Category Archives: Recipe Ideas

Jim got home from work at a reasonable hour New Year’s Eve (before 8:00 even) and we had a quiet evening. Today, a friend came over so they could both go cross-country skiing for the first time. I went lunch with them and “made” dinner but did not join them on their adventure. Sorry to say, I didn’t get a photo either.

Their second time out before dinner, Jim brought his mining light and even had the temerity to take the dog. Needless to say, the hipless wonder is sleeping soundly tonight. Upon returning home he fired up the grill…

Dinner was a Whole Foods extravaganza. I made boursin with whole grain crackers (bought, not made) and made pita chips for the weekend. I got cheddar burgers from the butcher, rolls, made guacamole and sliced tomatoes and heated Yukon Gold fries. And since Jim really wanted pie last night, I got a cherry pie. Normally I’d cook myself and prep for dinner and guests but he only gave me an hour’s notice so I made do.

Tomorrow we plan to turn in the friend’s skis and boots and poles (they rented first time) and re-rent Jim’s and get me started. Many years ago my parents bought us all XC skis and boots for Christmas and what a beautiful place we had to use them. Here they try to sell permits to tour a private golf course. Two feet from our deck is a groomed trail that goes for miles, and is free, so that’s what we plan to do tomorrow. We also have a trail map, which would help if we got more than a mile from the house!

I’ll make soup and sandwiches for dinner as we’re off to an early movie with friends. Let’s hope Jim can walk in the morning after over two hours of a new sport! Omelets for breakfast? We’ll see. Black Forest ham and Havarti. Perhaps Rosti. Or just cereal and peach yogurt. Life is a series of choices, and meals are but one.

Wishing you luck and love and all good tidings in the new year. Cheers, Dee

We’re on our own this year, with frigid temperatures and no new snow. I’ll make breakfast, of course, bacon and eggs and probably biscuits, tea and juice.

For dinner I ordered a rack of lamb. I plan to make a paste of garlic, thyme, rosemary and olive oil and let it marinate for a while before cooking it in a hot oven. Scalloped potatoes will be made and served, as well as baby carrots and green beans. As for an appetizer, I made some of Jim’s parents picked and shelled TX pecans for a party last night and our home still smells like curry! Dessert will be pastry chef Mary’s cookies.

We’ll probably see Avatar or another movie this afternoon, and make Zoe wear her new green velvet jingle bell collar for a while. Zoe doesn’t need a gift, she has new boots from grandma! I’ll take a picture when it’s light out and I have all four booties together. Margie designed them after my Hunter wellies of the same color. Along with Jim’s lined bathrobe that he loves, she made me a “keyboard cozy” of embellished denim, to keep dust off my keyboard.

Perhaps I’ll play a few Christmas songs for Jim on piano and/or guitar when he awakens much later this morning. Two hours ’til dog walking time. Perhaps a nap is in order. Merry Christmas!

A few days ago I got a couple of organic 1/2 chicken breasts and froze them. They thawed yesterday and were good to go today so I changed my breading order. I have some very grainy, think very large grains of sand, Panko crumbs. I omitted the milk from the four-step process so I could season them.

Normal “French” breading technique is milk, flour, egg, bread crumbs. I pounded the chicken to about 1/2 inch thick, seasoned the breasts and dredged them in seasoned flour, seasoned eggs with milk, then rough Panko crumbs mixed with finely grated parmesan (microplane) and pepper. Then I laid them in a skillet with 1/2 butter, 1/2 extra-virgin olive oil. I heated the oven and finished cooking on a sheet pan and it was fantastic.

While this was all going I have some native fingerling potatoes, red, white and blue, that I washed and boiled with a huge clove of garlic. They made great and somewhat healthy mashed potatoes. I tried to use more 2% milk and chicken broth (sorry, I borrowed it from the dog’s frig stash*) than butter. They were great.

I served some raw sugar snap peas I needed to use up from the frig and Jim didn’t lick the plate but came darned close. No real recipes here but I know you can feel your way through it. I had to get two utensils I haven’t had for a few months because they’re in storage. A potato masher (courtesy of Nanny) and a usable chicken pounder we picked up last weekend. My good one is in storage. Sometimes you go a few months without your “stuff” because it’s a temporary arrangement and in the end, you have to improvise or buy a second one because we really wanted pounded chicken and mashed potatoes.

Last week my music teacher was telling me about sounds and I compared it to sense memories we have from smells and tastes of our childhood or later on in life. Think about coming in from the back yard and smelling your mother’s apple pie in the oven, or your grandmother’s brownies. Or grandpa’s spaghetti Bolognese.

My mother always did the turkey, and in inventive ways (thanks Gourmet) and a traditional English supper for Christmas with prime rib, gravy, and Yorkshire pudding. I was lucky enough to create and implement many of the sides for these meals over the years. At age fifty, I’ve never made a prime rib and would like to do so this year. Yorkshire pudding, of course, gravy, mashed root vegetables with garlic, spinach, glazed carrots. We always had cookies, mincemeat tarts and German lebkuchen for dessert. What a feast!

This year, I look forward to entertaining guests and enjoying time over… well, the table is my office right now so we’ll have to just to move some things around! Cheers, Dee