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Hot chiles with shrimp, mussels, squid, basil, and mint on squid ink pasta from Six Seasons of Pasta. I love the garlicky, lemony, winey sauce, kicked up with the fresh hot chile but ultimately, fishing mussels and larger shrimp out of a dish of pasta is awkward. I made this with squid ink pasta, manzano chiles and shrimp that were big enough to need cutting up. My fault on the shrimp size but unlike the mussels and squid, they didn’t add a lot to the dish. I’d make this again with the mussels & squid but take the mussels out of the shells before serving.

Almost. Boudin is indeed French but only refers to the two specific sausages you mention: boudin noir which is a blood sausage from the Champange region; and boudin blanc from Brittany and Normandy which is made from white meats and milk. Neither contain rice. The French for sausage in general is saucisse, from which the English was derived in the Middle Ages. Boudiin in southern USA is from Louisiana and is totally unrelated to the French versions. It does include rice. I know nothing about the Amish, but suspect theirs is related to.the Louisiana version.

Maybe we could use a topic (for me, if no one else) on how to deal with meals when there was no time to prepare before it all went south and the prime meal maker (me) is no longer able to function on her feet much of the time and the once-upon-a -time sous chef (Ed) is now responsible for most of the meals and all the work I used to do, like cleaning, and grocery shopping and cooking and laundry and keeping the home not resembling a...how should I put it?...googled 'slum' and they're all fairly negative...an untidy place. He's old, he's overworked, he's tired, his back hurts a fair amount now.) And his limited culinary expertise is becoming more than I can bear....what a crab I am... The pieces of meat notion in the freezer is a help.

I didn't know all of this! I definitely always think of the Cajun version because I didn't know other versions existed! I learn something here every day . According to Google a lot of the Amish that live there have roots from the Swiss Mennonites? I know they speak Pennsylvania Dutch. So I'm sure you're right! And thank you for enlightening me me

Montréal is great if you're travelling public transport and visiting farmers' markets. There are neighbourhood butchers!!!! Maybe renting a bicycle. And you can eat at Au Pied de Cochon (maybe get a reservation now). I recommend the pig's head (feeds two). Outstanding! Québec has amazing things to see. Great restaurants, even 'round the touristy spots. In either place you can practise your French. 😁

@Shelby Around these parts (the US, especially in the south) when we see boudin, we think of the Cajun version, but boudin originates in France (I think) - where it basically just means sausage. Typical boudin in France is a blood sausage, but there's also boudin blanc which is blood-less. There's also a boudin in Belgium that is similar to the French but not the same. As far as I know, none of these have rice in them and all of them are very different from a Cajun boudin... Maybe that's the type that the Amish make? Are your Amish similar to the Pennsylvania Dutch Amish?

In our freezer are currently smallish pieces of cooked meats: ham, turkey, chicken and roast beef. The ham and beef are there for Ed to defrost and have with his salad at night if he chooses...and the turkey and chicken mainly to make chicken/turkey salad for sandwiches. We also have cooked ground pork and hamburger to add to sauces or Chinese dishes or soups if either of us gets around to that part of life again (not for two years now...).

I think we might be sisters with a different mother...and our husbands might be related also. I worked as a descriptive bibliographer before I retired and the work demanded absolute care. Not a letter nor a number out of place. Ed says he lives by the seat of his pants...and so he does!!!!

Haddock braised in spicy tomato sauce with olives, capers and spinach. I boiled some tiny potatoes alongside and tossed them in at the end, but we ended up thinking they were superfluous. I don’t think many of them got eaten. Pasta would have been a better choice, but we are overwhelmed with all kind of potatoes right now.

Ooh, @Shelby, those are some good looking dinners you’ve had! Boudin is close to my heart. Sorry to hear about Amish faux boudin, but at least it was tasty. 😟😂 @Smithy, boudin from Cajun-adjacent territory doesn’t count, haha. Especially if they spell it boudain! But I guess even the most authentic could be off putting in its original linked form. Nowadays boudin stuffed eggrolls with a pepper jelly dipping sauce, boudin king cake, boudin omelets, or fried boudin balls stuffed with pepperjack cheese are all the rage. And even boudin made with cauliflower rice (a mortal sin).

EXACTLY I should have known better 🤣

The dough is quite stiff and will hold together well. The Rings really weren't necessary. It just made them nice and round.

Thank you for that bolding!!! Haha. I didn’t examine the labels until after the fact, and since I had called out something from last week’s label, I would be pushing my luck two weeks in a row. I do want him to continue making the labels. I will emphasize “copy and paste,” however! Also, the dressing was really good, if I do say so, myself. I don’t always use sausage in cornbread dressing. My mother’s east Texas family shredded the chicken or hen they’d used to make the stock for the dressing, as well as the chopped up giblets and put those in the dressing. I haven’t made that style in a few years, but it is delicious. And more time consuming than I wanted to do for this week.

@Shelby, I have to laugh about the boudin. I've tried it a few times, purchased in Cajun or Cajun-adjacent territory, and will admit that I've never really taken to it. When I saw your photo above I thought, "hey, that looks pretty good!" Now I know it doesn't count. 😄 (Edited to add: your disappointment is probably like mine the few times I've tried chorizo made in northern Minnesota!)

We went to lunch the other day at an Amish restaurant in a town not too far away from us. After lunch we stopped at the Amish meat market. It's a really great place -- they raise and make and sell all kinds of meats, sausages, bierocks etc. I was grabbing some German sausages when I noticed they had boudin! I was very interested to try Amish boudin so I bought a package thinking that if it was really good I'd go back and get more for my mom and stepdad (stepdad is Cajun). The other night we had breakfast for dinner so we could try it out. I think they have a very different idea about what boudin is...or the package was mislabeled lol. These were pork...so pork was the first ingredient listed, rice was second. The white dots might have been rice but....I feel like no rice was harmed in the making of this "boudin" lol. It tasted really good, but it was more like a spicier German sausage 🤣. Anyway, now I know what Amish boudin is. Ronnie's birthday was Wednesday. He requested fried gizzards and livers and a nice salad. I also made a small chocolate sheet cake --that's his favorite. \\ Last night I made beef short ribs in the IP. I got them from Misfits. Kinda pricey but I needed something fun and different to make. Mashed cauliflower potatoes and collards to go with

I have one apple so i'm going to make a half batch today. Do they need to be baked in crumpet (or other) rings because the dough is too loose? Or will it hold together if I don't use rings?

Yay for Instacart! I wish we had that around here sometimes. Everything looks delicious--as usual! Especially that dressing. I want. PS--the non-bolding of the cornbread dressing would have made me bat-s*** crazy. You're a saint to have not said anything 🤣 Cornbread Dressing I had to bold it to make myself feel better.

I don’t know how helpful this will be, but my husband and I often eat completely differently. He freezes things for himself to have when we aren’t having the same thing. For example, rice dressing (aka dirty rice) and eggplant dressing. I make a batch, but mix rice in only with the portion he will have for two meals, and then he freezes small containers of the meat/veg mixture to add to rice later. And if you also freeze rice, you could grab your rice portion, your eggplant dressing or rice dressing mix, thaw, heat, combine, and have a very nice main. With the eggplant dressing you could also make and freeze little one serving casseroles of the dressing, to which you’ve added cheese, and a bread crumb topping. Baby showers for a second baby are not the norm, but I was given one for my second son and the gifts were all homemade frozen meals put together by the guests. What a gift! Unfortunately, that was 38 years ago and the only one I recall was chicken tetrazzini.

@Honkman your dinner of creamy saffron orzo with garlic butter shrimps sounds and looks delicious. We had fish, lightly fried in dusting of seasoned flour …rockling an Australian meaty white fish. As a side there was ratatouille combined with penne pasta.

Creamy Saffron Orzo with Spiced Garlic Butter Shrimps from a CI recipe - orzo is kinda cooked risotto style with shallots, garlic, saffron, white wine and chicken broth. The shrimps are quickly panfried and mixed with butter, garlic, aleppo pepper, tomato paste mixture. Everything mixed together and finished with some mint

Attendees Chocolot Kerry Beal alleguede curls RanaMN Melani RobertM DianaD Lisa M citowolf - Celia D Lambrecht gourmet +1 Sue PEI (possibly with Jane) GRiker Rajala

Pork tenderloin vadouvan curry over rice.

Crab cakes were dinner this evening. My wife made them. No photos but they were darn good. Served with a green salad

Noodles with meatballs (guay teow nuea): Delicious one-dish meal with meatballs, sliced beef, celery, and mung bean sprouts. Broth was simmered with garlic, cilantro, star anise, cinnamon stick, white peppercorns, and green cardamom. Finished with palm sugar, Maggi sauce, light and dark soy sauce, and served over (non-traditional) fettucine. Meatballs were made with ground pork, garlic, Maggi sauce, fish sauce, and cornstarch. This was very popular. I will definitely make it again when we have people over, but with more bean sprouts and fewer noodles. Edit: Love me some tinga tacos @liamsaunt