So...whats for dinner?
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Luv sooooo exciting!! about both the RV and your son. My friends went "full time" about 2 years ago and have seen the whole country and settled in Ca for now.
Peggy, I am the worst cook. Maybe spray with low fat oil and broil with garlic and parsley??? I love scallops but so expensive.
Goats Gimme Goats!
http://screen.yahoo.com/most-adorable-goat-attack-ever-165604379.html
Now you have to adopt a burro from out west. They are only $150. Get 2.
It has been so hot here I've been basically inside for 3 days. I had the sofa cleaned and next the rug, the place is actually kind of cute when it's clean haha!
I've been eating watermelon , cherries, cantaloupe, grapes. Picked the last head of bibb lettuce from the garden and sugar snap peas are gone. I see baby squash and tomatoes coming in, the cats are loving the catnip and I'm going to have to figure out how to make and freeze pesto with all the basil. Mint and spearmint are outside the gate and there's tons. yum! I suckered the little boy next door visiting from Texas into helping me yesterday. "Would you like to see a community organic garden with a bee hive and sunflowers?. We can water them!!! (we have to use watering cans to save water) We can get mint for your gramma to make mint tea!!!!" He fell for it and loved it and actually helped another lady. Nice boy.
Susan, as usual, I'm living vicariously.
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Wow. I get where I can't read the posts for a few days and I get *way* behind. We spent the extended long weekend in Bisbee, Arizona...again at the Inn at Castle Rock. The weather was comparitively nice...95F degrees instead of 115F degrees and hotter.
I come home and I'm digging around the house and I find....termites....I haven't found any tubes up into the house and the house is a block construction, so the little buggers may not notice...but...I left a message with an exterminator company. Hopefully they'll call in the next couple of days.
Nance...I guess we were reading your mind....same meal here..... Shron is grilling....I've spent the past couple of hours resetting lawn sprinkler heads that aren't working quite right..
Michelle.....enjoy the RV. It sounds like fun.
Carrie, that's a huge bunch to feed. I think I'd be pointing at few folks and "volunteering" them for at least the cleanup part... :-)
Sharon said dinner is ready...I don't want to keep her waiting....
Eric
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Hi everyone! I too am behind on posts. We had a very busy and fun weekend. Two families came to our house to spend the weekend. They got here Friday afternoon and left Sunday afternoon. It was a blast! So much food it was crazy. Everyone out did themselves. We decided to have chinese food Friday night and got the kids pizza. Saturday morning was a big bacon and eggs breakfast with just about any thing you can name. Lunch on Saturday was chicken kabobs with tons of grilled veggies, a huge salad one friend brought that had all sorts of stuff in it including goat cheese, roasted red potatoes and hot dogs for the picky eaters. Dinner Saturday was steamers, steak, more veggies, an oriental chicken salad, pasta salad, corn on the cob and garlic bread. Needless to say we all ate leftovers for lunch Sunday and had french toast and pancakes with the left over sausage and bacon from the day before. What is wonderful is I only cooked one meal and I only cleaned up one meal. Everyone took turns with cooking and cleaning- even the husbands so it was not stressful at all! I will say we were all in bed early last night exhausted from all the sun/fun.
Today I have not gotten out of my jammies and neither have the boys. I declared it a quiet day. I have been doing laundry and just putting around house. I think we all needed this day just the three of us. I need to get the motivation to have the boys pick up toys so I can vacuum. I have no idea what is for dinner tonight. I am thinking chicken parm maybe?
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Wow Laurie, that sounds like a nearly perfect food weekend!
Tonight we're having grilled chicken quesadillas with fresh pico (jalapenos courtesy of the garden
, guacamole, refried black beans. More grilled rainbow peppers and onions into the quesadillas.
I also made a pain de mie today for sandwiches. I've been experimenting with the bread machine, unsuccessfully I might add. I thought it would be a good alternative during the summer when I don't want to heat up the kitchen. But I can't get a satisfactory loaf. Either the crumb is wrong or the loaf collapses or something else and I don't have the patience to fine tune the recipes. Anyway, I dug out my pain de mie pan and let the machine do the kneading and am baking it the old fashioned way.
I got the kaf catalog in the mail today and lo and behold, there was a recipe for a bakers grain sourdough baked in a covered loaf pan. Multi grain bread is one of the things I have been experimenting with. So, this will be my next loaf. It claims to have a "soft, moist, interior and tender crumb." Let's hope there's some truth in advertising here.0 -
Sorry guys, I tried to break up that long paragraph, but it wouldn't let me edit.
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Loving all the fun ( and exciting, Michelle) news and great meals.
At outer cape for the week where we had a fabulous seven course tasting menu meal tonight on a deck overlooking busy Commercial St. In P- town. I appreciated all the accommodations the young, accomplished chef made for my allergies.... Super artistic chef!
Our time share has not gotten the wiFi working very well (still!) so I am "phoning" this in. Will keep up with reading but maybe not post so much.
Sounds like all are doing well.... Excellent!0 -
Michelle, An RV? How very exciting this is for you! Can't wait to hear about your plans for the maiden voyage.
Lacey, You missed the hot weather on the Cape which might make taking some of the P-town walking trails more comfortable.
Nancy, pan de mie is such a lovely bread. Never make it here though. Wonder why that is? The King Arthur recipes tend to be a little "squichier" and sweeter than I like my bread, but they generally produce a really nice loaf. My sister took one of their bread-making courses and loved it.
Dinner last night was leftovers from our rib-fest. Today the weather has finally broken. It is almost chilly here in my office and I am turning off the fans one by one. Guess I can get back to work now that it is cool enough to use my brain again.
*susan*
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Susan, I have several recipes for pain de mie but the one I use most is Julia child's. I was quite gratified to read that she sometimes used a bread machine to do the hard work in making it.
I'm quite excited today. I got an early birthday present from DH in the form of a new flat bottom wok. What I really like about it is the handle and helper handle. Very useful with my bad hands. I'm hoping I can now get the pan hot enough to really stir fry instead of steam cook like my old one did with the cook ring. I'm in the process of seasoning it now (PITA). Eric, where are you?0 -
Nance,
May I suggest "Breath of a Wok" or "Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge" both by Grace Young? I had been "stir-frying" for years with mediocre results until I read her book. So many great tips and methods, but, the best one? Making popcorn in your wok to season it well. You should see my patina. It might make you swoon.
*susan*
p.s. I think Breath is better for learning techniques of the wok, while Stir-Frying is all about the Chinese diaspora so is better for everynight cooking. Heck, get both! I did. :-)
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Thanks for the advice Susan. Actually, I've been looking at "Breath" on Amazon and will probably end up with it (if not both lol!) I definitely have patina-envy, but I'm getting a start. Love the popcorn suggestion!
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Nancy, good luck with the new wok. With your cooking know-how and tenacity, you'll get great results!
I flunk stir-fry about every time I try it.
Michelle, I'm so excited for you! Hope the rv reality is as great as the fantasy.
Lacey, hope you have a good time on the Cape. Sounds like a great vacation.
My current fantasy is fishing. We've bought the fishing rods and I even have live bait in the refrigerator! Gag! It's well contained.
Tonight's dinner is barbecued pork chops cooked in the crockpot. Coleslaw made with bagged cabbage (not my favorite but it's the lazy way.) And something else. Maybe boiled new potatoes or maybe carrots.
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Tonight I "made" weisswurst and pretzels, both pre-made at the German store, plus a cucumber salad. The shop actually just does the initial boil of the pretzel and freezes them. Then at home you can bake them fresh. Served with Bavarian sweet mustard. A real treat and always enjoyed.
*susan*
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Carole, I love to fish! Haven't been for a few years though and my rods and reels are dust encrusted in the garage. We were mostly catch and release though, except for walleye, crappie and bluegill. Great eats. I've even caught a muskie. Big fun!
I just found out that my medical oncologist is leaving my cancer center in August. Well crap! I hate breaking in a new doc. And it's another stranger to get naked for. Ugh!0 -
I'm here.
I worked 24 hours in two days and I'm tired..but before I sleep..I had to arrange for the horrible, nasty, terrible, rotten, well deserved death of termites. I was digging in the dirt around the house and I found termites. A 2 hour inspection by the termite inspector found no evidence of termites in the house, so this will be a pre-emptive strike.
The sourdough was good. DD ate an entire loaf and a whole stick of reall butter by herself while it was still warm enough to melt the butter.
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Eric- I am sorry about the termites but glad you are catching it early. My mouth is watering at your DD bread feast....
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My grandmother used to bake every Wednesday. On Wednesdays my sister and I would clean-up an entire pan of her rolls with butter. Eric, you reminded me of her. Thanks. I still miss her. She died of breast cancer in 1972.
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Count me in on mouthwatering for Eric's freshbaked bread spread with butter.
The pork chops cooked in crockpot were mediocre. The texture wasn't good. SO...the only cooking method that works for us with pork chops is breaded and pan fried. Maybe less time in crockpot would have yielded better results. I was under the impression that overcooking isn't an issue.
Not sure what's for dinner tonight but need to cook fresh asparagus in refrigerator. Maybe pasta w/ veggies dish. Have some ripe roma tomatoes. And chunks of good Italian cheese.
It's cool enough this morning that a long-sleeved shirt feels good. We plan to do some biking.0 -
I really need to get my moms sticky buns recipe. I remember her making the dough and letting it rise and then rolling it out....and the smell of it cooking and cooling was just too much. An all day process that made me drool.
Tonight is chicken ceaser salad. I came home from work and munched on watermelon and now not really hungry...unless of course someone came along and stuck a great big steak in front of me.
Think I will get some steaks for tomorrow night when daughter comes back home. She doesnt have a grill in NYC so will treat her to a good grilled steak.
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Tonight we grilled a whole chicken breast, supplementing with some cherry wood smoke. Served with leftover potato salad, a large green salad, and some steamed broccoli [local] with parmesan cheese. Perfect summertime meal. Since one half of the chicken breast is untouched, I suspect that we will eat that tomorrow. They say the heat is returning. This time I won't have so much stuff in the fridge so we can go eat in air conditioning!
*susan*
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Tonight I made a stir fry from one of Grace Young's recipes. It was a pork and vegetable dish with oyster sauce. I made udon noodles with it, which I also fried in the wok. It was very good. I was very pleased with how the wok performed and it cleaned up quite easily after the seasoning it got yesterday.
Tomorrow I get the first local sweet corn and peaches of the season. Can't wait!0 -
Oh? What page number? That sounds vaguely like our "house" stir-fry.
*susan*
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No page number, got it from her Web page.
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The pasta dish tonight was delicious! I loved it! Fresh asparagus that I bought locally, some leftover steamed broccoli, and roma tomatoes. Garlic, olive oil, penne rigate pasta and LOTS of romano pecarino cheese. Simple is often the best way to go.
Bob the electrician was here at the campground this afternoon. He is quite the raconteur. We took our glasses of wine outside and he came over to chat. And chat. And chat. I know a lot of his life story. He is such a nice man. He offered us the use of one of his boats. When dh refused, Bob insisted that we come to his place, which is only about 7 miles and take his boat out from there. I'm all for it! I'm raring' to catch some fish.
We didn't come inside until about 7:45 so dinner was a little late.
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Man, Eric, that bread butter feast has me drooling. When my kids were young, I would load up my bread machine at nite so it would bake and be ready for breakfast. Yum. A loaf a day, I was lucky if the four kids left me any! Favorite was pumpkin. Because it was a yeast bread, not the cake like quick bread, it was even good for us! LOL Tonight I had sloppy Joe on a multigrain toast slice, sugar snap peas and a vinegar based coleslaw. My favorite high class store makes killer sloppy Joe. So I bought about a half pound. Now I can have it for lunch too! Also brought about four varieties of Pluots! Will compare the raspberry, honey, dapple, and dark marroon ones. LOL Much love.
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Those recipes sound good.
Nance....that's why I like well seasoned cast iron....cleanup is easy. A damp paper towel is usually all I need.
Carole,...just curious..what was wrong with the texture of the pork chops? The only time I've used a slow cooker (actually the dutch oven) for pork was when I shredded it and added BBQ sauce and beans.
I'd love to make the sticky buns, or doughnuts, but I doubt they are Weight Watchers friendly unless the portion size is 1/2 a crumb...
Cherry wood smoke....as in put some cherry wood chips to the side and get it to smoking while grilling covered?????
DD got her driving instruction permit today and she was anxious and anxious..anxious to get to it and anxious to not mess up.... I didn't get much time to eat more than the last remaining (small) piece of sourdough. I guess I'll be making some more this weekend....unless I'm the "Person over 21 years of age with a valid class A, B, C or D driving license sitting in the front seat of the vehicle."
The driving thing is pretty good....As I left work I phoned home and mentioned that before we could go driving, I would need to get the stuff moved away from the house so the termite folks (tomorrow) can do their work. I got home and everything had been moved!
I was reading the termite inspection report and it said that the treatment was a preventative measure--subterranean termite activity was found in the nearby soil, but there were no signs of infestation to the house...
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Wow Eric, good news on the termites, nasty little buggers. Good news on the driving front too. It's gets better after they get licensed too. they're always willing to run errands or take somebody somewhere lol!
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Eric,
Exactly. We collect blowdown trees at my parent's house, split them into small pieces, and soak before using in the grill box. The flavor is tremendous, even with a small piece of poultry. When we do the turkey at Tday this way, after a good brine, the flavor goes all the way to the bone. Absolutely delicious, and gives the turkey a beautiful mohogany color.
*susan*
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The Mystery vine in my garden has announced itself!
It will be the source of 10,000 pickling cucumbers!
Does anyone have a really easy, basic recipe for refrigerator pickles, no extra fancy ingredients needed?
Thanks!
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Eric, the pork chops were dry even though they were doused liberally with barbecue sauce. They were probably too lean.
Moonflwr, I like sloppy joes, too. Just downed a chilly dog at A&W and am sipping ice cold mug of root beer.
Dinner tonight will have to be early because there's a street concert in town from 6 to 8. We may just opt for ice cream from Minnesoda, which has old-fashioned soda fountain.0 -
Eric, driving is a gift to parents of a teen. You use it for leverage when they are too old for mist punishments. You have, no car, no gas money. No help with insurance payments to use to , um, gently, guide them. LOL we also made sure all our kids, girls included, could change a tire, and oil on their car, BEFORE they could take it out on their own.
Bedo, my mom had a good fridge pickle, uses tumeric. I'll try to find it.
Carol, Yum on the A& W Rootbeer. Nothing like it. We used to get a gallon of it to drink there, and take the extra home. It was cheaper than buying six drinks.
Susan, cherry wood smoke sounds delicious.
Much love to all.0
