So...whats for dinner?
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Enjoyed your blog, Michelle.
What a casino story, Debbie!
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Morning everyone!
Eric: Glad you are home safe and sound!
Debbie: Stolen pie? That reminds me of a story that happened in my real estate office..a top producer was being recruted by the competition and they sent her a half pie with the thought being "why would you only want half of the pie when you could have the whole pie here"...LOL! She put it in the fridge and someone in the office took it. She called the competitor back and said "someone took my pie...I want another one and this time make it a WHOLE PIE"! Well, wouldn't you know the idiots ran over with a whole pie! Still, they weren't successful in recruiting her...LOL! I had forgotten that until I read your post!
Laurie: Glad you got over your sinus infection...those vitamins work wonders...now I need to follow my own advice as I somehow caught a cold this week...probably from my DGD at Thanksgiving:(
Michelle: So glad you had fun on your trip...now it's time to rest up and load up on your supplements to get rid of that infection! I have sensitive skin as well, and sometimes the creams are just too harsh for me if they contain any ingredients that exfoliate the top layer of skin. I do that daily just by using a washcloth to wipe off my cleansing cream. I never use soap...too drying.
The lamb recipes sound wonderful...I have learned to love lamb and I understand that it's probably one of the easiest red meats to digest. Don't know why.
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my husband wants tuna tonite.. i don't think so!
I'm making BLT's
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I worked (for Verizon) yesterday doing the mindless task of dealing with 4908 (I counted) emails. I did this at home. The government sent my boss an email "suggesting" that I be allowed to telecommute or take time off to avoid spreading "bad things" around the office. Most emails were about things I didn't care about, but there were a few that I'll deal with on Monday. At least now I won't be having to wade through all of *that* on Monday.
I think the email to my boss went out before it was decided to let us "bake" in our hotel rooms for a couple of days...I heard that someone on another team reported that his wife has the classic norovirus symptoms 2 days after washing his "polluted" uniforms. So, maybe the warnings aren't all hot air.
Today, I'm taking the day off from Verizon. But, I still need to fill out my per diem paperwork for the government. I have my notes and receipts, so it's only a 20 minute exercise. Since it is for about $1200, it will be a worthwhile thing for me to do. :-)
Sharon started a band new job on the Friday that I was put on alert and I left that Sunday, so she's been busy with both the new job and trying to keep the house going while short one hand. I'm going to surprise her and get all the weekend chores done today...unless I end up taking the dogs for a hike. They have managed, somehow, to pull down their doggie packs from the top shelf in the closet and have pulled them over to where I'm sitting right now. They are looking at me with high hopes. :-)
I noticed some shrimp in the freezer and couscous in the pantry. I'm thinking something easy..perhaps some couscous with a tiny bit of serrano pepper, bacon, garlic and the shirmp. I'll think some more about it as I'm scanning my recipts for the per diem paperwork...
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Kaara- That is a funny story about the pie! I guess when it comes to sweets people can't resist taking them? LOL!
Eric-That's a lot of e-mails!
Joyce- How are you doing? Havn't seen you here for awhile hope your feeling Ok!
There will be eight of us going to dinner tonight at the sea hag just love there clam chowder. EVeryone have a great weekend!
Michelle-Hope your feeling a little better today!
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Hi everyone! Busy day today running errands and trying to start my Christmas shopping. Tonights dinner is baked stuffed haddock and scallops with steamers as an appetizer- the kids begged for steamers at the store. Strange kids
I was looking at a recipe for slow cooker chicken and dumplings and it called for "all purpse baking mix". What the heck is that? Any ideas?
Tomorrow we are going to go get a Christmas tree and get the house decorated. It should be a fun and exhausting day. I am planning on doing pot roast in the crock pot so I won't have to cook dinner.
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Laurie - I think all purpose baking mix would be Bisquick.
I am feeling better and actually slept through the night without waking up in the middle of the night coughing or with a totally congested head. Still running a slight fever but it's not bothering me too much. DH is now sneezing and has a sore throat. I can see we won't get much done this weekend!
I went to the wig shop and returned the one from last week. The new one is more brunette and straighter. There were few choices - I guess not very many people have a small head...lol...I hope it's not indicative of the size of my brain
Anyways, I brought my really good wig and she trimmed it up a little for me, so it looks a lot better. I'll take a picture when I feel better - no makeup is definitely not a good look!0 -
Hi Laurie- It is bisquick. But Sandra lee has a subsitute for it on her web site. You could cut the recipe in half if it is too much for you. Substiute: 6 Cups of flour- 3 TbL of Baking Powder- 1 TbL salt- 3/4 cups of shortning. in processer combine the flour and baking P. and salt pluse for 15 seconds add shortning and pulse until similar to cornmeal. If you dont have a processer Sift flour And Baking Powder and salt then add in shortning with a fork or pasty blender Hope this helps.
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Big pot of chicken soup for me tonight...to help my cold!
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I had a new client meeting this morning in Danvers. Meeting was fine, blah blah. The best part? Their office was only 10 minutes from Karl's Sausage Kitchen, home of the best German sausages, a small cafe and European groceries. Guess what we had for dinner? Yes, you are right. We had sausages. Started with a Weisswurt with a pretzel and sweet Bavarian mustard, and then a smoked bratwurst with sauteed potatoes, a robust German mustard and sauerkraut. The smoked bratwurst was more smoked than any sausage I have ever eaten. It was a bit like shoe leather, but the flavor was tremendous. Neither one of us could eat much of that one so I will need to find a way to use it again.
While at Karl's I had some lunch in the little cafe. The whole place smelled like the split pea soup. I don't even like split pea soup but ordered a cup. It was soooooo good! Maybe I like split pea soup but just hate my mother's? Her's was like eating green kindergarten glue. Clearly I need a good split pea soup recipe!
*susan*
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I hope everyone feels better. A lot of people sick at work, I told them to stay away from me.
I enjoyed the pics on your blog Michelle.
Eric, that's a lot of emails, holy moly.
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Wow - I've got a lot of recipes and ideas to catch up on!
It just poured rain all day today, so no trip to the grocery store...had to use what was in the fridge.
I decided to duplicate a dish I had at Andrew Weil's "True Food Kitchen" restaurant in Newport Beach a few weeks ago.
I microwaved a spaghetti squash, let it cool, cut it in half and pulled out the strands. I sauteed an onion and some garlic, some sliced mushrooms (the original dish does not have mushrooms, but DH loves them), and the rest of the tomatoes from our garden.
Since I didn't have any shredded mozzarella, I found three sticks of string cheese and diced them up fine. I mixed everything together in a casserole dish, added a teensy bit of salt and pepper, and put it in the oven til it bubbled. It was YUMMY! And MUCH cheaper than the dish I got at the restaurant…
If I were back on carbs, I would have had garlic bread with this, but I’m not. (Still in the final stages of Optifast…have a pretty strict list of what I can and can’t eat.)
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Hi, Blessings. I've seen you on Wednesday Weighin. You've had tremendous success on the Optifast plan, which I had not heard about until you explained it. You sound like you know your way around the kitchen.
DH and I saw LINCOLN tonight with friends. It's a well-done film with some good acting. Afterwards we went out to eat at a casual restaurant. I had shrimp remoulade salad. I was hungry and enjoyed the food but I could have done a better job. The shrimp were fried. I would have sauteed them in butter and olive oil. The remoulade dressing didn't taste like remoulade dressing. But the company was good and I enjoyed my glass of chardonnay.
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Hi, carolehalston!
I feel kind of funny back in the kitchen. For months, all my meals came out of a package!!!
Now I'm down to three products a day.I heard that "Lincoln" was really good....
About the restaurant food....ya gotta have a life! Your salad sounds absolutely delicious, and if you enjoyed it, and the company, then it was totally worth it. We all deserve treats on occasion.
Our Optifast program instructor does her best to teach us to make good choices. We're learning a lot, and putting it into practice, so it will come naturally. Me, I'm a mindless eater. I can shovel in a whole bag of chips and an hour later, ask where they are.
I've learned to slow down and actually savor the food I eat. I'm looking forward to the time when I'm not so limited on choices.
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Blessings, before I hopped back on the WW train, I would have ordered something besides a salad last night. DH had a deluxe burger with sweet potato fries. His plate looked yummy. He's 40 lbs overweight and has 3 stents, but that was his choice. My weight gain over the past 3 yrs. since bc is a combination of two things, actually three things: arimidex, age and attitude after bc of "seize the day." Or "be good to me." As we all know, having bc brings you face to face with mortality in a way that can lead to weight gain! Why not eat that brownie? You're not going to live forever. Etc. Etc. I'm not embracing an attitude of deprivation. I'm working on a lifestyle that combines enjoying food and not packing on fatty tissue.
I'm also thrifty and I have a closet full of nice clothes I couldn't fit into. It feels good to get back into those clothes and lose the stomach bulge!
As for dinner tonight, it will be lamb. I have beautiful lamb chops in the freezer and also ground lamb. Lamb is not popular in the south so when I see good selections in the supermarket, I buy them. If I opt for the ground lamb, I'll probably make stuffed cabbage because I have some napa cabbage in the refrigerator with leaves that would be perfect for stuffing.
A beautiful Saturday here.
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Either this thread is busy or very slow. Where is everyone?
Last night a group of us went to dinner- Then tonight we all went to the Aquariam where they had a christmas tree lighting, carolers singing, got to see Santa and sat in his lap (fun) A few of us even did face painting we had a great time. It was pouring rain and very windy but had fun anyway. then we all ate chinesse later at a place we had never been before, the food was pretty good.
Hope everyone is doing good and feeling better!
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Debbie - sounds like you had a fabulous time at the tree lighting! I think I am going to do a picture on Santa's lap this year. It will make my DH and kids smile!
Carole - my DH is about 40 pounds overweight, too. Most of the time he eats whatever makes him happy. He just went for his annual physical a few weeks ago and he's perfectly healthy. He did Atkins a few years ago and lost 60 pounds then added the carbs back in and gained 40 back. I don't nag him anymore - it's like beating a dead horse...lol
I'm feeling quite a bit better this morning. I'm still a little congested but nothing like earlier last week. We're meeting friends for dinner tonight after the Patriots game at an Italian restaurant in Woburn (Polcari's for you local gals).
Ewww...just seeing a news article on our local ABC affiliate about how insects are making their way into our restaurants - 60% less fat and lots more protein. Could solve world hunger. The report was by Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN. Ick. Can't go there.
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Ick on insects on the menu.
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Hoping everyone it's feeling chipper today! I need some suggestions. Each year my husband's family plans a Christmas party with food from a different country. Last year it was Greek/Mediterranean and it was wonderful. This year is German. I volunteered for a meat dish. I originally was going to do rouladen, but decided that would be too labor intensive for 20+ people. I then decided on sauerbraten, thinking I could even cook it in the crockpot, but now I'm thinking that might be too much of an "exotic" taste for many. Even though they're of German stock, they are pretty unadventurous eaters. I made a version as a trial last night. It was good but still might be a bit sour for their tastes. Someone else is already making sauerkraut and some kind of sausage or that would be the obvious solution.
Anybody have any suggestions or recipes to share?0 -
Last night's dinner was a cannellini bean and sausage soup. When I cooked the beans using a Jacques Pepin recipe, I was surprised by how little flavor there was, so I pumped up the flavor of the chicken stock [homemade] to compensate. The results were very good, which is good since there is enough for one more meal leftover.
Auntie, German food that doesn't need to be cooked a la minute is a challenge. But a challenge that intriques me. My first thought was a veal roast, but Dr. Google found this: http://recipesbycindy.homestead.com/RoastPork.html. Something like this would be very tasty and not too much effort for the number of people that you plan to serve. Served with some spaetzle and I would be a happy diner! And the best part? Pork loin is very affordable. I don't own any German cookbooks so that is as much as I can do.
*susan*
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Nancy - I looked at a couple recipes for sauerbraten and my suggestion would be to cut the vinegar in half. It would probably solve the "too sour" problem without giving up all the attributes of the dish.
Joyce - enjoy the steak dinner tonight!
Susan - good call on adjusting the seasoning of the stock. It's odd how often reviews of chefs' recipes include how people need to "pump up" the flavor!
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LuvRVing... the thing is, I have had great success with all Jacques Pepin recipes. I have to assume that his mother [a headnote attributes this preparation to her] liked somewhat bland beans! The lesson is to taste taste taste as you "make it up."
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And just how do you pump up the stock flavor? Are we talking more salt?
DH's cataract procedure went well on Friday and he immediately became delirious about the possibility that he might be able to spend the rest of his life without glasses....after 57 years with them........but not so fast!!! He learned yesterday that his problem of binocular disparity may well require him to still wear glasses with a prism to correct that. So we (I don't have a choice since I live here;) are totally focused on this issue....24/7.....or so far, 24/2 ! I guess it is really easy to become obsessed with changes @one's vision, but I hope he can make peace with still needing these prism glasses. I am just happy that his vision will be much better than it has been in all the time I've known him......and no more coke bottles! And maybe he will be able to find requested items around the house (or is that a gene problem?;) It must really be frustrating tho to have binocular disparity. To be continued in our house......
Last night we ordered in from a popular Italian restaurant in our town, Sweet Basil. Got fried calamari and lamb shank with polenta and vegetables ( so delicious!). Because they forgot to include the spicy aioli with the calamari, requiring us to return for it (this seems to happen to us a lot at this very busy place !) we were gifted with a pint of their spicy tomato sauce (which I prefer with calamari:) and another pint of their pesto sauce! That was definitely worth the drive up the street!
Maybe I'll get some shrimp to make pesto shrimp over linguini.
Michelle, we saw the Salem Polcari's when there and I was surprised to see one out of the North End...and they have more? Have a great meal!
I'm just starting to think about the holidays while you are all actually getting trees up(am always slow about this but have no work related excuses this year).
DS1, DDIL and our tornadic almost two year old DGS and new baby girl are coming to visit for a few days right before Christmas. So I am thinking about how to have easy meals, but would also like to have a "meet the baby" sort of open house that Sunday, for neighbors and friends and need to get some food planned for that. Would live to hear any ideas for easy (maybe freezable) finger food for that event. Hope I'm not biting off more than I can chew with these plans with my not so great energy. We'll see....
At least holiday shopping is being done on line....definitely easier!
Go Pats!0 -
RE: Pumping up the chicken stock. I took 2 quarts of homemade salt-free chicken stock and reduced to 1 quart. The chicken stock I used last night is just chicken and water so a blank canvass. In a separate pan, I sauteed some shallots in olive oil and then added two tablespoons of tomato paste which cooked for 10 minutes. [This is an Italian trick I picked up and what a difference it makes!] I added salt to the shallots and then again to the tomato paste. Then the stock was added and some of the bean liquid. At this point, I salted to taste. I didn't add any herbs since the beans had lots of them. Simmered this for 20 minutes and then salted to taste. Added the cooked beans and the smoked sausage. Let simmer for 10 minutes, and then tasted. The addition of the unsalted beans meant the soup needed just a pinch more salt. Husband added tons of pepper at the table, as he always does.
Freeze ahead nibbles is always a challenge, but consider mini-quiche, cheese gougeres, spanikopita, and/or meatballs. Several days ahead to keep in the fridge, herbed goat cheese salmon pinrolls, a sauce for the meatballs, roasted vegetable terrine, or if you are very ambitious, paté, dips for raw veggies, deviled eggs [keep the filling and the white separate until that morning though], a strata or frittata. In the pantry, roasted nuts. I often do several varieties since several people at my gatherings don't care for spicy. I think you can keep boiled shrimp in the fridge for a day all set out on a platter, and then make a nice aioli or cocktail dipping sauce. Phew! Now I have some ideas for my Christmas gatherings!
We too have a Sweet Basil nearby, but it is a Thai restaurant!
*susan*
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Thanks so much for those ideas, Susan! I was planning on the mini quiche and the meatballs, but spanikopita is a good idea, and shrimp is always a crowd favorite. I no longer make pates due to everyone's health concerns, and certainly do not want consumable leftovers in our house or DH would be slathering it on bread for his lunch!
Glad you can use this sharing exercise for your own gatherings!
Yes, I know about Thai Sweet Basil...I think there is one in Brookline also.0 -
Would someone please send me some lamb shanks??! They are impossible to find around here and I'm dying for Julia's lamb shanks and beans. All you lamb cooks are making me jealous!
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Lacey, this is a wonderful appetizer that you can make well ahead and freeze and bake at the last minute. I always have some made up in my freezer.
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/prosciutto-fontina-pinwheels
Michelle, I thought of reducing the vinegar. Actually, I made a modified version using buttermilk and lemon juice. DH loved it, but he loves German food so would be the least likely to object to anything. Susan, the pork recipe looks like an excellent option. I'll check to make sure no one else is bringing pork and if not, that may be the ticket. Thanks guys!0 -
auntienance - We have big potlucks in my quilting class several times a year.
The instructor always brings sausages that her husband barbecues, then cuts into bite-size pieces. There's usually a variety of different kinds, but because they are German, there's always German sausage.
That's one of the first dishes to be cleaned out - they're so yummy!
Anyway, if you have access to a BBQ, that's just a different way of doing sausage. You can even BBQ them one day, then the next day just cover the pan with foil and heat them in the oven for the party.
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That meal from the Italian Sweet Basil sounds scrumptious. Also Susan's sausage and white beans.
Auntie, do you have a Fresh Market in your area? Ours always has lamb shanks. Your husband's family sound pretty adventurous in their holiday meal planning.
Two delicious party foods that can be made in advance are shrimp mold and crab mold served with crackers or toasted garlicky baguette slices, which are available in our supermarkets. I always make a shrimp mold for Christmas and it's supposed to be made no earlier than the day before. I have also made artichoke balls that freeze well. You put them on a pan and heat them at the time of the party. I have recipes for all of the above.
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Carole, sadly we don't. I wish we did.
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