pita bread was warm and soft...yum. So we were quite sated with about half of the order and and will order from there again. Tomorrow we’ll be having leftovers from that meal...likely sandwiches with the gyro meat and some soup or salad. And I might make a tzatziki for dressing the sandwiches.
I’m glad folks are healing from their various maladies. We are also functioning, but still plagued with coughs leftover from our URIs. DH’s is the worst, and it is really notable since he rarely gets these types of viral infections...so seeing it linger, despite several cough meds, is very odd. My theory is that our unusually warm winter temps have provided an ambient environment for all sorts of germs to find unsuspecting hosts. Ugh! Unfortunately, our little 8 month old sweet pea is likely bringing home lots of unfamiliar germs from day care to her parents and extended family. She’ll have a great immune system by the end of this year! Hopefully we will all do as well.
Carole, I have never been to Mardi Gras celebration, but my kids have, and it is pretty amazing from what I hear that there had been no serious injuries/fatalities until this year given the college age population there enjoying themselves to the fullest. Kudos to the New Orleans security for management of those crowds.
Nance, your Mardi Gras dinner sounded so delish!
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