suzilightning

<BUMP> we head down on 1 may for our annual visit. anything new in the area?

sunday morning breakfast for john. buttermilk pancakes with blueberries, turkey sausage and real maple syrup. second breakfast about 2.5 hours later: badly photographed soft scrambled eggs.

saturday i was craving shrimp so here was dinner(forgive the steam - it was just out of the oven). baked shrimp in a chunky tomato sauce with buccatini. this is a definite keeper. nice flavor to the sauce and the shrimp weren't overcooked even though i had to remove the shells for johnnybird. it was supposed to be baked with feta but neither of us really cares for that cheese so i left it out.

johnnybird stumbled on this show but a different episode with a single mother in alaska whose only animal protein was the salmon she fished and it followed her and her 4 year old son trying to amass enough to see them through the year as well as a person on a coop with his partner and child. nice concept but the pigtails and skirt was a bit too much for my old chickness. i agree that this is a departure for tfn and could be a great addition.

Yesterday's soup dinner here.

a cold, blustery day with snow showers all day long. just right for this: and a spicy black bean soup for me and turkey noodle for johnnybird.

we are lucky to have several people in this semi rural area that keep bees and sell their honey at the local farmer's market and through a local coop. johnnybird goes through one s-l- of the stuff in his tea, usually wildflower and tupelo. i like to use sage honey for honey carrots and blueberry honey to drizzle over desserts.

edited to remove some more claimed books

oh, good... glad to know that i'm NOT going crazy. made a martini the first time in ages and was freaked out over the yellow pee look. then actually tasted the new version on it's own and can see some possibilities but am not crazy about it for a martini the way i like it. my usual liquor store still has the smaller bottles of the older formula so i may pick some up. being up here in the hinterlands unfortunately means you don't have access to many other vermouths... or bitters... or....

more books to get rid of: All Time Family Favorites: Country Christmas Betty Crocker's Soups and Stews Christmas Feasts from History - Lorna J. Sass Christmas Memories with Recipes Cookies for Christmas Cooking Light Annual Recipes 1997 Cooking Light Annual Recipes 1998 The Frugal Gourmet Celebrates Christmas - Jeff Smith Gifts from the Christmas Kitchen In the Kitchen with Bob: My Family's Best - Bob Bowersox Martha Stewart's Quickcook Master Class at Johnson & Wales Salads - Time/Life The Good Cook/Techniques & Recipes The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook - Rosso & Lukins if anyone is interested please let me know

saturday's snacks from 6 o'clock: 7 year Quebec cheddar Rogue blue wrapped in grape leaves with pear brandy smoked cheddar Rogue smoky blue this is what the Rogue wrapped in grape leaves looked like before being cut. the couple who own the shop had just gotten it in and we tasted together. i really got the brandy and then the blue just exploded. the female shop owner got more of the penicillin taste. ok, not cheese but we also had these oven roasted shrimps with some cocktail sauce. i really like doing shrimp this way

for just adding a little something i keep a small jar of a reduced basalmic glaze in the fridge. 1/4 cup supermarket basalmic with 2 tbsp brown sugar and reduce to a thick sauce. just a few drops on top of soups and stews. for your red sauce - definitely a few mashed anchovies and some dried herbs(basil and oregano - maybe 1/2 tsp each) to the onion and garlic in the olive oil. then two or three Tbsp of tomato paste and cook it for about 5 minutes. 1/2 red wine and reduce then the tomatoes and just before serving add some fresh herbs - flat leaf parsley and basil finely minced and a few drops of basalmic.

so the first day of spring here in nw nj and the snowflakes were drifting down all day. what better to eat than a warm cottage pie(johnnybird can't abide the smell or taste of little woolies meat so no shepherd's pie for us).

well, first day of spring and the snowflakes are gently falling down. herbs in the front container. putting in some raised beds for some peppers and, in a shady spot, some greens for me. oh, and two upside down tomato growers.

thanks, nate. unfortunately johnnybird is NOT a vegetable eater and he wanted the hollandaise so, being a wonderful wife, i obliged. anything so he will eat them and work on gaining some weight. mine were just some olive oil and salt.

a request from johnnybird: egg noodles, green beans with hollandaise and meatballs with onion brown gravy.

friday night was soup night around here. for johnnybird it was clam chowder with garlic bread for dunking. for me it was barley vegetable soup with a yummy(but bad photographed) grilled cheese made with grated cheddar and gruyere. last night was gumbo as linked here in the Gumbo cookoff

so last wednesday, on my day off, i made sure i visited the ladies' room then began to stir the roux. my reading companion for the 25 minutes to hit dark peanut butter: last night it was dinner served with white and long grain and wild rice. the flavors had melded beautifully and i am afraid to say i scarfed the whole bowl - after adding some file powder and some hot sauce.

home corned beef hash with an over easy egg

get to the A&P in Jefferson on Berkshire Valley Road just off of Glen/Ridge. found some there Tuesday.

dave, so sorry to hear about your health problems. is farmer's cheese low if fat? enhanced with some herbs or an onion confit then on some nice bread ? a recent snack: from the pear Humbolt Fog - not my favorite just a bit too acidy Mindoro Blue Vento d'Estate - really interesting. a bit of a grassy taste but nothing unpleasant. will try this one again but i'm thinking lady apples or a gala to pair with this one

for the last week or so i have not felt like cooking...hell, i haven't felt like eating. today, after my chiro appointment i decided to check out a new store. anyone guess what time it is?

not sugar but ice. hey, darlin' if it works for you do it. and eff 'em.

not to eat i hope...though River Cottage could show you how to... sorry. i've just been reading the newest Blount which is about words.

so today at work it was mardi gras beads, a festive mask drop in craft and for us, the staff paczki. i made them a filled them with red raspberry and lingonberry jams... and not a one left.