kayb

I rid the freezer of a chicken today, which has been thawing and will shortly go into an overnight brine in preparation for being roasted tomorrow. I'll also pull out a bag of mixed vegetables or green peas or lima beans to go with it. And likely add to it some potato salad I'll get up and make in the morning when I put the chicken in to roast. Already have fresh strawberries macerating, and pound cakes in the oven for dessert. Sunday dinner!

Baking day all day for me. A batch of granola. Five dozen old fashioned oatmeal cookies. Two cream cheese pound cakes, because I scored semi-local strawberries and have cut them up and macerated them, and they need to be served over pound cake.

Folks in Mississippi are a little...strange.

When I did my Ancestry DNA test last year, it showed me only one surprise -- 1.5 percent Nigerian (the rest was the UK, Western Europe, and a scattering of Mediterranean). So I immediately set about attempting to find Nigerian cookbooks and try my hand at "my people's" food. I can only conclude that I did not get my cooking genes/flavor preferences from that crop of ancestors. I tried two or three chicken dishes, and a bean and sweet potato stew that sounded promising. They all lacked. Oh, well. Wish I could find that Nigerian ancestor. Math tells me he/she was a four-times-great grandparent, or sometime in the early 1800s. Lots of my family lived in Virginia and North Carolina at the time. I suspect there was a liaison in the slave quarters, and the offspring emigrated west and "passed" for white.

Tonight: (quasi) Mexican chicken. A pint jar of tomatoes, can of whole kernel corn, can of rinsed black beans, chicken breasts cut in chunks, small can of diced green chiles, healthy dose of Penzeys taco seasoning. 10 minutes then NPR. Stir in a chunk of cream cheese, a drained can of black olives, and serve over chips or, more likely for us this evening, quick-fried in butter corn tortillas. Sprinkle the whole thing with grated co-jack cheese. Holdover from when the kids were young. I used to make it as a "Mexican lasagna" in a pie plate with corn tortillas as the "noodles." IP is much easier.

31. Dry beans 2. Beef stew 3. Vegetable soup 4. Chili 5. Stock 6. Yogurt 7. Chicken breasts or thighs 8. Sweet potatoes 9. Hardboiled eggs 10. Rice ...in no particular order after the dry beans.

FWIW...I make this with diced potatoes that are par--boiled for about 5 minutes in heavily salted water and drained. I usually use browned breakfast sausage in it for the flavor it adds, but I have also used chopped or minced ham. I beat the eggs with cream and some salt, pepper and Pickapeppa sauce, and I use a couple of cups of grated cheese of whatever varied kind is hanging around in my fridge (did one once with a big hunk of blue cheese, and added a layer of diced pears for good measure; THAT was excellent!). I stir about a cup and a half of cheese into the egg-cream mixture, and sprinkle the other half-cup on top. I don't bother with the corn flakes, but they do add a nice textural element.

All these comments on Jezebel sauce are making me crave it. Putting apple jelly and pineapple preserves on my shopping list. I have cream cheese and crackers.

1. Dry beans 2. Beef stew 3. Vegetable soup 4. Chili 5. Stock 6. Yogurt 7. Chicken breasts or thighs 8. Sweet potatoes 9. Hardboiled eggs 10. Rice ...in no particular order after the dry beans.

Be sure and keep us updated as to what Frankenbunny sells for!

Confirm me as just me; no plus 1.

I like the way that person's mind works.

Put me down in the lazy susan category. I don't remember if that cabinet had an upper shelf or not, but if it did, the LS was on both shelf levels. I used it primarily for not-so-heavy stuff -- plastic containers, lids, etc. Then I reorganized cabinets at some point and put baking goods down there; that worked fairly well. Always looked for wedge shaped plastic canisters I could fit onto it that would hold all the flours, etc., but never found them. I didn't love it but it wasn't horrible, and beat wasting space.

I take it there are no decent restaurants in Lancaster. A shame. I do remember a good German place somewhere in that vicinity....

H'mm. Maybe I can get by with saying I am perilously close to 60. If I do not specify which side.

Lord have mercy. I b'lieve I'd have to convert to Catholicism. I'm not sure the Methodists have enough forgiveness for those things. I will be trying them shortly. Butterscotch chips on the grocery list. Will get back to you if I survive the diabetic coma.

Easter, for me, requires strawberries. My personal favorite is to make a basic pound cake, and serve macerated strawberries over that, with a sizeable dab of whipped cream. Folks are starting to advertise pick-your-own strawberries south of me. We should have local berries in two or three weeks. And then I will eat strawberries daily until they're gone.

Had to go with Hot Bread Kitchen.

Warmed-up cheese canneloni takeout from the local Italian joint that I didn't want when we got delivery last night. With extra meat sauce from the kid's ravioli plate. Good, and little effort, but really wasn't what I wanted. Not sure exactly WHAT I wanted, but it wasn't that.

One of the things I loved about food in Japan was its presentation, even in the Bento boxes in the food court at the train station. Marvelous. Such artists.

Recipe? Those look pretty sinful.

Bulrush dinner set for 7/13. Likely also a Cards-Dbacks game on the schedule. Thread here: Good to hear from you. Had missed you on here! How's life?

I am just awash in envy at the artistic ability of you chocolatiers.

Just gorgeous! I cant wait! May not wait until the eG weekend to sneak up for an evening...

Happy anniversary! Being mostly of Scottish descent, I am highly in favor of Scottish rolls. You may, however, keep the haggis.