I'm back from dinner. It was great visiting with our snowbird friends and we talked for over two hours. We were neighbors when we both lived in the boonies and they moved back to Ohio shortly after we moved. We went on a cruise together with others from the neighborhood and had so much fun with them once. So now we e-mail and get together once a year :-( Dinner--not so good. I ordered the fettucini alfredo with bacon-wrapped sea scallops. The salad that came with it was very good,the scallops cooked just right but the alfredo was disappointing, to say the least. It was a big plate of angel hair pasta with a huge glob of alfredo sauce out of a jar. Ick, ick, ick! What could be easier than alfredo sauce? It's just a little butter, cream, garlic and lots of parmesan. They had little rolls that came with the salad that looked a little like those biscuits at Red Lobster, but were floury and dry. Now I remember why we don't like to eat out. Harry had fried oysters, baked sweet potato and hush puppies. He said on the way home it wasn't very good, but if it's dinner time I swear that man would eat plastic! Guess we won't be eating there again any time soon!

We were visiting my wife's family in Vermont which ends up being a large group, with most of her brothers and sisters, and their spouses and kids, and this year even several girlfriends of the kids. All told we were about thirty. Meals were split up with one or two people volunteering for each meal. New Year's Eve was my night. I was stumped at first as far as what to make, but the co-volunteer Eric (a foodie BIL) came up with the suggestion of top-your-own tacos. We actually went with tostadas, and made black beans, three different meat toppings, and about a dozen other topping options, with side dishes of Mexican-spiced rice, and homemade cole slaw. Logistically the meal worked well, although some people didn't realize that they were supposed to be able to pick up the tostada after they made it, and instead they buried it beneath a 2-inch deep mound of toppings. Also we forgot to put out the guacamole until after half the people had served themselves. Food wise, some parts of the meal worked better than others. The shredded chicken verde was good but would have been better with more of the tomatillo salsa, however the co-op closed early, and the normal grocery store had no green salsa. The beef/chorizo was good but could have used a bit more of something, Eric and I couldn't decide what it needed. The shrimp was a big hit, the only problem with it was it disappeared so fast, the recipe (as well as I remember it) for the shrimp is below. Chili-Lime Shrimp 2 lbs peeled uncooked shrimp (31-40 count -- cut into thirds) 10 cloves garlic (minced) 1 4oz can diced green chilies 2 limes chili powder canola oil Liberally cover raw shrimp with chili powder and the juice of 1 half of a lime, and let rest for 10 minutes. In small pan, heat oil over medium heat, add garlic and green chilies, until garlic is softened and fragrant. remove from heat. In large pan, heat oil over high heat, until it is smoking hot, add shrimp stirring occasionally to make sure all the shrimp are getting cooked, and none are burning, after about 2-3 minutes the shrimp should all be cooked, add the garlic and green chilies that you set aside, and the rest of the juice of the limes. Stir for about 1 more minute, and place in large bowl to serve. Overall the meal received rave reviews.

Ooh ohh, I get to have leftovers from last night's dinner: Garlicky Chicken with Lemon-Anchovy Sauce (NYT). Omg, just divine. It's a Melissa Clark recipe with a 5-star rating and almost 11,000 votes. It's so quick and simple, how can it be so good with such depth of flavor? Mine looked just like the photo. Anchovies are really most amazing. I use fish sauce a lot in most of my savory dishes, but this was the first time I tossed 5 anchovy fillets into the pan with my chicken thighs. They're miraculous. And smashing the garlic resulted in sweet creamy garlic.

Oh mercy, I'm behind again. I had a couple of "set backs", but I think I"m good to go now. My family will have their Christmas dinner on Saturday, so I'm in the middle of planning and cooking. John, kittens are so cute when they're sleeping. :-) I've never seen a crab heart either, that's....interesting. Here we've been eating and I'm cooking. This was baked salmon with roasted potatoes and a pea and peanut salad. I made a surprisingly good tomato basil soup with white beans: And enchilada casserole with salad on the side: And some of Diane/craftyrn's cuccidati. I know, not really heart healthy, but Elery loves it: Saturday's meal is scheduled to be glazed ham, stuffed and rolled turkey breast, green beans, au gratin potatoes, homemade rolls, a potato dressing that I"ve never tried before, some sausage and cheese stuffed "shotgun shells" which is a manicotto stuffed and wrapped with bacon, then smoked, a Godiva chocolate cheesecake, lemon meringue bars, snickerdoodle apple cobbler and the usual plate of cookies and fudge, with some Chex Mix and firecrackers on the side. I'll try to remember to take pictures... Annie