"Planning"??? Now THERE'S a conversation I can get into! I plan a lot, execute little. Currently I'm planning what to make with some game that I really need to get a move on. A co-worker from CO sent me a package with some elk roasts, ground elk, elk sausage, venison sausage, and a few scraps of a pheasant that he says he "shot up pretty bad."

I feel ungrateful that I haven't done anything with it yet, but there's not a ton of it and I have a reputation to uphold as a good cook*** so I want to cook something special that I can show off to the group.

I'm primarily interested in the elk; that's what I have most of. He warned me that it's extremely lean, and not to cook it much beyond rare. That got me thinking I want to add some fat. And wouldn't you know, I've been "planning" to try foie gras for some time now! So I asked at the supermarket for some foie gras, and come to think of it they told me they should have it by yesterday so I need to go pick it up.

I've got two plans for my foie gras and elk. One is to make a Wellington. The other comes from an episode of Sandra Lee's Restaurant Remakes that I watched by accident. No, I don't want to make the bastardized version that she came up with, but something closer to the original, from Valbella's. Unfortunately I can't find the episode online, and I'm not having much luck finding a good description online. It was a stack that went something like this: a slice of brioche toasted in marrow butter, then a meatball, then seared foie gras, then truffled ricotta, and finally some micro-greens. Maybe I'll work from the city office one day and get the original for lunch so that I have a better idea of what it's supposed to taste like. Got some people I'd like to see, anyway.

The other day I accidentally walked into a library (yeah, me and my accidents!) and walked out with the "Daniel" restaurant cookbook. Let's just say it makes the French Laundry Cookbook seem like 30 Minute Meals. But I'm piecing some bits and pieces together and coming up with another idea for some of the elk roast.

*** I hate that people think I'm a good cook. Too much pressure, plus I'm not. I just love to cook. Or love to plan to cook. Which reminds me, last year I planned to make a dessert for Valentine's Day. Lots of research, bought an ice cream maker, imported some wattleseed, both ground and extract, from Australia, ordered some "modernist" ingredients... Nope, haven't made that one yet, either.

Yet another blizzard heading my way. I visited friends in Massachusetts a month ago. They have had 6' of snow since I left. Now they are visiting Aroostook in northern Maine to see family and take a break of snow. They may land here if the storm delays their departure. So I am imagining storm cooking that I can prepare with short notice. A big soup. Pizza baked outside in a howling blizzard - more fun in my imagination than reality. Some kind of chicken salad which along with bananas and books is all the husband requires. So thawing chicken and making dough today.

I also seem to have promised to make 100 loaves of pita in the spring. I want to try a dry run of maybe half soon.

Struggling to decide what to make for DH for Valentines dinner, but I think I have decided on a seafood alfredo linguine dish. We don't eat a lot of pasta, more of a meat and potatoes house, so this should be a nice treat. For dessert, DH's favorite cake, Rhubarb/Sour Cream. I think I'll "spice it up" for Valentines Day with a raspberry sauce.

We have friends over every New Years Eve for a 4 course meal and I plan for that all year round. I have a little notebook that I jot ideas and recipes in for that day, narrow it down in November, and then make the final selections in December. So far this year, I have been toying with the idea of lamb, and been searching for something unique to try with it. But it is early yet, so that may change between now and December.

On the morning of my wedding day, June 19th, 1954, I sat in my parents' living room leafing through a Betty Crocker cookbook, a wedding gift. I was much taken with the pictures of a cake which I vowed I'd make as soon as I had a kitchen. I'm still planning to make that cake--it was an angel food tube cake that was hollowed out and filled with chocolate whipped cream. Where do the years go?

I am hoping to make a large batch of enchiladas using soyrizo, hominy, pumpkin, and spinach for the filling and using a red sauce. I need to use up some of my homegrown pumpkin and I need more freezer meals. I also hope to make a batch of a sweet and sour hot dipping sauce to can. I also have a couple of dessert ideas I would like to work on, cheesecake, a gluten free pumpkin crumb cake, etc. Lately I have been able to come up with ideas for cooking just not the drive for making it because I just feel tired.

I have a confession on celery root: I rinse it but then just cut most of the dirt off with the peel and then rinse again. I have some in my fridge that I really should cook that way I can justify growing it again.

I'm planning on... doing nothing! Hurray! I take the boy off to meet a group in another hour so that he can go skiing with them. And then I'll hurry home only to hole up in the house for 40 hours or so. I can't wait! I will likely sit with a box of chocolates and the 2nd half of the Prosecco bottle, and pat a cat. I might plan to cook something tomorrow. But prolly not! No one to cook for and a break.

Great distraction, FOAS! I have Googled and I have triumphed! Apparently, "burgers" with foie gras on brioche are very trendy. :)

Sandra Lee episode

I think the above is what you're looking for. :)

Grainlady, thanks for the good wishes. This happens on average once a year. So long as I keep moving, delicately, and take anti-inflammatories, I should be able to stay out of trouble. :)

Thanks, everybody, for talking about cooking! All of your plans (including Rob333's cat and chocolate vacation) sound great!

Thanks, plllog, yes that's the episode but I'm not looking for her recipe, I'm looking for a video of the actual episode so that I can see what the restaurant serves. Not her rendition with her multipurpose meatball mix, etc.

Sorry I forgot to offer sympathies for your back issue. I know back issues well. A year ago I could barely stand up. I couldn't see the doctor I wanted to due to insurance issues, so I switched plans for 2015 but still haven't called for an appointment. It's another thing I "plan" to do.

Back to cooking - I was in the fridge earlier and saw a 1 lb can of crab meat. That was bought to make a crab sauce for gnocchi, thanks to the recent discussions. I bought the potatoes, too, but they're probably soft or sprouted by now. Gotta check. At least that part of the meal is cheap!

p.s. JoanEileen, you win the prize! I do think you should find a special occassion to make that cake!

Sorry, FOAS. I didn't read the page. I once saw a few minutes of her on TV and was horrified. But when I look up shows for my mother (usually Ina Garten or Anne Burrell) there are links to the episodes. :( So I checked online, and even on the foreign, not so legal, sites, there are listings but no videos. :( And I found lots of places serving a form of burger on brioche with truffles and foie gras, but Valbella isn't one of them! Call before you make the trip.

My deal doesn't need a doctor. I think it's getting better. Thanks for the sympathy. :)

I talked to Ashley and she puts the kids all over Facebook, so she doesn't have a problem with me posting pictures of the girls here, although I'm still a bit apprehensive about it.

Anyway, I planned to bake bread, but Madi and Maci came to spend the night Wednesday night as their Mom was "on call" at the hospital and their Dad had mandatory SWAT training or some such thing. So, Madi wanted to bake a purple cake with pink frosting as a Valentine's present for her family. Pixistix' Hot Milk Cake became purple, and the buttercream frosting was definitely pink. I let her add the color, which may not have been my best idea ever, LOL.

We used the little pans that my girls used to bake cakes when they were small, and it was funny to hear them "reminisce" about back when they were kids, since Amanda is 32 and Ashley is 25. Way back when, you know? (grin)

After

Hope your poor back gets better soon. Horrible!

Well, it's valentine's so dinner will be :

crab and prawn ravioli with prawn bisque sauce, steak and chips with a green peppercorn sauce, then a flourless chocolate and pear cake with a little squirt of creme chantilly. And I found this wine - the label is gorgeous!

Lobster tails by candle light at home has been our Valentine dinner tradition for at least fifteen years. Flourless chocolate and pear cake sounds absolutely divine.

Being at the opposite end of the country from Agmss (and opposite climate), we will be barbecuing outside this week-end. Earlier this week it was too hot (upper 80s), but it is supposed to stay in the low 80s to upper 70s this week-end, which will be more pleasant. It might be cool enough to do some landscaping as well.

I would like to get some fish to grill, and I might take some chicken out of the freezer, as it has been languishing there too long, I think.

I'm planning to make a soup that I made up with inspiration from real recipe. I make it when I have leftover pork tenderloin. But we have lots of sporting events going on this weekend that DH wants to go to, so I may just freeze the pork and make it later.

I'd like to make a pound cake sometime this weekend. If I do, I'll need to go to the grocery to get more eggs. We have freezing rain predicted for the first of the week. I can't be without eggs.

OMG, islay, I'm so jealous of your bottle of Les Amoureuses! I don't drink much any longer, but when I did I adored Chambolle-Musignys! Hope you had a fabulous Valentine's day dinner, everybody's sounded wonderful.

We kept it simple. A marinated, slow-roasted, boneless prime rib for DH, as it's his favorite meal. The big treat was I made him buttered, toasted French bread to go with it. He adores carbs and would eat them in quantity three times a day, 7 days/wk if he could (which I won't let him do). Veggie was just cabbage simmered in my homemade stock; he always prefers cooked veggies to salads.

Finished with a coconut tapioca pudding recipe I invented. Gave him a big bright red paper heart with handwritten message, and a bag full of chocolate....which I told him he had to share with me!

Sooo cute Annie! Lily made pink cupcakes for her "Cakes For Cats" project; I should have taken pictures.