MaryIsobel

@JoNorvelleWalkerI was too tired to be down and dirty after dinner. It's just a phrase that I use to alert the family not to expect anything spectcular. Kind of like my dear late mother's expression of a quick house clean - "a lick and a promise."

I sent this to my sister when she expressed interest in sheet pan meals, but was stymied by what to cook with what and for how long. The one I made last night was everything in at once for the same amount of time, and for that combination, the method worked well. Obvisously you couldn't cook thin fish and potatoes at the same temp for the same time, but it's easy enough to add different things at different times. Here's the chart which will give you an idea. http://jessicaiveyrdn.com/2019/08/sheet-pan-dinner-infographic/

Down and dirty tonight after a day of baking and wrapping. Sheet pan dinner with pork tenderloins coated in hoisin sauce and green beans and halved baby potatoes tossed with salt, pepper and olive oil. Did the trick.

Very true. My little bit of Spanish which I tried to use in Costa Rica was usually met with the person I was speaking to switching to whatever English they had! Ticos are a gracious bunch.

A batch of Alison Roman's Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread. These became a fast favourite when I first made them a few years ago.

I always freeze them, taking out just as many as I need at one time. Sometimes I give them 5 minutes in the toaster oven to freshen them up a bit.

This is what the aforementioned cheese crispies look like. Very simple recipe, yields about 4 dozen. They are really nice with cocktails, very short and crisp with great cheese flavour.

Indeed it is - it's also available on line, as are most of their recipes. https://www.bestofbridge.com/butter-tarts-4/

I have the original 5 cookbooks plus a couple of their newer ones. One of my daughters has already requested that I leave them to her. I appreciate that they are well tested, not too complex and call for fairly common ingredients. The Land of Nod monkey bread is a standard for our Christmas Breakfast. We love Imperial Cheese - I could it it with a spoon!

Certainly. This is one of those recipes where the sum of the ingredients is greater than the parts. It's my husband's one and only request for Christmas baking every year. https://www.bestofbridge.com/cocktail-crisps/

I'm going to make a few family favourites; Alison Roman's Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread, Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, Bailley's Truffles, Cheese Crispies and shortbread with some type of inclusions. Goinig to get started today.

When my daughter asked for my chili recipe, I had to laugh and tell her that I have never made it the same way twice. I do always use stewing beef, as opposed to ground beef, and I usually use a mix of black beans, kidney beans and pinto beans. But if I don't have all three, I improvise. I used dried chilis, reconstitutted in broth, sometimes chipoltle chilis from a can. It's always a "wing it" thing.

The skin is the best part for me. I miss my daughters living at home because they just ate the inside of baked potatoes and I got all the skins!

Our regulars (all available in Canada) are Cholula, Tapatio, Franks, and Siracha.

I love those too and have made them a couple of times with different ingredients. No terribly difficult - you just need a sharp knife. I bake them in mini loaf pans for the initial bake. This is my base recipe. https://theviewfromgreatisland.com/copycat-raincoast-crisps-crackers/

And... How was it? Recommended?

That was very kind of you. Thin-skinned sisters unite!

I've not had shrimp perloo - is it similar to jambalaya?

Along the same lines, my husband gets a can of corned beef in his stocking every year. He knows that he is to eat it when I'm not around. I love a well prepared corned beef, but that stuff is too close in appearance to what we used to feed our big Lab when I was a kid.

Oh dear - you shouldn't have put the idea into cyberspace. Just wait.

thanks - I've never seen him, but definitely my kind of humor

Spent a good part of yesterday and today preparing a birthday dinner for my nephew who is staying with us. Feta/hot honey/pistachio bites and veggies with home made ranch dip for appies. Pulled pork, mac and cheese, broccoli mushroom casserole, coleslaw, caesar salad and brioche buns. My 2 daughters and their SO's, my husband and I and the birthday boy. Well, birthday boy came up around 2:00 to say that he had taken a Covid test (he's had a sore throat for a couple of days) and it's positive. So my daughters will come for a masked visit on the deck and I have prepared the food for their two households to go. It's not ideal, but it is real. What can ya do? My husband and I will eat with nephew at the long dining room table with us at one end and he at the other. Like royalty! Husband and I are vaxxed and boosted (as is nephew) and since we have already been around him and sharing meals for the last few days, it doesn't feel too risky...

Thanks for the support and suggestions. I just taste tested it and it is very cheesy and delicious, but quite tight, so considering that I planned to bake it tomorrow, I was thinking I'd make a light bechamel with the gruyere that was supposed to be dispersed within the dish. I will try the vinegar in my cooks/trial bowl, I've not heard of that but thank you.

Would romaine work? Thanks so much JoNorvelleWalker for making me laugh! This has just been one of those days where you think WhyTF did I even get out of bed?!

Beige linen with splashes of red?