Susan in FL

Mmmm, pork chops in a maple (syrup, I presume ), mustard, and horseradish marinade sounds really good! Is that a new idea or a tried & true? Looking forward to hearing how it turns out...

Thanks, Megan! Your photos have been a source of inspiration to both Russ and me. Joie, looks good! I love the square plate. (It is a plate, not a bowl?) Pay day is coming, and I have a Bed Bath & Beyond coupon I haven't used yet...

Patrick, yes, I am loving this camera. I am glad I prepared myself for a big adjustment because it surely is. Being this camera is heavier, it is easier for me to hold it steady, so -- among other things -- I am practicing up on that and not using my tripod all the time like I did with the old one. So anyway, tonight radishes and anchovy butter on toasted baguette slices to start, and then Pad Thai...

Awesome! All the posts look too delicious and too beautiful to single out any one dinner for comment. My picturing of last night's dinner turned out well, too... much better than I expected for our first full meal using my new camera. We picked the entire menu for what we thought would be photogenic foods. (Nowhere else, besides in amongst eG people, would I admit such a thing.) ...Not that this food is not good tasting, as well. Russ cooked. I photoed. Except for Russ photoed dessert because by that time I could not move. ...Cantaloupe and prosciutto with basil oil and ricotta salata; roasted spiced shrimp on Asian-style wilted spinach; strip steak and pasta -- with butter and a little Parm-Reg on the pasta, and a reduction sauce that didn't show up in the picture; and more of that chocolate truffle loaf that we froze, this time with whipped cream and raspberry sauce.

I know what you mean. We did the same thing last night, only it was sliced scallion we used for the pasta's garnish. I'll find out soon if it did any good... I haven't even looked at last night's photos yet.

That's the best line yet, Ling! This thread is just too funny. I may be joining the ranks if I don't get used to my new camera soon.

Mushy bread pudding?

A late brunch... Each of us was hungry for something different. Russ cooked scrambled eggs for himself and I toasted an Eggo Waffle and included some of the apples I cooked yesterday on top.

Friday night Happy Hours... JUNK FOOD!! Out in a couple of bars... beer, wine, popcorn, and onion rings. Take out from the Publix Deli at home... beer, wine, fried chicken, and half a sub.

I'm getting such a kick out of this. It's almost like posting on this thread is becoming a status symbol!

I was eating a late dinner of leftovers, and reading about my new camera until I couldn't hold my eyes open any longer. Mmm-mmmm... Gotta do that for brunch some day. Your creations give me great ideas. Thanks once again.

LOL, Alinka... I think with your last post, you fit right in on this thread.

I'm with you! That surely describes its goodness. I first thought of rendered chicken fat and tried using it back some years ago, before I knew it was a real thing. When I first learned of schmaltz, I was so amazed! I've been way too ignorant of wonderful Jewish style cooking, but that is changing. We have always cooked goose and duck cracklings, but this thread just taught me the term gribenes. Now there is a great idea. I've had this thought in my head that a fat collection for confit should be duck fat only. In our fridge there are four different jars of rendered fat -- bacon, goose, duck, and chicken -- each we like for certain things. Why not also a big container for all. I have never done confit. I love the idea of a fat-rendering eGCI course!

Wendy, that one was the "last" one from the old camera, but thanks. I haven't put the new one together yet or started reading how to operate it. I wish I didn't have to work today. I am chomping at the bit to get to it. Elie, as always, it's good to see you posting your temptingly delicious looking dinners!

I'm not a mead brewer, but I'm very interested. Good luck, and please do keep us posted.

Mark, thanks much. That makes sense now.

....Rachel, we ate indoors for the past two nights, on TV trays, watching TV. After Hurricane Wilma, our temps dropped and it's been cold! This is not supposed to last long, though, and I'm glad about that. Damn people around here get so happy about temps in the 50's in the morning and they pull out all sorts of coats and sweaters. It even made the local news that people are wearing coats and sweaters. I refuse. I will not give in. Anyway, we can't bring ourselves to eat at the table indoors and have stuck with the TV trays. That would be like giving in and wearing coats and sweaters. So here is a picture of last night's dinner, taken on a kitchen counter. A roast of beef, rotisserie cooked on the grill (cold as it was ); fingerling potatoes with butter and parsley; white and green asparagus with a little bit of olive oil; and orange cauliflower, roasted of course . I don't know what my pictures will look like after this. I took the big jump today and bought a new DSLR camera and I have to get to know it. Wish me luck.

Please forgive me if I'm missing something obvious, but when you said "we" had a strike, what did that mean, and what is LDB? It's probably that my head is especially thick right now, and I'll be embarrassed, but I am interested to know what you're talking about. Thanks!

Don't worry... we will happily welcome your third blog after you get a digital camera, and won't care if your kitchen is not a pretty sight. ...All the more interesting! Thanks so much for sharing your week with us.

Thanks! I enjoyed looking at that. There are some good ideas and some very nice photos there.

Just found this thread, Jennifer! Good one! Count me among the lovers. Have you tallied the results of your survey yet? Quickly looking over the replies, it looked like more eG-ers love it than hate it.

I probably overuse the words yum and yummy. This dinner qualified as truly yummy, though. With it we enjoyed Meridian Pinot Noir, which has become one of our current "house wines," and jumping back and forth between Cold Case and the baseball game. Rabbit Etouffee with Baked Cheese Grits and Corn Salsa

I like that stout a lot on its own, but it was not a match for French toast. At the very last minute, we realized we had no oatmeal stout in the house..... Oatmeal stout, preferably Anderson Valley, is my beverage of choice for French toast. You are so right, it was too bold, whereas the oatmeal stout's smoothness is just perfect. But it was good enough to drink anyway.

Flying Dog is available in central Florida and has been for a while -- at least some of them. That made me assume that they aren't very good, but I was wrong. This beer is decent. We've had only two so far, the Snake Dog Ale IPA and the Doggie-Style Classic Pale Ale. My first taste of the IPA was almost too bitter for me, and that's saying something. To borrow a line from my husband... It was almost hoppy enough to chew. The Pale Ale was much of the same flavor, but not as amped up. I'd like to find the K-9 Cruiser Altitude Ale. I haven't seen that yet. I'll probably try the Porter next. It is available. Any Flying Dog recommendations?

Wendy, thanks. I'm determined to find some chowder clams and do those stuffed clams. I think it's interesting to hear the size classifications given to clams. Apparently it's a regional thing. On the east coast, when we lived on the mid-Atlantic and down here, it is from small to large: little necks, top necks, cherrystones, and chowder clams. Either top necks or small cherrystones are our favorite for raw or steamed. Chowder clams taste just as good, but are so cheap, especially in Delaware. Even now when Russ makes his trips up there, he brings back 100 of those huge things and it costs like ten or twelve dollars. We freeze them live, and when we're ready to cook something with them, we set a few out to thaw, and as they thaw they open, and I cut up the meat with scissors. That's cool because the great big ones are killers to open even when they have had a chance to relax. I had never heard of "quahogs" until maybe ten years ago when I got to know some people from Rhode Island. Anyway, thank you. I'm glad to know that it's a good recipe. *Deborah* *WOW* Awesome dinner for guests... awesome dinner for anybody, but I am always particularly impressed when someone can pull off that kind of meal when there is company. Thank you for the link to Epicurious for the duck recipe. I've printed it out. I use Epicurious recipes a lot (however, as much as I like to support breast cancer research, I'm getting sick of their clever pop-ups), including....... Rachel, this is the recipe I roughly follow for blue cheese souffles. I had used both Cabrales and Maytag blue before, and then these were successful, too. This goes down in my records for a well tested recipe! Do you have those pink depression glass plates?! And..... GREAT post!