MaryIsobel

We are going to have Easter "Slunch" this year next Saturday. A meal that will be served at 3:00. Due to our shift working daughter, that is the time that works. Also, my Dad passed away on Wednesday so my sister who lives about 4 hours away will be joining us but is unable to leave until Saturday morning. We'll have baked ham, potato casserole that we call Schwartzies potatoes but is also known as Funeral potatoes. Ina's Green, Green Spring Vegetables, rolls, hot cross buns, and a layered salad that I am making up as I go. It will be a riff on shrimp cocktail, but with more veg, served in a trifle bowl. Angel Food Cake, sliced into layers with lemon curd in between layers, frosted with barely sweetened whipped cream. A shot glass in the middle of the cake will hold a few daffodils from the yard. Also thumbprint cookies with toasted coconut and a dab of chocolate ganache with a few Cadbury mini eggs in each. Dictated by tradition.

Know many, many peope who have had this issue. I used to want one, now I don't.

I would glady have that as my birthday dinner!

I was just remarking recently that I haven't seen Cornish Hens in years. They would be the perfect size now that it is just the two of us. We do live in a poultry farming area, so I will have to investigate other farms than the one I usually go to.

Definitely going to try the gochujang mayo - it sunds delicious

Not sure where you are located, but hopefully that wasn't a Southern "bless your heart!"

We have a 32' fifth wheel and I hear you on the dishes, seems like I am washing dishes all day long on my "vacation." Also, I love sable fish, my favourite of all fish, although haibut is a close second. The other thing is that I love that you used the word "fib." That and "white lie" were my dear Mom's way of saying that she lied about something. Apparenty a white lie or a fib is something done to spare someone's feelings, as in "I love your new, fire engine red hair colour!"

It was my plan to make the chicken "bouillbase" from America's test kitchen. Ihttps://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=595998740954316 I have made it before, and we liked it, but since our home is "open plan" (never again) I am always conscious of the mess I make making dinner when we have guests. I have decided to go a different route, since my plan didn't seem feasible.

I like surimi too, and I think that if you don't pretend that it is something other than what it is, it's just fine. Mermaid salad is a popular deli thing around these parts; surimi, scallions, celery and a mayo based dressing. Back in my younger days, I ate it a lot, it was cheap and convenient but seemed indulgent to me!

Shrimp (or crab) Louie has always been a favourite of my Dad's, hence the idea. He really only likes sweets these days and my sisters and I agree that at his age and stage in life, if he wants to exist on jelly beans and danishes, so be it, but I still feel happy when I can get a little protein into him. He has had a great, long, adventure filled life, so my loving wish for him at this point is that when the time comes, he goes quickly and painlessly.

Bought 120g of hand peeled shrimp yesterday to take to my Dad today to try to entice him to eat something other than candy. Between the time that I bought it and the time that I got home, I received a phone call telling me that he has been put in isolation and on oxygen due to respiratory distress and a slight fever. He is 95, so quite concerning. Another phone call this morning to say that he is requiring less oxygen but still very lethargic and still in isolation. So I had shrimp salad for lunch. A nice treat for me, but I would rather that he had it.

Will definitely have to try that. Would be easy to make weight watchers compliant, which is my goal these days. Thank you!

Happy 40th! Quite a milestone.

Thanks - will definitely give that I try!

Would like to hear more about your homemade cottage cheese - we eat a lot of it and it's not cheap. Never thought about making my own.

Oh I definitely wasn't thinking of keeping it at room temp.

Thanks, I was just hoping that my guests would not be privy to my greasy kitchen! The way our space is set up, most people gravitate to the kitchen as much as I dry to dissuade them!

If I want to do a braise for company, browining the chicken before braising it with liquid half way up the sides so the skin will stay crispy? Can't find a definitive answer and I don't want to poison my guests. Ideally, I would like to get the chicken skin really crispy, which will make a mess of my stove top, then hold it (and clean the kitchen) then start the braise a couple of hours before dinner. Is it feasible?

I've never seen or heard of smoked tuna. Did you smoke it yourself or purchase it smoked. My husband would go crazy for it.

I feel the same way. Corned beef hash with a poached egg and a reuben are the best reasons for making corned beef in my humble opinion.

I find it's an easier sell when I don't try to "disguise" vegetables as something they're not. Minced cauliflower, not cauliflower rice, shredded zucchini, not zoodles... You get the picture. I'm kind of that way myself actually.

Healthy or not - it all looks delicious!

Potato crust quiche tonight. Weight watchers compliant. Shredded potato shell, eggs, fat free evaporated milk, sharp cheddar, lean prosciutto, sundried tomatoes, asparagus and broccoli. Served with salad. It's good but I cannot get spaghetti carbonara out of my head and there is no way to make that WW friendly, so I will eat frugally for the next few days and then have my carbonara on the weekend with my leftover points.

Red Peppers stuffed with ground turkey, whole grain and wild rice blend, mushrooms, onions, garlic and spinach. I suppose I could have scraped the spaghetti squash from the shell, made a nest of it for the stuffed pepper and garnished it artfully. Obviously I didn't do that.

It's odd for me in that when I click on the picture, it comes up with a black background which is stunning! In the post, it shows up on a white background which I don't care for nearly as much.