So...whats for dinner?

MinusTwo

Lacey - so sorry about yet another death but glad that things worked out with your young minister. Also sorry you have to wait until Friday for the CT. I hope you can convince the radiologist to tell you something so you don't have to wait over the weekend for a doc to call.

Lunch was my leftover 'winter' salad. I took a piece of leftover already cooked centercut pork loin from the freezer yesterday. Tonight was a delicious sliced pork sandwich on toasted Rosemary/Olive Oil bread. Coleslaw on the side and the last of the chocolate cake for dessert.

ChiSandy

Dinner tonight is another lazy way out: instant pho and the rest of the hot wings in the freezer (I get a mani-pedi tomorrow so I can wreck my nails with impunity). Washing it down with Green Apple Perrier—tastes like hard cider without the buzz.

HappyHammer

Lacey- sorry you cannot move up the test AND about your friend's DH.  You are so right...so many losses at this stage of life.  Sending hugs your way.

Sandy- Still sending positive energy your way as you continue to slog through the water damage, etc.  Thinking hard cider might be a good idea right about now.

Dinner tonight- grilled pork chops, roasted cauliflower, onion and zucchini and a tossed salad with homemade Italian dressing....working on lowering carbs and NO sugar.  At least until this weekend....headed to Charleston to a James Beard Foundation dinner on Saturday night.  Friday night we will be having dinner at The Ordinary in Charleston as well.  If you are ever visiting the Charleston area The Ordinary is a must as well as The Obstinate Daughter (OD) on Sullivan's Island.  Yes, there are SO many great places to eat but these are 2 GEMS!

ChiSandy

HH, you’re far more disciplined than I. I am craving yeast-raised cream-filled chocolate frosted donuts right now. Thank heaven the nearest Krispy Kreme is 45 miles south of here in Homewood. Might indulge my sweet tooth with some almond-milk chocolate pudding.

The water in the kitchen ceiling was removed during the demolition of the leaking portion, and after 72 hrs. of two roaring fans blasting air into polyethlyene tubes (sort of reminiscent of those “air people” you see outside car dealerships during clearance sales) attached to the tarp covering the hole, a giant HEPA filter downstairs and two humongous dehumidifiers upstairs and down, plus another fan in the bathroom, everything was bone dry. There was never more on the kitchen floor than a few strategically placed containers could handle. (And by the time we discovered the leak from the tank-to-throne bolts on the toilet, most of the upstairs water had already sought its own level and we were able to dry off the tile and put down a mug atop a plastic bag and a towel until the plumber replaced the bolt & its gasket).

The estimator came today for the restoration phase, which will, thank goodness, be lath & plaster rather than drywall and far better sealed off during work. The remediation phase actually cost more than the restoration, but the insurance will also take into account food (including imported pastas, expensive condiments & the like) I had to discard because their packages had been opened and there was no way to ensure the dust hadn’t gotten in, repairing or replacing ruined small electric appliances, and any temporary lodging and meals during the couple of days or so we’ll have to spend off-premises for our safety during the second phase. (The vet says the cats will be safe confined to our bedroom upstairs and in the front of the house).

carolehalston

The menu for tonight is salmon, broccoli, and romaine salad

Lacey12

I like your menu Carole, and think I'll do the same. On my walk, I'll stop at the store and pick up some salmon.

Tomorrow I'll head over to have the CT Scan since there were no cancellations all week. Keeping fingers crossed. Ironically my cough is not nearly as bad as it has been over the past three plus months.

Last night we ended up eating Legal Seafood crabcake sandwiches at the Celtics' sports venue since we could not get a table at any of the restaurants nearby (no reservations taken). The sandwiches came with thick chips, which I ate most of! For all of the food pushing there, there is not a healthful low-cal option in that place at all! My plan had been to get salmon and veggies at a restaurant. Thus the salmon need tonight! I really must get my eating on a better keel. My eating french fries and then chips in one week is a new low! Trying harder....

Hi to all.....

ChiSandy

My cold is hitting my throat, hopefully not en route to my lungs. Not from the dust, since nobody else in the house seems to have it, and it came on the same way as my housekeeper’s strep.

Dinner tonight will be at Eataly (we have a gift certificate), at whichever of its sitdown restaurants has the shortest line. Then we’ll see a movie.

MinusTwo

Dinner was more leftovers. Pork loin sandwich. Royal Comice pears from Harry & David. Zucchini run through the spiralizer and nuked with garlic & butter. One madelaine for dessert. I might have to have one more later. Since tomorrow is garbage day, I also 'processed' two grapefruits so I could throw away the rinds. The sections & juice are waiting in the fridge for tomorrow's treat.

Lacey - hope the CT scan shows something totally innocuous.

Sandy - hope you're feeling better.

Eric - are you doing OK?

auntienance

In your pocket tomorrow Lacey.

eric95us

Me, too, Lacey.

Next Tuesday I'll be in ET's pocket...I'll be taking her to/from the angiogram and she's pretty worried. She's one of the family by choice and I'm concerned too.

Chi...strep...blah. Hopefully that can be quickly caught/arrested/killed. As for the asbestos/lead worries. Based on how well the restoration contractor is dealing with drying everything out, I'm sure they are satisfied that there isn't an issue. And, since the insurance company is paying, I'm sure the contractor wouldn't hesitate bringing up asbestos or lead remediation costs...more work, more money....

Oh, I forgot. I cooked the duck and it turned out well for a first time effort. I used my last jar of last year's batch of home made orange marmalade. Sharon liked it and so did I; especially the large amount of dark meat on the duck.

Sharon is wanting to use me to practice her explanation of how Avagadaro's number came about.

ChiSandy

Thanks for the reassurances, Eric. Congrats on the duck—that bird isn’t always kind to a dark-meat-roasting newbie (I once almost set my oven on fire roasting a goose). I must admit that when it comes to duck, I cheat and buy the Maple Farms precooked halves or leg confit.

Tonight Bob encountered some heavy traffic coming home on NB Lake Shore Drive—due to rain starting just about rush hour, so we got a later start than we’d planned. We Uber-ed it down to Eataly. En route, we decided that dinner was priority one, and that if we missed the movie we missed the movie. (I deliberately did not reserve tickets). We took a look around upstairs; there were really no lines, so we decided to try their casual Osteria (rather than the Verdure, Carne or Pesce rooms or the pasta, pizza, oyster, wine or salumi bars). We shared an antipasto of mixed salumi (prosciutto, salami, capicolla), Parm-Reg and Taleggio cheeses, and insanely wonderful dried apple chunks in honey, mustard seeds and red pepper flakes. (Sadly, they wouldn’t serve more of those as a dessert). We also split an order of linguine marinara with prawns. Bob’s main course was seafood (mussels, clams & calamari) in “acqua pazza” (“crazy water,” which is the charming Italian term for broth made with wine); mine was broiled wild red snapper with trumpet mushrooms, shaved brussels sprouts and green apple slices. Absolutely no room for dessert (having a cold’ll do that, and none of the choices appealed to me), so had an espresso macchiato and the cookie that came with it. We were getting sorta loopy from the wines, so Bob agreed we should save the movie for another day. So on the way out I bought three little custom-filled cannoli (one each chocolate chip, pistachio and trad. orange peel) in chocolate shells. Not the stuff of my Brooklyn childhood (never mind that wonderful little pastry shop in Taormina), but cannoli nonetheless.

Freya244117

Hope you dont mind if I join you. Just a simple but tasty salad for dinner tonight. It is all you feel like when it's been a hot steamy day.

Diced roasted potatoes, roasted cherry tomatoes mixed with some baby salad leaves and herbs. The dressing was lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil and dijon mustard. Sprinkle over some crumbled marinated Danish fetta and serve with some grilled bread.

eric95us

Hi Freya. As they say, "Welcome to the kitchen." :-)

Hot and steamy day? Even here in Phoenix, Arizona desert it's cool right now.

april485

Lacey, joining the pocket party!

I have never made duck but I am going to try it this year...has been on my list of "try, it won't kill you" recipes for a while

Sandy, hoping whatever you think is going on is mild in the long run or disappears by morning!

Hot and steamy Freya? Where????

Hi everyone...nothing special on the menu tonight and in fact we will likely order pizza or something.

Freya244117

Eric, I am in Australia, so summer here. We live in the mountains so usually escape the worst of it. It has started to rain so bringing some nice relief.

Carol, you mentioned an air fryer. I bought one last year, and it has become my favourite appliance. It is compact, roughly 30cm x 20cm, so not too bulky. Trying to make life easier for DH for when I am not around anymore, hopefully that is still a way off though. The air fryer does great roasts, the best pork crackling, crispy skin salmon in 6 mins. I use it like a small oven and in summer a big advantage is that it does not heat up the kitchen like my large oven. I'm sounding like an informercial

eric95us

I was thinking southern hemisphere.

I know some wildland fire fighters that have gone to Australia in December to learn more about the fire behavior.

MinusTwo

Welcome Freya. Pull up a chair. Or, errr, a knife & a bowl. It will be fun to have someone from the flip side of the world. You can talk about ice cream when we're dealing with simmering soup.

April - glad to have you here. Most of us cook most days, but yes - we do order pizza.

Eric - is ET the other daughter you've talked about before? I hope the tests come out OK. I had to look up Avagadaro. After skimming the text, I'm still not sure what it's talking about. I'll have to try again with my student hat in place.

This afternoon we're playing dominoes AND one of the ladies is bringing her specialty, my favorite recipe - Mexican Black Eyed Peas. Soak peas, add sauteed ground pork, celery, onions, lots of chili (I use mostly green) then simmer most of a day. YUM. I think I posted once, but will do so again if anyone is interested.

Anonymous

Eric - Glad the duck turned out well. My husband usually makes cranberry sauce with it. Were you able to save some duck fat? Store-bought duck fat is expensive. Love using it for cooking. I just read recently that it's good in pie crust.

Hmm, an air fryer sounds interesting. I really like the Instant Pot.

Freya244117

Thanks for the welcome everyone. Eric, unfortunately bushfires are a problem we deal with regularly. What we love about our home is that we are surrounded by forest, the downside is danger of fires.

I'm becoming a little obsessed with some BBQ cooking shows on an American food channel we get here. I'm pretty sure I literally drool at times

eric95us

ET is a friend of mine..Like family for over 30 years... She is one of two who helped me out of my "funk" in the mid 1980s.

....same birthday, last name, height, hair color, eye color and eye glass prescription. She is probably 40 pounds lighter than I. Even the college degrees are similar--computer science for her and electrical/computer engineering for me....

The "test daughters" are the (now) grown & long married daughters of another friend of mine. That nickname is their's. They said we were as close to each other as father-daughter and it was as if I were testing the waters.

The duck fat is in the refrigerator and I've been using it in place of oil. I had wondered how it would do in place of shortening in a pie crust. If DD were home I'd try it. Sharon stepped on the scale this morning and groaned a bit, so I probably shouldn't make a pie! :-)

Sharon is teaching chemistry and Avogadro's number is used to determine the (approximate) number of atoms in a given amount of a substance. It's needed when figuring out how much of each substance is needed in a chemical reaction.

auntienance

Baked beans from scratch, pulled pork and coleslaw on tap for tonight. I haven't been a big fan of baked beans from dried versus canned beans, but I've tinkered with my recipe a bit and am hoping for a tastier result. One thing I've done is used salt pork instead of bacon for a "porkier" flavor. Taste tests so far have been favorable.

Welcome to all the new "voices!" My goodness, we're certainly spread out now. Our table is going to need all it's leaves! Do we have anybody in CA right now?

Minus, that black eyed pea dish sounds marvelous -- sadly, I would be the only one to eat them. I get DH to eat hoppin' john' on New Year's day (about 1/2 a cup anyway and then only because it has rice in it) and that's it.

Sandy, you really don't need to be sick on top of everything else you have going on. Healing wishes to you. I really hope Lacey doesn't have to wait all weekend to hear her test results.

april485

Minus, I think you are on too many threads! I have been here in this thread for several months and you keep welcoming me. Hey, I will take it since it is better to be welcomed than it is to be chased away.

xo

ChiSandy

Mucinex DM is keeping this bug (started in the sinuses) at bay—I don’t feel compelled to cough and when I do, it’s easier to bring up stuff, which isn’t as thick. Had a scare with something orange-colored, till I realized the dry air in the house (three days straight of industrial dehumidifiers will do that) was probably causing low-grade capillary nosebleeds. And whenever I have lung stuff going on, it always starts as postnasal drip. Closest I’ve gotten to fever was 98.9 last evening when we got home from dinner out. (I normally run in the low 97s). Bob’s pneumonia started in his lungs (he didn’t have a head cold), and our housekeeper’s strep came on suddenly when her flight began its descent to Birmingham. Besides, I’m now vaccinated against 36 strains of pneumococcus.

Lacey12

Freya, welcome! Yes, Nance our table is using all of its leaves!

First of all, on this punctuated day, I am loving your avatars, April and Serenity! Already missing them, and they've probably not even landed out West yet!

Keep feeling better, Sandy!

My pockets were comfortably full early this morning for my CT Scan.....yaawn. Thanks all! Plus, DH announced that he was coming with me, so my cup overfloweth!

Well, Nance, no doc word yet...so I guess I will be waiting until Monday for the results of the scan. Fortunately, I have a busy weekend, so maybe I won't have time to conjure up worries! I have a tendency to employ 'gross denial' for things like this, when there is nothing that I can do....so that is what I am likely to use until Monday.

Last night I ended up making haddock which I baked over a spinach/onion/garlic/mushroom sauté. Then lots of veggies in our salad with evoo and pinot grigio vinegar. I avoided bread, but did have some chocolate pieces after dinner. At least we stopped in at the gym for over an hour after the scan, so I got some exercise in.

I am really tired tonight so not sure what we are doing for dinner. There is leftover fish....or maybe pizza up the street! I'll let DH decide....he's always up for pizza.

Tomorrow we'll go through our Celtics' pre-game "what to do about dinner" routine. The game is early, 5PM, and I am going to meet up with DH who will be marching in Boston until around 3, so hopefully we'll sort it out then. I had hoped to march, but they are heading into town at 8AM and I can't imagine holding up (marching) for that long until I figure out what is going on with the lung densities. So he will represent moi......good guy!

Have a good weekend everyone....

ChiSandy

Steak, carrots and Brussels sprouts tonight. Will see if I can get and keep the gas grill lit so as not have to deal with the ribbed cast iron center-burner griddle and the smoke it might create.

Anonymous

Lacey - They are an impressive family and will be missed. Pinot Grigio vinegar sounds delicious.

We may be getting sushi a little too often. After my appointment today to get my port flushed, my husband ordered sushi on the phone for pickup. It was through the car speaker so I could hear it. The person asked for his name and number. Then she asked for the order. When finished, she said, "Oh, so just the usual, <his name>".

Anonymous

eric - It's very supportive to not bake the pie at this time.

eric95us

Sharon had a cold come on strong today. She's snoozing in the recliner right now.

I'm hoping I don't catch it.

MinusTwo

April - is this my very own April and I missed it because of the new avatar?? Sooooo sorry. Yes, I love your contribution here & elsewhere. And yes I'm looking forward to meeting you down the road as already planned. And yes, I like the new avatar. It just threw me off base.

Supper is snacks after the huge black eyed pea & pork & chili dish earlier. Eating Harry & David: Moose mix, whole wheat pretzels w/honey sesame mustard, pretzels covered in sweet yogurt, and the last Royal Rivera (comice) pear that melts in your mouth. Thanks to those nice young people who send me a mini-tower each year. On the side, my Kringles came today from Wolfermans. I froze the Raspberry and have tasted to Pecan to make sure it will be good for breakfast. Hmmm, maybe I'd better taste it again to be sure.

ChiSandy

Stay healthy, Eric—hope Sharon can shake the cold pretty quickly.

Was about to go outside and light the gas grill, but it was really damp and foggy. So I hauled out my cast iron skillet from the oven, got it screaming hot and tried it the “America’s Test Kitchen” way (except I used truffle butter instead of making an herb butter). I roasted halved Brussels sprouts in a balsamic marinade, salt, & pepper; and after I steamed some carrots, tossed them in butter, salt and just a touch of maple syrup. I am obsessed now with getting a decent seasoning on my cast iron pan—drives me nuts when little bits of paper towel lint rub off on the pebbly surface. It’s a Lodge Logic “preseasoned.” I do have a generic one with a smoother (but definitely not seasoned) surface—might get some flaxseed oil and do Cook’s Illustrated’s “ultimate seasoning” method when it gets warmer and I can heat the pan outdoors on the grill, since to me flaxseed oil smells like paint (to which I’m pretty sensitive). But, supposedly, flaxseed oil gives a very slick and durable seasoning—much better than canola.