So...whats for dinner?
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So, have been fasting and having some protein shakes since returning from the free for all of eating and drinking in Atlanta last weekend. Had grass fed beef burgers on the grill tonight with local organic green beans and streamed local yellow crookneck squash. It's so hot here...today was 97 with "feels like" temp of 108. Good gravy- we need rain and relief from the oppressive heat.
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That steak was big enough for two, so Gordy & I shared it & the broccolini before he went back out to his comedy club job. (He didn’t want the tomato salad, since he hates tomatoes, nor did he want me to make him some corn when he returns). I cut up what was left of a cantaloupe, “filleted” the remaining jackfruit slices and will probably have a little of each with a fresh fig. Drinking a decaf cappuccino right now.
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Speaking of baking - my friend Pat, who still bakes cakes & pies once a week, has recommended Wilton Baking Spray. Apparently you do away with not only greasing & flouring the pan, but no need to use anything else. Nothing ever sticks & it comes out perfect every time. Has anyone else tried it?
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Minus, I hate the residue from those sprays. I only use EverBake on plastic wrap.... otherwise, I would prefer anything else. But I like your friend, and feel badly, disagreeing with her. :-(
*susan*
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Minus, it's been a long time since I used the stuff but I didn't like it either. Maybe it's gotten better.
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OMG those pans of phyllo covered goodness look delish! I am also a triangle maker - but should try the pan version - seems like it would be easier - my filling also sounds much like susan's.
susan - my DD is an includer, or a more is merrier type, so she seems to think me being there is a good thing, lol! Plus, I feed them! We have fun together whether it is the two of us, or a group of her friends. One of the girls who was on this trip is at our house a lot, so she is like family, and she and my DH go paddleboarding/kayaking together - for some reason both girls like to hang out with us - it is a blessing for sure.
minus - DD is on her second boat, purchased her first when she was 23. The first one, below with our dog Toby, was custom made by a smaller FL based boat builder, sold at a modest profit to a young family in SC. The second boat was also made by a local FL builder, custom for her - she looks pretty excited about it in the pic below - that was when she picked it up! She is a pro guide for this company, and takes people out who are interested in purchasing one for a test drive - she has helped sell several. The boats are smaller shallow water skiffs, can fit in our garage, and when you find the fishing spot you shut off the engine and use the pole to push the boat around quietly so you don't scare the fish away.
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What is the name of the boat company in Florida. My dear friend who has a place in Stuart is looking for a boat for fishing. Chances are, they will be looking for a used boat, but I would love to pass this information along.
This friend is amazing. She is 60 years old and goes out into the Atlantic almost every day of the year to fish in a kayak. She is the one who provides me with striper bass!
*susan*
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Susan & Nance - thanks for the review. One of her neighbors started her on this. I don't bake enough anymore to be on top of it, but I'll save my money.
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susan - the boat company is Beavertail Skiffs, here is a link. These are nice, lightweight skiffs, meant for inshore fishing. DD is a rep for them in case your friend would like a wet-test. DD's model is the Strike - it is small and agile enough for her to handle solo - she loads and launches by herself. If you open the link and put your cursor on the tab "Our Owners" it will also show "Our Guides" she is the only female, easy to find.
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I really think your daughter is the bomb! *susan*
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Wow, three pages of posts to catch up on!
The flooding in Louisiana has been awful. Our house has not flooded nor have the homes of my family. We are still in northern MN and have winced at pictures of flooded areas within easy driving distance of our house. My mother is high and dry in the nursing home but my younger sister was unable to visit her for a period of days because of highways (including I-12) being closed. Mother Nature can be wonderful but also a b**ch. This sister flooded in the last hurricane and her house is now raised, but her pastures flooded and animals waded in water.
DH and I bicycled 20 miles yesterday. We had lunch at Dorset Café and I ordered a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw on the sandwich. The bread was a hoagie bun, blah, but I was hungry and the food tasted good. The temperature was low 80's and it was humid so I sweated a lot and suffered with leg cramps for a few hours in the afternoon despite drinking glasses and glasses of water, consuming yellow mustard by the spoonful (advice from marathoner cousin), and swallowing a couple of potassium pills. My dad sweated profusely and I must have inherited that tendency from him. He also suffered from cramping.
Before quinine became unavailable here in the US, it worked really well in preventing cramps. I used to keep it on hand.
Tonight's dinner will probably be brats and packet potatoes with sliced onions. Also a cucumber salad.
I have a boiled egg in the refrigerator. I'll chop it up and make a coarse egg salad to spread on a thick slice of toast for my breakfast. A small glass of Atkins chocolate shake for swallow pills.
I keep a batch of boiled eggs on hand for breakfast and protein snacks. I used the common method of covering the eggs with cold water, bringing to a boil and letting them sit for 15 minutes. Then rinsing in cold water. They always peel easily. Older eggs only. Most of the time they don't have the green ring around the yoke.
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susan - thanks! She is an unusual girl - very much an adventurous sort - unlike me! My DS is a firefighter/paramedic and loves high adventure sports like back country snowboarding, and DH flew combat aircraft - I am thinking they are three peas in a pod!
carole - have you tried drinking tonic water for cramps, it has quinine. You could also add some gin and a lime, lol!
I usually cook my eggs, then rinse and leave in cold water in the pot until just warmish, drain off the water and cover the pot with a lid and shake vigorously. The shells just come right off and then I store the eggs in a container in the fridge.
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So good to see your post, Carole. You've been on my mind with all that terrible flooding in Louisiana, even tho I knew you were still up north. I'm glad your family is safe. Impressive biking!
Special, cool boats, and darling, adventurous daughter! How nice to be included in some of them! And thanks for the egg peeling tips!
We tried a new restaurant last evening.....mixed results. This is a brand new place featuring interesting pizzas and salads, some other entrees, and few desserts. It's near a small ski area that has struggled over the years, but is reported to re-open this year. If this winter is anything like last, they will be opening for folks to ride scooters down the hills.
Anyway, I was warned by a Yelp review about the very inadequate parking lot....it did not disappoint! We ended up finding a clearing at the end of a charter school's driveway, down the hill, next door, and boldly parked there. As we walked back up to the restaurant, a guy in a truck pulled into the clearing, we stopped, looked over, and he called out, "It's okay, you can stay here, I forgot to put up the 'No Parking' sign". We thanked him, and stayed. The restaurant is quite popular, yet has lots of kinks to work out. New barn like atmosphere, with picnic tables and plasticware. Half the tables were inside and half outside overlooking the highway below. Small kitchen with wood fired oven clearly struggling to meet demand of the hordes.
The live music indoors was so loud we were happy to be seated outside.....until the mosquitoes arrived. We'd ordered an arugula salad with tart apple, goat cheese, and an egg on top, with a light balsamic dressing. It was fresh and tasty. The pizzas looked interesting and we ordered a shrimp scampi one. I got up to take a sunset picture, and returned to see DH munching on a short rib pizza! The young waitress came over to apologize for bringing the wrong order, and brought the shrimp one. She suggested I try the short ribs pizza so I did. She offered for us to keep both, but we hardly needed to, so I suggested the staff might enjoy it and had her take it. We started to eat the shrimp one and by then the mosquitoes were dive bombing our heads....so we decided to take the pizza home and enjoy it there. Delish!!
If this place were closer than 20 minutes away, it would be my favorite for pizza take- out!
Tonight we'll be grilling that london broil.
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Carole, it's good to hear from you. I too have been concerned, although I knew that wasn't quite your area. Glad all are safe.
Last nights dinner was homemade calzones and two are leftover for lunch. Dinner tonight will be fish sandwiches (cod), mac and cheese and some slaw of some variety.
It's cooler today and I'm feeling the urge to bake!
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So good to see your post, Carole. You've been on my mind with all that terrible flooding in Louisiana, even tho I knew you were still up north. I'm glad your family is safe. Impressive biking!
Special, cool boats, and darling, adventurous daughter! How nice to be included in some of them! And thanks for the egg peeling tips!
We tried a new restaurant last evening.....mixed results. This is a brand new place featuring interesting pizzas and salads, some other entrees, and few desserts. It's near a small ski area that has struggled over the years, but is reported to re-open this year. If this winter is anything like last, they will be opening for folks to ride scooters down the hills.
Anyway, I was warned by a Yelp review about the very inadequate parking lot....it did not disappoint! We ended up finding a clearing at the end of a charter school's driveway, down the hill, next door, and boldly parked there. As we walked back up to the restaurant, a guy in a truck pulled into the clearing, we stopped, looked over, and he called out, "It's okay, you can stay here, I forgot to put up the 'No Parking' sign". We thanked him, and stayed. The restaurant is quite popular, yet has lots of kinks to work out. New barn like atmosphere, with picnic tables and plasticware. Half the tables were inside and half outside overlooking the highway below. Small kitchen with wood fired oven clearly struggling to meet demand of the hordes.
The live music indoors was so loud we were happy to be seated outside.....until the mosquitoes arrived. We'd ordered an arugula salad with tart apple, goat cheese, and an egg on top, with a light balsamic dressing. It was fresh and tasty. The pizzas looked interesting and we ordered a shrimp scampi one. I got up to take a sunset picture, and returned to see DH munching on a short rib pizza! The young waitress came over to apologize for bringing the wrong order, and brought the shrimp one. She suggested I try the short ribs pizza so I did. She offered for us to keep both, but we hardly needed to, so I suggested the staff might enjoy it and had her take it. We started to eat the shrimp one and by then the mosquitoes were dive bombing our heads....so we decided to take the pizza home and enjoy it there. Delish!!
If this place were closer than 20 minutes away, it would be my favorite for pizza take- out!
Tonight we'll be grilling that london broil.
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My way too long post would not submit....then did twice! Thus my deletion....
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Lacey, hard cooked eggs, new or old, in the pressure cooker come out perfect every time and peel easily. A cup of water, set eggs on the rack, set on manual for 6 minutes, turn off when timer goes, after one minute release the pressure (cover it with a towel to catch steam). Crack the eggs and put in an ice water bath for 10 or 15 minutes, the peels usually slip right off. I usually cook a dozen eggs at a time. It's the only method I've ever used that lets you use very fresh eggs.
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Thanks, Nance! I look forward to trying that with my new pressure cooker when I get home and release it from its Amazon box sitting in the front hallway!
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Thanks for the egg discussion. I too start w/cold water & turn off the fire to let them sit for 15 minutes once the water boils. Then putting in an icewater bath. I'll have to try Special's method of cooling slightly then shaking the pan.
Lunch was a Hatch Chili scone from the Central Market bakery. It was so good that maybe dinner will be the same.
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I haven't been the greatest at posting lately. I'm up at 4:30am to drive the morning bus route, then off to work, get home around 7:30pm ... and start over the next day. Tomorrow I'm not driving the bus, because after working most of today, including driving the bus, I have to go to Payson, AZ to look into some radio interference issues and I don't expect to be home until sunrise tomorrow. So, the substitute for the substitute bus driver is driving tomorrow. I took off early from work and am relaxing at home right now. The lady that was going to become the permanent driver decided the commercial driver license stuff was "too complicated and scary". I was disappointed in that both from the "i can't sleep in" as well as the strong possibility of there being another "I'm helpless and I *LIKE* it that way" person.
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DD is moved into the dorm. Her roommate is from Hawaii, they've "hit it off" well together, and best of all, the roommate has a 75% scholarship and seems very serious about her studies.
It seems weird having the house so quiet. This reminds me of the day my parents left for home. I had bought my own place ($22,000) for 1/2 of a brick duplex house; about 900 square feet with three bedrooms. I didn't need any roommates, so the place was quiet unless I made some noise. I still remember how amazed I felt at "hearing the quiet" I have that same amazed feeling now.
About the only time I use commercial cooking spray (the red topped yellow can of Pam) is when I need to season a cast iron skillet. A thin coat of that, followed by an hour at 400F degrees in the oven, done twice, makes a perfect coating. For the more mundane non-stick needs, I use a pump up sprayer filled with cheap olive oil. When the brown residue gets too bad, the glass and steel stuff can be cleaned with oven cleaner. Oven cleaner will "corrode" aluminum, so the aluminum stuff is "live with it or buy a new one".
Special, yes, you do have an amazing daughter. She reminds me of my wife and Mickey--the "It sounds good I've never done it before, but I'll give it a try" attitude is a wonderful thing. I was thinking the same thing about tonic water. :-)
Carole, I'm glad to hear from you. I was a bit worried about you. As for me going there....I don't know. I did get one of those, "You have been selected for deployment. Please update your physical fitness and health information on the RMS" emails. But that doesn't mean too much as they like to have people taken care of ahead of time so *IF* they do go, it's not a mad scramble later on.
I've never tried the pressure cooker for making hard boiled eggs. I've got the monster 25 quart pressure canner, as well as a more appropriately sized 6 and 8 quart pressure cookers. I'll keep that in mind the next time Sharon wants boiled eggs.
Susan, the habanero mention made me smile. I grow those, Serrano peppers, the Red Savina Habanero (twice as hot as a regular habanero) and someone gave me some seeds for "Ghost Peppers". The serrano peppers make a wonderful salsa and the two habanero types' smokey flavor go nicely in large rice dishes. I have no idea what to do with the Ghost peppers.
Hi Happy, April and everyone else I may have missed. I'm going to take a nap.
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I have a lot of All-Clad stainless cookware, and the mfr. recommends “Bar Keeper’s Friend” mild abrasive powder for stains (but not on any nonstick coating): make a paste, rub it on gently and let it sit till it almost dries, then scrub with a pot-scrubbing pad. Doesn’t emit the VOCs that Calphalon’s paste cleaner does, and it’s a bit gentler than Bon Ami. Repeat if necessary. Any gunk remaining can be removed with a Brillo pad, elbow grease, and a good deal of patience & persistence. My grandma used to swear by "sour salt” (citric acid crystals) for lifting burned-on food from stainless, enameled steel or aluminum pots--make a solution, bring to a boil and then let sit and cool overnight--the gunk just floats to the surface. For cast iron, I first use coarse salt and crumpled aluminum foil--recently bought a stainless-steel chain mail scrubber. To season, I rub the pan while warm with Crisco, wipe with a paper towel, then bake in a 400-degree oven, let it cool, wipe again and put it away. Maybe I don’t use my cast iron enough, but I’ve never been able to achieve a slick surface.
Bob came home early, and went right back out--took the CTA train to a dinner at the Peninsula downtown. No spouses invited--doctors only; they’re being subjected to a spiel by a Medicare-billing specialty company. So I will pan-sear a coho salmon fillet I’m defrosting, as well as some sort of salad or sauteed snap peas and corn on the cob (trying Cook’s Illustrated’s recipe of dropping them into a pot of boiling water, immediately turning off the heat, covering and letting them sit 8-12 minutes). My goal is to avoid any shriveling of kernels. Instead of butter & salt, I will rub them with a cut clove of garlic dipped in olive oil and then lime juice, sprinkling with a tiny bit of cayenne or hot paprika.
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Sandy - reminiscent of your parchment paper - I shuck the corn and roll each ear in wax paper. Then I microwave on high. 4 minutes for 2 ears; 7-8 minutes for 4 ears. The kernels are always fresh & juicy and never shriveled.
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I normally shuck and rinse the corn and then wrap the ears in paper towels for nuking for 3 min. for 1 ear and 4 min. for two--but unless I eat it right away the kernels do shrivel. To avoid heating the kitchen too much and making my neck sweat, I’ll try nuking it in parchment per your suggestion.
Despite my best efforts to avoid sweating into my hair--even wearing a high paper-towel collar while awake & active--I carefully moved my hair off my neck every time I turned over in bed but awoke this morning with one lock of my hair frizzy and some waviness in the layers beneath it. Had to flatiron it again. I suspect that may have been in vain--the salt in the sweat probably dissolved the keratin in that area while I slept. Am resigned to having to flatiron that section and clip my hair up every night once I’ve shampooed it tomorrow night, until the next treatment 3-4 mos. hence......unless I give up on it. 4 pm tomorrow cannot come too soon--exactly 72 hrs. since I walked out of the salon; I will jump into the shower.
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Sandy - I guess parchment paper would work the same as old-fashioned wax paper. Good luck. Sorry about your hair issues.
Eric - you keep a really busy schedule. I'm not sure how you do all of it. You afternoon nap sounded great. I understand the "quiet house" syndrome. Takes awhile to re-acclimate.
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I have no idea what the hair problems are. Couldn't follow that. I was always frizzy, finally kind of liked it, only to loose all of it to chemo.
Tonight I made an Indian cauliflower dish to accompany our local restaurant's tandoor chicken. Makes Mr. SMT very happy, and since my feet are on fire, I agreed to accept the assistance.
*susan*
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Tried the parchment-wrap for corn, and it turned out great......at first. Rubbed it with a cut clove of garlic dipped in olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. But after I plated dinner, the finishing touch was to be a nice cold glass of seltzer. I tried to get my icemaker to dispense cubes into the cup, but no luck. By the time I unjammed the icemaker (for now), the kernels had shriveled. Took all of five minutes from succulent and plump to shriveled. So I guess the secret is to keep the corn moist and unsalted right up till you eat it--perhaps salt draws out moisture. I pan-seared the salmon in a little grapeseed oil and seasoned it with S&P before cooking and finished with alder-smoked sea salt. Combined snow peas with some blanched chopped broccolini (impersonating Chinese broccoli) sauteed in garlic-steeped olive oil.
I have some strawberries that are “going.” Somewhere in the back of the upper reaches of my spice cabinet is a very small bottle of 25-yr-old Cavalli Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale (the real thing, as opposed to the mid-high-priced “condimento”--so-named because either unauthorized grape varietals are used, the must is cooked to thicken it, or it’s made exactly the same way as the real deal but outside Modena or Reggio-Emilia, the mid-priced high-end supermarket “Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, IGP”--the Italian gov’t has relaxed standards for that name recently and allows wine vinegar and caramel coloring to be added to the grape must, and the really cheap “industriale” Alessi, Bertolli, Star, etc. as well as Kirkland (what Costco sells by the liter ). I am about to haul out the stepstool. Wish me luck. (Hope the cats don’t try to assist me). I will chop up some basil & mint and drip some of the good stuff onto the berries.
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I asked my retiring co worker what her favorite cake was a few months ago (knowing I would bake on when she finally left and to my surprise, she said "pineapple upside down cake." Now, I have not had this cake since I was a kid but I decided to bake one for our outgoing friend. Here is the result. I hope it is good! lol
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I also made these since I was a baking fool today...finally cooled down a little bit so took advantage of it.
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april - beautiful, classic and old school! We love food porn on this thread!
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I can smell those cookies.
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