So...whats for dinner?

Susan, Carole is right, L.L. Bean is the place to find those classic sweaters. You'd probably never have to buy another one, their stuff lasts forever. Very Yankee approved I imagine. As for me, I don't own a sweater. Waaaaay too hot. In fact, I'm going to an ugly Christmas sweater party Tuesday and an going to have to make something with my trusty glue gun. The best I can do is an ugly Christmas knit shirt.

Dh has gotten my cold so wanted sick day dinner of soup and grilled cheese last night. I'll try again with the stir fry tonight. He seems to be suffering more than I did (don't they always? Except for you Eric!) so we'll see how he feels.

Got a lovely surprise last night. One of my adored nieces sent a basket with two bottles of wine and a bunch of gourmet goodies in it. We've already polished off the Florentine cookies and Belgian truffles. Love her!

Carole, keep those beautiful days going for the next couple of weeks! Btw, sending you a pm.

Cleaning mode today for tomorrow's company. Did get a piecrust made for a custard pie.

susan, there are a couple of companies that have weekly menus and send out a box of prepped meals for the week. Maybe your Mom would like a subscription? At least one of the companies has a biweekly offering. 3 meals a week fir 2 people is bout 60 a week. You could gift a week r more. I'll see if I can in the site.

Susan - I am with you bemoaning the lack of "nice" sweaters. I love cardigans longish so that I lean over no gap between shirt/skirt, button up but they are the devil to find. I usually wear to church year round since it's always cold in there. I cannot imagine not using hand lotion in your climate. The ends of my fingers would split in 1/2 constantly. I see no reason a heated throw could not be used at her computer - just so that she is wary of the cord. And I, too, love your description of her. Wish I still had my mom to spoil.

Dinner will probably be soup/sandwich. No idea when DH will get home. I'm off to church Christmas special. Just ate the last teeny bit of meatloaf. Prob. need some boxed salad to round it out.

Nancy - you may be busy with guest preps. I have bought most of the ingred. for the black eyed pea stew. No slab bacon around here. Salt pork yes. I love the instructions to cut it into lardons - sounds like a perfect description of salt pork "lard". I bought multicolored chopped kale at WallyWorld. Toyed with the baby kale but ended up with the multi. The lardons bits look meatier than any salt pork we get here. I have some thick cut bacon too. Might use combo of both. I think maybe Monday for this.

DH was suitably impressed that freezer looks better. Thinks I am better managing budget - no it's just going to different places other than just grocery.

Tomorrow I think I'll make meatball soup. Maybe supposed to rain buckets but forecast looks more doubtful as the day goes on.

Chatted with a young woman in India today.  She works for Chase bank in the customer service dept.  I mentioned to her that I was reading a book on Indian cooking.  She said I wouldn't like it.  It was too spicy and oily.  Thought the "oily" comment was interesting.

Tonight I made another almost-Vietnamese dinner from the Momofuku cookbook. This dish was inspired, for me, by the ground pork and lemongrass languishing in the fridge. Here is an online version: http://momofukufor2.com/2010/02/grilled-lemongrass...

Our dinner was quite different. We ate a fraction of that meat per lettuce cup. For me Southeast Asian food is all about the balance, with each component playing well together. I made a little snow pea side dish. I blanched the peas, shocked them, and then dressed them with the fish sauce vinaigrette and a bit of sunflower oil. Nice crunch to accompany our lettuce cups.

I have purchased a sweater for my Mom. Not perfect, but nothing she will hate. I will head to Marshalls this week. The food section a the one closest to me always has some fun items, and then buy some of the Indian boxes at the local Indian market. I will hold off on the hard drive since that requires a trip North to "install." Now onto my sister.... the one who happily accepts gifts but never seems to give them. She is a bit of a hoarder who keeps an pretty messy house. I always mutter "she doesn't need more crap" so she might get something like a nice peppermint set from Penzey's. She is a hot chocolate kind of gal. My husband bought his primary gift today for me to wrap. We are way too old for big surprises, well except for the iPad Air I bought him last year.

Still no tree here, but I do have Christmas music going while I cook dinner. Tonight was the King's College Choir, one of my favorites.

*susan*

Can hardly talk this morning.  Not a problem since dh and I aren't big morning chatterboxes.  The hot coffee feels good flowing down my throat.  Reading about the food traditions of the Arab countries makes it seem even more unfortunate that those countries have been so disrupted by the political and religious conflicts.  The history is fascinating.

The navy bean soup with ham chunks (also diced onion, garlic, carrots, celery and small can of diced tomatoes) was tasty as was the wedges of corn bread with butter.  The leftovers will not go to waste.

Dinner tonight will be at a restaurant with another couple following the annual Christmas concert at St. Timothy's Methodist Church.  This musical event is always wonderful.  The choir is well-trained and there are always symphony musicians and soloists with beautiful voices.  It's probably the high point of Christmas for me along with the family dinner on Christmas day.

No Christmas tree here.  One red poinsettia, a door prize, and a gangly gilt reindeer Christmas card holder.  I bought him at Bed, Bath and beyond one year.  He's so homely and comical he makes me smile.  We haven't even bothered to get the lighted Christmas wreath out of the attic so far.   There are Christmas decorations elsewhere to enjoy and I won't have to dismantle any of them and pack them away. 

Susan, yay on the sweater for your mom.  DH and I both like to buy our own "stuff," so that cuts down on gift-giving at Christmas and birthdays.  He just made some major purchases, a new lathe for wood turning, a new set of Ping irons. I've asked him to help me select  bikes for my niece's three children, a present from a sister, a brother and myself.  He's making beautiful wooden pens for people in my family.  He likes to bake dozens and dozens of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies to package up for the neighbors.  I would be interested in some other baking projects to provide some variety but it would hurt his feelings if I said as much.  So oatmeal cookies it is, whether the neighbors want them or not! 

I'm about to get started on Meatball Soup. I have 3/4 pkg frozen meatballs and soup just sounds good. Chillish in house but just had a round of springlike T storms roll thru.

Carole - I hope your throat feels better this afternoon. Just heard news that flu expected to peak in DFW this week. Hope that is true and neither DH or I get the nasty stuff. Both of us had the quadrivalent vaccine but I understand that the coverage % is even less than they were saying a week or so ago and it wasn't good then.

MMM - Mommyof2 - chicken pot pie sounds yummy too. I just know the soup will use up more stuff in the produce drawer.

Susan - glad you were able to find you DM a sweater she can snuggle into.

Leftover chicken pot pie. Enough left for possibly two meals!

I just had an evening with a almost-6 year old boy and he loves books and toys you assemble, like trains. he is all about motion, and sitting. Interesting combination isn't it? you can never go wrong with things to color with. Kids love paper and crayons. Three months, wow, diapers come to mind. If grandpa is having trouble buying gifts, diapers must be putting him over the edge. Or a mobile for over his crib. Or for the three older ones, one set of car tracks they can assemble in different ways, and then they each get their own cars. And sad as this might seem, four stockings each with a chocolate coins, orange/clementine, and whatever might be considered traditional in your part of the world. [New England always has an orange in the stocking.]

Just a few thoughts....

*susan*

p.s. what a lovely thing to be doing.

Susan - I don't guess I know what Italian peppers are. Again we are sadly cuisine deficient. I cannot handle green bell peppers but adore esp. the orange ones. Maybe stir some cooked spaghetti back into it. Sounds vaguely like the sausage stir fry I make even though mine has no tomatoes instead yellow and zucchini squash. Maybe make it a bit more soupy/saucy like.

Mommy - Yay for leftovers. That's what we are having leftover meatball soup. I seem to never have cans of tomato sauce. No problem - I added some of that flavored ketchup and some jarred Sofrito that needs to be gone. DH says it was good. I had some onion ciabata rolls sandwich type. Split and toasted in toaster. DH has to go to dentist in Ft Worth tomorrow. I think I will go along and do a bit of Mexican food shopping. There is a Fiesta, Krogers, Alb, and Tom Thumb nearby. Not enough time to make all of them while he's getting a cleaning. Hmmm. Have a Mexican food Christmas party Sat. night. I'm thinking Chiles Rellenos Cass. and some kind of dessert.

Carole - your dinner sounds wonderful and a lovely place to revisit. I agree with Lacey - Legos is the 1st thing that came to mind 8 & 6 y.o. will certainly enjoy. They make bigger Legos for the smaller guys - not so hard to fit together. Picture books too. DD loved to draw, still does. So we had all kinds of crayons, fancy scissors, later had better brand of colored pencils.

Heading to the Apple store soon, since I think this Ipad is just about gone.....keeps jumping all over the place when I type.....especially on this site.

Anyway, had a quick visit wi grands on .saturday, then a lovely visit with my stepmother, then a fast trek back home....did it all between 8:30 AM and midnight. Had a couple of glasses of wine at stepmother's so I could sleep while DH drove the last leg (2 and 1/2 hours). I am a bad passenger..... It all worked out fine.

Roasted a chicken "oven stuffer" tonight and made a spinach salad and steamed brussells sprouts to go with it. I rarely make those, but want the carcass for making soup stock since I am slated to bring a soup/salad, faux french bread and pizzelle dinner to someone who purchased it at a silent auction last week.

Okay it's taking waaaay to long to type this....Ipad be gone

Susan, too funny. Yes I rebooted twice today...and it was like a mini shot of adrenaline that soon wore off.

DH thinks we both need to go the new IPad route....he's so tired of both his and my dysfunction (Ipad based, that is...the other he is totally used to) and having to try to fix things. What do you do for back up? My photos are in my laptop....what else (tho he will know this...I suppose). I appreciate any input.

What is the driving worry?

By the way, your salad sounded wonderful.

I

Hoping you feel better very soon, Carole......and kudos to you for going toy shopping at Walmart while feeling rank! I'm glad that you had those helpful employees for assistance.

Today DH will be off at meetings, so I plan to start the pizzelle process (make the dough, find the containers for their storage....I make a lot), and decide which other cookies I'll make and maybe even make a batch or two.

We decided to put up a mini tree this year (ie., table top or Charlie Brown variety!) and decorated it last evening. Today before it rains, I'll cut greens (holly, hemlock) to decorate the mantle and window sills. And that's it for this year's decor. Oh, and a few shiny balls and bright ribbon for the front porch wreath....to distract from the ugly "waiting to be repaired" side window.

Dinner was an old staple. I had forgotten just how good it is, and how fast! Picked up a lovely side of salmon, Norwegian farmed the only farmed fish I will buy, and divided it into 5 portions. I pulled out my great-grandmother's 15 inch cast iron pan and heated it under the broiler. Rub the fish with some melted butter [less than 1 tbl for all the fish] and when the pan is screaming hot, pull it out, put the fish on the pan and back into the oven to finish. 8 minutes start to finish. Husband and daughter love this Uncle Ben's wild rice boxed thing, so we made that, and then I steamed some broccoli and made another salad. The entire dinner, including the endless rice, took about 40 minutes. Perfect today.

Pho Bedo? Do they make vegetarian Pho? I wonder how you would make a Pho broth without beef? Any ideas?

I ventured out into the world again today. To answer your question Lacey, I find the number of car horns I hear and the number of fingers I witness goes up dramatically starting the day after Thanksgiving. We drive what we are calling the "right of way car" since no one messes with a car with this many years and dings. I do my best to stay close to home.

*susan*

Luv,

I use a grinder for cardamom generally or you can throw the cardamom seeds into the coconut cream and warm gently and then strain when you add the cream to the rice. Biting into a cardamom seed is pretty overwhelming. you can not taste a darn thing except that seed for the rest of the meal. The pods have a stronger flavor, but you are fine with what you have. They are expensive. Use them! There are some lovely cakes that call for the cardamom too.

*susan*