So...whats for dinner?

ChiSandy

75 degrees even at 9 pm! Only 2 more days of summer weather till the cold & rain roll in on Mon. Dinner on Cellars' patio tonight--sesame-crusted seared ahi appetizer, fish & chips entree (subbed a Caesar salad for the chips) with coleslaw. Did a calorie-splurge: dessert was Black Dog double-chocolate gelato. Going to the Barn in Evanston (tent seating) for early steak dinner tomorrow.

Beaverntx

Eric, I,too, have an implant due to a tooth that was adsorbing (not a typo) itself. That's one reason I prefer an implant to a bridge. The other is that a bridge requires daily "fiddling" while once past the early stages an implant is treated more like any other tooth.

Sandy, double chocolate, yum!! I always thought you could not have too much chocolate until I tasted a five chocolate dessert and it was just too rich. Double sounds just right.

MinusTwo

Special - I previously had double MOHS for basal cells on each side of the nose by the creases. Both were about the diameter of a pencil eraser. My talented surgeon was also able to pull the skin over so it's not very noticeable. I'm just not sure there's more skin left to pull if we have a 'do-over'. But I'm going to stick my head in the sand and not worry about it until the end of next month.

Nance & Lacey & Carole - and all the rest of us who buy Raos - I thought this snippet about Ina Garten was illuminating. If it's good enough for her, it's certainly fantastic for me.

When it comes to store-bought pasta sauce, there's only one brand Ina trusts and that's Rao's. Garten revealed Rao's is the only brand she trusts to buy from the store during an interview with Today last year.

Eric - I agree. Working in the heat takes away any appetite. All I want is a cool Gin & Tonic. Amazingly it was down to 69 this morning. But least we get excited about fall, it was over 90 by noon.

Reader425

Was feeling a bit punk so DH, instead of getting us his favorite cuban takeout as we had planned earlier in the day, made grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato basil soup. Perfect.

Tomorrow he'll grill some cheddar bacon burgers (if all goes as planned) and I'll make my mother's delicious potato salad to go with it.

Minus, also a Rao's fan here! 😍

ChiSandy

Rao's is my go-to, even at Whole Foods prices when I can't get to Costco. I even use it for shakshuka (adding a little harissa & za'atar).

Breakfast was 2 fried eggs & black coffee. We went for an early dinner (more like "dunch") at The Barn of Evanston. Parked on-street (metered), 1/3 the price of (and safer than) valet. Dined in the tent, which was a good thing: though the thermometer said 78F, the wind had other ideas. At one point, we had to anchor the menu QR-code card under a vase because it blew off the table. I did carb-cheat: app was the "Grand Central Caviar Sandwich" of bowfin roe, crème frâiche and chervil on home-baked toast; and I had half of one of their whole-grain sourdough rolls. Bob had a Little Gem salad (like a wedge, but with those small leaves). His entree was filet mignon with potatoes; I had pan-roasted halibut over Brussels sprouts and a grilled asparagus/bell pepper medley. Sides were creamed chard with cipolline onions, and sauteed wild mushrooms. We took home half. I will save mine as my "fast-breaker" meal Monday night after Yom Kippur; my Cellars leftovers from last night will be my pre-Kol Nidre dinner. Since I am not "sick" (no longer in active treatment and no symptoms) I am not forbidden to fast.

carolehalston

Last night was a salad with the leftover half of a bagged kale salad. I hadn't bought this salad in many months since I had grown tired of it way back when. But I bought a bag on impulse and enjoyed it as a change from romaine salad. I added avocado. In addition to the salad we had a small frozen pizza that was given to us by one of the couples in the resort. They were emptying their refrigerator and freezer before departing.

I will be giving my unused freezer items to Hugh, a man who lives in one of the two condos. He's always willing to take anything offered to him. He's a seasonal worker at Itasca State Park and is very thrifty, probably out of necessity.

The weather has turned gloomy and we are planning to depart on Thursday. So next week will be busy with preparations for abandoning our 5th wheel camper to survive a cold winter. Unfortunately, I will probably feel less safe in my parish in Louisiana where Covid cases have been much higher than in this rural county. I'm hoping I will be able to go to the gym but I'm doubtful. Recently I learned that two of the women in the golf association at our club had Covid. Both recovered but one was very ill for three weeks and lost a lot of weight.

Normally, I watch three political talk shows on Sunday morning but current happenings are so stressful that I am not watching them today. I will read the NYT and WAPO online.

MinusTwo

Carole: I saw this on BCO and agree totally with your by-passing TV shows. Sad but true. Like you, I'm getting my news via real "paper" or newspapers on line, which I can always put down. My brother who sends me at least 6 links to read/watch every day did not think it was amusing - but it certainly applies to all sides of the issues.

MinusTwo

I don't think the cartoon above is political, but I'll be happy to delete it if anyone is offended.

Don't know what got into me but I was slicing & dicing & cooking up a storm Friday & Saturday.

My Mother never made Tuna Noodle casserole with pasta noodles - only with La Choy Chow Mein noodles. Also I wanted to use some of my Kirkland canned Salmon, but didn't want to use Cambell's soup as the liquid. I ended up converting a sort of Hungarian Noodle recipe that used sour cream & cottage cheese as the sauce base. Then I tossed in most of a big bag of fresh spinach towards the end. Could have used more spices, but not bad.

Yesterday I cooked ham hock & beans with celery, onions, carrots - and used Anasazi beans instead of navy beans. I forgot that the Anasazi don't need to soak as long so it's a bit soft, but their flavor is delicious. Also made potato salad, deviled eggs, and cucumbers w/onion & dill marinated in sour cream.

To top it off, I had some leftover cold rice that didn't get turned into fried rice last week and decided to see if I could make rice pudding. My Mom always made it in a double boiler and used un-cooked rice, but turns out there are several recipes with leftover rice. One was baked in the oven and two were cooked on the stove top only. I chose stove top, but probably not much difference in heating up the house since I had to stand & stir for 30 minutes. I had some OLD small snack packs of raisins that softened nicely when I added them early. I know my Mom never did this, but all of these called for a beaten egg towards the end. It definitely changes the dish to more of a 'set' pudding, but using leftover rice the grains had pretty much lost their shapes anyway. It wasn't what I intended or thought I was making, but it was very good. Out of the 1-1/2 cups of pudding, I ate almost all of it last night and had to force myself to put down the spoon.

Needless to say, no cooking today - or tomorrow, or the next day. I have too much food to finish in an entire week.

Anybody know if I could freeze ham hock & beans?

eric95us

I think the cartoon is funny.

Enough politics from me.

As soon as I cool down, I'm going back work on the landscaping.

ChiSandy

Broccoli-cheddar quiche and mesclun salad with balsamic vinaigrette at brunch today. Will reheat my Fri. leftover fried fish and eat it with leftover Caesar salad before Kol Nidre services begin tonight. Saving the quiche for break-the-fast tomorrow, and last night's leftover halibut & veggies for a slightly late dinner.

MinusTwo

Cooler most places - so who's cooking?

ChiSandy

No food today, because it's Yom Kippur. Because Reform online services are short, we usually finish before sunset even when they're held in-person at temple. But because they're pre-recorded (and on YouTube), they're even shorter and will likely end even earlier! Will have a little challah & wine for the Kiddush afterward (as they serve at temple). Dinner will be my leftovers (1/2 slice of quiche, salad, fish--ahi & halibut & veg, starting slowly and gradually). Bob is working, so he will eat at the hospital.

Taking a break right now from YouTube Yom Kippur services--afternoon starts back up at 3:15. I couldn't volunteer to take part (blessings, ark-opening, etc,) in the August recordings, because at the time I had the big lead patch on my eye, and then even with no patch my R eye was not ready for public viewing. But the services turned out fantastic--including even Jeff Tweedy (leader of Grammy-winning rock band Wilco) and his two sons singing one of the hymns, with wife Susan behind the camera. (Yes, they're temple members--we are so lucky to have them).

It was a bit weird to see the chat scrolling along the side, with greetings & comments by the rabbi & cantor in real time. At one point last night, there were over 300 people logged in, from all over the country. And I discovered this morning my TV has YouTube built in! No way to do live chat on it, of course, but I can always mute the audio on the computer and type while I watch live on TV. I watched archived morning services (slept in because of fasting), but will do the rest live, till the last blast of the Shofar and the subsequent Kiddush. (blessing over wine & bread, which I'll have at the ready), Havdalah blessings & celebration.

Raining again now--we really need it!

eric95us

I guess it's cooler here...as in steel is no longer boiling. I'm getting ready to can some more broth...outside....

carolehalston

I liked the cartoon, Minus. I didn't interpret it as left or right politics.

Yesterday I used the multi cooker to cook a small beef roast my neighbor Mary gave me when she was cleaning out her freezer to head to FL. The roast was still frozen so I used the pressure function. Later I switched to saute to make a gravy and then to slow cook for cooking the potatoes and carrot with the sliced beef. The end result was a B grade. I had a can of Grand biscuits (gifted by another departing neighbor) and baked them in the convection/microwave to go along with the stew.

Tonight will be pork chops with veggies from the freezer.

eric95us

I don't know if I posted this before. If so, sorry. If not, enjoy the Phoenix weather report from a few years back..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXuc7SAyk2s

ChiSandy

Services on YouTube ended with the shofar blast at 4:30--but Kiddush & Havdalah won't be till 6:30. So 2 more hours of fasting....

MinusTwo

Eric - funny... Yup, the cold front came whistling through so it only got to 79 degrees. Oh my - below 80. I walked in rainy mist this morning. Really quite pleasant.

Beaverntx

Eric, 😀

illimae

KFC for me, feeling too sick from a new chemo treatment to bother cooking tonight.

MinusTwo

Original recipe greasy KFC was what I always wanted after a night of partying too hardy & feeling queasy the next day. Hope it stays down Illimae.

ChiSandy

Feel better, Ilona! Hope the KFC hit the spot.

SpecialK

minus - here's hoping the nose skin thing is a nothing. My most recent skin check - which had been COVID delayed - was one of the few where nothing they found was biopsied. We had previously discussed a mole that had been growing larger and it was right at the corner of my mouth. My surgeon didn't want to completely excise because he feared a pulling result at the corner of my mouth, or a scar that went across the naturally occurring north/south line from the nose. So, he sliced it off at the skin surface. It left what now looks like a freckle after healing, which is what it originally looked like for many years. It was starting to take on a witch-like look... Side thought - I do think you can freeze the ham hock and beans - Dr Google says so.

illimae - hope you can get the SE sorted and that the KFC was tasting good to you.

eric - I have seen that clip several times - it is truly hilarious and kudos to the weather guy for making what I'm sure was a frustrating tech glitch so funny.

carole - be safe on the trip home. The grocery sharing by departing neighbors reminds me of the many years of being a military spouse - we all did the same before a move. They used to not move any alcohol so there was also usually a party to drink it up, lol!

I too am a Rao's fan, but also like Paul Newman's marinara and the old standby Ragu Chunky Tomato, Garlic, and Onion. I also liked Mia's Kitchen marinara but don't know if that company is still in business. So, I just checked, looks like Amazon may have it - but the price is steep, and also learned that Mia is Mia Sebastiani of wine fame. When DD did keto a while back I did find some good low sugar jarred sauces for her. I also watched the Ina Garten Barefoot Contesa episode where she went to Rao's and cooked with Frank Pelligrino.

I was diagnosed TEN years ago today! My MO high-fived me at my last appointment, lol!

MinusTwo

Special - GREAT news. I'd say a high-five was definitely in order. Or maybe 10 fives. So glad to hear this.

SpecialK

minus - thanks! It is a bit surreal - seems like 100 years ago and yesterday at the same time. I feel very lucky todsy

Beaverntx

Special, if not 10 high fives, at least a high 10! 10 years out is fantastic, congrats.

illimae

Dunch is beef and barley soup, minus the beef. I used leftover squeezin’s from a crockpot pot roast but there was no actual beef left, so I added chopped onions, carrots and barley.

Feeling a bit better today and I still got leftover KFC, if I get hungry later.

eric95us

DD is bringing over boyfriend tonight for dinner and he is his bringing his cat along "to meet the dogs". ?!? I'm sure the dogs will be OK with Lucy (the cat) and since Lucy is only a few months old, she probably be OK with curious but gentle dogs.

I'm glad you're feeling better today Illimae. I like KFC, but not too often.

10 years and all is well....that's good news Special. I agree about the "seems like a century passing since what seems like yesterday". :-

MinusTwo

Oh my goodness Eric - boyfriend? Must be someone special if she's bringing him home to dinner. What are you and/or Sharon cooking? We'll look forward to your report.

eric95us

They're bringing over food. :-)

MinusTwo

No joke? You're meeting the young man for the first time - AND the cat - and they're bringing the food. Sounds like keeper.