"Excuse us, but, are you gonna eat all that?" Dem dawgs are cute.

It appears that, for some of us, dinner has gone to the dogs. I recently babysat Sam's dog, and her puppy eyes persuaded me to bake doggie treats. She was so happy, she gave me paw.

"Sol, you make me laugh, and I'm astonished you haven't tried 'Rat.' "

Neely, your mention of 'Rat' (Ratatouille) made me laugh, because I have had "Rat." .

At a friend's insistence, I once tried grilled Jutía (Hoo-tee-ah). A scruffy-looking tree rat, endemic to the island of Cuba.

Being that this is a dinner thread, it'd be inappropriate to elaborate on that experience. But I will say, the pronunciation of 'Jutía' is a close approximation to my reaction. Maybe I've said too much already.

In any case, after many years of therapy, I have (almost) forgiven my friend.

On a brighter note, I'm craving your chocolate cake with the fluffy swirls of icing. And it's still soup weather here, so, yes to all, please. Thank you.

Thank you, Ann. I want one of those lovely buns now, as much as I did when I first laid eyes on them. I should've mentioned, I love sourdough bread. I love all kinds of bread. But wondered what the sourdough/chocolate combination would be like.

Jasdip, Beef Stroganoff, followed by your Apple Cake, would be embraced here.

Dinners lately:

And I bid farewell to the last of my roasted Butternut Squash ice cream. But I'm looking forward to spring, whenever it decides to make its appearance.

Sol

Neely, love your cake and your soup.

Sol, great idea to add horseradish to the mashed potatoes. That would be a big hit with Matt and I. Maybe not so much Moe. Perfectly cooked steak.

My favourite soup. Mexican Chicken Rice Soup (Caldo Tlapeno). We had this

for dinner one night and lunch the next.

Mince and Tatties.

Or as I like to call it Lazy-man's Shepherds Pie.

I use the same beef, seasoned the same way, but instead of topping it with mashed potatoes and finishing in the oven, I just pour the meat over the mashed potatoes.

I actually prefer this over shepherds pie. My grandmother use to make this.

The pastry was my standard pie pastry made with all butter.

dcarch, as always your food is interesting, but I have to take exception with one thing. Cauliflower is definitely NOT a substitute for cabbage with corned beef. What were you thinking? (grin)

Neely, that cake looks fine to me. I've found that YouTube is helpful, it gives me an idea of what I should do, but until you do it several times, it's just not going to be right. Oh, but that lentil soup looks perfect and I'd not turn down either of those things, yum.

Sol, I'd be sad if I ran out of something like that butternut squash ice cream. I assume you make it like pumpkin spice ice cream? I still have about a dozen butternut squash left from last year's garden, and I need to use those up. No Jutia for me, though, thanks anyway, not even with a side of horseradish mashed potatoes, which sound pretty darned good, but not enough to cover up Jutia.

Ann, that meat pie looks good, but your "upside down Shepherd's Pie" reminds me of one of Ashley's favorite meals, which was basically the filling for Shepherd's Pie served over mashed potatoes. And here she thought she invented it, LOL.

So, what's for dinner? Well, somehow I managed to catch a bug of some kind and get sick on Easter. (sigh) I managed to make it though dinner and the Easter Egg hunt, and even serve dessert, but by 9:30 I was in bed sick. Elery's been eating Easter leftovers and we didn't even try to make supper until tonight. We had leftovers of Woodie's 7 layer salad, which I made for Easter, along with some cheese filled ravioli that Elery bought and cooked with fresh asparagus, and leftover twice baked sweet potatoes, also from Easter. Somehow those twice baked potatoes became a casserole, though, since the potatoes exploded in the oven and couldn't be stuffed.

Elery had a piece of Mother's rhubarb pie, but I passed, I'm not feeling THAT well yet!

I think we'll have Easter leftovers for a few more days!

Annie

Annie, Hope you are feeling better.

Sounds like a real Easter feast was had at your house. Look how beautiful Makayla's meringues are. Perfect.

I'm not a fan of salads, but I must say that Woodie's seven layer salad does look really good.

I would have had your piece of the rhubarb pie. In another week I should be able to bake my first rhubarb pie of the year. Can't wait.

Dinner Tuesday night.

and had deli sandwiches with home-made fries.

Last nght's dinner.

Fettuccine and meatballs.

Sol, is there nothing you can't bake? I love it that you make doggie biscuits! You mentioned horseradish/mashed potatoes. I like putting horseradish in twice-baked potatoes. Nice and zingy.

Neely I thing your cake looks wonderful. I don't see anything wrong with that icing at all. It looks real thick though, but it isn't once I see the slice. Perfect.

Annie the girls are wizards in the kitchen! The rhubarb pie sure looks good, now I want pie! Our crocuses are just peeking out of the ground, not a sign of anything rhubarby at all.

No pics from me, just wanted to come in and comment. Since my stomach is growling (thanks!) I'd better go get dinner started.

Stunning photos!

Sol, with the Porterhouse ... some sort of potato?

Annie, my guess is you made sure to hold out through Easter. Hope you're feeling much better!

Rechauffe tonight ... cream cheese & jalapeno stuffed pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon, penne & chard with jalapeno mango chicken meatballs, and carrot ginger soup. Did make a fresh salad with the last of the garden lettuce & arugula.

Nothing new here...when i photo it all looks the same since we make so many soups and stews...in the same wide heated bowls.

I want Annies blank wall to fill with shelves of my spices, lol. We put three down the hallway behind the kitchen lacking space. The girls are learning so much from you!

I did make cutie potato/sweet potato 'nests' for seared pork steaks. Not chops or loins so can't come up with a sensible name...for cast iron seared sous vid pork steaks...asparagus stems on top. Crisp tips on the pork serving at table.

LOL, sleevendog. I am so not a decorator, I fail to see any reason behind filling my house with useless decorative items, although Elery will eventually get disgusted and hang a picture or mirror or something. That wall is blank, though, because we are still finishing the kitchen. Elery would like a pot rack there, I'm thinking I'd rather have a cabinet of some kind. He will eventually just buy the pot rack and put it up and that'll be fine with me, I don't care enough to actually find something to go there, since I can't really think of anything useful.

I have a cabinet with four roll out shelves right next to the refrigerator, and all my spices are in there.

And you see that Makayla is using my new handy-dandy baking center. The lower portion that the cheese balls/etc are sitting on has cabinets and a drawer below, so all my baking supplies are going in there, and it's just my height for rolling pastry or mixing muffins, whatever. Madison likes it too, with a small stool she can reach it for her projects. I have an exercise type step in front of the cooktop, since it's too tall to be convenient for me, I'm short. Madi uses that when she's baking and it's perfect.

I'd like Ann T's steak sandwich and your potato nests, even without the pork!

Jasdip, I have a lot of fun with the kids in the kitchen, I only hope they are learning to enjoy cooking and have a skill to carry over into their adult lives.

Annie

Chicken enchiladas tonight.... two dozen will be lunch and dinner for the next few days :)

CindyMac, I always like seeing pictures of Aga stoves. They intrigue me to no end!

Ann, your brisket looks perfect. I've only seen brisket a couple of times, and neither of them looked tempting enough for me to buy it. Far too thin, and fatty. But maybe I'm completely wrong and that's how they are!

Annie, just leave your wall blank.......sooner or later Elery will do something with it, then it's out of your hands. ;-)

CooknCarpenter, I always, always have leftovers, no matter what I make. There are just 2 of us as well. When we have a couple over, I make even more, in a panic that I'll run out. But 2 dozen enchiladas? That's a lot of leftovers! LOL

A simple but tasty dinner tonite. A few weeks ago I made a whole bunch of meatballs, cooked and froze them. I made meatball stroganoff with them, and tonite I made our favourite soy/ketchup/vinegar sauce with them. So handy to have in the freezer. I'm going to make up some more meatballs next weekend.

Brown rice, and sauteed cabbage, carrots and onions.

Hi everyone

Those meat balls look good Jasdip and easy that you had them in the fridge...love easy.

Cookandcarpenter all looks tasty...we like food like this.

Cute and yummy looking baskets Sleevendog.

Brisket looks good Ann t and we always love pasta and meatballs. Also we sometimes have mince meat like you describe in the other post and we call it Savoury Mince.

Annie ... Yummy looking food as usual. Those meringue nests MP piped leave my piping efforts way behind ...good on her...I've got to practice.

And finally Sol... Your food and photos are .... well words fail me.

Late lunch early dinner was chicken noodle soup with Vietnamese mint and basil with dim sum on the side

Next night chicken Schnitzel with salad

Another breakfast was advocado on toast with poached egg ...again

And finally, we had a night away on the weekend at a hotel where breakfast was buffet style. I had scrambled eggs and bacon on waffles with maple syrup. Hadn't had this since last in the US. Also I don't usually eat this much bacon but well, it was there!!!

I love these beautiful food pics!

Thought I'd mention that I tried the KAF gluten-free oatmeal cookie recipe yesterday and they're getting rave reviews. Anyone baking gluten-free might like to try the recipe. Mine don't look like theirs intentionally... I cut back a bit on xanthan, made my own gf flour mix, added an extra 1/4 c oats, and used a combo of choc chips, butterscotch chips, and raisins. You can see that I also don't use a cookie scoop. :) Mine aren't large at all and I only got 36 with a bake time of 15-16 min.

oops... the recipe

ETA: I have been doing a lot of cooking and baking lately, but I never bother to stop to take a photo. :p I tried a simple chicken w/ smoked paprika recipe recently that I absolutely loved. If anyone has favorite recipes using smoked paprika, please post about them!

shambo, please tell us about the tiropita. Thank you.

Neely, bacon is good any time! I've never heard of poached egg on smashed avocado, but it looks good! Your schnitzel is perfect.

Party, your cookies look like ones I make using granola, chocolate chips, nuts and coconut. A mish-mash of good things.

Dinner was whole-wheat pasta (asparagus pieces thrown in the water the last few minutes), sauteed chicken and garlic and a lemon sauce and capers.

Pink-Warm, sorry it took me so long to respond. My grandmother's and mother's recipe for tiropita is different from some. I've seen several recipes that make a super thick bechamel sauce, to which feta and other cheeses are added. Some recipes use ricotta along with feta. Also, there are recipes for the triangles (tiopitakia) that use just a chunk of feta for the filling. My family always combined cottage cheese and feta.

Back in the day, we used a 15 x 10 pan and 14 x 18 frozen fillo sheets. I can't find the large fillo sheets anywhere now, so I use the smaller 9 x 14 sheets and a 9 x 13 pan. I usually end up using 1/2 the package (one sealed pack or roll) and freeze the other half. I still make the full filling recipe, though. We enjoy having a thick filling.

Anyhow, here's the family recipe. If the cottage cheese is too watery, I might add more breadcrumbs or drain the cheese a bit. The directions below are for using the larger size fillo sheets, but I think it still makes sense. There's a different technique for draping the sheets now. I've added a picture and explanation below for dealing with the smaller sheets and pan. Hope this helps.

Tiropita

Tiropitakia Recipe

(Feta Cheese Pie)

A classic dish, popular at Greek restaurants and festivals. Creamy filling with the tang of feta cheese surrounded by layers of flaky fillo pastry dough. A treat for the taste buds!

Filling:

4 large eggs

1 large carton cottage cheese (I use only 16 oz. now that I'm dealing with a smaller pan & dough sheets)

8 ounces Feta cheese

2 tablespoons dry, unflavored breadcrumbs

Pastry:

1/2 pound fillo (9 x 14 inch sheets)

1 cup olive oil

Butter

Filling Preparation:

Beat eggs, and chop/crumble Feta cheese. Combine eggs, cottage cheese, Feta cheese, and breadcrumbs in large bowl. Mix well. (This filling can also be used to make fillo triangles.)

To Assemble Pita:

In 10 x 15 inch pan, layer ½ fillo sheets (approximately 10) for bottom of pita. Do not cut bottom fillo sheets to pan size; keep sides up. Brush olive oil between each layer of fillo; brush sides. Pour in filling; spread evenly. Fold fillo sides over to completely enclose filling. Cut remaining fillo sheets to pan size, if necessary. Continue layering fillo sheets, brushing olive oil between each layer. Brush top of final fillo sheet with butter to aid browning. Trim excess fillo dough from sides and corners of pan.

Score the pita into desired serving pieces. Cut through TOP 3-4 fillo layers ONLY; do NOT cut all the way through.

Bake pita at 350° for 45 – 60 minutes; pita should be light, golden brown. Let cool for at least ½ hour before cutting all the way through.

Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold. Refrigerate leftovers. Do not reheat in microwave. Fillo gets soggy, losing the crisp layers.

Please note: Frozen fillo sizes have changed. If necessary, overlap two fillo sheets to create a “layer.” Make sure each bottom “layer” covers not only the bottom of the pan but the sides as well. There must be enough fillo going up high enough on the sides to fold over once the filling is poured in.

Shambo, Fillo Factory makes 14"x18" in several thicknesses. I've only used whatever it was that I picked up from Whole Foods, probably the organic. It was a bit thicker than I prefer but none of the wrinkles and tears that Athens usually has, and next time I'm going to investigate different weights.

Thanks for the recipe, btw. That's very different from the tiropita I'm used to.

Plllog, thanks for the info. According to their website, Athens still makes the larger sheets, but I can't get them at any of my local grocery stores. There's a Whole Foods near the Trader Joe's I shop at about every 2 months. I'll try to remember to drop by the next time I head "down the hill" to Folsom.

Jasdip your pasta looks yum.

i hardly ever make cookies but maybe I should ... Yours look good party music.

Dinners have been had.

Lamb chops, Brussel sprouts and the last of the little tomatoes

Next night was a single chop with potato salad and salad

Roast pork with loads of veggies.

A brunch we had was a ' fry up' with beef sausages, onions, zucchini and beans with ketchup

Partymusic, those look perfect to me. A cup of coffee and a couple of cookies and I'm ready to go in the morning, yum.

Jasdip, tomorrow I start laying porcelain/ceramic tile in the kitchen, I forget which one and can't tell the difference anyway. So that wall will stay blank for a while longer.

Shambo, thanks for that recipe, it looks delicious

Neely, just because of that picture, I had an egg on toast spread with avocado this morning. Unfortunately, the avocado wasn't quite ripe, I don't think it's supposed to be crunchy, LOL, but this is Michigan and when it comes to avocado, we take what we get!

Elery had this egg white omelette, stuffed with lamb meatballs from one of our suppers, along with sourdough toasts. Believe it or not, he doesn't like butter on his toast. Silly man, LOL.

Those were from this supper, lamb meatballs in spicy eggplant sauce, served with brown rice and broccoli/onion/pepper stir fried vegetables:

We found a new market in Grand Rapids, called Fresh Thyme, and went there after Elery's appointment at the doctor. They had ground elk, so we had elk burgers on pretzel buns for supper that night with mashed sweet potatoes and the rest of the broccoli:

Elery's middle son came to visit last weekend with his wife and their three kids. Of course, I was too busy to take pictures, except this one of Jillian, cutting lettuce for their tacos.

For a snack, I made chocolate chip cookies. I don't know why I keep trying new recipes, the old Toll House recipe is the one I always come back to. This one is from Allrecipes, it's supposed to be the "best" big chewy chocolate chip cookie. It isn't. It's too sweet and hard as a rock. The kids ate them anyway, go figure. And no, I didn't overbake them, they're just hard. I purposely underbaked them, so they'd stay chewy. Didn't work,but they look pretty.

Annie

Annie, your lower height side prep table is getting good use!

Last night I made a leek and celery soup with seared salmon, polenta croutons, and fat back crunchies. Really good.

Annie, I love the stories you tell with your pictures. I have no idea what the difference is between ceramic/porcelain/quartz/granite. I'd be a dud picking out tile and countertop.

I'm transitioning the cats to a raw diet (ground meat, not the Franken diet where they get the whole thigh/breast etc). The oldest, Smudge, who is 15 is the most receptive. He loves Elk and Pheasant, and the Game Bird Blend (cornish hen, duck and pheasant). Your mention of the Elk burgers just made me think of Smudge :-)

Jasdip, I used butcherblock for my island counter top, I love wood and that I actually know what it is, LOL. Other than that, I'm pretty lost on the difference between granite and quartz (it's both going to break when I drop that cast iron skillet), or laminate and formica, or ceramic and porcelain. Elery asked me today if I thought we should use mortar or mastic for the tiles. I sweetly replied that he was out of my area of expertise, and that he could ask every day for the rest of my life and I still wouldn't know. He asked the flooring guy at Lowe's. (grin)

Sleevendog, I decided to use that lower cabinet/counter as my "baking center". Today I'm laying tile in the kitchen, then we'll adjust the doors, add the handles and I can put baking supplies in the cabinet below.

It must be the day for salmon. We had lettuce rolls with salmon, shredded vegetables and a dressing of yogurt, parsley, onion, garlic and the other half of that rock hard avocado:

As a side we had a vegetable stew over polenta made from my homeground Glass Gems corn. It's all mush to me, but Elery loves the stuff. Unfortunately, I found an oven polenta recipe from Martha Stewart, who has notoriously let me down before on her recipes. The ratio of water to cornmeal was way off and the polenta just stayed liquid, but we ate it anyway.

Annie

Annie all your food sounds and looks delicious. My ... Elk burgers, now that's something we don't have. .. looks juicy.

Tasty looking soup Sleevendog.

A couple of dinners were battered cod with sweet potato chips and mushy peas.

Following on from Ann t's mince we had 'Savoury' mince. Hadn't had it for ages and we enjoyed it.

A 'Like' button is nice, but, I'm more interested in a 'Download' button. Neely, I covet that beautiful vessel and everything in it!

Cindy, you're looking at (leftover) mashed potatoes. With a bit of garlic, parsley and parmesan added, and shaped into quenelles (I have this obsession of turning everything into quenelles).

I'm also obsessed with antique stoves. I developed this passion when Jim and I bought our first home, which came with an O'Keefe & Merrit stove. It became my favorite thing about the place. Unfortunately, the stove was left behind when we sold the house some years later.

Needless to say, a poor decision was made that makes me want to go back in time, just to punch myself in the face.

Annie, Makayla's meringues look wonderful! Someday, I hope to have a grandchild who will be as passionate about baking, as she is.

Btw, there's a Fresh Thyme by M.S.U. we go there once in a while. Sam loves it for its vast selection of vegetarian, and vegan products.

Well, I waited over a year for Whole Foods to finally open a store near me. I can get there in 15 minutes, as opposed to one hour and fifteen minutes. I went there today, and, suffice it to say, our bills will just have to wait ☺

Now I'll need to figure out what to make for dinner. Although after lurking here, I have a sudden craving for poached eggs.

Sol

What joy when a Fairway opened near me....direct path on my way home.

Interesting when two people make the same recipe in the same home, same oven, same flour...

DH wanted to make pita but i wanted him to try the new Naan recipe i had made last week...using up some egg and has some dairy, (we used kefir).

His outcome was way better than mine...though i did find the baking stone that was mis-placed during the new install...out on the deck it was.

Hmmm, what else. We had breakfast for dinner using up those mushrooms.

Then a nice smoked salmon pasta dish...roasted some garden toms right out of the freezer...

Pad Thai tonight!

I love following all of your cooking adventures;the pictures make me drool! That said, can someone start a new thread? It's taking too long to get thru the pictures, even using the last comment method.

Lisbeth, the What's For Dinner" thread has been going now since about 2001 or 2002. We usually start a new one when the posts reach 100.

At one time a thread would only go to 100. Now they just continue but we still start a new WFD at 100.

~Ann

Neely, so many great looking meals, but it is your chicken noodle soup that is calling out to me.

I also wouldn't mind a bowl of your "Savoury Mince". More like a stew but made with minced beef. That would be great for dinner here tonight.

Jasdip, your pasta looks delicious. The Asparagus Farm , a local farm has now opened for the season. Asparagus is $6.00 a pound. Their hours for the day are "until they run out". And they don't open every day.

Annie, Jillian looks like a young Makayla.

Sleevendog, nice soup combination.

Party_Music, that is one beautiful Pad Thai.

Just a few of our recent meals since the beginning of April.

Burger with Crinkle Fries.

in cold water in the fridge. Double fried.

They had fresh organic/free range turkeys on sale the day after Easter. Picked up two for $.98 per pound. This turkey was orginally $60.00 and I paid just under $12.00 for it. And it was one of the best tasting turkeys I've had in a long time.

Roasted it one morning before work and we had

hot turkey sandwiches for dinner.

Roasted a small Sterling Silver Top Sirloin.

I like this even better than a Prime Rib. So much flavour and tender if cooked rare to medium rare.

Thanks for the info Ann T. My computer must have just been moving slow;I'm not having trouble tonight. And your turkey and sirloin look like they should be on the cover of a magazine!

Yes agree with lizbeth-gardener Ann t' s turkey and sirloin look delicious..

party music pad Thai looks good and Sleevendog all your food looks yummy and I like the photo format.

Spagetti marinara with chilli and preserved lemon. The rolls were small...photo makes them look larger than they are.

Although weather is still warm, it has cooled down sufficiently to do more baking, so made Madelines for fun.

Ann, your sirloin tip is the nicest roast I've seen in ages. Because of that photo, I'm making roast beef and mashed potatoes tomorrow. It will probably end up being a well-done roast. Hubby likes those the best.

Neely, I've never had a Madeline, but yours look good. A cinnamon cookie I assume.

We watched the movie Chef last week for the second time. We enjoyed it even more the second time around. I had a pork roast in the freezer, so I bought limes, mint and parsley (instead of the cilantro) and made his Mojo Pork roast. I'm planning to make the sandwiches like he did in the movie as well. The roast is marinaded for several hours, then roasted.

"Chef" Cuban Mojo Pork

Jasdip I must get the movie Chef because that pork looks and sounds so good.

You can flavour up Madelines with any of the usual suspects, vanilla, grated lemon or orange and yes you could use cinnamon. I think they are a cross between a little cake a cookie and a meringue (at least the ones I make are)

Jasdip, we watched that movie just a few days ago, and I wanted to try my hand at the pork too. Would you mind sharing the recipe or linking to where you found it? I use orange and lime juice often times when I cook pork. They help a lot with the no-salt factor. But I'd like to know what herbs were used for the mojo. Thanks!

AnnT, that sirloin looks perfect, as always. Like you, I'm a fan of sirloin, I like the flavor and if cooked correctly and handled well, it's still relatively tender. It doesn't fall apart like its' much blander and softer counterpart, the tenderloin, but the flavor is so much better. And you got one heckuva buy on that turkey, which also looks delicious. I have a turkey in the freezer that I need to cook, but Elery never seems to want it. (sigh) I love turkey....

Neely, I've never made madelines, nor have I eaten them. The fact that I just refuse to buy another specialty pan is the only thing that's saving me from all those calories right now, they look yummy.

Jasdip, that pork roast looks good and the potatoes look even better.

Dinner today was ribs with Jack Daniels grill glaze, baked beans, peanut butter/sesame rice noodles, green beans with bacon and garlic bread. We all ate so many ribs that we didn't even eat the homemade ice cream in the freezer, so it's still there waiting. We had a couple of big limbs come down from the willow tree during the last ice storm, there were trees down all over here. Half an inch of ice and 40 MPH winds and the trees just couldn't take the weight of the ice AND the wind. So, the willow lost a couple of huge limbs and of course, they dropped right into the pond. Dave came with the loader and winched them out, now they are drying by the pole barn, we'll cut them up with a chain saw next week when they are a bit dryer. They'll be firewood next year, I suppose.

So, anyway, no pictures of dinner. There's a picture of the willow branch in the pond, though. (grin)

Annie

Shambo, I did post the link in my post. I'll do it again here. The herbs are mint and cilantro. We subbed parsley for the cilantro.

This is from the actual chef who makes this pork famous, and taught the actor, in the film.

I made sub rolls yesterday, and we're having the sandwiches today. We can't wait. LOL

Roy Choi's Mojo Marinated Pork

The Cuban pork looks muy sabroso, Jasdip. Of course, it is possible I may be biased - just a little bit ☺

Neely, perfectly-baked Madeleines. I make almond Madeleines, and love them. I've also tried a savory version, which turned out barely edible. It was a recipe from the book of a highly-admired chef I like and respect, so forgive me if I don't name him.

Ann, I rarely crave red meat these days (though I will always cook it for the guys). So why am I craving that burger and fries, as my jeans are screaming ' salad? '

Well, It's a perfectly sunny day in my neighborhood, with a 20% chance (give or take) of icky spiders.

And, I'm home, baking a birthday cake for a friend. So, cooking will be taking a back seat. But, I have homemade pasta in the freezer, so no one will go hungry tonight.

Sol

Jasdip, you are right. For some reason I missed the link. Probably because I was rushing to drool over the roast pictures. Thanks for posting the link again. If I feel better this week, that recipe is on my "to do" list.

We had the Cuban sandwiches this week, heated in a cast iron skillet with another cast iron skillet weighted down with a can of tomatoes, on top. It worked perfectly, and the sandwiches are terrific! Sliced pork, deli ham slices, swiss cheese slices and thinly sliced dill pickle. The bread was spread with mustard on the inside, and buttered on the outside. I also put some baby spinach leaves inside, because I have lots.

Tonite I roasted some chicken thighs with apricot jam and barbecue sauce glaze, brown rice and canned French style green beans.

Sol, I hope you got the 80% of no icky spiders!

Jasdip, your chicken looks good, and although I have a panini press, that's how I always make panini type sandwiches, because my pans are just so much more accessible...

Elery and I have been eating more "healthy", since my cholesterol and my blood sugar are up at my last checkup. Go figure, we've been working on the kitchen for months and just grab whatever is fast and available much of the time. Anyway, tonight I just wanted some beef, so I marinated a couple of small t-bone steaks and grilled them on my cast iron griddle. Served with a side of broccoli with cheese and some mixed vegetables, each steak weighed less than 8 ounces and that included the bone! It was a small steer from last year, but tender and flavorful.

Last week we made some "pizza" out of grilled whole wheat crust, topped with sliced tomatoes, grilled onions and mushrooms and some sweet peppers, just a little cheese. It was OK.

Last night Elery made roast pork with sauerkraut and potatoes, the night before that we had a pot of beans, not pretty but delicious. Lots of vegetables and Elery has been eating salad. I passed on the salad, I don't care much for lettuce, I think I'd rather just be hungry!

Annie

Good meals everyone. Steak looks delish Annie.

II've been spending spare moments in the garden as the seasons change. DH has been keeping us going.

Had a cauliflower so he made soup which was just what I needed. The rolls are from the bakery. Don't worry, I'll be shouting from the roof tops if I ever do bread baking.

Lovely looking meals AnnT. I guess there is quite a lot of meat on a beef shank. I don't think we have that as a cut of meat.

Our dinner one night was pork and rice. The pork was marinaded first. Simple but we like it.

DH cooked on another occasion Crumbed chicken, chips and salad

Cod cake on a four leaf slaw with homemade kraut,

zesty ginger dressing.... Fresh Peas! so yummy.

Finally tried the Korean Beef Bowl recipe that someone here posted about, but I used sirloin tip rather than hamburger. Simple and quick -- definite keeper.

Last night's dinner: black Japonica rice with purple cabbage, endive, onion, a little farmer's cheese, and seasonings:

Yesterday's breakfast: a shad roe lobe, with egg and some really tasty watercress:

Major yummers on both counts!

Party Music, I made the same Korean Beef recipe a couple of days ago. But I used some ground pork that I had thawed in the hopes of making Asian meatballs. That turned out to be too ambitious for me. (I've been battling vertigo for a couple of weeks now.) The only other different thing I did was to add a package of bean sprouts that I had purchased for another way too ambitious meal.

I,too, love japonica rice. I think it's my favorite. I love the chewy texture, and it reheats so well. Never, ever gets mushy.

Shambo, I hope you feel better soon. I seldom get vertigo, but I just hate it when I do, you can't do anything easily. (sigh)

sleevendog, I love fresh peas, they seldom get cooked because I eat them as fast as I can grow them. I just checked mine and they are just barely up above ground, so it'll be a little while yet.

party-music, I've been meaning to try that recipe, you reminded me that I haven't yet. I need to put that into my meal plan.

artemis, I don't think I've ever had japonica rice. It gives me something new to look for when I'm out adventuring!

Here we've been dieting as a result of our annual checkups. (sigh) Elery will have a knee replacement in August and has been told that rehab would be far easier if he would lose weight. My "numbers" are "up", so I should cut out fat and salt, sugar and refined carbs. Oh, and caffeine. I guess if it contains any nutrients other than air and water, I shouldn't eat it. Ah well.....

Doesn't stop me, LOL, last night we had seared tuna with a salsa made of pineapple, mango, avocado, a little of the "hottest jalapeno in a long time" according to Elery. I seeded it and only used half and still it was pretty spicy.

This morning we had a brand new visitor to the pond, I think he must have smelled the tuna!

Tonight Elery made dinner, I was doing the books at Dave's shop and stopped at the nursing home to visit Stepmom. We had some chicken thighs in BBQ sauce, cubed and baked butternut squash from storage, part of last September's harvest, and a side of mixed broccoli, carrots and I don't know what else from the freezer. I was surprised that the squash is still so good after 7 months in storage.

Elery had some of the fruit salsa in an omelette this morning and said it was pretty good. I just can't imagine eating spicy food for breakfast, but he loves it.

Annie

Blizzard. 4inches snow then sun took most of it out...

roasted tiny chickens in wood fired oven so inside tiny home made a record 86 temp...windows open...: )