The best part of the pineapple is near the skin. Most cutting methods waste a lot of the best part of the pineapple.

I use this method:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ixq5KkltVY

And this method makes the pineapple slices look like what I posted.

dcarch

Annie, I meant to say that your yard is beautiful!

Everyone's food looks wonderful!!! I've had restaurant food three days in a row, so tonight I want simple comfort food. I think I'll make a potato & veg soup -- easy with trick-or-treaters.

This time the bread turned out the way it was supposed to. No mushroom top. Of course, it was a tried & true recipe, so that helped. It's a multgrain bread with bread, whole wheat, & rye flour. In addition, rolled oats and sesame, sunflower, and flax seeds. It's the kind of hearty bread my husband & I prefer. And FWIW, I halved both the yeast & salt amounts.

My apologies, Party_Music, it was your cake I was referring to and I went back and edited my post to show that. I'll definitely be making that and I just won't tell anyone it's gluten free except Amanda, we'll see how that goes. My grandkids have decided that they actually like crepes made with cornstarch better than the other ones, so maybe...aw heck, who am I trying to fool? If I frost it, they'll eat it!

Yum, Shambo, now THAT'S a loaf of bread, it looks perfect and delicious.

dcarch, I have one of those pineapple slicer/corer gadgets. Somehow, though, it never seems to actually remove the core, as the core is never straight in the middle of the pineapple and it's impossible to "line up" all the way through. I went back to a knife.

So, what's for dinner? Shredded beef tacos and beans. The trick or treaters kept me from taking pictures of the food, LOL.

Annie

Annie, I agree that some GF stuff is better! Thanks for the tip on crepes!!! I haven't tried a gf version yet. Do you have a recipe you can share??? I was thinking of cheating and using crepes to replace flour tortillas. :)

I did also want to note something in that cake recipe in case anyone plans to try it... it states to mix in dry ingredients one at a time. I strongly disagree and think that in most cases it's important to pre-mix gf dry ingredients, especially with things like xanthan, b. soda, b. powder, etc. I found the cake to be too easily crumbled without the xanthan, hence I add it. I use my own gf flour mix, based on the recipe at the KAF website.

PM, I use this recipe. I find the crepe batter easier to handle and flip, and everyone likes them better than the regular flour kind:

Cornstarch Crepes

3 eggs
l cup milk,
1 tsp. vanilla,
3 tbl. melted butter
3/4 cup corn starch
pinch salt,
1 tbl. sugar,
lemon zest (optional)

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth or beat like crazy with a whisk. Cook in your usual method for crepes. (I have a crepe pan and I flip the crepes, others may use alternative methods)

Annie

I think I'll try those corn starch crepes next time they are on the menu.

All your dinners look yummy Annie and Shambo that is a great looking loaf.

I've had this French cooking thing going so I made coq au vin with mashed potatoes.

Thanks, Annie! I just noticed that I have everything I need to make blintzes too. :)

I was far too hungry to photograph food last night.... spanish rice, bean burritos, pico de gallo, etc. I made a small batch of tomatillo salsa and tried it last night -- they were the best-tasting tomatillos I've had in years! I grew them in very acidic soil and think it made a huge difference in flavor.

We had good old spaghetti bolognese with chillies for dinner.

My husband loves short ribs. I've made them braised with tomatoes, but he much prefers them without a sauce. So whenever I see some meaty ones, I grab them. Now, instead of braising, I just bake them. About 10 minutes at 425 convection just to brown the meat a bit. And then about 1-1/2 hours covered at 325. Lately I've been using a salt free blend from Weber, the gas grill folks. The meat comes out tender and tasty, and he loves chewing on the gristle & bone. Here they are with some Greek style green beans.

We also love short ribs and yours look yummy Shambo.

Weekend roast. Small pork roast set on sauerkraut, apples and onions.

Served with pumpkin and beans

Everything looks delicious, so many fall foods like apples and pumpkin.

Today we pressed apple cider with the old hand cranked press, and got 5 gallons and a quart of cider. My apple trees did not produce well this year, so I got 3 bushels from a local grower. He sells "juice apples" for $5 a bushel, a mixture of whatever is on the trees that won't pass inspection. They are too big or too small or have a mark or are lopsided. They are not drops, they are right off the trees, but aren't "pretty enough" for people to want to buy them. Anyway, I don't care what they look like, they're going in the press! So we had fresh cider with dinner. I roasted that small turkey that I bought thanks to the Thanksgiving threads, and we had mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, garlic rolls and this cider, but I forgot to take pictures of the food, except the dessert, LOL.

For dessert, we had apple cake with cream cheese frosting, definitely a keeper recipe:

Last week we had BBQ'd chicken one night with roasted butternut squash and apples and mashed potatoes:

Another night we had roasted root vegetable ravioli from Trader Joe's, served with just a grating of parmesan, along with tuna baked in a cilantro lime sauce and some creamed spinach:

Another night Elery made burritos, kind of, with Collard leaves in place of the tortillas, beans and rice on the side:

I'm trying to clean the freezer on time for the beef to be processed in a couple of weeks, so hopefully sometime this week we'll be having beef ribs in the smoker.

Annie

Neely, I'm making sauerkraut with pork chops tomorrow. I found a refrigerated brand that was much lower in sodium than other brands. I plan to rinse it well and combine with grated or chopped apple, sauteed onion, and some cubed potato. I figure that ought to bring down the sodium level quite a bit but still give us a definite sauerkraut flavor. I'm really looking forward to it because it's been over 5 years since we've had any.

Tonight was polenta and tomato sauce with some hot Italian sausage. We split one link between the two of us, so there's no sodium overload. That stuff on the top is a concoction I made up to use as a lower sodium substitute for straight parmesan cheese. I drew inspiration from vegan "parmesan" recipes. I combined finely ground almond flour with some parm along with a bit of garlic powder and other herbs & spice. The end result is a pasta sprinkle that is tasty but not loaded with sodium.

Those beef ribs look fantastic, Shambo.

Delicious looking gravy with your roast, Neely, nice and rich.

Annie your meals always amaze me, everything grown, made, raised, killed with your own hands. I love the way that nothing goes to waste.

Shambo you sure are innovative in the ways you find to reduce the sodium. We love sauerkraut and I honestly never thought of rinsing it first. I saute it with the sausages to get nice and brown, and use very little of the liquid, as I don't want to steam it.

I made Chase's cheater beans that she posted on the bean thread recently. Hubby says they're the best he's ever had. Thanks Sharon! Now comes the big question.....what can I do with all the leftovers?

We'll eat them for another meal, but can they be frozen? I gave some to my neighbour lady who lives below us; she loves anything I give her.

Jasdip, I've frozen beans before and it worked well, so I'd say you can freeze them.

I do try to produce a lot of our food, I'm a farmer, that's what I do, LOL. Plus, I like really being able to control what's in my food, and the food of my children and grandchildren, more now that there has been some chronic illnesses.

And, for dinner tonight, I had leftovers!

Annie

Annie your. Apple cake with cream cheese frosting looks so good as does everything else as usual. Shambo, I've tried making polenta but without success, yours looks like good comfort food. Jasdip your meal looks good but I just can't figure out what the pale green food is?

When you live in a smallish town as we do, if you don't like the laksa at the one and only Thai restaurant then you have no choice but to make your own. DH was full of compliments for this one so I was pleased.

Ooops, sorry Neely. We bought a couple of containers of potato salad and coleslaw. The coleslaw is very finely minced. The potato salad is usually very good (made with egg) but this time the potatoes were crunchy!

Neely, was pretty sure that was Thai before I even read your post. It looks delicious! Would you mind sharing the recipe?

Yes, I'd like the recipe too!

The 2nd time's the charm! I made that sourdough bread again that uses discard or unfed starter. This time I checked the rise at 30 minutes and didn't let it mushroom on top. I also used 1/2 cup rye flour and added about 2 teaspoons of caraway. So I think I've finally got the hang of that particular recipe.

Shambo, CindyMac here goes with the laksa recipe.

I tend to read a couple of recipes from the net and then make up my own depending on what I have on hand. Anyway this is my recipe.

This served the 2 of us with a large bowl full each

1 dessertspoon of green curry paste

1 large clove of garlic chopped

I tablespoons of fresh ginger chopped

Half a tube of crushed lemon grass

2 tablespoons chopped shallots

1 tablespoon light olive oil

1 teaspoon chilli powder

Half teaspoon cumin powder

Add all the above to a large pot and fry gently. Then add in order

3 cups of chicken stock

Half cup chopped fresh beans

Half cup chopped red pepper

Teaspoon light brown sugar

1 tablespoon fish sauce

When this is all boiling ...Add

1 small chicken fillet sliced finely

Return to boil

Add salt to taste then Add

2 cups noodles previously soften (I had instant noodles, but any that you like would do)

Half a small Chinese cabbage sometimes called Bok Choy sliced finely

Bring everything to boil and Add

1 cup canned coconut milk.

Heat till just simmering and serve in large bowls, throwing Vietnamese mint on top.

Everything was done very quickly with nothing boiling very long. The chicken being sliced very fine cooks quickly and stays tender.

I 'm sorry it's not a proper recipe and I do hope you can follow the way I've written. This is the way I tend to cook, making things up as to what I have in cupboards and fridge... except for baking cakes etc, of course, when I do follow recipes.

Thanks Neely! I'll let you know when I try it. I'm not crazy about mint. Might sub Thai basil.

Thai basil is the best but I didn't have any growing yet.

Dinner this evening was a meat pattie ( turned out square)

Yes, thanks for the recipe. Sounds like a really satisfying soup.

Shambo, I'm going to make a loaf of bread using some kefir. I've been making kefir since early summer, and I'm always looking for more ways to use it besides a smoothie. We don't like the taste of it, drinking it straight, but I do use it on cereal, as well as milk. I've read that it loses the pro-biotics when heated, but the other vitamins and nutrients are still preserved. I've got a great kefir pancake recipe and the pancakes are very light and fluffy.

So, all this to say is that apparently kefir makes a great sourdough type bread. That will my my next experiment.

Neely, I like your square patty. Of course your salad and pumpkin look great as well.

Earlier this week I mashed some potatoes and cauliflower together. We quite liked it, and I rolled the leftovers in bread crumbs and baked them. I do this often with mashed potatoes (add an egg and some minced onion). These didn't need the egg, and the flavour of the cauliflower really came through. I'll definitely be doing this more often (mashing potato and cauliflower then baking).

There's only one type of sausage that we like, and hubby likes it cooked with a red sauce consisting of ketchup, touch of brown sugar, vinegar and yellow mustard and sauteed onion and celery. Canned green beans.

That dinner looks very satisfying Jasdip. I also like other things mashed with potatoes. Parsnip and carrot for example.

My search for healthy cake goes on. Orange, banana & date cake with only one tablespoon of sugar. It is more like a banana bread so is better with a smear of butter.

I delayed taking a photo and DH couldn't resist the odd slice or two before I got around to it.

Jasdip, I'd be interested in how your kefir bread turns out. I've made a so-called phony sourdough bread with plain yogurt. The tang makes it tasty even though I cut the salt in half. I've got to try the mashed cauliflower/potato combo. Sounds good and something my husband would like too. I think I remember you saying that you often do a sweet potato/regular potato mash too. Honestly, I think your sausage sauce would be good with just about anything, including chicken, pork, and Salisbury steak patties.

Shambo, you're right on the sweet potato/white potato mash. Good memory! I have a sweet potato sitting right here for that. Or maybe just roast it.

Hubby loves that red sauce, and you're right, it would go on just about anything. I bought a few jalapenos last week and a minced one went into the sauce yesterday.

I made a new recipe out of the LCBO magazine (Liquor Control Board of Ontario). Their pictures are to die for, and always look so tempting. My roast was smaller, so it cooked more than I would have liked. Duh. It was marinated for 1/2 hour in dijon, soy sauce, dry mustard, garlic, oil and garlic. Then roasted and a reduction sauce made from wine, balsamic, shallots and chicken stock.

I roasted some carrots with it, and also sauteed broccoli. I also made Yorkshire Pudding while the meat was resting. I was going to have smashed potatoes (boiled then roasted new potatoes), but I was using my Pucky oven instead of the big one so I didn't have enough room. So it was the rest of the mashed/cauliflower balls.

Good looking meal Jasdip, I love Yorkshires.

Chicken with veg in a white wine sauce. I added a sprinkling of capers which were little explosions in the mouth.

We also had spaghetti marinara for another dinner. Added some chilli flakes.

Great meals, Neely. When you mentioned spaghetti marinara, I was expecting a red sauce, a marinara sauce. Then I realized that yours is a seafood pasta dish.

I like your wording with the capers being little explosions in your mouth. Cute.

I bought 2 5-lb bags of baby potatoes for .88 each, so I boiled then smashed and roasted them with olive oil and salt and pepper. Breaded pork chop and broccoli completed the meal. Those little smashed potatoes would be terrific little finger munchies. I may not be able to leave them alone!

When I showed hubby this picture he requested that next time we have pork chops and I post it, to take a picture of his. He doesn't like his breaded, just coated with spices, and it would make a different picture that my usual breaded one, for your viewing pleasure.

Had homemade bread and homemade vegetable soup last night. My granddaughter has a very good way with making soups. She seems to have an instinct for what flavors/tastes will enhance taste/flavors of other ingredients.

I made stuffing bread from a KAF recipe. It's got all the flavors of bread stuffing in a loaf. It can then be used for any kind of bread stuffing. I baked it in my bread machine because it was going to be cut up, so it didn't matter if it ended up ugly.

I cut it into 1/4 inch cubes, toasted them in the oven, and used them for a homemade low sodium version of Stove Top Stuffing. It was really easy and tasty to boot. I've got enough toasted cubes for at least 3 more recipes' worth of phony Stove Top Stuffing. It made a nice side with chicken and Trader Joe's Cranberry/Orange relish.

I also made some maple/pecan/oatmeal scones for my husband's breakfast. He gets up about 2 hours earlier than I do, so I like to have an assortment of things in the freezer for him. No glaze on the scones because neither one of us like overly sweet stuff.

yum! Everyone's food looks so good!!! and I've been eating too much lately! :p

neely, that almost-healthy orange-banana-date cake that's more like bread looks fantastic. What's your "healthy" search about? less sugar, calories, fat, carbs, ???

Not too much fancy cooking here, but lots of good stuff. And I bought a ham... so one night he made pinto beans, and I made a kale-apple salad and some cornbread and in usual fashion I was eating before I thought to take a pic. :)

And tonight I finally tried my 6.5 qt roaster oven with ham & scalloped potatoes. Sides were a simple green salad, green beans, and sliced apples. Very good!

PM, now I'm going to have to make scalloped potatoes, those look really good.

Shambo, I keep threatening to make scones and freeze some unbaked, so I can have them at my leisure. I still need to do that.

Everyone's food looks good, and I'm not even hungry, because I had a piece of apple pie just a few minutes ago.

We've been eating, I made some vegetable soup and homemade bread for one night:

Another night brought pork steak, acorn squash and some fresh horticultural beans.

Elery made some burgers and parsley potatoes:

This was actually leftovers from a meal I didn't photograph, we had a turkey last Sunday, with mashed potatoes and gravy, so I made a "hot turkey sandwich" with some mixed vegetables on the side.

Yes, I've been playing with the color setting on the camera again, LOL, and I might almost have it under control on time for Thanksgiving!

Annie

Hi party, my search for healthy cake is so I can eat more of it, at least without a guilty conscience So your food looks healthy and yummy.

Annie, all looks delish and I really like the "look" of the hamburger and potato salad.

We had lamb cutlets. I really like these and mourn for the days when they were very very inexpensive. I remember breading and cooking platefuls of them to hand around to workmen as a lunchtime treat and thank you ( for renovations) . These days it would be $100 worth or more.

neely, so generally healthy. lol! Definitely sub applesauce for the fat, if you haven't tried that already! e.g., my brownie recipe uses 1/2 c butter, but if I sub 1/2 c (or more :) of applesauce and add about 2 tbs butter for extra flavor it comes out great! I think the applesauce makes it more moist and enhances the chocolate flavor!

Thanks party. I will try that sub of apple sauce next time I make brownies... sounds good and I haven't tried it.

Annie, I love your loaf of bread. I haven't made a free-form loaf in years. Is yours in a pot, or just on a baking sheet. Is it no-knead, where you let it sit for a day?

We had chicken thighs and drumsticks simmered in a tomato-based sauce, and I used up the rest of the cauliflower in mashed potatoes again. That's going to be a favourite with us. Simmered green beans.

Jasdip, it's the no knead recipe from King Arthur flour, but I subbed half whole wheat for half of the white flour. I still have about a loaf's worth in the fridge, I'll bake that tomorrow or Saturday.

I just plop it onto a sheet of parchment paper and let it come to room temp and rise, then I lift the parchment paper onto my cast iron griddle, which I put in the oven while it preheats. Works like a charm!

And the stuff makes awesome toast...

Annie

Granddaughter is baking chicken breast that has been sliced horizontally seasoning it with a bit of garlic salt, green beans, and mashed potatoes. Will have with homemade white loaf bread.

Your dinner looks good Jasdip and Walnut Creek your granddaughters' chicken breast sounds good as well.

We were down in the city for a few days again and got back home near dinner time. The weather was too warm for our usual pasta, so I made a quick salad. Canned salmon, salad, couscous, beets and I whizzed up a can of chickpeas with some sesame oil and olive oil to make a sort of hummus. A sprinkle of chive flowers and we ate.

neely, I anxiously await the photos of your upcoming 'summer' meals!!! I love to garnish with fresh flowers! unfortunately, there are a lot of people who won't eat them. What flowers do you usually eat??? For me, it's primarily nasturtium (flowers & leaves), violas, and violets. Occasionally I think of chive flowers or honeysuckle.... I've never used rose petals -- I can't bring myself to destroy a perfect rose for that. :p I read once that impatiens (I. walleriana) are edible, but other sources don't confirm that. Many years ago I tried to grow calendula from seed to use the petals, but didn't have success. Maybe I should try again?

Well the flowers we eat party are mainly those chive flowers. I did sprinkle a few yellow flowers from some baby bok choy that had gone to seed a while back and that looked pretty but didn't add to taste. I would like to try more ... hubby is not fussed about flowers so usually add to my plate only as I like them. Yes calendula would be good ... next Spring for you, maybe.?

A hint of winter arrived today after a glorious, warm fall. Snow is on the ground and on the cars. We didn't budge so today I put ribs in the slow cooker to cook and finished in the oven with bbq sauce. Also scalloped potatoes and roasted brussels sprouts. We lucked out and got a bag of brussels sprouts for $2 and it was a kg bag. Much better than the $4/lb they usually are.

I have a Kefir bread dough proofing. An experiment to be sure. No yeast, as the kefir takes the place of a starter, and I'm sure it will be sourdough-type bread. It's slow going, but it did say it could be 12-24 hours. Not much happening even yet, so I'll see what it's like in the morning.

Annie & Jasdip, the scalloped potatoes look so inviting. I'd like some with Neely's lamb cutlets. And Jasdip, I'd love a side of your brussel sprouts too.

It was time to feed my sourdough starter, so I made another bread recipe that used up discard. This time it was a KAF recipe called 12 Grain Raisin Sourdough. However, I didn't use their 12 grain mixture. Instead I added 1 heaping tablespoon each of sesame, flax, and sunflower seeds, along with cracked wheat, oatmeal, and millet. And I didn't use any raisins. It made a huge loaf. I was in a hurry and didn't take enough time to shape it properly, so the ends are kind of wonky. But the bread tastes really good.

Even though I've faithfully fed the sourdough starter, and used the discard in pizza dough and bread, I've yet to actually make an official sourdough loaf. One of these days though...

Shambo, that bread looks perfect to me, yum!

Jasdip, it must be the day for it, I also made BBQ'd ribs, although mine were in the oven (I do NOT grill, under any circumstances), and we had au gratin potatoes, which are just scalloped potatoes with cheese. Also green beans, corn and breadsticks, and I forgot to take a picture because all the grandkids were here. Makayla and Ashley went up to sit in the deer blind while Bud, Madi and Maci painted pictures and baked cookies. I do have pictures of the cookie decorating, though....

Annie

Gluten-free skillet mac and cheese, with ample onions, button mushrooms, snow peas, and flavored with dry sherry and fresh tarragon. Four types of cheese.

I used chickpea noodles.

Shambo, I love the look of your bread!!!

Sadly my kefir dough is just sitting there, doing nothing. Not rising, bubbling or anything, and it's been 25 hours. I'm going to have to do more noodling around and see if I can find more recipes, but in the meantime, I'm content to let it sit as long as it wants and see if it gets a spurt of energy.

Annie, we don't barbecue either! I don't like it. I burn everything. But we do use an electric grill/griddle out on the balcony when we want to 'barbecue'.

Liking everyone's food at the end of this post.

That's a different looking Mac and cheese Artemis and looks tasty.

Good looking bread Shambo

Jasdip just Yum

Annie you are the best Grannie.