So...whats for dinner?

Tonight's dinner will be a very thick beef fillet. Slice and share. With boiled little red potatoes and romaine salad. Very appealing to this carnivore and another item out of the freezer. DH has missed the mark the last couple of times he grilled steaks. Sure hope he doesn't overcook this beauty.

No cooking today, no appetite. My dad died today. I'm sad but he was ready.

Nance, so very sorry for your loss. Did your dad live close by??

Sending you hugs.

auntie - so sorry about the loss of your dad. I know he was in and out of hospital/rehab and had some struggle with finding a living situation he was comfortable and safe in - and you did a wonderful job of managing that for and with him, and being a caring and attentive loving daughter. Sending you strength for the days to come.

Nance - sorry I had my post sitting there for hours before I hit submit so did not see about your Dad until after I posted. Oh this will be a hard time. Special is right, you did everything you could to make the quality of his life better. You are a wonderful daughter!!! Holding you in my thoughts in the days to come.

(((Nancy))). May your dad's memory be for a blessing--as your devotion was to him in his final days.

"Tour de España" winemaker dinner at Cellars tonight. (No pix--too much conversing with tablemates, and my slow eating was holding up the works as it was). Appetizer: Sea scallop, Basmati rice, peas, orange & saffron sauce. Next, a field greens salad atop a potato cake, in turn topped with jamòn Serrano, a poached egg, and shaved Manchego cheese. Next: honey-glazed slow-roasted pork belly with a slaw of apple, fennel, & jicama. Main course: sous vide duck leg confit with spinach, chickpeas and chorizo lardons, with a poached pear. Dessert was churros and chocolate dipping sauce.

Nance, from everything I have read here I am sure you give as much as you could. Hang on to the happy memories and let that hold you close as you go through this tough time.

Will keep you in my thoughts and prayers

Carole, dad would have turned 92 in August.

Chicken and dumplings is one of my favorites too :-)

Nance I am so sorry for your pain

Tonight was Grouper and it was fantastic! (Dined out while on vacation)

Minus, I know about that having to move and time sprinklers it's exhausting especially in heat. How is that PF Chang fried rice? My local grocery has just started carrying it.

Illimae, oh how I love grouper!

Brats, baked beans and cole slaw tonight. Easy peasy. DH made jumbo chocolate cupcakes for mothers day so I'll probably have one of those too.

Thanks again for all your kind words. It really helps.

I love grouper, too. It's often on the menu in Florida.

Last night was pork steaks lightly breaded and cooked to a crispy brown in the air fryer. Fresh okra and tomatoes seasoned with garlic and a romaine salad with additions and dressed with oil and vinegar and a little Caesar dressing from the bottle. My sister was a dinner guest. She stayed overnight and will go to the nursing home this morning to help me with getting my mother into my car.

Yesterday morning was busy with the first stages of making the chicken and dumplings. The dumplings are laid out on a tray between sheets of parchment paper. The chicken meat is in a large plastic bowl and the chicken broth in a large pot. I will finish up the dumplings at my younger sister's house where the family will gather. There's also a carton of cream and a block of butter that will make the dumplings lower cal and lower fat. LOL.

For anyone interested, the dumplings recipe I used is as follows. 3 cups cake flour, 4 1/2 T. butter, 3/4 tsp baking soda, 3/4 tsp salt, 1 cup milk. Mix up the dough. Separate into portions and roll each portion very thin. Cut into strips and cut strips into dumplings, squares or rectangles. They don't have to be exactly the same size. Drop the dumplings one at a time into simmering chicken stock.

Oh my, carolehalston, your dumplings or, as auntienance calls them, "slicks," sound just like what my French-Canadian grandmother used to make - she's make up a batch, roll it out and cut into squares and rectangles and then lay them out on brown paper sacks all over the kitchen. They'd kind of plump up and then dry in the time between the cutting and the boiling. Grandma had a pot of boiling beef, as she called it, simmering and when ready, she'd drop the dumplings in to boil and soak up that beefy broth. My mom never did get the knack of making the dumplings. And Grandma's recipe - oral - always started with "Get out your blue cup and..." Well, THAT was not help! I'm going to try your recipe. Comfort food and all that jazz.

Nance - My condolences about your father. Keep the good memories and let go of the rest as much as you can.

Minus - It was great having drinks with you here in SF! I'm so glad you enjoyed the rest of your trip.

I had oral surgery about a week ago so was on a soft diet for several days. Made risotto Milanese one night, which I hadn't done in ages and it was lovely. Applesauce with added cinnamon & nutmeg for "dessert" a couple of nights. Grilled calamari with olive oil & lemon and watermelon salad with feta & mint. Split pea soup I pulled from the freezer, and I can't remember what else.

We're making pizza on the Weber tonight with caesar salad. I've also got a huge pot of carne adovaba (New Mexico-Style Pork With Red Chilies) going for tomorrow night. We're able to get wonderful thick, handmade corn tortillas from our local market to have with it.

Photos look yummy!

I spent the afternoon and evening packing boxes at DD's apartment, just got home about an hour ago- so by the time I got home DH had fed himself - and put himself to bed, lol! So, I had breakfast for dinner - yay!