Neat Lunch box Greg. Annie is there an Asian market in Grand Rapids? If so they will probably carry them.

Shaun, I'm so glad you tried another rice. Basmati is defintely my favourite. If you have an Indian or an Asian market near you they will sell a number of different brands of Basmati. Try a couple of different ones and see which one you like best. Some are better than others.

Dinner is on simmering. A big pot of meatballs. While the meatballs were cooking, I made a batch of Jacques Torres's chocolate chip cookies. I know that you are suppose to let them rest in the fridge for 24 to 36 hours, but I did that before and didn't notice any difference in taste or texture. So I baked up one tray and put the rest of the dough in the fridge. I used over a pound of Callebaut chocolate, half dark and half milk.

Oh my gosh Ann, that cookie! And right before dinner :)

OMG, Ann, that cookie just oozed all over my keyboard..oh wait, that was drool!

Neat lunch box, Greg...good thing about being retired I don't have to worry about having to eat those awful school lunches if I forgot mine!

Nancy, I forgot to say how wonderful your celebration for Kim was. What a wonderful array of food...she must have been very happy!

Shaun, your chili and rice look good...Mike makes it, but I don't like the beans, so I pick the big chunks of meat out...I am a joy to feed!
I read your rice is nice thread..:)

Hope you can stand some more chili,
and a trio of sliders..the last one is pulled pork with home made cole slaw..

I am sitting here laughing...we had chili over basmati with cornbread, too!

What a really, really neat lunch box. I love it!

Ann great looking cookie. Chocolate chip is a definite classic.

Super looking chili by all. I actually have chili on the menu for some time next week. Hope mine turns out as well as everyone elses. It must be the cold weather that we are all experiencing....brrrr for most of us.

Tonight was bone-in chicken breasts that I cooked under the broiler (too windy to grill outside), roasted potato wedges and salad.

Isn't it funny how members end up having the same dinner. That happens often.

Kathleen, I love your little burgers. So cute.

OOOH Dixie, look at that crispy golden skin on your chicken. I would love to tear off a little piece.

Spaghetti and Meatballs here tonight.

EVERYONE'S meals look delicious!

That is the coolest lunch box. I think I will get SIL one.

We are grilling baby back pork ribs, potato salad and herco verts tonight. Got the ribs marinating in dry rub now. It's supposed to be cold tonight so I'll have Charles turn the ribs over. LOL! I'm going to use a smoke pack of hickory chips...hope they are good because this is my off the calorie meal for the week. SIL, DD and Maggie will be joining us. I hope I remember to take pictures.

Ann, Charles would love your Escargot!

So true what Ann said: Karen, we had baby back pork ribs last night too, but oven baked not grilled with baked beans (Aleksi's favorite) and cole slaw. DD doesn't eat pork, so I made her a chicken packet with onion, small potato slices, a pat of butter, chicken breast and Penzy's Mural of Flavor and baked in foil packet, which was a hit with her. remember, though, she comes from bare beginnings cooking.

You are all putting me in the mood for chili, I wonder why...

Tuesday night I used leftover lobster to make a Lobster Bisque. That with a slice of 5 Min bread, hot out of the oven and Crab Louie Salad made our dinner.

The last two nights we enjoyed a Mexican type of casserole. My own creation. Spanish Rice with lot's of ground beef, black beans, salsa, home canned tomatoes and extra seasonings. Hit the right spot during this extremely cold weather.

Not sure yet about dinner tonight, I'm thinking pork chops but want to do something different with them, the usual is getting boring.

Nancy

I've been away for a couple of days and there are way too many good looking feasts to comment on individually! They all look heavenly!

I do have to ask Kathleen about the sliders.... do you make your own little buns? I'm thinking that I could do those on the new Griddler.... I wouldn't want to do it for a crowd, but it would be fun for just Joe and I.

The last few meals haven't been anything earthshattering. Grilled chicken served on a salad and a dinner where Joe "cooked": ie he stopped at Whole Foods and brought home a wonderful wild rice concoction, crab and corn soup and crabcakes!

Last night was Joe's poker night so I satisfied my sweets craving by baking my apple nut cake and sending it along to the game, while I had leftover crab corn soup. Poker a small crowd last night so there were leftovers which I sent along with Joe to his office this AM. But we each had a thin slice with our coffee this AM! 5lbs down.... more to go!

Somehow we never have leftover lobster in the house!

LOL, Peppi, not here either.

Annie

LOL.... got to tell ya, we wouldn't either but the tails I bought for Kim's B-Day were around 1 1/2 lbs each. Neither of us could eat it all. Too rich with all the butter. Should have bought smaller tails...no, the soup was good.

Nancy

Nancy, do you have a good recipe for Lobster bisque?? In case I win the lottery..:)

Grace, your cake looks good...

Here's the little slider press...

and since I made them in a snow storm, I used the emergency can of refrig biscuits..the ones that come 10 to a can, not the Grands..
I pinched 2 together, brushed with egg and spinkled with sesame. In the summer, I have used hot dog buns cut in 3...it works! Here they are on the hot dog rolls..

Everything looks so good. We did the sweet thing - I got inspired by Restaurant Makeover as this is something they introduced to a restaurant they were doing - French toast with Nutella and bananas in between two pieces of thick bread, topped with whipped cream and syrup, topped with fruit salad (at least it was packed in water) to which I added some more fresh fruit. My kids were in heaven, me, not so much, can't move.... BTW, Sol I really like your blog - my son got his first electric guitar and has just mastered rocking out to Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.

I never heard of a slider press.... now I understand how you could do them for a crowd.
Cookie, sounds like a sugar high tonight!

I made good on one of my New Year's resolutions which was to use the fancy china more than just for company and holidays.....

We started with a cold yogurt soup (green onion, cucumber, milk and yogurt in the food processor and you can't see, but in the bottom of the bowl are some soaked raisins which make it amazingly good). I know that those of you in the Arctic regions right now can only imagine hot soups, but it was good!

Then we had Mustard Herb Pork Loin chops cooked from a recipe in the Griddler pamphlet that came with the machine. Lots of flavor. A side of Turnips Au Gratin and a green salad with garden greens.

Grace

Grace, you have beautiful dishes. I love turnip. The gratin sounds like something I would love.

Kathleen, you threw me for a second. I didn't know what sliders were. I only know sliders as in Chicken and Dumplings.

I roasted a whole (double) chicken breast for dinner tonight and made hot chicken sandwiches with homemade fries.

Lobster bisque. Be still my heart!

Grace that cake looks wonderful. You have great will power. I also love your dishes and the silverware. I keep seeing your gratin and have been wanting to make some. Soon.

Kathleen that's a good idea to cut the hot dog buns for sliders. You're look like I could eat...a .. few.

Ann, I could go for a hot chicken sandwich right now... at one thirty. lol. Every time I see your fresh sage I keep meaning to go see how my patch is faring this winter and grabbing some, but it's way on the other side of the yard and I've been cooking a lot and that makes walking harder. Smiles. Another soon... lol..

Well today I am still dealing with the frozen hot water situation so of course I have to cook something big. I made a big ole batch of bolognese, several gallons of which will go in the freezer. I made some fettucine to go with it. Since the water situation I let Barilla do the honors on there.

Ann, btw, your gnocchi look great and I like ricotta gnocchi too. Gnocchi is possibly my favortie food on earth. Have any of you ever made gnocchi with leftover mashed potatoes? Christy gets craving for mashed and she always makes too much and doesn't care for them much for leftover so I often make gnocchi with them. You'd think all the milk and butter would make for crappy gnocchi, but it actually makes them quite nice. Lighter than regular gnocchi and so fast and easy of course. Just throw in an egg, a bit of romano or parm and gently add enough flour to make a nice dough. I think the key to making good gnocchi of any type is not to overwork the dough while adding enough flour to get the dough stiff enough.

I also made one of those impossible coconut pies. Wow it came out so good. Christy likes biscuits but is scared to make them, so I made some homemade biscuit mix for her so all she'd have to do is add milk or buttermilk and drop them on a baking sheet. I've made a few batches with the mix but she hasn't so far, so .. I wanted to use some of it up, hence the impossible coconut pie, even though it only takes a 1/2 cup of the mix. I was impressed with how nice and glazed the coconut got as it browned on the top of the pie. Very good. I like regular coconut custard pie a lot, but I'll make this again.

Oh, gosh, everything looks sooooo good! Once high school is back in session after a vacation, I don't seem to have as much time to do much more than throw together something kinda healthy, let alone take a photo! Meanwhile, my desktop is loaded down with lots of new recipes I want to try.

I did make the 5 minute artisan bread on Wednesday, and baked up one small loaf--gee, how easy was that! It didn't seem to look much like some of the photos (it looked smaller and not as "high") but it sure tasted good! Gonna bake up another small loaf tomorrow, and again on Monday. No photos though--gotta get a new battery for my camera.

Oh, I did make some fresh salsa tonight, for the weekend!

Smiles,
Sooz

ann_t: Wow, sure wish I could get roasted chicken breast like yours...they look so juicy, not dried out like mine. Do you use the same technique as for whole chickens...pre-salt then high heat? About how long does it take to roast?

Marsha

I want a bowl of Nancy's lobster bisque, a piece of Grace's apple nut cake, a couple of Kathleen's sliders, and one of Ann's hot chicken sandwiches!

Last night I tried a new recipe to me, spicy lemon garlic shrimp from Dragon's Kitchen blog. The only change I made was to use cilantro instead of basil, which I do not care for with seafood. It was very good, so it will be a keeper.

The food and photos are just wonderful here and very inspiring --I'll take a serving of Marigene's shrimp and AnnT's chicken even for breakfast this morning. We went the Mexican food route last night and fixed easy/peazy refried beans in crockpot (new recipe), but were so good out of the crockpot we didn't mash, and sour cream chicken enchiliadas and a tossed salad with my version of the chipotle cilantro lime dressing posted here sometime ago (I didn't have the chipotle...lol). My dressing's color was awful, but the taste was really good. I want to experiement with this this week and maybe make a pasta salad with it.

Brenda

I second what Marigene said, LOL. One of each, please!

Marigene, this isn't the first time you have created a craving in me, cheeseburger is the one I remember the most - but now its shrimp. Thanks for the new recipe (and yet another food blog to read :) this shrimp recipe has a few new ingredients from my usual, sounds like I need to make this tonight!

We are going to Chucky Ch**se tonight! Maggie is coming to spend the night and it happens to be her favorite place at the moment. I'm so glad they have a good salad bar.

Last night we went to a play (which I couldn't sit through) and then off to meet a friend at a local steak and seafood house. I had a nice Tuna Steak cook rare with asparagus and house salad. Brought home the left over tuna and made a tuna salad for lunch today. Yum

Hi Karen - how I wish I had a yummy photo to add, we are eating bbare bones veggies paired with protein lately. Not really picture worthy...BUT

I love Chucky cheese pizza! Unfortunately, Will hates things in costume and always has, so after our first trip ihere, we've never been allowed to go back...:-)

I always wished we could go there...sigh.

Isn't it funny?

Grace, I am in love with your china. Plus all the meals here. I can't keep up, but I am trying and my scale is showing it.

I finally made the oxtails into a stew earlier this week and we have been enjoying them. These were the ones the grocery store marked down to .99/# several months ago. They were perfect for the subzero temps this past week.

Plus, I made Marigenes black bean soup and it was heaven in a bowl. Thank you! You gave me the recipe one year ago and I finally made it at 5 am last Wednesday morning. Talk about easy and good.

Tonight was dinner in, a grilled T-bone steak, fried potatos and a Greek salad. Tomorrow will be any leftovers from this week as I have a trade show in the morning, a board meeting in the afternoon and still have shopping and laundry to do. Clone me please or train Dad.

Marigene, that shrimp looks very good...and that blog is very interesting...I bookmarked it. Saw something I want to try for Super Bowl...

Grace, beautiful china..please share the details, I am a dishnut...

PK, your dinner sounds great...

Ann, amazing we can see how moist your chicken is !
Sooz, I like that 5 min bread toasted too, so I use up every bit of it...too bad for the birds!

We had shrimp last night also. They were Gulf Shrimp and I boiled them in their shells in Old Bay Seasoning, Beer, Vinegar and Lemon Juice. Served with homemade french fries and coleslaw.

With all the talk of chili I just had to make a pot (a big pot - going to freeze for lunches later). So that was dinner tonight along with crusty bread/butter and salad.

Ann, I've never had a hot chicken sandwich.... it looks like it has gravy on the outside??
Marigene, that is a fine looking shrimp dinner. Thanks for the link to the blog.
RR, I'm glad you're feeling better, you deserve a medal for going to Chuckie Cheese!
Dixie, your chili looks great!

Tonight was a vegetarian meal that tasted good after a day out riding: Chili con Queso served over Homemade Toast and Grilled Green Beans with Feta. I'm in love with my Griddler! The recipe for the grilled beans was in the instruction pamphlet or I never would have thought to do it.... they were scrumptious. Toss in olive oil with salt and pepper, put in one layer on the grill pans, close and cook for 8 minutes. Toss in a bowl with a squeeze of lemon and a little Feta. I may never cook beans any other way again!!

Thanks for the comments on my china, I love it too!! When I was in 7th or 8th grade, probably in the late 60's, my mother took me to the local jewelry/china store and had me select a silver pattern and a china pattern. She said that one day when I was living on my own whether single or married, I'd want nice things and I should get started a piece at a time and you were never too young to know what you liked. She was right.... I picked the china first.... fell in love with it and have never regretted it or had my taste change.

I remember making a conscious decision to chose a simpler silver pattern because the china was so busy. I'd get a couple of pieces a year as gifts and by the time I did get married, I had a smattering of pieces already. I used to love to save up for the really weird silver things like a lemon fork etc. when I was younger! And when I went to London for a month while in college, my mother gave me money to go to a Wedgwood shop and buy two pieces to ship home... I chose two serving bowls, an oval and a round and of course still have them though I've forgotten anything else that I might have bought as a souvenir while there!

The china is no longer made, but I can find it on ebay and occasionally try to snag a piece if nobody's bidding it up. It's by Wedgwood and is called Columbia Enameled W595. The silver is the old Chantilly pattern by Gorham.

I'm also lucky enough to have my great grandmother's (I was named for her) Haviland china service from the 1890's. Lots of the old Havilands are florals and luckliy since my own pattern is so flowery, hers was just a simple muted green and ivory pattern. I have a portrait of her in her wedding dress in 1894 hanging by the china cabinet so she can keep a watchful eye on her china!!

I'm hoping I can keep up with the goal of using the good china once a week or so even when it's just Joe and I eating alone.

Grace

Grace, that's amazing! When I was in 8th grade I spent all my babysitting money on new clothes to wear to the next party or dance! You were way ahead of me!!!
Thanks for sharing, I am in awe of you saving for a lemon fork...
And my mom's name was Grace ...an old name getting popular again!

I checked out Dragon's Blog and promptly added it to my blog bookmarks. Some good sounding recipes there. I see Beef Rouladen in our future.

Kathleen, here is Chases (Sharon) recipe for the Lobster Bisque that was my inspiration recipe. I didn't have shells to make the stock with so I cheated. I had a little jar of Lobster Base which I used instead but followed the rest of the recipe.

Lobster Bisque

Sharon (chase-CF)
2 1-pound live lobsters
2 Tbl olive oil
1 onion sliced
1 large celery stalk sliced
1 small carrot sliced
1 garlic head cut in half crosswise
1 tomato sliced
2 Tbl chopped fresh tarragon
2 Tbl chopped fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
8 whole black peppercorns
1/2 Cup brandy
1/2 Cup dry Sherry
4 Cup fish stock or bottled clam juice
1/4 Cup tomato paste
1/2 Cup whipping cream
2 Tsp cornstarch
1 Tbl water

Bring large pot of water to boil. Add lobsters head first and boil until cooked through, about 8 minutes. Using tongs, transfer lobsters to large bowl. Reserve 2 cups cooking liquid. Cool lobsters.

Working over large bowl to catch juices, cut off lobster tails and claws. Crack tail and claw shells and remove lobster meat. Coarsely chop lobster meat; cover and chill. Coarsely chop lobster shells and bodies; transfer to medium bowl. Reserve juices from lobster in large bowl.

Heat olive oil in heavy large pot over high heat. Add lobster shells and bodies and saute until shells begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Add onion and next 8 ingredients. Mix in brandy and Sherry. Boil until almost all liquid has evaporated, about 4 minutes. Add fish stock, reserved 2 cups lobster cooking liquid and lobster juices. Simmer 1 hour.

Strain soup through sieve set over large saucepan, pressing firmly on solids. Whisk tomato paste into soup. Simmer until soup is reduced to 3 cups, about 15 minutes. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

Add cream to soup and simmer 5 minutes. Dissolve cornstarch in 1 tablespoon water. Add to soup and boil until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Mix lobster meat into soup and stir to heat through. Ladle soup into bowls.

Oh, I love all the chili and the chicken and everything in between. You all are so inspiring.

Last night I made shabu shabu for a friend. This is a Japanese dish that gets its name from the sound paper thin slices of beef make when you swish it in a pot of boiling water. This is a typical winter family style of meal where everyone shares their meal over a cooking pot on the table. The broth was subtly flavored with konbu (seaweed) before first cooking the beef. Once people have been filled up on beef, then you put vegetables into the pot and cook them. Everyone takes what they want out. Finally, at the end, udon (in my case homemade hand cut) noodles are cooked and eaten. Two sauces are traditional for dipping the cooked foods in. One is a ponzu sauce which is made from lime juice, soya sauce, grated diakon radish and green onions. The other is a sesame sauce made with sesame paste (I use tahini), soy sauce, mirin and rice vinegar. It was oh so tasty. Here are some pics.

Grace, I can't believe you have never had a hot chicken sandwich. What about a hot turkey or beef? My favourite "diner" food. And yes that is gravy. Can't have a hot sandwich without lots of gravy.

I like your goal of using your china. So many have nice china and crystal that they keep in the china cabinet and never use. Seems silly to have nice things and not use them.

Nancy, I love the pictures you are taking with your new camera.

Greg, I haven't had shabu shabu since we lived in Vancouver. Looks great.

We had Mexican for dinner last night. Pork Carnitas. Prepped everything before leaving for work so I only had to make the corn tortillas and the guacamole when I got home from work. Moe put the roast in the oven mid afternoon.

Nancy, your chicken breast looks wonderful. I'd be happy just eating the skin alone!!

Greg, I love learning about new cooking styles. Your dinner looks like it took a lot of careful planning. I'd love to participate in one of those one day!

Ann, I'd like to plop some quacamole on your pork tortilla in that last picture and take a big bite! My stomach is growling now!

Nope, no hot chicken sandwich with gravy on the outside.... ever....nor roast or turkey! I'd love to have one though. I think of myself as having tried and cooked so many things and being an adventurous cook and then see so many new ideas (though hot chicken sandwiches appear to be old comfort food) that I want to eat 6 meals a day just to try it all!

Dinner out last night with friends that we regularly meet for Sunday night out. I had my usual at that restaurant: grilled seafood Caesar salad with shrimp, crawfish and lump crabmeat. I don't know why they call it Caesar since they put a house dressing on it which is sort of like a lemony, green Italian style but it is tasty and hopefully lower in calories than most of the fried foods on the menu.

Grace

Grace

You're welcome Annie and Cookie8!
Cookie, you ought to capture your pint size rocker's performance on video and submit it to youtube.

Sharon, your pictures always make me stop and admire; everything looks delicious.
I've never had cuttlefish before, but remove the tentacles, and I'd dive right into that plate.
I've eaten octopus before though, or rather, tried to; I couldn't get past the flailing arms sprawled out, all over my plate. But, I will continue to be adventurous with food.

Grace, you dishes are just lovely.

Ann, I haven't made chocolate chip cookies, or any other cookie, for that matter, in a long time. But that provocative cookie picture you posted, is pushing me to crank up the oven and get baking.

Dear River, I hope you're on the mend!

Hi 'WoodieAnn' and Peppi!

Nancy, please wish Kim a very Happy Birthday from me!

Kathleen, the sliders look great; I like tiny food I can quickly shovel in my mouth without guilt ... or calories.

Dixie, that pot of Chili is warming me up, just looking at it.

Greg, your Japanese meal looks fantastic. Btw, I'm eager to check out your blog.

We're going to see Mall Cop tonight, then we'll grab a bite to eat, somewhere; we're not big on planning [G].

Sol

I'm snatching our WFD off page 2 again. I know I haven't been around here lately but will say it all looks so good. Greg I like the sound of those Japanese sauces!

Congrats Nancy for your new camera. The colour is lovely and your pics are great!

We've been eating lots of fish lately as well as sausages and vegetable omelettes in between and we're going to try and have red meat only one day a week, pasta and vegetarian two days a week, fish two days a week and chicken or whatever for the remainder. Let's see if we can keep to that.

Recent pics are from a day we did our recycle dropoff and continued on to the little place near the Botanical Gardens.

Wolf had his ever-usual ham omelette with salad and I had my (also ever-usual) garlic shrimp spaghetti with salad. Creatures of habit or we just think they do those dishes well at that place. Cafes cortado to finish and then came the clickity-clack of the domino players starting to play at the next table. I wish I understood the game.

After that will come the Belgian card players at another table.

We're lucky the weather is mild here right now. Today we're having liver, bacon and onion...yum!

Then we'll be glued to the TV like the rest of the world today!

SharonCb

It is early here, been watching the Inauguration since 5:00Am from bed and haven't even made coffee yet. And now I see your wonderful dinner pictures Sharon, but what I really want is that rich looking cup of coffee, the Cafes cortado. An Omelette would be nice too. Now that the Omamas have left for church I guess I'll get up and make coffee.

Dinner last night was pizza. I baked bread yesterday and saved enough dough for a pizza. Topped with sausage, mushrooms and green peppers.

Sharon, if only I could get coffee like that here in Louisiana, I'd be so happy. Despite all of the wonderful food that we're known for in La, if you go to a restaurant you'll almost always get just plain old black coffee with the little plastic creamers of half and half. I'd so love to have an expresso with a little foamed milk after a nice meal without having to go to a Starbucks!
Ann, I'll have to put pizza on my menu list for next week.

This is a photo by DH Joe!!! He has been really amused by the whole CF idea, and getting into me taking the pics. Last night, I wanted to just sit down and eat as it was pretty late and I was SO hungry. He went and got the camera and took the picture himself and said that it just looked so good, he thought it should go on the WFD thread!! Amazing!

Anyway, I made a chicken teriyaki with fresh pineapple and red pepper. I liked the flavor and will probably save the marinade recipe to use again. I also used boneless thighs and like that better than white meat. Served over brown rice with the ubiquitous green salad!

Grace, that's funny dh went and took the pic. I don't get that reception here...In fact sometimes I don't give him a fork until I take the pic...for safety reasons!!

Grace, give that man a hug for the photo shoot, he done good. I know that Dad gets a kick out of it too.

Ann, pass me some pizza please!

Dinner last night was very easy, we picked up some chicken at Browns with thier coupon for $4.00 off a whole one.I made some cole slaw and bisquits and off to laundry I went.

Tonight took me longer than I thought, but I was watching the news at the same time. I pan roasted a pork tenderloin that marinaded in Greek seasonings, some collard greens, green beans and fried potatoes. I stayed away from the potatoes as I really need to loss some holiday pounds. UGH.

Grace, how nice that your DH is getting into the food photo mode. The chicken looks delish, It must be pineapple season, I noticed a big display at the grocery store yesterday, now I wish I had bought one.

I'm just getting acquainted with the new camera, found the food setting and have left it on auto for now...:) I need to study the book yet, then head to the photo site that Sharon supplied a link for during the Holidays.

Monday I cooked a large pork shoulder roast, had that with the usual green beans, mashed potatoe, gravy and applesauce. One of our favorite meals.

Tonight I made shredded pork BBQ and hash browns, which is why I made a 5 lb roast, love the leftovers turned into BBQ.

Nancy

Everything looks wonderful, honest! First, I feel like I've been in a rut as far as cooking, second my Mom has been ill and third I'm just tired. HA! I don't have anything good to post that we have had this week. I'm not much of a cold weather person either and I can't wait for spring.

Thank you all for sharing your meals with me so I can enjoy on the screen!:)

Your pizzas always look good Ann!

Grace we love teriyaki chicken and wasn't that sweet of your Joe to take the photo for you!

Nice looking BBQ pork Nancy!

We had some really tender liver, bacon and onion with gravy the other day and I had a couple of strips of bacon left over and many vegetables and potatoes from yesterday's pan- fried perch ....which was so very good. I used some Old Bay Seasoning on the fish since I was introduced to it by Lou.
Hi Lou I saw you somewhere here yesterday! Nice to see you again. Hope all is going well for you!

I'd sent the Old Bay over from Canada this summer.

But today I used up the extra bacon, cut it into small dice and we had it together with stir fried Italian green peppers and onion, and made the leftover vegetables into a Spanish tortilla.

Well, that was a light and almost meat-free meal today!

Tomorrow I'm making pesto from my basil which is still growing in pots and we'll have that over whole wheat spaghetti.

Have a good weekend everyone! Straight sunshine predicted here for the next days and 72°F/23°C...

....I will be able to dry the laundry outdoors in one day...great!

SharonCb

Oh my, it's a good thing I had supper or I'd be wanting chili and chicken and Elery already wants Ann T's pizza and I really want Sharon CB's cafe cortado, and, well, I'm behind in posting I know.....

Nancy, you're having a good time with that new camera, and the pictures are great.

SharonCB, I could put the clothes out but they wouldn't thaw until about May, LOL.

gbsim, Elery doesn't take pictures yet, but he reminds me to take them, so it's probably gonna happen. (grin)

RR, better you than me at Chuckie Ch**se. I take The Princess and Bruvver there, they love it. Elery's just glad that here in Michigan they now serve beer and wine!

Anyway, supper......

I tried a new recipe last week, chicken with lemon and artichokes. It was from CleanLiving magazine and it was pretty good, I was surprised because I was uncertain about the combination of chicken, onions, lemon and artichoke.

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With the chicken I had some oven roasted zucchini fries:

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I made a batch of the habanero thumbprints for the boss's birthday:

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Elery made a nice green salad with freshly baked garlic croutons:

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Sunday night I had an omelette with everything I could find in the fridge, including some leftover black beans, green pepper, a bit of asiago cheese, mushrooms and onions. I used my own eggs, my baby "girls" are giving me five eggs a day. They are still pretty small and usually frozen solid, LOL, but still, they're producing:

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On Saturday Elery and I made some basil pasta, he had given me the pasta attachment for the Kitchen Aid mixer and I've been fighting with it, but it's getting better:

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We had the pasta with some shavings of aged parmesan, collards from this summer's garden that I'd canned and some salmon burgers that Elery made with fresh salmon, minced and mixed with feta and spinach, then grilled and topped with a sour cream and salsa mixture:

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I found some organic apples at my small grocer for 69 cents a pound, product of the USA:

and some blackberries for 99 cents a 6 oz. package. They were from Mexico but still pretty good:

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I made an apple and blackberry strudel and once again swore I'd never touch phyllo, what a PIA, and the strudel was ugly but it tasted good, although I was so frustrated by the time I was finished with it that I wanted to throw the whole mess in the trash:

{{gwi:1474227}}

I did much better just topping the fresh berries with my homemade yogurt and a drizzle of honey:

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And so I think I'm caught up!

Annie

Grace, I love that your husband is in to taking pictures of your dinners.

Nancy, great looking potato dish. Perfect with your sandwich.

Sharon, I always end up craving a potato Spanish Tortilla when you make one.

We had Chicken wings for dinner last night. Seasoned with garlic, black pepper, sea salt and lemon zest. Moe loves baked potatoes so I baked a couple of small ones to have with the wings.

Dinner will be late tonight. We went into Victoria to catch an early afternoon showing of Brad Pitt's movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The lamb shanks went in the oven at 4:30.

Ann

Wow, lots of delicious looking meals since I last posted...I want a bite of each!

Dinner tonight was a boneless pork chop, braised red cabbage/apples, mashed yukons, green beans and broccoli. Dessert was a small dish of chocolate bread pudding I made last night.

Ann, how did you like Benjamin Button? Its on our list to see - we saw Gran Torino yesterday and we both gave it an "excellent" rating - too bad no Oscar nomination for Clint. I have some wings in the freezer and your recipe is the only way I make them - they're great! (I will admit that I like wings almost any which way, but garlic and lemon is really my favorite!)

We had clam sauce over angel hair tonight, an old favorite here.

Nancy, I could swear I posted a thank you to you for the bisque recipe...I must have forgotten to hit the submit...
Thank you, you are always so helpful...
Everything looks good, Bad to come here when hungry!

Dinner last night was eaten at a sushi bar on the way to the movie theater. I was belatedly celebrating my 49th birthday. I've got to make the last year of the 40s a good one!

I took a friend to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and we both loved it. It was heart-warming AND heart-wrenching near the end. I can see why it was nominated for best movie. Hope you enjoyed it, Ann T.

Doesn't it seem like some foods have to be eaten with someone who has an equal passion for that style of food? That is why I had to take my girlfriend instead of DH for sushi. (My mother gave me a few $20 bills for my birthday and this was my choice on how to spend it.) We had warm saki and ordered sushi as we went which mostly consisted of speciality rolls. I loved a seaweed salad, too, with spicy radish seeds.

My kids love sushi now but I cannot afford to keep them in sushi soooooo I watched a video on YouTube and started to make it at home. A little rice and seaweed wraps are so cheap compared to ordering out. My girls like it with cucumber, sweet red pepper, cream cheese, and salmon sprinkled with some toasted sesame seeds.

Kari

Kari, Happy Belated Birthday. It's really nice to see you posting again. I like your attitude about living it up during your 49th year but don't worry, the best is yet to come.

My dinner last night was a big bowl of tapioca, that's all I could manage after a trip to the oral surgeon's office yesterday. Feeling much better this morning already and very hungry.

Nancy