What's for dinner?

I like the placemats. Very utilitarian.

They're probably hiding bacon. HE'S CHEATING!!!

LOL!!!!

Nicely done, Robert. That looks both tasty and healthy.

I like the placemats. Very utilitarian.

We don't stand on ceremony 'round here.

Dinner tonight will be two giant slab pizzas, baked on 90cm trays. I'm shattered, it's been a long couple of weeks, so tonight will be a quiet dinner in with old friends, and we'll bake the easiest crowd meal I know.

Have a great weekend all!

I've been out of the country for a longish time, and in computer hell since, but Jenise's question and post inspired me to make a hearty and satisfying one dish meal of soup this evening based on fresh red peppers, onions, garlic, celery, anaheim chile peppers, diced black forest ham, canned fava beans, fresh off the cobb white corn kernals, diced tomatoes, cumin and cilantro, simmered for more than an hour and topped with homemade croutons, alongside a bottle of Oregon Z'Ivo pinot noir. Seems to have cured my husband's niggling sore throat and almost-a-cold symptoms.
Ines

[Jenise]

I've been out of the country for a longish time, and in computer hell since, but Jenise's question and post inspired me to make a hearty and satisfying one dish meal of soup this evening based on fresh red peppers, onions, garlic, celery, anaheim chile peppers, diced black forest ham, canned fava beans, fresh off the cobb white corn kernals, diced tomatoes, cumin and cilantro, simmered for more than an hour and topped with homemade croutons, alongside a bottle of Oregon Z'Ivo pinot noir. Seems to have cured my husband's niggling sore throat and almost-a-cold symptoms.
Ines

INES!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, it was "longish" all right. About a year? And some months were longer than others, like the one you spent crossing the Pacific just two of you on that boat. You're a braver girl than I. But welcome back, there are a lot of old friends here who will be glad to see you.

Your soup sounds great, just the cure Kirk needed I'm sure.

Have a great weekend all!

Same to you *C*! I'm sure your pizzas will turn out great.

Salad again.
Even hotter day.

Matilda, someone just sent me an email with these photos. I guess it's so hot the Koalas are having trouble finding water from the usual sources...unless this is VERY clever photo-shopping. (Actually the date on the second photo shows it was taken early last year...

image002.jpg

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[Robin Garr]

I've been out of the country for a longish time, and in computer hell since ...

Ines! So nice to see you back! I hope your travels were pleasant and that, like Dante, you have finally emerged from your particular hell ...

I've been out of the country for a longish time, and in computer hell since, but Jenise's question and post inspired me to make a hearty and satisfying one dish meal of soup this evening based on fresh red peppers, onions, garlic, celery, anaheim chile peppers, diced black forest ham, canned fava beans, fresh off the cobb white corn kernals, diced tomatoes, cumin and cilantro, simmered for more than an hour and topped with homemade croutons, alongside a bottle of Oregon Z'Ivo pinot noir. Seems to have cured my husband's niggling sore throat and almost-a-cold symptoms.
Ines

Welcome back into the fold Ines, and that soup sounds heavenly! Now since you have been gone for so long, you can just come over to the friends forum and telll us all about the excitement you experienced this past year. Good to see you again.

More snow forecast for tonight. An unusual winter for these parts. Tonight's dinner is leftover cheesy chicken and corn casserole, spicy black beans and asparagus. Kind of a mish mash of stuff, but it should chase away the chill pretty good.

Cod sautéed with red/yellow bell peppers, red onion and garlic. Threw in some wine, thyme, s & p, one can of diced tomatoes, more thyme, lemon zest and juice. Served with Farro, sautéed leeks, garlic, chicken broth, a little sherry and spices. Veggie is roasted Brussels sprouts, from our garden.

Got home at 5:30, turned the oven to 425F, washed and quartered 4 Yukon Gold taters and three carrots, tossed them in a zipper bag with a little EVOO, sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and dried garlic, added some Mrs. Dash chipotle seasoning, and deposited the spuds & carrots into a nonstick pan for a trip to the oven. I then placed 2 boneless, butterflied pork loin chops into the bag the spuds were in so as to season the pork a bit. I seared the pork in a skillet until browned but not quite done, then put them in the pan with the potatoes and carrots and back in the oven, while I seared broccolini in the skillet for a couple of minutes, added some vegetable stock, and stuck a lid on it until the broccolini was almost tender and the pork & taters were ready. Here's a pic:

Feb1010-supper_1693.jpg

Now that is my kind of dinner...but I would need my home made applesauce along side the pork. It is a must around here! The broccolini looks perfect! It's beautiful!

[David M. Bueker]

Welcome back to the forum Ines!

Today we poached a pound of salmon that had been in the freezer too long, flaked it and made salmon cakes out of it. We sauteed them, and enjoyed them with butternut ravioli that we cooked and then sauteed them in browned butter. Excellent.

Carrie wrote about:
so hot the Koalas are having trouble finding water

Hi Carrie, interesting to see that the koala pics are still circulating out there in cyberspace! These photos are real, not tampered-with. Last summer was stinking hot, and we'd been in severe drought for the past couple of years. There were a number of photos like these sent in to the local press showing koalas accepting drinks from people - although they are usually shy animals and not apt to tolerate humans or form bonds with them. An interesting aspect of this is that koalas seldom drink water. When conditions are good they get enough moisture out of the eucalyptus leaves they eat. But clearly the drought was drying out the eucalypts so they needed extra water.

One very hot Sunday night that January, I went to a cafe in the Adelaide hills to hear some music, and the proprietor had put a big plastic basin with cool water in it at the base of a gum tree by the front door. There was a young koala in the tree, which climbed down periodically, dunked himself in his cool bath, had a few mouthfuls of water, and climbed back up again.

Welcome back to the forum Ines!

A belated thanks to all of you who have welcomed me back. In the next week or so I'll post on the friends site and tell you all about my year. I look forward to learning and sharing foodie fun and challenges with all of you!
Ines

Great to see you back here, Ines!!

Work yesterday was busy and demanding and the wife and kid are enjoying a language camp in balmy Bemidji, Minnesota, so I was not in the mood for cooking. Stopped at the store on the way home and picked up a nice ribeye and some frozen waffle-cut fries. Put the fries in the oven and cooked the steak up in the cast iron pan. Mixed a Manhattan while they cooked. In less than half an hour, I had a pretty decent supper (the waffle fries turned out surprisingly well) and the entry to the weekend had commenced.

...the wife and kid are enjoying a language camp in balmy Bemidji, Minnesota

With all due respect Mike, you do know there are constitutional prohibitions against that kind of cruel and unusual punishment. Martha can probably handle it, but a kid from California? I noticed how you did not go along.

With all due respect Mike, you do know there are constitutional prohibitions against that kind of cruel and unusual punishment. Martha can probably handle it, but a kid from California? I noticed how you did not go along.

Well, as alluring as a weekend of immersion in the French language and the Bemidji weather would be, I unselfishly remained behind to feed the cats and eat cassoulet.

And it's shorts and T-shirt weather here in Sacto today.

There was chicken biryani. Many, many portions. I am amazed I am still able to move.