So...whats for dinner?

I'd guess 90% of my oven stuff is done between 325F and 350F degrees...meatballs included.....

Lacey, I'm glad you're feeling better.

Tomorrow we will all be celebrating the day of the patron saint of engineers....... :-)

Last night was the end of the lamb shanks, this time served with polenta and a green salad. I use the Anne Burrell recipe, but, I don't cook it at 400º. Instead, I use Molly Steven's braising method. She has you cut some parchment which you place into the pot as close to the food as possible, then place the top snugly. Using this method, I reduce the heat to 325º and reduce the amount of liquid so that it only comes a 3/4 of the way up the meat. Here is a link to the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/br...

Tonight, we are having salmon with a teriyaki sauce, some rice and something green.

Our snow is also receding. I can see the slate under the grill, a bit of the herb garden, but the compost bin is still buried under a ton of snow.

Still working through what questions I need to ask, and how to get practical answers.

*susan*

Tonight I am doing a baked corned beef with a mustard/clove/brown sugar topping.  I boiled the brisket twice briefly to reduce the saltiness.  I will par-boil carrots and potatoes, then sauté with cabbage and onion.  DH has never had corned beef and cabbage, so this will be a first - growing up we had it every St. Patrick's Day.

carole - I used to make stuffed shells all the time.  I did a combo of ricotta and some mozzarella, an egg, and mixed in chopped cooked spinach.  Cooked the shells in boiling water just shy of al dente, used a spoon to stuff them with the cheese mix.  In a large baking dish put a layer of marinara so the stuffed shells don't stick - either homemade or jarred - put in the shells, fairly tightly.  Spoon the rest of the sauce over, but not so much that the shells are swimming.  Sprinkle a little more mozzarella and parmesan over the shells, or just parm, or just mozzarella.  Bake at 350 F. until sauce is bubbling - usually about 30 mins.  The edges of the shells can get a bit crispy, so you can also cover with foil before baking if you want them soft. 

lacey - I love your chipmunk!  We had one that lived by our front porch in Virginia.  He ran around on our steps every day and we named him Walter.  I have no idea why.

Making Nona's chicken and rice again.  Again it was a real bitch to cut the chicken breast.  Intended to have my friend Maria cut it last night and forgot. Finally just used a pair of scissors...UGH.  My poultry shears were too difficult with the left hand .  Rice is cooked and I'm stillwaiting for the spatini to turn into gravy in the skillet with the chicken & mushrooms,e tc.... 

I cooked the whole box of pasta shells and have leftover empty shells.  I made two baking dishes of stuffed shells.  One we'll have for dinner and probably have leftovers.  The other dish is in the freezer.  But I have a little container of unused spinach and some goat cheese in the refrigerator so I may make more filling for some of the unused shells.  I sautéed our favorite Italian sausage and added a container of Rao marinade for the sauce. 

I pretty much followed your recipe, SpecialK. 

Nance, is your bedroom transformed?

Is anybody out there cooking? 

Seems I'm not cooking much lol. We had (close your eyes Susan) Shake 'N Bake chicken thighs and green beans (fresh at least) last night. Can't remember much else. Went out for truly forgettable Mexican Food Saturday night. Seems like we ate leftovers for days something - oh chicken/pasta dish. Tonight is turkey sausage stir fry. I did have a big salad for lunch with a bit of cut up chicken on it. I cannot get motivated but I'm going to have to. Got lab work back and yee old cholesterol is up. Vitamin D is down. My PCP's lab work doesn't print any normals so I've got to do some digging. Vitamin D is lower than 2.5 years ago, surprise, not. I am not good about taking those. I need to find out if I can take Ca/Vit D with my Femara and metoprolol. I intended to stop at MO office and speak to their pharmacy. Might do that in 2 weeks when I finally get in to see BS. Thank goodness no hurry.

Susan - just crap for your tumor markers. That's all I can say. I want you to have the best darned trip possible and we will want details - time, date, place, food, sun angle, table scapes. I hope it's all coming together. I'm going to my daughter's on Sat. to go to a hockey game and it's not coming together. Can't imagine doing what you're doing. And we're here for what ever you want to throw out at us. Good, bad, ugly, harping on something, we're here.

OK tell my about cauliflower mash. I have a small one and need to use it up. Now a week old. Can't wait to see what DH says about that lol.

Your salmon sounds delicious.

I know not Guy Savoy (though I do know enough French that it's not our "guy" but Gee long e). Is your mother aware of the cost?

The stuffed pasta shells were very good.  I was pleased with their appearance and taste.  Our side was a chopped salad with romaine, tomato, cucumber, yellow bell pepper, and avocado.  Dressing was juice of a meyer lemon and mayo. 

The carrot, ginger, cabbage salad sounds good. 

Luv, my mother's kidney dr. had her taking 5000 mg D-3 daily for the past 6 months, with food.  My mother's D-3 level rose from a number in the teens to 42, which is about the level the dr. wants.  Dr. Brown says that everyone should be taking about 2000 mg (I guess that's the right measurement).  According to her, after age 25, the skin does not absorb and use the D from sunshine adequately and every cell in the human body has a D receptor.  She does not want my mother to take calcium and generally doesn't favor a calcium supplement.  I've been taking 2000 mg of D-3 since 2009 when my gynecologist instructed me to take it.  I'm supposed to take a lot of calcium but I don't.  I have it on hand but have stopped taking most supplements except D-3, magnesium and a vitamin for eye health my eye dr. wants me to take.  Ocuvite. 

Just received an email from my mother: " I am more worried about what to wear than the money!" Yes, she has figured out how much it costs to eat there....

My mother was raised in money. She inherited money when I was just a child. In fact, she went to court to have my sister and I taken out of that will. She didn't think it was fair that her siblings had no children, while she had two, so her family would get such a large percentage. We lived as though we had no money. My parents never touched the capital.

My mother buried her sister who died at the age of 48 from breast cancer, having run through her inheritance to pay for her care. She then buried my brother who died at the age of 29. She then fought for my sister's life, twice overcoming horrid cancers. And now, she is looking at loosing her first born. Me. She so wishes that she could buy me health. She knows that she can't do that. But, she can offer me a lunch at a Guy Savoy restaurant. Sometimes, I have to just say no. Paris is not the place to say no.

And yes, we have to upgrade the clothing!

*susan*

Susan, I was my Mother's Power of Attorney when I was 26. She made a "living will" which is an old term , but your husband's PCP can help you have him make his wishes known . That was the greatest gift my Mother gave to me, because you will be able to honor them without wondering if you are doing the right thing. . The Alzheimer's Association in Ma can help and is a good resource. Your children are old enough to help too, although you might think that they are not. Hugs to you and your family. Your PCP can help you decide the trigger, or a Geriatric Psychiatrist can and this should involve an attorney to manage the financial and legal issues

MombieZ, the tacos sound like good eating.  We welcome you to our kitchen table discussion of what we cook and eat out at restaurants.  Some of us are not well-organized so we can learn from you. 

I heard an interestingfood news tidbit on PBS yesterday morning on my way to the golf course.  Home cooks who watch cooking entertainment shows like those on Food Network and who cook the recipes they see chefs like Giada etc. preparing gain an average of 11 lbs!  Those who enjoy watching the chefs but continue to eat out or cook their own simpler recipes stay the same weight.  It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you can't cook like Giada and look like her!  I'm convinced that those bites she takes on camera are all she eats of those fat and calorie laden dishes.  Not true with Ann Burrell, Ina Garten and other overweight chefs. 

My mother-in-law was one of 7 girls and she was the only one unfortunate enough to get Alzheimer's.  The sad thing is that she knew early on that something was going wrong in her brain function.  One year when she and my FIL visited us in Louisiana, she was memorizing poetry and hoping to "exercise" her memory.  She stayed home with FIL until he couldn't deal with her any more.  He wasn't a patient man and it was painful to be aware of how un-gentle her care was.  He put notes everywhere.  They ate dinner early at a certain time in the afternoon.  The "trigger" for him that he couldn't rely on her to perform her duties was when she prepared dinner one afternoon about 2:30 or 3:30.  He had to take over the cooking, plus they ate out on certain nights at local inexpensive restaurants.  He was a regimented man so her disease was hard for him to accept.  He kept trying to "teach" her.

One remarkable characteristic that we noted about my dear MIL was her ability to "cover" her confusion.  When we called long distance to talk to her, she took clues from our conversation and managed to carry out her end of the give and take.  I think this is characteristic.  Eventually FIL had to place her in a home.  He visited every day at lunch time and took her one of those high-cal Ensure type of beverages and also badgered her to eat her lunch.  She always watched her weight and as she lost control, she gained weight.  She was in her 80's when she passed and by then I don't think she knew any of the family.

I was assigned the job of taking her shopping when we visited one year.  It was a nightmare and I didn't do very well. 

Bedo's suggestions all sound excellent.  I am non-medical and would rely on outside advice and help.  It's so unfair that you have this to deal with in addition to your own health issues, Susan.  Hugs and lots of mental support.

Nance, hope your dad is all right.

I am no longer gray-haired! Pleased with the color job.

Probably stuffed shells again tonight with a veggie and salad. May try mint peas with fresh mint. A friend cooked this for a church supper and it sounds super easy and good. I supplied her with the mint

Mombie, Hi! I am one of the "incompetent cooks" I was vegetarian since age 16, but in my dotage... the last 5 years, I began to eat shellfish and then fish, as I felt I needed the protein. Your tacos made me hungry. Whenever I hear the term "fish tacos" I want to gag, but I wonder, has anyone had them and are they good? How do you make them? Any recipes ideas? What kind of fish?

Susan, If you haven't read it, "The 36 hour day" is an excellent book that came out in the 70s and has been updated since. I has excellent advise for caregivers and I can't recommend it enough. Your library should have a copy. As far a clothes, I think they all wear black in Paris with red lipstick, wear lots of perfume., have affairs, smoke Gauloises cigarettes. Yeah. that sounds about right. That's my advise to your Mom... well not the cigarettes. Or affairs. I am not a world traveler like you and can't wait for some pics.

And yes, Carol this reddish blond is my hair color. I paid for it. It's on my head. And it's mine.

Hi Goats! Glad your goats made it through the snow!

I love fish tacos, too.  Like you, Bedo, I thought the concept was weird until I ate the tacos, first in CA where there are fast food places selling nothing but fish tacos.  The only thing really "different" is the popularity of shredded cabbage as an ingredient.  Now I'm seeing fish tacos on menus here in our area.  Even at more upscale restaurants.  So fish tacos are in the mainstream.

I could eat good fresh fish several times a week.  It's a favorite food.

We're invited to a crawfish boil birthday party on Sunday.  The darned weather man is talking about rain on Sunday!  With the temperature as warm as it is now, I would stand in the rain to eat some good freshly boiled crawfish. 

Susan, I love your mother just from hearing about her personality and character.  It makes me happy to know there are people like her in our world.  I wish there could be a video of the two of you dining in Guy what'shisname's restaurant.  I had not heard of Guy. 

I have fallen down on my responsibility to learn this new camera, so I used my time waiting for the chicken to cook to take a few pictures. I did not straighten up so please be gentle. As you will see, my kitchen has almost no cabinets. There are two tiny things to the left/right of the stove, and a larger one under the sink where we keep cleaners, etc. To solve some of my storage issues, I have the pans hung on the wall. The island gives us most of our prep space, but they didn't do storage so you could sit and eat there.

The stove was purchased on ebay and I do love it.

Thank goodness there is a kitchen pantry. The kids get most of the left shelves, we get the most of the right. Bowls, measuring cups and tupperware are shared.

And here is my secret weapon.... the basement pantry which we added when the kids moved home.

And since I was taking pictures, a preview of our dinner. Tandoori grilled chicken, lentils with garlic, basmati rice, and some naan bread.

I really do need to make everything pretty again, and take a picture of my spice rack.

*susan*

Oh Susan, I'm so thrilled! I feel like I've been invited into your home. I love it, it reminds me very much of Julia Child's kitchen. Thank you for sharing (and the dinner looks wonderful!)