MaryIsobel

Forgive my abyssmal photography and the mundane serving dishes. It is just my husband and I and it's hot! NYT Grilled Soy-Basted Chicken Thighs With Spicy Cashews, without the spicy cashews because I didn't have cashews and it's too hot to go get some, besides, there are pecans in the salad. I recreated a salad I had out the other night. Beets (done in the IP) spinach, feta and pecans in a maple lemon dressing. Not ususally a fan of potato salad, but I saw this one on a site call Salt and Lavendar. It's tiny creamer potatos, crispy bacon, green onions and celery, dressed in a combination of mayo, grainy mustard, vinegar and smoked paprika. It was quite moreish. The original didn't have celery, but I wanted a little crunch.

My dad, who is now 94, did very, very little cooking until my Mom died 20 years ago. On the odd night when he was left to cook dinner for us kids, he made one of his 3 specialties; canned meatballs in gravy, pork 'n beans on toast or as sandwiches or fried egg sandwiches. If he was feeling fancy we would have smoked oysters on saltines as an appetizer. It always felt like a bit of an adventure when Dad was at the helm in the kitchen, and I say that with love!

Thanks. I learned more than one thing today, so have exceeded my goal!

I thought the same thing regarding expense if the salt isn't reused. Not terribly familiar with rock salt and have never seen it for sale. I thought that was what they used for the roads here but I could certainly be mistaken on that!

Thank you - will definitely try this method. Do you reuse the salt bed or use new every time? I have always been hesitant to rub the potatoes with oil, as I assumed that it would make the skins soft but apparently I have been underbaking them for an hour or so...

I'm counting the days (should only be a week or so) til our local strawberries are ready. Oddly, we are surrounded by berry fields here in the Fraser Valley, but I cannot grow them. Critter and birds are a big part of my problem. Hmmm, perhaps I need a bird cannon such as some of the nearby farmers employ...

Every time I see one of your baked potatoes, I get to jonesing for one that looks like that. Would you mind sharing how you do them?

That looks so good - either with crab or shrimp - thank you!

Dinner plan was halibut. Bought a bunch of frozen on the boat fillets last fall. My husband likes his blackened, I don't. I had some mango curry sauce in the freezer for mine. About 5:30, I said "I don't feel like fish and I want to go to the nursery when there are no line ups." Lovely man that he is, he said "go then, I will order lasagna and we'll have the fish tomorrow." I happily went to the nursery, even though I knew that the lasagna that he orders tastes like Chef Boyardee

This is the only way I do wings anymore. Very hard to tell that they are not deep fried!

i aspire to have breakfasts like you do. I had cheerios...

/\ This was the biggest revelation to me when I got my insta pot. I tried the recipe with a huge amount of skepticism and was most pleasantly shocked at how well it turned out.

Husband is getting better at bacon! He went so smoke heavy for a while, I put a moratorium on it. Pretty sure that your house, your clothes, your sheets, your dog are not supposed to smell like a campfire after a smoking session! This batch was good, my only complaint was that it was just a tad sweet. Carbonara and a salad tonight.

That's a new one to me - sounds well worth a try, thank you.

An embarassment of riches, one might say. Neighbour just showed up with these. I had just finishing sauteeing and stashing in the freezer, the remainder of the mushrooms they gave us the other day. Since dinner tonight is halibut (in the style of LiamsAunt) with balsamic beets and sweet potatoes, I wasn't feeling that mushrooms would go well. Maybe creamed mushrooms on toast or mushroom risotto tomorrow night and then back to sauteeing and freezing. As far as gills go, it depends on what I'm making and how dark the gills are. I once made a mushroom, red pepper, asparagus stir fry where the gills turned the whole dish a rather unappetizing colour.

If only you were closer (and this side of the 49th), I'd be more than happy to share. You can imagine the look on my face when the doorbell rang at 8 pm on Christmas Eve and there stood the neighbour with a 10 pound flat of mushrooms!

Neighbours across the street who moved in last summer, have relatives who own mushroom farms. Mushroom farming is big business around here. Most are under contract to big companies (Money's for example) and are not allowed off sales or farm stands. Our new neighbours have been exceedingly generous and have probably given us over 50 pounds of mushrooms since August. They normally bring 10 pound flats at a time. 10 pounds is a lot of mushrooms for two people! My standard procedure is to slice and saute and freeze after eating our fill of fresh. I was introduced to creamed mushrooms on sourdough toast while visiting Ireland and that is a favourite, along with stroganoff, mushroom soup and just sauteed mushrooms. Anyway, last night they brought over 6 of these. I guess their size makes them portabellas, which apparently are just larger, older, cremini which are older white button mushrooms. Gave two to my daughter; she and her low carb boyfriend make "mushroom pizzas", we'll have some tonight and then I'll freeze a bag or two of sliced and sauteed. Next time I get smaller ones, I'd like to try pickling them.

I'd love to know specically how you did your haddock. Looks like a good treatment for the halibut we have.

My current batch is looking worse for the wear but I plan on going out tomorrow for more, so will snap some photos.

In my area there are many daffodil farms with acres and acres of different varieties. Their main income is from bulbs but they sell the flowers too. Tons of roadside stands with honour boxes. I buy armsful as the are indeed smile inducing!

That looks fabulous! I can almost taste it.

Our Easter dinner doesn't vary much from year to year to avoid revolt. Ham, Schwarties potatoes (from Best of Bridge - I think they are more commonly known as "funeral" potatoes.) Rolls, asparagus, peas, devilled eggs and angel food cake cut into 3 layers filled with lemon curd and frosted with whipped cream. Daffodils in a shot glass in the hole in the angel food cake. This year as a nod to a couple of low-carbers, cauliflower with cheese sauce made with chicken broth, a sploosh of white wine, sharp cheddar, gruyere and sodium citrate. There is alwaysa second dessert which varies from year to year however other than last year we are usually 12-16 people, only 5 this year so a second dessert isn't necessary but may still appear as one of my daughters loves any excuse to bake. (It's genetic.)

That cake is calling to me. Had a chocolate stout cake last year for the first time - it was amazing, but your Bailey's buttercream would be over the top!

Dinner was one that's on regular rotation, I think it was originally from the NYT but don't quote me on that. Chicken thighs braised with onions, garlic, tomatoes and olives, broiled feta on top at the end. Served with orzo (always) and asparagus because it's in season and I love it! Sloppy plating - everyone was hungry.