Susan in FL

YES! We could have seen your car! You were in Germany visiting family over the holidays? Imagine that, we could have seen each other. Morten was telling us about the similarities between their culture and northern Germany's. On the way between Fredericia and Flensburg, we stopped at a discount store with lots of great deals on wine, beer, sodas, chocolates... lots of stuff, and all kinds of candy. Maybe you know of it. You are way ahead of me on the salty licorice. Oh my, I think it is nasty. I have never been able to take that! And yes, the little shrimps... what we were served were really tiny, but they were tasty.

Since we got home from Europe, we've had some fine dinners, but I haven't been photographing as much. Here are two of the highlights. For New Years day, I made a Hoppin John Risotto to go with quail for the main course. I used Carnaroli rice, fresh black-eyed peas, corn, pancetta, etc. It was yummy. I ordered a bunch of Thai ingredients and we have been on quite a Thai kick. This was a larb recipe from Hot Sour Salty Sweet, different than the larb I made from that book previously. Actually this is the Aromatic Minced Pork, Shan Style. The same night we also had Shrimp in Hot Lime Leaf Broth from the same book. I also ordered sticky rice and a steamer, the traditional conical basket and pot, but I haven't tackled that yet. Cheers!

It's good to be back to eG. Everyone's photos from the holidays look great. Upon our return from Europe, not only did I crash from jet lag and the fatigue of a wonderful trip, but my hard drive also crashed. The latter has been a harder recovery than the former. We had delicious traditional dinners in Denmark, including Christmas dinner (on Christmas eve) of roast duck and fruits, sauce, brown potatoes, white potatoes, red cabbage, lots of red wine, and for dessert the Danes' famous rice pudding with a whole almond hidden inside one person's serving making them the lucky winner. That would be me! On Christmas day, we were at the table eating and drinking and talking from 3:30 to 10:30, seven hours. That is no exageration! It was a slow progression through all the courses, but we got up only to go to the bathroom. We had several smoked and pickled fishes; liver pate'; cheeses; shrimp; fried flounder; eel; cucumbers, radishes, eggs and other garnishes; butter, curries, and other condiments; and Danish breads for serving all these foods open-face-sandwich-style. I am sure there was more; I should have written it down because it was too much to remember. Even though this stuff is eaten on the bread, it is customary to use a knife and fork. We drank wine and schnapps and many different kinds of beer including Christmas brews. At 10:30 PM when we somehow transferred our bodies from the table to the living room, guess what we did... We ate and drank and talked and laughed some more, this time chips and pretzels, fruits, and chocolates. They added vodka and rum to the other adult beverage selections. I managed to hang in through all this by drinking water in equal or more amount as the alcohol. After that we went to a pub for a beer and needless to say, it was the wee hours of the morning before we went to bed. Actually we stayed up late every night, making the most of every moment with our Danish family and friends. On the evening we arrived in Denmark, we went out to dinner at the restaurant of the hotel where Morten, our "Danish son," works. (He is a personal trainer and also works at a fitness center, so we were lucky enough to workout each day in a beautiful state-of-the-art gym.) There was a special holiday menu and we had the six course meal. It was as good as it sounds. This is the English translation: Clear Oxtail Broth with ravioli & sunkissed tomatoes Terrine of Foie Gras with brandy & green tomatoes 4 Pieces Gratinated Oyster Stuffed Quail with Confit of Leg with parsnip & celery root puree Selection of French Cheeses Chocolate Variations I can't remember the wine that Morten's father selected for us. It was a Bordeau-like blend. Bottles of that and fine Italian sparkling water were flowing freely. It was certainly a meal to remember. In London we ate one dinner in our hotel. It was on the upscale side and very good, but not memorable like the dinner out in Denmark. The other dinner was very typical English fare at a pub in Huntingdon (with a pint of good Real Ale!). One day we went into Germany and had a light lunch and of course German beer. We enjoyed all the food and drink we had in Europe, and it was great fun to be able to taste new things.

Dinners have been sounding and looking good! We have been on the go with holiday events and parties, an early Christmas celebration with my son, and getting ready for our trip. We're taking off for Europe today, so I wanted to wish all my fellow Dinner! posters safe and happy holidays. Hopefully I can return to more regular posting after we get home. Cheers!

Add one more to that reserved table, please! And I'll also take the place of Luckylies' family at her table as well. It's cold, for Florida! Nice timing if it had to happen, though... I had already made soup from the left over grilled lamb roast. Lamb and Barley Soup Mushroom and Scallion Wraps I placed two or three slices of deli swiss cheese on each flour tortilla, topped that with two spoonfulls of mushrooms sauteed in butter and one spoonfull of chopped raw scallion, did the wrap thing, and baked it in the 350 oven for a few minutes loosely covered with foil. ...Yummy, and enjoyed with a Pinot Noir.

Great tasting dinner tonight, but no way would I post the photo ...and it looked good in person, but it looked terrible in the picture ...Spaghetti alla Carbonara. Not an easy dish to photograph. It looked like somebody had already eaten it. Tana, this one would surely have made you woozy, and as usual for me, it was not even a close up. I know... enough already. Sorry, I just needed to rant about that. I haven't been happy with my photos recently. Anyway, it was David Leite's recipe, delicious.

You all are on a roll for awesome looking food! I was looking forward to a dinner at home tonight... We grilled a pork roast rubbed with adobo and had two sauces to go with it, a warm mojo and a cuban-style tomato sauce. They were good, but the pork turned out so well that it didn't need sauce on it. We liked it better without. We had rice & black beans, roasted turnips, and Shiraz with it. We're getting ready to taste a Christmas present, Just Desserts™ Chocolate Chip Cookie Cream Liqueur.

...A wonderful post! It's a pretty picture, too, and looks delicious. I hope you join this thread on a regular basis. Judith, your turkey soup dinner sounded great, too. We went to a holiday party last night, the big dinner put on by our employer. It was a fun time, but the food was a buffet with mediocre food to say the most.

You have my sympathy about working those hours! The dinner you fixed sounded nice. I agree how good it feels to take time to cook instead of rushing. Please tell me what made the pureed celery root decadent! Last night I went out to dinner again, with another friend, at a place called Gumbo's... Not good. Tonight we made linguine with red clam sauce, salad, and Banfi Chianti Classico... Good.

Percy, you're cooking up some fine weeknight dinners this week! Your beer reminded me of what we drank recently, a Rogue Dead Guy Ale. It was good. Thanks!! I blanched the broccoli in salted water first. Quickly before serving I barely browned garlic slices in peanut oil, and then added shallot slices. To that I added the broccoli and just a bit of Thai fish sauce and then an even more tiny bit of Thai oyster sauce, and then just gave it a stir until all heated through. It's a nice side for Asian. Last night I ate out at the Chart House with a friend. Tonight was grilled leg of lamb rubbed with rosemary, garlic, S&P, and olive oil; roasted tomatoes and roasted flattened baked potatoes inspired by Chufi (wonderful, thanks!); Caesar salad; and Rancho Zabaco, Sonoma Heritage Vines.

YUM! Oh good, I hope he carries out his threat! I larbed chicken thigh meat tonight, and besides the larby-garnishes, served a Thai-style broccoli salad with it.

I was late finding your blog and just had a chance to catch up on it. It is very interesting, and thank you!

I made larb for the second time tonight. I larbed chicken thigh meat and it was good, but not as good as my first time which was pork. What I liked was that when I sent my husband to the store for Kaffir lime leaves (the last time I made it, I substituted lime zest), the lady at the Asian market was out of her supply, and just picked some off her own tree and gave them to him! He also bought some fresh galangal while he was there, and I added a bit of that. Does anybody have any suggestions on how else to use that up? One more question.... What kind of rice do you use for sticky rice? Is it labeled as sticky rice, or does that refer only to the way you cook it? Tonight was the first time I ever soaked and steamed rice. I read about sticky rice in my Hot Sour Salty Sweet, but I was overwhelmed. Thanks to all you larb veterans.

That looks beautiful and sounds delicious. Could you please tell more about how you slow-roast tomatoes and how you do the pressed baked potatoes? I've gotta have 'em!

Lunch and dinner food sounded good, and I'm glad you mentioned about your telescope experience. That is cool. Nice touch to a dining experience! Last night we had boneless duck breast with a balsamic/cherry sauce with risotto (I used Parm-Reg rind broth, an eG idea but I can't remember from whom, but I thank that person!) and broccoli, and Cabernet. I haven't checked on the photos yet, and we're leaving soon to go up to St. Augustine for Sunday Brunch with a friend. That means a light dinner tonight probably.

You're welcome. They have a great menu!

Mmmm.... good ideas here. Thanks, and I hope they keep coming.

Don't know what it is about this thread, but it's not the first time there have been new posts here and I didn't get the email notification. Anyway, as always, I am happy to see the posts, and especially the long awaited shrimp etouffee recipe!! Thanks, Brooks!!

Here's what I had for dinner last night. We had meatless dinners the two nights before. Two nights in a row without meat is unusual for us! Wednesday night Russ made a tofu and vegetable and pasta stir-fry, and Thursday night when we had our vegetarian friend over for dinner, I made Marcella Hazan's Savoy Cabbage Soup, eggplant parmesan, and salad for dinner.

Reporting back on Marcella Hazan's Savoy Cabbage Soup, Aosta Style... It was good, but I was disappointed. It didn't have the flavor I was hoping for. I guess I shouldn't have expected cabbage of any kind that boils for that long -- however gently it bubbled -- to be full of flavor. The best part was the Fontina melted on the crouton. But Russ and our dinner guest liked it much more than I, so that made it worth making this once.

I just concluded research on vegetarian cookbooks by reading reviews and looking through a few in B&N, before deciding which one to buy my vegetarian friend for Christmas. I went with Passionate Vegetarian, and it was tempting to buy one for myself, too!

Here is a link for the update on damaged restaurants, reopenings, etc., in case anyone would like to do the registration and read about it. Thanks, Melissa for abbreviating the quote to be in compliance with eG policy. I am most sad about The Fish House in Pensacola, which was "severely damaged, perhaps never to reopen." We enjoyed many good meals there with my son when visiting him in Pensacola. I am most happy about the dedication and determination of so many of the restaurant owners, managers, and staffs in their come-back efforts throughout the State when that was possible, and the support of communities. Again about Pensacola, I went to Jackson's shortly after they reopened, after being closed to replace carpet and repair other damage, and it looked beautiful. It was an off night for food; however, I'll go back and give it another try to support such rebuilding efforts, if for no other reason.

Thanks for reporting back, Diana, and glad it was a relatively painless experience!

From Florida Trend (registration required):

I've been thinking about a classic minestrone to use the savoy cabbage I have (I love pesto on it, too), but then I saw Marcella Hazan's recipe for Savoy Cabbage Soup, Aosta Style. I'm still not sure what I'll do. Has anybody ever made an "Aosta Style" cabbage soup? ← I almost made that instead! Anything with Fontina in it has to be good. ← I'm cooking the cabbage now, in preparation for the soup tonight. I'll let you know how it turns out.