DH's late night treat:

So nice to see you up and running again, 2Many. You could have told your husband those were cellophane noodles. :)

writersblock - thank you! So good to be up and, well... maybe more like walking for now! They do look like cellophane (glass is what I usually call them) noodles, but DH still wouldn't have known what those were. Every time I make something with rice noodles, he eyes those suspiciously!

2Many........I love reading your stories and escapades!!! I laughed out loud at your slips of the tongue!! I can imagine the look on hubby's face when you were going to Bolivia! LOL. And Salmonella, nope, that doesn't belong in your pasta.

Your meals look fabulous!!!!!

Your peach salsa has my interest piqued!!! What do you eat it with?? It looks amazing! Can you share the recipe sometime?

Aw, you're so kind, Jasdip : ) I'm hap[y I made you laugh - even I laughed pretty hard at myself over the Bolivia comment : ) I used to have a friend who frequently used slips of the tongue on purpose... my favorite was when he spoke of his lady friend's "black negligence" instead of negligee. I loved that!

Well, the pork chops were not that good, and sadly, it's what's for dinner tonight... but just popped some fresh green beans and new potatoes on the stove which DH will love, and heck, me too : )

Well, of course I've got that salsa recipe to share - good on tortilla triangles - Tostitos would work just great - it's the chip we use for any salsa : ) It tastes like any good salsa, but with a very refreshing sweetness that's not overpowering at all. The salt on the tostitos also helps, most likely. You can eat this by the spoon on a summer day like Sooz suggested, LOL! It's that good!

Peach Salsa:

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb tomatoes diced
• 1/2 bell pepper 4 oz, seeded and finely diced
• 1/2 jalapeno seeded and finely diced (optional)
• 1/2 medium red onion finely diced
• ¾ lbs (1/2 lb + ¼ lb) peaches diced
• handful bunch cilantro/parsley chopped
• 1-2 Tbsp lime juice
• 1 tsp salt or to taste
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper or to taste

I did not use any jalapeno, just a dash of red pepper seasoning. I'm a big baby! Also, I've read you can use canned peaches if fresh are not available.

Directions:

1) Chop tomatoes and transfer them to a large bowl.

2) Finely chop seeded bell pepper and jalapeños. Finely chop onion and transfer all your veggies to the bowl.

3) Dice the peaches. I liked the slightly larger dice for peaches to give them more of the center stage in this salsa. No need to peel them. You won't notice the peels and the color is prettier with the peel on. Transfer peaches to your bowl.

4) Add 1/2 bunch chopped cilantro/parsley, 2 Tbsp lime juice, 1 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Add more salt and pepper to taste if desired. Fold everything together until well mixed and enjoy!

(This is actually better if allowed to meld for an hour)

Keep covered in fridge. Will keep no longer than 2 days.

Wow that sounds good 2Many! I'm thrilled that they don't need to be peeled! I have everything but the peaches :-). And I won't be using cilantro! LOL

Jasdip, thank you for the recipe for the tenderloin and for instructions on the roasted veggie/orzo dish. I'm anxious to try them both!

Neely, thank you for posting the golden dumpling recipe. Looks delicious!

2Many: Your salsa is so colorful and that ice cream looks rich and delicious! What ice cream maker are you using? Glad to see you are able to cook at home again. Eating out gets old fast, but I don't have to tell you that!

Jasdip, I too am a no-cilantro person : ) Sometimes I get upset that it tastes so awful to me, but parsley works just fine.

The prices on appliances are ridiculous! Since we both did demo, DH did (is still doing) all our electrical, framing, and plumbing, and I've done painting, some plastering, mortaring... you get the picture... we kinda splurged on appliances, but gosh, no $2,300 for a dishwasher! Did that come with a person to load and empty it as well? My favorite thing is the dishwasher drawers. I remember sleevendog also recommended them over in the kitchen forum. Fill it with all our dishes and pots and pans and run the top or bottom drawer every night (it's like running a half load). It's so easy. We had to close the door to the bedroom and run our old one at night. The new one? Can stand next to it and still not always sure if it's running.

Annie, I completely forgot to tell you to give Lars a big old hug from me, and most likely, all of us here : ) Enjoy your company!

lizbeth-gardener, this will be a weird answer... I got a Cuisinart ICE-100 Compressor Ice Cream and Gelato Maker. Only because I had the free cash points, and my brain thought, oh, I don't have to put a couple buckets in the freezer (because if you saw my freezer, you'd understand why my brain thought that). I noted the measurements, had a place for it... but, good gosh a'mighty it's a big old honkin' thang! Heavy too. Convenient in that I can whip up some no-cook ice cream (hope to this weekend) in a minute and just go ahead and run it, but gosh, it's just huge. Would I buy it again? Most likely not. I like Cuisinart, but I'd get the one without the compressor. Also, it worries me the compressor will eventually go bad. That was just a dumb call on my part, perhaps. Still, we are enjoying it. Works beautifully, has different beaters (one for ice cream and sorbetto, and one for gelato). Not horribly loud (not quiet either). Soft serve textured ice cream in 35-40 minutes.

The fresh green beans and new potatoes were good last night. Re-heated the pork chops in the CSO and somehow, miraculously, the burned part just fell off and left the good stuff : ) Fresh salad with it. Ann_T was right about the CSO too, makes perfect toast.

Tonight... fast food. Busy day : )

Wow! That's quite a machine, 2Many, but it does sound like it makes great ice cream and if it can make good gelato, that would be worth having!

2Many, glad to inspire you! Love all the photos, too!

Dang, you guys! That ice cream! That gelato milk shake! Dang!!!!

lizbeth, it did make wonderful gelato, and that was my first effort. Have to admit, the vanilla was just so good though. Worth the custard-making. I prefer 'cooked' ice cream, DH says he wants me to try the non-cooked.

LMAO Sooz! Yeah, gelato milkshake definitely worth two Dangs! We both had one again night before last (but again, small glass!). I made that horrible slurping sound with my straw to get every last luscious drop ; )

Trying to decide if I've got enough time make a side trip today to pick up more peaches for... peach salsa and peach ice cream! Otherwise, no salsa, and DH said he wanted strawberry ice cream. I'm thinking DH will win out. I'd prefer peach.

Last night was Arby's. Tonight will be either BLT's again (don't mind that one bit) or if my feet are hurting too much after running about, fast food. Hope to do more cooking this weekend and next week.

Last night I decided to get take-out Chinese. First time since hubby's death.

For $10, the aluminum take-out container is filled to the brim, and enough for 2 meals. So I have another dish just like this, in the frig! ;-D

Wine always goes with take-out doesn't it??

Jasdip, I thought wine went with EVERYTHING. (grin)

2many, you are just jumping back in with both feet, aren't you? I'm happy to see you again.

Lars and Kevin left Tuesday night, too late for that hug, and my camera stopped working while we were in Traverse City, so no pictures either. We did have the last of the chicken mole while Naturegirl was visiting, and she got to have Annie's Salsa with Annie, LOL, because we had a "Mexican themed" meal. She brought me some walking onions and I sent her home with Purple TeePee beans and a zucchini. Everyone that comes into this house is going to take a zucchini, it's the rule! Yeah, my house, my rules, LOL.

I made some homemade pasta with chicken sausage one night, Kevin doesn't eat beef or pork and that was difficult for me, but we managed. We had salmon twice, shrimp scampi once, Elery grilled chicken one night and I made some mocha chocolate zucchini muffins, although Lars doesn't eat sugar, other than in tiny amounts.

They brought me a lovely little dish, handmade by one of Kevin's friends, and I'll post a picture when my new camera comes, it should be here Monday.

Tonight Elery and I had something called "Zucchini Enchiladas". Whatever, the only thing "enchilada" about that was the sauce. It was OK, though, zucchini stuffed with corn, black beans and shredded chicken, covered with enchilada sauce and a tiny sprinkle of cheese.

I'm not doing much cooking because I'm catching up on my garden. Elery and I, with the assistance of The Princess, picked/snapped/canned 68 quarts of beans yesterday. Today it was 13 pints of bread and butter pickles and 12 pints of dill relish. Tomorrow it's more beans and probably pickled beets.

Elery got to eat the first ripe tomato, though, so he's happy.

Annie

I bought peaches, tomatoes and Tostitos today. I'm looking forward to making

2MD's peach salsa tomorrow.

Tonite I cut a chicken breast into large chunks, along with onions, green peppers and zucchini. I marinated it all for an hour in Italian dressing and red wine vinegar. Cooked in my skillet and it made a tasty dinner. I also had some leftover crashed potatoes.

Wow. Annie, I saw you were growing quite a few beans in your garden, but picking enough to can 68 quarts in one day is amazing.

Naturegirl, we canned another 24 quarts and a pint today! All three of us pick, then we all snap. I have two canners going simultaneously, remember, I have that old Detroit Jewel in the back room. I snap in between loading canners, so I can do 14 quarts at a time, so that's only 10 canners full, or 5 batches with both canners full.

20 of those were Elery's beloved pink half runners, though, and since the bean in those are so big, they take 50 minutes instead of 25, so that used a little more time. I took the last batch from the canner at 2:45 am, so it was a LONG day.

Here's part of that big batch, notice the ones on the right are reddish?

Today's canning was all Top Crop green beans and those purple TeePee beans, we'll probably have more of the half runners next week. I wish the purple ones didn't turn green when they are heated, they'd be so pretty if they stayed purple.

Meanwhile, for supper? Leftovers, and mostly all from the garden. Last night's zucchini "enchiladas", some cabbage and bok choi from a couple of nights ago, green beans (of course, LOL) and the first ears of corn. They weren't quite ready, by next week I'll be freezing corn...

Yes, I resurrected my old Canon Elph, until my new camera gets here. They couldn't fix the old one but fortunately I had that 3 year extended warranty.

Annie

My photo isn't as tremendously delectable as 2MD's but the recipe is fantastic!!

I've already had 2 bowls with Tostitos. It'll be even better when the stupid peaches are juicier. They were hard even though they were deep red, and, being the first ones, they aren't free-stone. I made a big bowl, knowing that I would like it. OH, I used my mint and basil, and a bit of lovage as my herbs.

Mmm, Jasdip, that looks perfect to me. My peaches won't ripen for another month or so, but this is on my "list" ...

Annie

Be sure to make it, Annie. It is absolutely delicious. I used a whole green pepper, and yellow onion instead of buying a red. I also used some red pepper flakes instead of a jalapeno.

Jasdip, I have both green peppers and red onions in the garden, so I just have to wait for good peaches.

I think this would be really good on grilled salmon too...

Annie

Wow! Annie, you really get a lot accomplished in a day! Your canned goods are impressive. How big is your garden and do you run out of canned goods each year?

Jasdip: I notice that you use lovage in many of your dishes. I'm not familiar with the spice/herb. Are you using fresh or dried and can you describe the taste/flavor?

Lizbeth, it's a perennial herb. I love it. It grows tall, about 5 feet, and tastes very much like celery. The stalks are hollow and they can be simmered in tomato sauces. I use the lovage in place of parsley and pretty much any herb. Mainly because I have it.

Lovage. A reason for that name. All my herbs are exceptional this year. Without much effort. Big surprise is the tarragon and basil. And par-cel.

Harvested two more fennel bulbs with massive fronds. Very unusual in my climate.

Looks like we will get a second round of rhubarb and just harvested more grape leaves. (bad pruning gives new growth)

Breakfast pizza this morning...

Ribs last night. With left over taco fixin's. (watermelon salad)

Lat week was all salads and fresh pickles. Anything from the garden and more. Same-same, shrimp, scallops, lobster rolls, Twice! And taco day as usual....

This was a good one...scarlet runner beans and couscous...avocado and seaweed...

Sleevendog, like you we're eating from the garden a lot. Today I was visiting Mother and Elery decided to make cabbage rolls because we have so much cabbage. Something went horribly awry, though, and those went into the chicken bucket, something about pork filling, Chinese 5 spice and enchilada sauce. Yeah, all in the same dish, and it just didn't go well, LOL. I made tostadas with refried beans and the first garden tomatoes as a quick stop-gap supper!

Jasdip, I just planted lovage, I do hope it survives, although it's still only about an inch tall. Nancy (wizardnm) brought me some and I liked it very much, I think it tastes a lot like celery.

lizbeth, my garden is big, about an acre or a little more. I do run out of some things, this year it was pickled beets, green beans, tomatoes. applesauce and Chase's chile sauce. Somehow I never run out of pickles, LOL, although I usually run out of salsa and sweet relish. My girls come and "shop" the pantry, they fill up their boxes and I tell them "thank you for shopping at Mom's". (grin)

Green beans are a big favorite here, all the grandkids like them. Makayla thought I was canning a lot until I reminded her that I open two jars whenever they come for dinner and even if Elery and I only ate them twice a week, we'd be out in less than a year. Same with tomatoes, I can never can enough....

I don't have pictures of this year's garden, but this was last year. The two halves are intersected by three apple trees, so this is the south half:

North half:

Elery expanded it a bit this year, it's about 10 feet wider from East to West, and about 6 feet wider north to south on the south end. The north end can't get any longer because it's already right up against the pasture fence.

Annie

Jasdip, your Chinese take-out looks far better than what we can get here. And IMO, wine goes with everything : ) I’m amazed at all the cooking you’re doing and it always looks so darned good. You can make chicken (one of my favorite proteins, if not my favorite) look mouth watering. I love when people mention what they put in dishes, and you always do… makes my mouth water! Even your basic seasoned and fried chicken tenders way above look so delicious I keep scrolling back to it! I am so glad you liked the peach salsa! Yes, ripe peaches make it tastier… overripe in areas and I’m fine with it : ) That does it, I need to remember lovage. I think you mentioned it last year, and I completely forgot about it this spring. I hope I can remember next spring. And it’s a perennial, which makes it all the better. Sounds like the perfect replacement for cilantro.

Annie, all those wonderful green beans! I’m incredibly envious and I hope next year I’ll be canning some myself. Not 68 quarts and then some tho’. I’ve stayed up into the wee hours putting food in Tupperware to freeze, but that was without help, and far less. Your corn looks sweet and fresh too. You’ve got such a wonderful family – and how lucky to get to shop at Mom’s pantry : ) Is that new potatoes and green beans I see? One of my summer favorites. Got some nice looking beans at the roadside stand, and made the same. DH likes onion and bacon (fried first in the pan) in his. Ok, I confess, so do I! I always love looking at photos of your garden and all the veg you cook. With all you do, I don’t see how you keep the rows so weed free!

At exactly 6:08 this morning I’m sitting on our back porch drinking coffee when I read about Elery’s stuffed cabbage… I burst our laughing! I think some neighbors heard me! I’ll admit, that combination of ingredients sounds… off. I’d give him a hug for effort though : )

Sleevendog, what a picture perfect garden haul! And that breakfast pizza? Oh be still my taste buds. Am I seeing crisp potatoes? I’d sure like to try to duplicate that recipe some morning! If I can ever find my cast iron skillets. I haven’t unpacked any more boxes, no time. Your fennel is wonderful.

So, good news, finally building our small suburban garden! We found someone to help as DH and I are just too busy to do everything. Yes, I typed ‘building’. Not raised beds, but fully enclosed for the most part. We’ve only a small area, so I don’t want to lose anything to our resident rabbits, skunk, and ridiculously huge ground hog… or the birds. Top to ground chicken wire (as in completely enclosed). And I’ll be adding (later) some stacked rock and a bit of landscaping around to tie it into the back yard. Hoping next year to have tomatoes, beans, snap peas, peppers, lettuce… oh the list goes on! I’m beyond excited! It’s hot. And still so much to do inside. Anyway… again picked up a goodly amount of veg and fruits at that roadside farmer’s stand I found. More peach salsa! More everything! Not many pic’s, but we had baked spaghetti and corn one night (baked spaghetti for me is leftover spaghetti, reheated in the oven).

Annie, 5-spice powder and enchilada sauce? Nope, doesn't sound right. The chickens will love it though!

I'm glad that you got some lovage from Nancy! We truly enjoy it, I use it pretty much in anything that calls for herbs. You don't need much, though. It's good in soups, and even simmered in a pot of potatoes.

Wow, what a garden!!!! I'm in awe of absolutely every single minute and large thing that you do. I would so love to come and visit and lend a hand.

2MD, the peaches were a big disappointment. Cutting them in half, and the pit broke in two as well? How can that be, when the peaches are still hard? I went to cut up a peach on my cereal this morning, and 2 were all moldy. So they rot/mold before they soften. Grrrr.

But on the other hand, is that peach salsa ever a hit. One more excuse to eat Tostitos!!! Nice and sloppy to eat while watching a movie.

I watched The Upside last night. It's a 2017 movie based on a True Story about a billionaire quadriplegic who hired a care-taker. It was witty, funny, emotional and a very good movie.

I'm really sorry to hear that Jasdip, I know how wonderful it is to pick up peaches, be so hungry for that fresh flavor, then find them rock hard and lacking in flavor. Yes, I've had them mold and never ripen. You can ripen them with other fruit I've heard, such as bananas (all in the same paper sack) and I tried that. Didn't work for me (just molded). OTOH I've ripened tomatoes by themselves in a paper sack beautifully. I've never seen The Upside. If I spy it on some night I'll give it a try! Most the time we both fall asleep while watching even a 60 minute program, unless it's something like Serengeti on the Discovery Channel, which DH and I enjoy, but we have to tape it, as it doesn't air here until 10 pm, well past our bedtime.

Not having taken anything out of the freezer, it was pasta tonite. I also had a small zucchini that was starting to wrinkle. We both really liked Nick Stellino and I've made his zucchini and pasta dish in the past.

Sauteed zucchini, garlic, red pepper flakes in some chicken broth with mint and basil. I used mint and lovage.

I’ve a lot to catch up. Can I just say that everyone’s food looks really yummy. And Annie that’s truely fantastic canning.

Meals we’ve had are chicken soup.

Gnocchi with a pork meat sauce

Lamb shanks and barley. DH said he didn’t feel like a tomato base for the lamb shanks this time, he felt like just plain food... sprinkled with parsley and grated lemon rind to lift it up a little.

Yes, 2many, those are new potatoes and green beans, Grandma used to cook them that way and I've always loved them. Sometimes I add a bit of smoked pork hock or leftover ham, sometimes bacon, sometimes no meat at all. Elery insists that Grandma must have been from the South, from the things she taught me to cook. Turns out her stepmother was from Kentucky and taught her to cook, and then she taught me. Elery does tell me that you'll never hear a Southerner say "I think you cooked them beans too long", LOL.

Good luck on that garden, I just love mine. Everyone leaves me alone because they know if they come to talk to me for any reason I'm going to put them to work!

Neely, Elery would LOVE your lamb shanks, I ought to make him some soon. I do love barley in near anything, so we'd both be happy.

Jasdip, I got some peaches like that at the farmer's market. The seller was selling them for half price, he said they had something called "pit split" (yeah, go figure) due to the heavy rain right at the time the peaches were maturing. No matter how long I left them on the counter they never got any more ripe, and finally they just got rotten. (sigh)

Sleevendog, you're killing me with those lobster rolls....

So, what's for dinner? I made a stir fry with venison and broccoli, one of Elery's favorite meals. We had roasted beets on the side. No pictures, but my new camera is here, sitting on the dining room table waiting for me to unpack it. I was too busy picking beans today though. (grin) Soon I'm going to say "enough" and start pulling bean plants and feeding them to the cows. The local food pantry will take all I can give them, but I can only just pick so many, sheesh.

I did make cinnamon rolls for Mother, though. I actually made two dozen and took a dozen to The Princess and Bud and the other dozen to Mother. Mother likes hers without frosting, she butters hers. The Princess and Bud like frosting, of course.

I just had to make something that didn't include vegetables, LOL.

Annie

Jasdip: thanks for the info on the lovage. It looks like flat leaf parsley in your picture. I will have to see if I can find it.

Annie: That is quite a sizable garden! How lucky your girls are to be able to shop your pantry and am sure you love being able to share. I would love one of those cinnamon rolls with a big glass of milk for a bedtime snack.

Neely: That chicken soup looks so good and that lamb shank is really picturesque! Do you make your own gnocchi?

2Many: the soup and the dumplings are mouth watering! I love good Chinese dumplings, but I've never attempted to make them. And I hope you share pictures of your finished garden; I'm wanting to do something similar.

Sleevendog: Love your garden basket and that picture with the fennel should make Martha Stewart jealous! I get lots of ideas for salads from your posts. I want to try growing micro greens when house projects slow down a bit.

Thanks to all of you for sharing! I love the inspiration and ideas for different dishes I get from reading the WFD thread. I love to cook, but really run out of ideas for meals at times.

I marinated a chicken breast briefly (1/2 hour or so) in olive oil, honey, dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, garlic powder, dried mustard and chopped fresh rosemary.

Browned in the skillet, then baked it in the oven till it was cooked through. I keep couscous in the freezer and seldom use it, so I did tonite with pine nuts and some lemon juice. And Yes, those are frozen vegetables!! LOL

Cinnamon rolls Annie Yum... haven’t made any for ages. Tasty meal there Jasdip. Lizbeth-gardener I have made my own gnocchi lots of times but not on the above occasion, we don’t mind the one from the refrigerator cabinet as long as scooped out pretty quick when floats to the top.

Our old favourite seafood pasta. Made with olive oil as the sauce, thickened with a little pasta water.

Wow, lots of incredible meals! Far too many I'd love to enjoy so I'll mention just a few:

Annie, you know I'm picking cinnamon rolls, right? LOL! Those look so good, I can almost smell the yeast and cinnamon fresh from the oven. {long sigh}. Oh yes, I actually prefer some type of ham with green beans and new potatoes, but I always forget to thaw a bit out! I laughed at Elery's comment about beans, but well, you know, when you've added some sort of pork, it's just the honest truth ; )

Neely, have you become a professional chef? Your meals have been looking so gorgeous, and so complex, and well, so good they make my stomach growl! Again with the lamb shanks... you're like Sleevendog with the lobster rolls. Just torture, but good torture : ) Your brussel sprouts look perfect.

Jasdip, you have to know I'm picking your sliced chicken dish... I love the brown on it. I've not had couscous in forever, but love it... never tried it with lemon juice and pine nuts, but that sounds like a sure-fire winner. I need to put couscous on my grocery list - thank you for the inspiration!

lizbeth-gardener, I'd be happy to share photos when the garden is done! Annie'll make fun of the size, I'm sure (Annie, I'm kidding, I know you'd never do that!). It's coming along, but very slowly as the heat and humidity here is dangerous to work in.

Hmmm... well, 'one night' (I can't remember which!) we got busy and decided to stop at Zachsby's for a chicken salad. After waiting in line for 10 minutes at the drive thru we decided to just come home and make BLT's which were far better! Ha! Another evening I made beef tips with onions, portabella mushrooms, and red bell peppers over mashed potatoes, with more corn from the farmers stand. Gravy got thin, but still, better than a Burger King!

Annie, I'll take some plain cinnamon rolls please. I don't like icing on anything!

Neely your seafood pasta is unique to me. You've got lots of kinds of seafood on there, not just shrimp.

2Many, your pork looks amazing!!! Wow that looks good. Maple syrup and honey, and cider vinegar perhaps?? I'm purely guessing.

Hah, my chicken looks more like a pork tenderloin doesn't it? I made it in the cast iron skillet and looked at my laptop, and time got a bit away from me. Usually I have trouble browning my chicken enough!

Horrors! You don't like icing Jasdip??? I had you pegged all wrong! Shame-shame! Annie, give me Jasdip's icing, please ; ) My mom was the same way, not a fan of the sweet-sweet. I take after my Dad, and DH is a double icing guy : )

Nah, we've got those long, kinda roundish chicken breasts where I live too! And that brown is why your chicken tenders above (which again, I keep scrolling to look at) are so enticing to me. I salivate every time I see those.

The maple glaze adds a nice caramel color because it... caramelizes. Ha! It's just a little bowl of oil (I use avocado), pure maple syrup (equal parts), and minced garlic. But I put the garlic with the diced apples and onions. Anyway, I just put in in a hot pan, and as it's caramelizing I add the apples and onions, stirring until tender crisp, then remove those but leave the good bits, and plop the pork chops into the leftover glaze (but first I add more). With Sous Vide, the chops are already cooked and just need a very fast seer. If you wished you could cook your chops as you usually do first, then do the apples/onion in the glaze, and lastly finish off your chops in the caramelizing glaze. This is one of our favorite meals.

Hahahahhaa!! I do not have a sweet tooth at all 2ManyD. You may have all of my sweets that I get given to me, and in exchange, I'll take your chips and Tostitos!!!!!

I was on the right path with your maple glaze. Yes, I'd cook my pork chop and just finish in the glaze. I can see some red pepper flakes in that as well. Yum!!

I just happen to have a pork chop or 2 in the freezer, soooo........

Well, I think that's a very fair trade ; ) I'll even whip up a batch of 'good peaches' salsa in trade, LOL!

If you can, add the diced apple (just need one) and onion and cook in the glaze, that just kinda makes it : ) The apples are peeled...

Wait... you got a new 'thingy'! I just noticed it! Aww.. after I put my readers on I could read it. That's very sweet. Did someone give you that? And what is it? It's bright pink! : )

2Many!!! Good eye!!! A girlfriend and I took Gino for a walk in the city park the other morning. There in a flower bed was a painted rock.

It had the most amazing and personal message!

If all you did today was hold yourself together, I'm proud of you.

How fitting! As you know, I'm not able to accomplish that each and every day.

Yes that pork does look so tasty 2many with apple and onion hash... so Yum.

Jasdip, I am so sad for your loss, amazing find of the pink rock and it’s lovely message.

The following is a dish of Sweet cheese pancakes, a Polish recipe that I found on line... they are called Nalesniki I think.

What happened was that I was making some bechamel cheese sauce for the topping of a lasagna I made to take to my son and his wife for the freezer for after baby comes. I saw a jug of milk in the fridge and used it for the bechamel. Turns out that DH had placed the milk plus sugar and vanilla in the jug and used some in a banana smoothie. So when I licked the spoon after stirring everything together, I discovered I had this weird sweet cheese sauce.

Not wanting to waste it, I found this pancake recipe that uses sweet cheese sauce for the filling.

I will eat some of this dish, not sure if DH will LOL.

Edited to say.... we both had one for dessert with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Was quite nice.

Wow, THAT's innovation Neely!!! I smiled at your husband mixing everything together for a smoothie. Handy, but who would know, except for him? :-)

Wow, Neely! How lucky that you licked that spoon and didn't ruin a whole pan of lasagna!

And even more impressive that you were able to make good use of the accident!

Neely's seafood salad, wow.

It is corn cake and garden frittata season...goat cheese/herb stuffed zucchini flowers....

(I cut my kernels off on a upside down plastic bowl inside a larger bowl so my knife hits something soft, not metal)

I made up a half dozen corn cake 'kits'. (just add a couple duck eggs/yogurt). But my cast iron dutch oven lid cracked, : (. We purchased 30ish years ago in a mom/pop hardware store on a road trip south.) Sad.

Something happened over the winter months in the barn. It rusted maybe from a field mouse pee. So DH started the restoration process grinding....we did not finish so I oiled and heated on a coil electric burner and planned to get back to it next weekend...

I have many cast iron skillets but that lid was perfect being so shallow. Ugg

Lobster rolls tonight and first BLTA (avocado) tomorrow. Have lobsters and bacon. First ripe in the garden big tomato slicers. Bacon weave...the velcro that holds it all together...

(I'll just eat up this thread so someone can start the next one)...if you don't you will get another lobster roll header tomorrow, lol.

2MD, this is when first installed but I mentioned it is too small. Old pic but this shows half. I should have made it the full counter depth. 1/3rd more. Still nice and handy being right next to my prep and a sky light is so nice for seeing what I need single file. I have a thousand markers all brands and styles but the 'decocolor' medium point paint marker is quality. Never fails.

I'll just order a new one from Lodge. Cheap. Classic. A crack was unexpected but it had a good life. Even the new ones I can get up to non-stick corn breads in no time. Funny how one specific pan is such a favorite. My dry mix recipe is 3/4 the recipe and geared perfect for that pan/lid. I use my 8" for a basic cornbread but I like the garden harvest to be thin and veg heavy. Low sides.

Oh geez, I'll never catch up! I spent all day canning, just took the last jars of pickled beets out of the canner about 20 minutes ago. Today we canned pink half runner beans, royal burgundy beans, pickled beets, made a gallon of refrigerator pickles and put 29 pints of sweet corn in the freezer. Then we ate leftovers, LOL.

Jasdip, the "painted rock" is a big thing here. The kids (and adults) paint rocks and write on the back of them where they are from. Here it's "RockinNC" for "Rock in Newaygo County". There's a Facebook page, I guess. Anyway, the game is to find the rocks, then rehide them. If you find one that really appeals to you, then you keep it, but you have to paint a different one and hide that for someone to find. The kids have a ball, looking for rocks everywhere we go. I'm glad you found that one and it spoke to you, it's sure a nice little "pick me up" when you least expect it.

2many, I do like icing, but not on cinnamon rolls. We always ate them with butter, and that's the way I still like them! And I'd never, ever laugh at your garden. Gardens are all wonderful, I love 'em all!

Sleevendog, sorry about that cast iron. I know it can be replaced, but sometimes old favorites are just right, and not always easy to find another one. I do like your spice cabinet too, mine is deep, although it has pull out drawers, and it's always a jumble, no matter how many times I organize....

Neely, I'd eat those pancakes, without a doubt. I did have to laught about the smoothie, though.

lizbeth, come raid the garden any old time!!!

Annie