Shelby

Oh Nancy, I'm so glad you're blogging! I will be eagerly checking my computer for all of your beautiful pictures and descriptions. I've never seen those silicone covers before. Me thinks I might need to investigate those. Your green beans and bacon have me drooooooling. I wish I had some beans in the fridge so that I might copy your meal.

I have those exact scissors and I use the hell out of them.

I didn't take a picture, but we munched on pickle roll-ups (pastrami smeared with cream cheese and wrapped around a dill pickle spear) and deviled eggs.

Here is the duck on the rotiss. I loved the crispy skin and the duck fat that I was able to save. It sure doesn't taste like the duck I'm used to. Not a bad thing, just different. Edited to add: I have a pot of ham and beans bubbling merrily away on the stove. The beans include black-eyed peas. I will make some sort of cornbread in a bit. Maybe muffins. Maybe with cheese and peppers in them. I'm contemplating making a sweet potato pie from taters my mother-in-law gave me that she needed to use up. I hope you all have had a great first day of the year! It's blizzarding here, so it feels especially cozy in the kitchen this evening.

Happy New Year!!!

New Year's Day for us absolutely must include black eyed peas. I will post again when I nail the menu down. For New Year's Eve we are roasting a duck. My first ever store-bought domestic duck. I've only had wild duck so I'm looking forward to the crispy skin etc. I need to think about side dishes….I'm obviously a procrastinator lol.

Thanks for the lovely trip photos and report!

I got not one, but two roasting pans with racks. One is smaller than the other, so I will keep them both and love them to pieces. Also, a remote radar gun thingy to check temperatures. Loving that. I checked my dogs and my husband several times last night. Annnnd, a blender. Annnnd, a really pretty set of dishes. 'Twas a really fun Christmas.

I hope someone in my family listened as I lamented not having a proper ANYTHING to roast a turkey in.

Must Quit Weighing Myself Every Morning I feel like I did pretty dang good over the turkey day eating festival. I took tiny tiny portions and only of the things I just couldn't resist like mashed taters and gravy and stuffing. Oh and before we went to the family dinner I ate a huge salad. That helped a LOT. I didn't graze on the many appetizers they had. Been eating (slurping) a lot of homemade broth. Seems like the warmth plus liquid make me feel full and satisfied.

Peanut plant stems! Interesting. Probably something I'll never run across. I'm jealous! Looks amazing. AND I see you using my favorite plates again.

I like roasted radishes. Oil, salt and pepper about 10 mins in oven at 425. My oven takes a bit longer though. edited to add that I halve them or quarter them if they are bigger radishes

Beautiful!

Thank you! The regular store I go to does not have ground pork. I look for it every time I go. My husband found some at the Asian market in the big city. Ground pork will now be a regular at our house. I love it. Ground (minced) pork is easy for me to find, but I prefer to do my own. That way I know what's in it - and control the fat to flesh ration depending on what I want to use it for. In fact although I have a mincer, I seldom use it. I prefer the traditional Chinese two cleaver chopping method. A cleaver in each hand and set up a chopping beat Ringo would be proud of. I hear the sound all around me every day. Technically, I suppose it's pork haché. But it's easier to control the texture. And cleaning a couple of cleavers is a whole lot easier than cleaning the mincer. I would love to make my own, too. I even tried to find some cheap cuts at the store to do my own, but they didn't offer any. I wouldn't have thought about using a cleaver. I have a commercial grinder with the large hole attachment, I wonder if that still makes too fine a grind? We butchered a hog a long time ago. Guess it's time to check prices and see if it's feasible.

Those silkies are so cool. I wish I could try one sometime. A couple of meals: Shrimp alfredo with some broccoli, shiitake mushrooms and red vinegar spinach I don't know the exact name of this….but I finally got my hands on some ground pork (I had NO idea how hard this is to find) so did a stir fry of sorts with it including garlic, mushrooms, peppers, onions and carrots mixed with some hoisin and ginger. I served this on lettuce along with fried rice and egg rolls.

Oh my, I had no idea chicken could look that good. I, too, will be doing this soon.

Pizza and a beautiful beach with gorgeous blue ocean water. Heavenly.

Carbs are like crack! Yes! I've never tried eating the leaves on the cauliflower. Thanks for the tip.

You know, since I'm not eating near as much pasta and bread, I notice a difference in how I feel. Not near as bloaty and less acid reflux by far. I don't know if it's because of less carbs or just less everything, though. I don't really care for sweet dressings, either. But, I sure would like a big, fat cinnamon roll about right now lol.

Hi Ttogull! Wow, great job on the weight loss! Trust me, I know that every pound gone feels like a milestone. It's comforting to know that others out there are dieting along with me. I thank you for all of your good advice. Broccoli fills me up nicely, too. I am almost out of it. I need to make the long trip to the grocery store on Monday if the weather is good enough. My salad trick has worked for me so far….maybe mainly because a lot of my food intake is because my brain wants it, not my stomach. Nothing more cozy to me than to sit down to a plate of spaghetti with a good glass of wine and a good book. Now, I'm re-programming to just sit down with a good book and a salad lol. Oh and I'm really not skipping the wine. I've cut back, though. I have been watching my calorie in-take because I'm not completely carb-free. Evening meals contain a few carbs so I figured I better do a mixture of both watching calories and carbs.

Thank you for all of the great ideas!!!!! Yes, the salad was ok--especially when I had a few tomatoes left from the garden…but now…..very bland and boring. These will really help me liven it up. I actually do use some toasted pine nuts or almonds in salad from time to time. I know they are high cal, but I like them and nuts are good in other ways for you. Good idea about the soup. I'm going to make a vegetable soup this afternoon for tonight. I'll make a big one so I can have leftovers for breakfast/lunch. Even if I throw in a few diced potatoes, I can pick around those. A garden salad is kind of my "crutch". I eat one before dinner every night --or most every night--to fill me up so I don't over-eat the main course.

I agree with Annabelle. Skip getting it at the Asian market. I love using it on top of salad. I also use it in seafood enchiladas.

Hi Franci! I know of people using sweater dryers such as this one : http://www.amazon.com/Household-Essentials-Stackable-Sweater-Drying/dp/B001BRW6TE/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1385047919&sr=1-2&keywords=sweater+dryer If you search sweater dryers on Amazon it comes up with many options.

I have a head of cauliflower. Your "steaks" sound good. I need to try that. I. Am. Tired. Of. Salad. But, I am still on the wagon. It's been a hard to stay on the diet this week for some reason, but I have. One new thing that I bought is some K-cups that are sugar free apple cider and caramel apple cider. They have the fake sugar taste, but they aren't bad for sweet cravings. Plus, the hot drink fills me up a bit. They are 10 calories a piece.

Oh! Expand on the liver dumplings please.