So...whats for dinner?

The chicken crossed the road....to prove to the armadillo that it could be done.

Last night's dinner spoiler/substitute was a big piece of June berry pie with a dollop of vanilla ice cream, delivered by neighbor Mary. Hugh, who lives in one of the two condos, picked the June berries. I bought the pie crust and ice cream. Mary baked the pie. She has a regular house stove with an oven on her deck.

Here in the resort/campground, neighbors are only a short stroll away.

Dinner tonight to be decided.

My BFF said her mother (born in the 1800s before the turn of the LAST century) always made mac & cheese in one pot. Cooked the mac & drained, then just added milk, butter & cheese to the pot & stirred. I'd guess she warmed the milk?

I too had to look up June berries. Made me remember when we had to go find the encyclopedia to get answers. I didn't look up nearly as many things. Wonder if that means I'm learning more now???

Thought about asking my cousin about her dentist, but I got my "S" towns mixed up. She lives in Taylor and always goes North to Snowflake instead of South to Show Low.

Slow trickle watering my plumarias this morning. Only 15 minutes every two weeks is not nearly enough with no rain since the first of June, but.... Oh well, they live happily on "soil" that is mostly lava rock on the hillsides of HI, so hopefully they'll survive - if not thrive.

Coming out from under my second booster - I did not feel quite as bad this time - as compared to the first booster. Both vaccinations were non-events, but for some reason the boosters are kicking my butt. I had scheduled the booster at one of my local grocery store pharmacies about a week and a half ago, but when I arrived at the appointed time they had just received their doses, and had not checked them in - or whatever the process is - so they cancelled me. I rescheduled for last Fri at CVS for an evening appt, but the pharmacist called me to ask if I could reschedule as he had two available doses prepared for two previously scheduled people, and he would have had to open a new vial just for me, then waste the remaining doses. Of course I agreed - and got the booster as a walk-in the next day, per his instructions. Yesterday I did almost nothing, did manage to cook dinner for DH, but I didn't eat. Glad today is here and I feel more normal.

On the mac 'n cheese front - I am a 3 pan user - lol!, and prefer it baked. I cook the pasta (large elbows or cavatappi), make a white sauce and then add cheeses of choice, add the sauce to the pasta, put it in a baking dish, top with more cheese and buttered bread crumbs, then bake. Sometimes I add bacon or kielbasa, or do julienned ham, peas and keep the sauce white with mozzarella or white cheddar.

New fruit info - or maybe just new to me, lol! Orangedew melon! I love the King of the West brand of honeydew - it is absolutely the sweetest I have ever had. Every year I wait for it and buy it every grocery shop until the season is over. When I went shopping on Sat. (right after the booster so I still felt ok), I saw an orangedew melon from the same grower. It is the color of cantaloupe, but sweeter. Love it!

illimae - yay for Enhertu and a good news scan! I love that for you!

In reading the no bake pie ideas I remembered a couple of yummy no-bake pies that are great for summer because both involve berries. The first is a strawberry cream cheese pie - bake a regular crust (I often use Pillsbury), a graham cracker, or a shortbread cookie one. Whip a softened block of cream cheese with 1/2 c. sugar, and the zest and juice of a lemon. Spread the cream cheese in the baked pie shell. Cut the tops of fresh strawberries off and place them in the cream cheese so the points are up, press slightly into the cream cheese, and fit as many in as you can - I often cut some to fill in the open spaces. Cook about 1 1/4 cup of mashed berries (frozen or fresh) with 1/2 c. sugar and 1/4 c. cornstarch until it bubbles - continue cooking for a couple of minutes until thickened. cool and pour over berries in the pie. Chill and serve with whipped cream. The other is a raspberry cream pie. Bake or buy a pie crust - chocolate is good with this. Cook half a basket (about 3/4 c.) of fresh raspberries with 1/4 c. sugar in a saucepan for several minutes until the berries completely break down. Place the cooked berries in a sieve over a bowl and press the juices out. Discard the fruit solids. Whip a softened block of cream cheese, then add the raspberry liquid and continue to whip for a couple of minutes. Add in a container of whipped topping or 2 c. of whipped cream. Mix well. Spoon the filling into the crust and chill. Slices best when just slightly frozen. Top with the remaining raspberries just before serving. If you used a chocolate crust you could also do a drizzle of chocolate syrup over the top. Just sayin'

Wally - I agree. What I'm willing to do and what might be my preference do not always match - and I'm cooking for one. Also I agree about the "sweet". I cut back the sugar any recipe - sometimes even using none. One of my very dear friends lived in Sequim for many years and just moved to Santa Fe two years ago. I was lucky to visit them before they moved.

But Special - sugar or no, both of those pies look good.

Since October I have removed almost all sugar, staying under 25g a day - from all sources. Both pies are things I have prepared in the past and enjoyed - especially the strawberry one, but am not doing desserts currently. Same with the mac 'n cheese - we are currently gluten and dairy free - which makes mac 'n cheese a challenge. I have made it with gluten free pasta and dairy free milk and cheese, but it is just not as good. I would really rather do without than settle for just acceptable. Mac 'n cheese is a favorite, so I am unwilling to compromise, lol! This is the second time we have done this elimination type of eating plan, and it does seem to work best for us. I usually try to pack DH a breakfast with a lot of protein since he sometimes doesn't get to eat lunch, or finally eats it in the late afternoon. His lunch is usually leftover dinner form the night before - I purposely make extra so I don't have to think up something to send with him. So, even though I am cooking for two - it feels like more, ha! I got the orangedew melon for him because he prefers sweeter melon, I give him a little container of fruit to have in the afternoon as a snack. I was lucky to grow up eating fresh fruit for dessert - my mom didn't buy soda, white bread, prepared baked goods, or chips, we never had fast food, and we didn't often eat at restaurants. She served fish and lean meats, and my dad had an organic garden in the back yard. We didn't use a lot of convenience foods, and had the advantage of living in southern California with an abundance of fantastic fresh produce year 'round. DH grew up with chips, white bread, and soda in the house and dessert after dinner always, but my MIL was a great scratch cook also!

SpecialK, I always make extra for dinner for dh to take leftovers to work for his lunch the next day, too. Another of my routines is to make dinner three or four nights in a row and then we'll have have a day of just leftovers for dinner, and I love that I get a break from cooking. My grandkids, ages 13 and 11, were here for a week earlier this month, and they do not like leftovers. Neither does my stepson, their dad. Dh and I think leftovers often taste even better than when they were the main meal! So I don't get it.

When it comes to fruit, I go with what's in season. As a kid, I totally loved crabapples, rhubarb and green apples (meaning the ones right off the tree not ripe yet, not the Granny Smiths which I didn't have till I was an adult). I loved the sour taste. I cannot really eat as much of it now. But I will eat strawberries, watermelon, Bing cherries, nectarines, raspberries and blueberries all summer long then switch to apples come fall. Jonagolds are my favorite. In the winter I cannot seem to get enough mandarin oranges. I try to eat fruit and/or vegetables every day.

I’m going to keep my eye put for orangedew melon at the stores. Would love to try it.

I definitely have a sweet tooth and I do love cherry pie. There's an excellent pastry shop in this tiny town that makes heavenly cherry turnovers. They seem more a colder weather dessert. I'm not that big on ice cream but occasionally indulge in a hot fudge Sunday and if they can add a little bit of caramel sauce to it, even better!

Love the sweets discussion. Growing up our deserts were always fruit during the week. My Dad loved sweets and my mom made great pies & cakes - but only on the weekends. Kids loved to come to your house because the cookie jar was always full. We honestly didn't care about cookies - probably because they were always there and we weren't told NO. The best deserts were melons or strawberries or peaches in a bowl - no sugar. Mom made homemade bread - usually whole wheat. And we did have a tart, green apple tree in the back yard. I no longer eat much fruit because of the sugars. My deserts might be a handful of cashew nuts. Reminds me of something from my childhood - my grandpa put sugar on tomatoes!!!

What to call it....Shrimp Toss Pot? Jazzy was kind enough to post this concoction on the 'slice of joy' thread. I made it for dinner tonight and added fresh mushrooms. It was enough for two good sized meals but I ate every single bit. I'll probably be sorry later tonight, but it was delicious. Saute mushrooms, garlic & shrimp, add broth & artichoke hearts, simmer. Serve over pasta - I used linguine. I think next time I'll toss in some sour cream. WOAH!!!

Goldie - Can't remember what day you have to drive back for tests - but good luck.

My mom always made sure to start dinner with a starter--either a melon wedge, soup or salad. We always had fish (usually frozen), meat (steak or cheaper types of lamb chops) or chicken (always roast, never fried). The only thing my mom ever breaded & fried were veal cutlets or eggplant slices for parmigiana. Dessert was never an actual "course" unless at a restaurant, which was an every couple-of-weeks thing. Sometimes on Friday nights my dad would come home from work with fried seafood from a fishmonger near his office: shrimp, scallops, clam strips. (We did not keep Kosher). My mom baked brownies, sponge & nut cakes--cookies & cupcakes were store-bought and she felt pies weren't worth the effort. In summer, we always had cantaloupe or honeydew; in winter, tangerines or navel oranges. Ice cream was something we got from the Good Humor or Bungalow Bar truck, or sundaes at the ice cream parlor or luncheonette's fountain.

Yesterday, the farmer's market had some good stuff--Farmer Nick is pasture-raising his chickens again and the eggs are a buck cheaper than at Whole Paycheck or even Target. I got Bob a couple of empanadas and me a jar of juniper kraut. The farm in MI had sour cherries at twice the price of the Bings and half again as expensive as the yellow Rainiers, but worth it. To me, sour cherries taste like the "wild cherry" candies (Charms or LifeSavers) and fountain cherry sodas of my childhood. The Bings & Rainiers are too sweet. We ate the last of our black raspberries that the birds & rabbits didn't get first. Our cherry tomatoes are coming in fine; just picked the first two of our regular tomatoes that have begun to "blush," and they're ripening on the sill. Bumper crop of basil, mint, chives, rosemary & thyme--but the parsley has bolted. (Still edible, though the leaves themselves are sparse). Last night I had 10 of the cherries with whole-milk Greek yogurt and a touch of Lakanto vanilla syrup. It was divine, and I'm about to end my intermittent-fasting eating "window" with a repeat of it.

Last week to supplement grilling (grass-fed ribeye one night, bison strip another), among other things I nuked some Jason's cauliflower "mac"&cheese. (Keto-friendly). The texture wasn't gonna fool anyone into thinking it was pasta, but the cheese sauce was quite convincing--especially after I grated the last of a truffle over it. I made a choucroute garnie Fri. night, with a chicken brat, Niman Ranch beer brat, and Feltman's grass-fed beef natural-casing hot dogs (the closest I've ever had to the kosher-deli dogs of my childhood; Vienna, Sinai 48, Hebrew National and even Nathan's pale by comparison). I love the "snap" of a natural casing--skinless wieners are wussy. I rinse, drain & start the kraut. I saute a couple of cut-up bacon slices, then add the kraut, juniper berries, caraway seeds and a little white wine. I then put the sausages atop the kraut, cover, and simmer for 20 min. I serve with regular and coarse-grain Dijon plus deli brown (Ba-Tamp-Te or Gulden's) mustard. I also keep Creole mustard in the fridge, for making remoulade. Plain yellow hot dog mustard does not enter my house.

Went to Regalia Sun. night--shared squash blossoms stuffed with chevre, dipped in beaten egg-white (a la chiles rellenos) and fried, over arugula and romesco sauce; also Mediterranean salad. Bob had veal Marsala, I had half a spatchocked roast chicken with roast veggie medley instead of the included mashed potatoes. After watching enough episodes of "Restaurant Impossible" I understand how carefully restaurants decide on portions & sides in order to "cost-out" each dish and appreciate that the starch is always the cheapest component. So I always offer to pay an upcharge to substitute a veg., but my offer is graciously declined. I tip heavily as a result.

Tonight I defrosted & grilled a large Copper River filet, along with a cherry tomato/truffle burrata caprese over arugula, and snap peas sauteed with sesame seeds, garlic & ginger.

Goldie: Pasta bowl: Below is what Jazzy wrote - no recipe. Pictures on 1/3/22 - Thin Slices of Joy. I did not add the capers but I did add fresh mushrooms. I only used 1/2 a cup broth - "Better than Boullion". And I won't use artichoke hearts next time. Not firm enough. I'll probably use broccoli instead.

Yes capers. In a bit of chicken broth.

No recipe as this was my own creation but here is what you do:

Saute shrimp in olive oil and minced garlic. Add about a cup of chicken broth and simmer with marinated artichokes. Make linguini or pasta of your choice and then put in a bowl. Toss together and add capers at the end so they remain plump and flavorful. Serve with Parm or asiago cheese.

I make a shrimp dish at home that is similar. I saute large peeled shrimp in a mixture of butter and olive oil for about three minutes, then add lemon juice, lemon zest and minced garlic. Also minced herbs of choice, if desired. Mix with cooked linguini. For me fresh grated romano or parmigiana makes any pasta dish more delicious, so we add the grated cheese.

Here in MN, fresh shrimp is not available.

So, where were "you" today, in 1969? I was too engrossed with watching the Apollo 11 moon landing to even care about lunch or dinner. :-)

My mom liked to make apple pies...any excuse, or none needed at all to make one or two or three. :-)

The leftover dough would get rolled out, buttered, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, cut into pieces and then baked.

Wallycat, I'm a year behind you, but don't think I was having hormone rage yet. If I was, I don't remember!

AuntieN, Happy birthday!

I made the shrimp tonight. I found a very similar recipe, also added some brocolli that needed to be used up, the lemon and zest (wished I'd put more), some flour to make a rue so it was more gravy like. And I wish I would have added capers. Enough left for another huge meal, but tomorrow I think I will do my BLT. Those maters are calling me!