made 2 lbs. of Italian Sausage Patties. Finely got the ingredients from the Butcher at my market.
They are from a Spice Co. in Ca.
So I winged my own recipe.

lbs. of Ground Pork
2 Heaping tablespoons of Red wine.
1/2 teaspoon of Anise flavor ( Mix in the wine ).
1 1/2 tablesps. of Paprika
1 tablesp. of Salt
1 heaping Tablesp. of Garlic powder.
1 tablesp. of Sugar
2 tablesps. of Parmesan Cheese.
1 teaspoon of Black Pepper.
Optional ( 1/2 teaspoon of Fennel )

Mix all the dry ingredients together.
Spread out the Grd. Pork and drizzle the wine mixture over it and mix it thru.
Sprinkle all the Spices over the Pork and mix that thru.
Make a small patty and cook it in a skillet, to give it a taste test.
Add more of what you like.
This tasted like the Meat Market Sausage, that everyone likes.
I used some of this for a small Meat Loaf. Mixed it with Ground Sirloin, along with Bread crumbs and Spices.
Brownded it for 20 minutes at 400, Put in some nuked Potato Slices and added Spaghetti Sauce over everything.
Lowered the temp. to 325 Deg and Baked it for another 50 min.( internal temp. 160 Deg ).
LOU

Sharon, I am a gravy fan. That looks soooo good.

Annie, I'll skip the fish and have doubles of the veggies.

Kathleen, I'd like a few of your onion rings.

Pizza tonight. Greek style Potato pizza. I haven't made a Greek Pizza in a while. It was always Matthew favourite. The pizza is topped with roasted potatoes seasoned with garlic and oregano.

The dough was made on Wednesday and refrigerated. If you haven't tried making the dough in advance and leaving it for two to three days you really should. Makes for a superior pizza crust.

Ann

I've got nothin' but carbs to post. Thursday I tried my hand at making Ann's mini bagels:

Yesterday, I made pita:

And today, I made a traditional hummus to go with the pita:

Hopefully, tomorrow I can make something not so carb-endowed!!

Lori

Although Ann'e pizza and Lori's bagels look good I'll have to enjoy the carbs vicariously. Lori I do love hummus. I use cucumber slices for dipping.

Yesterday I baked breaded hake fillets with oat bran and almond and dabbed he last drops of my homemade pesto on them so as not to waste it.

Made a big steam pot of the too many vegetables I bought: broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, yam, squash and carrots.

They looked so pretty before I put them on the stove that I took their pic before cooking, as well as one of the fish.

Wolf had his with fried leftover potatoes.

SharonCb

Ann, what is on a Greek potato pizza? I like potatoes, I like bread, is there something else on there that I'd love? Or more likely, not like?

Lori, the bagels look good, but you reminded me that I haven't made pitas in a long time.

Annie

Annie

Annie, I like that you have someone to cook for you.

Sharon, great picture of the raw veggies.

Rusty

I went straight for a dessert photo... nope, I did not make these! You can see a crab-cracker-thingy in the photo so you know we had crab legs--with lemon, and then dipped the crab in melted butter. Yum!

In the photo: the thing with a stick is a cheesecake ball, dipped in chocolate and then rolled in shaved chocolate & I'm sure you'll recognize the lemon bar just below it. The pink confection is strawberry mousse-layered spongecake, wrapped in decorated white chocolate, and the meringue-topped piece of deliciousness is a lime mousse wrapped in white chocolate with "strands" of lime flavored white chocolate. The "S" on the chocolate round denotes Sacher torte, and the little thing in the rectangular shot-type glass is raspberry panna cotta.

Roll me out the door! Good thing there were 3 of us to share this bounty!

Sooz, I'll have one of each, please.

Annie

Sooz...those look downright sinful! One for me too please.

Today I made turkey and vegetable soup, after buying cut up stewing turkey at the supermarket, sold in a tray like stewing beef. It was good and hot which we needed as we have been having another stormy day here. Weather, collapsed roads and flooding has been so bad across the islands that it's even on the TV news in Canada. Lucky that our part of the island was the only place that got off lightly without much damage. Our house and garden are fine.

Friends in Germany are having a terrible winter though.

SharonCb

So, we made borscht for lunch:

It was very good and the dogs liked it too, made with my homecanned beets and some good homegrown beef.

For supper we had fish tacos, made with tilapia breaded with seasoned bread crumbs and some lime.

The fish was very good, but the borscht was better.

Annie

Lori your bagels look yummy. I would love a small one of those each morning for breakfast along with some smoked salmon or just Vegetable Cream Cheese. Your pitas and hummus look super too. I'm with Annie on I also like celery and carrots with hummus.

Sharon your veges. always look so good raw or cooked. I would love to know how you did your turkey soup. Last week I finally cleaned out the freezer and rearranged and made a TON of turkey broth. Now it's stocked away in my second freezer waiting for something good to use it in!:)

Annie the prawns and veges. look super. One of my favorite dishes.

Sooz I will take a taste of each one on the plate please!

No pictures as we went out to dinner for Asian food with friends last night and had enough brought home for dinner tonight at home. It's snowing again - calling for about another 3-6'. Another big storm is suppossed to hit this weekend starting on Friday. I think I will hit the grocer early in the morning to get some items to make some different things for us for the upcoming days (we will see).

Dessert is black bottom cupcakes.

Alexa

Dixie the turkey soup was easy and a last minute decision since I thought I might make a curry. In the supermarket when I usually shop, the turkey now comes cut in small chunks in trays as though it were stewing beef.

I browned the turkey in a frying pan in a little olive oil with plenty of onion and garlic, added a couple of small ripe tomatoes and when it was browned and half cooked, I transferred it all to a large old heavy pressure cooker pot that no longer pressure cooks, but sure is nice and heavy!

Then I added chicken stock to cover, then chopped vegetables: potatoes, carrots, broccoli, leek, a bay leaf and some thyme and black pepper, simmered some more, added chopped Italian parsley and topped up the pot with a little more chicken stock; added a small tin of peas, tasted and poked the potatoes to be sure they were done.
And that was it. Still have some left.

Today we started dinner with more turkey soup and then baked fish that comes frozen in Italian sauce and baked asparagus with grated Parmesan.
That sure filled us up, but as it was a cold, rainy day it was satisfying.

SharonCb

Alexa, nothing wrong with an eclectic meal.

Sharon, Your dinner looks so pretty on your plates.

We had Swedish Meatballs for dinner last night. Served over wide noodles.

Ann, your meatballs look super! I'm hungry now:)

Dixie, I'm sorry about your trip, that's disappointing. At least you'll get to take that some time in the future, though...

Annie

Annie, I have never had borscht, but always wanted to try it. You may inspire me to do so!

Ann, I use your Swedish Meatball recipe exclusively, now. Once I tried it, I was hooked. The seasoning is right on, they are the best I have ever had/made! Thank you.

Well, it's not that I haven't been cooking, I just haven't been photographing! LOL

Tuesday night I made Baked Ziti. It was wonderful. The recipe makes a ton, so I made it into two casseroles and froze one.

At the market today a man at the meat counter started talking about Reubens, and just like that I got a craving! So tonight was Grilled Reubens with Cindy Mac's oven fries. (I could have let the fries go a bit longer, they weren't quite as crispy as I like)

Linda

All I had tonight was a New York Strip Steak, with Onions , Home Fries and Veggies Stir Fried.
LOU

Cooper approved too.

Annie

Nice looking meals. The colors of your pictures are not doing you justice. If you want I can correct them and re-post for you.

dcarch

Linda, great looking sandwich.

Annie, we also had roast beef for dinner tonight.

Annie

Annie, last night I had a dream you and I were competing on Food Network's "Chopped."
Talk about a Lucy and Ethel moment. Details on the way.

In any case, I hope the pain/discomfort for Ashley will be very brief. And, if by chance, she feels like eating at all today, I have a rich, and healthy, avocado shake (weird, but true) that Sam is crazy for, I'll send it to you next.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Sol

Can't get around to good anyway, right now and I can't sit at the PC too long.
Arithiritic Tendonitis of the knee and Achilles Tendon.
Lou

Jojo I hope your son is alright. Keep us posted.

Get better Lou and hopefully you'll get over the PC problems too.

Today was a busy day and as it was beautiful and sunny we went out for lunch across the street from the Botanical Garden where there's a green lawn with palms and olive trees to look at while sitting outside to dine.

We took their daily specials: Wolf had a lamb shank with peeled salt potatoes and mixed veg. I had sole, without butter or potatoes, just took the veg.
Too many carrots for the diet but I ate them this time. The fish was good. This is third day in a row to have fish as yesterday I did baked salmon and multi-veg.
We finished with strong espressos.

Have a happy weekend everyone!

SharonCb

Yes, I have heard that when you upgrade from XP to Windows 7 OS, compatibility issues will cause Arithiritic Tendonitis of the knee and Achilles Tendon.

I hope you'll get over your PC problems soon.

dcarch :-)

Sol, my friend, you can win at Chopped, I promise. I suggested the avocado shake to Ashley but she's not wanting much, not even the chicken and rice soup I made for her.

Jo, I sure hope your son is OK, keep us posted on what's going on. He'll be in my prayers.

Annie

Ashley is feeling pretty numb still, and one side of her face is pretty swollen. She's sitting with an ice pack and watching "The Proposal". She's had some pain killers and some antibiotics and she's settled in for the night on the couch.

Thanks everyone for the good wishes for her.

Annie

Actually there's nothing "elegant" per se about these beans, I just think whomever wrote the recipe thought it was "elegant" to serve limas with a sauce. I don't even know where I got the recipe anymore, probably in some magazine back in my college days of the 70's and 80's.

Sharon, sounds like your weather has finally calmed down a bit! Glad to hear it.

Annie, your soup looks good, I could go for a bowl of it! Glad Ashley's feeling good enough to watch a little TV. A good night's sleep is sure to help, too!

Just cleaned up my terribly messy kitchen after making dinner of Cashew Chicken and Egg Rolls. I have never made egg rolls before. They were easy enough, but frying is such a messy job! They turned out really good, tho, so it was worth it!

Linda

I need to get motivated. I have been cooking, but no great meals, just the usuals but a gumbo is planned for Sunday.

Lou, I think the wood tabletop that the plate is on is making it appear more yellow. The blue is right and the pink in the meat is right. Just so much golden glow from the wood, potatoes and veggies. Still looks good!

Lou, I make my own Italian sausage too. That way I can control the salt content.

Ann, I love the idea of adding potatoes to a pizza. I've got to remember that the next time I make one. I'd love some of your Swedish meatballs too.

Lori, I made bagels this week too but without the seeded topping. I haven't found a good bakery here that makes anything but puffball bagels, so I've got to make my own if I want decent ones to eat.

Sharon, I'm always so impressed by how you can take humble vegetables and turn them into works of art.

Annie, I've always wanted to make borscht but have been too chicken to try. Could you share your recipe?

Linda, the Reubens are right up my alley. And your Chinese food looks wonderful. I can't even imagine making homemade egg rolls.

Since my mother died in November, I've found myself making more and more Greek food. I suppose it's my way of remembering her. My husband took some pictures when I made yaprakia (stuffed grape leaves) again. This was her signature dish. They were my dad's favorite and, after we got married, they became my husband's favorite too. She always made a batch for his birthday and Christmas. Now it's up to me to keep the tradition going.

Here are some pictures of me forming the stuffed grape leaves, arranging them in my pressure cooker (with my special cooking rocks), and serving the cooked dolmades in a casserole.

I discoveredd TJ's is carrying Niman Ranch pork. It's not quite the same quality as we got at the restaurant, but it's still really, really good and no hormones, steriods, etc. DH pan grilled a couple of thick center-cut chops with minimal seasoning (salt/pepper/garlic), then paired it with a asiago and shallot orzo and grilled asparagus with a mustard sauce he concocted from a sample-size jar of MIN Merlot mustard he found at CostPlus. Loved the mustard sauce (mine found it's way onto the pork) and think it would be great on fish. Unfortuantely, like most of what he cooks, he doesn't remember exactly how he made it. So goes our mottot: if you like something you eat at our house, enjoy it thorougly because you may never have it the exact same way twice.

Tonight was black olive and mushroom pizza. Tomorrow I'm making lasagne as requested.

My dinners are so much more intersting when he's home. :)

If you want to correct the overall colour you should set your camera's White Balance to Tungsten, which is the setting for an indoor light bulb (not the new CFL bulbs) which will take away the yellow cast. It looks like you have your camera at an outdoor daylight setting, which has to be changed if you take pics indoors under a light bulb.

It's so easy....just change the setting on one of your camera menus. The icon you want is that of a light bulb. You can read about it here.

You always have interesting recipes Lou and we know you have had a lot of experience in the kitchen.

SharonCb

CLASSIC RUSSIAN BORSCHT
Printed from COOKS.COM

¡õ 2 quarts beef stock
¡õ 3 tablespoons butter
¡õ 1 cup cabbage, finely chopped
¡õ 1 cup potatoes, diced
¡õ 1/2 cup carrots, diced
¡õ 1 stalk celery, minced
¡õ 1 onion, chopped
¡õ 1 1/2 cups canned tomatoes
¡õ 1/2 cup juice (from can of beets)
¡õ 1 cup cooked or canned beets, diced
¡õ 1 teaspoon vinegar
¡õ chopped dill or parsley (for garnishing)
¡õ sour cream
In a large heavy pan, melt butter and lightly saut¨¦ cabbage, potatoes, carrots, celery and onion for approximately 5 minutes. Add beef stock.

Blend canned tomatoes or press through a sieve until fine. Add pureed tomatoes and beet juice to stock. Cover and simmer over low heat until vegetables are firmly tender but not soft.

At this point, add the chopped beets and vinegar. Season well with salt and pepper and remove from heat before the beets begin to lose their color.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of dill or parsley over each bowl.

Renee, my cooking is more interesting when I have someone to cook for too. I had toast and jam for breakfast, Ashley had a chocolate malt. Now she's on the couch, but I'm going into the kitchen to make mango pudding!

Annie

The Oil is about 5 times stronger.
I'll have to buy More Ground Pork and mix it thru. LOL!
- - - - - - - - - -
Sharon:
I have a 300 watt, white light on my stand but I guess all
the other lights overpowered it.

When everything was transfered from my old PC to the new one, it was way off color and lighter.
Didn't read your link yet I'll send this first and then go back in and read the Link.
Thank You for being You. !!!
Lou

The potatoes and gravy weren't pretty, but she said they were good!

I had duck, I used Ina Garten's method as posted by Ann T, which involves first boiling the duck until tender and then high heat roasting at 500F. Yup, the oven smoked like crazy, but it was good. I glazed with an apricot/pineapple glaze:

Since I had the oven on, I needed to make more things using the oven, so I made some pineapple upside down muffins with carrot and whole wheat flour. Ashley's newest boyfriend said they didn't even taste healthy!

And, because I wanted to use up the rest of the package of chicken that I thawed yesterday to make Ashley's chicken and rice, I picked up some Cool Ranch Doritos, ground them in the food processor and made Makayla's favorite chicken nuggets. I'll take them to her tomorrow, she'll be happy.

Tomorrow I have to go to the farm, I need to pick up chicken feed at the mill, and I need to check feeders and tanks. I'll go play with the grandkids after that, so I'll have leftovers when I get home, and it's back to work on Monday.

Annie

Lou, What SharonCb said.
It's better, still color is off. If you want I will correct the color for you. Your dishes look wonderful with the color corrected.

dcarch

Tropical Mango Pudding

Yields - 6 servings (1/2 cup each)
1/4 cup corn starch
2/3 cup (5 fl. oz. can) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
3/4 cup NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 cup water
Pinch salt
2 cups chopped fresh mangoes (about 2 medium)
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon rum (optional)

PLACE cornstarch in medium, heavy-duty saucepan. Gradually add evaporated milk, stirring constantly, until cornstarch is dissolved. Add sweetened condensed milk, water and salt. Place saucepan on burner. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low; cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Remove from heat. Pour mixture into large bowl. Let cool for 30 minutes.

PLACE mangoes, cinnamon and rum in blender; cover. Blend until smooth. Pour mango mixture into cooled milk mixture; stir. Place pudding in blender; cover. Blend until well blended. (I just pureed the mangoes, then dumped the milk mixture right into the blender and blended it)

POUR the pudding into dessert bowls or glasses. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Garnish as desired.

Annie

We had Beef Vegetable Soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. After the shoveling that we have been doing today it really hit the spot and I'm sure we burned quite a few calories! I also pulled out some ham bones/ham that I had in the freezer and am making 15 bean soup that I will put in the snow to cool off after cooking and that will be for tomorrow night. Hubby is in a soup mode right now with all this snow.

That said, Ann, I hate it when you show those Swedish Meatballs because I love them so and rarely get to make them. Your photos of them make my mouth water.

SharonCB, you give me more wanderlust for places I can't go with your photos. Shame on you! ; )

Everything looks great here as always! I see cravings in my future after reading. If I had some of Ashley's hamburger gravy that is what I'd have for breakfast.

Last night we had Ginger's French Dip that I had made a while ago with a pork roast - I mixed it with wide egg noodles (no dipping for us :) and it was perfect comfort food for the cold NJ snow day!

Annie, I would love your recipe for the Pineapple Upside-down muffins? I've been recipe testing quick bread for sale at the farmers' market when it starts up in May. Yesterday I made mini loaves of Mexican Cornbread and Carrot Honey Raisin bread. Last week was Lemon Cranberry bread and Applesauce Nut bread. Muffin recipes work well for these mini loaves, but sometimes I have to adjust the oven temp and time, plus I want to see how many mini loaves I can get out of each recipe.

Thanks, Annie!
Teresa

Pineapple Upside-Down Muffins

From EatingWell
1 dozen muffins

Topping
•2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
•2 tablespoons chopped walnuts, or pecans (optional)
•1 10-ounce can pineapple slices
Muffins
•3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
•3/4 cup all-purpose flour
•2 teaspoons baking powder
•1/2 teaspoon baking soda
•1/4 teaspoon salt
•1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
•2 large eggs
•1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
•1/4 cup canola oil
•2 tablespoons pineapple juice, or orange juice
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, (not drained)
•1 cup grated carrot, (1 large)
•1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
•3/4 cup raisins, preferably baking raisins (see Ingredient note)
•1/4 cup chopped walnuts, or pecans (optional)
Preparation
1.Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray.
2.To prepare topping: Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar into each muffin cup. Sprinkle nuts, if using, over the sugar. Stack pineapple slices and cut into 6 wedges. Place 2 wedges in each muffin cup.
3.To prepare muffins: Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.
4.Whisk eggs and brown sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Whisk in oil, juice and vanilla. Stir in crushed pineapple. Make a well in the dry ingredients; add the wet ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Stir in carrot, oats, raisins and nuts, if using. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups (they'll be quite full).
5.Bake the muffins until the tops are golden brown and firm to the touch, 15 to 25 minutes. Immediately loosen edges and turn muffins out onto a baking sheet. Restore any stray pineapple pieces and nuts. Let cool for at least 10 minutes. Serve upside-down, either warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition
Per muffin : 211 Calories; 6 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 3 g Mono; 35 mg Cholesterol; 36 g Carbohydrates; 4 g Protein; 3 g Fiber; 185 mg Sodium; 152 mg Potassium

These rose up nicely, no "muffin top" hangover at all, and made a pretty good sized muffin. Definitely a keeper recipe for me, although I'll admit that I cut the muffin in half and ate the gooey bottom, sharing the top with Cooper. Hey, I saved a few calories that way, yeah....that's why I did it. Ahem.

Annie

Shambo I'm so impressed with your dolmades, you are making them so well. We're living on a wine-growing island so I should be able to find some grape leaves somewhere shouldn't I, but I've never seen them for sale to be used for cooking. I really would like to try making them once.

Beverly I won't tell you then how today the temperature went up to 75F and we sat in the garden for after dinner coffee. I would love to see you here for a visit!

Today I made stuffed green peppers with small fresh tomatoes, using a mixture of ground beef (can't use pork yet) and spices including fennel and Parmesan.
Part way through their baking time I spooned a Tbs of Spanish tomate frito (fried tomato sauce) over each one while in the casserole.
They were good but next time I will steam the peppers briefly before stuffing as they were still a little crisp today.

We had them with steamed vegetables: squash, carrots, broccoli, spinach, onion. Wolf had fried potatoes as well. Still have two left over for tomorrow's lunch.

Take care everyone who has snow. The weather over on the east coast sounds so extreme, I hope you are all keeping safe and warm!

SharonCb

SharonCB, those peppers look good, so nice and fresh. I don't much like cooked peppers but I can eat them raw like apples, those look fresh and crunchy.

No snow here, but it was darned cold and the wind chill was below zero. I fed the stock and filled the tanks, fed the chickens, picked up more chicken feed and stored that in the barn. Something about hauling 50 pound bags of feed makes me tired for some reason, good thing I only had half a dozen of them or I'd have worn myself out, sheesh.

I didn't cook much tonight, I had biscuits that I'd made this morning and an egg. A muffin for dessert and a cup of this morning's coffee in the microwave and I'm good to go.

Annie

Hope the color is OK on this one.

Thank you Lou for mentioning your stuffed peppers. Until I'm finished with this diet, I can't have bacon or any pork, no Provolone and have to watch tomatoes as they're only barely allowed. I'll look for your recipe another day when I am eating normally again.

Yesterday we finished off the last two stuffed peppers, with baked bubango zucchini, squash and eggplant slices roasted in the oven and brown rice. Today I made a meatless stewed lentils. It was so good we each had two bowls. I used a couple of teaspoons of Marmite along a with Knorr stock cube and a spoonfull of dried onion soup mix to kick up the flavour. It contained one carrot, lots of onion and garlic, a bay leaf, half a sliced leek, eggplant all of which were chopped and browned in olive oil before being added to the pot of lentils cooking. Spinach added near the end. It's chilly again here so hot soup was good.

SharonCb

Sharon, I wouldn't mind your peppers with the zucchini and eggplant. That really looks good. And I love that picture.

This is a catch-up of what we have had this past week:

Flummkuchen - kind of like a German/Alsatian onion and bacon pizza. Really good.

Pork Souvlaki with Greek Salad and rice

And a ham dinner with potato gratin, squash and steamed broccoli.

I also baked Date and Walnut loaves.

Sharon, I have never had a stuffed pepper....not sure why! Yours look delicious!

Tonight I just cleaned out the fridge and made all of my leftover bits of vegetables into a fritatta. Ham, onions, mushrooms, arugula and swiss cheese in the fritatta, and I also hade some leftover oven fries so I rough chopped them and made them into home fries on the side.

Linda

Sharon your peppers, vegetables and soup look so good. We love veges. and my husband loves stuffed peppers. I haven't made those in a while and should make up a batch. That would make him very happy.

Annie your biscuits and eggs look great but I have to admit I need my eggs a little more done. I like my yolks cooked all the way but hubby would love the dippy just like your picture. And as far as Ashley needing to have a boyfriend that is in need of help - she will grow out of it. I died laughing when I read that because I was just that way when I was her age. My parents could never understand it!!!:)

Ann the ham and potatoes look super as well as the pizza. I love bacon on pizza! And Greek food is absolutely one of my favs. and your plate looks fantastic.

I made terakyi salmon, rice pilaf and steamed broccoli for us tonight. I had the camera all ready to go but then got caught up on a phone call concerning my Mom's estate with the bank which is a whole thread within itself. I've just about had it with the bank. It just about made me lose my appetite. Seriously how hard is it for a bank to change an address? Sign of the times.

Thanks all for the wonderful pictures of the meals. I always enjoy them and they calm me down:)

Ashley was still doing the soft foods, so she had macaroni and cheese:

Tonight we had bean soup and more of the cornbread, it's cold and snowy and soup seemed like a good idea:

Dixie, Elery agrees with you on the eggs, he likes his done until they are firm all the way through and I like them...well....you know because of the picture, LOL. So I cook his a little longer. I smiled at "dippy" eggs because my girls used to call them "dunky" eggs, they "dunked" toast in them.

Ann T, everything looks good, but the pork souvlaki really appealed to Elery, now he wants some.

Sharon, we had bean soup, but I love lentil soup too, it's definitely soup weather!

Annie

Sharon, you are always so generous with your help with photography.
I tried to buy new SD cards for my 3 yo Canon, and have been told they are phasing them out for the SDHC which don't fit "older" cameras. I know I can get them on line...I did find ONE at Staples..Guess they will force us to buy new cameras..
Ann that frumkuchen looks wonderful..I will pop over to your blog to see how..

Shambo, those look wonderful..and such a nice way to remember your mom...

Everything looks delicious..I have cooked, but the same things you have already seen..

Lou feel better...hope you are missing the storm we are getting slammed with right now!

Ashley is feeling better, but still not chewing anything too substantial, it gives her a good excuse to indulge in her favorite food, mashed potatoes.

Elery and I had our "Valentine's Day" dinner on Wednesday, he had to go home today. Just as he put the steak on the grill, Ashley showed up with her boyfriend and a friend. We put more steak on the grill, and they stayed until 11 pm, watching movies on demand on the computer via Netflix.

Elery had planned a nice meal and a quiet evening with just the two of us, but it didn't happen. The steak, the shrimp, the roasted fingerling potatoes and the green beans were really good though!

Yesterday for lunch we had turnips, collard greens and cherry tomatoes, I liked it a lot.

Then we went to Cadillac to visit stepmom, she's in the hospital there. We stopped at Ruby Tuesday's on the way home and got the worst meal I've had in a long time, I had a veggie burger that had way too much of a far too sweet BBQ sauce. Elery had a completely tasteless turkey burger. Ugh.

Annie

A few of the things I've made recently:

I saw Ann's flammkuchen on her blog and decided to give it a try myself. It was delicious!!

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

Cornstarch Waffles, which were very tender on the inside, crisp on the outside:

And Ann's Upside-Down Blueberry Cake:

Lori

While you were having waffles, I made Beth's Grandpa Corliss' pancakes for breakfast with an egg and maple syrup, very yummy with a cup of hot coffee:

It was a baking kind of day, so I decided to bake bread. Since I had the oven on I started with a dozen molasses cookies from dough I found in the freezer, leftover from Christmas. When those came out, I made Glenda's pulled pork:

My bread went in with the pork, it was butternut squash bread with a cinnamon and sugar filling:

While things were rising and baking and simmering, I decided to clean the fridge. I found a bag of cranberries that had been there since Christmas (!) and used those to make Gina's cranberry citrus marmalade:

So, it was a constructive day, and I definitely had supper!

Annie

I finally took a few pictures of our Valentines dinner....

Asparagus in crispy proscuitto with a balsamic drizzle. OMG I willd efinitely be making this again and often, it is my new fav way to eat this super simple appy.

ABin5 done as a ring.... tried to make it heart shaped, but it rounded out moving from the peel to the stone

Baked Shrimp Scampi from Ina. I halved the recipe, and forgot to halve the topping LOL! Oh well, it was super tasty anyway

Baby green and apples in a Frico cup. Stacy inspired me and I made them for my already planned salad. Very tasty, DH loved them and has challenged me to come up with an app that would use mini versions of these

Not as pretty as it maybe could have been... Hawaiian Butterfish with Puttanesca Sauce and Garlic Smashed potatoes.

And MLCs for dessert...

Great photos. What a wonderful dinner. Everything looks delicious.

Ann

A

Yesterday:
Everyone was up for
My Daughters Birthday. ( Valentines Day )

I made Pancakes for breakfast. ( Best in the World )
No photo's of the Pancakes.

I did a Roasted Chicken, which was almost 5 lbs.(4.90)
No Stuffing this time but a lot of Potatoes.

Served with Stir Fries and Salad, with Cheese Cake for Dessert.

June

I am going to be making that shrimp scampi and doublling the topping, too - LOL. Annie, I've got to try those pancakes they look wonderful.

Ann, your ham and potatoes - another thing I have to put on the menu. What a great shot.

And Lorijean, I've been frequenting your blog lately, gathering recipes and ideas! Your Asian lime ribs were scrumptious - and I served your asparagus with proscuitto at our Valentine dinner party - it was a huge hit. Also, last summer, you mentioned that a great way to serve Ann's oven roasted tomatoes was on top of toasted crostini along with ricotta, s and p. I made it then and then poofed the last of those tomatoes the other night and it tasted just as good. :-)

Stacy

Yes, many of the photos on this forum are far better than some of the best food magazines and cookbooks! Unfortunately, my photos are not in that category! LOL

We had V-day dinner tonight because I realized I was missing one ingredient for it when I went to get started making it last night. So last night I made Claires Amazing Thin Crust Pizza. Topped with Pepperoni, hard salami and onions, it really hit the spot.

Tonight was Ina Garten's Seafood Gratin served with Party Pear Salad (from GW, but I am not sure whose recipe this is....). The gratin was delicious, but very, very rich! That salad is probably my favorite salad in the world! LOL

Nothing to do with dinner, but I started a batch of Limoncello last week. Finished it up today. It is good, but I added some lemon juice to it as I wanted it a littel more mellow. Turned out good, I think I'll make my simple syrup using the saved lemon juice from now on. Makes it super "lemony"! I refilled the vodka bottle and still had enough to fill two smaller bottles.

Linda

Linda

(It was delicious and perfect when the summer heat becomes so oppressive!!)

Stacy, I'm flattered that you've been reading my blog! I've never frozen the roasted tomatoes. Good to know they can be held over like that - though I usually can't stop nibbling on them when I make them! LOL

Lori

I'll start a new thread, rather than hijack this one.

Linda

This is one of those dishes that looks just as beautiful before it's cooked, as it does after it's cooked!

Here it is all ready to go in the oven.

Lori your Sorbet would go perfect with my dinner tonight! It looks just gorgeous! Good job.

Last night, I had a chicken breast I needed to use, so I cut it up into chunks, seasoned it with s&p and minced rosemary, and sauteed the chicken until it was brown. Also sauteed some mushrooms, shallots & garlic, made a cream sauce and crepes, combined it all and voila! Dinner! :D

Lori

We've been eating about the same as usual, salmon, hake, shrimp, chicken, liver & onions and some beef patties or meatloaf with vegetables and salads.
I can't be too creative until my diet is over, so no pasta and nearly no carbs yet, although Wolf gets potatoes, so my photos would be quite repetitive.

Alexa you did well with both the food and the camera. Nice to see what you've been making.

Kathleen I hope you have luck finding SD cards. I hate it when something you need is phased out.
I use Compact Flash cards in my Canon and hopefully they will be around for a while, but I'd better check.

June if you were asking about my stuffed green peppers, I can suggest you use your favourite meatloaf recipe mixture and after cutting off the tops of the peppers to form a lid, remove seeds and veins and stuff them with the meatloaf, put them into an oiled casserole (I use olive oil instead of butter), add lids and drizzle a bit of oil and tomato puré over top.
Put them into an oven around 350F for an hour an a half or until peppers have softened.

I used my best meatloaf recipe for that and again as meatloaf and veg for dinner yesterday.

Here's the recipe:

WORLD'S BEST MEATLOAF

1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs - (tear up soft sliced bread - don't use fine crumbs as for breading)
1 1/2 lb ground meat (beef or pork & beef) (about 700 grams)
1 beaten egg
1 onion chopped fine
1/4 teasp dry Colman's (or similar) mustard
1/8 teasp ground sage
1/2 teasp ground thyme
1 1/2 teasp salt

1/4 teas pepper
1/8 teasp nutmeg
1 chopped green pepper
1 tin condensed tomato soup (eg Campbells's)
3/4 cup grated celery
3/4 cup grated carrot

1) Mix meat with egg, add onion and seasonings and bread crumbs, greens and carrots

2) Add half the tin of soup and mix everything well. Turn into greased loaf pan or glass casserole dish 8.5 x 11 inches and pour remaining soup over the top, smoothing it evenly over all.

3) Bake 350 F (177 C) for 1 1/4 hours.

Plated

Source: American Pro Footbal Player's Wife in 1963

My Notes:

1) I use 'tomate frito' instead of the condensed soup. It's a rich fried Spanish tomato purée but otherwise condensed soup is good. Never use ketchup !
2) I usually double the amount of the ground spices with the exception of salt.

SharonCb

Lori, I love that photo of the lemon and sorbet.

Shaun, you are right. That dish does look great even before it is cooked.

Lori, I should make crepes more often. So easy and you can fill them with just about anything. Chicken and mushrooms would be perfect.

A few of the things I've made this week:

I made fudge for all the Valentine's in my life. Shipped four trays east, two each of Chocolate walnut and White chocolate Walnut. Matt and Dana ended up with a White Chocolate Walnut and a Maple Walnut. Each tray weighed between two and two and half pounds.

Baked Buttermilk Biscuits for breakfast one day

and Cranberry Goat Cheese Scones for breakfast another.

ps... my fudge never arrived.

Shaun, even in its raw stage, that chicken looks good and herby. I can't wait to have fresh basil again, to make this dish.
I also haven't made lemon Sorbet in Lemon Cups in many years. But Lori's beautiful and summery picture might just motivate me to try again.
Could it be disinterest and laziness comes with old age? I hope not.

In any case, everything you've all made looks magazine-worthy and delicious, no surprise here.

Shambo, I'm so sorry I missed your post earlier. I'd like to offer my condolences to you and your family for your loss. It looks like you learned so much from your dear mother. And your mom's signature dish, Dolmades, are a thing of beauty. We frequent a Middle Eastern restaurant, and my daughter and I, both, fight over Dolmades, so I'll save your tut. Thank you very kindly.

Well, I'm plum tired and have taken the rest of the week off. It's been a while since I posted anything food-related, I'll take a stab at it now.
Starting with the famous, yet, infamous (at least in my experience) V-day Clementine Cake.
Details for the Marzipan Frog Prince is on the blog.

I've been snacking on Clementines all winter; these are "Cuties," from California. I also love the clementines imported from Morocco, they're a tad sweeter, but have seeds, unlike "Cuties."

Made Jim's favorite Banana Bread.

Look away Ann. My sous chef, Thumper, and I, made his favorite Rainbow Jello Hearts. I used to make these for Sam when she was in Elementary School. And the wobbly, rainbow Jello tradition lives on...

Cheese Straws I made for my Seafood Gumbo.

And Seafood Gumbo

Have a good week everyone!

Sol

Those scones are delectable and the crepes from above - and Sol's cake is a work of art.

I better go figure out what "wonderful" thing we are having for dinner.....:-(

Stacy

I'd rather have fudge, good thing I don't have any or I'd skip that chicken. And no, I'm not making fudge for the bake sale, I'd do too much "tasting".

Then again, I could just eat Sol's sweet little sugary frog.....

Annie

Not sure if this news has gone National yet or not but the community I live in has been declared a Cancer Cluster. Lots of children are coming down with rare brain tumors so it is being investigated now to see if it's our water or the soil or whatever.

Our homes are worth n.o.t.h.i.n.g. at this point. It's sickening. We've been going thru this for 8 months now and still have no answers. Some people are just up and leaving their homes and moving. Lots of empty homes around here now. Foreclosures, abandoned....... it's sad.

Anyway..... every time I hear about a brain tumor, my heart goes out to the person affected and their family. I watched a very good friend go thru it with her son. He luckily lived.

Anyway, I had the threatened roast chicken. These darned little grocery store birds really DO look like bowling balls, as Grandma used to tell me.

You see my Diet Coke there, and that was supper, I just snacked on the chicken and drank Diet Coke while I baked cinnamon rolls:

Pumpkin bread:

and brownies:

I made these for the Grandkids on Monday, they're just storebought donut holes on a stick with frosting. Then I realized that the kids loved them but adults probably wouldn't buy donut kabobs, and kids wouldn't be at the bake sale, they'd be home or at school. So, no donut kabobs, LOL.

Annie

June

You can also find some of the recipes for Sol's beautiful creations on her personal blog - Memories in the Baking

And if you can't find what you are looking for just ask. Everyone here is happy to repost recipes.

Ann

The pictures are exceptional, aren't they? I know Ann T has had one of her pictures used commercially, and I think SharonCB has too. There are a lot of talented people here, both cooks and photographers.

Annie

Annie: I'm glad you realized that about my Photo's. LOL!!!

Sol :
If you keep at it, I'm sure you will get good with the Photo's. Lol!!! lol!!!
Glad I don't live close to you.

Sharon:

I can say more about you, because you're across the Ocean.
Lou

I better quit joking !

Lou

Welcome to the forum June. I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself here!

I also sometimes like the look of raw vegetables better than cooked, but I'm definitely not a raw vegetable eater. However they do photograph better sometimes.
Here's my vegetable steam pot for today, potato, carrot, cauliflower, squash, leek, followed by a garlic, onion, parsley and lime zest chicken breast.
I though I was buying the whole breast but once I opened the package it was filleted into thin escalopes. Next time I'll buy at another supermarket where they sell them whole.

And although I wanted to bake the chicken fillets, the electricity was off during today's wind storm, so I cooked them gently in a frypan on the gas stove and made a bit of sauce from the veggie steam water.

Tomorrow is Friday again. Have a good weekend everyone!

SharonCb

Gemini, thank you for making my day a little sweeter! You're very kind.

And thank you Ann, for posting the link!

Awww Luigi, do not fear me. I never take myself seriously, so I never get offended. Only an ill bred rube would feel threatened by a playful remark.

Dear Peppi, sorry I missed your comment. Seems I always miss something whenever I stampede through here.
The dream spoof was pretty silly, as most dreams tend to be, but I'll make sure it gets to you.

Sol

I filled my basket with fruit and veg and got home in time to start cooking. For a change I dragged out my electric hotplate (or is that called a grill?) and dusted it off. Put a few drops of oil on it and cooked the fish while some vegetables were baking in the toaster oven, others steaming on the stove. We had a good lunch but I have to say these small local fish do have a lot of bones and although the flesh is sweet and easy to cook, it is work to eat them and have to keep removing the bones.

I mentioned Pilates this morning because I was speaking to one of my Spanish classmates after class when she introduced me to her husband who arrived to drive her home. He apologized that he had some dirt on his sleeve because he had just been tending his tomatoes in their garden patch. He said they have beefsteak tomatoes growing now, and a few are ripe every other day. I was blown over when he said they were also not growing under glass or in a greenhouse, but rather out in the open air.
So we can grow field tomatoes outdoors even in winter here!
Whodda thought!

1. Raw vegetables: potatoes, squash, eggplant, garlic, shallots
2. After baking in toaster oven

3. Parrot fish cooking and 4. done; 5. plated dinner

We finally have a sunny day after much rain and storms.
Hope everyone's snow is melting!

SharonCb

Thank you for posting the pics.
Ann

So, are you going to plant some tomatoes in your garden?

Sol, the brownies got baked in my 18 quart Nesco roaster, they were the last item and the oven gave out. The brownies came out very well, I made Ashley eat a test brownie to be sure, since I'd never baked anything in a roaster, so that's why that piece is missing. They were fine, BTW. Poor Ashley, she had to sacrifice herself and eat a brownie. Doncha feel awfully bad for her? (grin)

Annie

Lou, Baked another ugly Fish Cake

Found a brass Silver Plated Serving Tray the right size,
to bake it in.( 9 1/2 x 6 1/2 inch well. x 1 1/4 in. deep. )

Ingredients:
½ cup each of ( chopped small ) Red Pepper and Onion.
¼ cup of Celery also chopped small and Nuked them 1 ½ minutes
Mixed in
3 Tablespoons of Mayo and 1 teaspoon of mustard

In a SS bowl I put in a 15 oz. Can of Pink Salmon and
Two 4 oz, cans of Bumblebee Crab Meat.( drained)
Broke up the Salmon and picked out the backbone, then
added the nuked Veggies and mixed well.

In another bowl I mixed all the dry Ingredients
1 cup of bread Crumbs
1/2 teaspoon of Old Bay seasoning
2 teaspoons of Parsley Flakes
1 teaspoon of Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon of Salt
1 teaspoon of Garlic Powder and Onion Powder
2 Tablespoons of Parmesan Cheese
Beat 1 large egg with 1/4 cup of water and add to the dry ingredients.
Add enough water to dampen .

I Mixed the wet and dry ingredients together and placed it in the tray.
Baked it at 325 Deg. for 1/2 hour.

Put in some Baby Shrimp for Gills and an Olive for the eye

Turned the over to Low Broil basted the fish with melted butter and
Broiled for about 10 minutes , or until browned.
This mix also made two 4 inch round Fish Cakes.
Lou

Think I'll add this to the " About the Salmon " Post

Everything looks delcious, this site is taking forever to load!! I think they need a major updating!
Ann, the fuge looks amazing..
Sharon, I found a card here and there, but they are def phasing them out, every place I went to told me that!!
Mine is a Canon also. Guess I am lucky I don't drive a Toyota..:)

What's for dinner? Oh, Elery was here and we did do some cooking, I just haven't gotten pictures loaded yet, so I'll do that later. Maybe tonight....

Annie

Ann

Sharon, what fish available here would you say is like the Parrot fish?

Ann