Ann_T

Well I love your attitude when it comes to feeding those that you love. I hated having to eat what was put in front of me as a kid. First of all my mom was an lousy cook and secondly meal time should be enjoyable for everyone and not a big fight over being forced to eat something one doesn't like. I'm not talking about being a picky eater either. I hate carrots to this day. We had a rule that Matthew had to taste something new before saying he didn't like it. And if he didn't like something he didn't have to eat it. It was easy to cook something that Moe and I liked and and something for Matt, and usually the sides were something everyone liked. I vowed I would never make dinner time a battle, forcing someone to eat a food they disliked. Life is too short.

Cooked the rice last night and made Chicken Fried Rice this morning. Moe is having it for breakfast and I'm going to take some to work for lunch.

Thanks @weinoo.

@MaryIsobel Happy Birthday to your husband. I grilled a rack of lamb for dinner tonight. Used the melon baller to cut out potatoes to make Parisienne potatoes and we had rutabaga and steamed green beans as sides. I also made Moe his favourite mint sauce with mint from our garden. It is a simple fresh mint sauce with mint, red wine vinegar, a little honey, salt, pepper and a little garlic. This tastes better than in looks with the mint sauce.

It has already been cured. We will probably use up this batch of garlic in 4 to 6 weeks. So I will just keep it in a basket lightly covered. I'll buy more between now and September , enough I hope to get through to late January/February. A friend, who is a chef, said that she actually freezes heads of garlic. That the cloves separate and peel easily right out of the freezer so I might try freezing a few to see how that works.

I have three favourite seasons and they are Garlic Season, Tomato Season and Corn Season. There are a few local farm stands in the Cowichan Valley and in the Victoria area. The Flatlander's Farm with farm stand is five minutes from our place. I stopped by the Farm to buy garlic today. Russian Red garlic that is the most perfect garlic I have ever seen. Also bought fresh picked green beans, a zucchini and fresh eggs. I have a rack of lamb that I'm going to grill tonight and I'm thinking the green beans will be one of the sides.

Haven't seen any local corn here yet. Or any from the mainland. Will watch for it though.

Everything is definitely green here. All winter actually, except for the few days that we might get snow. But tomatoes really need a lot of heat. Even the corn out here isn't as good as corn from Ontario and is ready much later. One of the reasons I love it out here is that it is green year around except in the summer when you would expect it to be. With the water restrictions on from lack of rain, the grass every where is basically brown and dry. First rain though it will be green again. A hot summer is what I miss the most about Ontario. That and the wonderful restaurants in Toronto. But people here start to complain when the temperature gets over 70°F. So I will take the mild summer to not have to deal with a long cold winter.

Made Moe blueberry pancakes for breakfast. He likes lots of maple syrup.

We actually have cool springs and can often have frost after the May long weekend. Doesn't often get warm here until later in June. And can start raining and not stop by the end of August. This year so far had been good for the tomato plants. Places like Windsor, Ontario and the surrounding area have an extended spring and an extended fall so perfect tomato growing . Moe grew up in Windsor.

Last night's dinner. Italian roast chicken served with Bucatini Aglio E Olio.

Tomatoes don't grow as well here on the west coast. Not like Ontario. Tomatoes love hot days and nights. So growing tomatoes here is always a hit and miss. So far this summer has been warmer and the evenings haven't cooled off as much so our tomatoes are doing better. Other than these Early girls, it will still be a while before we start harvesting the other varieties we planted. Usually later in August and into September.

I'm not big on breakfast, but I do love toast and tomatoes. Especially when the tomatoes are from our garden and the toast is slices of homemade baguette. These are Early Girl tomatoes.

Roast Pork Tenderloin with a mushroom cream sauce with spaetzle and green beans.

@DuvelLove your dad's smile. Moe's breakfast this morning. Toasted Cheddar Ciabatta bacon sandwich. Ciabatta was baked this morning. And yesterday's breakfast Soft boiled (steamed) eggs with toast fingers.

I had made three batches of dough Tuesday morning and two went into the fridge immediately after the last stretch and fold. One batch (600g flour) was left out and used to make a couple of pizzas. The larger batch (1000g flour) came out of the fridge Tuesday night and left on the counter overnight and I baked Baguettes and a round Wednesday morning. The third batch (600g flour) remained in the fridge until Friday when Matt took it out, divided it in half, used one half for pizza and put the other half immediately back into the fridge. Wasn't sure after five days whether this dough would still have some life left in it, but I took it out of the fridge last night before bed and by 4:00 AM this morning it had more than doubled. So, I stretched it out, added some shredded cheddar and shaped it into a ciabatta loaf. I figured I had nothing to lose. And besides I always tell everyone that bread dough is very forgiving and really difficult to screw up. I think this little Ciabatta proves the point. Made Moe a bacon sandwich on toasted ciabatta for breakfast.

Thankfully I always have some baguettes in the freezer. It has cooled off enough to bake. Started a batch of dough last night and left out on the counter until 3:30 this morning. Last baguette out of the oven before 6 AM. Baked six baguettes. Edited to add Crumb Photo

Last night's dinner. Same day dough made yesterday morning by 9:00 AM and it was ready to use by 5:00 PM I baked two small in the Ooni. Both with the same toppings of Italian sausage and Kalamata olives.

Nothing like having fries for dinner and again for breakfast. But what is a Club House Sandwich without homemade fries. Still had the other chicken breast left from the chicken I roasted yesterday so I made a toasted Club House this morning for Moe and I to share.

I would rather my toast be slightly burnt than what I call anemic. Love lots of butter dripping into the crevasses. Hot toast, melted butter.

@FeChef, there is no real recipe. Just season your bird the way you normally would and roast at 500°F. Remove the chicken from the pan , and either put the pan back in the oven to brown the juices or do the same on top of the stove. The fat will separate from the browned bits. If needed, add a little more fat (butter) and then flour to make a roux. Add chicken broth and season with salt, pepper and sage and or thyme. Or whatever herbs you would normally use. Pictorial I did for the blog way back when.......https://thibeaultstable.com/2014/11/22/roast-chicken-and-how-to-make-gravy/

I wondered the same. So when you add chicken broth is that from homemade frozen or purchased? Sometimes it is homemade, fresh or frozen and sometimes it is purchased chicken broth. Today was purchased.

I'm not quite sure I understand the question. I don't know any other way to make gravy, be it chicken/turkey/beef/pork etc... You need to separate the fat from the juices by letting the juices cook in the fat until they start to brown. Then you make the roux and you need a liquid. I guess you could use water, but the gravy wouldn't be nearly as rich or flavourful. I made a blog post on How to Make Gravy a number of years ago. https://thibeaultstable.com/2014/11/22/roast-chicken-and-how-to-make-gravy/

Yes, when I take the chicken out of the skillet , the skillet goes back into the oven until the juices brown, and the fat separates, which doesn't take long at 500°F. If needed I will sometimes add a little butter. I add flour to make a roux and then chicken broth, season with salt and pepper and today I put a few sprigs of thyme and a couple of sage leaves from the garden into simmer with the gravy.

The best part of being an early riser is being able to bake or cook in the morning. I got a head start on tonight's dinner. Presalted a 4.5lb chicken yesterday morning and roasted it this morning. I always roast using the high heat - 500°F - method. Moe had the two legs with toast for breakfast and we will have one of our favourite dinners - Hot Chicken Sandwiches with fries and peas. And this little chicken netted me 3 cups of chicken gravy - liquid gold.