John, that's sure making paella the hard way! And dcarch is right, 3 hours is about the right time for cooking raccoon. (grin) I'm sure I could find you a really good recipe. Truly, though, you had me at Jiffy Pop, I've always loved the stuff.

Thank you, dcarch, if you say it's artistic, I'll take that as a big compliment. I'd take some of that broccoli too...

Rob, like you, I'm a spudaholic. Good thing they are loaded with potassium and have no fat....um.....until I put the cheese and sour cream on them, LOL.

Annie

We were so relieved to be home - after a camping weekend of cold, rain, hail, and three-hour paella - that we decided to show our French exchange student how to cook in a wok.

I am Chinese. My family has generations, centuries, nay, millennia of hard-won racial knowledge about the fiery art of wokery. Knowledge that we kept from the Japanese, rescued from the Communists, took to Taiwan, and brought to the USA in 1950. I solemnly imparted all this wisdom to Gabrielle. Which took about 30 seconds, and then she was woking like, like, like a native Chinawoman. Damn French. Colonialists at heart.

Meanwhile, Daughter-fu was frying tofu. She is painstaking. She uses a cast iron pan, places a single layer of precisely cut and dried tofu cubes, and fries each side of each cube, turning the wee cubes one at a time until all six sides are perfectly browned.

We ended up with a plate of sushi rice, asparagus, roasted pineapple, ginger-garlic chicken, red bell pepper batons, corn, candied pecans, and a slightly hot sauce.

OMG John that looks SO AWESOME!
Stir fry is one of my favorite meals!

OK, you were camping, that makes more sense, I was trying to figure out why the heck you were making paella on a coleman stove! Heck, when I camp I usually make sardines and crackers. (grin)

I can't see the pictures here at work, I'll check them out at home, but I cracked up at your foreign exchange student observations.

I had a foreign exchange student from Sao Paulo, Brazil. In February, in Michigan. The adults involved in sending her North must have been sadists.

Annie

John, that does look delicious. Your daughter is much more patient than I am, I'd just be giving that pan a shake to turn the cubes!

Here Elery made dinner while I was at work. We had baked halibut on a bed of onions, broccoli, yellow peppers and mango cubes, a small lobster tail which was thawed and then steamed and served over some of Teresa's wild rice, and fresh honey wheat bread. The mango and halibut went very well together and I love seafood of nearly any kind, so I was very happy:

Monday I was off work and supposed to take the kids to Chuck E Cheese, but we had that storm and I don't like to drive 100 miles with the Grandkids in car seats when the visibility is poor, so we'll do that Saturday. That gave me a whole day to play with pasta, so I made some cannelloni stuffed with ricotta/spinach/mozzarella, cooked in homecanned tomato basil sauce and with a bit of cheese melted on top. It was an experiment to see if it made it onto the menu for the wedding reception, and I found that a batch of pasta made with two cups of flour makes enough dough to make 24 cannelloni. I could knock out 100 in not much time. I froze them so I could cook them from frozen to check texture and they were fine. I'm waiting to get the "go ahead" from Ashley she had to work until 8:30 so it'll be supper for she and Kevin before he goes to work at 11 pm. Elery said they were good.

Also on Monday, I played with fondant, practicing for wedding cake. I made a double layer cream cheese pound cake and covered it with fondant. It went with Ashley for Kevin to "taste test", he's kind of picky and only likes yellow and white cake, but Amanda tasted the scraps from when I levelled the cake and told me that if Kevin didn't like it, I should just make it for her. (grin)

I was pleased anyway, the fondant went on smoothly, and the corners weren't as difficult as I'd anticipated, I've only done fondant on round cakes until now.

And I think I'll be eating leftovers for a couple of days...

Annie

Annie, you are getting really good at making wedding cakes. Looks perfect.

We had halibut for dinner on Sunday. Italian Style Baked Halibut.

We had a Greek dinner on Monday night.Greek ribs, potatoes, rice and Greek Salad.

We had a late lunch on Tuesday so I never made dinner.

Even though winter came back today in the way of a snow storm, I felt like Spring so.........

I pulled my last bag of rhubarb out of the freezer and baked a pie.

For dinner I boned out a whole (Double) chicken breast and stuffed it and with it we had mashed potatoes, rutabaga and peas.

My goodness. That cake leapt from my monitor and chased me around the room until it caught me, pinned me, and glued itself to my thighs. I can't tell if I have cellulite, because the five extra chins won't let me look down.

Our French girl made ratatouille tonight, and it was Good. I contributed a broiled steak.

Tomorrow, daughter-Fu wants to make lemon chicken. The lemon chicken you get in ''Chinese-American'' restaurants is gloopy, thick-tasting stuff, an unholy marriage of lemon juice and corn starch. D-Fu makes hers with lemon zest - much better.

It looks and sounds as if some delicious dinners have been taking place in the last week or two. Due to extra hours at work, I have been cooking a lot of soups and stews. Two standouts were oyster Rockefeller stew and an Italian sausage and eggplant soup.

Ann, you should write a cookbook of halibut recipes. Annie, we had some chicken and spinach cannelonis (no cheese in the filling) baked in a bechamel sauce with parmesan on top at an old-school Italian restaurant a couple of months ago. Yours would be a great addition to the wedding menu.

Only a couple of photos since I've last checked in.

We ended up having very good takeout baked chicken dinners from a local church for Valentine's day. This was a tiny marble cake that came with it.

After seeing the photos of meals with green olive sauces, I made Moroccan chicken with olives one night. The photo looks sort of monochromatic but the finely chopped olives are in there.

DH got some veal at closeout time at the farmers' market last week. I was going to use a pack of langostinos for Veal Oscar but ended up with a simpler version.

Rob, were you implying I'm "Captain Obvious?"
Well, I'm gonna stick my tongue out and blow...as in blowing raspberries.

Not obvious enough? How 'bout here? PHHHT!

Btw, dinner looks good, especially those twice-baked taters. Haven't had them in years.

Ann, for once, I can say, your rhubarb pie looks absolutely delicious, and actually drool in the process. And to think, I once sneered at the ruby red celery-like stalk. Tan loca.

AB, I've always liked rope borders on fondant-covered cakes, it lends an air of elegant simplicity.
Sam wants her (someday) wedding cake to be devoid of frou frou; a simply decorated cake, with a few sugar Calla Lilies on each tier. Probably the simplest cake I'll ever make in this lifetime, and I'm looking forward to it. All of it. The cake, the wedding, and, oh dear heaven, the grandbabies.

Ruthanna, John, and Dcarch, your dinners are delicious works of art.

I'll be back with a few photos.

Capt. Obvious

Captain, you make me smile.

I've actually learned a shortcut to making twice-baked. Begin out nuking and end up in the oven. Crisps up the skins and melts the cheese. Mmm. Cuts the time into about 10 minutes, bonus! I use a melon baller to scrape them out and then mash it up, easy-peasy.

Ruthanna, what a cute little cake.

I like the idea of your chicken with olives.

I pulled some puff pastry out of the freezer and made broccoli and chicken turnovers for dinner.

Sol, your time is coming, trust me. I did find out that commercial fondant handles far more easily than my homemade fondant and it all tastes pretty much like carp anyway, so I ordered a 10 lb. tub of "wedding white" buttercream flavored Fondarific, and that's what's going on the wedding cake, I give up on making my own fondant.
Ashley wants me to use black lace cake wraps, a different pattern on each layer,and those are really easy too, so it should be easy enough, I think. She wants ZERO flowers, nothing "foo-foo", and I don't know what the heck she's going to choose as a topper, or maybe she doesn't want one, I haven't thought to ask yet...

Ann T, that looks so good, I can't even describe.

What's for dinner? Oh dear, you don't even want to know. We left this morning at 9 am, ran though the local McDonald's drive through where Amanda and I got coffee and the kids got sausage McGriddles and juice. From there we went to the bridal shop so Amanda could get measured for her bridesmaids dress. The place was full of unhappy brides who were "too fat" or "too short" or "needed to go to the tanning place" or whatever. A couple of very unhappy hours later I'd made a payment on Ashley's wedding dress, gotten Amanda measured and the dress ordered and were on our way to Chuck E Cheese. I hate and destest pizza in general and that pizza specifically, so thankfully the kids weren't very hungry, we got breadsticks and drinks and played for an hour and a half. From there we went to a fabric shop and I was thinking that nearly anything was preferable to where I was.

Not having had enough fun we went shopping for a dress for Makayla, stopped at Michael's and picked up a couple more cake pans since I had 40% off coupons. Went to Steak N Shake for "lunch" at about 2:30, Makayla had mac & cheese, fries and a chocolate shake. Bud had a hot dog, fries and an M&M shake. Amanda got a portobella burger with swiss and cheese/bacon/chili fries. I had a plain burger and a diet coke. No pictures.

A stop at Aldi's and we were finally on our way home. Tomorrow I'm prepping for Monday's colonscopy, so there won't be what's for dinner tomorrow except Gatorade.

Annie

BF hit one out of the park Thursday night for dinner. A new recipe, Butternut Barley Risotto (kind of a misnomer as it doensn't have rice, it's just barley dolled up to look like risotto). We both agreed it was one of our better meals. He continues to cook for me as I continue to be weak/sick. It's just one thing after another. Yes, I've been to the doctor, it's nothing they can fix. Anyway, the barley dish was from Cooking Light. I'm working my way thru a special "Comfort Foods" issue I bought. We served it with chicken baked with pineapple salsa on top. BF bought pineapple salsa by mistake (he's also doing the shopping) and I didn't like it with chips, but it was excellent on the chicken. I may even have to mix pineapple with salsa again sometime to make chicken.

Last night was salad and sandwiches at Panera because we were out shopping. Tonight BF made another excellent meal--sweet and sour cabbage ane pierogis. Not photo worthy though, but yummy!

Annie you sure packed a lot into your day. Did you do your shopping in Grand Rapids.

LPink you have not been feeling well for quite a while. I hope you can shake whatever it is soon.

I made Halibut and Chips for dinner. Used Gardenguru's recipe for the beer batter.

Ann

Yes, Ann, we went to Grand Rapids. David's Bridal, Burlington Coat Factory, Jo-Ann Fabrics, Michaels. Sigh. A day filled with several things I dislike doing, but Chuck E Cheese's made the kids happy, so that was good and the burgers at Steak N Shake are actually not that bad.

No Russo's, no Mediterranean Market, no Penzey's. Just a lot of 20 something bridezillas. Why does a wedding make girls so demanding, self important, RUDE? If either of my girls acted like that to anyone, including salespeople, I'd personally slap them. In public. One actually pushed Bud because he had the nerve to walk between her and a mirror on his way to the restroom. I very quietly and calmly remarked that pushing a 5 year old was going to look really bad for her on that police report for assault and battery and I thought for a minute she might push me. I must have had what Ashley calls "The B*tch of The World" look on my face because she apparently thought better of it. I took my sweet time walking between her and the mirror following Bud to the restroom and I stopped to check my gray roots while I was right there in front of the mirror too. The poor salesgirl was grinning so hard I thought she was going to crack up laughing while the "bride" simmered.

Annie

Lpink train BF to cooking while she ill.
Soon have hunky chef-slave at the grill.
Crazy like a fox is the grrrl.

Annie, You are my hero! Better not mess with our little guys or there will be hell to pay.

Ann t just wanted to let you know, I saw the halibut and olive dinner and thought it looked great. I decided to make it last week. My husband stopped at the store and bought a pound (17.00- I wouldn't have bought, glad he went by himself). We already had green olives at home and since I am not a tomato person I used some roasted red peppers I had for the tomatos. It was fabulous! We both thank you.

The roasted red peppers are our lastest obsession. We/I put them on everything. Tonight we had fish for dinner and I roasted cauliflower with olive oil,the red peppers, parsley, Penzys sunny Spain seaoning and smoked paprika. A few walnuts on top. We could not stop eating it. The inspiration came from the recent vegetable thread.

A person could get dehydrated drooling over the food pics here on this thread!

This weekend was pot sticker time! I made them to eat both Saturday and Sunday, plus I put a couple dozen in the freezer. Gosh darn, I love those little dumplings! And my $1 dumpling press makes the making go very fast. I bought two kinds of dumpling skins when I went to the Grand Asian market earlier this month.

Now, the next thing for me to do is to make my own dumpling skins, right?

Teresa

It was a squash weekend! I had a huge marina del chioggia squash and a friend to help cut it up...

And I baked the rest and have at least 6 cups of the stuff in containers in the refrigerator.
It's a wonderful tasting squash, to me much better than butternut or acorn...not a "pumpkiney" nor as sweet.
So what should I do with the rest of that squash? Soup? Gnocci? Pie? Muffins...got a recipe?
Linda C

Here is a link that might be useful: marina del chioggia

Theresafic , thanks for the feedback. Looks like the price of halibut in your area is similar to ours. Prices should go down in the next few weeks when halibut season opens again.

Linda that must have been one big squash.

Meals this week:

Baked Chicken Pulao

Breakfast Monday

Peameal Bacon and Tomato Sandwiches

Moe's Breakfast yesterday

Crepes with Raspberries

And last night's dinner

Roast Sirloin Tip

Ann, that Chicken Pulao looks scrumptious. Is it on your blog?

Jasdip, Not yet, but it will be there soon.

I winged this dish with what I had on hand. I typed it up before I forgot.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Baked Chicken Pulao
===================
2 cups basmati rice
Chicken legs - skin removed
2 onions chopped
1 inch piece of ginger
4 cloves of garlic
1 cinnamon stick
5 black cardamon pods
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon garam masala
3 to 4 cups of chicken broth
Black peppercorns
2 or 3 small russet potatoes halved or quartered
Fresh cilantro
. Rinse basmati rice until water runs clear. Soak rice for 20 minutes.
Drain and let rice dry in colander.

Heat oil in shallow oven proof pan. Saute onions slowly until golden
brown. Add minced garlic and ginger. (use a microplane so the garlic
and ginger is more like a paste).
Add the garam masala, cardamon pods, cinnamon stick, and turmeric and
peppercorns. Add the chicken and toss to coat.

Add two cups of chicken broth, cover and simmer for 20 minutes pr until
chicken is almost cooked. . Add potatoes. Cook for another 5 to 10
minutes. Remove the chicken and potatoes, add the rice and enough
chicken broth to cover the rice by 1/2 inch. Stir well. Add the
chicken and the potatoes back to the pan. Cover and place in a 350�F
for 10 minutes. . Test a grain of rice. Might need another five
minutes. Add a little more chicken broth if needed.

Remove from the oven, place paper towels under the lid and allow to sit
for five to 10 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh chopped cilantro and serve.

We had beef dip sandwiches for dinner last night.

And I made Moe a "decomposed" Waldorf Salad. "Deconstructed" sounds better, but I have seen other recipes referred to as "decomposed" and thought that was appropriate since I don't care for salads.

I made some minor adjustments to the Waldorf Salad found on the British Larder Site. The grocery store was out of watercress so for colour I subbed red cabbage. I also cheated by using Hellman's as the basis for my dressing. Doctored it up with garlic, fresh lemon juice and a little rice wine vinegar for a touch of sweetness.

Moe loved his salad. I would make it again but I would add some sliced red onion, chives or green onion and I might even add grapes.

Ann

I had trout. Fillets, salted, fried skin down in butter and herbes des provence until the skin is browned, then pour in a little sake and cover to steam. I wanted something sweet, so there's roasted grapes, pulsed in blender. I think it looks pretty, and gruesome, at the same time.

Sorry, I meant food processor not blender. Turns out the tastes of trout, butter, sake, and grapes go well together. Unlike butter, orange juice, and shrimp.

johnliu , I am very impressed with your very complex dish made with the team effort of your DD and French exchange student. Great plating with your trout fillets.

Annie, Great wedding cake. Looks like you have done this before LOL. Love those Cannelloni .

ruthanna , cute Valentine cake. Moroccan chicken with olives looks so inviting.

ann_t , too many great dishes, and too few words in my vocabulary to do you justice. Truly inspiring.

lpinkmountain, you make such a veriety of del;icious and great looking meals. I cannot belive that you are cooking with any dietary restrictions.
-------------------------------------------

John's tofu dish and the French student inspired me to make these:

Sauteed tofu
French onion soup with mozzarella cheese. I don't like cheese dripping over the edge of the soup bowl.

dcarch

Man everyone's food looks so good.
Last night was pork chops with a apricot/ginger reduction,Parmesan garlic mashed potatoes and green beans. Sorry no pics.

Linda

I just realized I haven't read this thread in quite a while, and wow there's some good looking food here!

Cod went on sale this week so I looked around for a new recipe and found this 'Baked Garlic Cod' via Foodgawker. The skordalia itself drew mixed reviews (I loved it, some found the garlic overpowering, others didn't like the potato texture in it) but when I finally used it for the cod dish it was to die for. See the link for recipe and a much better picture.

p.s. Ann T - I don't know if it was here or directly on your blog that I saw the gorganzola garlic bread, but I made a couple loaves last weekend to accompany lasagna on a ski weekend with friends, and they were a HUGE hit.

Here is a link that might be useful: Life's Ambrosia

We ate dinner early as hubby is out now for the evening with his band-mates. They're polishing their music, as they're out every weekend March and April. Any excuse to get together and play :)

I made meatballs in a soy/ketchup/vinegar/garlic sauce with basmati rice and steamed broccoli. We were chowing down, when I realized I should have taken pics.

I'm reading this thread and going to hell in a handbasket! OMGoodness! Ann, I wanted to lick my monitor over the prime rib!

Annie, I'm swooning over everything you have posted.

Sol, I would love to visit you on your baking day!
dcarch, I love fench onion soup...but i like my cheese dripping over the edge :-)

You all amaze me with your cooking!

WFT tonight? My dear hubby had surgery this morning (minor) so we are fending for ourselves. I sure wish we had those ribs or prime rib or Ann's chicken and broccoli turnovers! Yum!

I really wanted to lick the monitor on everyone's pictures...we will have soup tonight...

Mardi Gras is in full swing here! I think I will make shrimp and grits tomorrow. Will try to remember to take pictures but grits are not easy to photograph.

Karen, I hope DH has an easy recovery.

FOAS, you might have seen the Gorgonzola bread here.

We had a dinner similar to yours last tonight.

Baked Halibut.

Ready to go into the oven

Out of the oven.

Great fish ideas, which I will be eating more of since on my new restricted diet, anything with soy is out for now. I eat something soy almost every day for at least one meal. I think that's why I haven't had hot flashes.

That chicken pulao recipe looked like something I could eat but almost all curry spices are out for now. Anyway, it was a beautiful dish Ann T, as are the crepes!

John, those roasted grapes look groovy! Love the color. I like to use grapes in cooking a lot, but they are off limits for me for now. Anyway I like to get them in season, which here in the north is fall. You are so lucky out there in CA. I think that's where you live, right??

So, I've been eating a lot of boring chicken. Saturday night I had chicken stew with yukon gold potatoes, carrots, chives and broccoli. Seasoned with poultry seasoning. It was pretty good. The next night was tilapia with rice and vegetables. BF was paying. He can afford fish. I haven't eaten much fish in my life, I rather liked the tilapia. Last night's dinner was very good, turkey burgers with oregano, garlic, spinach and feta cheese, with steamed asparagus as a side. Tapioca pudding with coconut for dessert. Tonight it's more chicken, this time roasted and we'll use the carcass for soup. The treat will be roasted rutabaga. I also made coleslaw with low acid apples, caraway, chives, celery seed, a little oil, honey and a dash of bitter mango powder for kick (amchoor). Serve topped with toasted sliced almonds. Without lemon or vinegar, the apples got brown, which was the main drawback. Otherwise it was pretty good.

Tomorrow night's dinner I get to make vegetarian!! I insisted. I'm going to channel John and make acorn squash stuffed with lentils and rice and a few other treats. Not sure what I'll serve as a side dish, probably some kind of salad. I'm going to experiment with making an avocado dressing, since I can't have mayo, miracle whip or any dressings with vinegar.

FOAS, I liked the looks of your garlic fish. I like skordalia and make it every once in a while. My grandmother & dad really loved it. It's a traditional Greek accompaniment to fried fish, fried eggplant, fried zucchini, and cooked beets. My family always made it with potato, but I know that fresh bread crumbs are also often used. It's great fresh but gets a bit strong if left overnight. Of course, that doesn't keep me from eating it.

Shambo - Yes, it did get strong overnight! In fact it kind of took over the fridge even though it was in a supposedly airtight container, so... bye-bye! Next time I'll make half a batch. By the way, I know it's not the traditional way to use it with fish, but I definitely recommend trying it!

For all the food I throw out on a weekly basis, for some reason I felt the overwhelming need to use up more of a $1.69 package of fresh sage that I bought for my sous vide pork chops (posted on March Recipes thread). Joy of Cooking's veal saltimbocca recipe folds the veal around prosciutto, fresh mozzarella and sage. Paired with "orzo risotto" which my wife would gladly eat as her whole dinner seven days a week:

And last night in honor of the day, last night I made jambalaya (chicken, shrimp and andouille) and many hurricanes:

FOAS, I don't think you've ever posted a meal on the WFD threads that I wouldn't like to have for my dinner.

We had our first shad roe of the season this weekend but no pix since I am still trying to figure out how to use a new camera DH bought me. I have given up temporarily and went back to my ancient cheapie Kodak one.

Best dish last week was pork stew with currants and rutabagas cooked in ale, mustard and lots of herbs. One of our co-op members brought back baby white mushrooms from one of the mushroom farms and I put them in there too.

The Fire Company fastnachts were out in full swing yesterday but I made a strawberry cake for teatime instead, since our farmers' market had the first Plant City berries of the year.

I made Seafood Gumbo, in honor of Fat Tuesday, but I might get mobbed for posting the same picture, twice. So, if you want to look at last year's photo, please check out the blog.

Ann, that Chicken Pulao looked remarkably like Cuban Arroz con Pollo, until I read the ingredients. Totally different animal, and just as delicious.

Ruthanna, I could dive into your Strawberry Cake, and die happy.

Karen, you're welcome to my icy wasteland any ole time.

I still cook, but I haven't been in the mood to bring the camera out for dinner pictures. I hope to get bitten by the bug again, when Spring comes around.

Instead, I'll post mostly sugary treats, because who would dare gainsay desserts? Who?

Almond Shells and Truffle Pearls; a remnant of V-day. Sorry to be so late posting.

Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies

White Bean Hummus with Garlic Confit/Homemade Mini Pitas/Crudités.

Sol

Sol, as much as I love your "sweets" it is those cute little pitas and the white bean hummus I want.

Ruthanna, that is one great looking stew. You had me with it until I saw "currants and carrots". LOL. I guess I could pick them out.

FOAS, I'd be happy to eat that whole meal everyday. Orzo risotto is sooo good. And much easier to make for those that don't like standing at the stove stiring.

I had my favourite kind of day yesterday. Spent in the Kitchen.

Baked Rye Bread and French Baguettes. Made tuna pate, homemade pasta and a Bolognese Sauce.

Ann

I must admit I couldn't post for a few days, I was so blown away by this last set of pics, starting with Ruthanna's strawberry cake, then Sol's shortbread scallops (the most beautiful cookies I have ever seen) and then AnnT's homade pasta . . .

Anyway, here is my humble melange. It is from Tues. night when I got to make a vegetarian feast. I'm slowly getting my cooking mojo back after the setbacks of being sick and then getting put on a weird restricted diet. The feast consisted of rice stuffed acorn squash, with various veggies and baby bellas mixed in, salad with avocado and this cottage cheese ranch style dressing I made, and steamed broccoli. The squash was awesome tasting, albeit somthing akin to a Jackson Pollock painting. I made the squash the way I learned to do it here, baking it WHOLE at 400 until tender and THEN cutting and seeding. Makes it very moist and flavorful without being watery.

Everything Sol has ever posted looks good to me.

ruthanna that stew looks nearly as good as the cake!

Ann T, the bread and tuna pate would be a lovely lunch, I really ought to break down and do that, but your halibut, that's the one that really calls to me.

FOAS, how could you go wrong with jambalaya and Hurricanes? Enough hurricanes and the jambalaya just tastes even better....

L, that's one interesting looking concoction, and I'll bet I'd love it.

Here, it's time to catch up. I've had reubens with oven roasted potatoes and green beans:

I made a batch of what we always called "goulash" for Ashley, with whole wheat pasta and home canned tomatoes. She loves the stuff:

Elery really likes wings and I had some in the freezer that needed to go, so I made buffalo wings with roasted asparagus and scalloped potatoes. I ate the asparagus and the potatoes...

Elery cooked too, he sauteed some shrimp and squid, added a bunch of other stuff and put it over rice. No recipe, he made it up as he went along, but it was good:

I've been a bit busy for a couple of reasons. I'm babysitting Ashley's fiancee's dog, Buster the WonderMutt. He's a "golden doodle", a designer dog. We used to just call them mutts, but well, not any more. He's sweet natured and lovable but a clumsy oaf. He knocks the lamps and books off tables with his tail and he reached up onto the kitchen counter and ate an entire jar of apricot jam. he's 7 months old and taller than I am when he stands up on his back legs, so he'll probably get bigger. Because he's a puppy he doesn't mind well, but sometimes he comes when he's called. Not often, LOL. he also drinks water way too fast and then yacks it up all over the house. Sigh. He's supposed to be hypoallergenic, but he's mostly hyper. Here he is:

And I've been working on those 700 canneloni for the freezer, mixing big batches of pasta in the Magic Mill. Thanks Deb!!!

Tonight it was eggs and toast, I'm tired, and so that's what was for dinner.

Annie

Sol, those shells are gorgeous! I love it when you post photos of your creations.
I have mostly lost my taste for bread in the last few years but your pasta looks delicious, Ann.
Lpink, it's good to see that you're getting the hang of your diet. How are you feeling with just the base foods?
I wish I lived closer, Annie, because I'd come over to help you cook wedding food.

The first of many Lenten dinners - roasted cod, asparagus and rice with butternut squash and cranberries. Also a tahini-tangerine sauce for the fish that I forgot to put on the plate for the photo.

I had off work yesterday and did a mini cook-a-thon so have all the prep work done for a few days of meals, onion soup in the fridge, and biscotti for teatime.

Wow, just wow. Beautiful food that I would like to eat much of. Lousy grammar but you get the idea. Teresa is right with the drooling.

Ann, I think I could make myself sick eating all your good food from the crepes, through the haddock and well past the bread to my favorite, the pasta. The only thing that saves me is your liberal use of black pepper which I don't eat at all if I can help it. I'd be doing some serious scraping at your house with no complaints. Smiles.

DCArch, I love that onion soup in particular. Just gorgeous and I can almost taste it.

John, the trout is calling me and the grapes look beautiful with it to me. I loved your earlier pics with the girls cooking.

Foodona, Christy and I would both be happy with your Saltimbocca dinner. We like orzo too and treating it with a rizotto dressing is a great treatment for it. Ya did Mardi Gras in fine style. We almost always use shrimp, chicken and sausage in our gumbos and jambalaya. Love the combination.

Ruthanna, the shad is running? Spring really is on the way! That strawberry cake is envy worthy. I love the pie plate it's in, it's the same one my Mother used for many years and brings back great memories. Thanks. That tablecloth is one of my all time favorites. I used to collect old linens.

Sol, what can I say? I'll skip dinner and eat dessert with you any day. Although, those mini pita's do look perfect and the white bean hummus wants my lips on it.

LPink, I think your concoction looks pretty cool and delish. I'm sorry it's so hard figuring this diet out, but sounds like you're getting there. Best of luck to you.

Annie, I love that I can count on your veggies being done. Yum. I'd be eating the potatoes and asparagus with you happily and leave the wings to Elery and Christy, carnivores that they are. I'd probably have to fight off Ashley because I'd love that goulash too. Oh Annie. All that pasta. If I'd thought about it in time I should have just sent you my motor for your pasta machine. It would help you so much. It would only be a loan, but ... guess it's too late to help now. Sorry I haven't been around enough to notice you needed it. Now for that doodle. Yeah, there aren't enough unwanted dogs around that they have to design mutts now. The biggest joke is that they aren't even really hypoallergenic and can be... well as you noticed... a bit hyper.. lol.. He's way cute though. Love how he's looking up at you.. lol.. Oh,,, btw, your cannelloni look just perfect.

We have been eating here and even cooking, lol, but no pics for a while. Finally got a new batch of batteries for the camera and all I've managed to take pics of is soup and cornbread. Smiles. Well the cornbread deserves the most pics because I've been obsessed with it lately. I needed some more cornmeal to further my experiments and told Christy, stoneground. Well ladies and gents, the DH's aren't the only ones that bring home grocery surprises, the DW's are just as capable. She brought home a 5# bag of stoneground white self rising cornmeal. She got the stoneground part right and was quite proud of herself. I tried the recipe on the bag first but it was a bit dry so I've tried several variations and I'm liking it.

I see I'm not the only one cooking the yellow dried split peas. The soup was very good. As is my custom I made several pounds of it so I have a nice amount of quarts in the freezer. I'm not sure when last I had yellow peas but I was pleasantly surprised to notice that they're a bit more mellow than the green ones. A nice change I'll use more often.

Now my yellow pictures. Smiles.

A few of the cornbreads from the self rising in Mom's cast iron pan.

And the soup, with some cornbread of course.

Coconut, most of my pie plates, including the one in the pic, were my mom's and I think she'd be happy that they're being used. I went to an antique clothing and textiles auction this summer. About 95% of the items were 19th century so hardly anyone bid on the 20th century stuff. I took home a pile of vintage kitchen linens, including this one from your state.

Everyone is eating so well! I enjoy seafood and we seldom eat it but everytime I see your meals with the fillets I crave it.

We had roast beef with potatoes, carrots and onions around it. I made rolls earlier today as well.

ruthanna, I think I'd have a ball cooking with you and i'd be happy with tea and biscotti afterward too, yum. Your rice looks really good, I'd like that combination of flavors, I think.

And I have a pie pan just like that too, it was Grandma's. I guess we've gotten our money's worth out of those, haven't we?

Coconut, thanks for thinking of me. I've got a really good start on the cannoloni (or is that cannellini, I dunno) and the hardest part is making the pasta, but that Magic Mill that Deb sent me sure makes that part a breeze. That cornbread looks really yummy, it would be great with some homemade apricot jam, if the WonderDoodle hadn't eaten it all, LOL. He's also eaten dirt, the cover off a Cook's Illustrated, most of an aloe plant and half a loaf of Boston Brown Bread, right off the counter. And that's just tonight. Sigh.

Yes, I had baked beans and Boston Brown Bread for supper. The bread was from a recipe that was a hand written card of Grandma's called "Authentic Boston Brown Bread". It has cornmeal, whole wheat flour, rye flour, molasses and raisins and is steamed. The recipe said to put it in a pot but I put it on the rack of that little 6 quart Nesco roaster and it worked like a charm.

Good thing I made two small loaves instead of one big one...

Annie

Ruthanna - That might be one of the nicest things anyone's ever said about my cooking. Thank you! (I feel that way about pretty much anything that gets posted to these threads, this one included!)

A few months back I read about St Louis pizza. Researched it a bit, talked to a colleague in STL about it but then it fell out of mind. Then a couple weeks ago my wife came home with an ATK magazine and there it was! They replicated Provol cheese with a mix of white American, Monterey Jack, and a few drops of liquid smoke.

Next time I need to bump up the temp, preheat the stone longer and lower the amount of liquid smoke (I dropped in more than the recipe called for) but we definitely enjoyed this yeastless fake cheese pizza! Any St. Louisans out there, how'd I do?

Wow, I just finished reading all the posts in this thread and I have to say each and every recipe and photo had my stomach grumbling. What good cooks all of you are! I'm inspired by all of these delicious meals.

My humble dinner tonight is going to be slow cooked italian sausages with green peppers and onions in a tomato sauce and served on hoagie buns. Not exciting at ALL but it'll taste good.

We had hot beef sandwiches with yesterday's roast, and I made Lemon Bundt cake for dessert. This is one of our very favourites.

Ruthanna, what a great score of linens, and of course I love the NJ one. I live just to the left a couple of inches out of the shot even with the cannon. LOL.

Yes, Annie, we all have sure gotten our moneys' worth out of those pans. And then some. Lately I've been dragging out and using all our old Pyrex mixing bowls too, even using the smaller ones for eating my soup and pasta out of. Feels good. Yes, it's cannellonni. Cannellinni is the white bean or several kings of candy, including those candy covered almonds and pieces of cinnamon covered with a candy shell. Aside from blackberry/raspberry jam, apricot is my favorite. That little rascal. Your beans and brown bread really speak to me. I could live on beans and a sweetish bread with butter. In fact one time traveling cross country, moving, I did. I had made a big batch of baked beans and several loaves of sweet bread. Filling, cheap and quite satisfying.

Jasdip, your rolls look so good and that lemon bundt... perfect. Can almost smell it.

Had some red-cooked chicken and more black rice.

Marinade is - see if I can remember - 1 cup rice wine, 1/4 cup soy sauce, about 2" of ginger cut in slices, 4 cloves crushed garlic, 1-2 star anise, some pepper, a couple chopped scallions, peel of a tangerine or orange, and about 3 tbsp sugar.

Cut two chicken breasts into 1-2" pieces and marinate in this mixture for about 1/2 hour. Remove chicken, shake off the excess marinade, keep all the marinade. Heat a cast iron skillet or wok to as hot as you can get it, add oil, brown chicken - a few pieces at a time, for about 30 sec per side. Don't actually cook the chicken - after 30 sec, remove the batch even if not browned. Return chicken to marinade, bring all to boil, reduce to simmer, and braise for 10 min or more, until as done as you like. Do this in a fairly small pot so that the marinade covers the chicken; add a bit of chicken stock if needed to cover. Remove chicken again, remove and discard ginger and star anise. Optional: use blender, immersion blender, or food processor to puree marinade. Bring to boil, boil for about 1/2 to reduce to a sauce. Add some sauce to a bowl, stir in about 2 tbsp corn starch, whisk into the sauce to thicken. Return chicken to sauce and simmer a couple minutes until chicken is reheated, then serve. Sauce should be pretty strongly flavoured and chicken should be dark enough to pass for meat.

The marinade is actually prettier than the finished dish, which is kind of dull-looking, so decorate it with anything bright - I had tangerines.