purplewiz

A couple of "homestyle" meals (read: not fancy!): From a couple nights ago, spaghetti squash and meatball pie. I cooked the spaghetti squash, drained and cooled, then mixed with two eggs, a tbsp or so of flour to bind, salt and pepper, and then mooshed (technical term!) it into a greased pie plate and prebaked it until set. Then I filled it with halved cooked meatballs, topped it with about a cup and a half of sauce, topped with cheese, and baked until heated through and cheese was melted and bubbly. It was pretty good. Tonight: the mushroom barley meatball soup out of November's "Food and Wine". I have a couple of tweaks I'd like to make, and I garnished with some of the leftover grated parmesan instead of sour cream, but this recipe is definitely a keeper. Easy and tasty. Accompanied by a pear, gorgonzola, and walnut salad over greens with vinaigrette made with pomegranate vinegar. Marcia.

Delicatas are thin skinned so they don't need to be peeled before eating them. I also find them to be relatively thin fleshed, so I like to use them in larger pieces. My favorite preparation is to halve them lengthwise, scrape out the seeds, etc., then cut each half into 1/2" slices. Coat lightly with olive oil, then grill or broil (or roast) until soft and browned. Either salt and pepper, or toss with a chipotle honey vinaigrette (Chipotle tabasco sauce, honey, more olive oil, all in proportions to taste). Marcia.

My parents had card parties in the 70's, and since I was the oldest, I got to "help". Here are some of the things I remember them serving: Crab dip. One step up from onion dip. I know there was sour cream, paprika, and flaked crab meat in it, but darned if I know what else was in there. It was markedly runnier than onion dip. Cheese puffs. Cheese, flour, and a tbsp or water to make a very thick dough. Rolled into balls and then baked. I remember these well because I HATED rolling them. Water chestnuts wrapped in bacon, brushed with soy sauce, and then broiled. Cheese balls. I think these might have been premade, because I remember the vivid artificial "port wine" red swirls through them, but there's no reason a little real port and some red food coloring couldn't be used to simulate it! Liver pate on either crackers or small bread pieces. I remember this because I hated liver, but loved the pate, and I could not reconcile the two in my head. But what I remember most was a tray of appetizers (don't remember exactly what) that my mother had prepared and put in the fridge. She was in the middle of a hand and asked me to put them under the broiler. She didn't tell me to take the plastic wrap off the tray first. Fortunately, the wrap didn't melt over everything, it kind of just shrunk. Hey, I was just a kid and didn't know it wasn't heat proof! Marcia.

I like the idea of using chestnuts - I'm going to have a lot leftover from a can I had to buy for a recipe I want to make that only calls for a few! The amaretti cookies added this wonderful subtle flavor in the bisque at the restaurant - sadly, I was guessing at what the ratio would be (the restaurant was generous in telling us what all was in the soup, but not the measurements) and overdid it a bit. I am also thinking ginger snaps would work well. (and it's supposed to be "...for flavor and thickening" in my post above. Sigh.) Marcia.

It's a lovely meal, and I love your plates! They're far more interesting than mine... And I agree completely about kale. Ever since I discovered it, I've been finding more ways to cook it and use it and falling more in love with it. Tonight it was sausage kale soup which I did not photograph because it was not one of my more successful soups (not the fault of the kale or the sausage....). Marcia.

You know you're an eGulleteer when you're considering buying new dishes because you've decided your perfectly good current dishes are just entirely too boring when photographing meals for the Dinner! thread. ....and I have, too. Marcia.

Another squash soup variant. trying to recreate a butternut squash bisque we had in Sheridan, WY: started with cubes of squash, pieces of carrot, and onion, all roasted for about an hour in the oven. Garlic sauteed in some butter and olive oil, then added chicken stock and the vegetables and 5 crushed amaretti cookies for both flavor and simmering. Blended and then finished with cream and milk. Served with some truffled olive oil and chopped hazelnuts. It was very good, but 5 amaretti was way too much for this amount of soup - the flavor is supposed to be subtle, and even with the cream and milk it was way too much. I'd cut back to 3 cookies next time. I'll definitely make it again with some tweaks. Marcia.

Bottled water: our water is good here, but remembering to fill a bottle and then chill it and and then take it with me because it's not right out on the countertop and then bring home the bottle and then wash it....it just ain't gonna happen. One of the reasons I like bottles of water is that it is in a disposable container, so I don't have to carry it around all day. (I was the kid whose parents always "saved money" by packing her sandwiches in those square Tupperware containers. On field trips everyone else got to just throw away their lunch packaging and go have fun, while I had to juggle the Tupperware and sometimes a Thermos. It's hard to play when your hands are full.) I never knew how hard it was to find a cold bottle of something that is sugar free and non-caffeinated when I'm on the road. Not everywhere carries Sprite Zero or A&W Root Beer. So bottled water it is. (I love iced tea but HATE that premade stuff. It tastes metallic. I guess that's another "why does anybody buy....".) Jarred Salsa: Yes, I have made my own. As others have mentioned, it's a time issue. It's also a shelf life issue - the jarred stuff keeps a lot longer in the fridge than my own. Minute Rice: Ok, I'm with you there. Especially since I discovered that cooked rice freezes well, so I just make up a large batch when I make it, then portion it out into ziplock sandwich baggies and freeze. Two minutes in the microwave and it's ready to serve. Faster than Minute Rice and tastes better. Marcia.

Sadly, I'm with you, mojoman. I just don't like the traditional Thanksgiving dinner much. I don't really like turkey. There. I said it. It bland and boring and I don't eat it other times of the year - I don't care how good it is supposed to be for me, I just don't like it very much. I like chicken a lot more. I despise yams. Mealy orange paste glazed in sugar so you can choke them down. I don't like pumpkin pie. I recently discovered that it's not the pumpkin part of it I don't like, it's that overwhelming, overbearing combination of "pumpkin pie spice". I have a feeling I'd like it a lot more if it were spiced more lightly and with just one or two spices. My favorite dishes on the Thanksgiving table were always stuffing (cooked properly inside the bird - if it's that awful crunchy bread stuff cooked in a dish I'm not interested) and the green bean casserole, which I absolutely adore. Go ahead. Make fun of me. I'll just take my casserole and eat it over there. And I won't even start on the cranberry sauce, jello or otherwise, and creamed onions, and that terrible fruit cocktail with a scoop of sherbet to start... ...not to mention that not ONE traditional dish is chocolate based! Oh, you can throw some chocolate chips in the pecan pie, but that's just lip service compared to holidays like Christmas and Valentine's, which wouldn't be complete without oodles of the stuff. (And ok, I like pecan pie, but it wasn't traditional in my family. Too "fattening". Like the rest wasn't. But I digress.) I should state that, with the exception of yams, which I'm not eating for anyone, and mince pie, ditto, I don't really dislike any of these dishes enough not to eat them when served at a dinner that someone took the time and effort to create with love and present with pride. As mojoman said, it's about the companionship and sharing and memories and laughter. But good grief, I wish the food was better. So what am I making for Thanksgiving dinner this year? Reservations. And you can bet I will not be ordering turkey. Marcia.

Honeysuckle Brand came in second only to Butterball in the recent taste test by the Denver Post. The organic/natural ones all came in far lower. Take that as you will. My own take is that if you start with a reasonable turkey, you can get fabulous results. And frozen is reasonable. Marcia.

I must've made some kind of noise when I looked at this picture, because my husband looked up and said "what are you looking at?" I simply replied "I'm looking at porn again." *sigh* That looks SO utterly delicious. I think I will have to find chocolate cake soon. Marcia.

Thanks for the recommend - I'd received a couple of other recommendations for Tony's so I ended up there this afternoon, and found exactly what I was looking for. (And a bunch of other stuff, but like that surprises anyone here?) Even during the day on a Wednesday the place was hopping. If you check out the new wine please, please let us know - I'm still sampling wine stores to find a favorite that carries a good variety and the stuff I like to keep on hand. Marcia.

(I've tried searching for a similar topic, but no luck. If there are, please merge as appropriate!) I'm looking for a gourmet market in south metro Denver - we recently moved to Highlands Ranch/Littleton, and while I do know about Marczyk's and Cook's Fresh Market, they are a bit farther than I'd hoped. The Yellow Pages were useless. Google's not helping, either. (I'm looking for canned roasted chestnuts and amaretti cookies specifically, in addition to finding a good place to browse for interesting ingredients!) I'm hoping there's something in the Littleton/Centennial/Englewood/Highlands Ranch/Greenwood Village area. Thanks for any pointers! Marcia.

You know you're a foodie when you don't let being on a tight budget stop you from eating well. Like many other areas, it's not what you got, it's what you do with it. Marcia.

Your dinner sounds wonderful - isn't that cauliflower great? Please do post your pictures (and there's lots of help if ImageGullet has you confuzzled) - my pictures and dinners definitely aren't pretty, but hey, they're what we're actually eating for dinner. (I've posted pictures of spam souffle and the taco meat/velveeta creation above - you can't do worse! ) Welcome and hope to hear/see more from you! Marcia.

Thanks - I've been lurking and enjoying all the pictures (and vowing one of these days real soon now I'm going to find the local Asian markets!), but it's been just a couple of those months. Thank goodness for real food! Marcia.

Catching up with a few more dinners... Grilled chile rubbed pork chop, sauteed snap peas with garlic and butter Grilled chicken breast with Thai spices (it's a rub from Whole Foods and I love it and don't bother making my own because it's inexpensive and I don't think I could do any better), kale with curry and ginger, and zucchini with white wine, garlic, and tomatoes. One of those dinners which, if it doesn't get me thrown out of eGullet, really ought to: I call it Mexican canneloni. Taco seasoned ground beef prepared as per the packet of taco seasoning, wrapped in low carb tortillas, smothered with "queso" which is, let's face it, a small block of Velveeta nuked with a drained can of Ro-Tel tomatoes, and topped with more of the beef mixture. Baked until bubbly. Yeah, it was good. So sue me Butternut squash coconut curry soup, garnished with coconut milk and green onions. It might give you an idea of how things are going that I didn't even realize that I'd used the chipped bowl, let alone photographed it, until I was editing the pictures. It didn't affect how good the soup tasted, though. (I served it with a baked chicken breast and a salad.) Marcia.

I have a grocery list mainly to remind myself of the staples we're out of...and for my husband to let me know what he's used up or getting low on. The only time I do meal planning ahead of time is if there's a specific dish I want to make and I don't have all the ingredients for it on hand. Then I make sure the stuff I need gets on the list. The rest of the meals are planned around what's on sale and what looks good. I generally have an idea of "oh, it's supposed to be cold, I'd like a simmered dish or a soup one of these nights", but what soup or meat depends on what's on sale. At this point I've been cooking long enough that I have a pretty good idea of what kind of volume of fresh vegetables I need for the number of meals I'm cooking, and if I'm off by a little I can either make it up with the frozen vegetables I always have around or roll the extras into the next week. (Like right now I'm way overbought on hard squash but it's been on sale, it looks good, and it keeps for awhile.) It does take some practice to figure out exactly how much you need if you haven't figured out what you're going to do with it, but it's not hard to learn. And I just don't know what I'm going to feel like cooking 5 days from now. Marcia.

The Far Side? ← You got it! I LOVE that cartoon, it still makes me laugh, and from the day it was published our cats have eaten nothing but "cat fud". Not that they know the difference..... Marcia.

I use premixed curry powder, premixed taco seasoning, canned cream of soup, and sugar free pudding mixes (as bases for desserts). I'm not sure I'm a fraud because I freely and cheerfully admit to doing so. Marcia.

Chicken florentine soup tonight: Marcia.

Terrasanct, it sounds great - I'll definitely have to check it out if I'm ever up that way again! Marcia.

Various dinners from the last 6 weeks: Grilled chuck eye steaks, chive flower butter, a quick stove top version of calabacitas, sort of. Taco seasoned "hash" with ground beef, zucchini, and tomatoes, topped with a fried egg. Chipotle burger (premade and seasoned at Whole Foods, I cop to it) topped with colby jack and sour cream, deviled eggs, the last homegrown zucchini grilled. Chicken florentine soup, topped with parmesan (no, it's not from a green can, but it was pre-grated). I did mention I wasn't doing much in the way of cooking lately, and this ought to prove it! Marcia.

Here's the latest grocery list, still a work in progress, to be executed tomorrow: Things I've added since this picture was taken: SF hard candy cat fud (yes, spelled that way, extra points if you know where that's from) antihistamines Marcia.

Due to some family business I've had to spend quite a few days in Sheridan, Wyoming recently, and a quick search didn't find any topics that covered where to eat while there. Probably because Sheridan, a town of oh, about 30,000, give or take a few, about 25 miles from the Montana border, isn't exactly known as a culinary hot spot. Sheridan has actively tried to retain its "wild west" character to attract tourism, and boasts that it's the home of the the Mint Bar, voted by some publication or another as the best cowboy bar. I have only peeked in, and decided it wasn't quite what I was looking for. As always, I'm not affiliated with any of these businesses, I've just eaten or drunk or bought goodies there. So starting at the high end, I highly recommend Oliver's Bar and Grill on Main St. at Brundage. The atmosphere is quiet and sophisticated - the decor is contemporary and comfortable. The best way I can describe the food is fine dining with Asian and Southwestern influences. We ate there three times, so we had a chance to sample a reasonable variety of the menu. Highlights included the butternut squash bisque (made with amaretti), the buffalo rib eye, the Argentinian mixed grill (the chorizo was only ok but the grilled flank steak was amazing), a crab, preserved tomato, and avocado stack with reduced balsamic and chipotle creme fraiche, and the Vietnamese beef kabobs with three dipping sauces: apple curry, basil coconut lime, and peanut. They have quite a reasonable wine list with wines by the glass that rotate weekly, and some dessert wines I'd never tried before - I'd never had a late harvest Gewurztraminer, and it was lovely. My husband had a glass of the 20 year old Dow port each night and is now tracking down a bottle. It's not perfect: I found eggshell in the cheesecake one night, and although the lamb shank osso buco was perfectly cooked, the beans it was served over were distinctly underdone. Still, these were the best meals I've ever had in Sheridan, and would happily go back - and not just because the restaurant is open until 10pm and the bar until 2 am. Wyoming Rib and Chop house, located in the Sheridan Inn at Fifth and Broadway. We'd passed by this place so many times during previous trips, and finally decided to try it out and see what the fuss was. We'd seen the menu in the guest guide in our hotel, and figured it would at least involve a good steak. We should have made reservations - since it was Sheridan mid-week, we didn't even think about it. Apparently this place is busy all the time, so while there was a 45 minute wait, the hostesses were very polite about it, inviting us to get a drink at the bar and take it out on the porch while we waited. Sadly, the food at the place reflects the fact that it's busy all the time - and mostly with tourists. It's not BAD food - I've had BAD food in the past - but the biggest sin is that the steaks were tough. I've never had a tough NY strip steak before, and I don't care to repeat the experience. Or one with a large bone chip in it that, had I not found it with my fork, could have done damage to my dental work. (Yes, I mentioned it to our server. He apologized.) On the plus side, the blue cheese dressing had lots of large chunks of blue cheese, and the squash casserole side had a light texture and actually tasted like squash. But you go to a place like this for the meat, and sadly, it disappointed. Especially at that price point. If I were going back, I'd go for a drink, wander around to look at the historical displays and read all about how they're restoring the Inn, and then go somewhere else for dinner. Perkins, on Coffeen at Sugarland: Ok, it's a chain, and if you've ever had breakfast at Village Inn/Denny's/JB's/etc., you know what they serve: infinite variations on eggs, omelets, pancakes, and waffles. It's all very reliable and very safe. I don't recommend them really for the food, although it's not half bad, even though the pancakes are tough: I recommend them for the scenery. This is where a lot of the local folks go for breakfast, and it's fun to sip your coffee, read the local paper, and eavesdrop on the conversations going on around. The serving staff knows the regulars and if you're in there more than twice are likely to remember you, too - they remembered us, and even why we were there. Service is as speedy as possible, so it's a great place for a quick, hearty breakfast when you've got a lot to do. They're also open until 11 pm weekdays and 24 hours on Friday and Saturday nights. This is one of the many reasons I hold them in high regard - Sheridan is a small town and many businesses roll up the sidewalks at 5pm. One of those businesses is Sugar and Spice (45 North Main St., can't find a website), a rubber stamp, scrapbooking, and coffee shop. I don't know much about rubber stamps and scrapbooking (although it looked like they had a nice assortment of products), but the small coffee bar in the back is first class. The person in the store tamps the coffee and runs the machine by hand, and it shows. They also have about six different sugar free syrups (and 5 times that sugared) and a whole mess of frozen drinks, not to mention a case full of chocolates. I had a sugar free hazelnut latte on one occasion and a sugar free caramel latte on the other, and they were both among the best coffee drinks I've had in a long time. There are two tables in the back, both of which have plenty of reading material from the local paper to craft magazines, but if you want to take your coffee to go they have these neat little plugs for the coffee lids that block up the sippy hole so you don't get hot coffee all over yourself. The Chocolate Tree, 29 E Loucks St, can't find a website: A nice chocolate and gift shop, with truffles and peanut butter cups big enough to share and huge non-pareils. It's the kind of chocolate shop that just feels comfortable to be in, even if there are too many temptations staring at you from the case. They also gift box all purchases so they're easy to carry. Marcia.