What is Cooking or Baking Lately?

I was thinking oatmeal cookies with extra cinnamon today. I bake a dozen and freeze the rest in dozens, vacuum sealed. It's so easy to pull out a pack of frozen cookies and back them when the urge hits.

This week hubby will be smoking a pork roast and we will make it into pulled pork sandwiches. I have about a dozen frozen chocolate cookie dough and half a dozen frozen persimmon cookie dough pieces that I'm going to bake which will get that out of the freezer.

I also have the remains of a smoked turkey breast, a smoked tri-tip and a quart of biria (Mexican stew like dish) broth in the freezer. I'm going to make broth out of the turkey carcass, cut up the meat from the turkey and the tri-tip and combine with the biria broth. Add chopped up jalapenos, onions and hominy and I think it will come together to make a nice soup. We will top it with cilantro, sour cream (if desired) and crispy corn tortilla strips.

Hubby adores cooked salsas without veggie chunks of any kind. Last night I experimented with a bag of dried hatch chilies I had in the cupboard and I think once I finish seasoning it, it will be very close to the type of salsa he so enjoys dipping chips in when we go to Mexican restaurants.

I made oatmeal cookies last week. Was out of raisins so used some dried cranberries and a little coconut. Pretty darn good!!

I have some bananas sitting around that if I don't turn into banana bread ASAP, I might as well toss. May do that anyway.......I am more interested in spending time in my garden than I am cooking or baking :-)

This morning I baked teacakes. Reminds me of my youth.

Gardengal, you could freeze those bananas until you’re ready to deal with them.

Made Ina's linguine and shrimp for dinner last night. Thinking about making either raspberry or caramel crumb bars today.

Delicious oatmeal raisin cookies. I "supervised" (ie, walked him through the recipe) my evening caregiver making these. SO good! Plus I taught him "mis en place". Apparently he and his wife are very messy cooks at home - so messy they are overwhelmed when finished and leave the mess for days before tackling the cleanup. Not in MY kitchen! I showed him how easy it is if one just cleans up as one goes along. Not sure I made him a convert but at least I had a clean kitchen when we were finished.

I went all out yesterday and made eggplant rollatini. I made extra sauce with it for pasta on the side. So that means not having to cook tonight, plenty left.

Hubby put a venison roast in the slow cooker this AM for dinner.

"Gardengal, you could freeze those bananas until you’re ready to deal with them."

I could :-) But I probably won't. There is not much room in my tiny little condo sized freezer these days and bananas come and go in my household pretty frequently.

Mmmmm...I like the idea of adding coconut to oatmeal cookies. Hubby's favorite cookie plus coconut which is another favorite of his, is bound to be a hit. Might even earn me a gold star. Or, two!

Rita, I love eggplant rollatini . Would you mind sharing your recipe?

OK, here is what I do: wash a medium eggplant, cut off the top and the bottom. (I don't peel mine.) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper that is well oiled with olive oil. Slice the eggplant lengthwise in about 1/4 inch slices. Lay on the baking sheet and brush the tops with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes and let cool. They won't be completely cooked but should be cooked enough that they are pliable enough to roll up. Mix 1 1/2 cups of ricotta cheese, 1 large egg, 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, to taste and some parsley. In the meantime, pour 2 28 oz. cans of whole tomatoes and juice into a blender, or a food processor (I use a stick blender in a heavy glass bowl). Blend until smooth, add 1/2 tsp. thyme, 1 tsp. oregano, salt and pepper, garlic powder to taste or season as you wish. You can break it up with a fork but on this dish I like it smooth. If you want to add onion, saute some until tender and add. Oil a baking pan (like a lasagna pan) with olive oil. Pour about 1 1/2 cups in the bottom or just enough to cover the bottom. Place a large heaping Tbs. of cheese mixture on the big end of each cooled eggplant slice and roll it up. Place them in the pan with seam end down. Place any remaining cheese mixture if any on top of the rollups and then top with the marainara sauce, mostly filling in the spaces in between, saving excess for pasta. Place into 350 degree oven and bake for about 30 to 45 minutes or until slightly browned and bubbly. Let cool slightly before serving, serve with a side of pasta with the remaining marinara. You can also add blanched spinach or Swiss Chard leaves to the cheese filling. Of course it's perfectly OK to cut corners and use a jarred marinara sauce (I won't tell anyone.) It's a little labor intensive but worth it and what else do I have to do besides cook, eat and make covid masks???

We LOVE oatmeal-raisin cookies, so that's in the fridge waiting to be scooped and baked. He made a black forest cherry cake (only half a cake). We've been trying things we've never had and both of us really were surprised at how good chicken satay was. Yum! Had a flop on chicken piccata, so I'm gonna redo that soon.

You just inspired me, Rita know I know what's for Sunday dinner!

I'm not cooking every day, since I'm shuttling between our house and my mom's to help care for her. Every few days I'll make a big batch of something to last us several days.

I made a batch of baked mac & cheese last week, topped with buttered cracker crumbs - so good, but I think I gained a few pounds from that!

Made some choc. chip cookies with macadamia nuts and raisins the other day, and just finishing the last ones tonight, so maybe I'll do some oatmeal cookies tomorrow. I have lots more raisins.

I roasted a big chicken the other day as well, seasoned with Old Bay and lime juice and have been making green salads with my garden lettuce, then putting cut up chicken and roasted potatoes in the salad. It's so nice to have fresh tender leaf lettuce.

Tomorrow I'll likely make a chicken and cabbage saute and some rice.

Yesterday I made 4 loaves of No Knead Crusty Bread. I made one plain, one with Swiss cheese and garlic, one with lemon zest, rosemary, Feta cheese, and one with lemon zest, rosemary and Gruyere cheese. I gave the first 3 away to some girlfriends after we sat on the 4 corners of a driveway and visited for 2 hours. The bread was delicious if I must say so myself.

Yesterday, I made pork fried rice for lunch and shrimp and grits with bourbon cream sauce (Garden and Gun recipe) for supper .

I made blueberry muffins this morning. Today we had steak sandwiches for lunch (a riff on Pioneer Woman’s Marlboro Man Sandwiches). Supper was leftovers from yesterday.

I’m craving sweets but trying to resist.

I’ve got a lot of food in the house, but I really need to take inventory and make meal plans so that I use what I have wisely. I have a tendency to say “there is nothing to eat,” when actually, I’m just overwhelmed with all there is.

I am going to cook tomorrow [Wed] after a tough two days of work. Am usually done for the summer by now, but with all the corona news to keep people up to speed on.

Didn't make cookies last weekend, but am more in a black pepper chicken hankering type of mode.

Plus am going to bake another loaf in the Staub ... down to $25 a loaf now [culinary amortization] ... Am thinking of sprinkling some asiago cheese on top at the end after I take it out of the oven.

I tried a new recipe: cauliflower biscuits. Pretty bland and kind of flat. I think some garlic powder, paprika, onion powder, or something, would have helped. There were chives but like I said, bland.

I got out my pressure cooker and made chicken and dumplings. DH was in heaven. As soon as we can get into the the old garage and pull out the grill I plan on hamburgers and German potato salad (made in PC). I just haven't used it much the past couple of years, so It's time to bring it back to life.

About 8 years ago I bought an electric PC that also browns and is a slow cooker. But I have to say I miss me very old PC that was my Mom's, probably from the late 40's or early 50's. I miss the ch-ch-ch the the rocker made.

Today I made a loaf of crusty bread. Tomorrow I'm going to make a baked ham with some kind of potatoes and a tossed salad but DH is looking forward to ham sandwiches with the leftovers.

I made this chocolate cake last week. It was really good, nice and moist. I added about a tsp. of Taster’s Choice decaf coffee granules to the warm liquid for added flavor. Best made in a 9x13 pan as directed because the amount of icing is just enough to cover the top.

https://lilluna.com/moist-sour-cream-chocolate-cake/

I like scalloped potatoes with baked ham, georgysmom :-)

we like leftover baked ham too, it’s so versatile!

I, too, made oatmeal raisin cookies this past week! My favorite recipe comes from Cuisine at Home magazine. You're supposed to use all old fashioned oats, but I sub a third of the amount for the quick-cooking kind, as I find that makes a thicker cookie. Yesterday I made two loaves of sourdough bread; we toast it and also use it for grilled sandwiches on soup night. I also tried a new mac n cheese recipe, for which I had to sub several ingredients (limited trips to the store these days), and it turned out so good! I had to quickly write down my substitutions so I could make it the same way next time.

@colleenoz and @georgysmom2 This Ham, Cheese, and Potato Casserole from Leite’s Culinaria is really delicious. Wish I had the ingredients to make it right now!

I cooled down this evening so I made a cherry cobbler and lemon bread.

Tonight we had spicy chicken and cheesy sweet potato casserole. Tomorrow we will have eggplant stuffed with shrimp drizzled with garlicky olive oil and soy sauce. I will probably also do roasted red peppers maybe with hummus.

I will make also some vegetable ice cream before I eat all the dates again. :-).

I made a batch of 3-ingredient ni-churn ice cream. Condensed sweetened milk, vanilla & heavy cream. Much to my surprise it actually worked. It is very, very rich but I found it to be rather bland. DH didn't think it was nearly as good as his favorite Mayfield Vanilla Bean. I think what I will do is make a batch, portion it out into pints and make various flavors like butter pecan and mint chocolate chip etc. (Note to self: need to get containers!) Considering what you pay for a pint of "premium" ice cream this is a bargain!

@ediej1209 AL Zn 7 I was raised by a woman who thought an uncooked homemade ice cream was dreck. However, I’ve found this to be very good, regardless of what Momma would say.

Yesterday, lunch was tuna salad sandwiches. Nothing exciting, but comfort food for DH and me. Dinner was a chicken casserole that is nothing gourmet, but again, comfort food for us. For dessert, we had Peach-Blueberry Crumble made with frozen peaches and blueberries.

Tonight, I’m going to make something I’ve never made before, sautéed soft shell crabs. First I have to clean them. Fortunately there are lots of You Tube videos that are very clear on cleaning soft shell crabs. The recipe I’ve found for sautéing is very simple. Dredge in flour, sauté in butter, deglaze the pan with lemon juice. To go with it, I’m making lemon-steamed potatoes. We’ll probably also have roasted broccoli.

bbstx, my parents also always made our homemade ice cream with a cooked custard base and it was absolutely divine. But the reason I tried the recipe I found is because it requires no churn, just blending and beating the whipped cream then folding together and stick in the freezer. But if we do ever get an ice cream maker I will try your recipe. Sounds easier and less time consuming. Thanks!

Oh, my. You wrote “no-churn” and I read “no-cook.” I slept late. I haven’t had my full cup of coffee yet! I have a Cuisinart 1.5 quart ice cream freezer. About 10 years ago on this forum, I think, someone posted that Kohl’s had them on sale for $15 each; free shipping over $75. I bought 5. Everyone got an ice cream freezer for Christmas that year!

cleaned out the freezer and discovered blueberry pie and some cookie dough... baking day.

Reporting back to give an update on the slumgullion soup I made. It turned out that what I thought was tri-tip turned out to be the shoulder bone from a pork roast. And, while I was rummaging around in the freezer, I found a small piece of pot roast.

The shoulder bone went into the pot with the turkey breast carcass to make broth. Once it was done, I removed the meat from both bones and cut up the pot roast and those all went into the broth. I also added the birria broth and added it too. I minced a bunch of jalapeno peppers that were in the fridge and needed to be used, chopped and onion and all of that went into the soup along with two cans of hominy. For garnish, I cut a couple of corn tortillas into strips and fried until crisp and topped the soup with those, cilantro and green onions. Served with Mexican style pickled carrots, onions, peppers and fresh radishes, cucumber, avocado and a slice of lime, it was a delicious meal.

I always try not to waste food, but am trying to be even more aware of it with the food shortages being experienced at the grocery stores. It really pleased me to be able to use up all of those bits and pieces and turn them into a nice meal for us. Hubby raved and said it was the best soup he ever had!

Depression Cake is on my to do list. Haven't made it in many years, but it's been on my mind to make and so it will be made soon.

Never iced mine, as it's so good without and very moist. Not my pic but sharing what it looks like' dusted with powdered sugar.

Depression Cake

• 1½ cups All-purpose flour
• ¼ cup Cocoa powder
• 1 cup Granulated sugar
• 1 tsp Baking soda
• ½ tsp Salt
• 1 tbsp White vinegar
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 5 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 1 cup Water

1. In a square cake pan (Dimensions: 8x8- Ungreased), add flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, salt and whisk everything together.
2. Use your finger to make 2 small holes and 1 large hole in this dry flour mixture.
3. Pour vinegar and vanilla extract in the small holes.
4. Pour oil in the large hole.
5. Pour water over everything.
6. Mix everything together until just combined. Don't worry if you have some lumps. Just don't over-mix or else you will end up with a rubbery cake.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until an toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. This link shows the process with a variation in the ingredients.
   depression cake

Guess what just came out of my oven? Depression Cake! I had never made it before. I used the recipe from this site for the Spice Cake. It calls for Pumpkin Spice. I didn’t have any, so I used Chinese 5 Spice Powder. It is really good! I’m trying really hard to not have another piece until after supper!

I know that cake as mudpie cake, or wacky cake. It's a goody, all right!

I made potato, onion and cabbage au gratin with smoked sausage. Very much a comfort food type of thing. I made enough for tomorrow, too. Yesterday we had a big salad so I didn't mind being bad today.

tonight's comfort food is a ground beef and onion, green bean and potato casserole .... slathered with soup mixture to give the potatoes some liquid and cooked at 350... adding shredded cheese in the last 15 minutes. Kicked up the flavor slightly by adding 2 TBL beef base to the ground beef.

my grandmother's depression cake used mayo.

sorted the freezer, so berry pie for desert.

Burgers on the grill!

Everything sounds delicious everyone! The depression cake makes me feel a little depressed since I can't have most of the ingredients though. So maybe it's well named in more than one way!

My vegetable ice cream is no cook. No sugar either though. The vanilla and the dates make up for it. Sometimes I throw strawberries in and a bit of walnut for crunch.

How did the soft shell crabs turn out bbstx? What recipe did you use to cook them? I would really love to try that. I love seafood but I don't cook it very much. Usually I only cooked shrimp and pink salmon. I really want to broaden my seafood horizons.

Glenda, nice to see you posting. I've been wondering how you're doing.

I cook for myself most evenings, but the only baking I've been doing is the breakfast muffins I make every week. I heard flour is in short supply; is that true?

I haven't used my new Instant Pot a lot, but last night I cooked short-grain brown rice in it. That definitely cemented my relationship with this appliance! It was great, and I loved being able to set it and forget it.

Asian spicy dipping (or marinade) sauce

1/4 cup sugar

1/8 cup vinegar

1/2 tablespoon garlic-chili sauce

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

We loved it on our underspiced eggrolls. Could be good for pork

@yeonassky, the soft shell crabs were still frozen, so we had ham sandwiches. I’ll do the crabs tomorrow, I hope. The recipe was the simplest I could find. I think it was a Southern Living recipe from myrecipes.com

Slow Cooker Friday! Brunswick Stew with chicken, pork and vegetables. Cornbread muffins and coleslaw. Beta Flash IPA.

I have two loaves of buttery sweet bread kneading away. I will give them away to two of my daughters.

Sue

Yesterday was cold and rainy so DH made muffin tin donuts...came out pretty good.

@yeonassky, if it is the flour that you cannot have, this Flourless Almond Cake is really good. I made it last weekend. Because I do not have a 6” cake pan, I used my 6” skillet and it worked great. It stuck to the sides the tiniest bit but all I had to do was run a knife around the edge and it released fine.

@Michael, wish I had the ingredients for Brunswick Stew! It is one of my favorites! I usually make it when I have leftover barbecue. Are you a butter-bean person or a no-butter-bean person? I add baby butterbeans, which is blasphemy in some regions.

Today DH made apple cranberry muffins. The house always smells so good when he bakes! Yum!

Supper tonight was Sautéed Soft Shell Crabs with Lemon Butter Sauce, recipe from Serious Eats. Along with it, we had roasted sweet potatoes (cubed sweet potatoes, crushed garlic, EVOO, and rosemary) and steam broccoli. No dessert.

Lunch was the simplest: pimento cheese sandwiches. Absolute comfort food!

That crab dish sounds delicious! Thank you bbstx for coming back with that recipe as well as the cake recipe.

I'll give them both a try! Everyone will be shocked if I come up with a cake that I can eat too! Most of my attempts have been a flop flavour-wise.

I will try to use dates instead of regular sugar and if that doesn't work I will make two, one sugarless for me and one with sugar for them.

Everything sounds yummy. I have chili in crock pot. Have fresh made bread. Going to make depression cake. Perfect timing as I always make Glenda's cake with sour cream and never remember to add sour cream to grocery order.

I'm making hoagie buns today and we'll make Italian hoagies for dinner tonight, along with some type of pasta salad.

We grilled more burgers than we can eat in one sitting so tonight I will gently reheat the leftovers but serve them as chopped "steak" with sauteed mushrooms. I have 2 turnips and a beet in the crisper so will probably cook them together - do turnips do well roasted whole in foil in the oven like you can beets?

Making another loaf of crunchy bread in the new Staub .... down to $25 a loaf [amortizing the Boule cost].

DH is grilling lobster tails and smoking some sockeye salmon along with some corn on the cob - can't go anywhere and it's my B-Day so I picked my own menu out yesterday at Sam's. I also have some coleslaw from Publix and a piece of chocolate cake for later. Haven't decided on what I'll be imbibing yet, maybe I'll use the last of the Patron and have a margarita.

Bragu - Do you have the recipe handy for that crunchy bread? I have a Le Creuset dutch oven.

This is what I had last night. It was so good. Ate most of it last night, but couldn't eat any more. Had the remainder for a mid-morning breakfast this morning. Salmon cooked in the air fryer, chilled asparagus, my turmeric rice made in the IP, green onions, and cherry tomatoes.

Tonight having pizza, salad with Italian Dressing, and beer. That is my Saturday Night Special for tonight.

It was Mediterranean night here, I made falafel, baba ganoush, green rice, tahini sauce and naan today, served with a yogurt cucumber salad hub made and some chicken I'd grilled and froze two weeks ago. After that hearty fare, just fresh fruit for dessert.

Friday night was Hunne der Grossmutter, which I haven't made in decades but I had bacon to use up. I cut a chicken in half (It was huge, nearly 3 kilograms- the supplier must have held onto their live chickens a little longer than usual due to Covid issues affecting processing or something) and browned it in a pan on the stove top before transferring it to a roasting pan with a few rashers of smoky bacon chopped and scattered over it. Roasted the chicken for an hour before placing par-cooked baby potatoes, chunky sliced carrots, whole brussels sprouts and quartered portobello mushrooms underneath the chicken in the pan. Continued roasting another half an hour, then made gravy (which DH said tasted "like Christmas gravy :-) ) and served. Yum! Some of the extra chicken will go back to the city with DH tonight for work lunches and the rest went into the freezer for chicken and mushroom pie next weekend.

Yesterday, lunch was Cheddar Corn Chowder with cornbread on the side- also yum. Dinner was home made sausage rolls with cauliflower cheese (finishing off last week's cauliflower) and broccoli. I baked a pecan sour cream coffee cake while I was making the sausage rolls.

Today we're having a barbecue for lunch with sausages, little steaks and chicken kebabs- the extras will be used for work lunches for both of us during the week. I've made coleslaw to go with it and will also cook thin lengthwise slices of zucchini on the barbecue plate which will be tossed with crumbled feta cheese. There's a loaf of multigrain bread rising in the kitchen for me during the week and while it's baking I'll mix up some peanut butter criss crosses for work and the police and soldiers manning the checkpoint DH has to go through to get back to the city tonight.

Edited to add: And I threw the bones from Friday's chicken plus some more I found while fossicking around in the freezer into the crock pot to make stock for the freezer as winter is coming on here.

I baked a small pan of brownies and I put in each corner and in the center of the 8 x 8 pan a chocolate covered cherry, then poured the batter on. Had a couple boxes of the cherries given to me after Christmas. They baked up really nice and all the gooey goodness melted away into the brownie and left the cherry.. Tasted good too.

Sue

I’ll never make it as a food stylist or a food photographer, but here is dinner from a couple of nights ago with the soft shell crabs. The placemats were crocheted by my grandmother. They are not stylish, but they wear like iron and wash up like a dream! I have prettier, but I use these most often because of their easy care!

Last night we had filets cooked sous vide. Medium rare edge to edge. When I seared them, I poured out the bit of oil and deglazed the pan with red wine. I let the skillet cool for a few minutes, then swirled in a knob of butter. It makes a beautiful, silky red-wine sauce. The sides last night were asparagus and what we call “Steak Onions“: peel an onion, cut off the top and the bottom, cut not quite all the way through in eighths pole to pole; top with 1 Tblsp butter, 1 Tblsp soy sauce, 1 Tblsp Worcestershire sauce, and a light shake of Tony Cachere’s seasoning or something similar. Bake at 400 for an hour. The original recipe called for cooking the onions in a foil pouch. I find that cumbersome for serving. I put them in ramekins and cover tightly with foil. Then I just serve them on the side in the ramekins. (Why is the steak picture sideways?)

Making blueberry cornmeal muffins this morning and grilling a fresh salmon fillet tonight.

I haven't been very motivated recently and cooking is boring me :-) This is my first significant effort in a week. Been subsisting on soups, sandwiches or popcorn.

These will be dinner tonight...always a hit. Found the recipe in Fine Cooking several years ago.

https://www.finecooking.com/recipe/argentine-style-burger

@bbstx; Your pictures are just fine.

Concerning the picture of the steak (which looks yummy), many times the phone is help with short edge on top and short edge on bottom to take pictures; when the pictures are posted they are sideways. Try holding the phone with the long edge of top and a long edge on bottom to take a picture, then post to see if your issue is solved.

By the way, when I saw your recipe for Steak Onions, I copied and paste it with credit to you. Am having chicken livers tonight and will also use your onion recipe, along with eggplant parm, and green beans. So glad you posted you Steak Onions method/recipe.

ritaweeda:

MAKES 1 loaf

INGREDIENTS

3 cups bread flour, plus more for the work surface 2 teaspoons salt
1⁄4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 1⁄3 cups lukewarm water, plus more as needed

TO MAKE IT

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, and yeast. Pour in the lukewarm water and, using a wooden spoon, stir the mixture until it comes together into a sticky dough. If it isn’t sticky, add more water, a couple tablespoons at a time, to get there. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and keep in a draft-free place for 18 to 24 hours. [I place plastic wrap on top and then cover it with a towel]
2. Lightly flour work surface. Remove the dough from the bowl onto work surface. Form the dough into a ball, gently tucking the sides of the dough under. DO THIS EIGHT TIMES, TURNING 1/4 TURN EACH TIME. Place the dough onto a large piece of parchment paper. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise until doubled in size, 1-2 hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 475°F. Place a medium cast-iron cocotte into the oven while it preheats. Lid off is fine.
4. When the CI is hot, remove from oven. Use the parchment paper sides as a handle and gently lower dough into the cocotte. Cover cocotte, place the oven, and bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove the lid and continue baking for another 20 to 30 minutes, until the bread is golden brown in color. Remove the bread from the CI and allow to cool for 1 hour before slicing and serving.

@WalnutCreek Zone 7b/8a, I didn’t fully explain my frustration with the picture. When I first chose it, I picked “actual size,” but it was too big. However the orientation was correct. When I downsized the picture, it turned sideways. 🤦🏻‍♀️

I hope you enjoy the Steak Onions. When DD was small, she would not eat steak unless we had “steak juice,” her name for Steak Onions. She wanted to dip each bite of her steak in the juice. We love them, but I haven’t made them in eons. With being housebound, I was looking to eat what was on hand and noticed I had somehow gotten 2 bags of onions in my last grocery order. Steak Onions to the rescue!

DS made what he calls tater tots this morning. Shredded potato, spices, fried, yummy.

I made dinner last night. We wanted a change from pantry meals, simple veg dishes, and takeout, which has been pretty much the diet for the last several weeks. So I masked up for a trip to the grocery store. Only my second grocery store trip in over a month. I wore my DIY cloth mask over the same N95 mask I’ve been carrying around in my car for months, but only worn a few times. My theory is the N95 protects me from the virus, while the cloth mask protects me from opprobrium as a PPE-hogging HCW-killer. In practice this double masking encourages me to rush through shopping because it is hard to breathe.

Anyway, I made roast chicken, mussels, oysters with mignonette, mashed cauliflower and garlic beet greens. No pictures and we ate in front of the fireplace.

Made a rhubarb custard pie yesterday. My husband's favorite.

Bragu, thanks so much. One question, though. I haven't been able to get bread flour. I lucked out and bought regular flour and yeast when this first started and I have plenty but I'm wondering if that will make a huge difference?? You might not know the answer and that's ok but I'm wondering if I make it will the use of regular flour have to be tweaked somehow??

Homemade lasagna just went into the oven. haha must weigh about 5 lbs or more

Lunch today was all veggies. I felt like we haven’t been eating enough veggies. We had creamed corn, green bean casserole, fried okra, roasted grape tomatoes, and cornbread.

Several hours later we had dessert, banana pudding made according to the recipe on the Nilla Vanilla Wafer box (cooked custard, real meringue)

Ritaweeda

Yes, you can absolutely make a 1:1 substitute. For 1 cup bread flour, use 1 cup all-purpose, and vice-versa (note breads and pizza crusts made with all-purpose flour may have a little less chew than those made with bread flour, but results will still be good).

I usually take out 1 TBL AP flour (per cup) and substitute 1 TBL wheat flour (per cup). I like the mix of white/wheat.

But straight AP works well.

Rita, been meaning to thank you for the rollatini recipe. Finally jotted it down and am looking forward to making it as soon as I can get all the ingredients. I'm hoping that will be next week. :-))))

@bbstx: The onion was so good last night. I cooked it in the microwave in a bowl with a silicone lid on top for 6 minutes. Yummy with the chicken livers. I am going to post a picture in the May What's for Dinner thread.

Those onions do sound delish! Somehow onions for me have always been one of many ingredients in a dish, and not ever made them on their own.

Carrot cake for DH's birthday! For weeks I ordered carrots that never came in our pickup, then three different sources came through. Then the cream cheese wasn't arriving and we stopped eating bagels to conserve the cream cheese we had, even though my daughter sent us some of the wonderful St. Aubin bagels from Montreal. And we got the crushed pineapple after several weeks. Luckily I had pecans. So it all came together just in time. It's the only birthday cake he ever wants.

@Annie Deighnaugh and @bbstx: I have been thinking of other seasonings that might be used on the onion and came up with this list: Brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, olive oil in lieu of butter, chicken bouillon granules, black pepper, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, seasoned salt, and jalapeño salt.

Can any of you think of other seasonings that would be good on the onion prepared with bbstx's method?

@WalnutCreek Zone 7b/8a, I would never have thought to microwave the onions! How interesting! Let me encourage you to try them cooked in the oven at least one time. They caramelize a little in the oven.

Your different seasonings sound intriguing. I might give the balsamic vinegar a try- maybe with the EVOO. I’m *very* low on soy sauce but I’ve got extra balsamic! And I have more EVOO than butter. Thanks for the suggestions. I’m trying to hold out on making a grocery order for another two weeks.

I love chicken livers! I prefer them fried or in pate. I don’t cook them at home. DH would rather eat dirt.

I did fry the chicken livers in an air fryer and the green beans and tomatoes in the Instant Pot. Here is the picture. And I will cook the onion in the oven at least one time. I just didn't have much time last night. And, if you want chicken livers, cook them for yourself and another protein for your husband. Life is too short to do without something we enjoy.

Whew! I made chicken piccata the other night and it was inedible. Remade it. This is what it should've been.

https://www.cookingclassy.com/creamy-chicken-piccata/

walnut creek, your chicken livers look delicious! Love love fried chicken livers. My favorite place here is Irondale Cafe/Whistle Stop Cafe.

bbstx, same here. I love chicken livers but DH won't eat them and won't even eat if he can smell them, so I can't cook some just for me and something else for him. So I have to eat them when he's not home.

I don’t do much frying at home, although I seem to be doing more in The Time of Corona. I’m averse to the clean-up. But I will order chicken livers any place I can get them! I used to go to a cafeteria with some of the guys from work. I loved it when they had smothered calves liver with onions! Everyone else thought I was nuts. I grew up eating a lot of liver. My mother thought it was a nutritional necessity.

@WalnutCreek Zone 7b/8a, tell me more about the green beans and tomatoes. I have both on hand!

I made a blender lemon pie last night.

So easy and so tasty.

^^^I made a blender lemon pie last night.

That sounds delicious, Roy4me. Can you please share your recipe?

I made a beef roast with onions, cabbage, one carrot (all I had) and potatoes. I'm thinking of making some bread tomorrow.

@bbstx: Really easy green beans.

Canned Cut Green Beans

I drain the juice from the can of cut green beans into a small stainless bowl that will be used to cook the green beans in. To the juice, I add some Ranch Seasoning Mix, probably 1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon, and stir it until the mix is dissolved; have also added garlic powder, onion powder, just anything I think that I want. Pour the green beans into the bowl. Put about 1/2 c water in the inner liner of the 3 quart IP and add a trivet. Put the bowl with the green beans on the trivet. Set it to HP for 10 minutes and let it do a NPR. The beans are not even close to being mushy; they retain their shape very well. The green beans are really very good. Sometimes, I add cherry tomatoes to the bowl to cook with the green beans.

I have never cooked this with fresh green beans.

I usually add the tomatoes when they are beginning not to be at their best.

Thanks, Walnut. I don’t have an IP but surely I can do the same on the stovetop, just longer cooking time. Somehow I ended up with 3 containers of grape tomatoes. I need some good ideas on how to use them up!

bbstx, one of my favorite ways to use cherry tomatoes is to brush them with olive oil and roast them until the skins just begin to split open (if you like garlic toss a couple of cloves in with the tomatoes.) While they're roasting cook spaghetti (for this I like Angel Hair but any kind works) then when the spaghetti is al dente, drain and toss with the roasted tomatoes and basil and top with grated cheese. I usually use Peccorino Romano or Parm/Reg. Oh so good. And easy to adjust quantities to feed 1 or more.

I have dough mixing in the breadmaker, but think I will let it cook in the breadmaker this time. My darned back is acting up today for some reason.

Absolutely, those green beans can be cooked on the stovetop, bbstx. And, as you said, I would just cook them longer at a low simmer.

ediej - you have described a variation of one of my favorite meals ever. I cook tomatoes on the stovetop in a bit of olive oil before tossing with angel hair pasta and crumbling feta cheese over. I haven't tried basil with the recipe and will have to do that next time - yummy!

stacey_mb, I find it's safer to oven-roast the tomatoes, when I tried one time to do it on the stovetop, as they started to split they also spit. Ouch that's hot. But isn't that just a wonderful quick meal? Or could be a side dish!

I did the skillet roasted tomatoes Sunday. EVOO, basil, garlic, salt, and cracked pepper. They were really good.

Tonight is Teriyaki Shrimp and Pineapple in a packet. Pioneer Woman recipe, so nothing strenuous. I somehow ended up with lots of seafood in the freezer. DH will eat it but it isn’t his fav, so, I’m consciously trying to limit seafood to every other night. But he will eat anything with pineapple on it!

ETA: Yep, it was totally mediocre. It had the taste and texture of a TV dinner. Won’t be wasting shrimp on that recipe again.

Greek style lamb chops and oven rice with lemon, spinach and feta cheese. And home-made tzatziki sauce for the lamb chops.

Making sushi.

Green jello with canned fruit cocktail. Please don't laugh. It was luscious.

socks, lime jello with fruit cocktail used to be my favorite, with a dollop of mayo and saltine crackers!!

socks, I bet I can beat your green jello ... I've not had a good day so dinner was a can of pork-n-beans with leftover grilled hotdogs cut up in it. At least I was able to make each of us a tossed salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber.) I should have made some jello, that actually sounds good!

Someone had French toast the other day, That sounded good to me, so I made myself 2 slices for breakfast this morning. DH is outside working, but when he comes in, I will offer to make some for him.

I made a pot of pea soup with ham yesterday. I can eat that every day. Dawn in Cal, your soup looks amazing.

Made bread yesterday and had a sandwich with the fresh made bread last night. My goodness, it was good and really hit the spot. Indulged in a few potato chips to go with the sandwich. Here is a picture of the bread. Don't know why one end of the bread deflated a bit.

A day late and a dollar short as usual......I am celebrating Cinco de Mayo today (too busy yesterday at the nursery, then home to plant). Chicken cream enchiladas and I have some leftover rice I will convert to Mexican flavors. Green salad with avocado and grapefruit. Beer is already being chilled :-))

Your dinner sounds wonderful, gardengal.

We always eat healthy,but I made a change for dinner. We had fried chicken, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans ,and touch of grace biscuits. Made banana pudding this morning. Back to healthy tomorrow!! On the plus side we walked three miles this morning.

YUM, @hallngarden. Next time, send your address and I’ll come save you from yourself!

Found Paula Dean's peanut butter bread. Plan on making that this weekend. Great reviews. Got everything but milk.

Glenda, I will have to look for that recipe. Love peanut butter. Have never had Peanut Butter Bread, so it sounds intriguing.

Wish me luck. I'm having lunch at work and not home, beginning this Monday or next. I'm looking forward to my work favorites! I also dread it. But yay for delivery! Monday will be burgers and Thursday will be sushi

@WalnutCreek Zone 7b/8a, I made the green beans and tomatoes tonight. Instead of opening a packet of Ranch mix, I used about 3/4 of a clove of minced garlic that I had left from making remoulade for our crab cakes. I thought it was delicious! Thanks for sharing!

Making banana nut bread tomorrow. Have not made any in a long time but have two very large bananas that are going bad. I usually buy the smallest bananas in the store because I don't like eating a huge banana all at once. These were a delivery pickup so I didn't get to pick them out. I ate one banana but they're so big I kept bypassing them when I wanted something to snack on.

Making Boston baked beans [bacon, onion etc] in the Staub today.

Love this new CI tool. Looking forward to the S L O W cook

My two daughters who live locally and distancing mentioned that they and the grands miss my cooking- so beef stroganoff for one and meat sauce for the other. I will also bake flourless peanut butter cookies and send them to the kids in NC.

We just ate mashed potatoes and chicken Kiev. So many calories! Good thing it's the only meal we've eaten today.

YUM, rob. We had chicken stew over biscuits for lunch, so only one meal for us today, too. Supper is going to be along the lines of cheese and crackers. I might get fancy and put out some olives too!

Today I made beef and vegetable soup and a loaf of multigrain bread for lunch, then I made a pumpkin pie for tonight’s dessert. Next I baked a double batch of ginger cookies and then it was time to make a chicken pot pie for dinner.

I‘ve no idea what we’re eating tomorrow as DH is doing all the cooking because it’s Mother’s Day here tomorrow. He’s a pretty good cook so I’m looking forward to it. DD sent flowers and macarons as she can’t visit. We’re having a Zoom meeting tomorrow instead :-)

I am feeling sooo righteous! I have just put ~5 lbs of onions in the slow cooker to caramelize. It is a lovely day here so they are on the back porch cooking away. I’ve done this once before and cooked them in the house. It took days to get the smell out of the house! Once they’ve cooked down and cooled, I’ll freeze them in ice cube trays. I’m nearly giddy about the thought of having such a nice store of caramelized onions in my freezer!

Yesterday, I supervised my caregiver in baking a recipe for "Ben's Ginger Cookies". Ben's is a UK cookie chain that has fabulous cookies and this recipe (found online) is close. It uses huge chunks of stem ginger. Ben's also makes it with the ginger and big chunks of dark choc - will try that next time. SO good....

Had a hankering for yeast cinnamon rolls. They are perfect. Hit the spot. Everyone likes them. My recipe has mashed potatoes in it. I have used it for years.

Tried 2 new recipes yesterday. Both are keepers!

Made Giada's version of Khao Soi Gai. It's an amazingly flexible recipe. I subbed green beans for the snap peas, a handful of rotisserie chicken for the shrimp, made a chiffonade of the basil (couldn't imagine tossing it) and skipped the fried noodles, cilantro, and peanuts. Used a little less coconut milk and more chicken broth.

The other recipe was strawberry crisp. I've always made crisp with apples or blueberries. First time trying strawberries.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/thai-curry-2418895

Made a pot of red chili yesterday. Today I used it to make a Tamale Pie casserole. Sprouts had HUGE strawberries/$1.25....and they were sweet! Blueberries/ $1,50. For dessert.

The half Jewish part of me is making Hamentaschen. Raspberry and apricot. They aren't the prettiest but they are delicious!

Pork butt [bone in] was on sale for 99 cents a pound, so I am doing instant pot pulled pork. Good thing, leftovers freeze well for later in double bagged zip zip bags.

it smells SOOOOO good cooking

I made a favorite brunch dish this morning, Sweet Potato Hash with Sausage and Eggs. I have changed it up a bit to make it easier and quicker for two. I cook the whole thing in a skillet on top of the stove to the point of adding the eggs. The potatoes go in the skillet until they are tender. Then I add cooked bacon instead of chorizo.

DH is going to the store this morning - always good for a surprise or two but we've been taking turns and I went into Fred Meyer when delivering some things to my mothers assisted living last week. So dinner is a question mark, if he comes back with nothing interesting I have plenty in the freezer. And clam chowder a neighbor made and delivered yesterday.

If he can find golden raisins, I'm going to make the family potivica (a little like a family sized cinnamon roll made in a tube pan). I haven't made it for years but finally have yeast and tomorrow is his sisters birthday. I'll send some over for her with a card - assuming it turns out ;0) The raisins are a substitute I've used before for the ground dates, I was hesitant to put dates on his shopping list, try to keep it as familiar as I can. He recognizes raisins ;0)

I made the dutch apple bread with sugar/butter topping last week...was that recipe here or on one of the other forums...I think if I made it again I might leave off the topping and just use a little of the glaze on the loaf. Crumbly enough it required a plate (or eating when standing over the sink) when what I was looking for was something slice and go like banana bread for a quick snack.

Made a loaf of homestyle honey wheat bread with a buttery crust yesterday, and hubby's birthday was Thursday, so I made him a chocolate sheet cake with cocoa buttercream frosting, and we've been managing to make that disappear pretty quick. I shared some with my mom & son and Hubby ate 3 big pieces on his birthday 😄

Recipe's from my old Betty Crocker cookbook - Black Midnight cake made with part butter, part oil and so moist & dark - yummy!

For my Mother's Day treat we went to the berry farm yesterday for strawberries for a pie. I had gotten a new crust recipe from FB. I watched the video 3 or 4 times, double checked to make sure I wrote the recipe down correctly. So I'm mixing and when I get done it looks nothing like the video. It's very moist and sticky. But I managed to make it into a disk and into the fridge. I let it chill just a bit more than the recipe called for. It was horrible to work with but finally got it, sort of. Then when I checked on it to pull out the pie weights it was swimming in butter. :-( I got some paper towels and tried to blot up as much of the butter as I could. This is the final result. Not sure if it's worth even finishing making the pie.

2 sticks of butter to 3 cups of pastry flour. Too much of one or not enough of the other. And of course now I can't find the video to double-check again the ingredients :-\

My pate brisee recipe calls for 1/2 cup butter to 1 1/4 cups flour and 3 Tbs. ice water. Everything needs to be icy cold, and not overmixed. Perhaps it was just too warm/overworked?

The butter was very cold. I cut it into cubes right out of the fridge and put it in a bowl and stuck it in the freezer while I gathered the rest of the ingredients. The recipe also called for an egg and 3\4 cup of milk. Seems like a lot of liquid now that I think about it.?

Oh it's horrible... On to Plan B (premade refrigerated.)

Oh dang - that is a lot of liquid. What was the FB source of the recipe? Could they have meant 1/4 cup milk?

And I've learned that milk in pastry crusts burns more easily.

I can't find the video mostly because I have no idea who the guy was that was making the crust. I still have half the dough in the refrigerator and am trying to figure if there is any way to salvage it.

Try adding some more flour. You could roll out the dough and add flour then fold and roll, repeat, etc...

Thanks I will try that!

Chicken a l'orange, sauce poured over steamed rice. These are all oldies, but goodies. So much so, son agrees! He starts out with EW!!! and then likes it.

Today it was pound cake, Oatmeal choice. chop cookies with macadamia nuts and tonight, meatloaf and baked stuffed potatoes. In between, trying to get the house ready for cleaning gal tomorrow. I'm breaking down 'cause I can't stand it any more. Will stay upstairs and read while she's here.

Four batches of brownies in honor of my son-in-law's birthday, and an extra small pan for my sister who insisted I take a bag of flour she wasn't going to use. I killed a whole can of cocoa powder--I hope that's not on the endangered list.

Four batches of egg noodles for four baking dishes of lasagna, one for my mostly vegetarian DD--I used lentils and sauteed cabbage; one with extra-thin noodles for my diabetic father who doesn't eat many carbs; and two for the noodle-loving meat-eaters. I make enough that we have leftovers for next day's lunch, and I freeze half of Dad's, to save for later.

DD is out making deliveries to my father and sister. I just finished a brownie and a cup of coffee. :)

chocolate cinnamon rolls. Yum.

Today's dinner was a kick butt bone in chuck roast, from my nephews steer. I mean one of the best roast I have had in a very long time. Gravy was excellent too. It the spot.

I was craving my mom's potato croquettes so that is what I made yesterday. Froze a bunch of them too. It was not fun towards the end. Had an injection in my foot that morning and like a dummy was on my feet for a couple hours making those things in the evening. The lidocaine wore off after a while and my foot was killing me. Had to hobble back and forth to the kitchen to let the dogs out, wash and put away stuff I had used to make them, etc... I only make them once every few years because they are a pain in the behind to do and make a big mess. I had forgotten that I put some on a plates in the freezer to freeze so I could then put them in baggies so they wouldn't stick together. They were frozen pretty good to the glass plates by this afternoon. lol

I still haven't made any bread. I made banana bread muffins the other day and have been eating them as a late morning snack.

Here is the bread I baked. It has a great flavor and good texture.

@ediej1209 AL Zn 7: Just found the recipe for your bread, Edie. I have been trying to find it for days and finally did find it after going through documents one-by-one. I renamed it to Edie's Bread so I don't have trouble in the future of finding it. That is the next bread I will make.

Made my mom's recipe for date squares. They disappeared so quickly that I didn't have a chance to get a picture.

You will just have to make them again, Suzie. We want to see a picture and a recipe. Love, love, love dates.

WalnutCreek, your bread looks really good, like it would hold up well for sandwich slices or toast. Yum! And I'm glad you found the recipe I posted, to be honest I can't remember where I posted it either. Hope it does as well for you as the one you just made.

Suzieque, what a great compliment that the date squares disappeared so quickly!

Edie, the bread makes nice, slightly crunchy toast. And I did have it with a loaded sandwich and it stood up to the sandwich very well. I am all around pleased with the bread.

Store had a BOGO on strawberries, but they were pretty edgy, so I decided to chop up a bunch and make a strawberry cobbler...it's in the oven now...

Made brownie brittle for son and DIL this weekend.

I made Ann_T’s blueberry upside down cake. It is usually a no-brainer but today, I did something wrong. I think I know what. I baked it in my Breville Toaster Oven instead of the full-fledged real oven. Although a toothpick came out clean in the center, the center was not fully baked. The edges are wonderful though!

I also had an issue with my pan. I used a square USA pan. The sides are folded like an envelope. For the first time ever, juice seeped out of the folds onto the oven floor!

I think sometimes the world is trying to tell me I do not need another dessert!

ediej1209 - your pate brisee was too wet. Use Martha Stewart's recipe next time. And, since you are using a glass pie pan, reduce the heat called for by 25 degrees. Blind bake by laying a piece of foil or parchment over the dough and fill with rice or beans (or "baking beads" or "pie weights"). 450F non-glass, 425F glass for 8 minutes. Take off weights and paper and bake another 5 minutes. Cool before filling. Pate Brisee - Martha

Thanks so much nancyofnc. I've caught bits and pieces of Martha Stewart's show over the years but never managed to get her recipe. I appreciate it!

Baking banana bread. Also Heloise Peking roast. I have her hints book that was published in 1962. Need to find as I remember a great spaghetti sauce recipe . Think I was let my fingers do the walking to find recipe.

Since summer is on down here, I made strawberry shortcake, added some very soft cream cheese to the whipped topping, so you could call it strawberry cheesecake shortcake. lol

ghostlyvision, we've been enjoying local strawberries here also. Yum!

hallngarden, wish I had one of Heloise's hints book. She was a marvel!

I made a wonderful blackberry pie today.

Mother gave me a Heloise book back in the early 60's. Used many many times.

I loved Heloise's column!

I baked Glenda's flourless peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips. My kids and grandkids said they were the best peanut butter cookies they ever ate. Thank you, Glenda.

You all are making me very hungry! Kathyg, could you please post your chicken and dumpling recipe for the Instant Pot?

and I've forgotten who made the strawberry cobbler/crisp. Could you please post that recipe?

I've saved the pulled pork recipe and the crunchy bread recipe. Both sound really good.

I've gotten so I hate cooking and baking. Last night was left overs. DH had the left over IP spaghetti, and I had the left over IP roast beef, gravy and potato. I don't use it as much as I could, but I do love my instant pot! I have a 6 qt, and thinking about getting a 3 qt for the RV. Which may spend more time in the house! The air fryer I am not impressed with. Not part of the IP.

Yesterday I made blueberry muffins and chocolate chocolate chip muffins, both from mixes. And scratch made chocolate chip cookies. Dinner tonight will either be onion burgers on the grill, or salisbury steak, aka hockey pucks. Salisbury steak gained that name when DD started making them. She has gotten better about it, but hates touching raw meat, so when she makes the patties, they come out looking like hockey pucks. Thick and fat. If it doesn't quit raining pretty soon, I'm going to grow gills. We've had over 3" of rain in the last week, at least, and still raining.

I plan to bake a rhubarb crumble today. Bought a pork blade roast and think I may try cutting it in half and putting it in the crock pot for pulled pork sandwiches. Need to find some good rolls.

Coconut macaroons. Yum. Breakfast of champions, right?

:)

I made a loaf of rye bread yesterday because we were out of bread. I think my brother wanted to go to a store to buy bread, but I already had all of the ingredients, including caraway seeds, and so I made it anyway.

Tami, how about plastic “cafeteria lady” gloves for your DD? Because of their fit and the material they are made of, I can’t imagine that you would be taking equipment needed for healthcare workers.

That is a good idea, and she used to use baggies when she was in college! She has finally learned to deal with it, at 36. Bones are another thing altogether. She does NOT do bones! :) It about makes her sick just to see bones on a plate.

In a country cooking mood today. Cornbread, oven fried okra, butter beans, ham, strawberry shortcake. Lots of beach walking tonight.

I made homemade hamburgers 🍔. They were very good. I picked up a lemon 🍋 pie for dessert.

raven, ice box or meringue? Man, I miss my mom's home burgers. Hated them at the time, but dang.

Oh how I miss my mom’s home burgers. Brought back memories from our farm days. Also the lemon pies, thick with meringue. Raven, you know I will copy your meal before the week is over.

Breakfast for dinner 🥞🥓...

The pie was lemon meringue and the meringue was about 3 inches tall! Everything was very good.

I have been buying a lot of strawberries since the price is down on them. Huge big juicy ones. I love to dip them in chocolate syrup, that's been dessert a few times lately.

Tomorrow my plan is to cook a small beef roast with red potatoes and sweet onions. Rice and brown onion gravy to go with it. I think I will do this one on the stove. I have been craving my potato salad so in the next few days I think I will make some. My husband absolutely loves it. My mom passed that recipe down to all of us and boy I sure am glad she did.

They had the St Louis pork ribs on sale so I bought a slab. I am hoping my husband will be kind enough to put them on the smoker but he hasn't been interested in going out and cooking. It has already been 100 degrees here. I understand his hesitation!

Today I am fixing food to share with two of my daughters. I will have turkey breast, fixed in the electric pressure cooker, mashed potatoes, gravy, candied sweet potatoes, and home made yeast rolls. They can add to the list of food, things they want. I have potatoes I want to use on from my fall stash, both russet and sweet. Turkey breast this past week was only $1.29 a pound. The yeast roll dough recipe is one I have used for over sixty years and it makes a lot of rolls. The dough can stay in the fridge for a week.

Sue in Central Indiana

@ravencajun Zone 8b TX this recipe for slow cooker ribs from Leite’s Culinaria gives the best results I’ ve ever tasted! https://leitesculinaria.com/84152/recipes-slow-cooker-barbecued-ribs.html

Last night I sautéed cubed summer squash and cherry tomatoes in olive oil and a few red pepper flakes, until the squash had a bit of brown and the tomatoes were soft to the point of bursting. Then tossed it with bits of mint leaf and crumbled feta. It was delicious.

Raven, since you have such good strawberries, do you have any REAL maple syrup? If you do, slightly warm some of the syrup and dip the strawberries in that! Oh, my! My cousin and his daughter make maple syrup on the farm, and we go "help" (mostly visit!) every couple of years. Last time I had taken strawberries to snack on. Emily gave us little cups of fresh warm syrup to sample, and I decided to try dipping a strawberry in it. Needless to say, the berries were gone in no time! Delicious!

I know it's way past soup season but yesterday I made Minestrone with Italian sausage. So since I don't know how to make a little bit of soup that's what we're having again tonight. That's OK, it's delicious. I'm getting weary of coming up with ideas, don't know why, we seldom eat out anyway but I guess I'm just tired of everything at home now.

Ritaweeda, it isn't past soup season for me - I've been on a soup kick for the past week or so, and have made variations on vegetable soup almost daily! It is so quick and easy (cook the veggies in broth with a bit of meat or an egg), but many days I have used some cream of chicken or mushroom for a base and blenderized it all together in my Nutrabullet. It has been my breakfast 4 days out of 5. Fills me up enough that I am not snacking.

Baked biscuits for lunch . Heated country ham for biscuits. Someone gave the idea for Jacques Pepin chicken thighs , was going to cook for dinner . Think we will have a very light dinner after biscuits for lunch and prepare thighs tomorrow. It’s getting tough keeping up my walking with my eating.

I made a rhubarb crumble the other day with fruit I picked up at a county fruitstand. I mixed the rhubarb with small sweet Cdn strawberries and blackberries. I only made an 8x8 square pan so it was gobbled up fast. haha my cousin ate it still bubbling from the oven.

Beef with broccoli plus bok choy on the side last night. All with lots of ginger and garlic.

You folks are giving great ideas for meals. Today will cook Jacques Pepin thighs for dinner. Craving cabbage ,so that will be green veggie, creamed potatoes, and peach cobbler. Thankful to all of you , I have so many new ideas for food preparation. It’s important to us to have good meals during this time. On the other side we are walking more to burn calories. Enjoying our times we are cooking together.

I baked pretzel rolls this a.m., so chicken sausage rolls and salad for lunch. For dessert I baked hazelnut cookies. Tonight, something healthy! :)

Pick up for dinner tonight. Probably wings since that's what hubby wants. I am good with that, no cooking involved! 😊👍🐔

I am going to make blackened fish, with some baked acorn squash and spring mix salad. If I get out for my walk while it has paused raining, I may make a brownie for a treat later.

Having planned overs from the chicken that was roasted yesterday. It is really good.

Swiss Steak tonight. There are enough green beans & yukon gold potatoes left for 1 person so DH will have those. I have Swiss Chard to saute for me (hmmm... Swiss night I guess!)

Mmm Swiss Steak! One of my favorite meals. I rebelled. I've been getting the motor home ready for the season the last 2 days. Of course I didn't get the pans and utensils put in totes for the winter, and the mice had fun, so I have not been having fun, dragging it all in the house to run through the dishwasher. It's all ready to go back out now. So I told DH he was having Long John Silver's for supper. To tired to even reheat anything.

I haven't made Swiss steak in forever edie, I need to put that on the list.

I'd also love to make rhubarb anything but whenever I (rarely) happen to see it in the stores down here, it doesn't look fresh or inviting, your crumble sounds wonderful, Cherryfizz.

We're expecting a lot of rain over the holiday weekend, I'm going to try grilling chicken and ribs early Sat. and hopefully be finished before the rain starts.

I made the crust today for a rhubarb pie which I plan on baking tomorrow!! I can't wait! I love rhubarb!

Can my taste buds live vicariously through yours, ghog? ;)

May not get to grill tomorrow, the plumber has to come by and replace the innards of the main toilet, it's decided to stop filling its tank. Oh well, maybe it won't rain all day Sunday.

No pie, but I did make rhubarb sauce. I’d forgotten that I bought a 2-lb. bag of frozen cut rhubarb right before the restrictions began. I decided it was time to do something with it. As much as I think I’d like pie or muffins, I always make sauce. And I don’t like the rhubarb-strawberry combo at all. It’s my mom’s recipe, and she used Minute Tapioca as the thickener. I know it can be spooned over vanilla ice cream or angel food cake, but I’ve never done that. I like the sauce all by itself.

Shambo, growing up, rhubarb sauce was a side dish just like applesauce. My Dad loved it. There was a dedicated shelf in their upright freezer for just the 2 sauces!

@ravencajun Zone 8b TX I love to dip strawberries in Nutella. So, so good.

Tonight is wings and fries night at my house. Plan to bake a loaf of bread today, also.

lasagna last night [comfort meals for a few days] and salmon tonight with garlic bread.

We have so many leftovers ,using those, so all I cooked today was Mac and cheese. Heated ribs,chicken, DD brought us a wonderful fresh corn soup made with coconut milk ,ginger, ohh so good. Almost forgot boiled peanuts. Quite a combination of food.

I made a penne with veggies, tomato sauce and cheese baked with mozz on top...came out good.

I think tonight is going to be pork chops and stuffing, salad.

ediej, you might want to try this pie crust recipe.

No Roll Pie Crust, or Bride's Pie Crust

1/2 c canola oil 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 c skim milk 1 1/2 c flour

Combine all in 9" pie pan. Stir until dough forms a loose ball. Pat out to form a crust. Fill and bake. 475° F 8-10 minutes.

Note: I use what ever milk I have on hand.

Note: If you don't get the bottom of the crust patted out thin enough, it will take longer to bake. Or just par bake it before filling it.

I use a crumb topping like for apple crisp.

I have a loaf of artisan bread rising since this a.m. Will turn it into bread after dinner tonight. Yum!

My oldest daughter is here today helping me watch my 9 year old granddaughter while her Mother has knee replacement surgery. Her dad is able to be in the hospital room with her mommy. He will come home at nights and she will go home. She will be there two days and two nights. So breakfast early this morning was on my front porch, canned cinnamon rolls, hot tea and hard boiled eggs and fruit cup. Lunch was back on the porch. Lunch meat sandwiches, cherries, potato chips and I baked a banana cake.

Marilyn_Sue, that's amazing they will let him be there. So many hospitals are still on the absolutely nobody in but the patient. So glad for your granddaughter she can be with you!

I'm glad he can be with her for surgery! I am not sure, but I think we are still not allowed anyone in with you at the hospital. Good you can watch your DGD, and that you have help. Saying a prayer for successful surgery, and swift, complete healing.

Homemade pizza

That looks delicious, Kathsgrdn

It is pretty good!

Baked this last night...will dig in for breakfast. Always amazed at what 1/4 tsp of yeast will do.

Wow what a long thread! Just a suggestion to maybe start a new thread, for May and June, maybe, of what is cooking or baking? I see we have a new thread for cooking or baking this *weekend.* :O)

I made bread this evening. My normal tried-and-true sandwich bread. I made it exactly the same way I always do but for some reason the dough was extra stiff. When I switched to the dough hook the dough kept spinning up into a hard column so after 3 tries, I said "forget this" and turned it out to hand-knead it. It was like trying to knead a bowling ball and truly felt "dead." I went ahead and set it to rise but with no expectation of it doing anything. I did give it extra time. Well, by golly, it actually rose. I made the loaves but for some reason they didn't brown very well. But it tastes like real bread. Wish I knew, though, why it was so hard to handle.

Flour absorbs different amounts of water depending on how dry the flour itself is and what the weather is like. I would have added a little more water.

That's what was so weird... It's been raining all day and the air is sticky-humid.

Are you sure you added the sugar (if included in the recipe). Sugar helps baked goods brown. When something I make often seems different than usual, I start wondering if I remembered all the ingredients.

I've made hamburger buns a couple times recently, from a recipe I found on YouTube. It starts with a roux, or tangzhong, as for brioche, and they are really soft. Had them once for hamburgers, and last night for BLT's. I added a little more whole wheat flour for the BLT buns. I feel like a slacker, but I prefer less whole wheat. ;)

My tried and true recipe for sub buns has been the Challah recipe from Joy of Cooking, but I think I'll try the hamburger bun recipe the next time I make subs.

My first thought was did I miss something but I ran down the list of ingredients and they were all included. Oh well next time I make it I will check before starting the kneading to see if it needs more water.

I've been kicking around the idea of making hamburger buns!

As soon as I get off this computer, I plan to put the ingredients for Edie's Bread into the bread machine and will let it make the dough. I need bread for tomorrow and do like to let it cool overnight.

Having mostly leftover potatoes/onions/carrots left from the roast chicken (chicken in gone). Will do a hamburger patty in the air fryer and maybe a salad - haven't decided yet.

You know I have been self-isolating so long that this week I had to think about what day of the week each day was. I sure hope and pray this we will be safe to go out and do things in the future. I don't want my brain to deteriorate. Have been doing crossword puzzles, sudoko, and other type of brain stimulation, but that gets old, too. Enough. Got to get in the kitchen.

Lasagna is in the oven. A salad of fresh tomatoes and cukes.

Dinner tonight was leftover Korean Beef & Mushrooms (Ritaweed's recipe.) And we still have leftovers from the leftovers. That recipe sure makes enough for a crowd!