So...whats for dinner?

Laurie - I well remember when kiddos were young and can't imagine how I ever found the energy to get everything done. Hope hubby's surgery is easy & everyone else stays healthy. So good to hear from you but we do understand. Check in when you can.

Hello Bedo and Laurie. You are busy people!

Eric sorry about your Mom. But on the other hand, she had a great meal before the hospital trip.

My dinner was the fresh half turkey breast I had in the fridge. But since I went toy brother for T day, I had to cook it. Seemed a shame to freeze a fresh bird. LOL. Just made stuffing as long as it was gonna go in the oven. Put the half breast over the stuffing mound. Then made potato and sweet potato. But did them together in a scalloped dish. My favorite way to eat them. No green bean casserole cause I already have way too much leftovers. LOL. Bought a slice of pumpkin pie though. LOL

Much love to all and happy cooking.

This leaded glass story is giving me the shivers. We have three leaded glass windows in this house and I am pretty sure that replacing them would be a very expensive proposition. Two of our windows are on either side of the front door, but they aren't full height. There are radiators below so the windows go from about 4' from the floor up to the ceiling. Timmy, our postman, would have to work pretty hard to fall through them! I know that we need to find some kind of storm window arrangement for those three windows. They leak cold air all winter long, but somehow have not actually found the energy to do anything about this leak.

Your salad looks much like one of my favorites. I do a simple mustard dressing: mustard, shallots, vinegar and olive oil emulsified. This tops a salad of spinach [baby preferred], toasted walnuts, pickled red onions, dried cranberries and a bit of goat cheese. I first had something similar at Sweet Tomatoes in Newton Center and liked it enough to create a home version which I do like better.

We have done three days of turkey. Turkey on a plate, turkey between slices of bread, turkey in a bowl with some gravy on top. Last night, I decided to make a soup from the leftover butternut squash. I was planning to sautee a bit of onion with some Madras curry I had made for another dish, and then finish with some of the leftover cream, but then it occurred to me.... I had creamed onions [made with milk.] So I toasted the spices and then added a bit of the unpasturized cider before adding the last of the turkey and vegetable stock. In went the squash, and I let this simmer for a bit. Then I added some of the onions. I used a food mill to get rid of the squash-fibre stuff and we had a lovely soup. I had a large bowl, while Mr. 02143 had a more modest amount to accompany his huge plate of turkey, corn, and stuffing. The rest of the corn will turn into corn chowder since I have a bunch of corn stock in the freezer. Once again, we will not finish the stuffing. I just don't really love stuffing, and people just don't eat that much of it anymore so there is a lot leftover. The turkey carcass will go into the oven today for a stock and I will make a turkey stew with the rest of the meat. I suspect that this will head to the freezer since we just might have hit turkey-overload at this point.

I am making family brunch today. The excuse is a package of Harrington sausage.... so I will make some pancakes, sausage, toast [for me, since I don't eat pancakes] and maybe a few eggs.

Almost caught up on the code I have promised clients. Actually made some progress yesterday!

*susan*

p.s. Laurie, reading your post made me exhausted! Good luck this week!

Eric, I hope more healthy days are ahead for your mother and MIL. 

Laurie, it was a treat to have you pop in.  Your Thanksgiving without electricity sounded like quite an adventure!  Wishing your dh the best of results with his surgery.

Lacey, what a story about the mailman!  I read that paragraph aloud to dh.  That's the kind of occurrence that we never expect!

Everyone is welcome to their Thanksgiving dinner leftovers.  I'm just not that big a turkey fan.  Although I'm pleased that my sister put a turkey carcass in the freezer for me.  I do like making a big pot of turkey soup with veggies and noodles. 

We had 18 people at the table at Thanksgiving dinner in Decatur, IL, at dh's sister's house.  Two were small children.  It was a very ample meal with many dishes.  One of the best IMHO was a roasted root veggie medley.  No dinner rolls, Susan!  I suspect my SIL had made dinner rolls and frozen them and simply forget about them in the hustle and bustle.  Once again she made two dressings, one conventional and the other an oyster dressing that neither dh nor I find tasty.  SIL doesn't eat oysters and she uses a recipe that's nothing like New Orleans oyster dressing. 

It's good to be back home.  I walked in and opened the patio door and a lot of windows to admit some fresh air.  It's in the 70's today and sunny.  I'm hoping I can get in a couple of days of golf this coming week.

Oh, for dinner I guess we'll move on to the Roche Brothers "home made" ravs I have in the freezer. Been waiting for an emergency to use them. Tonight is the emergency...DH is busy watching the Patriots, he already had one dish of leftover turkey today, and I'm too lazy to go to the store. So spinach ravs with a salad...maybe more baby kale and arugula, red onion, carrot, and grape tomatoes, dressed with dijon vinaigrette.

Susan, I like your salad..sounds like one of the favorite spinach salad varieties I make, too. Can't go wrong with that. Last night's salad called for a sweeter dressing, but I think I'd change that next time I make it.

Silly story....I was very gratified today when a friend told DH that I had converted her to be a kale person. I think she only puts it in her smoothies, but it's a start! She was just making smoothies with fruit, which I do not understand, since I would much rather enjoy chewing my fruit. My purpose in making smoothies is to get all the healthy veggies disguised in there with the fruit.

My mother in law is still in hospital. I visited MIL, and didn't get started until *WAY* late, my friend and I moved the cabinets, replaced the damaged wallboard, taped it up and "mudded" it, reinstalled the electric boxes, and I'm waiting for things to dry before sanding it down a bit. Then it's fix the cabinets and reinstall them. We got not quite 2 hours of work in today. Mom's kitchen sink isn't hooked up, but, if I can get a couple of hours off tomorrow, I think I can finish it up to where it's all going again.

Two guys, 4-5 hours of time, $60 worth of stuff, and some *really good* beer for my friend.....I don't see how it can come to $7,132.00. It must be some sort of magic, or they didn't want to do the work and figured that would be the easiest way to say "no" without actually saying it.

Sharon was grading papers all day and DD was busy with homework, so I took the easy way out for dinner..... A couple of cans of Loaded Potato Soup and stuffing from a box. I didn't even thaw any turkey out. I did however, use some of the turkey broth I canned in April.

Not much cooking going on. Ate up last of leftovers yesterday with some not so hot chicken 'n dumplings from grocery deli. Tonight is simple chicken salad sandwiches and prob. frozen french fries. My house is a disaster in that "in between stage". Heating man coming tomorrow to service it and you could not even budge thru where he needs to go. DH is impressed with the cleanup but lots stowed in those nice handled grocery bags. But it is very much cleaner in here. DH has been working so much and his business has been feeding them pretty well for lunch so mostly he wants a snack, veg out then sleep when he gets home.

Nancy - I did look up your Black Eyed Pea Stew again. Do you use the kale or substitute something else for it? I have the andouille saved back. I have frozen leek somewhere but might splurge for a fresh one. I've never eaten kale and not sure DH/DD would take to it. DH barely eats cooked spinach - now in salad is another thing or on a sandwich no problem.

Eric - wow you have certainly had your hands full these past few days. And now you are the construction man. Hope MIL is on the mend and docs find out what is going on with your DM.

Lacey - I usually have something stowed in the freezer for "those nights". If only a pizza crust to make. I wish there was a source of pizza dough around here. We just have Pizza Hut and Mr. Jim's and doubt either sell dough. Do you know if you can freeze it if I ever find it? How's the window repair coming? Plexiglass is your friend.

Laurie - prayers for your DH's surgery today. DH had it many years ago, day surgery. Took the week off, desk job then. His work never even knew when he had stuff done. You are the busy mama. Boys both in school now, at least preschool?

Well thanksgiving may be over.... the leftover corn was turned into a corn chowder with some corn stock I had in the freezer. The butternut squash was combined with veggie stock for soup as well. We ate turkey for four consecutive days, which may be a record! Last night I picked off the rest of the meat, about a quart, and the bones went into two dutch ovens and into the oven with some water. It was clear this morning that there was not enough container for all the bones, so I transferred everything to a large stock pot and went stovetop. This has now been strained. Tomorrow, I will defat, make some turkey stew to freeze, and the rest of the stock will also go into the freezer. Sadly, the stuffing, which was wonderful, for stuffing, will hit the trash. The best Pasta e Fagioli soup I make uses smoked turkey stock, so that is in the cards in the near future.

Our warm weather is about to disappear. It has been oddly warm for the past few days. Heck, my parsley in the garden is thriving! Just weird. But, it will be cold tomorrow, and then the winter rain begins on Wednesday.

Dinner tonight was the last of last year's lamb; a few chops. We grilled some asparagus and I made some steamed potatoes, that I sautéed with onions in duck fat that I rendered last week after my cousins' dinner. Strangely, I have lost 2 lbs since the week before T-Day.

*susan*

Susan embodies the saying, "I'm burning the candle at both ends. Send more wax." :-)

I'm about the same place on the stock. I'll probably can, instead of freeze, mine so I don't have to patiently wait for the microwave oven to thaw it out.

Tonight's dinner will be a repeat of last night's dinner.  Ground beef and cabbage skillet dish.  I'll steam some carrots and add to it.  We'll also have the two leftover baked sweet potatoes.  I'll peel them, slice them into halves and brown them in some butter in a skillet.  So two "skillet" dishes! 

Not surprised to hear you're down a couple of lbs., Susan.  You are such a busy person.

I've been reading Classic Indian Cooking by Julie Sahni.  It was published in 1980 and is well-written and very interesting.  Judging from her recipes, almost every main dish with meat as an ingredient includes a huge amt. of onions and a lot of fat, either "light" oil or Indian shortening or ghee, the clarified butter that is very popular.  I plan to try some of the recipes but may cut down on the fat.  According to Sahni, most of the food served in Indian restaurants outside India is that eaten in northern India.  What she calls "moghul" cuisine.  She includes some dishes popular in other areas as well. 

Maybe things have changed since she wrote the book, but she states that more than half of the Indian population are vegetarian.  Those who eat meat eat goat and lamb, goat being the most common.  Almost no beef and pork are eaten because of religious reasons.  And chicken is so expensive that it's reserved for very special occasions. 

As you would expect, there is no "curry powder" among the ingredients since that was an invention of the British who came to enjoy the food in India during the long British occupation.  They tried to come up with a blend of spices that would produce the same flavors they liked in Indian dishes. 

Susan, do you have recipes in Julie's book that you like?  I look forward to learning her thoughts on the fat in the recipes.

Nance has been missing lately. I hope she's ok.

I watched an Ina Garten cooking show today and she prepped an entire Thanksgiving dinner the day before Thanksgiving!  It looked good, too.      

Tonight I needed to do something with the remaining uncooked acorn squash from Thanksgiving, so I cut it in half and put it cut side down in a pan with some water and cooked it in the microwave.  I mixed up some cooked sausage from the freezer with brown rice, some leftover herbed goat cheese from the T-Day apps, roasted peppers and onions from the freezer, garlic, salt and pepper and stuffed the squash halves, then baked them for about 30 mins - yummy!!!  Also had a romaine salad with scallions and carrots and a vinaigrette.

Nance, glad you checked in.  Sure hope you can get some hand relief.  I need to make a foot dr. apptment.  Guess our appendages are wearing out!  I'll report on any Indian cooking that I undertake.  I've started buying some of the spices like cardamom pods.  Green, not black which seems to be preferred over the green.  I look forward to getting together with you and your dh while you are on the Gulf Coast.  I'll pm you our phone numbers and you can pm me a cell phone number so we can connect. 

Not much exciting in the food department here either...have been shopping the freezer...finding some soups that have lived there a while but were fine. Tonight I had a cabbage one and shared a ginger butternut squash one with DH that was delicious. I had forgotten that I made it...so happy for the discovery. DH had the very last of the turkey in a sandwich and I made us a rocket salad.

I need to figure out what soup I'll make for our youth group fundraising soup sale this Sunday. Last month there were lots of requests for either vegan or gluten free, or both. I think I might try a gluten free mushroom soup with wild rice. Any other ideas for an easy peasy one?

That's so neat that you will get together, Nancy and Carole! Maybe you'll get to peruse Carole's newest cookbook addition together. Sadly, I'm not able to eat much Indian food since I tend to be allergic to some of the spices used. We have a good Indian restaurant up the street from us, and I rarely go there, much to DH's chagrin. He manages to get there once in a while with friends if I am out.

Tomorrow evening DH is back to the Italian Kitchen with one of his professional groups. I'd be envious if I were not feeling more committed to getting those extra lbs off. Feels like a good opportunity for me to have oatmeal for dinner! At our gym, there is a competition going on for groups of hospital staffers to either lose or maintain their weight through the holidays. It is unusual to see so many people working out there. We feel a bit like we've been invaded with interlopers! Soon enough they will drop off....there are just a certain group of hard core attendees including us. But I am happy for our training staff that the center is getting a lot of business.

Good job, Eric! 

Our YMCA was all re-arranged yesterday morning.  I had to search for an elliptical machine with the little tv and radio box.  I use ear plugs to tune into one of the 4 TV's running on different stations.  It really helps to distract me and make the time pass while I'm doing the aerobic exercise.  Apparently some new machines with individual TV's will be installed.