So...whats for dinner?

illimae

DH made a bucket of his special (everything is better with bacon!) potato salad for a friends pool party tomorrow. Just tested it, it passed inspection 😋

illimae

Thanks for the reminder minus. Tonight was a joint effort, DH pan fried pork chops and made the Brussels sprouts, while I prepared the mashed cauliflower.

Whether it’s lobster or grilled cheese, it will almost certainly be eaten on a paper plate because I like cooking but hate doing dishes.

MinusTwo

Illi - Looks delicious. Is the green - green pepper or green onions?

MinusTwo

Lacey - loved your long newsy post. I hadn't thought about Debbie from OR in awhile. She was fun. Hmmm, I'll have to put my thinking cap on about the third Gemini.

MinusTwo

Gemini B-days from the past.

>>>went back to page 450 (spring 2013) and skimmed forward to find out about the Gemini triplets - Lacey, Seaside Memories and Debbie6122. So happy b-day to you three. Laurie's B-day was 5/27.

Maybe we have some new Gemini's now?

SpecialK

Just used the search function - SeasideMemories was the other Gemini! Happy Birthday Lacey

illimae

The green is Brussels sprouts, halfed and sautéed with a little garlic and cream. So yummy!

MinusTwo

Oh - I meant the green in the potato salad. Is that Brussels sprouts? I'd actually like that.

illimae

Oh, got it, the green in the potato salad is celery and green onions. DH adds red onion and bacon too and seasons it with konriko, it always ends up being everyone’s favorite.

Lacey12

I appreciate Minus’ words reminding us of our wonderful, humble founder, Laurie, with whom I actually keep in touch via Facebook. She and her family are doing well. She did a lot of substitute teaching in her boys’ school this year, and is looking forward to their summer camping trips to Lake Winnipesaukee with family and friends.

Thanks for confirming my guess aboutwho my other Gemini twin was, Minus and Special!

Tonight we had sea scallops sautéed with mushrooms, onions, asparagus and garlic, topped with feta cheese and served with farro and a romaine garden salad with my homemade vinaigrette.

Tomorrow we will meet DS2 and DDIL2 at their in-town home and head to Seaport with them for a walking tour of the newest developed areas there, then dinner at Tuscan Kitchen Seaport (newish addition to the area) to celebrate my BD and FaDay. It will be great to catch up with them.

Happy Fathers’ Day to dads out there! Tho it seems sadly ironic for us to be celebrating parental nurturance while so many kids are being separated from theirs.

ChiSandy

Last night's wine dinner started with asparagus involtini (goat cheese & prosciutto) with field greens on the side; pan-roasted halibut with pesto over Tuscan beans & spinach; ravioli filled with housemade sausage & fontina, napped with spicy vodka sauce, peas, & housemade pancetta cracklings; porchetta over farro with porcini & Chianti-based brown sauce; and crespelle (crepes) filled with Nutella and napped with caramel.

Breakfast was the last slice of leftover pizza. Dinner was 100% leftovers: Thai stir-fry veggies, half a small grilled garnet yam, half my ribeye from Tues. night, half Bob's fries from his leftover Reuben, and a leftover ravioli from last night. Three-night-old cannoli (soggy but still delish). Probably just have a couple of eggs & low-carb toast for breakfast. Maybe nosh on nuts in the car on the way down to Lafayette. (Won't try the booths at Taste of Tippecanoe till we're done playing, since I can't sing well on a full stomach).

M0mmyof3

Think I am going to be grilling out a lot or making stuff ahead so all I have to do is nuke it in the microwave when hubby gets home. We have a mini heat wave coming early this week. Ugh

carolehalston

We are missing a lot of people who used to post. I just thought about Carrie, who lived in the Finger Lakes area of NY. She and her dh had a boat that they used to cruise the lakes. They bought a second home in North Carolina, I believe. I hope she's doing well.

Lacey, thanks for reporting on Laurie. I miss her but understand how busy she must be. I was impressed with her ability to plan a whole week's menus and do the shopping in advance. That's such a smart thing to do but somehow I've never been one to plan ahead more than a day. Or maybe two.

We're having fish for dinner. A neighbor gave us some fillets. I think they are walleye but there could be some crappie fillets in the zip lock bag, too. DH likes his fish breaded with fish fry breading and cooked crisp. I like that, too, but may skip the breading on my portion. A good possibility for a veggie side is zucchini sauteed with onion cut large enough to pick out.

To incorporate more veggies into my diet, I have been steaming cauliflower, broccoli and carrots until they're just cooked beyond raw and then dressing the medley with some white balsamic and EVOO. I keep a big container in the refrigerator. I add the veggies to egg salad for lunch. Also add them to tossed salads for dinner. It's convenient to have them ready to eat. I got this idea at my last WW meeting.

Also at that meeting, I picked up an unlikely pancake recipe. Mash a whole banana. Beat in an egg. That's your pancake batter! Honest. It's good. I tried it. The pancakes are very light and are good with sugar-free syrup or berries and a squirt of whipped cream from a can.

MinusTwo

Carole - I love to toss leftover veggies in my salads but somehow never thought of steaming them ahead of time. Duh!!! Thanks for the tip

Lacey12

Carole, I also like that idea of having the 'blanched" veggies at the ready in the fridge! Speaking of our missing posters, I saw a darling pic of Susan's DGD this week “reading" one of her favorite books to her mom. Very sweet. She is so much more grown up since I last saw her.

We went on our Seaport tour with DS2 and DDIL2 this afternoon, and it was a balmy, beautiful time to be walking next to the harbor, perusing all of the new development there. Then we had our birthday/Fa Day dinner celebration at Tuscan Kitchen Seaport which is in one of those many new shiny buildings. The experience was somewhat mixed...the staff were quite solicitous about my birthday, even displaying a bd card at the table, signed by the many servers. The actual service was less than stellar....entrees came out immediately after our basic calamari and peppers appetizer, making for a less than relaxed dining experience, and our kale salad never made it to the table at all. Those who had ravioli dishes needed to practically tackle the parmesan grater server who blew past our table twice. The wine was delightful. DH enjoyed his branzini entree, and my salmon, sweet potato, and asparagus entree was very nice. The waitress offered us free desserts in lieu of our missed kale salads (pretty funny comp!), so I enjoyed pistachio gelato with a small glass of a liquor I can't remember, since I was unfamiliar with it. DH had a wonderful walnut frangipane topped with cinnamon roasted apples and pear, mascarpone gelato, and caramel sauce. I tasted a bit and swooned! The young ones had zeppoli with creme anglaise. We all enjoyed our desserts a lot!

It was a lovely afternoon and dinner, catching up with each others’ news and talking about potential of a move to the suburbs for them. That will be a challenge given the crazy real estate prices in this area. They are understanding that they will be farther from the city than they might have wished.

Here we are on the harbor:

ChiSandy

Scorcher today, worse tomorrow. Going down to an overnight low of 82! Had a double-yolked egg and a Lithuanian sausage roll for breakfast (plus a coffee & an espresso) before heading down to Lafayette to play the festival. (Also had a couple bottles of water beforehand, one onstage and one after). Got there and loaded-in an hour before we had to, and 1-1/2 hr. before our set. But as my breath support suffers if I sing too soon after eating, I didn't go around to the booths & sample. It was 95F at peak and still >90F at showtime (at least we were in partial shade). My wrist and thumb made it very difficult to play the higher frets on borh guitar & dulcimer, and I was sweating a LOT--plus, first a gnat and then my sunscreen got into my eyes (ouch). Wrapped up, began to tear down & pack up--and then I got dizzy and tachycardic (though not as rapid as when we were first setting up. And when I get the "twinklies" (usually in hot weather after a physical stress is over and the adrenaline weara off) I also get queasy--so I was in no shape to consider sampling the various food booths (never mind the beer & wine)! My singing partner and one of our local fans helped by carrying my stuff to the car 3 blocks away (instead of my driving the car to behind the stage and load out). So I got in and cranked the A/C as cold as I could get it. 5 min. and a bottle of water later I was good to go.

I'd seen billboards advertising Fair Oaks Dairy's sit-down restaurant, The Farmhouse--especially their fried chicken. It's about midway in the trip. (On the way down, I bought gas at Fair Oaks), So I was jonesing for fried chicken...till I saw that tonight's special was prime rib...with 15 min. to go. So I ordered it...and waited...and waited...and waited. I couldn't figure out why it would take >20 min, especially since the dining room was almost empty and the kitchen appeared fully staffed and churning out burgers--all they had to do was cut a slice of beef and plate it. Well, it turns out they had to make several tries to find a medium-rare piece by that late in dinner service. So though I ordered the 12-oz. "queen" cut they gave me the "king," apologizing that medium was as rare as they could find. Came with cornbread, sauteed summer squash, au jus, horseradish & garlic mashed potatoes...and two boxes. I ate about a third of everything except the potatoes, which I sampled. The food was delicious, though.

Got home, had a piece of cornbread and an Aperol spritz. Tomorrow night Bob will try to get home in time to make at least part of Father's Day dinner (Gordy, Leslie, & her parents--in from Houston--will be joining us at Cellars).

M0mmyof3

Sandy, you must be sending the hot weather my way. Anywho, last night was chicken, rice and salad

auntienance

We are having high heat as well - upper 90S with 75% humidity. Ugh. Worked outdoors much of the day yesterday cleaning out gutters. Double ugh. Will try to stay in today.

DH has requested homemade pizza for father's day so in spite of the heat, I will fire up the oven this evening for 15 minutes. (I may decide to bake it on the grill but he prefers the oven.) Crust is in the fridge for its overnight rise.

Happy fathers day Eric!

M0mmyof3

Thinking either boneless pork ribs or pork chops

MinusTwo

Brunch was strawberries & cream and a lovely pear with a side of pistachio nuts. Dinner was a spinach salad with almonds & cranberries and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Oh - and of course I added a garden tomato - Cherokee Purple variety.

ChiSandy

Awoke at 10 am to 92F. Ugh. And have to walk to dinner, because Father's Day means all street parking spots taken.

Lacey12

Well, hopefully you Midwesterners will have some temp and humidity relief by tomorrow when that mini heat wave is gracing the East Coast. I am scheduled to teach my last three elementary classes in the upper floor of the school that heats up like a greenhouse at 80 degrees. Supposed to be nearing 100 tomorrow. Am hoping that the teachers don’t cancel since we are heading out of town in a couple of days and won’t return until school is out. I do love the lesson I prepared for the kids that helps them demonstrate mastery of some of the strategies they learned for self-regulation. And I made them cool bookmarks. I’ll probably be more disappointed than they are if we have to cancel it. I’m game to muddle through....and yell over the whirring fans.

We had a low key Father’s Day, with DH watching three different sports events on TV, and me trying to get summer outfits out for our trip to NJ.....including bathing suits....eeeek!

For dinner I decided to go low cal and easy. Bought already cooked shrimp since I wanted no fuss (never did that before and was asking the fish counter guy where it gets cooked, how long they had it, etc., etc., when the man next to me said, “Why don’t you let her try one?”. It was perfectly fine! ) So I got some of them and an ear of corn for each of us and called it a day! All I did was “de-tail” the shrimp, make a big bed of romaine lettuce and some fresh cocktail sauce and cook up the corn. DH had a big chunk of our leftover Eataly bread loaf too.

Nance, you get the sainted wife award for the way you took care of your DH. Glad mine doesn’t read these posts!

Minus, that salad sounds right up my alley!

And yes, I hope you had a Happy Father’s Day, Eric.

Dinner visual:

M0mmyof3

Going to make something non-complicated that we can heat up in the microwave later. Don't feel like heating up the house today.

carolehalston

We had the layered eggplant dish from the freezer last night. I heated/cooked it using the convection oven function of the microwave/convection oven. Convenient and delicious. Side was a tossed salad.

It's in the low 60's this morning. We'll go to the gym, have breakfast in town and do some grocery shopping. Tonight we'll have dinner at a restaurant as yet not selected in Bemidji following my WW meeting at 5:30.

ChiSandy

Will have leftovers tonight---surf (from fish & chips) & turf (from prime rib).

Valstim52

Fajitas with homemade pico, salsa and sour cream. Using leftover grilled steak and shrimp.

MinusTwo

Val - always great to see you.

Hope April is doing OK.

Lacey - Thanks for the update on Susan & Laurie. I miss laurie's stories about her boys and Susan's great bread adventures - not to mention that cute GD.

auntienance

Grilled ham steak with fresh grilled pineapple slices, corn on the cob and broccoli. It's hawt.

MinusTwo

Leftover sauteed vegetables with fried rice. Really too late to eat at 9pm after water aerobics.

eric95us

Thank you, everyone, for the father's day wishes. It was a quiet day.

The two of us have been exercising a lot (and losing weight) and I've been doing training for my government job.