suzilightning

we are about 20 minutes away from dinner. yellow rice with black beans shrimp with green herbs mango avacado salsa john thinks he will go for a beer with this - i'm leaning towards unsweetened iced tea. the champagne for later and the oscars.

just browned the chicken then took it out of the pot. put it back in with the already cooked andouille(and with the current batch the emeril's spicy sausage) to finish cooking the last half hour of gumbo making. i did lemon rice the last time and tonight will do organic brown rice. percyn - i added my file powder at the same time i did the chicken and andouille back to the pot. i prefer the taste. who knows....

susan - such a cool story... librarians come through again!!!! dinner tonight is ready to go at 6:15, the time john is supposed to get home. last night when i finally got home i made another set of chicken and sausage gumbo. unfortunately the local shoprite hasn't had any andouille but they did have emeril's "kicked up " sausage on sale and i did have coupons. so gumbo with rice (and pickled okra for me) and a mixed salad. negra modelo beer to go with it.

ohhhhhh...research. johnnybird is going away in a week or so... so i will plan on doing this when he is gone(he HATES the smell and taste of lamb). instead the dangerous dining companion, 'chelle, who is from england and i will have a cool lunch

the brown paper is off the windows...the sign in the window says hot rod's real pit bbq...cool bar with hot rod flames and margarita glasses...small round tables...not open yet maybe soon - though i got a funny look from the two dudes sitting inside when i was checking it out

last night we were back to our semi-vegetarian mode with "enhanced" brocco-leekie soup 1 tsp. evtra virgin olive oil 1 tsp. butter 1 large leek, white and light green parts sliced fine 1 lb of broccoli- florets separated and stems peeled and sliced 4 cloves of garlic, sliced 1 qt capon stock 2 bay leaves 1 tsp. thyme 1 tsp kosher salt white pepper to taste 6 small yukon gold potatoes, peeled and minced 1 can small white beans, drained and rinsed melt the butter in the olive oil. add the leek and cook over medium heat for 5-8 minutes, until wilted and lightly colored. add broccoli and garlic, stock, bay leaves, thyme and salt and pepper. bring to a boil then back off to a simmer. in a separate pot bring salted water to a boil. add potatoes and cook 10 minutes. they will be a bit firm which is how you want them. when broccoli stem are soft take the simmering soup off and process in batches, carefully, in a blender. return to the pot, add the potatoes and white beans and reheat. serve with foccacia(ours had extravirgin olive oil and sea salt on it. after it came out of the oven i sprinkled basil and romano cheese over it.)

i have two meatloaves ready to go into the oven. if you bake one for only half an hour the pull out, cool and freeze it can be finished baking 30-45 minutes in a 350 oven. what about individual meatloaves for the kids then just par bake 15 minutes or so and follow above instructions?

steady nw wind here with temps topping out about 25F. there are a cinnamon strusel coffee cake and a blackberry kucken in the oven right now. a head of garlic, two meatloaves and 4 potatoes are ready to start baking for dinner and leftovers. john is due back anytime now and the kucken should be ready for him to eat when he gets in the door.

rachel - you won't need your dried porcini to make the mushroom soup that maggie did(bourdain's). i followed her recipe but used the baby bellas(sale only through yesterday).so flavorul and creamy once i whizzed it up in the blender.

LMAOROTF i have made quiche(or as a former schoolmate's mom called it quickie)professionally and personally for many years thought i don't eat it myself. pate brisee blind baked then... sauteed onion, spinach and feta or emmentaler sauteed onion, ham, swiss clams and cheddar(i think - my mom made the clam quiche for our wedding) sundried tomatos, ham, manchego john and his family do tend to like this for christmas day

i do keep a few convenience foods in the house: Trader Joe's 1/4 lb. pre cooked buffalo burgers frozen peas boboli thin crust pizzas(for me) pillsbury sweet rolls (for John) - these are a stop gap for me if i'm busy or don't have time to do my regular baking frozen maltashen from our local german butcher - all i have to do is defrost saute, make a beef broth and top with onion confit at work i keep several cans of healthy choice split pea soup incase anyone has forgotten lunch johnnybird has a box of white castle hamburgers at work.

am waiting for johnnybird to get back to give a full report on Sea Watch where he and a fellow engineer ate last night. they originally went there monday and at 8 pm there was a 2 hour wait. john couldn't believe it - then i reminded him VALENTINES DAY. so they ate at chili's meetings on tuesday didn't end till they were thrown out at 7 pm and dave, the other engineer came down with the nj cold everyone(moi included) has come down with so tuesday night for john was chicken noodle soup from the freezers/store down in the hotel lobby. last night was Sea Watch and john loved it though some of the other engineers thought it was a bit "pricey" at 24.00 for an entree. hello!!!!! fresh seafood!!!!! can we come out of our provinical mindset? will edit after i get to see the menu he brought back for me - where is the drool emoticon?

[This time I'm going for a corn chowder with crawfish (a restaurant owner friend has a bunch in his freezer he's willing to part with). I'm thinking of cooking several bags of sweet corn first, then running it through a food mill to make a thick base to add to the chowder. I'm also going to boil down some corn cobs, from which I've cut the kernels -- I'll carmelize them try poaching your corn cobs in milk or evaporated milk then use that when you cook your potatoes. start trying the salt pork then add onions or shallots, leeks and then red pepper. then your milk and potatoes and the corn. finish off with the mudbugs and chives or flat leaf parsley as garnish.

finally feeling almost human. i have been subsisting on a soup of broth(any in the freezer), frozen peas and bow ties with plenty of pepper. actually used all my broth up and made a pot of capon/chicken/vegetable stock that i finished and refilled my freezer with today. thinking of that senegalese soup... though i think i want french onion. though the sense of smell is so off i really don't want to eat...

forgot about dixie

pop's smooch - cooked macaroni, smooshed up tomatoes, cooked ground(beef/turkey/buffalo - your choice), cooked onions. bake about 1/2 hour and freeze. will take about 1 hour at 325 from frozen. i second the ideas for chili and mannicotti in sauce. how about soups? vegetable, vegetable beef, tomato? if you are not freezing it how about mac and cheese with cut up hot dogs? the kids might like that. congrats to jeff's brother and sil. here's to an easy and healthy birth.

can you get shiner(texas) or jax(la)? we drank negro modela...

When is Hot Rod's going to open. I drove to their old location in Mine Hill a few weeks after they closed. I was told they were opening a new place by the end of August 2004. I checked their web site at the end of october & they still weren't open? What is going on? I am jonesing for some BBQ close to home. ←

speed week(s) - so who are you hoping to see do well at daytona, susan( sorry i'm a watkins glen girl myself). loved the mixed grill, though... i could sink my teeth into that percyn - cheeze wit not withstanding beautiful(good luck next year) jin - i now have some new things to work on before johnnybird comes home later this week...merci still feeling a bit puny but really craved a denver egg sandwich on toasted whole wheat english muffin. john is having some mac and cheese with ham and swiss chard with garlic in order to finish it off before he goes off to ft. lauderdale for the week...

tomato ketchup... with blue cheese especially on a medium rare burger. or a garlic flavored hot dog. on a toasted bun with pickle relish don't know how to explain that vinegary tart tomato sauce with ooey gooey moldy blue cheese but it just does it for me and has since i was about 4 years old - followed up only by blue cheese on a ritz cracker that has been liberally spread with miracle whip

a few things come to mind: i use salt now(grew up in a household that when my mom turned 40 the salt shaker went out the window as her bp rose)and have at least 5 kinds in the kitchen right now i use no prepackaged foods like hamburger helper but do keep a variety of canned beans, good tomatoes and pastas in the pantry i am more inquisitive about various regional/national styles of cooking. i've gone through my new mexico, veracruz and floribbean periods and now am working through thai. we have shifted more to organic, free range and local whenever possible. john bought a new digital camera and wants to photograph our food

not following low carb(since i used rendered duck fat for my roux). just interested in what others thought and why and how this might have been developed. poor baby - i only have a slight fever, sneezing and a ticklish throat(probably post nasal drip). time for a whiskey and tea!!

[i will swear that I read somewhere (here?) that someone ran into chili served with chocolate chips sprinkled on top! OK . . . Maybe I dreamed it. But, I don't usually have bad dreams. I think as far out as I will go is the shredded cabbage and radishes, thank you. ←

wow- some beautiful food though susan in fl's chicken sounds especially good and that tofu frittata may just send me into the kitchen to make some basic eggs... got sent home from work as being "contagious"(started sneezing a tiny head cold but the powers that be are ruthless this year and your supervisor has the power to send you home). no real appetite but have been drinking red grapefruit juice and seltzer, earl grey and made some foccacia with garlic, sea salt and fresh herbs for john when he gets home.

highcef and fistfulla - i was sent home from work as being "contagious"(head cold). i have been sucking down theraflu and zicam so don't want anything but some grapefruit juice and seltzer. to "stir the pot" so to speak. in cooking light they talk about toasting the flour in the oven - minus any fat- for an hour at 300 degrees or so. any thoughts ducks from incoming southern missles (hey guys my southerly credentials are one year in hooks, tx - and working in texarkana public liberry )