Category Archives: Recipe Ideas

Jim and I had a very quiet and lazy sixth wedding anniversary today.  He got in at 10 last night from several hours of traveling from Atlanta and 12 hours being “on” for interviews.  So today he rested up for the upcoming week of job hunting, which is a full-time job in itself.

We had inexpensive Mexican food downtown for lunch, then I worked on dinner for 4-5, a Sunday evening supper, but it turned out to be just us.  I roasted a five pound chicken (thyme, sage and white wine) with Mom’s basic stuffing and consomme gravy, boiled tiny red potatoes with butter, and carrots with thyme and sliced onion and a beef broth glaze.  We have tons of food left for soup, quesadillas, fajitas, sandwiches or chicken salad.  No, Zoe, you’re not on that list!  She’s our begging dog who eats very well, thank you.

Margie says this female kid is up and running after just a week.  Our young cousin decided to come to the farm to try and milk the mama goat.

I believe the mama goat of the previous litter is the same Bossy I remember from the first goat day last fall.  She was bossing the others around so Joe took off her horns, both for aggression and because they get caught in the 4″x4″ goat fencing and they bleat like crazy and can get hurt.

The first ones I named, to be strong around Bossy are Eleanor Roosevelt and Rosa Parks and they like to be atop the dog igloos or in the highest place in the pasture.  If it is them, I’ll bet Eleanor is standing and Rosa is munching on hay.  Margie will correct me on this tonight or tomorrow and she did, while complimenting me on learning the goats it was the baby boy who had such trouble being born and kept alive, same as the baby girl in the last batch.  She says in comments that the first born seems to come out well and the second needs help, which means she and Joe have to stay up late at night when a female is in the “maternity ward” to make sure all works out.

Hope you had a great weekend.  Our place smells like roast chicken and gravy.  While it was cooking Jim took Zoe out for a walk for over an hour, good for both of them.  Cheers, Dee.

Blocking the aisle to the kitchen, while I ponder a choice of soup, quesadilla or grilled cheese sandwich for lunch is Zoe.  She always freaks out a bit when I pack a bag.  Now she’s somewhat confused because only Jim left town and we saw him off at the car after a walk.

The broccoli/cauliflower cheese soup is terrific, I tasted a spoonful and it’s better the second day.  But I think I’ll save it for our anniversary dinner.  Any ideas on that?  He’s allergic to fish.

I made a mistake when we got our sofa, which is a three-seat sofa with an arm, or chaise, for two.  I measured for the three-seater and not for the arm so we have less than two feet to move from office or bedroom to the kitchen.  So often I have food or laundry that needs to be moved and she’s in the most inopportune place possible, designed to trip me up!

I’m about to go to the store and fish is definitely on the menu!  Salmon with braised leeks en papillote.  I’ll work on the rest at the store.   Jim is boarding now and I can make fish with abandon.  Yum!  Dee

Today I made a broccoli/cauliflower/cheese soup, scalloped potatoes and meat loaf.  Pretty basic.  I found cauliflower on sale and picked up some broccoli, steamed them and made a white sauce and added cheddar cheese off the heat.

We love scalloped potatoes and there are none left.The meat loaf was very plain, old fashioned meat loaf which Jim ate with ketchup.  He’s headed out of town tomorrow morning for interviews, hope all goes well.  I may have a cheese quesadilla for lunch and figure out what to have for dinner and all day Saturday.  Perhaps I’ll go see a matinee while I peruse menu choices.

I do plan to make the time to finish “Spain: A Culinary Road Trip” by Mario Batali with Gwyneth Paltrow.  Well, I’ve never been to Spain (but I kind of like the Beatles)… and the food sounds fresh and delicious.  Unfortunately for my loving husband, many of Spain’s traditional dishes include fish/seafood to which he is deathly allergic.

Sunday is our sixth wedding anniversary and I plan to make something he likes a lot, which probably involves steak.  Can’t get the man off the farm!

Today I did laundry and ironed some of Jim’s non-dress shirts and about fifty napkins in case we decide to have a tapas or dinner party, or move cities.  Who knows?  Cheers!  Dee

Big plans for the evening? I’m not used to big plans. Our family used to sit around the living room watching slides. We’d generally begin with Dad’s old family photos, his Army service, our parent’s wedding, then each kid and vacation and Christmas. My youngest sister was notorious for saying early on, “wake me when I’m borned” which could have been hours after she fell asleep!

I only went out once for New Year’s Eve when I was about twenty-two. It was a party given by a colleague about 1/2 mile away but not in a neighborhood I’d walk to, so I drove over, had two glasses of champagne and drove home about fifteen minutes after midnight. I found a space behind our apartment but it didn’t give the non-resident next to me much room to maneuver so I parked on the street.

My roommate and I headed out for brunch the next morning and my car was wrecked, the left front wheel sheared off the axle. As it was my only transportation I had to spend $1250 to fix a $1500 car because I owned it outright, the piece of junk, so didn’t carry collision. There are lots of stories about Chicago politics these days but Albany was right up there with the Windy City. They wouldn’t let me see the police report, and this lunatic plowed into one car, which ran them all together, then sideswiped mine, which had the most damage. Lesson learned. I always preferred January 1 brunches instead of having an overpriced meal at a hotel ballroom with a room full of strangers. But that’s me. A casual dinner party for eight, cooked by me, would appeal more.

If Jim and I venture out this evening it’ll be to walk downtown to see a movie. The cars are staying in the garage! I’m making homemade pizza with a partial whole wheat crust (for health, taste and elasticity in rolling out), sauteed peppers, sauteed mushrooms, pepperoni and mozzarella cheese, topped with a grating of Parmesan. I’ll make a more adventurous version another day. That reminds me, I have to share with you the ideas that I made at a pizza party for Jim’s co-workers. It was interesting. Many were Indian and didn’t eat meat, one didn’t even eat cheese! In my book pizza is not pizza without cheese!

But my homemade pizza is very good and contains quality ingredients and love. Jim stayed home to work today and spent much of it fighting fires, work fires that is. He took over my desk and big monitor so I’m sitting in an uncomfortable $20 Ikea stool at the bar with my MacBook. It’s OK, most of the day has been spent doing exciting things like laundry, cleaning the frig et al.

I forgot the black-eyed peas at the grocery store. Oh, well. Do we need to have them tonight for good luck? At any rate, I wish you a very happy, healthy, successful 2009! Now, how many months will it take me to write the correct year on a check? Probably at least six months as I only write a couple of checks each month and do the rest online. You know what they say about old dogs and new tricks. Cheers! Dee

I will try a recipe the first time with necessary abandon. If it works, I will try to calculate what I put in it, try it again and let you know about it. If it doesn’t work I’ll fix it or trash the idea.

First, let us see if anyone will sue me for this. Take two slices of bread, your choice. Place peanut butter of your choice on one slice of bread. Place jam or jelly or your choice on top of the peanut butter. Top with remaining slice of bread and eat. Preferably over the kitchen sink, hoping for a better dinner and a better life.

OK, now I own this recipe and can sue bloggers for re-printing it. No, I’ll probably be sued for using the term “peanut” instead of “nut.” Yes, I’m a nut for posting this. Dee