So...whats for dinner?
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Last night's Hungry Root meal was very good. Pappardelle pasta with shrimp, spinach and alfredo sauce. Side was our romaine salad.
I have lived a long life without tasting See's candy. LOL. Never heard of it before the mentions of it on this thread.
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Long ago St. Louis had a See's store in a large mall that it is now defunct. I loved it then and I'm sure I would love it now, especially the varieties that you describe Minus.
Last night was rigatoni with sausage and Rao's. Tonight is typically pizza night. We're going out to a local diner for breakfast which usually involves over eating so we'll see how dinner plays out.
Today I'm making cranberry chutney for our after Thanksgiving dinner with the kids. Tomorrow I'll start thawing the 14 pound turkey. I'm horrified at how much people are paying for fresh turkeys around here.
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We're having to go on a spelunking expedition into the storage unit to go find some more tableware for Thanksgiving. We have lots of fancy and "semi-fancy" tableware, but only part of it is here at the house and it is not enough for eight….unless we do plastic or paper.
I picked up a 23 pound turkey (!) and, later today, I'll start the thawing process in a big ice chest that is both bear and "critter" proof. Probably Monday I'll start baking the pumpkin for the pie.
I will be, very much, missing the 2nd kitchen range-oven…..
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Unfortunately See's has closed all the Houston stores too and apparently will not even have a pop-up location this year. I know Special will chime in about the See's since she was a California Girl too.
Interesting Carole that we all remember things from our childhood that were special to our parents. I grew up with Sees for special occasions. But my parents grew up in a small town in Northern Utah and Mother never believed there was anything as good as Bluebird chocolates. And I have friends who still mourn Fannie Farmer chocolates.
It will be good to hear what all of you are cooking. Especially since I'm not cooking at all. I am going out with a friend who's husband died only 2 months ago. She wasn't up for cooking & invited me to join her. The prime rib is a special of Laurenzo's where we're going. Her oldest daughter & 22 year old grandson will be with us but the other daughter & partner are in CA.
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I googled See's candy yesterday and today it's in my Facebook feed. Apparently it's available at Belk's but I don't know what department that would be. I grew up with a candy maker in a nearby town that is still in operation. At Easter time we always had/have Elmer's goldbrick and heavenly hash eggs. In recent years they're available in dark chocolate.
I will probably make a batch of pralines to take to Indiana for Thanksgiving. I found the recipe yesterday. DH is making his roasted pecans. I love being a guest.
Last night's Hungry Root dinner was ginger sesame chicken. It got a thumbs up. Chicken breast fillets, broccoli, brown rice quinoa combo, and prepared sauce. I used more of the sauce than the instructions called for. DH still got out the soy sauce.
I was considering cancelling the Hungry Root but after skipping next week will continue for a while with two dinners a week.
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Today is a cooking day as it's a wonderfully dreary day (?) with clouds and very welcome rain.
Sharon is making fish tacos, and I am currently baking a pumpkin so I can make a practice (that's my excuse, anyway) pumpkin pie. :-)
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Fish tacos, yum!
I’m going to have a seared tuna steak, rice pilaf and broccoli. I’ll probably finish off a bottle of Reisling too, to make room in the fridge.
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YUM on the meals. Love coming here.
I'm making saag "paneer"
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When I lived in Seattle, we had See's in the malls and at the airport. Was never much of a fan, because during my Brooklyn chidhood, we had Barton's and Barricini's—both of which far outstripped the national brands and even made Passover assortments. (My fave, though—still is, but both scarce & verboten—Cella's Dark Chocolate Liquid Cherries). The only See's I like is their hard-taffy chocolate lollipops, but I haven't brought them home from Western or Southern vacations in decades. We have Russell Stover and Fannie May here—meh, IMHO. Spoiled by the pick 'em yourself assortments at Piron Belgian Chocolatier in Evanston, as well as the offerings at the branch of Teuscher in the 900 N. Mich. mall. Expensive, but that per se induces discipline. (Teuscher's loyalty program does let us accrue points, which we've yet to redeem).
Thursday night I made a major goof—when I bought the movie tickets for the 6pm show, I didn't realize I was doing so before midnight and ended up buying them for Friday the 17th (last night). Took the train down, met Bob (who parked in the nearby pricy garage) and found out my mistake when I presented my phone with the e-ticket to scan. D'oh! The only Thurs. night show was 9pm, way too late for Bob to get up on time for his Fri. 9-5 shift. We had to be escorted down the freight elevator because the passenger elevator AND the down escalator were broken. (Mind you, this was not some neighborhood theater, but a 10-screen multiplex in upscale touristy River North/Streeterville). So we decided to eat at the new casino across the street—first-timers who joined the loyalty program get same-night free parking. The Trib's reviews of the restaurants sounded wonderful…but they turned out to be just along the perimeter, open & surrounded by the game tables & slots. We chose the Chinese "888 Kitchen" because of the review's mouthwatering menu descriptions—but the ones they mentioned were not on the menu we were handed (turns out the Asian visitors get a "secret" menu with those dishes). Still, it was pretty good: potstickers, gai lan in oyster sauce, Mongolian beef and Singapore noodles with peppers, shrimp and roast pork. No wines—just beer, sake & soft drinks.
The free parking was a headache, as the pay-on-foot and exit ticket machines wouldn't scan the validation sticker, just the regular bar code. Turns out Bob had written the car's location on the ticket, and that's what the scanner read—demanding $57 for 1.5 hrs! We had to call the manager, who came down and unlocked the gate for us. When I got home, I went on SpotHero and got a pass for $20 (good for 5pm-3am).
So last night we tried again, seeing as how we now had the right tickets. Bob got off work at 4, so we drove down. The entry gate read the license plate and opened before I could even scan the pass' QR code. The movie was excellent (although the "3.5 hrs" did not include the 20 minutes of coming attractions); we were able to get through it nonstop. We didn't order food, as the offerings were greasy/starchy/overpriced bar or junk food, and mostly an entire day's worth of calories. Still had to take the freight elevator again. Post-pandemic infrastructure problems, sigh.
Instead we went to Steak 48. Started with their housemade sea salt & butter rolls. App was a pair of "small" stone crab claws—frustrating to eat because much of the meat stuck to the inner surface of the hard thick shells, which were only partly cracked in the kitchen (the lobster-cracker was useless and the seafood forks too thick to reach in and extract enough of the meat—almost requested a hammer). Next came a generous portion of braised pork belly in a Thai chili glaze over sauteed spinach. The 45-day dry-aged ribeye was generous and delicious, as were the giant sauteed asparagus with Parm-Reg. Brought home leftovers. Couldn't even contemplate dessert (other than the pair of choc. chip mini-cookies that came with the check).
So brunch today was leftover antipasto from Eataly, with the burrata supplemented by one of our last remaining homegrown tomatoes. Tonight we'll split the leftover steak & asparagus—with a first course of jumbo shrimp (on special at Whole Foods) for which I made a remoulade sauce. Bob is working through dinner tomorrow, so the Singapore noodles will be my dinner. Brunch will be scrambled eggs with pink peppercorn and white truffle.
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We had to take some time off to go into town, so the pumpkin was scooped out and put into a container to wait until we got back.
Frankie (dog) got to lick the mixing bowl that contained the pie filling, and he was most appreciative of that.
The pie is now cooling atop the stove. Sharon keeps saying how nice the house smells and Frankie is continually walking by the stove, sniffing the air as he walks by. :-)
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Forgot to mention that it took us 20 minutes to leave the parking garage last night: because it was a Friday night the casino was more crowded and more people apparently joined the Players' Club for the free parking…and had the same problem getting out as we did Thurs. night. They had two managers troubleshooting the gates all evening. But when we finally pulled up, the scanner read our license plate and the gate opened! Thank you, SpotHero!
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Pumpkin pie, fish tacos, Sees, and complimentary chocolate chip minis - oh my! A good food night here in the dinner lounge!
"Had to drink the Riesling to make room in the fridge..." 😆 😂 illimae!
I thought of you all when I, here on the southeast coast, saw the first physical Sees store i ever saw when out shopping. I restrained myself from going in this time but will plan a trip.
Friendsgiving in our new community was tonight. Lovely and delicious with lots of southern specialties. I stuck with a winner, basic green bean cassarole. I'm saving my energy for making pies for family Thanksgiving with my brother's family and friends on Thursday.
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We're hosting Thanksgiving dinner at the Palm, since my HK is in B'ham with her family and won't be back till Mon. the 27th; and quite frankly, I'm not up to getting the house shipshape for guests. Just getting through the 10 days w/o her, especially taking care of Heidi, will be enough.
Meanwhile, the Mirataz is kicking in and Heidi is eating normally for now. Hope we can stop the weight loss. Her thyroid is high again, so we've increased her methimazole dose to 2 full twists of the transdermal pen (2.5 mg BID). But her kidneys are okay, thank goodness.
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DH made beef stew for dinner last night and we both enjoyed the meal. Last night I made pralines in my dreams. I hope I don't have as much trouble today when I actually make them. LOL.
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Tonight was Cod cooked in a skillet but it was overdone unfortunately, still edible but not great. Sides were sautéed squash and leftover broccoli and rice pilaf with a hunk of the sourdough baguette a recently bought.
Not sure about tomorrow.
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The beef stew was good again last night. Side was a romaine salad.
Tonight we're treating my sister Michelle and her dh to early dinner at Pontchartrain Poboy to celebrate her birthday. Tomorrow morning we depart for Indiana, hoping to return safely on Saturday.
Hope everyone enjoys Thanksgiving holiday whatever the menu.
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Hi all! We have been busy here - when we closed on the downtown house we brought all of the furniture and staging items here and unloaded into one of our garage bays. We have been ferrying it over to the storage unit in our cars - many trips, but the storage place is right around the corner a couple of miles, so not far. We took the big pieces in the U-Haul directly there. We are down to the last few loads. I must now resist buying more things for the CO house, which hasn't even been built yet! Lol!
Ah yes, See's candy - my fave! It is as much a nostalgic thing as a delicious thing. When I was little there was a brick and mortar store (it is still there) in the strip mall where the grocery store was. If I shopped with my mom she bribed me with a piece of See's candy if I was well behaved. My choice is always a Bordeaux, but I also like any milk chocolate buttercream - plain or flavored. A few years ago I discovered California Brittle - almond brittle enrobed in milk chocolate, um…yes! It is addictive. There have been holiday pop-ups here in Tampa, just checked and it is in the same place as last year - yay!
DD's surgery is day after tomorrow. Because that is the day before Thanksgiving, we celebrated this past Saturday. As is my custom, I did cook too much, haha! A 16 lb turkey, additional turkey breast, a spiral ham, dressing, Yukon Gold mashed potatoes with skin on (DH's requirement), green bean casserole (DD's fave), sweet potatoes with brown sugar, pineapple, and pecans, rolls, and corn casserole (DD's other fave, lol!) made up the lineup. I made pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting (Sally's Baking Addiction recipe), an apple tart, and for the first time, a French silk pie. That turns out to be the fave of DD's beau - a happy accident. All I can say is OMG, where has this been all my life? A number of steps - glad I have two bowls for the Kitchenaid mixer - but nothing difficult and it is so good! The table settings convo is funny - I actually have Thanksgiving plates - I use them one day a year. How extra is that? DH grew up with Thanksgiving china, which his brother ended up with. He lamented that, so I got a set. I have Christmas china too - a formal set and an every day set. I have three other sets of china as well - one is my mom's mid-century Arzberg white, one is 8 place settings of my wedding china, then I got a partial set in a plain cream with silver rim with 8 dinner and salad plates to augment the wedding china so I can serve 16. Of course, I have not tried to feed 16 people in the same room since the pandemic… I do not have a good storage system for all of this and inevitably have to pull it all out of the cabinet looking for whatever it is I am needing. Maybe while DD is here recovering from surgery I will reassess and come up with a better storage plan…
Unsurprisingly, meals since Saturday have been turkey sandwiches and leftovers. I successfully sent a bunch of the food home with DD/beau/beau's momma - so, yay! I will freeze some of the ham and turkey for when my BFF comes for the second week of Dec. annual trip. We split the last piece of the pie last night - we had to eat it so it would be gone…haha! I think tonight will be the last of the leftovers, then I need to make something 180 degrees out, like spaghetti…I too laughed at illimae making room in the fridge by drinking the Reisling, my kind of logic!
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Hi gang,
Been busy with classes lately. Almost done with my current ones (yay)!
Anywho, dinner tonight was chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans0 -
Wow Special, that is a lot of food and it sounds delicious.
The nostalgic part of See’s for me was a box being brought home by my parents, it was rare and always a Christmas gift from work. I don’t know if they ever got bonuses but in my kid mind, a See’s box meant a good job/employer. I was first to get the molasses chips, leaving only 1 piece for anyone else who might want one.
DH is still “testing” the induction stove and new compatible cookware arrived today. Tonight’s test is fried chicken, potato wedges and corn.
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What cookware did you have before the induction stove?
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Sees - yes Mae & Special K, it was an event. My parents sometimes gave a box to special friends for Christmas and thank heavens some of them gave a box to my parents. And I can relate to "if you're good…..". $30.00 for a pound of candy still blows my mind - but then I'm old. When I completed college my first job at Bank of America paid $0.90 per hour.
Mae - hooray for a stove!!! Hope the test goes well. Did you ever eat at Laurenzo's on Washington? (Pappa Laurenzo was Mama Ninfa's husband). Going there for dinner Thursday.
Special - thanks for the update & the pictures. Yum for the French Silk Pie. I too had every day dishes, Sunday dinner dishes, Christmas dishes, etc. etc. When the pipes in my ceiling leaked a couple of years ago & I started sorting everything. One of my health care providers was really interested in the Lenox with the gold rim (which couldn't be put in the microwave or dishwasher). She uses it every day (obviously she doesn't have little kids). Sent the Spode Christmas pieces to nieces & nephews. It's all gone except the every day china from Portugal. I couldn't bear to part with the Waterford goblets since my favorite Grandfather gave them to me. I have a few other bits & pieces. 6 Limoges dessert plates from another Grandma's trousseau at the turn of the last century. I even gave away or sold 95% of the silver serving pieces. Just kept the silverware - which I haven't had out in more than 10 years.
How about fancy paper plates with sterling flatware?
Carole - love the thought of the beef stew smell permeating the house (as Jackie said in another thread). How did the pralines turn out? I like the chewy kind. Safe travels to Indiana.
I too love the thought of being forced to drink the Riesling to make room in the fridge. Tonight is a big salad with everything but the kitchen sink. I made deviled eggs so that will be tomorrow's treat with who knows what else.
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Last night was a DH requested meal - his belated birthday dinner consisting of a filet (my least favorite cut of beef) with a baked potato and some sill ripened formerly green tomatoes given to me by a friend, dressed with a little olive oil and balsamic. He loved it. He's so easy lol.
Tonight was a Costco frozen lasagna, which is actually quite good but rather large for two people . But we'll get a couple of meals out of it It's one of the few leftovers DH will eat.
Tomorrow I get the second set of deadening shots in my back before I can have the ablation. I plan to take advantage of it and clean my house before it wears off .
I discovered that there is a seasonal pop up See's not far from me at a local outlet mall. I'll no doubt be near there before Christmas so I may stop by there for old times sake after all this talk about it I don't think I've had a molasses puff for 40 years.
I'm planning a trip to "The Hill" next week to stock up on Christmas cookies and other Italian goodies for the holiday. I'll freeze the cookies and no doubt bring home some cannoli fresh from the bakery for dessert. Probably some fresh Italian bread too. Oh my.
Special, once again I'm exhausted just reading about your activities lol! The food sounds awesome.
Eric - I would need assistance putting that size bird into the oven!
Safe travels to Indiana Carole and to all of you who are traveling.
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Last night was leftover Singapore noodles, but I could barely finish them. Uh-oh….sore throat, coughing spasms, headache. No fever this morning, rapid-tested negative…but I don't trust negative home test results if I have symptoms. Figured even though my updated COVID shot was two months ago, anything can happen. And you can catch strep over and over again. So I went to get PCR-tested.
Nope—this time it's flu (one of the "A" strains not in this year's shot). By the time I got there, I had a low fever, but now it's major-league (over 101). They prescribed Tamiflu, but when I got to my neighborhood "third-world" CVS they were out of it. (Not the first time this has happened with a prescription there). Since the symptoms set in last night, I had to take it by today. Fortunately, there was a branch of CVS…right across the street from the Immediate Care clinic, and I was able to start it by 5pm.
Nothing to eat since last night, except for the corner of a matzo cracker I ate to have something in my stomach for the Tamiflu. Then about 12 oz. of bone broth. I have NO appetite, not even for "no-nos." I'm barely able to knock off a liter of water. Had no sleep last night, just napped and napped at home. Bob gave Heidi her thyroid medicine 90 min. too early (he claimed he can't stay up till midnight and didn't expect me to be able to do it). At least she's eating decently, though I may give her more Mirataz if she starts getting super-picky again.
Natch, no Thanksgiving for us—Bob expects that his exposure to me would lead him to catch it and endanger our guests. (Maybe if I have an appetite by Thurs. I'll order out for delivery). Union Health says that if he catches it, he should just mask up as long as he's in shape to work.
Off to bed now, after loading the dishwasher and taking my second Tamiflu. I may not be checkng in here for the next few days, given the circumstances. This would have to happen the week I have no help, of course.
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Eric, we had your basic Walmart set, I like them mostly because they’re a pretty light blue. The new ones have to be magnetic on the bottom, they’re black and speckled but nice too. One thing I already like about the stove is that you can put paper towels or newspaper on top between the heating area and the pot, DH is a messy cook. It’s weird that it doesn’t burn but understand it.
The chicken was ok, DH made a different batter, I don’t think he’ll do it again, we’ve had better.
Tonight will be red beans and rice. Temps only reaching mid 40’s today, so warm comfort foods are likely.
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Chi…Hopefully the Tamiflu works. Sometimes I wonder if viruses have an evil intelligence…plotting the worst possible time to strike…..
Illimae, I forgot that aluminum/glass/etc. stuff won't work on an induction stove. I've always used cast iron stuff, which works on any stove from campfires to the newest. They do get used on a glass top stove, but we (Sharon and I) are extremely careful to not scuff the stove top.
Special. I'm probably going to follow your tradition and cook too much. :-)
The new table cloth has arrived at the post office, so we're going to go get it and then start setting the table. It's been a VERY long time since we've had a "invite people over for a fancy meal" event. The table was my parents' and they had several table cloths for it—one for no extension leaf, one for a single extension leaf, and one for two extension leaves. We're using all three table leaves, which makes a 9 foot long table, and we had to get yet another table cloth.
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eric - 23 lbs of turkey - wow! It has been many years since I have cooked one that big. I think I did a large one like that in this house - when I had a crowd coming for dinner - and it took up the whole oven. I have a ridiculous oven since it is in cabinetry and only a 27" wide built in. Since I got the new Kitchenaid I think the inside is bigger, a 17 lb turkey fit with room leftover underneath it. I laughed at the tablecloth saga - I have an oval table, with a leaf, a rectangular table with two small leaves that go on either side, and a round table with a large leaf that becomes an oval with the leaf in. I feel like I have a thousand different tablecloths - they are all hanging in a spare room closet. I just donated a bunch of them - I decided if I haven't used them in the last 6 or 7 years I don't need them. I kept the sentimental ones that belonged to my mom, and some I got overseas. I had a lot of long rectangular ones from catering that I just didn't need anymore.
illimae - yes, I definitely cooked too much food - that is my tradition, lol! I even left a few things out this year in an effort to have fewer leftovers. No cornbread and sausage dressing and no Brussels with bacon and onion. Also, makes the casserole dish ballet in the oven a little easier.
chisandy - oh no on the flu! Hope the Tamiflu does the trick and that you're feeling better asap! Get some rest.
auntie - I am still tired - still no answer on my back pain - hoping yours is better after your coming treatment. My primary care called today to say I need a more specialized CT of the kidneys/bladder, and to refer me to the urologist. Don't know if this is disc pain combined with urinary system problems, or one or the other. I have less pain than I did in early Oct., but it is still there, and I can't stand for hours on end. Made the food prep a challenge, but I started early. Compounding that was the moving of the crap out of the sold house into the garage and storage unit. Definitely had to pace myself.
minus - I wouldn't part with the Waterford either! It is so beautiful and also sentimental too! I seem to remember one year my parents received a See's box that had drawers. It was tall, with maybe 3 or 4 pullout drawers full of chocolate - it was pretty exciting! My BFF often sent See's candy to my kids at Christmas and it came in an ornament. I have a "Children's Tree" with all their handmade ornaments, and ornament gifts they received when they were little, and I hang those on every year.
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All I can do is rest—barely enough energy to drink water, and have no appetite whatsoever. By last night my temp spiked to 102. Slightly better today, but….
We have no power to the garage after it rained overnight! Bob had to take 3 CTA trains to get to work and I can't even go back to urgent care unless I cab or Uber it. The handyman and electrician are coming over today to figure it out—the latter thinks that water got into the outside motion-sensor photoelectric light and shorted out the entire circuit. (No, resetting the breaker didn't work). Three years ago we spent an arm & a leg to run a new line out to the garage, digging a trench & all. Sigh.
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Saw the new Napoleon movie, was pretty good. Came home and made steak and hash browns
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Deviled eggs was it for the day. Didn't even pour a glass of wine. But I think at 9pm it's time for something like a Bailey's or Tia Maria.
I did manage to get my breast ULS report & disc. Since they wouldn't give it to me last week & wouldn't mail it, it was truly an ordeal. 40+ mile drive $15+ in tolls and $5.00 parking. UGH. On the positive side, everything looked good. No errant tissue and no indication of problems with the implants - which are now 12 years old Allergan 410s.
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Sandy, hope you feel better.
Love the "too much food tradition" which I have stopped doing now for several years. It is almost always just DH and I.
Froze pizza tonight and leftovers tomorrow. I'll thaw the sable fish (black cod) for t-day. Should be easy to eat for DH's oral issues.
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