suzilightning

lately i have made sweet potato soup with apples in them and a dish of roasted sauerkraut, apples, onions and bratwurst. i also found a very good recipe for an apple dish that is part yeast dough and part pastry where the cooked apples are layered on crushed cookie crumbs(i use italian ladyfingers) on the pastry then it is cut and braided over the apples. what about cooking the apples as you would to fill a pie then freeze it?

The hostess tells me that to make that dip buy the Knorr vegetable dip packet but make it with chopped up baby spinach and water chestnuts instead of green onions. it was soooo goood.

we had the party at one of the Patty's homes(3 out of 5 regular circulation staff are named patty and i joke when you go to cover the desk you must append that name onto your own so i am pattysusan). she is the third from the right in the back. this is also the third year she has graciously opened her absolutely gorgeously decorated home to this night of debauchery. she has stunning taste in everything and i think would give martha a run for her money.

yes, it was hunter with stilton. we also hade an aged cheddar that just melted in the mouth - a 4 year old cabot.

Some people were surprised at the linking of librarians and food in my blog. We had our annual Holiday party last night and I'm sorry to admit if forgot to take as many pictures as I should have. Here are a few from our festivities: Appetizers The hostess' husband kindly mixed up a batch of Cosmopolitans and I provided a bucket of margaritas. wine and soda were also available. Dinner was mashed potatoes, green beans with garlic, salad, a penne with vegetables in cream sauce, a beef filet(this is what was left - I was too busy eating)served with a fig and vidalia onion sauce. Chicken franchese The group smiling just before the cutthroat gift exchange After we exorcised our interior nasty selves fighting over christmas socks and a set of dessert dishes decorated with holly it was time for coffee and dessert. mixed dainties a cream poundcake with chocolate drizzle a slice of tuxedo cake. the desserts were from Everything Homemade which i also had featured in my blog. lunch today at work was leftovers. how was your party?

snow...and ice storm this last thursday. johnnybird made it home by about 4 pm. sweet potato soup (onion, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, garlic, olive oil, homemade chicken stock, salt and pepper, savory and marjoram) topped with crisped andouille sausage and a dusting of smoked paprika.

years ago when i was a library director each november we did "Food for Fines" where our patrons could either pay their fines in cash and the money would be donated to the two food pantries in town or pay their fines with non-perisable foods. this year the library i work in has partnered with a local association that works with indigent families to do the same thing. so far in about a month we have been able to give them about 2000.00 that they will use to buy fresh food as well as almost 500 lbs of groceries. when i donate i tend to do toiletries(no mouthwash, though), diapers, toilet paper and paper towels - things that food stamps can not be used for.

it wasn't our pet but i was grilling steaks outside of the single wide trailer johnnybird and i lived in our first year of marriage down in Hooks, TX(just across from Lone Star Army Ammunition plant). i went inside to get a new platter and wash the tongs i had used on the raw meat. when i came out our landlord's dog had made off with a NY strip hot off the grill. it wasn't a disaster but we had to save half a cob of corn for our cat, Yoda, who would sit at our picnic table, turn the cob up on it's end between his paws and gnaw the kernals off - and i do have (non-digital) pictures.

And? We are northerners, after all. ← Grilling and snowing like crazy go hand in hand. ← along with drinking, i believe. Sunday was the day i could cook so for breakfast blueberry muffins the one image that didn't transfer was the one with the empty bottles of Piper Heidsieck Brut Divine and Chandon Blanc de Noirs. macaroni cheese for lunch and pizza with homemade marinara sauce and a salad for dinner

Finally some time to cook. I had picked up a pork roast Thursday and marinated it in orange, lime and lemon juice, garlic, black pepper, fennel and olive oil. Roasted it on a bed of carmelized onions and served with a basic risotto and carrots and sprouts that i sauteed then braised in some broth then finished in a honey glaze. The finished, plated product.

After teaching in the morning stopped off for lunch at a new place in town, Doc's. They are a steak house and offer lunch Wednesdays- Fridays. I could only eat half of the food since I also had a nice, cold draft Stella Artois so here is what I will be having for lunch at work today: real onion rings in a light batter perfectly fried, burger with blue and bacon done MEDIUM on a warmed bun and homemade coleslaw - very creamy. and the grill man can actually cook it to medium!!!

cippolini perhaps? i've been using red and white pearl onions to make this for a few years as well as in my grownup green bean casserole. also have started to make the creamed onions - though i'm waiting for stephanie's dad's girlfriends recipe since it looked soooo good - for christmas at my nother-in-law's house. bechamel sauce with nutmed, white pepper and grated white cheddar. and a touch of worchestershire sauce.

nina - eff 'em if they don't like it. a large part of cooking is being able to cook for someone you love(including you ) and sometimes the most interesting part is being able to satisfy the person's nutritional requirements and make it taste good, this is something john could actually eat and the turkey bacon is something we have in the house because it has less fat - which would bother him- than pork bacon. blog on, sister girl.

why do i keep hearing "Let's get it on" in my head??!! Nna our part maine coon, yoda, used to eat the kernels of corn from a cob he held upright in his paws. great that your 'puter is up and running. next time remember to visit your local branch of the library and talk to the reference librarian. many times you can insert your photo chip in the computer and post - trust me - that's how i did my blog. one of my co workers daughter just moved to brooklyn so i am passing this link on to her. blog on

i didn't take a picture because it was toooooo gross - though i guess i could have posted it on the dinner thread II. john wanted leftovers so - heated up the bread stuffing, mashed potatoes, made a gravy with the chicken jus and incorporated the leftover chicken then added the beans and created his faux hot turkey sandwich. it looked like cat barf and he loved it. <BIG SIGH> that lasagna and bread look wonderful.... only 5 more days to the end of the season.

chris - they are about 1/2 dozen cherrystone and about 1 dozen chowder/quahogs i got from our local seafood market. he always goes into new fulton on tuesdays and thursdays(or wednesday and friday after thanksgiving) so i put my order in. i like the mix. then open and drain - and sometimes the quahogs need a bit of cold persuasion.

stephanie, wow what beautiful food. i want those thanksgiving onions. i've loved the pictures of the animals as well. thanks for blogging on a decidedly busy week. suzi

oh, marlene. crispy fat and wonderfully prepared beef. there is a heaven. after work yesterday i made up some ragu bologenese and served it with a small side salad of radicchio and artichoke hearts in a pinot grigio vinaigrette and a mix of pasta for a warm dinner after a bit of a cool down here.

for thanksgiving for john an apple strusel pie and how he topped his - with vanilla toffuti. mine had sharp cheddar on it.

French onion soup. I don't like my soup loaded with too much cheese so I made a toasted Gruyere sandwich to go with it.

pille that beef and beer oven stew just went on my to do list. last night was chowdah night at the Bird Nest. one of the easiest of all the soups i make - except for opening the quahogs. a few minutes in the freezer and even the most recalcitrent one will relax.

Thanksgiving Eve Dinner at the Bird's Nest the vegetative assembly - plus a few sprigs of thyme capturing the clam likker and adding fish stock and water to make 4 cups the clams chopped up saute onion. add diced carrot and clam/water broth. cook until carrots are almost tender. add thyme and diced potato as well as undrained tomato. cook until potato is tender. take off heat add clams. serve when the clams are warmed through - usually 5 minutes - with oyster crackers.

There is a story here about the increase over same day sales in many restaurants by those travelling for the American holiday and in increase in take away pizza for those who are cooking. as we were talking about the traditional American Thanksgiving food do you have any traditional Thanksgiving Eve foods ? and please feel free to chime in if you are north of the border since it's about 1 1/2 months since your own celebration, eh?(sorry, guys - 4 years of college in nw ny and i can still sing o, canada in my sleep - and in french and english) i have just finished my family's traditional clam chowder. when i was a kid growing up we would be busy making breads(portugese sweet and oatmeal), setting the table, getting the turkey ready, chopping giblets, getting veg ready for the platters set out but we always stopped about 5 pm and had the chowder Pop had made and always with oyster crackers. That's a tradition I have carried out for the last few years for John. me? i'm eating bratwursts. i can't stand clam chowder.

i can empathise with the sawdust turkey(no, liz. it isn't ok to roast the turkey for 4 1/2 hours at 400 the day before then reheat). so i have taken over the cooking for christmas and this year will be a heritage bird, mil's sausage stuffing, green beans with garlic, baked sweets and for sandwiches later my family's contributions portugese sweet bread and cranberry compote... and miracle whip for me. actually this is the first year i haven't had to work the day after thanksgiving and the first time in about 8 years johnnybird will be here rather than up in his hometown. well, guess that blows my thanksgiving dinner plans - pigs in a blanket. only pigs in a blanket. and a bottle of champagne. in the past i have done lasagna and pizza, keemah and french onion soup. i do love turkey breast, though and make it throughout the year in several different ways so it isn't as if i hate the tastes... now off to finish the traditional thanksgiving eve dinner for john... and pull that free range chicken, cranberries and green beans from the freezer. good thing i have chicken demi and potatoes for mashing

Friday at the hawkwatch. First the meal list. Then the shopping list.