So...whats for dinner?

I came really close to making cornbread tonight but then I got to doing chores...laundry and kitchen cleaning...and never got to make it. Maybe tomorrow or this weekend the cornbread will happen.

Auntie, do you make regular cornbread or sweet cornbread?

Lacey - good luck with the orthopod. Hope you'll be able to do conservative treatment.

I have a big meaty ham bone in my freezer, too.

Red, your pea soup recipe sounds like a winner. I never soak split peas and never puree the soup because it seems to end up like a puree.

Luv, what a great idea for the leftover stew, pot pie. I don't think I've ever made a pot pie. In this household leftovers like beef stew usually just get eaten. DH loves leftovers. I suspect you could live on the contents of your freezer for at least a month! The goats must be needing some warm water this morning.

We were lucky on the weather front last night, too. The NO meteorologists kept interrupting regular tv to give reports on rain storms with circulating winds that might become tornadic but we had one brief rain storm with some thunder, no lightning. Most of the worse weather was north of us. This morning it's windy outside creating a chill factor that is supposed to make it feel like the 30's.

I plan to do a supermarket run for my mother. She also suggested Bear's roast beef poboys for lunch. She doesn't know I ate roast beef two days in a row! The Bear's poboy beef is very tender and suitable for her to eat. My younger sister who lives near my mother will join us for lunch. She's eating low carb and will follow ChiSandy's example and eat the innards of the beef poboy. Bear's slathers on mayo which mixes up with the beef gravy and we like that in my family. .

Chicken chili with white beans and some added greens (like the sauteed kale that's still in the refrigerator!) sounds better to me than the chili dh will be making today with pinto beans and ground pork and ground beef but I will just share that thought here. He bought a lb. of Camellia dry pinto beans yesterday. It's a good day for him to spend some time in the kitchen. And his chili will be very good. He hasn't mentioned making his Mexican cornbread.

Carrie, I really should become acquainted with your button designer daughter. She must have buttons lying around the office needing a home! I bought some really pretty buttons on sale at Michael's recently. One of the crocheted hats I make is a news boy style that has decorative buttons on a band above the bill. I'll post a picture. It's really cute.

Hey, I could wear a warm hat today!

I bet Monica has.

Carrie, ha ha, it would give you a start to see it. Especially the three large bags of beef bones and the bag of unsmoked pork shanks! And the fridge has fresh sausage casings.


Minus, I freeze pintos and black beans all the time. I put them in small containers suitable for two people. I think Carole does too. I don't see why it wouldn't be just fine.

I cook beans for the purpose of freezing them and having them on hand. The pinto beans in dh's chili are delicious. He soaked them overnight and he said they cooked quickly. They're tender and whole the way I like beans. We had a bowl of chili for lunch on this cold blustery day. I really liked it because it's more like enhanced pinto beans than chili. I grated some good cheddar to sprinkle on top.

My mother insisted I not go out in the cold and get her groceries so I've been sitting in my chair most of the day watching segments of Anne Burrell's You can Cook like a Restaurant Chef. It records automatically. I haven't felt my best the last three days so a quiet day of doing nothing was welcome. Dh made the chili this morning and has been watching wood turning videos in the office. His shop isn't heated and it's too cold today to work out there. One pleasure of sitting here in the living room is watching the birds at the window feeder. We have a pair of cardinals, a tufted titmouse and, I think, a chickadee. I haven't had to chase off a squirrel, which is surprising. There are several larger feeders in the back yard. They're probably back there wreaking havoc.

Speaking of beans, Anne Burrell put white beans in chicken noodle soup. That sounds good to me. She also cooks her noodles separate and spoons the soup over the noodles. She makes bread making look so easy.

Nance - butter here is $4.99 - $6.99 per pound. I stock up when I can find it 2 for $5.00. My BFF thinks I'm nuts, but what the hey. That's a major food group for me. Sometimes I even like bread w/my butter.

Dinner will be poached flounder w/dill & white wine. Sides will be leftover Brussels sprouts, leftover rice, and the last of the red leaf lettuce in a salad.

Hope all of you in the path of this monster storm are doing OK.

To me, truffles taste sort of like a cross between wild mushrooms and garlic, only stronger. It’s more about the aroma. I actually tried buying a little black Burgundy (aka “summer”) truffle and later a white Alba truffle back when Eataly had one-day sales on them; but truth to tell, I really didn’t get much out of them compared to using truffle salt (which contains pieces of black truffle) or a good, authentic truffle oil. (Last year for my birthday we went to Spiaggia, and one of the courses was pappardelle with wild boar and shaved black Perigord truffle, but I didn’t get much truffle “impact” out of it--so I’m not buying any more fresh truffles, which cost an arm & a leg and have to be used w/in a few days). IMHO, truffle salt is a better way to get an introduction to truffle flavor, because it contains the real thing. Almost all truffle oils have never seen an actual truffle--scientists have been able to duplicate the esters that make up the essence of truffles’ aroma, and even the oils that claim to have been infused with truffles have synthetic “truffle essence” as their main ingredient--after olive oil, of course--and “mushrooms” as the second one. The only true truffle oil I’ve found with no synthetic “essence” whatsoever is DaRosario--and it’s hideously expensive: $8-10 for a one-ounce bottle of either black or white truffle. White is more complex & delicate, black stronger. But both can fade after a couple of months and go rancid w/in 6 mos. So it’s a waste of money to buy bigger bottles of the stuff. The “truffle fries” or “truffle mac & cheese” found in most restaurants are made with truffle oil. And cheap truffle oils smell too funky to be savory. You shouldn’t really be able to taste the truffle per se--you should just be able to taste a heightened degree of “umami” (the “fifth taste,” which is primarily meaty/savory--which is in most meat protein foods as well as anchovies, tomato paste, egg yolks, mushrooms, Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce, Chinese oyster sauce, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and--yes--MSG. Soy sauce layers umami on top of salty).

I got my black truffle salt at Sur La Table--a 1/4 c. jar was about $9 and seems to have held its flavor for over a year (it’s heavenly on scrambled, fried or soft-cooked eggs, as well as Brussels sprouts). The Sicilian orange & caper salts I bought in a little wine-and-candy shop in Taormina, Sicily. The espresso sea salt came as a freebie with a shipment of steaks from Snake River Farms--which had been part of Signorello Estates’ wine & meat club; but Signorello discontinued it and now requires members to purchase a la carte from a periodic “allocation” (like the way Willams-Selyem does, except you don’t have to go on a waiting list before being eligible to buy--Signorello’s past club members are grandfathered in).

hsant - I didn't make a direct move from warm climate to warm climate, lol! My husband spent 28 years in the Air Force so we lived overseas, upstate New York, briefly in central California. Washington state, southern and northern Virginia, Alabama, back to northern VA, and the final assignment in Florida, which became permanent after he left active duty but has continued to work for Special Operations Command. A variety of climates and places

Hmmm. As usual I always learn new things. I have salt in the blue container with the girl & the umbrella - Leslies or Mortons depending on where you live (unless there is yet a third name for the same product back east)

hsant - my son graduated from Rice. He now lives in No. California (where I grew up) and says he will never move back to this heat & humidity. Never is a long time. Carole will understand the humidity part. I'm used to it and my blood is thin.

I've got a ham bone in the freezer as well. Carrie, if you do call the FBI, ask for Special Agent Clarice Starling. :-) See Silence of the Lambs..

I ran some more tonight, but I'm not shivering, so I guess I didn't work as hard this time.

Carole, I'm glad you're getting a chance to relax and hope you normal again soon.

Auntie, I like "regular" corn bread too. My wife likes the sweet "corn cake". In Phoenix, I can get corn meal that feels like sand, all the way to super fine flour. I prefer the finer flour over the meal. The butter here is about $4 per pound for the good stuff. It's kind of expensive, but it sure does go well with warm corn bread!

My older 'test daughter' lives about 25 miles north of Washington, DC. I've sent her a text message asking for a picture of her yard. I hope she, and everyone else in the storm's path, stays warm and safe and can (sorry, I can't resist) just chill out...

Greetings!

Wow, it has been a busy few days. Thursday night's dinner was a veggie-loaded chicken curry on rice with naan bread and a side salad. I use the jarred curry, but wold love to make my own curry paste someday. Yesterday 7 high school freshmen boys ended up here after school with my son. They went through all the frozen pizzas, granola bars, popcorn, and even found my secret stash of peanut butter pop tarts. Then called Dominoes Pizza for more. I love having them here, and I love that they like being here.

Hubs and I had a delicious bacon wrapped pork tenderloin with a apricot preserve-dijon mustard glaze. (I found the recipe on Kitchn.) Sides were roasted potatoes and steamed broccoli.

AuntieNance: We live right outside St. Louis in Clayton. We relocated here from Atlanta when my husband had a job change 5 years ago. I never thought I'd end up in the mid-west, but I really like it here. Even the cold winters!

Off to wake up my daughter..gymnastics practice at 8am.

Amy

Thanks Chi and everyone on the tutorial about the truffles and salts...who knew? I don't think my palate deserves all these specialty delights as I don't think I would know the difference when tasting them. Mario Batali loves cooking with the real truffels...but of course he is rich.

We do see a lot of different salts around here, they always have these in the wineries for sale and of course we mine salt from the lakes here, so there is always someone making up quirky blends. I am sucker and buy them but have to be careful cause a pinch goes a long way.

Carole any special recipes you use for the Cincinnati chili? do you add the chocolate and cinnamon?

Cream of broccoli soup here and maybe a grilled cheese.

So bizarre for upstate ny to not have any snow and poor daughter in NYC getting whalloped. You know its a bad storm when she is hunkered down and making chili! Haha she does not have the cooking gene....she got the ADD, lets run around the city and eat out gene.

Eric - looked up Amboy on Wiki since I couldn't place it. There's a picture of the salt ponds, but the population reported in 2000 was only 4 (yes four).

The first commercial salt works on the SF Bay was started in 1854 by a guy who failed to find gold with the 49ers. Eventually consolidated in 1901 w/Leslies, and they invented the first mechanical harvester in 1936. It takes about 4.5 years in progressively saltier ponds to go from salt water to harvesting. The higher the salt content, the redder the pond. I love history. I remember seeing all the salt ponds as a child going across the Dumbarton/Bay Bridge from Palo Alto to Oakland.

I also apprecite the truffle and salts tutorial! I am probably the most salt challenged here. I own one box of Morton's, one of sea salt and a big box of kosher salt. The Morton's gets ignored for cooking, anymore. I like the idea of getting the black truffle salt since I am loath to buy an oil that will go bad on the shelf while not being used frequently.

I could never live comfortably in an often hot humid climate, thus my contented adult "root planting" up here after sweating through the summers, growing up in South Jersey. Wow, Special, you have seen a lot climate-wise. And I bet you enjoy the "frequent mover bonus" of not having over three decades worth of collections in your house!

The meals being described here sound so wonderful! Last evening at a popular casual spot near Boston TD Garden, DH and I split an arugula salad with pecans, grapes and goat cheese, then he had crabcakes and asparagus, and I had salmon over a surprisingly decent risotto that included asparagus, butternut squash and grape tomatoes. It was better than that might sound in combo. Tonight I will do something with the chicken breasts I bought a few days ago if they are fine. We'll eat the chicken chili tomorrow during the big game.

So Carrie, is the addition of chocolate and/or cinnamon that which makes chili, "Cincinnati", in addition to having it over spaghetti? Maybe your DD will develop a NYC "slush-induced cooking gene" over these next weeks!! But she is in a good place to support her "cooking style". I was so surprised to see how often DS1 and DDIL ate restaurant prepared meals when living in Manhattan.

Amy, I broke into a smile upon reading about your DS and co. hanging at your house. That was how we spent life when DS2 was growing up. He had (still has) a great group of friends who we enjoyed knowing through their adolescence....and now as grown men, professionals, husbands, dads. It is very sweet indeed.

It is finally snowing here....forecasted to be small potatoes by our standards. I feel badly for all the areas more south of us that are not really equipped to deal with sizeable snow storms. I heard that some of our equipment was sent there to support their efforts. Hope folks are able to stay safe