So...whats for dinner?

Ah, Paris! My mother is getting tired sooner than expected, so I need to scale back what we will be able to see dramatically. But, we are experiencing Paris well.

Our market:

Asparagus season, dinner tonight.

Enjoy!!!!!

*susan*

Joyce, we both need to buy new (and kinder) scales! 

Susan, I'll have a glass of wine and some of that delectable cheese! 

Nance, I know what you mean about uninspired.

Moon, hope you're at home and comfortable following your surgery. 

The fish tacos turned out to be quite tasty. I made a spicy slaw with some lime juice, chipotle and a tiny bit of mayo. Fresh tortillas and some surprisingly good fresh corn off the cob, mixed with peppers and onions went nicely with it. I had an avocado and a fresh pineapple languishing in the fridge, so I cut those up too. Pretty good all in all, actually.

Love the market pictures! Oh how I long to see it in person. What a perfect super!

susan - fantastic pics!  I assume the were taken with the new camera - are you liking it?  The market looks beautiful and dinner looks fab!

I bought some forbidden rice at Whole Foods but have not yet tried it.

Yes, Nance, black rice is called "forbidden" unless there is a variety different than what I have that is not so named. We enjoy it...different than wild rice...smooth texture with a nutty taste.

Moon hope all is going well.

Special, neat idea to change up the kitchen. Enjoy!

Allergy testing went w/o incident, just a long process, and I have two more sessions to complete. Not too many changes so far. I did end up going to the gym afterwards with DH for a mini workout and our stretching class just to try to focus on my routine.

On our way home, we decided to stop at a local restaurant to have a quick dinner. We have tried this place before as it was opened by a man in our town in a refurbished former Bickford's spot a couple of years ago. We had not been totally impressed in the past, but tonight had a great quick dinner there, a pear and roquefort salad and a hamburger (rarity for me!) with sauteed vegetables as a side for me, and sweet potato fries for DH. I was happy to see that the owner was not there doing much of the work...so he must be doing well to have staff! Such a hard business.... Oh, DH and I were chatting with the waitress about their new food selections (not just a hamburger joint). We extolled the virtues of lamb burgers, and that it might be a popular item to add to their menu. We'll have to return when they bring out their new menu.

Tomorrow the food store is a must. Waaaay too much space in our refrigerator....no more leftovers, no yogurt, barely any milk, no lettuce, no spinach, no oranges AND NO KALE! I did send a photo of our airy fridge to DS2 last night since he freaks out that we keep it so full (I blame the greens for taking up so much space). His response was, "Impressive!" LOL

Oh, yes, Susan wonderful food photos...and that marketplace. Ahhhhh!

Moon, glad you are heading to get some rest. And yes, while it was so difficult to hear DB's pain last night, I had been much more worried about engaging in inauthentic conversations with him. So it was painful but also a relief to be able to be real. Thanks to you all for letting me vent about this distressing family news and offering your kind words

Red, by all means, grill the kabobs. They are delicious, just don't overcook them. Rare to med rare is best. Moroccan seasoning is most often ras el hanout, a blend of spices that includes cardamom, cumin, nutmeg, cloves, and lots of others. It is delicious and I love it with lamb. Za'atar is another that is sumac based.

I do, among other things. Great on roast chicken with lemon.

Red, you've received some good answers from Nance and Lacey.  I have a cast iron grill pan to use on top of the stove, plus another grill pan that covers two burners.  I think I've used the big one once or twice.  I didn't like cleaning it, plus I don't like to create a lot of grill smoke in my kitchen even though I have a good exhaust hood.  You could probably cook the kabobs under the broiler, too.   I'm gearing up to cook a lamb dish with dried apricots or dates.   

Moroccan and middle-eastern cooking have definitely gone mainstream.  Rachel Ray was cooking a lamb tagine-style dish on her food network show today. 

We're having red snapper out of the freezer (recently bought 2 filets and cooked one) and cauliflower.  Will look up recipes for the cauliflower.  Also a tossed salad. 

Our rain gauge is showing almost 5 inches of rain for this week so far and it's supposed to rain through Sat.  Looks like a rain forest outside with all the greenery visibly growing. 

susan - how is the weather? People looked not too bundled up, but still wearing light jackets.  Great pics, hope you are having fun!

Boy, those pix bring me right back to our visit a few years ago. So wonderful! Thanks Susan! But please don't make it end up being work for you. As Minus said, we'd appreciate you thinking of us once every few days.

This afternoon we drove out to a mall to get DH some shoes and found some other great clothing buys for him. So satisfying to have a successful shopping trip for him! We're not really frequent mall shoppers. We decided to eat out since we were near a very good Greek restaurant we've enjoyed before. I had a broiled fish sampler with broccoli and greek salad. DH ordered rack of lamb, and we shared, so we essentially had surf and turf. The lamb was plentiful, tender, and perfectly cooked.....great meal! We had Malbec wine...and ordered a dessert combo to take home that included baklava, that custard and phyllo pastry, and some little fried dough things that are covered in honey, cinnamon and walnuts. Well, as we watched the Celts and Red Sox we managed to polish off all of them! Gym in the AM for sure!

So two nights of no cooking for me, then tomorrow DH is not home for dinner, and Thursday we go to the "Big Night" dinner event at LaMorra. Never got to the food store today...so tomorrow AM our coffee will be laced with shelf stable almond milk. I'm on kind of a food prep vacay, I guess.

Carole...willing some sunshine your way! Given your enjoyment of the links, I can see how a whole week of rain would leave you feeling "blah". Try a food prep vacay today before your company arrives....maybe "boat over" to a local restaurant for a poboy (sp?). Our recent spontaneous dinners out definitely felt like a good break. Our weather has suddenly improved....to the point that I can finally say....

GOODBYE WINTER OF 2015!!!!! Tho there are still snowpiles under our hemlocks in the front yard. Hope you don't have to see any when you return North, Joyce.

Lacey, thank you for the sunshine!  We got a break from the rain today and did have intermittent sunshine.  It has just started to rumble and rain lightly.  A New Orleans weatherman on the tv screen is warning commuters about golf-ball size hail on the south shore, the New Orleans side of Lake Pontchartrain. 

I can imagine that it's good not to have everything covered with snow. 

We won't be going out for dinner but I am making it easy on myself.  I bought a rotisserie chicken at Sam's Club and found uncooked corn tortillas at Walmart.  Leftover red beans will be converted to refried beans.  I'll make some quacamole, cut up some chicken, heat the tortillas on a cast iron griddle, open up a jar of red salsa and the jar of Frontera green salsa, get out the carton of sour cream  and we'll build our own soft tacos.   I also bought some Mexican cheese today. 

V-8 has a Healthy Greens bottled juice on the shelves.  It's an unappetizing green color.  I bought a bottle just for the heck of it. 

Sounds like a great meal Carole. I love having a rotisserie chicken -- so much you can do with it. Your Greek meal sounded wonderful too Lacey. The only Greek available around here is if I make it. I don't even think St. Louis has more than a couple (restaurants, not Greeks.) When I was a kid, my parents had some friends -- the guy was Greek and his wife was Italian. Oh the meals we had at their house! And the baklava!

Speaking of hail, we had marble to golf ball size last week. We just discovered that because of it, every upstairs screen has holes in it. Ten screens in all. Another spring project, sigh . . .

I'm grilling a giant Costco pork steak. We'll have it with some more corn on the cob and grilled asparagus.

Susan, beautiful picture! Are the blue flowers nepeta (catmint)?