So...whats for dinner?

Tuna casserole in the small oven.  Haven't cooked that in a few years.  Not sure where the idea came from.  I didn't feel like making the crab cakes tonight since I had lunch out and won't be eating much.  DH likes tuna casserole and I like it ok, too, but it's one of those too-easy-to-eat foods.  I cooked some whole wheat spiral pasta and threw a pack of frozen mixed veggies in the last few minutes of cooking.  Sautéed green onions and red bell pepper in olive oil and added chicken broth with corn starch as a thickener.  Mixed pasta, veggies, and sauce together with a couple of cans of drained tuna and added grated mozzarella.  We'll call it dinner with a green salad. 

Lacey and I had lunch together today!!! What fun it is to enjoy a meal with someone who is just as enthusiastic as I am about food in general, and ingredients in particular. We chose to eat at Mario Batali's first Boston restaurant Babbo Pizzeria e Enoteca. It is really an outlet of his Otto empire, but since we already have a restaurant in town named Otto, he had to find another name. The restaurant is in an area that is now being called The Seaport, a marketing term so we all forget what used to be in this area, and in fact, is right on the ocean. However, you can't even see the water from the building. The space is huge, and has the currently popular sleek and modern look. The chairs do allow those of us with more expansive buttocks to sit for a length of time, but the chairs are strangely IKEA quality. Rather odd given how much money they spent on the build out.

After we were seated, we were asked to choose our water type.... I replied Boston's finest, which the young woman didn't understand, so we had to explicitly asked for tap. Two pieces of bread were delivered, all wrapped in parchment paper along with a bag of imported bread sticks. And then we got to work deciding what to eat. We chose four items, and asked that they not be delivered all at once, but instead be served in a way that we could share.

Round 1 included a large ramekin of Funghi Misti, which technically means mixed mushrooms. The mushrooms had been sautéed and then chilled with olives and olive oil. We both thought that a bit of lemon juice or even some lemon zest in the olive oil would have perked the dish up just a bit, but these were delicious. The second ramekin held a Farro with Ramps and Lemon salad. This was also a cold presentation, and except for the absence of salt, was delicious. Turns out Lacey has never met a farro that she doesn't love!

Round 2 was a nicely cooked Guanciale Pizza with an egg cooked on top. The menu stated that it has parmigiano cheese and scallions, but I believe that there was also some standard mozzarella in the mix. We broke the egg, which was softly cooked, so that it spread over the top of the pizza and dove right in. This was a good pizza. The Guanciale was well cured and had a ton of flavor. There was enough to enjoy the flavor with each bite, but not so much that it felt like a meat pizza. I love an egg on pizza. Really gives such a lovely richness. The second dish was hot Italian sausage with a balsamic and olive oil glaze. Four large pieces of sausage were on an oval plate, with the balsamic glaze drizzled around the plate. The sausage was good and had some actual heat. When we finished, there was only one lone piece of pizza and two large sections of sausage which I suspect Mr. Lacey enjoyed tremendously.

We then decided to have a dessert. I had read that the olive oil gelato was fabulous, so we ordered one of these with two spoons, along with our coffees. The dessert was served in a martini glass [so overdone] with a large scoop of the gelato in the middle. Then around the edge was a section with pine nut brittle, another section had a runny lime curd, and then the final section was a strawberry granita. A basil syrup completed the dish. As you all know, I am not a big dessert person and this was so good! It was not overly sweet at all; in fact some people would object to the lack of sweetness. I loved how you could change the flavor of the dish by simply coupling the gelato with a different "side." I ate far more of this than I ever would have expected. The dish was absolutely clean by the time we were done.

When it was all said and done, we had told stories, laughed, and almost 3 hours had passed. The meal was really good, and we were able to eat tasty food that actually made up a pretty balanced meal. I came home and fell asleep for two hours. [Femara is kicking my butt with the fatigue thing.] After I got up, I prepared some grilled swordfish, basmati rice and a salad for Mr. 02143. I was only able to eat a few bites of this dinner but Mr. 02143, who did not get a nice restaurant lunch, had no trouble eating both of our shares.

Lone pizza slice waiting for a box.

Italian sausage.

*susan*

Such a thorough description I feel like we were there!

Susan - thanks for posting all the details. It's almost like we were with you both - not quite but almost. So glad you were able to get together and that the meal was delicious. I find I still take afternoon naps some days and I force myself not to feel guilty about it.

I must agree Susan and Lacey had a much finer meal than I!!!

Suladog, consider the herceptin an appetizer you must partake in order to enjoy everything else yet to come. (Vegan, and Indian food lover? Yahoo!!! I can't wait to try some of your recipes!)

Susan....thank you! Thank you.......for your wonderful description of our lunch. It was great to see you and fun to peruse that menu together, try to understand our cute Italian waiter's food descriptions, (you did way better than I) and try some of "Mario's culinary creations". I have never had an egg on my pizza before, and it was delicious. DH inhaled the leftovers for dinner....quite happily!! I made us an arugula salad with mushrooms, red onion and sun dried tomatoes to accompany his pizza and sausage which he ate on a ciabatta roll (sorry, but he doesn't know it was not well paired with arugula;) and cut up some cheese and apple to add something to my plate. But as you might imagine, I was not very hungry after our long afternoon titrated mini feast. Lord! That dessert was just totally delightful! Never had anything quite so light and satisfying with wonderful varied tastes and textures...and the sweetness, as you mentioned, was just perfect!

Oh, and one more thing, we also tried waiter selected/imposed digestifs...one tangerine/limoncello type which was very nice, and one artichoke heart derivative which reminded me of that awful paragoric meds of my childhood. We passed on the large glass of that.

DH and I reviewed some of the selections on Babbo's menu tonight and he remarked that he might not eat octopus anymore, since they are intelligent.....really! I am not, since I was unaware of that fact! But I also do not eat octopus!

As I headed back to the MASS Pike, this afternoon, I decided to check with DS2 to see if DGF was working at home today, and if so, if she might have time (and inclination) for me to stop in since I was three blocks from their place. So, I did and we had a nice visit, and I got to see newly shaved pooch, who is oddly still very cute in person. His post "grooming" pic was horrifying!! I was happy to learn that DGF was going out to dinner with some neighborhood gals she knows thru DS2. She has been slow to make friends here so far and is trying to connect more. Not always an easy task for thirty-something newbys to New England. I worry about that a bit since she is reserved, and really knows no one here independent of DS2. But it looks like they are working on it.

Minus, your time spent with your recently widowed friend sounded so comforting.....and delicious! You are lucky to have each other as good friends.

Carole, i agree that tuna casserole can be one of those things that is hard to stop eating which seems so odd! I have not made one since the eighties but used to love it. Not so with succotash....just could never get those lima beans down! Yuk!

Am wiped after my partying last evening, lunching today, then visiting....seems silly....but I suppose I am just not used to a heavy social schedule! Enjoyed it so much tho....:)

Hi to all I missed......

Redheaded, I would have to have chilled veggie soup at this time of year. 

The mixture for the crab cakes (burgers, patties) is in the refrigerator.  I used a recipe in Cooking up a Storm that called for making a béchamel sauce and adding it to the 1 lb. of lump crab with an egg and seasonings and crumbs.  I didn't have saltines on hand to make crumbs, which was what the recipe called for, so used a combination of French bread crumbs and panko.  I'll form the patties, bread them lightly and panfry in a mixture of oil and butter. 

Sides will be a salad and a baked new potato.  I'm taking Nance's word that new potatoes are good baked.

Sharon made a Chili-Macaroni casserole last night and we're having that tonight.

Wow Minus It's only 93F degrees here in Phoenix but kind of humid because of yesterday's thunderstorms. Normally it's 10-15 degrees warmer than this.

I took the opportunity to work on the sprinklers...gym shorts and one of those quick drying shirts and I played in the water while I worked. :-)

Tonight I cooked a pork butt in the pressure cooker with some mixed peppers, onions and a chili verde sauce. We had the shredded pork in tortillas with some mango salsa and fresh corn with peppers and green onions on the side. DH and I agreed that we would only have desserts on the weekend so I made a 6 inch Chicago style cheesecake that I'll top with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Pretty satisfying. It's the most cooking I've done for days.

I took some pictures of the new garden beds that I'll try to post. It's actually been warm and sunny here for two whole days which I hope will spur some growth. With so much rain, things have been somewhat stagnant.

Carole, I hope your potatoes were good. I'll feel bad if they weren't lol!

prepared a spinach dish (saag) from our garden this afternoon

Well, you certainly made up for not cooking for a bit, Nance! A lovely meal to show for pressing the "restart" button! I, however, have not found the button yet! My very perceptive DH noticed that....and I was busy decoying by keeping busy deadheading my container flowering plants and pulling up some of the invasive vines that are taking over our property as he watched the horse race.

So when I came inside, DH (remembering his mouthwatering pizza leftover from last night) suggested that we order pizza from Hearth Pizzeria. They have a new menu of interesting selections. Why of course I said yes! So we had a small wheat crust pizza with chicken and pesto sauce, and a small white crust roasted vegetable pizza. Pretty good, but not even closely up to Mario's standards. I made a romaine garden salad with my standard oil and balsamic dressing which was exactly what I love these days.

Earlier today we walked up town and perused the booths at our town fair. Amazingly, DH, who is recently working on re-losing the weight he gained during the hip recovery never even asked to get lunch! So he really was hungry for that pizza tonight. I simply must bring him to Babbo if just to experience that unbelievable dessert....more probably after a great pizza! On Friday evening we are meeting DS2 and DGF at LaMorra for dinner to celebrate my birthday. They have wonderful food there, despite my disappointment this year at their "Big Night". I must get back into cooking before that next meal out or I will feel unworthy!!

Sula, hope you are able to enjoy some of your wonderful sounding meals, in spite of your treatments.

Our plans are to have early dinner out somewhere after attending a music concert at 3 pm.  My friend Linda is a member of the Performing Arts group presenting the concert.  We're going out with her and her dh, who will be departing tomorrow to go to their 2nd home on Lake Norman in NC for 2 months.  They have two daughters, each with two children, so they split their time between NC and LA.

Lacey, pizza is one of those foods that appeals in all seasons!  I have dough for a crust in the freezer and will probably use it for dinner tomorrow night.  I miss making pizza when we're in MN during the summer.  If we buy a larger grill, I could make pizza there. 

Also going to be making a granita, like this watermelon one I already made, this time..pineapple . It's vegan and sugarless as the fruit is sweet enough

Burgers, mac n' cheese and corn on the cob