Weekend 6

C

colleenmomof2

Well-known member
We had great friends over for dinner last night and afterwards, sat by the river into the wee hours talking and enjoying the on-and-off buzz of our next door neighbors spray-painting their house!

We had:

1. Grilled thick-cut pork chops marinated overnight in low sodium soy sauce - so juicy and tender!

2. Chunky stove-top applesauce from a blend of apples, dark brown sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of lemon zest

3. Grilled mushroom and onion skewers brushed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

4. Leftover grilled corn on the cob, liberated from the cob and sauteed in butter spiked with green onions, lime zest and a squirt of lime juice. Should have added a sprinkle of adobo or cayenne but I forgot to and the mixture was splendid without it

5. Grilled pesto zucchini planks with fresh mozzarella beards and a squirt of lemon juice

6. Klondike ice cream squares for dessert - a choice of double chocolate, mint chocolate chip or Reese's.

7. And we munched on roasted kale chips, layered taco dip tortilla chips and sipped Tanqueray gin and tonics, sweetened with a spoonful of limeade concentrate, before dinner.

Wonderful food and wonderful friends - but a noisy night! Colleen

 
Weekend Six

Well now it looks like tomatoes are coming in faster than we can use them so it's tomato time. Tried giving some tomatoes to friends we went out to dinner with last night but they had plenty.

1. Bacon tomato lettuce wraps for lunch
2. Fried chicken with fresh tomatoes for supper
3. Going to make my vidalia onion pie recipe with some tomatoes tomorrow which I have done before - it's a great recipe with a cornbread crust, vidalia onions, fresh kernel corn
4. DH tried the spiced version of Pat's zucchini bread so I have plenty of zucchini to make some more
5. We have the OSU student send off tomorrow afternoon and one upper classman that is vegetarian - he didn't like the expensive vegan burger I got him last year several of the sides are vegetarian and I figured I would take a slice of the tomato pie - he didn't request vegetarian this year after his freshman year - he might have just been going through one of those phases
6. When I was picking up some fresh corn at the local produce stand, I couldn't resist getting a handful of SC peaches and some of the great early June apples (and a MONSTER cantelope/mush melon, and some rather small eggplants)
7. Bonus - friend that we ate dinner with last night just returned from trip out west and happened upon Rancho de Chimayó and Cheryl Jamison giving a class. She missed the class but did get a cookbook with the salsa recipe that the restaurant uses and it looks simple and maybe like what DH likes so I am going to try it - I haven't found the RIGHT restaurant style salsa to suite him yet.

 
Re: Weekend Six--Could you please post your recipe for

vidalia onion pie? It sounds like a perfect addition for a birthday dinner for my son this week. TIA
Rover/NJ

 
Weekend 6

1) got out of wheelchair and "walked" to do laundry.
2) Destroyer of ant invasion
3) Made sandwich
4) Started watching The Sopranos because I've never seen it.
5) Took off the one removal cast and stepped down off porch to turn on lawn sprinkler (this is huge)
6) Just remembered I'd set out over a pound of shrimp to thaw in the sink...yesterday. (It's dead, right? I have to toss it, right? Can't believe I did that - and now...I have no shrimp! At least it went down the disposal with a bit of lemon.)

smileys/frown.gif

 
I gasp for a breath when I read " stepped down off porch to turn on lawn sprinkler "...

I was seriously scared to read one more word! So glad all is fine and shrimp didn't seem very important after that. But sorry about the shrimp too.

 
Sunday Six (and a question about mozzarella beards!)

1. Tell me more about these mozzarella beards, please, Colleen... smileys/smile.gif

2. Made a Tortilla Espanola for dinner tonight. Served with salad, baguette slices, and a plate with herbed goat cheese, red-pepper sheep's cheese, and the stuff I would gnaw off my arm for (Fromager d'Affinois).

3. Working backwards... Last night was Salade Nicoise, leftover from the giant platter of it I served my brother and his fiancee when they came to babysit on Friday night. Did I say this was easy in some other post? Just throw it together? Oh HA HA HA, HOW WRONG. I must have forgotten that it all requires blanching (or, at least, I prefer the green beans blanched), cooking (potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, tuna), assembling. I think I last made this in pre-kid mode, and I'm striking it off my list until M. is old enough to help. Because it's a lot of prep.

4. Friday night, we went out for our anniversary, to, Caffe Storico, the restaurant at the NY Historical Society, where I find it somehow soothing to gaze at all their place settings on display along the walls of the restaurant. (It's also one of the few places in Manhattan, outside of a park, where you can sit in a lovely big cafe and look out the window at nothing but TREES. Divine.) We had chicken-liver pâté (about which my husband asked, "Can we make this at home?"; yes, sure, in my spare time, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm hmmmmmmmmmm), agnolotti with duck, orange reduction, and shavings of dark chocolate (whatever were they thinking?), mezzaluna with asparagus and hen of the woods mushrooms... Very good. Deconstructed tiramisu, which was very good, but why deconstruct tiramisu?! It's the literary-criticism approach to dessert. Twee! Tiramisu should not be twee, dammit. Anyway, it was enjoyable, despite being a little surreal, as it was the first time in seven months that we've been out to dinner. smileys/wink.gif

5. My brother and his fiancee had their engagement party last night on one of the ubiquitous rooftop cafes here. It was very nice, despite the comical levels of pretension on the part of the hotel whose rooftop cafe it was. Really, you do not need two bouncers simply to stand IN THE ELEVATOR. I had something with ginger beer (sadly, not Butterbeer) and lime-leaf vodka. (We offered to throw them a party, but they insisted on doing it themselves. And then they sent out e-invites a week before the party. Sometimes I think he was adopted.)

6. Saturday night, I made some pasta with leftover (I sense a theme here) goat cheese, sauteed kale, chopped tomatoes, and leftover (!) chicken sausage. We then ate it with chopsticks to avoid waking up M. She didn't wake up! We may just switch to all-sushi mode for dinner for a while...

Hope you all had good weekends...
Erin

 
That was my big ta-da win!

It was really only a few steps given I'd rolled to the doorway, but it involved a step down/up, which was a really big thing for me (though I cheated and held on to the house), still consider it a big win though. smileys/smile.gif

 
Your tortilla Espa

Yes, I think I'd gnaw off my arm, too - it sounds divine! My daughter introduced me to burrata...some cheeses are just worth their weight in gold.

It's amazing what you do as a new parent to avoid waking the baby smileys/smile.gif

 
Congrats... on anniv, first date night and engagement of your adopted bro. (Often I think my sis

must be adopted!) : )

Sounds like a lovely and memorable weekend!
Take it as the utmost compliment that J thinks you would be ready, willing and able to make the pate!

Do you have a favorite rec for the Salade Nicoise? I was thinking of making it to serve on Wed afternoon. I'm hosting friends of my parents that will be in the area. Was thinking it would be a good option because it is a make ahead / in stages type of thing.

 
Thanks, cheezz, but it was kind of flat. smileys/frown.gif More eggs, more potatoes, smaller pan, next time!

 
Oh, funny. smileys/smile.gif I thought you had turned it into a kids' meal project--zucchini Santas, etc.!

 
Thank you. smileys/wink.gif I think there are Salade Nicoise recs up the page a bit (can't find 'em--on my phone).

 
Re: In case Missy doesn't see this - I think this is the recipe she used >>

Thank you very much. I really appreciate your effort Maria.
Can't wait to try it and report.

 
Sorry trying to catch up but yes that is the recipe I use....

I just substitute whatever fresh vegetables and stuff I have sitting around and take into account moisture - like on zucchini I either shred and squeeze or slice and salt then rinse.

I just love the cornmeal crust.

 
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