suzilightning

ok after almost 26 years of marriage this is a big day for us. john is due back from travel for work about 230 pm. i'm teaching in the morning then heading to the gym. he'll get home before me. his present is 48 godiva dark chocolate truffles that will be at his place at the table with a card. there will be some 5 year old canadian cheddar in the fridge and crackers he can snack on until i get home. since he still can't drink i bought some non-alcoholic wine for him. i'm not taking any chances and chilling a bottle of korbel rose for me. there will be a log in the fireplace with some color cones and ready to light along with the candleier. i'll set up some crab imperial and pre-cook some shrimps for shrimp cocktail. green salad for me - and artichokes for him. dessert will be....interesting. bon appetit. edited to add that the next day he gets to take me out to lunch after the class i'm teaching at a new steakhouse in town.

first friday in lent so cornflake crusted haddock "fish sticks" with tartar sauce, green beans and mash.

an olive tapenade like Jaz's then topped with some thinly sliced smoked salmon - i'm partial to Perona Farm's.

growing up on the east end of long island we had rat cheese or hoop cheese but not rat trap cheese. it was always a good, aged cheddar we would go to Dawson't Market to buy a pound or so to go with the apple pies we made when the northern spies came in the fall. not oily but sometimes it would crunch a bit as there were small crystals in it.

i subscribe to Cooking Light and asked for subscriptions to Cooks Illustrated and Fine Cooking as birthday presents. from work I get the discarded, year old issues of Bon Appetit, Gourmet and Food and Wine. if I see a recipe I like I will copy it out onto a recipe card then pass the Cooking Lights on to a girlfriend and put the Cooks Illustrated aside to send out as a bit of a extra when I get rid of cookbooks on the FREE cookbook thread. the ones from work go back to work and into the kitchen for meal time reading.

oh, rachel, what a wonderful time. belated happy to chris, too!! but i am surprised. on that nibbles table - NO pimento cheese!?!

no.... just grab a can of crescent biscuit dough,some mini franks and some brown mustard. it couldn't be simpler.

so about 9 pm last night johnnybird got a little peckish so this is what we made: grated cheese, Yancy's Fancy X-sharp cheddar, with worcestshire sauce and (don't tell johnnybird) a splash of hot sauce whipped egg whites incorporated into the cheese mix 20 minutes later i was able to snap this before johnnybird snarfed it up. not the prettiest picture but it tasted good

whenever we get together with the inlaws my fil gives johnnybird a hard look and the NO DOUBLE DIPPING lecture. (his mom was a bit ocd about germs and dirt. even made the repairmen take their shoes off or, if they refused, climb in the kitchen window). i'm with sandy on this. i mound some dip on a plate and eat off that - and i do double dip but from the other end of the chip.

last night i was off from work so i could cook! picture of dinner before saucing: asparagus, wild mushroom pilaf and chicken breasts - cooked on the bone, though skinless- that were rubbed with garlic, drizzled with olive oil then sprinkled with a mix of lemon peel and white pepper. the sauce was chicken broth, white wine, lemon juice and capers thickened with wondra flour. about 2 hours later johnnybird and i split a piece of english muffin bread i had baked that was covered with Tupelo honey. didn't quite get the consistancy that my mom's used to but good none the less.

yesterday at The Thirsty Moose. the ONLY thing i go there for: i freaked the kid waiter out because he went to hand me a menu but i said "i know what i want. wings, medium, no celery and a salad with blue cheese dressing". something to drink? "no, but get me those wings". hot and spicy and plenty of sauce. i even have three left for today. sorry about the fuzzy picture. i had already eaten one before i remembered to snap a shot.

it's all jersey next week. more information here.

i checked all the resources we have at the library but could not find that superstition. i made both the groom's cake and our wedding cake almost 26 years ago and we are still married. if you feel like it - do it.

Thanks for your kind words, Ellen. They mean a lot to me. Ah yes, Crescent Dragonwagon (the last name kills me). My parents gave me another of her books, The Dairy Hollow Bread and Soup Cookbook many, many years ago. That book isn't vegetarian, though. But I liked it and when I'd heard good things about her vegetarian book, I ran to the store for it. I cook from this a lot, but I probably read it for the fun of it more. This may be the book where she writes so eloquently about her partner's death -- it breaks my heart every time. The headnotes for the recipes are written in such a way that you Must. Right. Now. Run to the kitchen and cook. ← she should come by her writing abilities honestly - her mom's the children's author Charlotte Zolotow. and quite an impressive collection of books you do have, my dear.

KIM don't f*&k with your health. know from experience that that can truly debiltate you - i came close to dying about 15 years ago. tonight it was really bad picture wise. sauteed onions, mashed potatoes and CHICKEN FRIED STEAKS WITH MILK GRAVY. but oh my freakin goodness. i smashed the steaks out to almost paper thin so they would cook quickly. then milk with the remaining flour/salt/pepper mix with extra pepper to make the gravy. i also added some succotash since johnnybird wasn't around(i still don't get what he has against lima beans - course i grew up with some of the best around. aiiieeee so good and so comforting on a cold night. i almost feel sorry for him having to eat at a restaurant tonight. tomorrow will be red gravy with onion, red pepper, sweet italian sausage and rice fettuccini along with a salad and maybe some foccacia after work.

for johnnybird's lunch (since he is in a no wheat position now) deconstructed ham and cheese sandwich - finlandia heavenly light, nature's promise black forest ham, roasted red pepper and a smear of light mayo. the center was filled with baked potato chips.

the low carb pizza (read thin crust and not too much crap cheese) at Casa Mia in Lake Mohawk, Sparta crispy crust, a smear of great sauce then a dusting of cheese and it is totally incredible unfortunately we lost the pesto pizza from Pies On Pizza when they closed.....

tracey, go for the maultashen and ONLY the fresh wursts next time.

hey, i said the same thing to snowangel about a librarian in new jersey. while some may be more "sophisticated" than others the one thing that binds us all is our love of food - cooking and eating and learning and sharing. oh, and for that snow - so glad someone got those 5"-7" they were predicting for here. course i have to wait a bit longer to get out on the snowshoes now

don't expect a lot of recipes from this title, it is more memoir with a few recipes per chapter. (we got this as an advanced readers copy last year). it reads quickly and is quite fun.

i'm overwintering 3 large plants in the basement and traipse downstairs at least every other day to cut some for cooking. i'm afraid i'm a flat leaf girl though, maggie. it goes into my risottos, definitely into my soups and of course there is always this recipe from recipegullet for a wonderful(if i say so myself) salad dressing .

HOW did you choke that baconator with the plastic cheese down?!! i know because i did it several cycles ago and felt sick later.... give me a whopper jr. heavy on the pickles and throw the bottom bun away

it's now called The "New" Yetters and it is still around. there is also The Chatterbox with a 50's theme before you get to the light on the same side of the road.

minestrone made with broth from the bones of our new years roast, a host of veg and some macaronis and beans. finished with shaved asiago and hot sauce for me.

how i used the bones from our New Year's roast: make broth! saute the aromatics and add herbs add the stock back and simmer for 20 minutes or so. add drained and rinsed white beans, zucchini, precooked macaronis and kale top with some shaved asiago and some hot sauce