suzilightning

A simple dinner for John last night. Toast, salmon, poached egg, hollandaise with dill and a few slices of avacado. Then cut open to let the yolk run over everything.

fat guy- we had a bit of a discussion about crusts vs hearts here earlier. give me crust anyday.... best as always

i grew up in a small town - actually an island- of 2100 souls (that was the year round number). we did have a grocery on the island(first was Bohacks then it was an IGA ) and then three small independent stores - Fedi's for meats and some groceries and Zavatto's for meat. during the summer there was also Island Food Market that sold incidentals, sandwiches and baked goods provided by our family primarily to the boaters who tied up at their dock to refuel. we went off island for "big shops" but mostly we grew our own food in a 1/4 - 1/2 acre garden with our "across the street neighbor" aunt belle and foraged. fresh wild aspargaus in the spring, cress, wild grapes in the fall for jams and jellies, wild blackberries and wineberries we froze. the first animals i hunted with bow and arrow when i was 11 were squirrel and rabbit(i didn't like the noise from mom's 12 gage shotgun). from the time i was able to swim at age 3 i went with the family to fish for flounder, blowfish, weaks and stripers, tautog and we scapped(caught scallops in a net since you could not dredge for them on the Sabbath), dredged for scallops, clammed for quahogs and pissers(hard and soft shelled). mom learned to gun and i cooked my first black ducks at age 7. we had mallard and blacks, canada goose - breast primarily and some venison every year. we would buy pork from the Bartilucci family farm and had a chicken coop we kept layers in until they got too old and became Sunday dinner. i remember the still room off the kitchen where we kept all the jams, jellies and other preserves and the freezer on the converted porch where we kept the frozen meats after they were butchered. i also remember carefully venturing into the cellar where the furnace was and a few of the legendary "exploding green beans" my grandmother had put up were still on the shelves.

the picture really was blurry but for john's breakfast today a variation on eggs benedict toast, smoked salmon, poached egg and hollandaise with dill. told him what he had for breakast, lunch(chicken fried rice) and snack(blueberry coffee cake). he said "can't you make something other than that c&%p?!" as a joke. this time i didn't throw anything out into the backyard - just told him he was really lucky i could cook and it saved him money so he could retire earlier.

and now on Publisher's Weekly (PW) list of Best Books 2007

not a pretty picture jamie but here was the autumn stew

courtesy of a patron who knows i love spicy food. the ingredients : all put together: bun bo hue

dinner last saturday. boubon glazed salmon fillets, rice and sage honey carrots.

I'm in. I'll even bartend for all of us. Bourbon has a wonderful soothe-the-savage-She-Beast effect at certain phases of the lunar cycle, doesn't it? ← ok- second saturday in may at our condo down the shore..... i'll even get rid of john for a few hours

anne- how about using this recipe - unless you need a cold recipe. Tomato Rice soup Submitted by: suzilightning Keywords: Soup, Vegetarian, Intermediate, Vegetables Servings: 4 as a soup 5 large tomatoes peeled, cut in half and seeded 2 T olive oil 1 onion, diced 1 carrot, diced 1/4 c Arborio rice 4 c hot vegetable stock 2 tsp sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp white pepper 2 sprigs flat leaf parsley 2 sprigs thyme Freshly chopped flat leaf parsley for garnish Peel the tomatoes with a vegetable peeler. Cut the tomatoes in half crosswise; scoop the seeds into a strainer set over a bowl. Chop the tomato pulp and set aside. When all the tomatoes are seeded and cored stir the seeds in the strainer to get as much liquid out as possible; discard the seeds. Heat the vegetable stock in a pot. Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot. Add onion and carrots, sweat until the onion is softened but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir until coated with the oil. Add the tomatoes and stir. Add the tomato water, hot stock, sugar, salt and pepper, parsley sprigs and thyme. Bring almost to a boil then lower the heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Remove the herb sprigs. Recheck for seasonings. Serve with parsley garnish.

Arkady, the chef/owner at Plaza Bistro is Lithuanian. Expect some food from that area on the menu - including stuffed cabbage. They openened a "fast food" place in the hotel up at the ski place in Vernon called Noah's Ark. the menu looked more family friendly and had desserts, burgers as well as hanger steak, etc.

nothing on the level of zoe's for lunch i'm afraid. Doc's has a sign out they serve lunch Wednesday through Friday. i'm thinking of investigating that if i get a rain day on a Wednesday or Friday. Plaza Bistro is nice and BYO. I guess that opening the new place up in Vernon would have stretched them a bit too thin.

that was from our local Appletree which is a green grocer, meat market, italian deli and sushi place in one. the onions will be gotten at the grocery store when i pick up the cold cuts on my way home tonight. you'll notice that we will be eating the same thing friday, saturday and sunday night. as i explained in my blog, i work 3 nights a week(and sometimes 4 if i'm filling in for someone) so right now i actually "cook" one or two days per week and we eat leftovers. that's how i got the bratwurst for saturday's lunch at work. john will have leftover pizza at the hawkwatch. he also ususally has to eat at his desk or in a meeting so wraps, sandwiches, salads are the best thing to send with him for his lunches.

well, our last visit to zoe's was documented in my foodblog. last night i took johnnybird out for his birthday dinner. he started with a whiskey sour and they brought the amuse. this was the one and only time i touched but did not eat the amuse. it was a pate of chicken and duck liver. now i used to make crock upon crock of country pate when i worked in the kitchen at The Chequit but had my boss taste it. i have tried and tried and tried liver in all forms but the taste just puts me off. The bread basket was served and we both headed for the rosemary rolls. they are wonderful. John ordered the smoked wild salmon with artichoke and tomato salad. The spiced and smoked meaty fish filled the plate and went very well with the bottle of Cline Old Vines Zinfandel we shared. Entrees were pecan crusted grouper with lobster, asparagus, spinach, tomatoes and shallots with a Grand Marnier beurre blanc. They were out of lobster so subtituted 4 shrimp and held the beurre blanc. I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I got my entree. Perfectly grilled breast of duck with candied sweet potatoes, shallots and brussel sprouts with a blueberry gastrique. The wine and the gastrique melted through the duck fat and the sweetness of the veg. No dessert and we took home half of my meal, half of John's appetizer and half the bottle of wine. 107.00 plus tip for 1 drink, 1 appetizer, 2 entrees and a bottle of wine.

Planning for the next few days produces this list: What I need at the stores. What's missing off the bottom of the list is cold cuts. And what I have picked up so far. That's .64 for red potatoes, .73 for the crimini mushrooms, .57 for garlic, .50 for 3 limes, .59 for green onion and .64 for red pepper. 3.67 total

I just got a good look at the page and noticed you are about to make the same recipe I copied out of Cooking Light. I'm going to make it Saturday for our dinner Sunday with a few modifications: venion instead of beef, fresh frozen cranberries and lingonberry jam instead of the cranberry sauce. How did yours come out, Jamie?

i guess john's favorite of chicken saltimbucco doesn't count since it isn't deep fried or breaded though he will eat it as a sandwich. he does like a chicken breast pounded thin then dipped in pulverized cornbread stuffing mix and baked with sweet potatoes.

for the people i work with - and john's people - i'm thinking about doing the "snowman poop" poem with the mini marshmallows and a spoon dipped in dark chocolate

where i grew up it was salt cod cakes - resusitate the cod in multiple soakings of milk and water then rub vigorously in a linen tea towel to remove the bones. mix with egg, riced potatoes, minced onion then form into cakes. dredge in flour and saute. course you also had the local cats clinging to the screen door when you were soaking the cod

bruce - walleye is so sweet it needs nothing but itself so i will side with elder son since he is closest to pure. and give me cucumbers (johnnybird can't see the point in them but what does he know?) and dodie - like some sauce with your cinnamon rolls? john would saalam you. i have had to teach him how to make a basic vanilla flavored spread for his cinnamon rolls.

chicken fried steak "Let fried chicken be fried chicken but let chicken fried steak stand on its own." Dan Jenkins

Here was our dinner on Saturday night. I wasn't sure if Johnnybird would like them so I used a small savoy cabbage. Here's the filling: pork and veal, white pepper, celery salt, an egg, cooked rice and several shavings of nutmeg. Stuffed into the leaves, placed in my roasting pan and then covered with a sauce made from beef stock, plum tomatoes, a bay leaf, some brown sugar and sherry vinegar. Baked for about an hour.

john has tried both ensure and boost and could tolerate the boost better than the ensure. now we also have switched to a protein powder that is blended either with a soy or rice ice cream or with the lactose free milk as a supplement to his meals - at least the ones he can eat. if you find something that does work for you let me know and i'll keep an eye out for coupons....

jamie - that question mark is actually weather dependent. friday is my day off from work as a reference librarian but, unless it is raining, i would be at the hawkwatch for 5-8 hours. if and ONLY if it rains would i get to the gym. it rained and i got my third workout in 1 1/2 months. i love the birds but can't wait until 1 december when i get my life back again - and a regular gym schedule.

here is what my chore list for yesterday - IF it was raining - looked like: the shopping list before and halfway through and the register receipt from Pathmark