So...whats for dinner?

eric95us

This year, for each dish, I made quite a bit less than normal so that I wouldn't end up eating leftovers forever. After slicing up the turkey, I freeze it, so I don't really count that as I can wait awhile before "those leftovers".

I did make a 2nd batch of both the sourdough dinner rolls and garlic mashed potatoes so that DD could take some back to her apartment.

The broth does jell up...until I can it..then it doesn't do that anymore. I'm guessing the 20 minutes at 245F degrees "ruins" the gelatin.

I started making broths and other things when my dad was diagnosed with heart failure (at age 90) and put on a low salt-low fat diet. Suitable convenience foods were impossible to find, so I'd make and can stuff for them. After they both died, I stopped making the "other stuff", but continued making and canning the broth.

Lacey12

HaHa! Yes, Nance, I do remember that I have an Instant Pot! I briefly thought about unearthing it from the basement in its unopened box, but it was late on T-giv night, and I doubted my tired brain’s capacity to decipher the directions at that hour. On Friday, at our next door neighbor’s, I spotted hers and got her brief tutorial. So this week would be a good time to give it some love. My neighbor regularly uses hers to cook dry chick peas for her delicious hummus.

Carole, you have had quite the Thanksgiving excursion! I admire your traveling energy. And I’m horrified that your pralines were not immediately cleared off the plate on Thanksgiving! I hope your trip home goes (went?) smoothly and that you are enjoying your favorite place.

Magari, I’m happy for you to move past that port wearing phase of your treatment! And what a generous friend you are to provide such a sumptuous (and diet preference accommodating) spread to the non-cookers at the Friendsgiving! I do hope that your air stays clear now that the fire is contained. Friends we were with last night reported that their SF son was unable to access a mask when that air quality was so bad. What a horror on so many levels.

Off food topic.....Yesterday, DH and I went to Volante Farms, where our DDIL2 was showing and selling her adorable dog bone-themed holiday wreaths. The owner is DS2’s good friend and offered for her to do a “pop up” display during his annual family visit to Santa day, held in their greenhouse. So basically, she was the only “crafter” there, and while it would be a stretch for folks to buy a “dog bone wreath” at a Santa visit day, (a definite impulse buy) some people did! Not sure if DDIL2 felt her sales effort was a success, but she certainly got an eyeful of current parenting (and lack thereof) efforts, with so many young families attending.

Then last evening we met for dinner with our long time lake neighbors who also live in the Boston area. We went to Legal Seafood, where I was grossly unimpressed with their greasy version of calimari, but quite happy with my entree of artic char, kale salad with lemon dressing, and jalepenapolenta. DH and I split a key lime pie for dessert.

Tonight I get to have whatever I want for dinner after pilates class as DH is invited to a business talk downtown. Yay!

Am also deciding what to do with my bone broth, which, by the way, did not jell. I froze and brought a pint of it to DDIL2 since she is drinking it these days. Question, since it is nutrient rich, can I add a pint to my soups for extra nutritional benefits, or just use the entire few quarts at once when making soup? Not sure why I am so ignorant about this. Thanks for your advice!

And, Eric, you got that much broth from one carcass?? Impressive! It sounds like your family is definitely making solid headway into vegan life. I’d bet many of DD’s college peers are doing the same. I was really impressed with all the delucious vegetarian and vegan options at Olin College’s cafe when I had lunch there recently.

Have a good week everyone!

auntienance

Ha ha Lacey, I feel it is my civic duty to remind you of the instant pot until you at LEAST take it out of the box!

We were fortunate enough to dodge the bulk of the blizzard snow and ended up with only about an inch. The winds were and are cold and vicious however. Soup is appealing (as long as it's not turkey.) Minestrone it is for a meatless meal, which is also appealing. A side of salad and garlic bread will be plenty.

Our thanksgiving and after thanksgiving dinners were traditional. Desserts at DSIL's were pumpkin, blackberry and blueberry pies, a pumpkin roll with a cream cheese filling (the best), gingerbread (mine), some GF cookies, something called brownie brittle and pumpkin bread. Like Carole's pralines, my gingerbread was largely ignored. Saturday, DDIL pitched in with our scaled back dinner so it was rather painless. The spatchcocked turkey was perfect, DDIL made the stuffing (my least favorite thing) and the gravy and mashed the potatoes and browned the carrots that I had cooked sous vide. They also brought appetizers so I got off pretty easy and as a result, wasn't drop dead tired by the end of the day for a change. I did make a smaller gingerbread for us and an apple cranberry slab pie. The turkey carcass is now residing in the freezer awaiting a (distant) future performance as soup no doubt. There is just enough turkey left for pot pies later in the week.

I bought a couple of Christmas presents on line today and did some research on some others that I'm considering. I seem to be short on inspiration this year influenced no doubt, by my general lack of enthusiasm about the holiday. We had planned to go south for Christmas but when we decided to sell our house this spring, we opted to stay here and try to get things in order. With this insane weather who knows if we'd be able to travel anyway.

Speaking of which, safe travels Carole!

auntienance

Lacey, by all means add all or some to your soup!

ChiSandy

Leftover orecchiete alla Barese (sausage & pine nuts) tonight. As piping hot as I can get it w/o overcooking. Will be ravenous after I get home from rehearsal.

M0mmyof3

I use the leftover turkey for sandwiches for hubby to take to work.

Cooking a steak and using up the leftovers from Thanksgiving.

Beaverntx

Dinner tonight will be a casserole of turkey, dressing and gravy with sides of the leftover cranberry sauces and green beans. Missing romaine lettuce for green salads!

Granddaughters are back in college, have almost finished the leftovers from their week long visit so back to needing ideas every night-- one night soon will be fish but I have an early evening meeting tomorrow night and will need something simple.

Sandy, the Chicago weather is being featured on our evening news as I write--stay safe!

illimae

DH and I postponed Thanksgiving until Saturday, so yesterday was leftovers. Tonight was turkey soup using the bits and broth not frozen or set aside for turkey ala king tomorrow. DH also mentioned something about a turkey pot pie soon, that’s exciting, I love pot pies!

bedo

For Thanksgiving, bagels with lox, tomato slices, capers, red onions, cream cheese, lettuce and 2 eggs over easy. With a coke, iced coffee and water. We don't like to cook and went out to eat. We are a bunch of weirdos. The lox and oysters being the exception to being vegetarian, added as of 6 years ago.

Today my daughter, grandson and I went to the Children's' Museum and had grilled cheese sandwiches.

Tonight store bought mac and cheese. I am a pig.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

I really need to add some vegetables.

This New England weather seems to have really increased my appetite, and I can't stop eating.

ChiSandy

Bagel, cream cheese and lox with heirloom tomato, red onion, homegrown (windowsill) scallions, dill and capers for breakfast. Could finish only half. Lots of tea with raw honey, as I'm trying to fend off laryngitis--rehearsals thru Wed., show opens Thurs. night and I don't want to lose my voice. Doc put me on prednisone--20 mg. to start, 10 for each day through the end of the run on Sun. (If my voice improves by Sat., that might be my last pill). Had the leftover orecchiette with sausage & broccolini tonight. Lots of garlic--hope that helps immunity.

SpecialK

I love pot pies too, but nobody else in my family seems to be interested. We have a great restaurant locally that we go to for good steaks and they have introduced a chicken pot pie recently. I haven't tried it yet but that may be my solution to having it without making it at home.

We are officially out of turkey and other leftovers. We had Thanksgiving at our friend's home and did bring home food - some things that they made and some that we made and brought over. My BFF from California is coming from Dec. 4-11 and I will do the T-Giv meal over again with a turkey breast I bought on sale and froze. I made a double batch of cranberry sauce and froze that too. Some old-timers on this thread remember my BFF - you all offered prayers and support when she had a mammo re-call right after her dad passed away unexpectedly. That meant the world to both of us and thankfully all was ok with her. I actually called her imaging center before she went in - unbeknownst to her - and asked that they be very gentle with her in light of her circumstance. She is also single and went alone, had recently gone through a bad break-up, and had just had her house robbed. Eeesh! I was concerned enough to be pushy, lol! Fortunately, the imaging center director understood that I called out of love for my friend, and was supportive of my request!

eric95us

There needs to be some room left in the jars, so only about 9 ounces of turkey broth go into each jar. This works out nicely as I tend to need broth in 1 cup increments. I let the stock reduce until it tastes "right". This time I had to reduce it by 1/3 instead of the usual 1/2....I guess this was a more "tasty boned" turkey..

Chi....keeping fingers crossed for your voice.

M0mmyof3

Shake and Bake chicken.

Lacey12

Finished up leftovers last night by making a requested by DH dinner of turkey ruebens. Never made any kind of rueben before since I don't need so much bread and russian dressing. However, I am also suffering from frequent hunger pangs in this raw weather, Bedo, so was happy to finish out T-giv that way. They were delicious.

Today I saw that our local grocery store was having an amazing (almost half price) sale on sea scallops so I decided to make a scallop/veggie/farro toss for dinner, since I rarely buy those expensive little sweet nuggets. We just needed to get away from fowl. It was involved to make, but I was content to go zen cutting veggies, zesting an orange, steeping saffron, and putting it all together, since we had just visited a good friend who is about to depart the earth. And in the end, my creation, inspired by several similar recipes I googled, was colorful and tasty....and given the volume, we have enough for another night.

Our friend has been experiencing a living wake as he is being cared for at home, with his wife so welcoming of all who love him to come sit with him, share memories, and sing to him He was a member of several choruses and they have all been coming to serenade him from their living room even while he lays upstairs in his bed. Sunday, one of his more professional groups came and sang Handel’s Messiah for him. He says heis at peace and feeling loved by so many. Everyone should depart this way.

Special, I am glad you advocated for your friend. What an overwhelmingly challenging time for her, and how fortunate she is to have you, such a caring friend. Enjoy your visit!

Pic of the scallop toss below....also had a cucumber salad. I will keep the identity of the dark green veggie in the toss a secret!

ChiSandy

Leftover hibachi steak, veg. fried rice, and noodles w/root veg.

illimae

Mmmm...Scallops. Looks good Lacey.

“Jump ups” tonight, leftover turkey soup for me since I had a big lunch. DH is working on a new recipe for homemade flour tortillas, I’ll help taste test 😁

SpecialK

lacey - BFF and I always have fun, even if we are sitting around in our pajamas, lol!

Tonight was boneless pork chops, pan cooked with sides of steamed spinach and mashed sweet potatoes. Having the Tampa BCO ladies for lunch on Saturday - having a chili bar, taco bar, baked potato bar, salad bar, and an ice cream sundae bar. The good news is that the toppings for the assorted bars have quite a bit of overlap. Except, of course, the ice cream - lol!

Beaverntx

Tonight was leftovers from when the granddaughters were here. Still have some orange chicken which will probably go into a rice bowl with broccoli; the only other leftover is cranberry orange relish--the recipe I used made way too much, especially since the girls much preferred the smaller dish of whole berry sauce!

carolehalston

So good to be back in my kitchen in control of the menu. We arrived home early afternoon on Wednesday. Dinner was a rib eye and corn. The rib eye wasn't completely thawed and still responded fairly well to reverse searing. The corn was kernal corn out of the freezer.

Last night was roasted chicken thighs, baked sweet potatoes and chopped salad made with iceberg lettuce. DH said there wasn't any romaine in Winn Dixie.

One noteworthy meal during the Thanksgiving road trip was dinner at Ruth's Chris in Barrington, IL following nine-year-old Monty's ice hockey game. Monty's dad, also Monty, hosted a dinner of ten people. Shudder to think of the bill. He and his wife are big on ordering appetizers. One was a crab meat stack that was phenomenal with big pieces of lump crab meat, avocado and mango. It would have served as an entree for me. I had a perfectly cooked medium rare filet and roasted root veggies that were the only disappointment. I shared BIL's creamed spinach and didn't eat the veggies. The Grey Goose on the rocks was my only cocktail on the trip, although there was wine.

Tonight's menu will probably include shrimp.

eric95us

I brought home a dish hutch and all of the family china. I'm in "overload" right now. There appear to be two different patterns. One is a service for four (with spares) of "POPE GOSSER MADE IN USA" in what I think is a Fluerette. This was in with some wine glasses that were marked with a note that they were my mom's parents (married in 1916) wedding set.

Looking around on the internet, the POPE GOSSER MADE IN USA mark (in all caps) was from the 1950s.

The wine glasses appear to be of the correct vintage.

The other set is Narumi China service for eight, and is a pattern that I've been unable to identify.

I also have a few pieces of hand painted bone china that was painted by my grandmother. I know that's correct as I saw her do the work.

This still isn't the sterling tableware, nor the sterling serving sets. Those are still in storage.

I'm not sure what to do with all the stuff. I can't keep it all, nor do I really want to do that as that would be just putting the decisions off onto DD.

I have used the Narumi set, along with the sterling tableware and crystal. Thanksgiving of 1982, my parents went to my brother's place and Micky's parents couldn't make it out from Illinois, so she and I hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for two other couples. Bone china, sterling tableware, crystal, etc...and we were all in blue jeans, T-shirts and sneakers or flip flops. The reason for the shoes was that we all decided that if dinner was going to be that formal, we should at least wear shoes. :-)

I just noticed that there is even a set of brass "dustpans" and a small brush...for sweeping the crumbs from the tablecloth.

eric95us

Pope Gosser

Hand Painted by my grandmother

Narumi

I talked with my best friend about taking the 'Gosser china and they would very much like it. So, I guess that part is solved. Now, to re-wrap it so it will survive transport.

MinusTwo

Eric: The Gosser is lovely. So glad you found a home for it. We all have so darn much STUFF. Like you, I don't want my son to have to deal with it but I'm not making much progress.

Not doing much cooking. Today was a turkey sandwich from Costco. Trying to get my Christmas stuff ready to mail. Virtually no one with whom I exchange gifts lives within driving distance. I finally have all the ingredients to make hamhock & beans next week. Taking my nephew & his wife & daughter to dinner tomorrow.

Today's fun was a kitchen sink block up. After two hours of trying, I finally called a plumber. The blockage was past the wall & I no longer own a snake, so I'm glad I called. Then we discovered the disposal was leaking - so I had to have a new one of those. Too bad I'd already bought my Christmas presents. The cost of the plumber was amazing and that will be my Christmas. Not going to return the $3.00 slippers I bought for myself at Target.

auntienance

Beautiful Eric! Glad you found a good home!

carolehalston

Inherited possessions can be a burden. I have many "treasures" that I collected and enjoy and no heirs who will want and appreciate them. I like hand-made items by artisans, especially potters.

Last night's dinner was very good. I used the air fryer to cook large breaded shrimp and they were just as tasty as pan fried. I pre-heated the air fryer to 400 degrees. Wet the shrimp with egg beater and breaded them in Louisiana fish fry. Sprayed each side with a butter-flavored oil and cooked five minutes, turning the shrimp midway the cooking time. The result was browned exterior and tender juicy interior. One side was an iceberg lettuce salad with cherry tomatoes, halved, avocado and blue cheese, vinaigrette dressing. The other half was cauliflower mash, which has become a favorite food for us.

Tonight will be pork tenderloin, sliced into medallions and cooked in the oven in Cattleman's barbecue sauce. Side will be Bush's baked beans, which dh likes very much. Probably another iceberg salad. I'm not minding the iceberg, which is the only lettuce in the refrigerator.

ChiSandy

Gorgeous china, Eric!

Yesterday started off with a plumber’s visit—our toilet tank started incessantly gurgling Thurs. night, and only earplugs allowed me to sleep. Needed a new flush assembly (these Toto toilets cost more to repair than the simple Home Depot toilets cost to buy). But it was a good day, and we had a full house for the Bar Show last night. Think tonight’s sold out too. Have a final matinee tomorrow.

Dinner after the show was at Mercat a la Planxa (helmed by Iron Chef Jose Garces). Tapas were: olives, artisanal cheeses, charcuterie, bacon-wrapped stuffed dates and two salads (green, and Serrano ham & figs with spinach & candied walnuts). Three paellas: meat, seafood & veggie. Dessert was house made ice cream bonbons, gelato, and flourless dark chocolate terrine. Lots of sangria, too. Tonight there’s an after show party at Bar Louie, but talking at all those noisy parties always gives me laryngitis. So I will probably just go to the hotel bar or pub instead

MinusTwo

Dinner at Brio was delicious. I had a wedge salad w/excellent blue and Gorgonzola, diced tomatoes & lots of bacon. I paired that with a bowl of Lobster Bisque. My nephew had a chicken pasta pesto and his wife had a Shrimp & Lobster Linquine dish. I love their rosemary flat bread & also excellent sourdough bread. We ordered the 3 year old a dish of fruit from the kids menu and they she ate some of all our meals.

My niece & I preceeded dinner with a concert by Mercury chamber group & four soloists called A French Baroque Christmas. Marvelous concert. Apparently the tunes to a lot of French songs were once drinking songs. Many of the melodies made us want to dance. The group uses all period instruments.

There was a theorbo (a sort of lute) and a charming elderly man from Montreal played a Hurdy-Gurdy (or a wheel fiddle). New to me, but don't laugh until you look it up. The sound is like a cross between a violin and bagpipes but keys are depressed like an accordian. From Wiki: The hurdy-gurdy is a stringed instrument that produces sound by a hand crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a violin. Apparently not the same as the 'barrel organ" which requires only a crank to play and my grandparents saw at the circus gounds of their youth.

Beaverntx

Sandy and Minus2, Your meals sound fabulous and put my rotisserie chicken, roasted potatoes and big green salad in the shade--but I really enjoyed the salad since romaine was back in the store today!

MinusTwo

Carole - I've been reading about Spinach Madelaine and the history from the 50's of the famous cookbook of the Junior League of Baton Rouge. There are several versions, especially since the original cheese roll is no longer made by Kraft. If you make it, will you share your recipe?

PrincessButtercup

All I can say is that it's a good thing my kids are off at college. Most nights we have soup, sandwiches, or breakfast for dinner (this can include cereal). In our defense, we've both had a cancer diagnosis in the last 2 years. Neither of us has the energy to cook.

ChiSandy

Well, dinner tonight wasn’t much. Bob got stuck at work and by the time he got home to grab his overnight bag, he felt it was too late to cab it down here to the hotel. So no late dinner at Kitty O’Shea’s; thus, no excuse to skip the cast party at Bar Louie. Meh. Even with a private party room the noise was overwhelming. Food was Buffalo chicken nuggets (too mild), quesadillas, chips & salsa and some totally weird flatbread. Cash bar, too—had a Lagunitas, the first real beer I’ve had since last year’s cast party. Bob says he’ll join me in the morning for the breakfast buffet. I have a friend coming to tomorrow’s matinee, so I will probably use the Kitty’s burger twofer coupon (hope it’s good for my friend’s veggie or fish burger, as he is on a cardiac diet).

Tonight went very well, though on one number I momentarily lost my balance pivoting for the choreography. But since the character I was playing was supposed to be stoned, it got a big laugh. And I was in really good voice—didn’t have to take anything down an octave. Hope it holds up tomorrow, as I won’t be taking prednisone tomorrow morning (my 5 days are up). Unless I get invited to do a holiday radio show next week, I can give my pipes a rest and let them continue to heal on their own.

At the cast party I got a chance to talk to the producer’s wife, who is a 15-year survivor of a de novo Stage IV diagnosis. Ibrance has begun to fail, as there are now mets in her liver. She’s switched to Verzenio—hope it works. Fortunately, since she’s not yet on Medicare, she gets her meds for free using the mfr. coupon