suzilightning

i have been having lunch at the aag bar with one booth consisting of mom, dad and two kids. service was impeccible, kid friendly food and lou even put rugrats on the tv that they could see. very well behaved kids, too.

at just about any bar in a restuarant... outide on our patio during nice weather... i want to eat on susan and russ' porch especially since it is dark, ugly and rainy here

sunday brought us pork not lamb. the pork in guiness from the Les Halles cookbook to be exact. what a wonderful smell for the two hours it took to cook. served it with sauteed red chard and dinosaur kale and mashed potatoes. no need for dessert.

we had a late lunch so dinner was made up of some of the shopping we had done earlier in the day at Gary's Wine and Marketplace and Whole Foods: Cashel Blue Cheese Iowa Blue(not maytag) Port Reyes wild boar prosciutto wrapped with thin sliced swiss water crackers champagne truffles 3m (a german white wine) and charles de frere

Johnnybird and I stopped here yesterday for lunch after running some errands. He had the grilled shrimp entrée which was 8 dry rubbed shrimp that were grilled and served over red beans and rice. They were moist and the rice and beans were beautifully seasoned. I had the chopped brisket sandwich and three ribs, of which I kindly let John have two, and the honey glazed carrots. The meat was wonderfully flavored and made a great sandwich. John had two of the on the rocks margaritas that came in what seemed like a pint glass but his favorite thing – since we ate in the dining room- was the cup of crayons and the butcher paper on the table on which to draw. Total with 3 drinks, one entrée, one sandwich and 3 extra ribs – 45.00 We also got to meet Toby, Chef Anthony’s wife. She was a delight to talk to and her story of having to close early on Wednesday, the day of the snow storm, BECAUSE THEY RAN OUT OF FOOD!!!!!! was amazing. Keep up the good food

from the time our neighbor alexandra was about 2 1/2 she named herself pie and that is what we call her.

Bartles & Jaymes is the brand you're thinking of. ←

tomato florentine soup tonight. my neighbor gave me some of her canned tomatoes with herbs from last summer so.....onions, garlic, fresh bay leaf, tarragon, the tomatoes, vegetable stock, saffron sun dried tomatoes, water, pastina, spinach. will see how the proportions work then finish the recipe. n.b. i have a recipe that i and a few friends have tested for a variation. is anyone interested in giving it a test(a tomato rice soup)? i want to enter the recipe in a contest but want to see if it works/makes sense to someone outside the ne. pm me if you are interested. thank you for your support(and what advertising campaign did that come from?)

johnnybird is due in about 45 minutes. dinner is at a stopping point just before finishing tomato florentine soup ( just have to add the pastina then the well cleaned spinach). decided to make openfaced cheese sandwiches to go with it - toasted rye bread with grated cheddar mixed with mustard - i guess a semi welsh rarebit and a slaw of jicima and red pepper. don't care if it doesn't really fit but it really called to me - sweet and crunchy and sour in the dressing. yum

for johnnybird - leftover corned beef hash with an egg scrambled in it and ketchup. me - LARGE cup of orange cappacino and a turkey ham and heavenly light swiss wrap. hey - i have a group of 5th graders at 10 for library instruction and research, i need my energy.

friday was soup night using up udon noodles, stock, frozen peas and shrimp from the fridge/freezer. dessert was a fruit salad of mandarin oranges, jackfruit and papaya saturday: spice coated orange game hens with baby yellow and green beans and carrots and baked sweet potatoes (enough leftovers to make a pot pie for john's lunches weds and thurs). wine was 2003 Chateu Souverain Alexander Valley Sauvigonon blanc tonight: it was wet and nasty (though NO SNOW!!!) so baked meatballs, basic tomato sauce, linguine, green salad and 2002 Opici Chianti - yes the one in the straw basket . used it in making the sauce. tomorrow - leftovers since i have a class of 5th graders at 10 am and work until 9 pm.

i usually cook at home 4 nights a week and make enough so we have leftovers the other 3 - as well as food for lunch. am getting ready to post on the dinner thread but besides the dinner i made tonight and last night - i have a leftover game hen, yellow and green beans to make into a pot pie on tuesday for john's lunch on weds and thurs made a batch of foccacia to send to work for john's snacks during the week. takes maybe 20 minutes to bring together and then rising and baking i'm still good on coffee cake and toffee blondies for his other snacks - will probably have to do more of these my next day off, tuesday breakfast this morning for john was a fried egg sandwich with turkey bacon. i was eating soy yoghurt and fruit. tomorrow it will probably be french toast to use up the last of the portugese sweet bread from last tuesday or maybe just toasted with the latest batch of toast dope. i also have several batches of soup individually frozen from my participation on the soup thread. it makes life a bit easier when all i have to do for the 3 nights i work late® is grab something from the freezer for a late dinner or to throw in our lunch bags. i enjoy eating out occasionally though i prefer lunch for that. did try a new bbq place on tuesday last week. johnnybird and i are planning to go out for lunch friday when we have to run errands. we do eat out a bit more on vacation though our condo does have a full refrigerator, 2 burners and a microwave and, since we tend to go off season, most of the places are open only on the weekends.

wow that parsley soup is really calling me. how did i miss it? oh, yeah - i was sick. maybe tuesday when i'm off and it is supposed to be 50 degrees and sunny last night was a use up night so shrimp noodle soup 4 cups chicken stock 1 medium yellow onion, diced 2 shallots, sliced 3 carrots, diced 2 thai bird chilis 30 large shrimps about 1/2 cup frozen peas 3 cups leftover udon noodles 1/4 cup mirin chili oil cook the onion, shallot, carrots and chilis in the stock 8 minutes. add shrimp and cook 2-3 minutes. add leftover noodles and mirin. simmer 1 minute. serve with chili oil. tomorrow i was planning on tomato pasta soup since it is supposed to be raining/snowing

not at all. it just is the first one this far out in morris county and all the people who moved from bergen and union are flooding the place

lou- i know why harold and kumar went to white castle but why would you sit in the drive in line for 1/2 an hour when there are really good burgers at this place called An American Grill?

i agree with r.p. though i can't comment on fink's since i have never had his - it wasn't sloppy wet though a small container of sauce came on the side(though this may have been for the ribs - i used the last of it for my rib today). the beans were sweetish and creamy. i added 3 ribs to my sandwich for 2.99 and shared with the people at work - the spicerub is assertive without being obnoxiously spicy and creates a nice crust. the cornbread wasn't sweet but the butter tasted like lime and went very, very well with the bread - i ate that for dessert today. i hung out at the bar waiting for my order and had a good time bsing with the barmaid. she said they are fairly quiet in house until about 3 pm - most of the trade is local lunch takeout. total was about 14.00 for sandwich, beans, ribs, coleslaw and cornbread. one of my coworkers and her husband went for dinner last night - he had the meatloaf platter with mash and corn, she had the halfslab of ribs and said that they were to die for. this from a woman who was on a rib kick last year and at ribs at least once a week. they also tried the hush puppies and a piece of the chef's mom's cheesecake that d said she couldn't eat - it was so rich. with a few drinks she said it was about 40.00 for the two of them. the added bonus was getting to chat with teh people at the tables around them including the owners/chef's mom, wife and child. definitely have to get johnnybird here - i want to try the margaritas and the sliced wrap brisket or the ribeye sandwich or the jacked-up jambalaya or the grilled shrimp or the grilled quesadilla or the drunken shrimp......

THEY'RE OPEN!!!!! got takeout and it was sooooo hard not to eat it on the way up to work. will give a full report later after the 5th graders are gone. start thinking about pming some dates to visit the north country

OH...MY...GAWD... memories. i was a sickly child(asthma) so our "egg hunting" was usually indoors. you don't want to know what it smells like the next week if you miscounted the eggs that were hidden !!! it was usually around easter "grandma" and "grandpa" conklin - the neighbors who had known our family for about 75 years migrated north from FL. they always had baskets for their real granddaughter sallie and their adopted "graddaughters" that included those sugar egfs. we loved the panoramas that they gave us. never was a big fan of jelly beans EXCEPT the black ones(like my grandmother) unfortunately the licorice does push my bp up a bit so i no longer scrounge them from wherever i can find them. i do remeber the lamb - a point of contention in years past with the huband. we always had paschal lamb for easter. the first time i tried to cook it for my husband and his family i was told VERY forcefully that ham was the only thing cooked for easter in their family and to bring lamb up was tantamount to an insult(subsequently i found out his mom loved lamb but his dad hated it, therefore his kids hated it[except for one]) - now i sneak my mil lamb any time i can) never cared for the cadbury eggs or any of the modern candies. give me a golden book any day - the books and coloring books were what we usually got in our baskets course i also got my new spring coat(sewn by my mom) for easter every year.

when johnnybird does get home he will be greeted....with a cocktail and me dinner is to a stopping point - shrimp with minced garlic, udon noodles with green peas and a peanut sauce, cucumber and carrot salad it's freakin' snowing again though not like tuesday actually can't wait for the weekend. john will be up in po-town for a visit and concert. i get to cook lamb the lamb curry i will share with my dangerous dining partner, 'chelle and i picked up ground lamb to explore with a mix of nigella's and monica bhide's recipe for kheeme (sorry suvir - it isn't grilling season in this nw nj household - otherwise it would be lamb burgers!!!!!!!!!!). i'm thinking of doing this with a gratin of dried mushrooms and potatoes in some sort of a bechemel (with approriate amounts of freshly ground nutmeg, of course)

ok, ladies - looks like we will have to make mike and steve honorary ladies - not that steve hasn't already dressed up as one of us already. though fried chicken and mac and cheese does sound good... mike, quick tip. use a dryer with a buzzer that will let you know when your shirts are done. no more ironing.

the snow seems to be over... the wind is really beginning to pick up and i am getting ready to go out and shovel at least the driveway. made two soups to freeze so john and i can take some for dinner the next two days and the rest is frozen so we have it and john can take some for his mom: smoky black bean soup and winter squash and apple soup smooch(macaroni, crushed tomato, ground buffalo, onions and peppers) jalapeno corn bread andouille and chicken gumbo - for lunch at work tomorrow, along with some white rice and chives chocolate cinnamon cake - for john and i to take to work and share banana nut tea cake for john's munchies boy so i love my day off when it snows - keep warm all

ok al_dente... how 'bout you show us your butt? that might satisfy some cravings... n.b. how come so many guys are starting to invade this thread? can't they read or are they so desperate to avoid work?

this is an adaption of a ming tsai <sigh, drool> hot and sour shrimp soup we use 1/4 cup neutral oil 1 lb. shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and reserved, thinly sliced 4 thai chilis 2 lb. shrimps, shelled, deveined and shells reserved 1 large onion and 2 medium shallots, chopped 2" piece of fresh ginger, sliced 1/2 cup fish sauce 3 quarts chicken stock 2 4 oz cans sliced bamboo shoots 1/4 cup fresh lime juice 1/2 cup chopped cilantro(or italian flat leaf parsley) 1/2 cup basil leaves, chiffonnaded in a large, deep skillet heat half the oil then add the shiitake and season with salt and pepper. cover and cook over moderate heat until tender, about 5 minutes. uncover and cook, stirring until the mushrooms are browned,about 3 minutes. transfer to a plate. add the rest of the oil to the skillet, add the chiles, shrimp shells, onion and ginger and cook over moderate heat until the onion is softened about 10-15 minutes. add the fish sauce and stock and bring to a boil. simmer over moderate heat, about 10-15 minutes. strain the shrimp broth into a large bow. return the broth to the skillet, bring to a simmer over moderate heat. add teh shrimp, shiitake, and bamboo shoots. cook until the shrimp are pink and curled, about 2 minutes. add the lime juice and add salt and pepper to taste. to serve ladle into bowls and sprinkle with the cilantro(parsley) and basil.

the snow sems to have come to an end - just blowing as the temps drop and the windchill plunges. johnnybird is going up to his mom's this weekend so i did two soups (and froze enough for him to take up for her) - smoky black bean soup and winter squash and apple soup. will keep some out for our lunches on weds and thurs. i have a recipe for asparagus vichyssoise - will try it when it warms up a bit

after 60F yesterday it looks like there are only 4-5 inches of snow on the ground and most of the storm is past - the town plow just made it's second pass. now the wind is beginning to pick up and they expect minus wind chills tomorrow. how can i think of a garden? but i am - just ordered some monkeyflower seeds and hosta for the north side of the house. two dwarf blueberry bushes that i can bring in during the winter and put on my back porch, a french tarragon plant and some seeds my girlfriend and i will split for our herbs. i plan on buying patio tomato plants from our local vegetable stand guy. spring ...spring...spring