So...whats for dinner?

Carole, today sounds like a fun reunion and venture into the city! Looking forward to hearing about it.

Last night after the gym, we had a strange array of food items for dinner.....leftover kale bean soup, leftover fish from Sunday, green salad, and worried that we would need something to "fill us up", I baked an acorn squash.

Minus, you didn't miss a report.....erbaluce and "Beautiful" are tonight! We are looking forward to it to celebrate our 42nd.

Carole, why don't you ask your YMCA folks to start a stretching class? I would guess that they have a trainer who would try it on a trial basis....it is such a useful effort with some loyal followers in our group. And really helpful for seniors who want to keep those joints moving!

Just realized I haven't been on here since April. Bad bad bad! Anyway, hubby has been squid jigging lately (a lot!). So we have oodles of squid in our freezer. I'm trying to find good ways to cook them other than the old bread and deep fry. Last night we had squid curry. I found a few recipes on the internet and kinda mushed them all together. It was tasty, but probably non-repeatable.

For lunch today is mulligatawny soup that I made from the remains of a rack of lamb dinner from a couple nights ago. (I often choose to make lamb simply so I can then make mulligatawny Then I'll have to break out of the Indian/Asian food groups and make a simple steak and vegie for tonight's dinner. Maybe cauliflower with cream sauce or some other sinful combo...

Sorry I haven't been on much...

SpecialK - your outside kitchen is GORGEOUS. And whenever I hear the words "swimming pool" I get so jealous - especially so for people who live where they actually get to use it year round. Our daughter and husband have a swimming pool, but they don't keep it warm enough for me, so I don't go in - and, of course, it's all sealed up most of the year up here. We're probably not going anywhere this winter, as we are planning a trip to Europe in the spring - but I'm really going to miss warmth!!

Glad to see all the Real Estate things going as planned! Happy for you all. Specialk that's gonna be so gorgeous. I love that outdoor kitchen.

It was raining lightly for Trick or Treat here so not many kids. About 50 or so. But since last year was 150 I have a lot of candy left over

Including a big bag of choc with Snickers, Twix, M & Ms etc. O ooh boy. LOL

Treated myself yo a new Witch costume this year. My purple on is pretty old. This one is actually warmer so it's better most years! LOL

So happy to hear the new baby news! So nice for all. Can't believe DGD1 will be a year old next month! Where did time go?

DH is closing out his sisters affairs in Montana but should be home this weekend. More things than he ecpected. He might have rented a trailer. He gave away so much too. Oh well. Her memorial will be this month up at the family farm during hunting season.

Eric glad you're home.

I've missed this round of crud but had my share before my trip.everyone get better.

DH is still scheduled to move to Florida in January although it's been changed so many times i m really not sure! Juneau Beach . I'm gonna come for a long visit when I can't stand the snow anymore! LOL

Supper yesterday and the day before was chili I made. I Froze the rest as 2 days is enough. LOL. Tonight it was oatmeal. LOL

Much love to all.

Sandy, goodness, that's a lot of trick or treaters! We had an interesting Halloween experience. We had dinner with a couple at one of the restaurants in our club and afterwards followed the couple to the home of one of their sons, who is a computer geek. He had created a large flying saucer on his front lawn using programmed LED lights and an old satellite dish turned upside down. Some kind of machine sent out smoke to mock take-off. The son was dressed in a white Star Wars suit that looked like the real thing. He'd ordered it online. Star Wars music was playing. It was quite incredible. Now I can't wait to see his Christmas decorations, which I'm told are really something to see.

The meeting with the old friend we knew in St. Thomas was fun and very interesting. Kitty is an accomplished sailor and has sailed around the world on yachts. Now she lives in NC. She was in NO with her sister, who has a PH D in nuclear medicine, was a college professor and then employed by NIH. What a brainy woman! The sister's husband was also along on the trip and he's an inventor. We never ran out of things to talk about as we rode the streetcar on Canal Street to Mandina's restaurant and then took it back up Canal to the Westin hotel, whose lobby on the 11th floor offers a fabulous view of the MS river. There's a bar so you can have a beer or glass of wine and watch the ships pass and the tugs push barges on the mighty MS. We always take visitors there. Nice bathrooms, too!

Moon, how nice that you have a getaway place in FL when you get tired of cold and snow. It is hard to believe your GD # 1 is already a year old.

Susan, the magic freezer didn't get filled with magic on its own. You're the food magician.

Special, I'm waiting for the first food report from the wonderful outdoor kitchen.

Hello,

It's 5 o'clock and I still haven't figured out tonight's dinner, but I did want to stop by and let you all to know how much I enjoy this thread! I've been checking it daily for about 4 weeks and have so many new ideas from your posts. My DH and kiddos are enjoying my renewed interest in planning and preparing dinner. Have a lovely evening!

Amy

Minus I hate it when it gets dark early too. Andwhy does daylight have to come so early? I eat like you do most of the time, and one carry out meal is a 1/2 week ususally.....I used to say I was going to write a book about how long it takes a single woman to eat a jar of spaghetti sauce....HA

How exciting for you to be close to using your new outdoor kitchen, Special! Looking forward to the pics...

So before I forget what we had, I'd better report on the erbaluce anniversary dinner.

We had an early reservation since we had a bit of a walk afterwards to the theatre where we saw "Beautiful" (It was great to hear all the Carole King music!). The menu and specials were about 50% different than what we had, Minus and Susan.

There was no mackerel, so DH did not get his mackerel appetizer, and while I was ordering an escarole and arugula salad for us to share, DH forgot to order his hoped for razor clams appetizer. But we did try the appetizer of the wild boar ragu over pappardelle (and planning ahead, I brought a small cooler with an ice pack which I left in the car). We brought half of the order home. It was as good as when you had it, Susan. There were two other items featuring wild boar...a shoulder, and I believe, a stew.

They featured a lot of lemon (and some meyer lemon) flavored sauces, and my fluke entree was surrounded by a delightful spicy lemon sauce, along with yellow and red peppers, escarole and white lima beans (their signature?). The fluke was lovely, perfectly prepared and flavorful with the integrated accompaniments. Yum! And it was really "virtuous" in terms of calories. Of course, virtuous dining was not really my intent, and I was not able to resist their wonderful, perfectly textured breads served with the white bean dip surrounded by the most aromatic olive oil. Wow! Was that tasty!

DH selected (on my recommendation after seing Minus' last month) the lobster special, which he enjoyed very much. For dessert, DH had the lemon panna cotta with white and red raspberries (which we had, eh?), and I had the apple crostata with an almond paste, accompanied by a small spiced apple. We each had a glass of prosecco (that's about all I could have and stay awake for the performance. Overall, it was a lovely meal, great service, and the dining room was much calmer than when we were there....no large, loud tables. Mainly business associates on an early Tuesday evening.

Tonight, I had a tiny taste of the pappardelle, and then my intended dinner....a bowl of re-heated ratatoille with two poached eggs on top. I am really into this poached egg/vegetable combo! And I do love it when I am on my own for dinner (sorry, DH!) Minimalist inventions, I would call them. I may have the same thing tomorrow since DH has another conference dinner then, too.

Minus, I put most of my snickers snack bars in the freezer which requires a bit more work to eat them!

Welcome, ChiSandy and DaisyQ!

Carole, your visit sounded delightful, and your friends, so interesting! You are motivating me to make a visit to NO to do that touring trip.

Our weather has been so delightful these past few days...and tomorrow maybe mid 70's. WOW! I was thinking this afternoon as we were doing a bit of window and screen washing how incredibly grateful we New Englanders become for any warm sunny days after Nov 1st!!

Hi DaisyQ and glad to see you back Garden.

Special, I'm, too, looking forward to see the pictures.

In late November to early February, it's leave home for work before sunrise and leave work at sunset.

Chi, for us here in Phoenix, that is a huge number of trick-or-treaters. I'm guessing we get 50-75 kids for Halloween. I arrived at the airport at 6:30 or so and didn't get home until about 8:30pm, so no one was home during "the event".

The husband of the lady with the PhD in nuclear medicine....sounds like my kind of guy! :-)

Lacey, the meal sounds great. If love fish, Sharon says it's OK and DD..well...DD would just as soon have anything but fish..so I don't cook much fish. I've done some fat free yogurt based sauces that are very "modest" calorie wise.

Moon, DGD is 1 already!?! Wow. It doesn't seem like that long since you told us the news and we saw the beaming grandma pictures....but then DD here will be 18 years old in a couple of months and it seems only yesterday that we were driving home home from the birthing center.

I think I'm still a bit "on east coast time"....it's only 8pm here and I'm about to fall asleep.

Yikes, Susan.....sending you the most positive energy for your real estate closing!! I'm a little confused about the "other condo buyers" (???). And the knob and tube issue is one we will have to deal with here.

I am sort of feeling your pain after just getting off the phone with DS2, who is getting a good case of nerves about selling his condo (just listed yesterday) in a timely way, to avoid his need for a bridge loan. He and DGF are both super busy at work right now which doesn't help the anxiety levels....since they just totally cleared out so much of their stuff (including his fave mancave chair!) before taking the listing pix. So we are trying to help ease the burden....taking the pooch overnite this weekend so the place is clear for the Sunday Open House, and offering to back him for a bridge loan if he needs it. That would certainly help me relax a bit! Actually..... a first world problem of the young professionals. We aren't getting too worked up about it...yet. The ridiculous Boston area house prices are what makes all this a challenge.

Garden, oops, I forgot to welcome you back, too. Great to see you post. Enjoy all that squid! I never prepare it in my kitchen since I used to fish with it as a youngster, and have only managed to enjoy it fried now. DH would love it stuffed, as Susan described.

chi. That combo oil vinegar mix sounds delicious! .

Lacey fingers crossed for your DS real estate venture.

Made meatloaf and baked potatoes for supper cause I expected my DH home for supper today. Since its his birthday i thought I'd actually cook. Then he called and went to the farm first to drop stuff off and decided to stay there. Sigh. Oh well. I'll have leftovers again. LOL question for everyone. I put carrots in the oven with the potatoes. D*MN things just would NOT soften. Almost 2 hours in I put them on the stove in a pan cooked them 20 more minutes to get them barely ready. Why? I had to pull the potatoes after an hour or so and they were done just fine. So was the meatloaf. Sigh. Should a put in the butternut squash instead. LOL

Ok. Just remember you asked!

Yes. My hat dances.....

Moon....adorable....grandma and grandbaby

Oh dear, Susan. I did not realize this was a duplex conversion. Good luck!!

So pretty! Since I am not that far from Tampa, will have to come see it!!!

Susan, I will definitely try the stuffed squid. Hubby and I had talked about stuffing some with ricotta and spinach - kinda like a squid manicotti I really liked the recipe you sent, and will definitely give that a whirl.

SpecialK - your outdoor area looks so inviting. Would you like to come design one for us???

Today is going to be a bit lazy for me. I need to take the car to get an emissions test and then get the license tabs for 2016. Hubby is still painting, so I think I'll probably dye a couple pair of pants and maybe make a throw for the couch. We have leather couch and chair in the family room and a lot of sunlights so hubby has been worried the furniture will get ruined by the sun. I'm thinking we should probably get some electric shades for the ceiling, as I've never been too fond of couch covers, but this will get us by until we can get the shades.

Oh - for dinner tonight I'm being lazy. Steak, squash and salad.

This made me chuckle and represents my feelings many nights :-)