suzilightning

JOHNNYBIRD IS GONE!!!! (though i do love him, really, i do) now i can actually eat for me. dinner was a mixed lettuce salad with cucumbers and a sherry vinaigrette, lamb patties(ground lamb, salt, pepper, cumin, tumeric, garlic, minced garlic, minced shallot)pan fried served with greek yoghurt and german potato salad

did it in the paper version today....

just picked up from ack-ah-me (acme): brown's bird seed 4 lb. for 1.00 (80 lbs.) gatorade 32 oz - 1.00 per bottle (only the clear ones for johnnybird, thank you) acme ketchup 32 oz. - 1.00 per bottle

rachel - that bison from shoprite is wonderful! i've been using it for months now. 18" of snow removed from around the house, the cars, the patio and down to the bird feeder. came in and finished making white bean and kale soup. sent some over to my neighbor who was showing off his "big unit" and took some swipes at my driveway so all i had to do was tidy up around the cars. since john will be away next week have to use up the stuff in the fridge. soup and a turkey club sounds good. though baked beans and hot dogs does have it's charm. hmmmm.... if i cheat a bit they could be ready by 7 and i have the stuff to make brown bread with raisins. gotta go......

not feeling quite the thing but managed to make johnnybird some french toast as a treat served with real maple syrup, of course. ususally he doesn't like to eat much at first - toast with toast dope, cinnamon rolls or maybe an egg sarnie but since he didn't go to bed till 3 and got up about 9:30 he could manage a bit more. will see what the next 15" of snow bring for breakfast tomorrow - lots of coffee for me i predict

edit ...why do I still have grand union oregano???? ←

just took 5" off the driveway, cars, either side of the house and the deck. HIMSELF can do the shoveling he likes down the backyard for access to the feeders. i'm NOT doing that in the dark. we're using up stuff since john has to go on business travel monday. lunch was vegetable beef barley soup, dinner for john was split pea and toasted cheese sandwiches. i've got an infected tooth and don't feel like eating anything so had some soy yoghurt and some coffee milk. also have been ingesting sports drinks to keep hydrated with the minerals. don't know if i will have to work tomorrow. if i do - more leftovers. if not maybe some spaghetti with bolognese sauce and a salad(stopped yesterday and picked up some mixed greens). nest week i'm single so who knows?

i'm going to have my eating friend 'chelle over and TRY to explain american football to her so she can ask me questions and not annoy her husband. lifetime new england fan. though i will come back to my native new york and do some beef on weck ( fredonia style not buffalo), bean salad, german potato salad and some beers. though if my team is in the bowl i won't spend it in the jacuzzi...

yesterday - ROASTED CAULIFLOWER today (so far) - 1- 365 organic chocolate truffles

snowangel you are my new goddess.... and should be married to johnnybird who is the recycling german fuherer. he brings things home from work... we recycle all paper, plastic and cans - they are picked up alternate weeks. tomorrow is plastic and cans. junk mail and newspaper next week. garbage on mondays and thursdays. we usually put one bag out a week. fats from meatloaf, etc. into containers then out in the bagged garbage. we are on a lot of less than a quarter acre so no compost heap here - no room

Fast forward 20-odd years and, well... um... as of last year, Valentine's day is now my wedding anniversary too. ←

so many to choose from: lamb burger served in a whole wheat pita with greek yoghurt and chopped cucumber and thinly sliced red onion 1/4 pound buffalo burger on toasted onion roll with fresh jersey tomatoes and bibb lettuce 80/20 ground round medium on a toasted roll, crisp bacon, maytag blue cheese and some sundried tomato ketchup.

just had lunch with my dangerous english friend at: Thai Nam Phet 296 Rt 46 East Rockaway, NJ 973-627-8400 tues - thurs 11:30 am - 10 pm fri & sat 11:30 am - 10:30 pm sun 3:00 pm-9:30 pm and, Rosie, BYO DISCLAIMER i am no thai food expert(though i play one on tv and want to get better acquainted). we walked in and were greeted and seated immediately. ice water was poured and the upselling began - asking if we wanted tea, coffee, thai iced tea, thai iced coffee or hot apple cider (1.50-2.50). the menu covers entrees and appetizers and in the back is the lunch special menu served mon- fri 11:30 -3:00 pm. we decided on the lunch specials: Pad Preow Whan and Tom Yam Gai for me, Pad Thai and Thai salad for 'chelle with Po Pia Tod to share. and a thai iced tea for me. i asked the server what was in it and he said "things from Thailand". ok. the salad, soup and iced tea came out immediately. the soup was spicy without being lip searing and i loved the hint of lemongrass and kaffir lime. the thai peanut dressing on 'chelle's salad really gave it a wonderful flavor. before we had finished the spring rolls came out: 4 crispy little cigars of hot goodness with plum sauce. oh, my the pad thai was beautifully presented and the pad prew whan i had with chicken. crispy cucumber, softened tomatoes, pineapple, onion strips, scallions in a non-gloppy sweet and sour sauce which could have been a tad more sour(that's just me). one thing 'chelle noted that she liked this cuisine because it seemed less oily than most of the chinese food she has had around here. the total was 23.70 plus tip. i think i could also get johnnybird to try this because not all of the dishes are spicy and i want to try more of the spicier dishes. i want to try the larb, Yum Ped Yang(duck salad), Mee Grob, curry puff, Tamarind duck, Chicken Yellow Currry, Ginger duck and beef with oyster sauce.

Come on now people. Most of you all get on the same banter about how we in the business use these occasions to (1) Rip you off. (2) Find every way to take advantage of our customers on holidays and (3) Provide inadequate meals while under pressure. I've got more pet peeves that I've heard but I'll keep it short. lou- i would NEVER think this of you. i just don't enjoy all the rush, crush and noise. that's why i prefer lunch most days at the bar . if we do go out we rarely if ever go out on the weekend. i wonder how many places normally dark on monday are going to be open to pick up the extra?

As I diplomatically try to explain it, my wife has well-defined culinary comfort zones, outside of which she is reluctant to venture. Usually when I explain it this way, she follows up with "I'm a fussy eater like most of my inlaws they aren't challenged or exposed to anything other in their comfort level After I recovered, we discussed what she didn't like about fish, and what she wanted to avoid. The answer? "That fishy taste and smell." HELLO if it smells fishy it isn't fresh. as far as fish taste usually you get in the fish like blue or weakfish that have the stronger fat steak running down the spine. i grew up fishing and eating these fish and you CAN'T pay me enough to eat them now - which is why i will never fish for this species. if i catch it i will eat it. the "fishy" taste is probably the fat streak.

about going out on monday if you can find someplace open? or about the place itself? v.d. is the freaking worst day to go out. johnnybird and i will celebrate the day before (and i guess some in the njforum are going out to the chinese new year celebration). have to check if i have to work sunday. if not..... but i will pack a special meal and some treats for the birdy for work on the day

roasted sprouts are divine. i've never had fresh limas...only favas (they're different, right?) but super fresh peas make me giddy. ←

try a different style of sherry than the cream(as well as copious amounts of garlic) say an amontillado or a manzanilla. maybe briefly(15 minutes) marinate your shrimp in the sherry with salt and pepper.... then olive oil, butter and garlic

chufi - i covet, CRAVE your first course dinner tonight was more experimentation - wilde green chicken i copied out from an irish cookbook several years ago. don't get it but my friend's birthname is wilde - an english/irish lass. it is chicken breasts marinated in a mix of chunky peanutbutter, olive oil and minced garlic then sauteed in olive oil in which paprika, salt and pepper and dry mustard are heated. add water and cook. served over lemon rice with my first attempt at ROASTED CAULIFLOWER. OH MY GAWD!!!!! i never jumped on this bandwagon before but it is awsome. will turn 'chelle on to this since the only veg her hubby eats are of the cruciferous kind. (hello - someone who doesn't like peas!!!!! - ok so she doesn't like lima beans[am i the only sane one in this land of the insane - limas grown in the right terroir are to die for]) want to now try broccoli and sprouts... definite possibilities here

cool - one i actually can get and do have in my cellar right now. now what to serve with it hmmmmmmm.......

vegetable beef barley soup is on the stove. we'll have that with german rye bread and an arugula salad. dessert for john later will be cranberry orange tea loaf that is in the oven along with tomorrow morning's french crumb cake. i'm debating between a glass of stout and a glass of red wine...we'll see what johnnybird wants when he gets home. since SOMEONE didn't get home till almost seven and i was hungry at 6 i ate and john got the soup reheated with a glass of stout

maggie - that does sound dead easy. hmmmmm guess i'll have to do that next week when johnnybird is out of town on business. some nice rye bread with lurpak... beef vegetable barley soup on the stove as i type. some for work as well as dinner tonight. we're going to need it ambient temps at 0F and hopefully the wind will die down. though it does make chilling a bottle of wine quite easy

cold and i was craving gravy so... pasta bolognese made with ground buffalo, yellow and red peppers and Bully Hill Ives a simple salad with a vinaigrette stay warm and happy cooking all edited to add that my (almost) 18 year old cat really enjoyed the ground buffalo. glad i can give her some fun

supposed to go into single digits here(the guy on metro traffic just said tomorrow is supposed to be "Wicked Cold"). i'm off for a week(have to use up comp time) and john just got home from poughkeepsie. i was craving meat gravy so made a bolognese with ground buffalo, red and yellow peppers and Bully Hill Ives. took split pea soup up for the people at work, made cinnamon buns for john's breakfast and have to do the following tomorrow: vegetable beef soup to take up to work later in the week(and for our dinner as well) rye bread more cranberry orange tea cake just got a delivery of free trade cocoa so maybe some fudgy bourbon brownies

ohh, ohh, ohh...... venison sirloin with a nice mushroom sauce?????