Margaret Pilgrim

By request, giant (8-12 to the pound) prawns, deep fried. Chard on the side and of course a few frites. Husband said these were the finest prawns in his memory. Huge, succulent, sweet, shattering crust. Okay!

Another diner characteristic is its club-like ambiance. You will find the same people arriving at the same time every day, at breakfast or lunch. Familiar to the staff and to friends they join in booths. Seemingly picking up conversations from the day before. We have often adopted one of these when traveling, having breakfast everyday at the Peterborough or Miss Flo diner. We were always of interest in that we were obviously not locals much less club members. Often the waitress would ask where we were from.

Husband coming home tomorrow so I'm cleaning up my act, or at least fridge. Joe's Special is a favorite of mine, but tonight it was Joe's Kitchen Sink. Beet greens, maitake mushrooms, ground beef, egg, fresh goat cheese. Looked a little pale so I added a splat of Turkish pepper relish. Rather yum!

Yup. Just peel and slice. We use a dressing of citrus + brown sugar + cumin + olive oil. S and p. I've have dinner guests call and ask for the recipe.

This is tragic. "Gravy" is simply sauce that reflects the main protein or even veg. My husband LOVES gravy so we serve it in many manifestations. Chicken schnitzel with white gravy is simply white sauce enriched with chicken broth (veloute) and a little fresh thyme. Veal marsala scrapes up veal fond, adds marsala wine and veal broth (think: packaged dry product) and a big splat of butter. Turkey, or other roast bird, is as complicated as you want to make it. You can roast odd-bits of the bird, deglaze and make broth from the drippings, or use canned or frozen bird broth from your butcher. Just thicken with a slurry of broth and flour. I use the white sauce method of heating fat (butter or roast fat) and blending in flour, heating to a froth then adding indicated broth. Whisk until smooth. My mother always strained gravy; i don't bother. Understanding basic white sauce method opens a zillion "gravy" doors. 5 minutes from thought to table.

What we often forget is that product changes. The venison your grandfather harvested may be a different animal from the one you might encounter in the same environ, i.e., changes in its eco over time, remembering that parasites and other invaders also evolve. It's important to know the current status of your animal's environment and development.

The diners I remember most are in New England. Like Miss Florence Diner near Northampton, and Peterborough Diner in New Hampshire, and of course, Moody's Diner on route 1 outside Waldoboro, ME.

And today not the cheap cut it once was.

Monkfish, asparagus, (continuing) hens-of-the-woods and vin jaune. This time without cream.

Papperdelle with hens-of-the-woods mushrooms.

This is indeed true. But i can forgive a lot if simple taste is wonderful.

My taste buds have no eyes.

Lobster and pork belly by definition qualifies as art.

Then there was the dinner party when I went to the kitchen for a second bottle and had trouble opening it. I whispered to husband that I had shoved the cork into the bottle. He looked at me twice and said, "It's a screw top." Mmmm, I don't have much experience with those....

Asparagus, petrale, morels, vin jaune sauce

I don't remember which California vintner said that she always kept a bottle of bubbly in the fridge. Her logic, you never know when something wonderful will happen and call for a celebration; and you never know when a day will be so depressing that it demands some cheering. I have taken her advice to heart.

Today one for us, one for son. We cashed ours slightly before it was properly cooled. Wasn't really a problem. .

Beautiful soup! (No devices at table.)

By request, salmon loaf with egg sauce. A really ugly dish but well received and proclaimed delicious. Beauty is in the eye....

McConnels’ sweet cream is my go-to fresh fruit dessert base. Like a little sponge cake, McC, hibiscus syrup. Or lemon curd. Corner store has Straus’ on sale at $4.99, month of October.

Baked Alaska won't happen until after she/they are vaxed. But THANK YOU for this quintessential recipe. Will report back, probably after Thanksgiving.

Veal shank is freaking expensive here. This was from a dinner party frozen leftover that I carefully parcel out such as an inch or so for this soup. It is readily available but you have to call ahead to make sure they hold one intact and not cut into osso buco.

I still haven't figured out who/what Kim K is/was. At some point, I quit spending time pondering it. Back on topic, son and @1 grand-daughter dropped by this afternoon. She and I commiserated over how long it had been since she'd had a sleepover here. I told her of several kitchen projects I had in mind for her. She loudly responded that the project we had on hold from early 2020 was baked Alaska! I had totally forgotten.

Asparagus, baby beets, green goddess Rainy day veal shank, mushroom, barley soup.

Bought a lush lion's mane mushroom at Sunday's farmers market. Tonight -> bucatini with a simple sauce (LHM + shallot+ parsley + cream, s and P, parmesan. Light, clean, delicious.