Susan in FL

Thank you Daniel, yes. Those two are our largest skillet and our Dutch oven. They are very well seasoned. I love cooking with cast iron.

I too am on the list of happy Foodblog readers this week! I hope you will make a place on the table for some cheese.

Alina, I wouldn't care how healthy or unhealthy it is, it's so pretty it has to be good! I'm trying to catch up on posting some of my breakfasts/brunches from the past week. You wouldn't be able to tell from the picture, but this recipe for Mango with Lime and Vanilla Syrup is sensational. I could just drink the syrup straight. I'll make it again for who knows what. Another morning I tried some Serrano ham on bread that I found in a specialty food store and was hoping it would be like the bread we had in Denmark, but it wasn't. It was good, but it's dry and in Denmark, it's soft. And one cloudy morning, a fried egg sandwich on a potato roll:

Catching up on some recent good dinners... The Beaujolais Nouveau Dinner Thursday night: Another night we had pinto beans and spare ribs, oven cooked the Russ Parsons no-soak-ahead way, and kale. And another was Spaghettini with Potatoes, Sage, and Gorgonzola.

I've been taking in the views of everyone's dinners, and in awe of all of them, and slacking off in giving shots of mine. Back at it tonight... 1st course plain and simple, and very delicious, we had wonderful prosciutto Parma and warm bread and butter. I found a tri-tip in Florida! Publix had some, and with it we enjoyed Rebel Rose's Gorgonzola Potatoes. That would be from Mary Baker's cookbook, Fresh From Dover Canyon. I also followed the idea of her Asparagus in White Truffle Oil, except no Prosciutto because we had that first off. Salad was avocado on mixed baby greens, tomatoes, etc. etc. etc. Dessert was some goodies I got at the bakery from the store where I got the prosciutto.

My, you are persistent! Do you have any Asian gift shop -type places where you live? I have so many chopsticks and need no more, but when I am browsing in stores that carry chop sticks and "sushi-wear," I just cannot resist and have to purchase.

I've taken some beatings for my admissions that I drink Corona. But I'm with you. I would rather drink that than any weak American mainstream beer. So when I am somewhere that they only have Bud and Miller and all that stuff, I get Corona. [Teeny Tiny Font]I also keep some in the house, especially for lawnmower beer purposes.[/Teeny Tiny Font]

I am now sipping on a Red Hook IPA. It's been a while since we drank this. Russ found it in Target, of all places. (Does anybody know anything about why the bottle says "Ballard Bitter"? I thought an IPA and a Bitter were two different beers.) It's a good beer. If I recall corrently, I like the ESB, too. This IPA is crisp, and the hops are subtle. It's certainly not a hop monster, but I'll take it to add some variety to what we drink.

Good question, and good answers! Next time I go to my favorite sushi/Japanese restaurant, I am going to bring my own. I even have a nice looking "case" for them, and didn't know why.

We're having turducken Thursday, but I'm not making it. I ordered it from a local butcher. I've been curious, but I don't think it would be worth the trouble to make it myself.

Brad, what year are you drinking? Good idea for the pairing with beans and rice!

It's fun reading these. We have a Quisinart Automatic Grind & Brew. Each weeknight, Russ loads the water and the beans into it and sets it for 5:30. It is our first alarm clock of the day when we hear it grinding the beans. Soon after that the clock radio starts playing music, and Russ hits the Snooze. A few minutes later the TV in our bedroom turns on, as I have set it the night before. Wake up and smell the coffee. By now we smell the coffee. Shortly after that the music alarm goes off again. This time he turns it off. A few minutes later we get up, Russ first, and only stopping to go to the bathroom, we immediately go for the coffee. Russ drinks two or three cups at home. I drink one at home. My second cup of coffee is the free stuff at work, if I go to the office or the Hospice House. If I start my work day on the road, I pour a travel mug to take with me in the car. I didn't realize our coffee drinking habits were such rituals until writing this!

I am way behind in posting what we've had for dinner this week, and hope to catch up tomorrow. For now though, I just wanted to mention that tonight is an annual event. It is Beaujolais Nouveau night! Surely, someone else besides us celebrated!? As I've done for the past four years, I went to a tasting at the same specialty food store (by myself -- Russ isn't much for squeezing into this small store on a night like this), and bought a few bottles. While I was gone, he made the dinner to match the wine. Tonight it was all "stove top roasted": chicken thighs, and mushrooms, shallots, & garlic cloves; with rosemary & black pepper bread and brie, on the side. Nouveau is just a fun thing -- an excuse to drink light fruity wine, and party -- and nothing more. Some years are better than others and this year was not among the best, but it's still fun. 2003 was our favorite in recent years. This year was not as good as last year which was not as good as 2003. I usually get at least one bottle of each of five makers, but this year I only bought Duboeuf and Mommessin. It's too tart this year! However, I still think this is fun, despite the negative criticism by the wine snobs.

Thanks for the tips. My sister-in-law lives in Melbourne -- well Palm Bay actually -- and so we can easily and will make it a point to go to that pub. (And now I know what my next bottle of rum will be. )

Indeed you do, Abra. And by the way... Is that how you pronounce your name? (Is that your first name?) It could be your business slogan!

Welcome, LunaSea! (I love your nickname.) Do you ever make it up to the Cocoa area/Brevard County these days? I wondered if you know of any good places to beer shop there. I would travel that far for good beer. Awesome about the rum. Whatta wife! I would love to taste that. We're in the learning process about rum. I've been trying new ones one bottle at a time since I found The Ministry of Rum and bought one of Ed 's books, and for now I'm keeping it in approximately the $40. range ...but that's another Forum. I'm with you about needing the warmth of Florida! I don't even join my husband when he makes shopping trips north for beer, oysters, etc. Cheers!

Glad you got up and running with the photos! They were worth waiting for. The area is beautiful and of course your food and cooking is so enjoyable. I would not have pictured Walla Walla like that. Interesting! All I know about it is the onions. I love them. Are Walla Wallas kept in cold storage locally so you continue to have access longer than the rest of us? If forced to choose, I would vote French.

Ah yes, I know the place you're talking about. It's in that shopping center where Office Depot and Steve's Diner is I think. We have been there once. We're always on the lookout for good wings for Friday night Happy Hours, so I'm glad you mentioned that. Oh my, Cave Creek Chili Beer. That's a bit hot for me. My husband likes it once in a while, with tomato juice or V-8 in it. I suppose I complain too much about the lack of selection of beer in the Daytona Beach area and maybe I should just shut about it and make the best of it. I think that we don't like the selection because we were used to all the great beers available when we lived in Delaware. Right there was Dogfish Head, including the brew pub. There was Philly nearby which is the most awesome beer town -- all the good beers from there and the state of PA like Victory. And with the Baltimore-DC area closeby, we could get Old Dominion (such as our beloved Tuppers' Hop Pocket) and others. I guess I was spoiled. Now it's a thrill to find fresh Sierra Nevade Pale Ale. Glad you love the Daytona area... Despite my whining about beer, I love the place and wouldn't live anywhere else.

Surely lots of people will be drinking beer while they watch football. Will you also be serving beer with dinner? Any plans for something special? Maybe a homebrew that you have been saving for the day? What are some of your favorite beer & Thanksgiving-food pairings? What comes to mind first for me is oysters and stout. However, we don't have anything specific planned yet. It will depend on where we do beer shopping and what's availble. Plus, I don't even have my food menu fully planned yet. Maybe some of you are far ahead of me. In advance, Happy Thanksgiving to All!

Cool! It surprises me the number of people who know Ormond Beach. I'm not sure about South Turn at Ormond, though. It might be something different now. I know where First Turn and North Turn are, and I know of Martin's in Flagler. Where do you live? Hopefully at home you have a better selection of good beer than where you vacation.

First was a Cointreau Cosmo. We brined Porterhouse steaks! I bought them on sale cheap because they looked pretty. Because they were supermarket steaks and so inexpensive, I didn't expect flavor. The experiment turned out great. A better texture was sacrificed, but it was worth it for the improvement in taste. The 2003 Earth, Zin, & Fire Front Row Zinfandel from Lodi was good, too. A closer look at the salad (and our new plates I found at a thrift shop) : We finished up our wine dipping Biscotti in it for dessert.

This shot doesn't show the gooey yolk running out of my egg, as I pursue my I-Wanna-Be-Like-Percy attempts at egg cooking and egg photograpy, but hopefully it will give you an idea of the wonderful ambiance we had this morning... while we ate pork tenderloin, eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, and Mimosas.

Andie, I am assuming you figured out a way to get the photos up during this period of a glitch or whatever it is that's going on with ImageGullet; but I just wanted to check and make sure so I could offer some help if needed. That bread pudding slices-turned French toast looks delicious!

Welcome, Chef Crash! You probably know more history of certain threads than most oldtimers do. Glad to see another beer lover among us, and hope to see you around... Cheers!

The visual part of a meal is almost as important to me as the taste of the food, so I spend time and effort on presentation. I do so because I love doing it. I even enjoy the planning of the presentation as much as planning what to cook! Yes, not always, yes, yes. Yes, absolutely. I go for an attractive presentation of food even when I'm home alone and do not photo. I do hope those of you who said the dinner thread makes you feel inadequate were joking. I don't think there are right or wrong answers to these questions, and I don't think one way is better than another. We all have our own styles. Please don't hold it against those of us who have a passion for beautiful food and tablesettings! (...Just joking in implying that any of you would. ) Once in a while, we serve family style, but plating the food is our usual style of serving daily meals. We almost always watch TV when we eat. There is a TV on our porch, and when we eat inside, the living room TV is in sight from our table. Often our most romantic dinners are centered around a certain sports event. World Series games, the football playoffs and Superbowl, and certain races, etc. are the occasions for extra special dinners while we watch. Routine weeknight dinners include Fox News shows and Jeopardy. Sometimes we eat sitting on the couch, and once in a while Russ does the balancing act, but I always use a TV tray. No. Except for when I eat a whole tomato. We use cloth napkins and always have candles or flowers. Our style is definitely casual; I am a plate junkie too, but don't use china often, and we don't even own a set of what I would call formal (or expensive) silver ware. I did. Fun topic, jgm! I love this discussion, as you could probably tell from my lengthy reply! I like what Priscilla said... That describes us well, too. Priscilla, what is serving French-style? I never have served food haphazardly, even when the kids were little. However, the one thing I can least imagine is family members not eating dinner at the same time and not eating together -- no matter if the family is two people or eight, or what the circumstances. ...Interesting about how food lovers are different in their eating habits. Family eating together is the most important of it all to me.