So...whats for dinner?
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Looks delicious, Cherry! We finished the last of our homegrown black raspberries, and are now awaiting the first of our weather-ravaged and poorly-pollinated tomatoes. We have about 5 cherry tomatoes ripe enough to pick; two of our "Yellow Tiger" (green-striped) are almost ready to ripen on the sill. Zucchini is a lost cause: our plant makes only male blossoms, and the rabbits & birds eat them anyway. But we have loads of basil, mint & rosemary, with some of our Italian parsley still pickable (most of it "bolted" and flowered--no matter how carefully I trim it back). If Bob is coming home for dinner tonight, I will defrost & grill lamb chops with mint & garlic; if not, well today is National Wing Day (and I do have a bag of 'em in the freezer). Last night's dinner was a large Greek salad (salvaged the green, non-browned, lettuce leaves, and added red onion, red pepper, cucumber slices, two anchovies, olives, the last of our feta crumbles, lemon juice and Koroniki olive oil) and a small tunafish sandwich on the "heels" of a loaf of low-carb whole wheat bread. Dessert was keto cereal and almond milk. Made eggs Benedict this morning with ham and hollandaise on a Mikey's keto "English muffin" which has the flavor & texture of cornbread.
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Bob made it home, just as I returned from grocery & pharmacy shopping. We'll have a Caprese, broccoli salad, pan-seared sea bass, and (if he wants a starch) Seeds of Change (either brown rice/quinoa or 7 ancient grains). I went to Middle East Bakery & Grocery for the first time since the pandemic (they don't deliver), for 3 falafels, and the best hummus & baba ghannouj I've had outside Israel. (I had to avert my eyes from the pastries, pita and the 25 varieties of halvah). Got stuck in a massive downpour on the way out. Serves me right for not parking closer.
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So we didn't have the Seeds of Change grains--in the fridge I found an ear of corn that needed to be used. I simmered it, then dressed it with a bit of salt butter. (I had the tapered 1/3 of the ear, Bob had the rest). First corn I've had in over a year--and though it was good, I can wait another year for the next one. The "Chilean" sea bass was actually from the UK. Whole Foods had it for 30% off, and it seemed that all the pieces were oddly-shaped. Well, it turns out it had massive pin bones--and "pin" is an understatement. Bones were so massive that I had trouble getting the thermometer probe in to temp it. Pretty much had to dissect it to serve. Accompanied it with a cherry-tomato Caprese and some broccoli-bacon-sunflower seed salad Bob brought home on Sun. Those were the last of our store-bought cherry tomatoes: next ones will be from my plants. (What my friend said was a San Marzano turned out to be another cherry tomato plant, And the "Green Zebra" tomatoes are finally yellowing on top, probably ready to pick before the end of the weekend,
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110F/43C degrees at 8:24pm. It's supposed to be worse tomorrow.
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Eric, 43C🤦♀️ I would have burn in flames. God bless North, it has been like22C the whole day and raining.
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They say it's a dry heat, but then, so is the heat inside a crematory.... :-)
Tonight I'm baking more sourdough bread. Bakers' yeast seems to be in short supply here, but with sourdough, bakers' yeast isn't needed, so the shortage isn't an issue. All I need is flour, a tiny bit of salt and a tiny bit of sugar.
"Test daughter 1" called earlier and was asking for sourdough advice because yeast was hard to find where she lives in Maryland. I guess the yeast "shortage" is more than just a local issue.
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Oh well Eric, there's nothing better than sourdough anyway. Except sometimes dark pumpernickel.'
I couldn't find baking soda at the store today.
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It's weird what the grocery is out of. Last week my store was low on, and out of my favorite brand of, maple syrup!
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eric - yes, it is time to buy Fleishmann's yeast stock, supply and demand are unequal! All those lockdown bread baking newbies! I wonder if you could bake sourdough bread in your car at high noon?
So, dinner two nights ago was stuffed shells with turkey meatballs and some yummy zucchini. The shells were pretty straightforward - jumbo shells stuffed with ricotta, meatballs interspersed, topped with marinara and grated asiago. While those were in the oven I put some olive oil in a skillet and added red pepper flakes and a teaspoon of tomato paste - I love, love, love the tomato paste in a tube, I find I add it to more stuff if I don't have to open a can. I cooked the tomato paste in the olive oil and then added a zucchini that I had cut lengthwise and then sliced with a crinkle knife so the edges were wavy. I like to do that with squash particularly so they get some color and hold whatever I put on it. The zucchini came out great and I will definitely cook them that way again - not obviously tomato flavored, which I didn't want because the shells already had marinara, just a little something extra - and the tomato flavor was a bit cooked out and red pepper flake enhanced by the pre-sauté.
Dinner last night was a la minus - cheese and crackers. DH came home dragging - his boss is out of town so as the deputy he has his meetings to take on too, as well as keeping an eye on a department whose supervisor had a family death. In addition he is medicating around the clock with ibuprofen to control facial and eye orbit pain residual from his sinus infection in April. Two rounds of strong abx and he is still struggling. No congestion, but still very uncomfortable with headache, facial pressure and eye pain. He has had the ENT consult, and is currently waiting for contact from the imaging center for a specialty CT scan appt. ENT mentioned the possibility of a tumor, which is not great news, so we are hoping that is not the case. When DD fell off the horse she had some head scans and they incidentally showed multiple cysts in the sinuses, so possible this is what is happening with him as well. No idea if the propensity has a hereditary component. In any event, he was not really hungry - I just needed to get something in his stomach so he could take more ibuprofen. Bleh.
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Dinner last night was a big ribeye and small baked potatoes. Easy (for me) since dh cooked the ribeye and wrapping the potatoes in foil and placing them on the grill and putting the cover down wasn't arduous.
One of our neighbors has been gifting us with fish he caught so tonight will be walleye fillets.
We are enjoying a stretch of very nice weather without high humidity. The temperature falls into the low 60's or high 50's at night, which makes for comfortable sleeping.
A huge relief came in the form of an email yesterday. Our BIL is postponing the memorial service for dh's sister in IL. I was dreading the trip and fearing the danger of mingling with people. Covid cases have risen in the county where BIL lives (Decatur, IL) and the church is not open to congregations.
Today is laundry day. Some exercise walking back and forth to laundry room at the resort.
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Eric, 110F at night? Oy vey! As a low-carber, I haven't baked at all (though I did find some keto brownie mix). Whole-wheat sourdough is, though not keto-friendly, relatively low-glycemic. But as long as I can still get my low-carb bread, I'm not baking (yet).
Our weather is sparing us, at least here by the lakefront. No more 90s forecast for the foreseeable future. Last night was delightful (windy, but it died down by dinnertime), so we were able to sit outdoors for Cellars' Aussie-Italian wine dinner. (Wines are on the "how about drinking" thread). We started with beet-cured gravlax atop lemon-ricotta blini, dressed with lemon cream, bowfin caviar, and micro greens. Next was a watermelon, arugula & multicolor cherry tomato salad, with strawberry sliced, toasted hazelnuts, balsamic glaze, and goat cheese "snow" (goat cheese granita shaved over the salad). "Pasta" course was "zoodles" with avocado pesto, grilled shrimp and pico de gallo. Main course was loin lamb chops with roasted eggplant and mushroom risotto. Dessert was a mixed-berry galette with salted caramel gelato.
Yes, I ate everything. Portions were smallish and I'm below goal weight. Back on the horse this a.m. anyway.
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I use a "fast oven" (400F/200C) to bake the bread, so I don't think baking in the car would work...at least I hope it wouldn't work!
About this date last year, a Phoenix US Postal Service worker put a partially thawed steak in a plastic bag and placed it on the dash of their delivery truck. They then started their 10am delivery route and approximately every 30 minutes, they took a picture of the steak's progress. By 12:30pm, the steak was cooked to 142F/60C degrees. Some of the local news outlets published the story and it got the attention of some of the legislators. To this day, I still have not seen a postal service truck that has air conditioning.
But, we make up for it in the winter when we complain that, "It's so cold that we have to wear long pants when going outside at night." :-)
Today we sold our no longer needed Jeep Cherokee (automobile) and spent this morning completing the ownership transfer. It took 3 hours to complete the process. Pre Covid, when I sold my late mother's car, it took only 10 minutes to do everything. I hope this is NOT the "new normal". Afterwards we went and bought the food we are taking with us for next week's 4 day long work trip backpacking into the Grand Canyon. This will be our fourth week in the Grand Canyon since October 2019. If all goes well, there will be just one more trip there in about 2 months...unless they hire me for other projects.
We ended up eating a 4pm "lunch" and skipped dinner.
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Brunch was one olive-oil-fried egg, one falafel, low carb bread and a Tbsp. ea. of hummus, babaghannouj and cucumber-yogurt dip (similar to tzatziki). Dinner was basically antipasto: a Caprese made from red & yellow heirloom tomatoes, basil from the garden and freah mozzarella; toast points. and Geona salami. May do a BLT in the a.m. and order out for sushi (if the weather permits, maybe sit on the patio at Indie). Will have to remember to pack a champagne stopper so we can take home half the bottle of bubbly rather than finish it and get sloshed.
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Good looking meal pics!
I’ve been very happy to find American lamb around here so we’ve had gyro spiced lamb burgers on pita with tzatziki, a Greek salad (sort of, sadly I forgot to get olives - the best part 😢) and pilaf.
Today has been a cool day in a stretch of predicted nice weather so I decided to make some chili. It won’t be the largish amount I usually make because of my storage limitations but we’ll probably get dinner and a lunch out of it.
Eric, I certainly hope the Grand Canyon is cooler than your home base. Yikes
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auntie - glad you found yummy lamb - sorry about the missing olives - that would make me sad too.
Tonight is a kale salad with chicken, red onion, apple, pecans, goat cheese, and a creamy balsamic dressing
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Yay for American lamb. I bought a couple of packs of New Zealand lamb at Sam's Club. They're in the freezer.
Last night was leftover linguine that had been cooked with Rao's and home-made turkey Italian sausage. Addition of grated romano. Tasted good. Side was composed salad with cucumber, tomato, avocado, and sweet onion for dh.
I accidentally broke off a limb on the shared tomato plants in Mary's garden. One ripe tomato and three green. So I will cook fried green tomato slices as a side tonight.
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Oh, dear. Hope our ho hum diet hasn't killed this discussion!!
No fried green tomato slices last night. DH grilled store-made cheddar brats (grated cheddar included in meat mixture). I warmed up a can of Bush's baked beans and made a tossed salad. Actually my version of a "chopped" salad with the ingredients cut smaller than usual. Dressing mayo and a sprinkle of vinegar.
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carole - how do you do your fried green tomatoes? DH is not a tomato person, but I love them. I had some really good ones at a restaurant in Miami, but the challenge seems to be getting the coating to stick and stay on when I fry them. Give me your secrets.
Yesterday was DD's 31st birthday - I can't believe my youngest is 31, how did that happen? We had grilled ribeyes, grilled lobster tail - gifted from DH's boss who caught (captured?) them over on the east coast of FL last week - wedge oven baked fries, and roasted broccoli. We sang, the dog barked at the candles, and we had some yellow cake with chocolate frosting.
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Carole, I think we all may be ho humming. With our heat and not being able to have friends in for dinner some of the spark is missing for me.
Yesterday I did make shrimp pad thai using some Healthy Noodles (brand name)--no gluten etc, including basically no taste so they are a good vehicle for spicy sauces. We also fairly often have been having a meal of the bagged chopped salads. One bag makes enough salad for a light meal with some crackers and fruit. Easy, tasty, doesn't require much thought!
Special, sounds like a good b'day dinner. Got a smile out of the dog barking at the candles! Our older DS had a b'day July 30 (57). They were able to celebrate with our other DS and his family and we shared in singing Happy Birthday over the phone. His cake was 2 layer devil's food with fudge frosting, a tradition begun by my mother when he was a pre schooler.
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beaver - I love those bag salads, I often add a protein to them and call it dinner! The b-day dinner was somewhat impromptu, we had not planned it in advance. DD came over mid-day but then went on to visit her elderly horse and reunite with a friend that she had been a bit on the outs with, but who had been out of town all summer working at a camp in Maine. They have been friends for years but decided to be roommates when DD moved into the downtown house at the beginning of March. Not a good idea - and we forewarned her. Compounding this, friend is a Delta Airlines flight attendant, so the spring was fraught with stress, and then she took a leave of absence from May to Aug 1. The whole plan for these girls to live together successfully was hardly being at home at the same time due to travel - DD is a regional sales manager for the southeastern US, and often was out of town. Because of COVID suddenly they were together 24/7 - and it didn't work out! At all! So, I am glad they are moving past it, as they really were good friends. All that to say, she decided to come back for dinner, so suddenly I had to make some!!! DD would love the devil's food with fudge frosting, she is a chocolate girl. We had to go with what I had on hand. Because I was so frazzled I decided to microwave this cake - it was one of those mini ones in a kit. DH and I had one that was oven baked and it was actually really good and small enough that the two of us were not left with a giant cake to eat. Because I had the wedge fries and broccoli in the oven the little cake went into the microwave. Advice for all - don't do it, lol! It had the texture of angel's food cake, that kind of compresses when you bite it? DH pronounced it "prison cake" which was silly. The dog NEVER barks, even at the doorbell - except when there are candles on a cake and we sing. He is either objecting to the singing, or warning us that our food seems to be aflame. We refer to Happy Birthday as the fire song, he barks every time.
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Special K - Nice birthday meal & cute story about the dog barking.
Just had a large lunch, as dinner will be non-existent due to tooth extraction at 3 pm. Chicken Marsala, Sauteed Broccoli, warm crusty bread with butter & 2 glasses of Bonterra Sauvignon Blanc (early anesthetic).
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Celia - hooray for Sauvignon Blanc for lunch. I like the Bonterra cab made with organic grapes, but I haven't tried the SB yet. Sauvignon Blanc is my favorite white wine this year.
Special - yum, yum - steak AND lobster. Congrats on having a 31 year old. My son turned 50 in May, but as we live in different states there was not celebration. In any case I'm not sure he wanted to acknowledge 50.
Beaver - I too LOVE the salad kits. Last night I had the Spinach Miso Crunch and added fresh mushrooms and hard boiled eggs. It's the only kit that I eat the entire thing in one meal. Usually a salad kit lasts me two main meals because I add whatever is hanging around in the fridge - cucumbers, avocados, tomatoes - and leftover protein - rotisserie chicken, or salmon or...
Lunch will be the final serving of deja vue pork fried rice. I won't be sorry to finish this batch. I wasn't at all excited by the rice I used this time. Seeds of Change Jasmine White. Normally I'd boil up a batch of rice, but this was a test to see how the 90 second rice worked. While the rice was good hot right out of the microwave, even then it was hard to "fluff". Once it cooled in the fridge before frying it really stuck in clumps.
I've been eating the Olathe (CO) sweet corn every day since it's only available a couple of weeks a year. Delicious. Bought a wonderful cantaloupe for $0.67 last week. Tomorrow I think I'll pull down my Spiralizer and make zucchini noodles. I like them with just butter (or in salads for that matter) but will probably pull a cup of spaghetti sauce with meat out of the freezer to add.
I know one of the reasons I'm not cooking is the heat. I've been cooking a pork tenderloin or a couple of chicken breasts once a week and adding any leftovers to salads or rice or pasta for the rest of the week. I did cut out a recipe for an "Egg Roll Bowl" with rotisserie chicken that I may try this week. And I'm considering a pasta bowl with salmon & dill.
It's just about time for the once a year Hatch Chili harvest !!! Growers are worried because it's all done by hand that the workers aren't coming in.
Carole - forgot to add how jealous I am of your temperatures. After rain all night Saturday, it was 75 degrees when I headed out to walk Sunday morning. I wondered if I needed to look for a jacket (LOL) but it quickly went back up to 96.
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Temps went way down yesterday--high was only 81--and today we're struggling to make 70. Nice to turn off the A/C, plus change of pace to pull out the long-sleeved tees and long jeans. (Sat. night I even needed a jean jacket). Dinner at Cellars Sat. night was supposed to be outdoors, but it started raining so with some trepidation we dined inside. No worries--there was only one other patron in the whole place and he was finishing up as we sat down. (Midway through dinner it was clear again, and the patio tables rapidly filled up). Bob was nonchalant, as he rides in hospital elevators almost every day, and because there's an entire bank of cars out of commission (and they go only to the COVID floor anyway) social distancing is impossible. All you can do is wear PPE and use knuckles or elbows to press buttons. Dinner was gorgonzola meat loaf with mashed sweet potatoes and sauteed green beans & mushrooms (Bob had his with regular mashed spuds), and last night we had the leftovers.
Went to brunch outdoors yesterday at Big Jones, a Southern (primarily Carolina low-country) restaurant in Andersonville. They had both a sidewalk cafe and a rear patio, and we chose the latter. Bob had gumbo ya-ya and crawfish etouffee, and I had a bacon-chêvre omelet with spicy collard greens (I gave Bob half the greens, as his dishes had only rice and no other veg). As it was an overstuffed three-egger, I took half home and had it for brunch today--after first "attending" my ex-boss' graveside funeral online.
Not sure about dinner tonight--if Bob comes home for dinner I'll pan-sear salmon with one veg or another; if not, I'll have a tuna salad sandwich on low-carb bread with lettuce, basil, heirloom tomato and red onion (no, not the recalled brand, acc. to Whole Foods).
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Forgot to mention - Monday has sort of become a prep day - boiling eggs, skinning tomatoes, boiling rice, planning for the week, etc. I thank Special every single week for sharing the egg peeling trick. How did I ever get to my 70's w/o knowing that?
DejaVu Fried Rice was served w/all the extra English peas tossed in and a fried egg on top. The wine was San Gregorio Tempranillo from Spain. It was a Total Wine special for $9.99 and very good. My last Total Wine order was amazing. First of all - their winery direct wines were on sale. Second - if you bought 6 your got 10% off. Third - the corporate office misprinted flyers so if you bought 8 you got 15% off. Woo Hoo. Ordered 8 on line. Picked up the box when ready.
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Hi all ho-hum it's been around here too but I enjoy everyone else's menus and stories!
Tonight I made my favorite beef enchilada. 5 ingredient, from Holly Clegg's Nutrition for cancer cookbook. With that as the main, I chopped a side dish of cucumber, mini-tomatos we grew, onion and a splash of vinaigrette. Odd combo but I wasn't in the mood for a green salad.
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Reader - can you share the enchilada recipe? Only 5 ingredients sounds easy.
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I made a "mistake" a few days ago and made a new recipe for Mexican rice in the Instant Pot. It made a HUGE amount, especially with only two of us here. Have been working on finding a variety of ways to use it, as well as spice it up. Tonight's turn was added seasoning to the rice, and served with Turkey cheese quesadillas and fresh tomatoes.
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Beaver - I've been experimenting with freezing rice. I think it's Special who said that works well. I put the rice in zip lok bags and flattened so they stack well in the freezer. I haven't pulled any out yet but I'm hopeful.
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Chicken tenders with "Sweet Baby Ray's Honey BBQ Sauce" and my mother's homemade potato salad.
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SpecialK, I have never cooked Fried Green Tomatoes but the recipes say to follow the usual routine with flour, egg and bread crumbs. Meanwhile the green tomatoes are turning pink. The birthday dinner sounds delicious. Thanks for your tip of freezing cooked pasta. I now cook a full lb. of linguine and freeze half of it.
Last night was grilled pork steak (shared), corn cut off the cob and sauteed with butter, steamed broccoli with lemon juice and butter.
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