So...whats for dinner?
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Debbie Take the 7 days and regroup...you have had a rough road and deserve a break, your DH also. Hopefully the family will keep you up to date if you are needed back home.
Again we are getting socked in with more snow, got to the grocery store early before it started though. The mailman left me a note saying I need to shovel out around the box, but everytime I do the snowplow makes another huge drift OYE! It hurts my arm to shovel...but hey maybe its good therapy for it.
Decided on a spinach salad for dinner, not feeling like leftovers.
Oh Michelle that is a long day! Must be making up appointments from the Holidays. Hoping for minimal side effects.
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Carole, hope you're feeling better soon. Michelle, sorry you had a long day. Hopefully it will even out with very small SE's.
I love hearing about the different traditions. My mother always said it was a German tradition to have pork and sauerkraut for New Years. My GF used to cook it for midnight and serve it to whoever wanted to stop by. There is a big parade in Philly called the Mummers parade on New Years and I think a lot of the people are up straight thru from New Year's Eve. Up until the very late 60's only white males could be in the parade. That is the only thing I know of that was segregated by some kind of rule around here. I was born in 63 so don't have a lot of memories of the 60's.
So the New Year's Eve dinner was interesting. I didn't like everything, but I did like most. Some of the unusual items were little mini cupcakes with green tea and pear frosting and roasted garlic on top; carrot and saffron soup with veal; raw oysters with cavier; escargot; duck served on top of a Parmesan sponge cake; creamsicle sorbet topped with shallots; vanilla bean milk shake with olive oil and goat cheese; chocolate cake topped with mint ginger ice cream with caramel and sea salt. I didn't have all of that, some of it was DH's and I just tasted it. Found out I am not a fan of oysters or escargot, I enjoyed everything else.
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, peaceful New Year!0 -
Oh and Debbie, I think it!'s a good idea to get away with your DH. I hope you're both able and relax and enjoy. You can use the break I am sure. Your whole family is in my thoughts and prayers. (((Hugs)))
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Curveball, have not heard about a coin in a pot. Or under a plate. And, yes, Michelle, the pink plastic baby is in the King Cake. Originally a bean was placed in the King Cake. If you get a slice of cake with the baby, you're supposed to buy or bring the next King Cake. Because of liability issues, the King Cake bakers have stopped putting the little pink plastic baby inside the cake. It's usually there in the box for the buyer to hide inside the cake.
The original King Cakes were like coffee cake or Danish, with cinnamon flavoring. But the filled King Cakes have become very popular and they are delicious. Different fillings are piped into the fresh-baked cake, cream cheese, raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, Bavarian cream, etc. I like the combination cream cheese and strawberry.
Have fun in Hawaii, Debbie.
Sounds like a miserable day, Michelle.
Am so thankful to feel a little better today. Ventured out to Target and Winn-Dixie.
Dinner will be warmed-up leftovers. Also more cabbage but cooked with pancetta instead of bacon. Maybe the stockmarket will make another jump upward tomorrow!
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My MIL always makes pork and sauerkraut for New Years - she grew up in Lancaster, PA - Pennsylvania Dutch area. I am not a sauerkraut fan so don't do it. Tonight we had turkey kielbasa with peppers and onions and a little BBQ sauce, creamed spinach and yellow rice. I had spinach and kielbasa, no BBQ sauce or rice. Since I can't exercise until mid-Feb. I have to watch what I am eating!
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The king cakes I have made at home are coffee cake like, but you are right Carole, there are some delicious ones to be found in bakeries. I had a really wonderful one in Galveston last year that had a raspberry cream filling. Oh my!
I came across a really interesting recipe for cabbage cooked in the oven with bacon and some other things, wrapped in foil. If I can remember where I saw it, I'm going to give it a try.
Debbie, I understand your hesitation. I worry about my dad every time we leave for more than a day or two. But a week is short, so do try to enjoy. You deserve it.
Michelle, ugh on the chemo mess. That happened to me one time until they finally came and hooked me up right in the waiting room. I didn't care, as long as the stuff was flowing.
Kay, that sounds like a really interesting menu but kind of hard to figure which one is dessert!
My brisket is smelling really good. Has anyone heard from Susan?0 -
Kay - those plates sound like something I'd expect if I were eating an Iron Chef meal. Not sure how I'd like sorbet with shallots
Debbie - did you see the link to the chicken soup recipe at the bottom of my post? Carrabba's makes it with a bit of heat and it's just fabulous when you have a bad cold. Yeah, say it fast and your tongue will be twisted...lol. I can't tell you how many times I sent DH out for curbside pickup of that soup when we lived in MO. There was one ten minutes from our house and the soup was almost always on the menu. If you make it, be sure to cook some pasta separately and keep it in the fridge then add it after you've reheated the soup to eat it. That way the pasta doesn't get mushy.
Carole and Nancy - not miserable but a time waster, for sure. DH always comes with me and he can't really work while we're there, so it's more about his time than mine. Luckily, a lot of his co-workers are still on vacation so he didn't have to do too much when we got home. And he finally got that flu shot!
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Debbie enjoy your vacation! And send us pics!
Eric, happy for the good news!
I hope you had a better day Michelle!
It's been very cold lately. The kitties are very loving and snuggly lately. Bless their dark self serving souls
For dinner, oh, I don't know, nothing to eat.
Oh!!! yes there is! Frozen mussles in red sauce, and I have pasta that I can make both in the microwave! Yay!
As far as New Years traditions, the first person to cross your doorstep will bring you good luck if it's a man.
It was, though he is my landlord and was coming to pick up his dog that I was sitting at 11:30. Close enough!
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Bedo- LMAO! I love the man tradition! If he is single and handsome I say go for it! haha! And Thank you!
Michelle- Ohh that soup sounds good, Don't know how I missed that link. So you actually mash the veggies while still in the pot? Is it like a mashed potatoe/veggie dish with liquid?
Nancy- Yum on the brisket been awhile since I made one I will have to buy one next trip to the store!
SpecialK- I don't eat saurcraut to often but do like it with cabbage, and pork and once in awhile I like rueben sandwichs too. I hear ya on the dieting I wish Dh would of told me we were going to Hawaii for sure about 2 months ago I would of went on a Diet Thank-god for cover ups! ha!
Thanks Carole!
Carrie- I saw on the news how much snow you are getting back there. Be safe driving out in it.
Kay- Wow what a menu! I think the mini cupcakes with the pear and green tea frosting sounds so interresting I would of loved to try it jsut for fun. I've had garlic and bacon icecream that i wasn't real thrilled about but would try it again if it was in front of me.
Laurie- Are resting? I hope you are after such a busy holiday!
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Debbie - there is a gallon and a half of liquid so those two potatoes are barely noticeable. Yes, I do mash the veggies in the bottom of the pot. And I will use a big can of tomato puree instead of the smaller can of whole tomatoes - I want that broth to be "tomato-y". It's very typical "broth" soup with chicken and the pasta sprinkled over the top. In the past, I've not used pasta and added cannelini beans.
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Michelle, do you use a hen as the recipe calls for?
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Carole - I bought a 5 pound grocery store chicken. I'm assuming it's a hen and not a rooster...lol. Ok...I looked and it's a 5 pound fresh young chicken. Gender-neutral...hehehe.
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This thread has been hilarious, between plastic babies banned from cakes to dessert-like entrees, to gender neutral fowl for soup!
Glad you are heading to Hawaii, Debbie. It will soothe body and soul for you both.
Michelle, yay for the flu shot!
I bought a bunch of broccoli rabe a few days ago, and was worried about it going bad before I cooked it. I had a yen (my Italian friend calls it a "woolly") for an interesting lasagne tonight, so after researching and learning that there were no internet recipes (until page three) that included a red sauce lasagne that included broccoli rabe, I made up my own and we both totally enjoyed it. Now I have to write it down so I can recall what I did for the next time!
Kay, my mother, who was from Philly, always believed in the pork and sauerkraut New Years Day meal....no babies or coins as I recall.....0 -
Michelle- Oh that makes sense now I was confused when I first read it but didn't realize it was only 2 potatoes. LOL on the gender, who knew! lol!
Thanks Lacey! YUMM on the lasagna with broccoli rabe never tried it before like that. Would also love the recipe when you get it all written down. LOL at the Woolley! I know what my DH being hard of hearing would think I said if I said I was getting a woolley for something. LOL! Opps my bad!
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Enjoy your trip, Debbie! And yes, post some pictures! I love Hawaii pictures!
And enjoy some good food!
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Thanks LeeA! I know I def will eat good lol! Im not a real big Hamburger type person but they have the best green chili and jack cheese burger at the Yard house can't wait to have one! And I will def take lots of puctures!
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Debbie, I love green chili and jack cheeseburgers (I haven't had one in well over a year but a once-in-awhile splurge seems in order)! One of the best ones I've had was at a fast-food type restaurant on Oahu.
I just looked online - there's a Yard House in Pasadena (close to where we live). We may have to check it out at some point. Thanks for the tip!
Editing to add: If you have Islands restaurant chain in your area, they also have a great jalapeno cheeeseburger with skinny onion straws on top.
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When we were in Hawaii in October, we discovered LocoMoco, a local favorite - a bed of rice, a burger patty, a fried egg covered with gravy. Pretty darn tasty, I must say. We did skip the Spam menu items...lol
Debbie - which island are you visiting? Does your sister live on Oahu?
I'm awake way too early this morning. Had to go to the bathroom at 4 and couldn't go back to sleep...steroid curse. Oh well, I can take a little nap later if I get tired. Otherwise, I'll enjoy a little energy boost. Not sure how things got a bit out of control in the last two days...clutter is not good in this tiny place!
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Lee- lucky that you have a yard house near by the place is great we don't have any chains in our small coastal town the other business won't allow them in.
Michell- I hope you were able to go back to sleep I hate how the steroids effect me I have to take a sleeping pill to sleep. Had to laugh at the locomoco it dh favorite dish he loves spam (yuk) ha we are staying at the Sheraton waikii on Oahu sister lives near by in Hawaii Kai.
I woke up early to only because our heater went out again And I'm freezing dh called the hater man he should be out soon. Brrr0 -
Debbie - I am so glad you get to go to Hawaii. And I know a plane ride back to see your Dad is not far, right? You are on the west coast, right?
Hawaii Kai??? I lived on Kalanianaole Hwy and went to Aina Haina Elementary in 1961-1963. I remember Hawaii Kai as beautiful. I went to Camp Fire Camp at Hanauma Bay and we swam there often.
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OK, this is a casually (wandering) written recipe at best, Debbie. I'm just throwing together what I did, since you could probably enjoy a nice hot lasagna this week after being without heat this AM! Here, it is so cold that even with the heat working there is a chill in the indoor air!
Lasagna with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe (with red sauce)
4 links of sausage ( I used turkey Italian, but any of your favorite will do)cut into small rounds....while cooking since it is easier to do then.You could also just use ground sausage if you prefer.
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bunch of broccoli rabe, washed and cut roughly into 1 inch pieces
2 minced cloves garlic
Cook the sausage until almost done, and add the onion for the last ten minutes or so until it is translucent.
Remove that mixture from pan and add the cut up broccoli rabe to pan with a bit of water and cook until wilted (I add a bit of sugar to it, while cooking). Add two cloves of minced garlic to the rabe as it finishes sauteeing.
While that's cooking, mix the ingredients below in a bowl:
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 Tablespoon honey
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Have ready....
- this ricotta mixture
- a separate cup or more of mozzarella cheese
- more parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top (1/4 cup?)
Also have ready....these combined liquids:
1 can diced tomatoes (undrained 15 oz should be fine for one lasagna)
1/2 small can of tomato paste and enough water to make it liquid enough for the uncooked lasagna noodles to absorb it. Probably would be fine for it to be thicker if you use cooked lasagna noodles. I find that the dry ones are so easy, but use a thinner sauce!
1 Tablespoon oregano
1 Tablespoon sweet basil (diced fresh basil would be even nicer)
- salt and pepper to taste
- I also add crushed red pepper for some extra bite
Assemble the lasagna by putting some sauce on bottom of lasagna casserole, then the noodles, then the ricotta cheese mixture, then more noodles, then the mix of sausage/onions/b. rabe with some mozzarella and a bit if sauce over that, then repeat with noodles, etc., as the depth of your casserole will allow ending with noodles topped with sauce and mozzarella and some parmesan. I usually cover it with foil until the last 15 minutes of baking, so the parm doesn't burn. Bake covered at 375 degrees for 30 -35 minutes or however long it seems to need to have the noodles cooked and the whole thing plumped up. Then uncover to let the top cheese brown nicely for the last 15 minutes. I let it rest on the counter about five minutes before cutting into it.
I hope is clear. I am awful at reconstructing recipes I concoct. This one was important to me because I really wanted to make a broccoli rabe lasagna with red sauce instead of bechamel sauce which I kept finding on the web. If you decide to make it, enjoy!0 -
Luvmygoats- Yes Im on the West Coast, Lincoln City, Oregon, Its not Hawaii but second best ;-)) I love hanauma bay it is so beautiful and great snorking. Me and DH lived in Hawaii for over 10 years, infact that's where we met right at the sand bar At the Sheraton Waikii. I had got a divorce and moved to Hawaii to live with my sister she works at the SW so I went and sat at the sand bar and was having a couple of drinks when a good looking guy walked over to me and started up a conversation at the time I used to smoke and pulled out a ciggerette the guy started to light my ciggerette when another good looking guy stepped in front of him and lit my ciggerette and asked if he could sit down I said sure, The first guy said what an asshole and walked away. LOL! Needless to say the second guy was Chuck my DH. Since we moved from there we go every year in Janurary.
I would love to hear how everyone else met there DH! And Eric too how did you meet Sharon?
Lacey- Thanks for the recipe That sounds so delicious. We did get our heater fixed again. This time it was the thermastat. But like you said there is still a chill and this will be a great winter meal.
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Disappointing dental apptment today. The crowns for the two implants didn't work. So I'm still chewing on the left side only. Back to the lab with the crowns and I go back to the dentist next week. He didn't curse, but I think he wanted to!
Dinner tonight is Meyer Lemon Chicken from the latest Cooking Light. I should say "modified" because I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I happen to have Meyer lemons because one neighbor has a tree. I planted my own tree this winter but it may take a couple or three years to start producing. There are tiny potatoes in the dish. I'll also make a coleslaw for a sidedish.
Michelle, lol at your response about the chicken. I wasn't asking about gender. There are baking hens (older birds) and fryers (young birds). The recipe called for an older bird which makes a better broth but the meat is tougher. A big fryer is usually about 3 lbs.
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Debbie: have a wonderful time in Hawaii - so deserved.
I have missed responding so many times I am not even going to try - I do read all your posts though and love the recipes. I am returning to work on Monday and attempting to get back into some routine. Only a gradual return for the month of January, so that is good. Am looking forward to having normalcy back in my life.
Lacey - I have just printed off your lasagne recipe and looking forward to try it out.
DH & I worked together and were really good friends for 4 years before we got together....22 years ago. And we really were just friends !!
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I had a college friend who was always going to hook me up with some "great guy" he had just met. After a couple of weeks it would be "He's not good enough for you." That last time a month went by and I asked what happened to the guy and he said he's been working overtime. A couple of weeks later he shows up at my door when I get home late from a dinner party and slide show, with Dick in tow. Nineteen days later we were engaged and five months later - 8/6/66 - we got married. On our first date he introduced me to my first taste of Chinese food. We hadn't even been seated when he took me into the kitchen, introduced me to the owners and asked what was for dinner---said fine and that was what we ate! It was nothing from the menu but I loved it. I already suspected I was in love with him.
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My husband and I met in a bowling alley in upstate NY - 8 lanes and a big bar.
Carole, so I didn't really know that distinction about fryer/hen. Learn something new here every day
I got a message from Susan. She's still recuperating from her illness, her docs are not much help, but she thinks she's on the mend and should be back posting soon. She said she hasn't felt like cooking. I know we all miss her and hope she's back soon.
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Sweet stories.....
So annoyed that I just lost my whole walk down memory lane about meeting my DH. We met through a mutual classmate from his grad school. We both lived in Beantown and I went to this friend's birthday party one Friday evening. His girlfriend was a total control freak and a great cook, and she would not let anyone start eating her meal until the last two guests appeared (one being my future DH!). She made her bf call my future DH to find out why he was yet to arrive and learned that he had been busy sailing on the Charles with another classmate who had come in from out of town, and that they would be over soon (he had totally forgotten about or blown off this party....fortunately not one of his lasting character traits!). So he arrived with his pork chop sideburns and great sense of humor and we connected right away. I was heading to the beach with friends early the next AM so declined his invite to go out after the party, but he called two days later and we were inseparable, marrying fourteen months later in a rather counter- culture wedding in Harvard Square. That was all 40 years ago. Meeting on a Hawaiian beach has a bit more allure to it, but this worked nicely for us.
Sadly, the gal holding the party for her BF (my dh's classmate) was jilted in a Dear Joan "letter!" a few months later....after dating the guy for seven years. I still feel appreciative to her that she didn't let anyone eat until my future DH arrived.
I do hope the lasagne works for whoever tries it....I am so inexact! And yo have to really enjoy the bitterness of the broccoli rabe.0 -
Has anyone noticed how hard it is to find small chickens anymore? I don't often fry chicken, but when I do I prefer them small. (did that just sound like the Most Interesting Man in the World?) All the chickens in my area stores seem to be on steroids.
I met my DH on the job. Soon after we started dating, I baked him an apple pie for his birthday and he was hooked lol! Thirty two years and counting . . .
Feel better Susan, we miss you!0 -
Nancy - I agree that there are no small chickens. And ShakeNBake just doesn't cover a whole chicken anymore. And yet - those deli chickens are not behemoths. I once encountered some execs from I think it was Tyson years ago and asked the same question. The answer it was pretty much as cheap to raise a 3-4 pounder as a 2 1/2 pounder. Now my math is a little fuzzy, what about the cost of that extra feed?? I didn't get to cook your crescent roll breakfast for Christmas. Hoping to do it this weekend.
DH and I were introduced by my downstairs neighbor who worked with him. Had just broken up with BF from college and was distraught. The night I was designated to meet him he sat in the corner at a party with almost nary a word. Turns out he was sick. We had seen each other in passing as I used to walk my chihuahua when he double dated the roommate of the now wife downstairs. That was 38 years ago. 37th anniversary in March.
Michelle - I only ever cooked one hen in my life and it was tough! What I would like to cook is a capon. I hear they are tasty but then again don't think they're real popular in Texas.
Susan - Glad to hear you are on the mend. Miss you. Miss Apple too.
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susan - I hope you feel like cooking and posting soon!
I have made lasagna similar to lacey's broccoli rabe one using spinach and either a white bechamel, or a marinara - sometimes with meat, sometimes not.
I was the proverbial "girl next door" to my DH. He was already in the Air Force and doing some short-term training at a base in Sacramento, this was 1983. Apparently, our apartment building was on the housing list at the base as a good place to rent because they did not require a lease - the guys could do a month-to-month arrangement. He already lived there when I moved in and I remember seeing him laying out by the pool and thinking how can that guy be so tan in March? I didn't know at the time he had just come from Miami! I would see these guys - sometimes in green flightsuits and sometimes in blue shirts and navy blue pants. I had no idea they were in the Air Force, but I wondered if they called each other in the morning to coordinate their outfits, lol! They dressed in the flightsuits on days they were flying (duh!!) but I thought they might be at the Highway Patrol Academy because I noticed they had those headphone-like things attached to their bags - I thought they wore them at the firing range, but they were really headsets with microphones for when they were flying. Finally, one day I asked - who are you guys? I was informed after that - we all started hanging around as a group (with my BFF Sue, who married one of them also!) because they were from all over the country and didn't know about fun things to do in the area. DH and I were friends for a few months and then started dating. Several months later he had to leave and we thought he was only going a couple of hours away, but that was changed to Texas! He was there 6 months, then left for Guam! We wrote letters and talked on the phone, then he said quit your job, sell your car, come to Guam and we'll get married - so I did!
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