So...whats for dinner?

ChiSandy

Cherry, I love how eclectic your food repertoire is--cooking as well as eating!

As to turmeric, I asked my MO on Monday at our semiannual visit. She says eating and seasoning with turmeric is fine, and supplementing up to 100mg/day is okay for ER+ patients, but that its utility for anything other than flavor is questionable. And in order to absorb it as a supplement, it needs to be taken with piperine (an extract of black pepper). That's an awful lot of pepper, enough to provoke sneezing or indigestion in susceptible people. I also asked about allegations that "cancer loves B12," and she says that it's perfectly safe in the levels contained in meat and commercial multivitamin or B-complex supplements.

I realized last night why, even though I've been eating more carbs than usual since the holidays and have played hooky from the gym, I actually lost a couple of pounds. Bob & I went out to our favorite Italian restaurant (nerve center of the Andersonville-Edgewater neighborhood, where we first started dining in 1979) and split an appetizer (mozzarella rolled in prosciutto over a bed of arugula and cherry tomatoes) and a pasta (bucatini all'Amatriciana--inexplicably and inauthentically featuring prawns but still delicious). He ordered a cup of soup (lemon-cabbage-orzo) and I had the tossed mesclun that came with the pasta entree. Upshot is that even splitting an app and an entree we still brought home leftovers. I just can't handle large portions--never really could, but even less now. And I drank only water. When I drink, I rarely have more than 2 or 3 oz. of wine and sometimes only an ounce--and always with a meal. Later at home, had 1/2 c. Talenti's new lower-sugar lower-fat chocolate gelato. (More intense than its double-dark chocolate, so a little goes a very long way). And yes, Talenti has stopped making the lids impossible to remove.

Last night I teetotaled because we're going to a winemaker dinner tonight (winemaker is from Chile). Restaurant Week starts tomorrow. And Sat. night we're going to the opera and eating a themed 3-course meal (on one plate) at the restaurant in the Civic Opera House. Bob wants to go out tomorrow night too--but the leftovers are piling up in the fridge and our formerly-reliable leftover-consumption-machine Gordy spends the entire weekend at his girlfriend's place. (He is preparing to get his own studio apt. to learn how to live on his own before they formally move in together).

MinusTwo

DownNotOut - welcome. I love the fingerling potatoes but I don't often buy they. I eat so few potatoes that the bag goes bad before I can finish them. Oh - and now I'm hungry for pizza.

Cherry-sw

ChiSandy, thank you, never thought of my food choices being eclectic, I have just been so badly interested in food since I was small so I am always up for trying new stuff. Ok, maybe not just anything but a lot. Trying culantro herbs in Dominican Republic last year did give me terrible D though, but it tasted like estragon and I did tried it before in 2013 too. Once I decided to try what the laurel tree fruits taste like and ended up with my tongue being numb for the whole day. As my husband always says, please, there is no need to put everything into your mouth, at least google it first.

Great info about turmeric, I think I will stay always from it because even though I had about a table spoon of it together with the grounded pepper in half of my dishes before I still do not know what caused my bc. I have some ideas though but nobody can tell anyway so I am trying to stay away from everything suspicious si to speak. Always enjoy your posts btw, and leftovers have been a way of life in my family. I am rarely bringing anything from the restaurants though, there I am usually cleaning my plate. It has been a while I have been to a real restaurant though.

I have signed upon attenting a customer event in Sheraton the day before the Valentine day. They will present their new restaurant concept, there will be food and drinks served and I decided to go. I have to lose some weight until that though otherwise I have nothing to wear))) so I am very motivated to go back to exercising.

Today it will be tacos and fried buckwheat. I have cooked a lot of buckwheat and every day I look at it and then eat someting else becsuse it is quite dull actually but if I fry some veggies, spices and combine all of it with the buckwheat DH will finish it so I will be cooking the whole new dish of the leftovers. And I keep cleaning my freezer, thaw Christmas turkey carcass and veggies soup yesterday that DH took to to work to eat for lunch.

I also got a recipe of orange cranberry bread that I will try this weekend, cranberry is not very popular here but I happen to have fresh in my fridge, I always buy it when I see it in the store, it can do fine in the fridge for several weeks.

I have a question, I have no baking machine and I have been fancying Kitchenaid Artisan for years always complaining I have no place for it in my kitchen. This Christmas I got a huge Kenwood from DH, this thing was just all-in-one, and when I day all-in-one I really mean it. Half way through I stopped reading what it was able to fo so I will not be surprised it it travel to space too. It was huge, looked highly professional, not exactly my type of kitchen device so I asked him to return it telling him that I always wanted Kitchenaid because it was so, let’s say, beautiful))) I have a mixer with a bowl on a sort of frame that I also use to make the dough, also bought by DH, but I really want an Artisan and yesterday night I have been thinking how to re-arrange the things in my kitchen to make a space for it. So, to make a short story long) does any of you have it and what is the difference between 125 and 175? Also what accessories are worth buying? I really want one in one of the pastelle colors Cherry

BringOn2017

Hi all I haven’t had time to write all week but I have been
following the posts all along.

Cherry glad you’re starting to feel better after chemo… What
beautiful photos you posted that must have been some walk! Also I loved your
coffee service it is really beautiful.  Sorry but don't know anything about Kitchenaid. My mum did have a Kenwoood, and though I would love one I too say no as I don't have place in my kitchen.

Chi-Sandy that duck breast looked sooo delicious. Was impressed
by your coffee info…. Wow. DH and I both enjoy a good cup of coffee, though we
are nowhere as knowledgeable as you! We just enjoy a good cuppa and are very
particular regarding taste and strength. We don’t buy beans but prepacked coffee
for the machine. Invariably we always fall back on the same brand and flavour which
is the Italian Lavazza Gold which is 100% arabica. And we have a Gaggi machine
at home. I only have a cup of coffee at breakfast time these days, and then
drink green tea through the rest of the day.

I have tried a couple of new dishes. Last Sunday I had baby
butternut squash (and I mean baby as in comfortably fitting in a flat plate… )
which I halved and stuffed with minced beef which I had lightly fried with
onion, garlic, cherry tomatoes cumin, coriander, nutmeg, cinnamon and some
turmeric…. Not sure that’s going in again after the posts above. Then I baked
them in the oven for half an hour and tasted lovely.

Monday I baked macaroni – not as in mac and cheese, but
macaroni with Bolognese sauce, then added beaten eggs, some grated hard cheese
and bake in the oven for around 45 minutes.

Today I am cooking fish, I ‘m not quite sure of the name in
English, but I think it is some form of a ray. Anyway I’ll just boil that with
a lemon and celery, and then clean off all the bits of cartilage- no bones in
this one.

And with all the talk there has been of kale, I was thrilled
when our local store got some young fresh kale which is really nice and sweet
tasting. Still I can’t see anyone at home eating it as a salad, so I will boil
some for DH, but I am trying out a smoothie with the rest. I am using kale, home-made
apple juice and pulp, strawberries and banana. I might add coconut or almond
milk too.

I too need desperately to lose weight. Yesterday I went out
to try on a bra and tight fitting hose to get that tummy in! I was feeling I
look desperate. In my bra I don’t think people would cotton on to my recent
reconstruction and I am glad that I am back to being a “B” which is my size
before I married and had DD. But my tummy is awful! It is not helped by my
massive fibroids I’m sure, and the next op in line when I get over my recent
surgery is my hysterectomy and oophorectomies. But still there is extra flab and
lack of tone. Today I went out for short brisk walk (only 1500 steps) and I did
a Pilates work out at home though am avoiding exercises of upper limbs. I read
that you need to wait 12 weeks after surgery before doing upper limb workout.
Anyone knows anything about that? Next week I start work and I really have to
see how I am going to juggle my fulltime (tiring out) job, the housework, DD
and her homework, and time for myself to get my exercise as in walking and
pilates sessions. I also need to get a list of pelvic floor exercises to strengthen
them before my next surgery. Not looking
forward to my next surgery but at the same time, I hate looking in the mirror
and am hoping that removing my 24 week uterus will contribute to a better
shape! But then I think of the hot flushes and waaaaaa…

carolehalston

I enjoyed the posts. Cherry, you impress me as a woman with a lot of energy who gets a lot done.

Bringon, I had reconstruction in 2009 and am still cautious in doing upper body exercises. My plastic surgeon warned against doing pelvic exercises like the butterfly. I'm sure I could go back to them now but I still bypass the weight machines building pelvic muscles.

I cooked two filet mignon steaks last night, one very large and the other smaller. I used the cast iron skillet and oven method. My intention was to have one left over to slice thin for sandwiches. I ate more than I should have so there won't be as many sandwiches! We always slice steaks after the resting period and then serve ourselves from the plate of sliced steak.

The side was turnip roots, peeled and diced into pieces about 1 inch diameter. Boiled in salted water until a knife slides in easily. Drained and flavored with butter and black pepper. Fresh turnips that have grown quickly are not at all bitter. Since my father grew turnips in his garden, I can tell if they're "young."

I think tonight's side will be butternut squash. Not sure about the main food. Maybe stuffed peppers. Colored peppers are on sale at the local supermarket.

SpecialK

carole - pelvic or pectoral? Now I am worried...

Sent DH up to SC with food for him and his 3 sibs - they are going through the parental house this weekend, weeding out things for each of them to keep, deciding what to use to stage the house, and what to leave to an estate sale. I sent him with a breakfast casserole made from sourdough bread, chorizo, eggs and cheddar and some blueberry muffins with a crumbled topping - enough for both Sat and Sun mornings. I also sent a big pan of fusilli with an alfredo sauce with ham, peas and mozzarella. Topped it with Italian bread crumbs and parm to make brown nicely on top in the oven. Sent garlic bread and a green salad and some cookies. They will probably grill out tomorrow - they usually have steaks. I am looking forward to the reprieve from cooking and plan to have some salads and for some reason I am having a craving for baked potatoes, so I got some at the store yesterday.

Speaking of the grocery store - I finally did go, lol! However, am wondering if this has happened to any of you - I am missing items! I am thinking they ended up combined with either the person in front of me or behind me in line because I feel sure they were in my cart, but they are not on my receipt. I hope whoever got my lemon jello, taco sauce, tomato soup, and whatever else I am missing enjoys them! I figured this out when I went to make the lemon cake for DH and realized the lemon jello was MIA.

M0mmyof3

Making a Stuffed Pork Roast with veggies and cranberry sauce.

carolehalston

Pectoral! Lol! This happens to me all the time. The wrong word.

I just finished making the stuffed peppers. Two of the halves will be for tonight's dinner. The other six halves are in the freezer. I buy large colored peppers and split them from stem to bottom. Blanch the halves for 3 to 4 minutes.

I took a short cut and used a couple of packs of Seeds of Change brown rice and quinoa. 2 cups total. I normally use home-cooked brown rice, which I probably would have liked better. Instead of yellow onion, I chopped up some locally grown green onions and a couple of garlic cloves. Cooked the green onion with a lb. of ground beef, then added the rice mixture. Cooked a couple of T. of tomato paste in a spot in the skillet, added a little hot water. Cooked a couple of minutes. Stirred in half a cup or so of shredded Mexican cheese, reduced fat. (Apologies to you purists).

The amount of stuffing worked out perfectly!

Instead of butternut squash, I'll steam some broccoli I uncovered in the refrigerator and make a simple salad of romaine, compari tomatoes and cucumber. DH can add calories to his with blue cheese and avocado, if he chooses and he probably will. I'll sprinkle some white balsamic on mine for dressing. I'll trade the blue cheese and avocado for an adult beverage.

SpecialK, you are so good to your family, providing wonderful food at home and way from home. I hope they realize how lucky they are.

Off to clean the kitchen. I'll be ready for that beverage at cocktail time, 5 pm at our house.

MinusTwo

Carole - I like the Seeds of Change various rice combos. Since I live alone, those are frequently on my menu. I hadn't thought about using them as stuffing for peppers or cabbage.

Dunch will either be a gigantic salad or chicken cacciatore with my leftover rotisserie chicken breasts from the freezer. A neighbor went to Flying Saucer Pies and brought back single slices of fresh strawberry pie for several of us. Be still my heart. I'm leaning towards the combo of pie for late lunch & salad for early dinner since it's already 4:30pm. But I'll eat the pie as an appetizer.

ChiSandy

Cherry, no way eating that tablespoon of turmeric caused your bc. If eating turmeric causes cancer, then all women in India, Pakistan, and SE Asia (all countries where curries are popular and contain turmeric) would have ER+ bc. (So would women in Spain who use turmeric to supplement or substitute for the extremely expensive saffron in their paella; or anyone who puts yellow mustard on their hot dogs--its bright yellow color is due to turmeric). Such is obviously not the case.

The seeds of bc are planted decades earlier--even if you tested negative for mutations and had no family history (parents or siblings). ER+ bc is more likely fueled by years of estrogen overexposure: early menarche, late menopause, few or no pregnancies, little or no breastfeeding, and >10 yrs on oral contraceptives. Age at menarche & menopause is completely beyond our control. Number of pregnancies is usually a personal choice, but infertility or impaired fertility is not--again, beyond our control.

Some pelvic floor exercises can be done anywhere--Kegels can be done while you're sitting in traffic or at your computer.

Dinner last night was great. Sadly, due to the flu epidemic and Chile's lack of cachet among many wine snobs, it wasn't well-attended. Appetizer was a shrimp-salmon seviche wrapped in cucumber in a sesame dressing. Next course was a short-rib shepherd's pie with corn, then beef/olive/raisin empanadas, followed by a mixed grill of carne asada and garlic sausage, with a side of arroz and a chickpea-avocado salad. Dessert was a drunken chocolate cake (milk & dark) with vanilla sauce. Sorry no pix--too busy eating & drinking,

Dinner tonight will probably be Tues. & Wed's leftovers (already had the rotolo di mozzarella over arugula & tomatoes with my lunch egg), or whatever is served at the theater where we'll see a movie tonight. Tomorrow night is an early dinner at the Civic Opera House before a lecture and performance of Turandot.

carolehalston

A photo of the bottom of a dish we bought in Sweden. We visited this factory and bought a couple of pieces from the "sale" items.

carolehalston

MinusTwo

Carole: I'd like to see you post the picture of the hats you've crocheted on this site. We all need to think about giving back or paying forward. Amazing what you've done.

Lacey12

I feel like I've just experienced a real interesting catch up on the thread....and welcome new members/posters!

As usual, I have too much to write, so will make sections....

Funeral:

We just returned from spending a week at DS1's home. DDIL1's dad was finally spared his awful sufficating pain, dying exactly a week ago, at home, with his wife, son and daughter with him. We left to join them immediately and arrived to see everyone (our son, DDIL1, her brother and cousins) in fast movement arranging the details of his funeral service, including a very professional looking video presentation of his life, which was long, but beautiful.

They had a prayer, song, and eulogy (DS1 wrote a textured, loving eulogy which a good friend of his FIL read) service at the funeral home, then a trip to the cemetery for the internment, followed by a hugely attended luncheon (200, give or take a few) at a local function venue (picture the large Mediterranean style places so popular in Jersey)which fortunately had us in a ballroom that could be expanded, which his event required. What a loved man! I was so glad for everyone there that the day of his life's celebration was so beautiful despite the feeling of heartbreak. And the only family drama was his widow's grief expressions...which she is due! She was married to him since a teenager in Iran. I was struck by how loving and supportive everyone was with each other over the weekend, which was really nice.

We had prepped the little grandchildren that they would be seeing people crying as well as smiling and laughing, and they handled the whole day well. Of course they loved riding in the limosine with the bar along one side. DGD (5 year old diva) announced that she really “likes this car...it just needs a sink to be perfect".

Food:

The funeral luncheon featured a typical Italian buffet with many pasta forms, chicken dishes and meats, varied sauces, cheese filled items, basic salad, and for dessert a tiramisu ice cream roll, and every form of Italian pastry and cookie imaginable. After the luncheon, DDIL had all the Persian relatives back to their home(about 40....the night before, they had 14 people stay in their home!) for several hours. It was a Sunday evening. Since folks had just eaten a late lunch of heavy Italian food we just served pizzelles I'd brought down, and dried fruits, cheeses and nuts. Many items were available from baskets that had arrived at their house from friends and co-workers.

People:

As mentioned the majority of the throngs in attendance were Persian relatives, and friends from the Baha'i community of which they are long time members. I really enjoyed meeting many of the people whom I' ve learned about from DDIL's Facebook posts. I was also struck by how accomplished the many young women I met are...all professional gals in science fields. There were few young men there and these lovely gals talked about how difficult it is for them to meet eligible men...a theme I hear in my town from mothers of twenty and thirty something gals.

Our stay:

Our role for the week was to care for the two kids each day (lively girl in Private Kindergarten, serious 7year old boy in first grade). DDIL's mom had no energy to deal with that in her grief, and fortunately had her own siblings remain with her for the week. DS1 and DDIL had surgeries, lectures, etc. scheduled, so we tried to hold family/householdthings together as best we could given our newbie status to locations of new schools, after school activities etc. I marveled at how they carried through with their crazy schedules after arranging such a large funeral and coping with such an emotional loss. Maybe the rigors of med school and surgical training steels their defenses.

We managed to learn the kids' food preferences (essential for morning breakfast rush!), kept the newly discovered allergy foods away from their diets, and got the homeworks done, the basketball game attended, the acrobat class attended, the dinners finished before the piano lesson, etc.

I was the main cook on hand, so did a big shopping trip (their fridge was pretty empty when we arrived except for pretty old veggies...they had clearly been spending every waking moment at her parents' home and ordering take out. DDIL asked me to use the Purple Carrot packages if I could, so I did that two evenings. I found them to be a nusiance...lots of varied forms of cutting prep and cooking prep that resulted in major clean up of pots, pans, blenders, etc...and since the packages are basically meant for two people it seemed to be a lot of work for very little yield and since there were 3-5 of us at each dinner, I had to make more items, plus a salad...so while the kids were at school, I was in full time food prep.

So....not a fan of Purple Carrot (the vegan form of Blue Apron). It felt like I was “playing house" with these small ingredients. It didn't help that I am allergic to cashews and try to avoid soy, which is in a lot of their vegan recipes. Anyway, one interesting dish was a “power salad bowl" which I will post a pic of tomorrow. And another was an eggplant wrap which had hummus on it with some other veggies. It was good, but labor intensive and cooked in oil. I will find another way to prep it if i make it again from memory. There was a “butter roasted tomato gratin with white beans on top" that was absolutely nothing to write home about and a lot of work. I'll stop my complaining there....

And I'll stop writing for now since I am exhausted and better get some sleep! Love those grands, but boy are they labor intensive!

Tomorrow I will comment on many of your posts that I just caught up on.

MinusTwo

Lacey - what a lovely tribute to your DIL's father. It is good that the suffering is over. Wonderful description of the services & events and foods. Wow what a week you had with your grandchildren learning all the new ropes of their daily life. Exhausting but rewarding. Not to mention going overboard to please your DIL with the foods of her choice. I can adjust for allergies, but it's hard to cook totally vegan for more than a couple of meals if you don't live that way, especially if you're constrained by things someone else has preselected. Hope you have some quiet time ahead to decompress.

carolehalston

Lacey, you're a real trooper. I read your account of the past week with interest and sympathy. I can't imagine eating vegan. Vegetarian seems more doable. I had a slice of bacon with my breakfast and for lunch a half sandwich with thin slivers of leftover filet mignon!

Which leaves dinner. I'm thawing two pork tenderloins. With one of them, I'm thinking of making a pork piccata dish. The side will be the butternut squash I didn't cook last night. The reason I thawed two tenderloins was to roast one for sandwiches.

illimae

A grocery store in my neighborhood closed today, everything was 50% off. Bought tons of stuff, first aid items, canned goods, etc. and saved $220. After putting it all away and cleaning, we didn’t feel like cooking, so we picked up some fried chicken.

Tomorrow will be California style carne asada burritos

carolehalston

Illimae, I'm so jealous! Fried chicken. Lucky you.

The pork piccata was good last night. So was the butternut squash. I split it and cooked in the oven. Then scooped out the flesh and mixed in a little butter and brown sugar. DH commented that he really likes squash. I do, too, actually. To me, butternut and acorn taste about the same. They're both resistant to being split open. I use my wooden texturizer as a hammer and drive the big knife through the center of the squash.

The 2nd tenderloin is still raw in the refrigerator. I should cook it. For tonight I'm thawing some home-made pasta sauce with meat. I think the meat is ground beef. I'll cook some linguine, grate some romano cheese and make a romaine salad. It's nice having the sauce already cooked.

Lacey12

Carole, that pork piccata does sound good!

We also really like winter squash. I often pierce it with a knife several times, then microwave or bake it, and cut open once softish, scoop out the seeds, and mash adding a bit of butter, salt, and maple syrup. Yum! I would also like to see your crocheted hats. Oh, and you beat me to the “jump ups” name for leftovers. The other name we talked about many pages ago was “for darn sures”.

Kayak, your description of ways you use kale are so similar to mine. To my soup, however, I also add fresh garlic, fennel powder, bay leaves, thyme, and parmesan rind for flavor. I also add canneloni beans and vegetables, like sweet red peppers and chopped zucchini or yellow squash. Made some today, in fact for this week.

Also, once, I placed some already dressed leftover kale salad in the fridge and ate it the next day. It was perfectly textured at that point. I never get into massaging my kale salads, but I have on occasion dressed them several hours before serving to soften the leaves. In my regular lettuce salads, I sometimes cut up slivers of kale and add that, which is hardly noticeable to kale resisters.

Tonight, since DH seemed to need to have an actual dinner (the past two nights I have had a Minus “dunch”, one included brie cheese, apple slices, roasted almonds, with a chaser of popcorn; another was leftover baba ganoush with water crackers and apple slices), and was even motivated to go food shopping. So I made sautéed chicken pieces and mushrooms that I simmered in a tomato artichoke sauce and served over orecchiette pasta with a side of my typical garden salad.

Cherry, your forest pix are beautiful! I bet you know the name of the rice pudding-like dessert flavored with saffron that I had at my DDIL’s over the weekend. One of the Persian relatives made a huge pot of it, and everyone enjoyed it when there was a crowd gathered at their home the night before the funeral services.

Some pix coming up...

Tonight’s dinner:

Kale soup:

Purple Carrot’s “Power bowl”:

DGD enjoying her second helping of the Persian dessert with saffron which I cannot name

eric95us

Hi Lacey.

As you hinted, sometimes death is not the worst thing.

Mickey was friends with a Persian girl and by extension myself and her family were friends as well......I remember how very close the family members were to one another. I'm sure "mom" will have family members watching out for her.

The vegan recipes may become of more interest to me. DD says that red meats give her several hours of "gastric issues" and shrimp makes her look like she was rolling around in poison ivy. I've seen the "shrimp rash" on her and it takes until the next morning to go away. She says she's slowly inching her way toward vegetarianism and possibly veganism.

Her airborne allergies are really bothering her this year and she is (finally) seeing an allergist to see what can be done about it. The allergist says that they can test for many food allergies, so that is good. It's bad enough that she said she's willing to suspend her dislike of needles and, if recommended, try the allergy shots.

Carole, your mention of pork loins was timely for me. I was at the store today and there was a special on pork loins. Large (25 pounds and more) packages of pork loins were 90 cents a pound. I got a package and used the meat saw to saw them into six "chunks" before freezing them.

Had the magic freezer not been holding 18 gallons of orange juice, I would have bought another pack. While chicken is my favorite thing to cook, pork isn't (especially when it's so cheap) far behind. :-)

I use this for cutting squash and cutting through bone joints. . It's 1/4 inch thick, over a foot long and weighs 2 pounds. Dad had it made when he was in China and said it was made by from a 2-1/2 ton truck spring.

My brother had no interest in the cooking stuff, so it all ended up at my place. The craftsman that did the heat treating was a master at it. When I brought it home, I brought out the sharpening stone and it took awhile to get a good edge on it...and it holds the edge well...both of which indicate it's a nice hard steel.

I have a spot that works perfectly to hold a squash in place without putting my hands in danger and I use a block of scrap wood on the back of the knife as a hammer to tap my way through the squash. When I have time, I'm going use my friends woodshop and make a large V shaped notch in a large block of wood to use as a squash holder.

The oven buzzer is going off and I need to remove the two loaves of sourdough for Sharon's lunches this week.

MinusTwo

Lacey - I would never have thought of artichokes. Today I sauteed onions & fresh mushrooms and added Rao's marinara to simmer. Then I put in two large rotisserie chicken breasts I'd saved in the freezer. Served over Jasmine rice. Artichokes would have been a good addition. I have at least one more meal left over so maybe I'll add the can of artichokes in the pantry.

Last night was Tiger Thai Tempura Shrimp from Costco. Bake 6 min on one side & 6 min on the other. Delicious. I'll buy it again since I have no intention of frying anything. Not a lot of breading & good sized, real shrimp. Served with one of those kitchen sink salads - starting with a bagged Asian mix (yes there's Kale) and adding small pieces of English cucumber & tiny cauliflower florets. I topped with a Ginger dressing by Makoto that was delicious. Since I always add extra things, one of the bagged salads lasts me at least three meals. The night before I added black olives & shoestring beats with Ranch dressing and ate with only sourdough bread.

eric95us

I think Lacey and Minus and I were posting simultaneously...that looks good Lacey and it looks like DGD is enjoying the desert. :-)

I'm going to be away from the house most of Monday afternoon, so I'll probably start something in the crockpot so it will be ready when we get home. I have some chicken in the refrigerator, so I'll look for something involving that.

carolehalston

Nice food pictures, Lacey. I've been re-reading Food and Cooking of the Middle East, which Eric once recommended. I really like the za'atar spice mixture. I learned from reading about it that it's used as a table condiment like s & p to sprinkle on food. I've been using it for cooking. I sprinkled it heavily on the pork tenderloin that I roasted yesterday for sandwiches. There's a wild plant with the same name and the spice mixtures vary.

I'm thinking about Susan today. Hope she's doing well. Olivia must be keeping her busy and entertained.

No clue what dinner will be.

carolehalston

Dinner menu is grilled lamb loin chops and shredded Brussel sprouts. I just looked up some recipes on the sprouts. DH isn't a sprouts fan and I'm looking for a cooking method that he might like. One recipe called for adding a T of syrupy balsamic vinegar to the cooked spouts. One called for grated Parm. Other ingredients that figured in were grated lemon zest and lemon juice. Bacon and bacon grease, but those are out.

Cherry-sw

carolehalston, your dish is Rörstrand Elisabeth, I believe it is cobolt and golden or caramel. My coffee service is Rörstrand too, it is called Blå Blom, neither of them is longer manufactured.

Lacey, this rice dessert is called Sholeh zard, I am not a fan though, I prefer a simple rice pudding, no saffron. Your DGD is very sweet, reminds me of my eldest when she was small. I am very sorry about your DIL's father, funerals are not easy. I absolutely recognize the conversation topics amoung the young ladies, I spent 8 years in Iranian community, it is always about the importance of education, about professional achievements and the lack of eligible bachlors). This chicken dish on pasta looks delicious.

ChiSandy, I asked about turmeric in my chemo FB group. It is so confusing, some oncologists order turmeric supplements and some say to stay away from it. I have decided since I used to take it to prevent cancer and it did not, there is no need to take it at all. I will sometimes add it to some dishes if needed otherwise I will let it be. This tea with turmeric tasted ..., now I have the whole package and no idea what to do with it.

Thank you everybody on complimenting my coffee service, I like it very much too, I was actually planning to buy another china but saw this one and decided to go for it. A couple of cups have yellow stains inside, I red online how to get rid of them by playing it for 45 min into the oven set on 100C and then later dip it into cooking water adding machine dish-washing detergent. I decided to sacrify one cup in order to find out whether it is working.

I made vegetarian chili yesterday, a recipe I found in a magazine, turned out to be really good. Tomorrow I will save myself time and grill marinated chicken drumsticks with some roasted potatoes.

Last weekend we went skating on the lake we have on our island. It was above zero and people were afraid to skate but the ice was thick so we skated with my youngest. It was first time I skated this winter. At some point she was jumping, she id taking figure skating classes so she is very skilled, I was taping her jump and when she landed the ice cracked underneath us. I mean it was still very thick but it was like smaller blow under the water, sort of scary, I have a video))

Here comes some pictures of our frozen lane

auntienance

Carole, even my DH will eat this one:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes

I sous vide(ed?) some chicken breasts for pot pies tonight. The pieces turned out very juicy. Last night I did steaks. I'm so impressed with how perfect they come out. I then seared them on a cast iron skillet heated on the grill.

Lacey, you have been busy! Loved the pictures and the detailed post. I find myself unmotivated to do much of anything. Came down with a most annoying head cold Thursday, in spite of my not insignificant efforts to avoid all the illness floating around. I so despise winter.

Cherry, the thought of ice skating again terrifies me. Not merely the unflattering vision of my flailing attempts to maintain balance, but also the thought of falling on my already defective knee. Btw, I too love your coffee service. How nice that you could find such a complete set.

DodgersGirl

auntienance— hubby is sous vide cooking a pork tenderloin for dinner tonight. When it's donein the water bath, we will brown it in a small amount that f oil and butter then deglaze the pan with white wine, add shallots for a few minutes, then stock, Dijon mustard, and spices,,, simmer to thicken and serve over sliced pork. First tenderloin we have cooked this way. Expect the meat to be tender and flavorful!!

Cherry-sw

auntinance, thank you, it has been in production until 2006 and was very popular so there is possibility to purchase some pieces online in case one of cups breaks for example. Yesterday DH and I was looking at KitcheAid and I was telling him about sous vide and how you got one for Christmas and we are all expecting your reports.

I am not as accomplished skater as my youngest or DH but I am not afraid of skating and I used to do it a lot before. I did fall down and hit my knee when I was trying to walk towards the shore and went on melted snow that was on ice. I should have wanted for DH to help me because this snow is very tricky, the ice is underneath but the snow impededs the skating and it is hard to maintain the balance.

I have decided upon a KitchenAid Artisan 175 in color creme although the youngest insisted on pastelle pistaggio, I am not sure about the accessories yet but they can be bought separately. Some ladies from our chemo group have KitcheAid and as I understood it is so much cheaper than in Europe which I completely understand since it is a US brand. If I opted for Swedish Electrolux I could have it for half of price of an Artisan, but KitcheAid is just beautiful, I love the design. Kenwood on the other hand looked like a sewing machine. KitcheAid coffee-maker was though sort of ugly and I bought an Electrolux instead. Oh, my, a coffee service and a coffee-maker, I feel so grown-up)))

ChiSandy

My MO also said there is really no reason to take turmeric.

Saturday night at the opera house's restaurant, we had the three-course prix-fixe meal. I started with a kale and root-veggie salad, and Bob with a curried carrot soup. Bob's app was a crab cake rolled in smoked salmon; mine was roast quail atop couscous. We both had the same entree: ale-braised short rib with sauteed spinach and mashed sweet potatoes. My dessert was chocolate Opera Cake (supposed to be a roulade but instead a layered torte of chocolate cake, buttercream, brandy-infused sponge cake, more buttercream topped with a slab of dark chocolate). Sounds huge but really only the size of half a brownie stood on end. Bob had a fruit & cheese plate which he couldn't finish--the waiter said we couldn't take it to go but they'd wrap it and serve it to us at intermission--all we'd have to do is sit at the same table. At intermission, we came back and found a fresh entire plate--the two of us together couldn't finish it!

Last night we went to Eataly before going to the movies a block away. We thought we'd go to its one remaining sit-down table-service (rather than bar-stool) restaurant, the Osteria; but first thing we saw was the "Street Food Bar." So we sat at the bar and shared three arancini stuffed with prosciutto, peas & mozzarella, and a seafood fritto misto (shrimp, scallops, calamari). We had an insane amount of time to kill (and little room in our tummies to graze any further--we'd planned to go to the veggie, raw, pizza or pasta bars, but the veggie bar was no longer there); so we wandered aimlessly looking at stuff we'll buy the next time we go there (and remember to bring Bob's Eataly gift certificate) and be able to bring home anything perishable. We went downstairs for dessert & coffee. Bob had a fruit & mousse parfait and a cappuccino. I got a cannoli/marsala combo (one cannolo and a little glass of marsala) which we split, and I had a double espresso. Though the movie theater had waitress service at the concession (they bring the food & drinks to your seat), we were just too full to do anything but kick back in the recliners and watch the movie.

Tonight will be some kind of pasta (probably linguine or spaghettini) with fresh tomatoes & basil, plus a side of broccolini (we have a huge bunch which Whole Foods sold by the unit, not the pound. Might blanch & shock half of it to freeze). No wine (though current events might drive me to drink, BTO won't let me mention them and my MO would rather I hit the seltzer and not the wine).

DownNotOut

MinusTwo, I'm glad to know you like the Makoto ginger salad dressing - perhaps I'll give it a try afterall. The kids and I became nearly addicted to the Naturally Fresh Ginger dressing in the big 12oz jar, but for some strange reason, no grocery store in my area carries it any longer. I have requested it but to no avail. I have seen the Makoto but it looks so different than the one we love, but I trust you!

Thanks for the info about Tumeric. I have seen it touted on some "fringe" websites but wanted to do more research before I tried it. Some friends of my parents who buy it swear it cures everything from arthritis to diabetes (due to its anti-inflammatory properties). Don't we wish there really was a magic bullet like that!?