Susan in FL

It is so dark here today from Wilma that we had breakfast brunch lunch make that linner by candelight. (late, and very filling... don't know when we'll feel like eating dinner.) Also, there were no unsliced loaves of cinnamon raisin bread in the bakery, and I didn't want to use the super thin slices that the brand names sell, so I made "French" toast with cinnamon raisin "English" muffins.

Wendy, I had that recipe printed out and hanging by a magnet on the side of our fridge for days (until just a couple days ago when Russ got tired of it falling off so many times that he took it down for good) waiting for us to get some chowder clams for making them, since we prefer chowder clams for that sort of thing. How did they taste? I've probably never used a recipe for stuffed clams before. I usually make them the way my mom did, which she called deviled clams. Her "recipe" has quite a bit of mustard in it.

Thanks... It looks like our area of FL will be only in the north edge of it, if it goes as predicted. It started with the rain here yesterday, today is really dreary, and we have just tropical storm warnings. Thank goodness, so far we are very, very lucky. Cool! Always having brownies in the freezer is an excellent idea. Do you eat them thawed, partially thawed, or frozen? You know, inquiring minds. Last night for a late dessert we ate some chocolate truffle loaf that we had in the freezer and it was half thawed/frozen. It was good like that! Thanks, Susan. I am really flattered by your suggestion of a foodblog, but I'm afraid that then I'll have to take a week off work - it's like a full-time job . Too many people report being nervous doing the blog: the pressure! I couldn't handle the pressure! I'll just hang out here and in the dinner thread posting when inspiration strikes, if you don't mind . Awwww... I know how you feel, but if you reconsider... I promise we would understand about the blogging while working thing. I just love it when that happens (pan juices from steak). It looks like what we are going to eat will no longer qualify as breakfast -- or even brunch -- mainly because I slept in today, to past 10:30! And, since then I have been lazily sitting at this computer drinking coffee. I'm still going to make some French toast with cinnamon raisin bread, though.

That is hilarious!! Thank you for some extreme LOL-ing by my husband and me. We are bookmarking her blog for sure.

Saturday night dinner on the Burgess's porch was veal chops with a sauce using one of the portions of my homemade demi-glace that we froze; white truffle risotto (sans shavings of fresh truffle, unfortunately -- but I did make a veal stock to use); a "token" portion/garnish of fresh Brussels sprouts; salad of Mâche, Belgian endive, and pear, with a blue cheese (Gorgonzola Dolce) soufflé alongside; Estancia Merlot; and World Series Game I. I loved the outcome of everything.

Steak 'n' Eggs! (And potatoes and a Mimosa.)

The potatoes are cooking. You make even oatmeal look scrumptious. I hope if you haven't already, that you will put your name on the list to do a Foodblog... Please??!

Brad! Glad to see you here. The fish sounds good. Does your daughter not like fish or does she have an allergy? Welcome to you and other recent first time Dinner thread posters! Daniel..... You've left me speechless on that last one. Friday night Happy Hour(s) was moved to our house, because there are 100,000 bikers in town for Biketoberfest, and the local news is saying they are averaging an ambulance run for an accident once every 90 minutes. We made nachos, with taco-flavored hamburger, the cheese, chopped onions, olives, tomatoes, etc. -- the usual. And, we had stone crab claws again! The icy cold, clean taste of the stone crabs was real good after the warm, spicy plate of nachos. ...Beer with the first and bubbly with the latter for Russ, and bubbly with both for me.

I forgot to post here two or three weeks ago. We finally found Smart Chicken. It is sold in some Publix stores, but not any close to us. I sent Russ to a Publix that is about an hour away; it was listed on the Smart Chicken site as carrying them. He got two -- one we had whole, and one later in the same week fixed in some way cut into parts. It really is good, and so is the broth made from the remains. One of the best parts was the story Russ told about the cashier when he checked out. She said "Smart Chicken.... They must really be smart to get you to pay that much for 'em."

Pre slaughtered, chickens are just so ugly. I wonder if that has anything to do with it. A cow has a lovely face, a fish is pretty, and a pig is cute. Oh well. This sounds good... But I wonder how much better than Smart Chicken it is?

That looks so good. Beautiful dish, all of it! Nicely seared fish! Great job Susan, too. Keep us posted.

Klary, please do! This will be fun. And Verjuice, Michael, and Susan, what a surprise. This is sort of like "the joke's on me." I guess I was the only one to whom this sounded weird. It was an unknown dish to me!

I just found this. I am now caught up, and glad that you are blogging... was hoping you would! It's interesting to read about others' eating habits, whether different or similar to my own. One of my sons eats like you do. And, I drink Lactaid! A mild lactose intolerance started me on it, but it turned into a preference, for drinking milk by the glass or putting on cereal. Blog on, and I hope you enjoy this as much as we are.

Omigod, Daniel. Right you are. It doesn't get much better than that!

Meanwhile, tonight's dinner... This sounds weird, but it tasted so good! Boneless skinless chicken thighs, with prunes and green olives. Great flavor combination. The go-withs were unremarkable and unphotogenic, rice and left-over greens. In the skillet...

Thanks, Megan and All, for your show of support on my interest and efforts in the hobby of food photography! And Megan, I am game if you are! Shall we tentatively plan for the weekend of the 29th?

Sunday we made pasta again, and had it for dinner with clam sauce made from fresh chowder clams. Monday night we started with "Tomato Tartlets" ...yeah, I used the Pepperidge Farm again, instead of making the pastry myself, but I still do intend to make homemade. Following that was another recipe from the October issue of Gourmet which appealed to me, Italian Sausage with Red Grapes. Of course, it was probably the only time ever that the supermarket didn't have seedless red grapes, so I bought them and halved and seeded them. It was delicious, and made me wonder if it gave some flavor that wouldn't have been there if whole grapes had been used. We had roasted garlic mashed potatoes and the recommended greens with garlic (collards and kale for us). Please excuse those photos... I've been experimenting with lighting, and they didn't turn out well -- especially the sausage dish. On the other hand, last night's experimentation with light turned out better for the meat. We had a "Cuban" dinner. Cuban-Style Marinated Steak was a recipe from an ad for McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning. The other recipes were inspired by Alex Garcia, In a Cuban Kitchen: Cuban-Style Pasta Salad, Hearts of Palm Salad, and Roasted Sweet Plantains. The plantains were really good next to the the rest of the dinner, expecially the spicy beef. And, my apology on the beef and plantain photo for a different reason... I usually avoid posting huge images and resize those which don't fit into the screen of some computers; however, I was so pleased with this completely unedited version, I didn't even want to reduce the size!!

So many good looking dinners, yum. It's about time for a hamburger fix around here, methinks. Daniel, what a menu. I love bone marrow, but I haven't been satisfied with any I've cooked at home. Do you buy special bones for fixing that dish? I'm not familiar with the cookbook you mentioned. How did the spaghetti taste? Was the flavor a lot different from the wine? When I was reading that issue of Gourmet, I thought about making it.

Publix sometimes has them, here in the Daytona Beach area, but not on a regular basis. They were good when I did find them at one of our Publix last year.

Same here! Finally, we had our first Smart Chicken this week, so now I know what you all have been talking about!

Percy, you tease! But please don't stop. I don't remember seeing your sali per eda before. Is it made stove top? I would like some cooking details on that. As always, the doneness of your eggs is just how I like them. All those breakfast dishes look delicious. Yesterday we had fried white sweet potatoes (I had never heard of white sweet potatoes before seeing these at the produce market) and onions, with fried eggs and sliced tomatoes; chicken fat that had some tasty brown bits in it was used for both the eggs and the potatoes. Today's breakfast was leftover chicken, mushrooms, onion, and Parm-Reg in scrambled eggs -- good to eat, but not photogenic.

Oh happy day! I didn't even realize it until I walked into the seafood market looking for lobster... The first day of stone crab season!!! These succulent babies were swimming yesterday. They don't get much fresher than this. So we slightly modified our dinner plans and had an unexpected icy cold first course. We have been doing lots of recipes lately and had decided we wanted to go for an old familiar classic tonight, surf & turf. So at the seafood market, since I happened upon the stone crab claws, I went for small lobster tails instead of whole live lobsters as we planned. There are leftovers! Today was also the first day that it's been comfortable enough to turn off the AC and open windows. ...Much to celebrate at dinner tonight.

I am in awe of everything. I really do have to go back to the museum. All your posts brought back such wonderful memories. I must see it once again. Thanks, Chris! And that baby daughter of yours... Bebe is awesome, too! My kinda girl.

VERY interesting, a well done piece. Yes, it is.

Good Morning! I don't have a story to share about Al Forno, but I do have very nice memories about Providence to share. So, I will take this time to follow suit and give one of the reasons that your blog is wonderful reading for me! About five or six years ago the Food Network was doing a tour of Food Network Live shows around the country, and I went to the one held at the Rhode Island Convention Center. That was maybe the first time that I traveled alone on a pleasure-only trip; I had traveled to lots of cities going to work conferences by myself, but it was an adventure to go solo just for fun. Providence was an awesome place for it, and I'll add that before that trip, I had heard that people "up north" from the Delmarva peninsula were in general less friendly people and rather cold (like the weather, maybe?), but I experienced many examples proving that to be wrong. I don't know which was the bigger thrill for me, meeting and talking with Jacques Pepin and the others at the show or my visit to the JWU Culinary Archives and Museum. Being an antique lover almost as much as a food lover, I adored the museum and have been wanting to go back ever since. I happened to arrive there by cab when the timing worked perfectly for me to have a guided tour by a relative of the curator who was a J&W graduate, a Navy officer, and a Chef Louis Szathmary expert. Next on my agenda that day was Federal Hill, and he offered me a ride instead of a cab. He actually got lost on the way, so I got a look at more of Providence than I would have otherwise seen, and he bought me a Dell lemonade. (...A local favorite, I understand?) Besides tastes of so many Providence restaurants at the Food Network show, I had dinners at L'Epicureo and The Bistro, the restaurant operated by JWU students. It was a delightful trip. That is why Providence holds a special place in my heart.