So...whats for dinner?

luv - I would be happy to gift you with some Florida rain if I could just figure out how to get it there.  I love graham crackers, and I love tea, but sorry that you were having it because of not feeling well.

Tonight is stuffed shells with turkey meatballs and spinach - all together in one dish.  I had some fresh mozzarella so I grated it over the top with pParmesan and Italian breadcrumbs.  Salad of romaine with red onion, tomato, avocado and tomato.

Tonight, Mr. 02143 went to our local Schwarma spot and brought me a bowl of their red lentil soup. Exactly what I needed tonight. Back to work tomorrow.

*susan*

Here's the yummy banana bread recipe from my friend Helen.  Hope you all enjoy as much as I did.

Hawaiian Banana Bread



3 cups flour

3/4 t salt

1 t baking soda

2 cups sugar

1 t cinnamon

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups mashed ripe bananas

1 16 oz can crushed pineapple, drained

2 t vanilla



Combine first 5 ingredients. Combine remaining ingredients and add to
flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Spoon batter into 2 greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 1
hour and 10 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool
in pans 10 minutes and remove.



Can substitute grated carrots for carrot bread, or zucchini.

I haven't come by in a while. It's fun to see what everyone's eating. I have been trying to eat farm fresh foods. My garden is doing well still, but the deer got into it last night and pulled up half my beets and carrots. They just wanted the green tops of them, so left the rest. They chomped most of the lettuce and chard too. Apparently, they do not care for kale. To try to prevent another invasion, I spent the afternoon wrapping more fencing around it. I hope it works.

I have been told by my oncologist not to eat any red meats - beef, lamb, pork - so I cook some for my husband and find an alternative for me. Tonight he had a lovely smelling grass raised beef burger on a bun while I had a veggie burger. I put lots of relish on it to make it more interesting to munch. We both had local sweet corn which has been spectacular this year, and a salad from local lettuce and tomatoes. He likes big beefsteak ones. I like sweet tasting cherry tomatoes and right now my garden it is full of them - chocolate,  red, yellow and orange. I eat as many as I can while out there, one right after another. Yum! 

After lunch [egg salad on an English muffin] I cored some tomatoes, and let them drain. Later, I made some fresh pasta which was perfect! It is never perfect, but it was today! For tonight's dinner I made hand cut tagiatelle and served with those tomatoes after roasting them with garlic in olive oil. Some of the remaining pasta was cut into linguini and the rest was cut as angels hair in short lengths for soup.

Clearly, I should be following Lacey's diet. Tried a few dresses on at my first aging hippie store and looked like a sausage stuffed into fabrics that have no natural fibres. So the search will continue. Tomorrow, the child and I go to search for jewelry. She is wearing the pearls that my mother and father gave me for my wedding gift, hand me downs from my grandmother. She thinks that the modest pearl studs that I had made for that wedding are a little to understated, so we will search. 12 days.... clearly it will be a dash to the end.

*susan*

Susan,

You sound crazy busy as usual and your meals always sound delicious.

Tonight I made butterflied pork tenderloin stuffed with pork sausage and dried cranberries with a reduced port glaze.  

Mo (Cherri)

Tonight was chicken with preserved lemons and olives, rice pilaf and sauteed vegetables. Loved the taste of the lemon and the sauce was superb, although the chicken was a bit too pale for my taste. Next time, I'll brown it first. First time for this recipe.

Yesterday I made a marinara sauce slow cooked in the oven. Wow, what an intense flavor, if a lengthy process. Will probably do that one again though.

More baguettes tomorrow. Maybe I'll dunk them in the marinara. Who needs pasta?!

Wow! Just catching up with the posts after returning home late last evening, and am salivating over some of the delicious sounding meals! Yum! So I leave stateside for 11 days and the thread has gained lots of  new members. Welcome! So happy to see your culinary creations! 

Nance, I discovered something I never expected in Rome and Tuscany restaurants...the bread they serve at meals (by itself....no butter, or course, nor olive oil!) tastes exactly like a "faux french bread" I have made for years (recipe from the Boston Globe circa 1980). I was always disappointed that it never really had the texture or taste of good French breads, even tho we always devoured it. But now I can happily accept it as Italian in texture and taste....and am more motivated to make it. And it is afterall, a rather fast process for making bread.

Will add more info about the food and experiences during the Tuscan part of our trip once I have a bit of time....busy trying to get "back in order" after the vacay and very long trip yesterday...left Pisa at 9AM after a lovely hotel breakfast, and spent a long time in Rome airport. Enjoyed a lovely salad for lunch there with mixed greens, prosciutto, parmesan shavings, stuffed red pepper, walnuts etc. etc., before our 8+ hour flight home....tho that amount of time is soooo minimal (!) compared to the hours many people we met who were returning to Australia would travel.....not sure I could do so many hours in a plane. We were traveling for just 18 hours total.

Just to be on topic.....am heading to the store to get ingreds to make a spinach mushroom, pear, and walnut salad with vinaigrette for a neighborhood dinner we are scheduled to attend tonight. 

Will post meals we had after I get the menus unpacked (we collected some:).

Evjoy your day everyone....

Welcome home Lacey, can't wait to hear of your further food adventures!

All the meals sound so good!  I should start making notes so I can jog my memory about dishes I want to try making.  Like chicken with preserved lemon.  That sounds delicious.  Step One would be making the preserved lemon.

Susan, how many tomato plants do/did you have in your garden?  Your harvest has been going on for weeks!  I'm glad to hear about your planned trip abroad.  Please do post some photos of DD's wedding.  I know it will be special. 

Welcome home, Lacey.  I'm amazed that your trip is already over.  It seems you just departed.  I, too, am looking forward to the details of meals and foods and cooking lesson.

DH and I arrived home yesterday.  Today we went to a family dinner at my mother's house.  It was a lot like Thanksgiving with a roasted turkey, mashed potatoes made with cream cheese, dressing, and several vegetables.  My sister who lives near my mother did most of the cooking, as she has all summer in my absence.  The food was good and visiting with everyone was very enjoyable.

I brought home the turkey carcass and a big bag of lovely fresh okra from my mother's neighbor's garden.  I will chop the okra tomorrow and cook it with tomatoes and garlic.  Any leftovers after tomorrow night's dinner will be frozen in small bags as an ingredient in chicken sausage gumbo this winter.

Now for the bad news.  I wore a pair of "fat" shorts today.  Sept. did me in with all the eating out and lack of regular exercise.  So here we go again, dropping some unwanted lbs. 

Hi to Eric and Val and Debbie and Deb and Laurie and others who have been absent lately.

Carole,

Welcome home. I bet you don't spend much time in those pants once you get back to your regular routine. Not a big fan of okra, but turkey carcass is my middle name!

*susan*

Carole, welcome home to you too! Sounds like a wonderful homecoming dinner.

Susan, my dh doesn't like olives either, so I just didn't give him any. He never even knew there were any in the dish lol.

minus - the DD finished the paid internship with dolphins and sea lions down in the Keys in mid-Sept.  She had applied for a temporary zooligical job locally here and one with a company that supplies contracted employees to a Navy program with dolphins and sea lions.  She was interviewed and accepted for the zoological job (originally with alligators, but then was supposed to be baby penguins, then turned into kangaroos, and may be baby penguins again next week, lol!) and she is working there now.  She then interviewed and was offered the Navy job but has to do a complete clearance for that, so she is working with the kangaroos/penguins right now, and waiting for word on the clearance - which could take until close to the holidays.

minus - she is funny - at first she didn't like the kangaroos, but they seem to be growing on her.  She has been taking selfies with them over the last few days.  She is looking forward to the baby penguins, they are inside where it is much cooler.  It is still quite hot here and she is outside all day.  She seems to have quite a bit of autonomy with the animals, which she likes.  She said tonight that if the Navy job didn't come through she would be ok staying where she is.  I think part of that is that she wants to be here, where she feels familiar, and where we are.