So...whats for dinner?

Cherry, I bought DH an Artisan Kitchen Aid a couple years ago, he loves it and I love that he was making sourdough and cakes! So, I bought him the pasta attachments next, that was a hit too. Enjoy!

lacey - so sorry about your DDIL’s dad, so hard, but it sounds like he was very well loved and that his family has many friends and family members. Kudos to you and your DH for being there for your grandchildren - I was tired just reading about all you did!

The KitchenAid discussion is timely - my DH just returned from a weekend at his parent’s home sorting through things - he brought my MIL’s vintage KitchenAid home for DD! It looks a lot like my 1991 model, but the beater, whip and dough hook are a more galvanized finish, and the splatter guard is metal and one piece, mine is a 2-piece plastic one

Thanks for the condolences offered for my DS1 and DDIL’s family. Huge loss for them! In this case, it was probably a blessing that it was not sudden.

Cherry, reading your description of the “under ice” cracking brings me back to my youth. We lived by a lake and spent many hours enjoying ice skating with friends, and feeling the excited terror when hearing that sudden eerie sound! Thanks for the name of the saffron/rice dessert. I have an awful time remembering such names since I can never picture the letters in a word when I hear it via Persian accented speech. Now I must look it up and make it for the adventurous eaters I know. I enjoy anything with saffron in it.

Eric, where does one house that amazing “hatchet” knife?? And when you create your “squash block” you might want to market it! Sorry to learn of your DD’s developing allergies. If she is really aversive to injections, there are functional medicine docs who provide a treatment option in the form of sublingual drops. Unfortunately, the drops treatment is not covered by ins, tho the doc appts are. My allergies blossomed horribly when I was taking Tamoxifen (after being well managed after shots throughout my childhood), and I sought treatment with a functional med doc where I had extensive testing. I now follow a sub lingual drops regimen. Best of luck to DD.

I’m feeling quite out of date with no sous vide option in this house! I must research more about that. I have never been attracted to the water and plastic (?) bag process for meat...but obviously I’m missing the point, and the deliciousness that is described here! Susan raved about hers too.

Nance, you might be horrified that my Instant Pot is still not unpacked! Maybe this confession will motivate me to unveil it and make some of the NYT recommended recipes I saw last month. It is a miserable snowy day here, so I canceled plans to meet up with a former colleague....thus, time to unearth that Intant Pot?

Minus, did I miss a recope for the ginger dressing mentioned? Sounds good. I have taken to using only homemade dressings these days, so I’d be interested in trying that.

Sandy, those were quite the meals you described! I have yet to venture into Boston’s Eataly.

Has this seemed like an extremely long month to anyone else besides me? DH and I were joking that it must be our “dry January” effort. Maybe......or maybe because we’ve packed a lot into this month for two old folks!

I need to decide what food to bring to our friends’ Super Bowl party. Maybe something made in my “about to be unearthed” kitchen appliance! While I have pretty much stopped following football, mainly due to the concussion concerns, I found myself thrown into the role of Patriots’ apologist in NJ given my MA license plate. I deflected the “hate” pretty well. Yikes! Just reminds me of how everyone felt about the Yankees in their heyday. I’d be much happier if that focus were for the Celtics! Someday.....

I hope you're all managing to avoid the flu. So worrisome this year! DH has so far successfully been fighting a head cold he caught in NJ. I’ve been treating him like a leper since I will have it for months if I catch it. Nance, I hope yours passes soon!!

I do take a tumeric supplement and actually have forgotten why I started it!! Obviously not for memory support! I think I’ll ask my MO for her recommendation at my next appt in a few weeks.

Walmart has the dressing you like Downnotout. Naturally Fresh Ginger dressing is only sold "in store" so you can't buy it online. Publix also claims to have it via Instacart. I don't have that store in CT so have never seen it there.

Hi ladies and Eric!

The shredded Brussel sprouts side was a success and super easy. I hand sliced the little cabbages in advance. Sauteed them in a large skillet with a little olive oil and butter, s & p. Burned them a bit for flavor. Sprinkled with a good balsamic vinegar. DH, the Condiment King, sprinkled more on his and conceded that they were "pretty good."

The grilled lamb chops were perfect. We also had a romaine salad with tomato, cucumber, avocado and blue cheese. Sweet onion in dh's salad.

Tonight is chicken breasts roasted in a very hot oven. I'll slice one of them and have one left over. Side of lightly candied carrot hunks (big carrots) and salad of some description. DH will get out the jar of chutney, which is good, I have to admit.

All this talk of Kitchen Aid is making me feel guilty. Mine sits in a corner on the kitchen counter under its quilted cover and the pasta attachments hide in a cabinet.

Like Lacey, I'm feeling sous vide deprived! Plastic and water don't have much appeal for me either as cooking method. What is the timing on sous vide? Let's say you want to eat dinner at 7. How far ahead of time do you cook the pork tenderloin in the water?

Wow. I just looked in my email account spam folder and based on my Facebook pictures,I am the hottest man in the world. I've got almost 800 emails from Russian women all saying the same thing, so it must be true. They only have one thing wrong; I don't have a Facebook account (big sigh). Oh well.:-)

The Hobart stand mixer that I bought used....it is very obvious the design engineers did not take advantage of any weight saving materials. :-) I should get the scale out and weigh it, but I'm guessing it's 35 pounds (15kg). I now know why I wanted one when I was in college.

Aunte, too bad I wasn't closer to you. I've fixed a couple of mixers and they aren't too bad to work on. About the only thing that will make one not worth fixing is if the motor burns out and that has a very obvious, very awful smell.

Lacey, I tied two shoelaces around my knife block. To put the knife away, I slip the knife between the shoelaces and the block. The knife slides downward until handle hits the edge of the block and it stays put.

Haven't used my Kitchen Aid in years--long spates of being low-carb, then constantly baking for my FIL when he lived with us. Now I no longer bake (but might do some skillet cornbread). I've found that for the quantities of whipping I do, a whisk or eggbeater works just fine (and there's always my Cuisinart and hand-mixer). My mom had an old Sunbeam with a turntable--one selected speeds by turning the back half of the bullet-shaped mixer head.

I see Hobarts all the time in institutional kitchens--mostly houses of worship & schools. Those things are enormous and built like tanks, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that many are half a century old.

Is everybody fasting?

I spent the last two days painting our master bathroom. What a huge job. No wonder I put it off a couple of years. Cranberry red is gone and green/blue has replaced it. The chip looked quieter than the actual color but it's a sea color, which is what I wanted. In a day or two we'll get the bathroom restored to its usable former self.

Last night's dinner was baked sweet potatoes and stuffed pepper halves.

Tonight will be sea scallops and scalloped potatoes. Lots of "scallop"!! Maybe a salad, too.

So what's cooking?

Stuffed bell peppers. I've been doing lots of yard work. It's 80F/25C here at 3:30pm...might as well do it before the summertime oven like temperatures arrive.

Might make annellini al forno (I was able to find annelini on Amazon, though not at Eataly). Seems that unlike other pastas, in Sicily it's never served al dente with sauce, but always baked with not just tomato sauce but also ground meats, cheese and sometimes (in Sardinia) eggplant. Or I might just order out, I dunno. Not really hungry right now. Bob's down in Oak Lawn tonight, and Gordy has a raft of leftovers to eat.

Cherry..

Orange???? That looks really good.

I still have lots of oranges,

Hi Chi...I don't like cooking for one..so if u I were in that situation, I'd probably order out... ( I was typing on my smart phone and meant to say "I" not "u" like it said before...oops)

And hi to DodgersGirl.

Hi,

Anyone try Chipotle black bean burgers? They are frozen and have a nice seasoning bite. For a no meat option, they are pretty good. I make some quinoa, sautee some peppers and throw the burger and all on some butter lettuce.

It's quick for me to do this for myself and cook something else for the rest of the family.

minus - Spaghetti-os is still DD's favorite, lol! Nutty D'Angelo sounds amaze-balls!

MIL/FIL's cremated remains are being interred tomorrow afternoon at the Florida National Cemetery with a reception at my house to follow. My son built a beautiful ash and red oak box to hold them in together, I had a plate made for the top with their names, and we added their wedding picture, and the preserved buttionere and part of the wedding bouquet tonight and sealed the box and had a glass of wine to toast them. Tomorrow will be a difficult day, but it will bring some closure and finality - my FIL passed away Nov 2016, MIL Dec 2017. We will have military honors tomorrow (again, some of you may remember that there was a 21-gun snafu last time), and a chaplain. I am sure the gathering afterward will be full of stories and laughter - just like they would want.

I am making loaded deviled eggs, Hawaiian Roll sliders (ham/turkey), a Greek orzo salad, fruit platter with Kahlua dip, veg platter with sour cream based dip, spinach artichoke dip with crackers, a bacon cheese ring with strawberry jam (sounds awful but is wickedly delicious!), a chocolate cake, some cupcakes, peach sangria, and pitchers of Arnold Palmers. Red wine, white wine, and beer. This will not be a big crowd, but they are eaters/drinkers!

I never could stomach Spaghetti-Os, nor any canned pasta for that matter. Tinny sauce, mushy pasta. Funny, when we took our 2015 Mediterranean cruise and had our group lunch in a Palermo restaurant, we were served individual portions of annelini al forno (baked in large ramekins and inverted onto our plates). Our tour guide proclaimed it was a Palermo specialty, but all I could think was "ugh--Spaghetti-Os? Do they think we just fell off the turnip truck?" Then I stuck my fork into it, and took a bite--al dente, meaty & just enough cheese to hold it together. Never saw it anywhere else after that--I drove the staff at Eataly crazy looking for it, and for two years the only Amazon listing was "out of stock." Now I had two brands from which to choose, neither one cheap. I picked Rusticella d'Abruzzo (made with bronze dies), because I like its bucatini, spaghetti and linguine. (Whole Foods and Italian groceries sell the brand).

Tonight I ordered from Coalfire Pizza in Lakeview (about 4 mi. s.), considered the city's best Neapolitan (at least the best one that delivers). While I waited, I roasted broccolini with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic & salt. The pizza toppings I chose were Berkshire sausage, seasonal mushrooms and sweet peppers. I added my own basil leaves. I realize now why the other wood-oven pizzerias (especially Antica and Spacca Napoli, Chicago's best dine-in) don't deliver: that style of Neapolitan thin-crust doesn't travel well, especially in winter. It arrived lukewarm, so I had to reheat it in a covered skillet. Delicious, and though small (14"), quite filling. But I think next time I will bundle up & drive to Spacca Napoli. (It's sort of "wet" in the middle, requiring a knife and fork). But I noticed that the pizzas at Eataly looked pretty good too, so maybe the next time we return we'll split one.

My 'can of choice' for quick camping or emergency eating with only a spoon needed (which you could dip in the river & wipe clean on your levis) was always Beenie Weenies.

Eric - my SIL & DH & another couple are going on a cruise based trip with five different stops. They have this thing about making it to the last of all the continents left on their list.

Special - I'd love to see the handmade box if you're willing to post a picture here. The food sounds marvelous - and chosen for perfect standing & telling stories. I hope everything goes smoothly.