Shelby

Kim, that looks wonderful. Chicken enchiladas for us last night And the second cherry tomato we've picked from our garden. They aren't very good yet...the first ones never are for some reason. BUT, HEY, it's a garden tomato so I'll take it.

LOVE the animals. OMG so cute. I, too, would kill for the spaghetti and gravy. Those tater pancakes look pretty good.

Our kick off the summer meal: The usual deviled eggs Cheesy potatoes--new recipe for me. I par-boiled the potatoes which I will always do from now on to avoid crunchy taters (which happened to me a lot). Ronnie smoked ribs which I finished in the IP and then the broiler. Baked beans and collards from the garden.

I think this is the second time I've made this peach cobbler from Smitten Kitchen and it's good but it never turns out crispy for me on the top. It's more cakey. I follow her directions to the letter except that I've always used my home canned peaches which are peeled instead of using fresh. I don't think that would cause the non-crispness. Or maybe her definition of crisp is different than mine. Anyway, we enjoyed it and hopefully I will get off my lazy butt and make some vanilla ice cream to go with it.

I didn't want this to end! I was going to ask if women were not allowed to help with the preparations, but then later I saw some ladies handling the veggies and rice. Just curious if it just worked out that way or if the men are generally the ones that handle the meats? The gentlemen eating their rice porridge with chopsticks will never cease to amaze me. I wouldn't be able to get anything in my mouth. AND they are people after my own heart--holidays are just made for drinking in the morning The bamboo cooking method for the chicken wowed me. I think they should add some spices and then it would really knock your socks off....but that probably isn't traditional and I would be kicked out of the party with that suggestion lol. And that carp and the deep fried pork belly would keep me happy for hours. You would have had to roll me home. Thank you for doing this!!!

@Anna N I am up letting Chum outside and thought I'd pop in to tell you that if you do make the french bread, I use the bread setting while baking and keep the temp the same as the recipe says 375F and reduce the baking time to 20 mins.

So, you and I are in the same heavy cast iron boat. You are indeed the one that told me about the Walter Sands recipe--I was trying to split another recipe in half and you smartly knew that splitting in halves wasn't going to work for the recipe I was trying to have success with. I only proof in the CSO to hurry up the process...that and I keep our house cold because I like it that way....but the bread usually doesn't lol. To me, the bread above looks really good and I would happily dive into that.

I make Walter Sands' Basic White Bread and Grandma's French Bread exclusively in the CSO (mainly because my oven has become more of a storage place for my cast iron and I don't like moving everything out) and I proof both in the CSO. The white bread I proof at 100F for about 25 mins and the French bread at 100F for about 15 mins. I've never had a flat loaf. Edited to add that I don't think I've ever used bread flour--I always use all purpose.

Perfection. I must do this. Maybe tomorrow.

So, the naan will already be cooked then. I'd definitely add some parm. Gives it a kick. I like your ricotta idea...alfredo seems too rich along with the bacon jam. How hot does your oven get? Edited to add: My oven goes to 550F so when I make pizza (using pizza dough that needs to bake) it goes in for 10 mins and is perfect. I've done eggs on top and 10 mins at that temp was too long....I wanted the yolks a bit runny. I think I added them with 5 mins left to bake and it was a pain. Since the dough doesn't need to bake, I think you're good to add the eggs from the very beginning.

@Okanagancook Those shrimp are a thing of beauty. I can almost taste how fresh they are through the screen! And, happy belated birthday!! @Kim Shook I love seeing your meals and your tequila shrimp are also calling to me. Fried fish and shrimp last night

Interesting. When I saw your picture, @liuzhou I thought "well, yeah, I've grown some that look like that". But, after going through my garden/okra pictures, I can't find any. I have 12 plants going right now in the garden. I will report later in the summer.

Everything looks so good...but I find myself really wanting a chocolate covered gummy worm more than anything. Don't judge lol.

I WANT that lunch!!! Happy Birthday @Anna N my friend!!!!

WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! I just did a little happy dance around my kitchen!!!!! So excited for you both!!!!!!! @rotuts and I will anxiously await your creations

This looks amazing. I was going to say the same thing. I need to try these before I die. I just can't believe I can't get them around here. It's not fair lol. I seem to be on a roasted chicken kick. And Ronnie seems to be on a collard greens kick. Found some doves that had buried themselves in the freezer. Made risotto in the Instant Pot to go with. Super good.

I finally got around to making risotto in the IP. I don't know what took me so long. I could eat this all the time and it's SO easy. I added mushrooms and asparagus from the garden. Heavenly. Picture on the dinner thread.

I'm green, too. Pea green.

Host's note: this topic has grown too large for our servers to handle effficiently, so it has been broken into segments; the previous segment is here: Dinner 2017 (Part 4). Lasagna last night. Mom brought me some stuff from Grammy's kitchen and this glass bread pan was included. Perfect for making a very small amount of lasagna.

My mom came for a couple of days. We had a blast. I forgot to take pics of some of the food but here's a bit. My wonderful cleaning angel brought me strawberries from her patch. SO good. They actually TASTE like strawberries. Snacks for when mom got here after an 11 hour drive Ramen noodle chicken salad--we love this stuff Pizza night Fried chicken wings and gizzards last night

Ready for my boring yearly garden pictures? I just like to keep a little record here of what I've planted. I hope this years gardenage is waaaaaay better than last year. Radishes are plentiful Green beans doing well so far--well the ones that Chum isn't sitting on are anyway..... Red, white and yellow onions Collard greens 6 cucumbers Lots of yellow squash and zucchini (gotta guard that from @HungryChris Lettuce tons of beets 12 or so okra plants a few bell and jalapeño peppers and a couple eggplant 40 some tomatoes 4 artichokes (never planted these before) Not pictured--the Silver Queen is just barely peeking through and so is one spaghetti squash. I've planted delicata squash twice now and it won't germinate...bad seeds?

I LOVE that star shaped bowl. Love love love.

I am going to be kicked off of EG for this: I had to google to find out what a cartouche even was. And then I found out it had something to do with Egyptian hieroglyphics and had to continue googling.

Like Anna, I needed a toastie last night. So I had one with green beans and roasted chicken.

I have some blood sausage buried in my freezer somewhere. I need to find it. Looks good!