So...whats for dinner?

Farewell lunch in New Orleans was at Mr. Ed's. The four of us started by sharing mini crawfish pies, followed by oysters Rockefeller topped with crawfish. Finally, crawfish po'boys (notice a theme?) because they didn't have enough oysters to fry for the 11:30 lunch rush (we arrived just as they opened--and 10 minutes later there was already a line outside (in the rain). The po'boys were humongous, so I packed half of mine to eat on the plane or between flights. Stopped at Cafe Beignet for cafe au lait (no beignets--still too full) because it had indoor table service; despite the rain, the line outside CDM was long.

It wasn't to be. We didn't take off till 5:45 (and shared some CDM beignets with Bob & my sis--her flight was delayed 2 hrs). When we landed in St. Louis, we found our connecting flight home was also delayed 2 hrs. Bob decided it wasn't safe to eat the crawfish so he tossed it. Bad idea--after 7:30 pm there is almost nothing open with anything worth eating in E Concourse at Lambert Field. (So much for the ribs we were craving). Ended up at a Schlafly Brewery/Pasta House concession. Salad was limp iceberg drowned in bottled Italian dressing. "Spaghetti Bolognese?" Spaghetti chopped into pieces (!!!) and mushy, cloyingly sweet sauce. Very bad Chef Boy-ar-Dee flashback. (They might have even used canned). Never have we spent so much (airport prices) and enjoyed so little. (I could barely get through 1/4 of it). The best I could say was that the slop arrived quickly and the portions were gargantuan. We tipped generously--wasn't the server's fault that the kitchen was so awful.

Dinner tonight was a chicken bratwurst on a keto bun with a giant half-sour pickle (like the kosher-deli ones I ate as a kid).

Hi all! Welcome newbies! Goldie - your dinner looks yummy! The plate itself is also beautiful!

chisandy - the NOLA trip sounds like an incredible whirlwind food tour, congrats to the newlyweds and to you too! I'm glad you are safely home.

I am just starting to think about an Easter meal, and am considering leg of lamb instead of ham. That is what I grew up with (English mom, Australian dad) and we did not really eat ham much, other than deli ham in a sandwich. I have not priced any lamb yet, but in light of the beef prices I am sure it will be eye popping. DD is also starting keto, so will have to find sides that she doesn't like, lol! I'm thinking potatoes au gratin are out.... Will skip candy in the baskets and put in lip balm and gift cards.

Dinner last night was main dish salads with an Asian direction, tonight I am making Chicken Divan. An oldie, but goodie.

Congrats to all on the real estate transactions! Very exciting!

cyathea - goat cheese, beets and nuts - love all three, and they are often my salad additions as well!

Last night was the last of my pork chops with some broccoli. Tonight I made a Cream chicken with mushroom/white wine cream sauce. Served over egg noodles with aspargus/capers. New recipe, it was good but not sure I would make it again. However, I have enough for at least 2 more meals, maybe 3 ! I think I will try some rice or mashed potatoes instead of egg noodles.

Illimae, your food pictures are always so pretty, vibrant and clear! Not to mention how yummy they look.

Eric, I'm ruminating about your post and this recent comment...how did they even come up with leukemia and now all this other "possible" stuff. I am not asking you to share all of ET's private info, but out of curiosity, wondering what even brought up leukemia (which lab was off that could be misconstrued).

We had vegetarian nachos tonight.
Tomorrow, I'll make Kedgeree of sorts/tweaked for our preferences and adding some veggies.

I popped some charcoal capsules because my IBS/gut issues were still not resolving. So far, so good.

Special, I adore lamb! We never ate ham growing up (dad was jewish) so it was a new taste for me as a young adult, and I love it! But I love lamb as much if not more.

Happy Passover/Easter to those celebrating.

Wallycat, I had to google Kedgeree. I hope your gut issues keep trending in the right direction.

Mae, your linguine pic is great and to think it’s packed with good veggies, too.

Special, I hope your lamb turns out well. I was never a fan of lamb until I went to grad school. I had a Yemeni friend who shared her recipe with me. It was simple, just chunks of lamb (they bought a whole lamb and did the butchering themselves since she was Muslim), salt, pepper, and a medium oven. Sometimes I added some rosemary, too. The roasting seems to mellow the stronger taste of the meat for me.

Tonight we had steak with a mushroom/Marsala wine sauce, Israeli couscous and roasted carrots (with lemon zest and juice, of course). Tomorrow will probably be salmon or sea bass.

I celebrate Passover with my DH and Easter with my family. I’m not very good at making the traditional Seder dishes, but I do my best. A good friend shared her brisket recipe, but my attempts at that have not given DH any semblance of his mother’s delicious cooking.

I echo wallycat’s Happy Passover/Easter wishes and add that I hope our Muslim friends have an easy fast for Ramadan. (And not to leave anyone out, I hope everyone else has a great weekend even if they aren’t celebrating these holidays.)

I sure hope ET can figure out the cause. Interestingly, Dr. Google doesn't list leukemia as high RBC...so I hope the doctor simply mis-spoke. I'm rooting for dehydration or altitude change...or better still, an uncalibrated machine. I hope they re-do the labs and they come back normal.

Goldie, I am so very sorry to hear of your husband's passing. It is never easy. ALS is a nasty condition. My heart goes out to you. Charcoal absorbs stuff...water, bacteria, etc. so with IBS, it can sort of "mop up" the extra fluid and slow down motility...like imodium without drugs, LOL.

For my kedgeree, I will probably use canned salmon. DH doesn't like smoked fish and it is one less thing to buy "just for one recipe."

We don't really celebrate any holidays. We don't even do much for our b-days or anniversaries ..just treasure each day we have with one another.

Haven't been able to post. Was in Puerto Rico for my step-mother's funeral and to help figure things out for my father, and the power outage from last week lasted until day before yesterday in the city I was in. I came back home early this morning.

I ate so much in PR that tonight's dinner is going to be something light, a green salad with some shrimp.

I'm preparing grouper steaks in a vinegar, onion, garlic, fresh oregano and bay leaves will be along with other spices, to marinate for tomorrow's dinner. I'll boil and then air fry some cassava and make some type of a mojo sauce to accompany it along with some tostones (fried) and some rice and beans, avocado from PR (the big green ones) and a salad. This was the dinner my mother always prepared for us on the Friday before Easter or Good Friday. Now that she's not well enough to make it I make it for our family. It's bittersweet.

ChiSandy - thanks for sharing your trip to NOLA with us, sounds like it was a great time. Congrats to the newlyweds.

You guys sure cook up some fancy stuff, so much I've never even heard of!

Wallycat, PR has not recovered from the hurricanes Maria and Irma, hence being called Irmaria. My daughter lives in the VI on St. John and they are still rebuilding. I do believe all power has been restored and of course new growth happened pretty quick.

Oh Goldie - some of us are slackers. At least once a week I have bagged salad w/additions. And fried rice w/whatever is in the fridge. I suspect with your long distances that you shop like I do - only once a every week or 10 days.

Last night I had an egg salad sandwich & some cucumber slices Lunch today was left-over guacamole w/Rosemary crackers. Tonight will be cold boiled shrimp from Costco. Tomorrow will be the rest of the shrimp w/some spinach added served over pasta - combination of several recipes shared here - onion, garlic, chicken broth, either milk or white wine depending on my mood for creamy or tangy. I keep wanting to try this dish with artichoke hearts like Jazzy recommended - but I always seem to have fresh spinach on hand that needs to be used so the artichokes are still in the can. Later next week - Rao's marinara sauce with Trader Joe's frozen Italian meat balls. Which will mean left-over Raos, so individual Naan pizzas w/mushrooms & black olives. Oh - and maybe those artichoke hearts?

Carole - so sorry about your friend John.

Serendipity - sorry about all the destruction on PR. What a mess.

Some time ago I bought some Orzo on Lacey's recommendation. I have never cooked Orzo. It's still sitting in the pantry so I need to dig out her recipe & use it. Or I'm open to new recommendations to use it.

I arrived in PR just after midnight on the day after Maria made landfall. In the morning, when it was light, all the trees looked like trees in the northeast USA look in November.

There was a lots of devastation, yet at the same time, I was constantly amazed at the ingenuity being displayed by everyone there. I saw so many "Wow. I would never have thought of that!" things that it was almost hard to comprehend.

I was there to help setup 2-way radio and data communications systems for the hospitals and emergency services agencies. I'm what is called a "special governmental employee" with US Dept of Health & Human Services. Special governmental employee sounds "cool", but all it means is that I have a regular job that pays the bills because I only get government pay when I'm actually working for the government.

Leftovers last night. Tonight, I'll flesh out the last of the Kedgeree with asparagus and poached eggs.

Carole, I read that making sure the sour cream, once added, never comes to a boil, may help with curdling. I've often taken it off the heat and then added it. I use full fat everything.

Goldie, yes, Hungryroot is a meal delivery service, grocery items are delivered with the recipes. I have mine set up for 4 dinners/lunches, 3 snacks and 2 sweets. You fill out a food profile and they use what you like to plan the meals but if the meals they intend to send aren’t what you want, you can edit and choose replacements from other recipe options. I find it cheaper than the local store sometimes and gives me new things to try.

I love reading and looking through cookbooks, cooking magazines, TV shows, blah, blah.

I usually fly by the seat of my pants. Review a few recipes to get a "feel" for the "gist" of something, then use what I have, what we like, and go from there.

Minus - this is my favorite orzo recipe:

Creamy Orzo with Asparagus & Parmesan

Ingredients:

1 cup orzo

1 cup asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 tbsp butter

1/4 to 1/2 cup cream

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions:

Bring a large sauce pan of water (filled about halfway) to a boil over medium heat. Cook the orzo until tender, about 10 minutes.

After the orzo has been cooking for about 5 minutes, add the asparagus to the same pot (this will allow the orzo and asparagus to cook in the same pot and keep the clean-up to a minimum!).

Once the orzo and asparagus are cooked and tender, drain and return to the pot.

Quickly add the parmesan cheese and butter. Stir thoroughly, allowing both the cheese and butter to melt. Slowly add the cream to the mixture, while stirring. Continue to stir and add cream until you reach your desired consistency.

Season with salt and pepper.

Sandy - after reading your wedding posts I have serious NOLA envy. I'm glad everything went well and congrats to the newlyweds!

Monica - good news on your son's treatment - may he continue to improve. And hopeful news about your ET Eric. Congrats to you too on the new house.

Carol - I'm so sorry about your friend John. Was he the fisherman who provided you with fresh crappie?

Stroganoff sounds good - I have a pkg of tenderloin trimmings in cubes saved for that very purpose. I find I have better luck with full fat dairy. But as others have said, no boiling after the sour cream is added. I know from experience that It curdles every time.

Kids are coming for dinner tomorrow. I'm fixing a pork loin rack with green peppercorn sauce, scalloped potatoes, green beans and asparagus - both in a lemon/orange citrus sauce, applesauce, deviled eggs, hot cross buns and lemon custard cakes with macerated strawberries. I've spent the day doing meal prep and I'm exhausted so dinner is brats on the grill and baked beans. The only other veggies will be some raw carrots and cauliflower I'm eating while I'm waiting for the beans to be done.

I almost always use a recipe even on things I've cooked a million times. I know what goes in it I just can't remember how much! Which is not say that I won't embellish or eliminate that which I don't like or don't have.