Norm Matthews

Dinner tonight was courtesy of Charlie... McDonalds. Dessert was another of those cakes that divide into layers as they bake. This time it was chocolate.

The reason I put eggs in crab boil is because Charlie always asks me why I didn't when I forget. He must have had it that way somewhere because he always wants them included. I just looked online and it seems it is not unusual to add them. I always steam them. The yolks don't discolor and they are easier to peel. I use Old Bay when I boil them but forgot to use it today. I thought the shrimp tasted better but Charlie missed the Old Bay. I just noticed there is a recipe for steamed shrimp on the back of Old Bay This is the first time I've tried the corn-in-the-oven. I saw the recipe a while couple weeks ago but had to wait for the store to have corn on the cob that wasn't already husked and sold five to a package.

Yesterday crab was 7.99/lb. That is less than half what it was for most of last year and 2 dollars less than the last time I checked, so that is what we had tonight. I can't really call it a crab boil because the Conecuh brand sausages and potatoes were the only things actually boiled. Eggs were steamed in a separate pot for ten minutes. Shrimp and crab legs steamed for about 5 minutes and the corn was put in a cold oven, husks and all, the stove was turned on to 350º and the were taken out 30 min. later and allowed to cool enough to shuck & silk.

A friend posted this recipe for Lemon Magic Cake yesterday and I made it yesterday. It is'magic' because it separates into three separate layers as it bakes. About 7 or 8 minutes after I put it in the oven I realized I'd forgotten to add the vanilla so I added it then. I don't think it made a difference in the outcome. it was pretty much what we had for dinner. Charlie really liked it. I'd like to make it with lime juice next time and perhaps, sometime, see if I can get similar results with cocoa powder or syrup. I'll have to think about how it might work with chocolate.

Yes, I did use the pasta roller on my mixer but cut them by hand.

Yes they are homemade egg noodles.

Our dinner was Beef Stroganoff

I did a slab of pork ribs in the smoker yesterday.

Here are a couple things I did with leftover Easter ham: ham and bean soup and ham and egg salad that everyone likes.

Thanks. Great looking food. i cut the corner out of a baggie, insert a large cake decorating thingie in it and use that to pipe the filling in. If I am doing several eggs, it is actually a time saver.

Charlie has plans and will not be here at supper time tomorrow so I guess you could call our meal either Good Saturday or Easter Eve. Easter isn't a big meal deal for us but still we should have at least something a little special. Bone-in not pre sliced is my preference. This kind of ham tastes best to me and makes the best leftover ham and egg salad. I cooked it until warmed with an apricot glaze. Green beans were Southern style like mom used to make... takes an hour. The secret to my deviled eggs is a pinch or powdered Ranch dressing. The rest of the sides were ready made.

Charlie said dinner tonight was like something from a fancy restaurant. It was shrimp and linguine in a butter and cream sauce with spinach, onions, sun-dried tomatoes, rosemary and grated Parmesan cheese.

Charlie was reminiscing about Teriyaki restaurants in Seattle, how they were all the same and even all had the same salad dressing. He said he always ate the salad because of the dressing. We did some on-line looking and found it a while back. You mix it up in a blender. It might separate if you just throw it all together and beat it with a whisk. China Coast salad dressing 1 cup mayonnaise 10 tbsp rice vinegar 4 tbsp white granulated sugar 4 tbsp sesame oil 2 tbsp soy sauce 1/2 tsp garlic powder

I grilled some chicken thighs with the teriyaki sauce Charlie got from a restaurant that he says makes chicken teriyaki like all the teriyaki restaurants in Seattle. We also had rice and a salad with China Coast dressing that all the teriyaki restaurants in Seattle used. He said he always ate the salad because the dressing was so good.

When I make Charlies mushroom soup chicken, I substitute Cream of Chicken soup, add dry onion soup mix and sour cream and garnish with lemon zest. I added some paprika this time but it didn't look as good after it was baked.

I can relate. Years ago there was such a restaurant here that I LOVED. I still miss it.

A while back Charlie was telling me about when he lived in Seattle and 1. How the many Chicken Teriyaki restaurants were all alike and how good they were (and about the China Coast salad dressing) 2. The chicken thighs he made at home that was just to dump some undiluted Mushroom soup over the chicken pieces and bake them. I was planning to make a more ingredient version of the dump recipe today but overnight he brought home a bottle of teriyaki sauce form a restaurant here in Kansas City that he said tastes like the West Coast version. So I got a little more thighs and tried both. I wasn't very hungry and just had a taste of both. I liked the teriyaki that was grilled outside.i

Dinner tonight was grilled steak, roasted potatoes and strawberries with angel food cake.

I wanted to vary our St. Patrick's day boiled dinner from our usual. I made cabbage fritters instead of boiled, Irish baked potatoes instead of boiled and @Shelby the recipe looks pretty much the same as the British baked potatoes you made and were discussing with mommpomps and CookBot last October. But this recipe said 'Irish' so I felt that gave me permission to make them today. Everyone liked them. I made Irish soda scones instead of soda bread, Irish whisky butter and Irish Pots de Créme. To drink, I had an Irish red ale. I did boil the rutabagas, carrots and corned beef. I got a good price on a whole brisket in Feb. and pickled it for 4 or 5 weeks instead of the usual 1 1/2 to 2. It was a little more salty than before. I won't do that again. The Pots de Créme were in small tea cups but it was so rich, that even that was too much for one serving.

We had breaded pork chops, steamed asparagus, and mashed potatoes and gravy.

I got a stewing hen to make some broth for chicken & dumplings. After the broth was made, I used the white meat to make chicken salad. I used the stewing chicken thighs along with regular chicken thighs with the dumplings. It was all good but I don't know how it happened that the inside of the dumplings were dark, like they were made with rye flour or something.

Bahn Mi sandwiches

I actually used a ten inch cake pan and it rose up at least an inch over the top. I can't imagine how much taller it would have been in a nine inch pan.

Yesterday I made a Chocolate Brownie cake and two loaves of sourdough bread for sandwiches. I didn't take a picture of the bread but it looks just like what I usually make.

Tonights meal was pork chops from a Tyler Florence recipe which coats them in seasoned flour then uses the same flour to thicken a gravy with chicken stock and buttermilk. The potatoes came after I googled recipes like I learned about from people here discussing this general method. The corn came from the freezer and the bread was from yesterday.