So...whats for dinner?

Wow Nance, what a lot of work! Not sure I have the energy for that anymore...but it will be wonderful to have the raised beds and fenced in gardens. I did buy some pansies today to plant in pots on kur deck since we have no more snow at all. For the past three days it has truly felt like SPring!

We just returned from a little neighborhood gathering at the home of a woman who lives alone and loves to sing in groups...so we had a sort of hootenanny (sp?). Definitely not ready for prime time!

Today we ventured out to the new Market Basket grocery store (this is the store that was tied up in a family legal battle for a very long time and is now run by the relative who is loved and respected by the employees). It does seem to be a well run store, with low prices, tho I saw very little organic produce there. We got one of those $5 chickens there and just finished having some of it for dinner.

So Big Night has come and gone, and I think it will most likely be the last time we attend. Seems every year they cut back on things that have made it special in the past....unnamed wine in carafes this year, presentation only so so. For example, the chef brought out a large timpano we expected to be cut into slices, but instead we were served little individual pasta encrusted ones that did not measure up. I will grandiosly say that it did not come even close to tasting as good as the one my neighbor and I made two months ago. The dessert was tiny cannolis and tiny biscotti...neither memorable. They probably thought no one had space for them....I did! So here are some pics to go along with my unpleasant review....

In fairness to this couple who own the restaurant, they have just purchased a local inn and have been in a frenzy dealing with that transition. That will be their second restaurant, (farm to table, American food instead of authentic Italian)along with a wine and speciality store.

The risotto...actually, all three of these were wonderful: shrimp and mussel; parmesan, and pesto, which was to die for.

Disappointing individual timpano

Chef Josh displaying the fish...maybe sea bass?

Roasted thyme carrots and spinach

The most tasty herb crusted potatoes (and I never usually eat white potatoes...had a lot!) and tender pieces of chicken

The fish course

Our unexciting dessert....can you tell I'm a dessert girl?!

Yay, none of the pix disappeared!

And Bedo, I would be happy to try to post your pix while Susan galavants around Paris!

I would kill to try all three of the risottos.  I think when I make it, I can almost eat the whole thing myself....

dinner is pork chops, salad and baked potato

I think I'm going to take the easy way out and do some old standbys; a pork roast in the usual way and make the chicken rice dish. I don't feel like making a cake, so I may do what my mom did for me when I was three.

According to mom...as I didn't know any of this at the time.

My third birthday was moving day and mom forgot about my birthday. When she did remember, it was 10 minutes before the bakery closed and the only thing left was a chocolate "long john" doughnut...just one....so she bought it, put three candles in it and that was my "cake". She said I loved it.

To this day I like chocolate doughnuts.

I won't be able to put 97 candles on it, so I'll probably just go with one candle.......and I'll get ice cream for all of us.

As usual, no spare time for you, Eric! I HATE plumbing crises!!

Nance, all of the risottos were wonderful, but the pesto one was out of this world. I bet a pesto risotto with shrimp would be abolutely to die for! Maybe try that when DDIL comes to visit? I used to make a pesto alfredo sauce with shrimp and scallops over linguini for our Christmas Eve dinner for many years....before I didn't pay attention to calorie and fat intake. Those were the days....;)

Probably having leftover five dollar chicken with assorted vegetable saute and salad tonight, before heading to a poetry reading some of our friends are sponsoring. I have never been a knowledgeable poetry fan, but did once write a haiku about a dog that was hanging out of the second floor window of a row house on a stifling weekday morning. I saw him often as I used to walk past the row houses on the way to my summer job at RCA in Camden, NJ. I can still sense the tomato soup smell that filled the muggy still air from the Campbell's Soup company in that neighborhood. Always liked reading that little dog poem...wish I could find it.

Tomorrow is Marathon Monday and we just talked to DS1 whose "building" sits right at the finish line, (this was the one that had its first four floors of windows blown out two years ago) so we might head down on the train and watch the elite runners finish, and hang out with him and DGF a bit. Of course things are heightened here given the trial happening and the sentencing coming up.

red - thin it with water or more stock if it is too thick.

Pork chops here too tonight, with applesauce, baked sweet potato and some sauteed yellow squash. Kind of cloudy and rainy here too Red, soup sounds good.

Poor Eric -- you never get a weekend off. It's the price you pay for being too good at too many things ;-) Happy birthday to your mom!

SK -- I feel your pain. Most tried and true heartburn remedies don't work for me either. The only food that comes close are saltines. The thing that works best is drinking tons and tons of water. Thankfully, I no longer have to deal with it nearly as often since daily omeprozole. I know long term use of that causes it's own issues but having heartburn that feels like a knife in your chest is trumping for now. Btw, I don't have any problem with Aleve, but Motrin gives me heartburn BIG time!

We are at the age of cakes having one "representative" candle lol.

This is our last night in Paris. We had a wonderful day, and once again, I pushed my mother to walk far too much. _le sigh_ I can't quite seem to get that right.

Let's see what I can get up tonight. First off.... for Eric.... dessert. We split two desserts so that we could each have a taste but I gave my Mother more than half of each one. Une tarte fraises et une eclair chocolate.

Palais Garnier

And just cause the Palais is so brilliant, another:

A bientôt,

*susan*

Dessert.....ahh....thank you... :-)

Eric

mommyof2 - good luck and take it easy!

Hubby is *supposed* to do that! ::-)

Eric

Got chili made for tonight, tommorrow I'll cook some pasta up and add the leftover chili to it. That's at least one dinner for later this week. Tommorrow will most likely be chicken. I'll make enough for another night this week.

Nance, I was just thinking the same thing about it being a soup day....cold and rainy....and yes, we wimped out of viewing the brave and hardy Marathon runners outside. To make myself feel like less of a slouch, I did head to the basement, did a half hour of rigorous treadmilling and then some stretching and weight bearing exercises.

Am thinking that I might make a cabbage based soup since I have had one in the fridge awaiting use!

Will also make lamb burgers with the usual greek style dressups. I'm sure that DH will brave the cold and rain to grill them...he's so intrepud when it comes to food.

Mommy, good luck with your procedure.

Mommyof2, I'll be thinking of you on Wednesday. I hope it's easy, pain free and has a quick recovery. It's good that your husband is stepping up for you. I know I try to take care of things for Sharon, even if it's just because she's had a really long day and is tired.

Last night, we had my mom over for a birthday dinner. Sharon talked me out of the chocolate long john doughnuts and we got a cake from the bakery...along with the 9 and 7 digit candles...thanks for that suggestion. I did up a roast pork and the chicken-jasmine rice that everyone love so much. Twice baked potatoes, green beans and some store bought rolls rounded out the remainder of the stuff. Normally I'll make up a salad, but mom is taking cumadin and they're still trying to get the dose stabilized, so I avoided all the dark green stuff with lots of vitamin K.

This morning I awoke at 4am to drive the bus, then took care of some dripping faucets and then met "test daughter #1" (she turned 40 on tax day) and her dad at the junk yard. She found a door and some switches for her car while her dad and I spent about 4 hours carefully removing welded together inner body panels. Tonight DD spent time learning how to cut welds. I brought home quite a bit more than was needed and the excess provided her some practice material.

It was full sun the whole time in the junk yard and if it wasn't 100F it was very close. I'm pretty dusty/dirty/sweaty and I probably smell so bad that I'd make a fly gag.

Thanks everyone for the concern over my surgery. I am ready to get this over with and get on with life!