Saturday poll: What's for dinner?

[Jenise]

I've just finished assembling a choucroute: a whole pork loin roast centered in a huge roasting pan full of three quarts of sauerkraut, smoked pork hocks, chicken-rosemary sausage, fresh German bratwurst, thin slices of Chinese sausage (an elegant and tasty little surprise, sweet and chewier than anything else in the pan), peppercorns, juniper berries, bay leaves, whole allspice and cloves. It's awhile before it goes into the oven, so I've set it outside on the deck steps--one really great thing about this kind of weather (it's 33 degrees here today) is that right outside your front door you have a giant cold storage gin. I kept seven whole capons on the roof for a week earlier this month! I'll start with a salad of fresh golden beets with oranges and fresh horseradish, and for dessert there's a chocolate-brandy bundt cake.

Curried red lentils with mustard greens.

rwj

Don't know what we're having tonight, but we're running out of leftover tenderloin and risotto from Christmas so I'm going to have to come up with something!

Chicken and tasso jambalaya.

Mike: Leftover risotto? Arancini!

Here, it's Saturday night so it's pizza night. We had pasta with truffles for lunch ('94 Navarro PN "A" Unfiltered, absolutely superb).

Here, it's Saturday night so it's pizza night. We had pasta with truffles for lunch ('94 Navarro PN "A" Unfiltered, absolutely superb).

Homemade pasta with a truffle butter sauce. Lunch did not suck.

The only downside is that now we lack the ambition to actually accomplish anything this afternoon.

Peasant soup and Barbera.

I made white bean chicken chili for our Christmas lunch. We have plenty of leftovers so we'll have that with corn spoon bread. And, thank goodness there is enough leftover dark chocolate bread pudding for the two of us so we'll have the last of that too.

Last night we had prime rib leftovers. We still have a little left that'll be great for sandwiches. I'm thinking French Dips!

I'll start with a salad of fresh golden beets with oranges and fresh horseradish, and for dessert there's a chocolate-brandy bundt cake.

Jenise, your whole dinner sounds quite amazing. Is this just for you and Bob or are you hosting a little gathering? Regarding the beet salad, our favorite restraurant out here makes a shaved (multi-colored) beet salad with a creamy horseradish dressing that is out of this world. When you say fresh horseradish, do you grate some over the top? Curious.

It's Sunday night here, and we have friends coming over for pizza. Pete is making me a large batch of apricot jam - hopefully we'll get about 20 jars. All the Christmas jams were given away, and I'd like some apricot jam for baking over the next year (fresh apricots are only at the markets for about a month, so we need to make it now!). It's all I can do not to eat it out of the pot with a spoon! I'm going to use the jam to make more Hungarian shortbread for dessert tonight!

Jenise, I remember you storing frozen things on the roof before - such a wonderful image. I think you hid stuff up there for Bob's party?

Reading this on Sunday morning.

Saturday night's dinner was leftover roast chicken (Christmas Day evening meal) and green bean salad (made for Boxing Day lunch). We had the same for lunch on Saturday, and I expect to have it again today for lunch. Thankfully, that should be the end of the chicken. There will still be some bean salad left but we can have it with something else this evening.

Ah, frugality.


Matilda

Wifey and I were planning to grill some salmon. Then a case of the lazies crept upon us. We ate out.

[Jenise]

I'll start with a salad of fresh golden beets with oranges and fresh horseradish, and for dessert there's a chocolate-brandy bundt cake.

Jenise, your whole dinner sounds quite amazing. Is this just for you and Bob or are you hosting a little gathering? Regarding the beet salad, our favorite restraurant out here makes a shaved (multi-colored) beet salad with a creamy horseradish dressing that is out of this world. When you say fresh horseradish, do you grate some over the top? Curious.

Two other couples, which should be four since I've made such an enormous amount. But some will be broken down into a cream of Choucroute soup (doesn't exist, but I'll make it up) to take to a sick friend, and the rest will be a good weeknight dinner. It really never goes to waste.

Re the horseradish, I'll grate it into the vinaigrette (I don't do creamy).

Wifey and I were planning to grill some salmon. Then a case of the lazies crept upon us. We ate out.

I can't tell you how many times that happens to us. It's nice having places nearby where you can "go grab a bite."

I broke my wrist Tuesday afternoon, which put a halt to our Christmas plans. our usually simple dinners will become even more so, and we both will get to know what the world of prepared foods is all about.

Tonight, my one hand and my patient Gene managed to pull together marinated bone-in pork chops which Gene will grill, baked sweet potato, coleslaw, and applesauce from my freezer. I WILL NOT compromise my health through this ordeal!

Gene gave me a beautiful Trek Navigator touring bike for Christmas - I picked it out 12/22 and we picked it up today. It will be months before I can ride it. Can't, cook, can't ride!

I'm patiently waiting as Betsy and David finish prep. Local market had lobsters at $4.99/lb! NYT had an article about lobster glut a couple weeks ago, they're doing one of those recipes (lobster with tarragon butter & salmon roe over egg noodles I think). I'm only in charge of wine ('96 Jobard Meursault is in the hearse, so went to backup, a Dauvissat).

I broke my wrist Tuesday afternoon

Oh no, Karen! I feel for you, because I suffered a broken wrist almost 2 years ago, and I know how much it will inconvenience you. But with good physical therapy, you will be using the hand again in no time. Think positive.

I broke my wrist Tuesday afternoon, which put a halt to our Christmas plans. our usually simple dinners will become even more so, and we both will get to know what the world of prepared foods is all about.

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that Karen!! I hope you're not in too much pain. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

[Robin Garr]

Quiche. Lots of quiche. Mary made six different vegetarian quiches last night for some folks we had over for a Boxing Day gathering, and she made a lot more than we needed. We had quiche for lunch, and we had quiche for dinner. It was good, though.

And you didn't invite us over????

Egg nog with rum while cooking. Shrimp cocktail and a cheap local bubbly (not bad). Green salad, an amazing potato salad (almost as many hard cooked eggs as potatoes, dill relish, roasted red peppers, finely chopped black olives) made by my future daughter-in-law (I just met her for the first time Christmas day - she's from Guam), carrots roasted with olive oil, brown sugar, garlic and dill, Tortiere, gherkins, WA Gewurtztraminer, Finger Lakes Traminette, mince pie and coffee with Baileys. Nap time.

I sent my husband out to get Mexican off one of those trucks. I was busy today trying to catch up on chores now that we've begun the thaw.

[Jenise]

I broke my wrist Tuesday afternoon, which put a halt to our Christmas plans. our usually simple dinners will become even more so, and we both will get to know what the world of prepared foods is all about.

Oh Karen, that's awful. I hope it wasn't the hand you need the most. No surgery required, I take it?

[Jenise]

Last night we had prime rib leftovers. We still have a little left that'll be great for sandwiches. I'm thinking French Dips!

Sounds great. We had our leftover prime rib today at lunch in a chopped salad: arugula, tomato, cold beef, avocado and parmesan.