liamsaunt

chicken tortellini soup, toasted spinach feta bread, and a diet coke.

Here is a picture of some spinach ricotta gnocchi I made last week. The gnocchi were very tasty and light, but I added too much sauce, and with the melting mozzarella, I don't know, it kind of looks like a surgical experiment gone wrong Somehow, I think more of my photos will end up here than in the nice "dinner!" thread... PS: First attempt at posting a picture, sorry if it does not work! edit: thanks Smithy for the posting tips!

Corn pudding. asparagus with lemon butter, summer squash with basil, and a tomato salad. Yum.

No eggs! No eggs! I hate eggs in potato salad. Dill, onion, mayo, scallion, mustard, parsely, all good. But slimy slippery rubbery eggs in my potato salad, yuck! But that's just my opinion...

Another option for your stuffed chicken is to secure it closed with raw pasta instead of toothpicks--spaghetti or similar. It will cook along with the dish and not be noticable at the end. I may have gotten this trick from Cook's Illustrated.

The orange herb pot looks like it contains parsely, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Simon and Garfunkel! Am I right?

Of the three restuarants you are considering, Jiko is definitely my favorite. The only problem I see is that since you are staying at the Swan without a car you'll have to set aside quite a block of time to get to Jiko. The Disney buses don't run directly from resort to resort, so you'll need to transfer buses at Downtown Disney, or walk through Epcot (if you have a park pass) to the Future World gate to catch a direct bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge. The food is excellent though, and they have an outstanding wine list--it's worth the trip. You could also take a taxi.

cheese bread wine (I want butter too, if there can be a fourth)

Hi Tommy, I hope this is not too late for your friend: There are great views of the island from the top of the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, and there is a tearoom there for snacks. Swizzle Inn is a popular place for casual drinks and food. The Surf Side Beach Club has an outdoor restaurant on the pool patio with lovely views in the evening. The restaurant at the Reefs (Coconuts, I think), is good too. For beaches, Horseshoe Bay is the most popular beach, you can rent beach toys and get snacks there. It's where all the cruise people go, so it gets crowded. Church Bay has good snorkeling, and I think Warwick Long Bay is best for playing in the waves. Jobsons Cove is to the right of Warwick, there are always lots of fish in this shallow cove. If your friends are in a place where they can cook, Miles Market, located by the Hamilton Princess hotel, has a good selection of food, but it is expensive. We always got good wahoo there for grilling.

I own lots of cookbooks that I have never cooked from. I like them anyway though, for the pictures. Three I can think of at the moment are Hot Sour Salty Sweet, Charlie Trotter Vegetables, and Charlie Trotter Seafood.

Thanks for the report and pictures. I went to five different stores last weekend looking for the Maine shrimp, but didn't find any. Maybe I will have better luck tomorrow.

I was a vegetarian for 10 years. I never liked the taste of meat, and so when I went off to college I stopped eating it. It was a taste thing more than an animal rights issue for me. I stoppped being a vegetarian because...well, honestly, it was because my parents offered to pay for my honeymoon if I would start eating fish! It took me a couple of years to branch into meat. I eat poultry and pork now. I still dislike red meat, though I try it once a year or so to see if my taste for it has changed. My husband likes red meat and I have no issues with cooking it for him. We generally eat fish twice a week, poultry once, and vegetarian the rest of the time--he gets a steak or lamb about once every two weeks. Red meat and lobster are the only foods I dislike--I will eat anything else.

Before the game: Patriot-ritas (margaritas made with curaco instead of triple sec to make them blue instead of iggles green) shrimp cocktail, guacamole, roasted onion dip, that buffalo chicken dip that's been around lately (HUGE hit with the guys), assorted olives, pickles, crudite, etc. At half time: Mini crab cakes with remoulade, lobster rolls, chicken satay, and a pasta salad. Lots of beer and wine of course! And the next day, I went to the stadium and got to rub the super bowl trophy and shake hands with Bill Belichick and Tedy Bruschi! (after which we came back and ate all of the leftovers.) Hurray Patriots!

My town has weekly trash pickup and biweekly recycling pickup. There is no charge per bag of trash, and you don't need to seperate out the recycling into glass, plastic, tin--they all go in the same bin. Newsprint, cardboard, and magazines are also recycled seperately. The biggest trash-related problem we face are marauding raccoons that will stop at nothing to get into the trash cans. My sister resorted to duct tape and bungee cords to keep them out of her cans. The raccoons' response to this deterrent was to bite a big hole in the lid bin and drag the can into the woods. On second thought, maybe it is not raccoons we are dealing with after all.

Monday, roast chicken and pan gravy, mashed potatoes, roasted buttercup squash, and gratineed cauliflower. Comfort food for a cold night.

Well, I am only hosting a super bowl party if the Patriots make it. Otherwise, forget it! If they do get there, the crowd will be at my house, and I am definitely serving lobster rolls. And lots of beer! I am still thinking about other menu additions.

I dislike buffets for many reasons. First, I can't stop myself from worrying whether the food is fresh. I know it is not fair, but I always think of buffets as consisting of leftovers from the previous evening, reimagined. Then there is the issue of hygiene--people breathing on the food, sneezing on the food, touching it, etc. Worries over whether the food is being held at safe temperatures... I also don't like the pacing of a buffet meal. Rather than being able to relax and enjoy conversation, people are constantly going for refills, which interrupts the flow of the evening. Dirty dishes piling up on the table, yuck. Constant foot traffic from people refilling their plates can be annoying too. Most importantly, at my buffet experiences, the food just hasn't been that good. Can you tell that I don't like buffets?

Balut 'n' Brew

I got lots of food-related gifts this year. Lucky me! Cookbooks: Rustico, La Mia Cucina Toscana, Chefs Secrets, and Best Kitchen Quick Tips A bottle of Perrier Jouet champagne, a nice sherry, and a pinot noir. A leather wine journal. Homemade cookies, brandy balls, and fudge (thanks sis!) A giant mortar and pestle, a fondue set, deruta pasta bowls and serving dish. A gift card to williams sonoma. Salt and pepper shakers. Finally, my inlaws gave me a Cuisinart Grill and Griddle. It's an electric appliance with a two sided cooking plate. I am not sure what the advantage is over simply cooking on the stovetop. Does anyone have one of these? Is it useful or is it just going to use up my counter space?

I got 8 of 11. I was most surprised by the Spain answer. The idea of throwing things on the floor seems strange to me. I would be worried someone could slip and hurt themselves.

Our tree has lots of food ornaments, mostly fruits. Right now the tree features a pickle (of course!), a tomato, an orange, a bunch of grapes, two lemons, a green apple, a red apple, a lime, and an ear of corn. These are all glass ornaments we've picked up over the years. We also have ornaments made from food, such as stars and gingerbread men made from dried out applesauce and cinnamon and a truck made out of life savers, chewing gum, and peppermints glued together. we also have a bunch of walnuts that are painted to look like strawberries. There are probably more that I am forgetting, I will have to check the tree when I get home.

I have a tin of asafoetida also, never cooked with. It's at least two years old, and not powder, but chunks. I don't know why I bought it, since I almost never cook indian food at home. The only time I take it out is when I can't get my niece and nephew to stop rummaging through my spices (they like to take all the lids off and smell, and grind things in the mortar and pestle). Once I say I am going to open the asafoetida, the threat of "the stinky one" gets them out of the spice cabinet. Other never-used spices in the cabinet include nigella seeds, onion powder, star anise, and orange extract.

Mussels. I haven't been able to eat them for over four years, since a bowl of big flabby bland mussels I had in a restaurant. They made me sick, and that was it. It's a shame, because I used to love mussels. I keep trying to make myself eat them again, but no luck so far. And kaluha. But I won't tell that story.

Sunday dinner: My brother in law is home from Korea on a brief leave from the army, so we decided to make "Thanksgiving" dinner, since he won't be here on the actual day. Roast turkey with thyme butter under the skin, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, butternut squash, cranberry sauce, and green beans. I made a nice stock from the carcass, and am planning on turkey soup for tonight.

Last night, many people over to watch game one of the World Series (GO SOX!! ). Lots of different tastes in the group, including one person who eats no vegetables except potatoes and butternut squash, one no-red-meat person, one no-pork person, one low-carb person, and one vegetarian. So, antipasto (sort of) served buffet style: a cheese assortment, salumi, arancini, arugula salad, three types of fritatta, white beans, vinegared carrots, roasted peppers, roasted tomatoes, olives four ways, sausages, three types of ravioli, roasted onions, sweet and sour onions, and some other stuff I am forgetting. Chianti, pinot grigio, prosecco for wine, and local brews, Bambino Ale and Fenway Pale Ale from Boston Beer Works for beer. It was all yummy, and we won!