MaryIsobel

Yes, those are a great nibble with drinks.

Yes, 1 sheet of puff pastry rolled into a 12" square and cut into four 6"x6" squares.

I was quite pleased with this recipe. I ended up just blanching the asparagus and the were cooked perfectly after the 20 minute back. I added a smear of dijon on the ham and sprinkled the cheese with fresh thyme and chives. They went together in about 15 minutes and were really tasty. Served with an orange/arugula and pickled onion salad. Didn't think to take a picture of them plated. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/creamy-asparagus-puffs

The asparagus that I could buy today are quite thick. I'm happy because I think they are tastier than the skinny stalks. My MO is to peel the bottom third or so and then cut them in half long ways and treat them as thin ones.

Thanks, that was what I was leaning toward. Just a light smear I think.

Our dog can hear me open the "cheese drawer" in the fridge from under a bed, 30' away.

Thank you - and thanks for the baking tips. I appreciate that it seems to be a lovely dessert that comes together quickly.

We had to pivot from dining out to eating at home during Covid, as did most everyone. The thing is, we have not gone back to our old ways. One example is that our twin daughters' birthday is mid January, one daughter's fiance's is the day after. Rather than taking everyone out for a celebratory dinner at a decent place, which we used to do, we bought a 125.00 prime rib, a few bottles of nice wine, and ingredients for a cocktail or two. This, along with potatoes and veg to go with the prime rib and ingredients for a couple of nice cakes (I have always made our daughters their own cakes) cost far below what we would have spent dining out. It was not a difficult meal and everyone helped in one way or another. We came to realize that having our celebration at home allowed for better mingling and conversation (and games!) and more of a celebratory atmosphere. So, as Anna alluded to, I doubt if we will ever go back. We still eat out but it is more pub type, casual meals.

Very similar recipe. I have neither brie nor prosciutto on hand though. I think this type of pastry will be nice for a light lunch. For me, it would be too much as an appetizer.

If it is a recipe that you will share, I'd love to have it. Being that there is usually just the two of us, something that keeps is always a good idea.

That strawberry cake looks fabulous - a nice departure from shortcake. It looks to be a bit custardy - is it? Our local strawberries should be ready near the end of June - can't wait!

I am going to make these asparagus puffs for lunch with a friend tomorrow. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/creamy-asparagus-puffs#commentsFeed I have to sub havarti for the cream cheese so plan on putting a couple of slices on each with some chopped fresh thyme and mabe some chives in between. Since there is virtually no other seasoning, I am toying with the idea of a thin layer of mustard on the ham before wrapping the asparagus. I have dijon, grainy, and sweet and hot mustards on hand. Which if any mustard would you choose? I'll be serving an orange, pickled onion and arugula salad along side.

Wow - you are my idol, truly. You are bold and adventurous and obviously enjoy your food immensely. I need to pull my self up by the bootstraps and start venturing outside the ordinary/habitual things that I most often turn to. I had samphire (it was called sea asparagus) at a high end restaruant years ago and thought it amazing. Not an eassy thing to find but I suppose if I ventured into Vancouver or Richmond, I could find it.

If only all animals bound for our tables were raised as kindly as yours...

One of my daughters took great delight in saying to my other daughter's new boyfriend who was eating with us for the first time "we always have our guests say the blessing before we eat." Of course she waited until said boyfriend had lifted a fork to his mouth. (We never say a blessing before eating, it was just her twisted sense of humour.) She also liked to introduce herself as Guadalupe (which is not her name) and introduce my husband as "my Mom's son from her first marriage." Anything to make the new beau confused or uncomfortable!

Ketchup on scrambled doesn't offend me and I hope that my salsa (and cilantro if I have some) on scrambled isn't offputting to anyone.

And yours looks nice and light. Oatmeal bread is sometimes stodgy, but I love it all the same. I have a simple recipe that I can whip up quickly - makes 3 loaves and great toast: https://www.farmgirlfare.com/2006/11/oatmeal-toasting-bread-baking.html

I can buy free range eggs all over the neighbourhood for $5.00 Cdn per dozen. Lovely big eggs with deep orange yolks. One place I frequent usually throws in another dozen because she always has "too many eggs." A few of the neighbourhood places have started charging $6.00/dozen but most are holding at 5.00.

Oh my gosh - I can taste that, and it's delicious! Huge fan of oat bread.

The recipe cards are full 8.5"x11" sheets. I'll definitely hang onto them.

I signed up for a promo with Chef's Plate (apparently same parent company as Hello Fresh) as I thought it would be helpful for meal planning while I am somewhat out of comission. I can cook just fine for the most part, doing a lot of prep sitting down and in spurts and having help taking things on or off the stove or in or out of the oven. It's the shopping that is problematic. My husband is willing to go but doesn't "think on his feet" like I do when shopping, so we get some rather "unusual" substitutions which sometimes makae my planned meal impossible. Anyway, I ordered 3 meals for 4 people and it was 48.00 Cdn. They were fine at that price but I would not pay the normal price, which is twice that. All were recipes that I would make again and I did glean a great tip; when using ground turkey for meatballs, add chicken bouillon too ramp up the flavour. Being an experienced cook, I largely ignored their prep instructions, but they were a bit odd. For a Cajun Dirty Rice dish, they had you making the rice and once it was cooked, to start cooking the meat and veg which would be added. Obviously cooking the meat and veg WHILE the rice was cooking is a more streamlined approach.

I have never had frozen custard, I've never seen it for sale in these parts. I'll have to remedy that somehow. You had me a Ozark Turtle. My husband has given me a box of Turtles every Christmas since we met - that's a lot of turtles and I relished every one.

Something has been bothering me. Perhaps I was wrong to whine about hospital food. Even though I did use the word inedible, I suppose it really wasn't, it just wasn't up to my standards. When there are so many people who don't know where their next meal will come from, I guess I was just being persnickety. As I mentioned, there were 4 people in our room and one polished off her meals each time. Maybe that's the way she cooks at home. Given that my hospital stay, surgery and the ensuing physio did not and will not cost me a cent, I am feeling guilty about ridiculing the meals. However, I now have a great idea for a small gift for anyone facing a hospital stay (given they don't have any dietary restrictions.) A miniature pepper grinder, some salt, individual packets of butter, some hot sauce, hp sauce, soy sauce, ketchup...

Apparently. I was in a quad room and 3 of the 4 of us relied on outside food or went without.

A less than graceful move on my part caused me to spend 7 days in the hospital. Got home this past Thursday. I was truly gob-smacked by how really awful the food was. The first three days I was in, I was waiting for surgery so was fasting every day until about 9 pm when I would be advised "sorry, no surgery today, but it should be tomorrow." At that point I would be allowed to eat and drink until midnight. Problem was by that time, my visitors had gone home, the meal trays had been delivered and the nurses would resort to scrounging up food which usually consisted of either arrowroot or digestive biscuits, sometimes cheese portions and unsalted saltines. Fortunately I didn't have much appetite, as I had been laying pretty much flat on my back, bed bound (fractured hip) but I have never enjoyed a digestive biscuit as much as I did on those evenings. When I finally had surgery, I eagerly anticipated my breakfast tray the next morning. I had no idea it was possible to make toast badly. Served in a wax paper envelope to trap all the condensation, dripping with margarine and barely warm, it was to me, practically inedible. This was accompanied by grape jelly and a scoop of scrambled eggs which held it's shape perfectly. No salt or pepper to be seen. Another day was similar breakfast but a warm hard boiled egg with chalky yolk. Pepper was provided, no salt. I then discovered that I was on a renal failure diet. I have no kidney issues but apparently being dehydrated can cause a spike in renal numbers. I was dehydrated because I had been fasting for 3 days! Got that sorted and thought the meals would improve. Nope. First non RF meal was a scoop of plain rice, dried out and crunchy on the bottom (and not in a good way) a huge portion of plain corn and six 1" dia meatballs that were probably 50% cereal in a sauce that seemed to be corn syrup with smoked paprika. I then decided that I would rely on my friends and family to bring me food. Unfortunately there was no way to not get served all 3 meals. They all went back untouched but for the orange juice at breakfast and the fresh fruit on the two days it was offered. Such a terrible waste. I didn't take many pictures, but here is one breakfast and the meatball dinner. Slightly off topic - but I have nothing but good things to sa about every single staff member from cleaners to doctors, that I encountered.