March 2018,... What's for dinner ???

Supper was 'seconds-worthy'.....for one of us!

The meatloaf came out tasting like I hoped it would ~ I never remember to pull out a recipe but just stand in front of the spices and pick & choose. Mr. Amazing always told me meatloaf was suppose to be served with mashed potatoes....huh??? MY family always had meatloaf with baked potatoes ~ the kind that are crispy skinned and nice and soft on the inside. I mean, if you're going to have the oven on, why not bake the potatoes, too??? But, mashed potatoes sounded good, too. We picked pea pods again and I just cannot face another stir fry ~ so I decided to cook them with some frozen peas. Now that's an idea I hope I remember to try again! Yummy ~ especially when smushed with the mashed potatoes.

Out for lunch again.................... sis had a medical appointment so that's worth a lunch out, right???? We went to a German restaurant that is celebrating 50 years!  New ownership, portions are smaller (But they were way too big before)  I think the new owners looked at the very large menu, decided to cut down in that, and also in the portion size.  I think it's a good move, the food was as good as previously, so was the service. I wish them well.  

We each had a bowl of lentil soup, I had a schnitzel (very large, I didn't finish it all) with excellent home fries.  She had the same soup, Hungarian goulash again with the home fries.  Coffee for both. $34.00 including tax.  

For a restaurant to be in business for 50 years surely is a great accomplishment.

Friend is coming for dinner.  I was looking forward to making (and eating) a great seafood dinner.............. then I remembered that she didn't like shrimp. She and her daughter and yellow lab lived with me on the farm for almost a year when hubby was in the nursing home.  So, I called her and asked about other seafood........... "Seafood is really wasted on me" she said, so I'm making chicken cacciatorre.  I remember she liked that. I'll save the seafood for guests who really like it.  And, am saving money too!

Nothing like a good chicken cacciatorre! It's really nice that you remembered about her food choices.

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Supper tonight was a boneless loin chop, baked butternut squash, steamed broccoli and a sliced tomato from our patio pot. The tomato is OK, but still nothing compared to REAL summer tomatoes. At least it didn't rot on the vine.....

No cooking again for me.  DIL's 50's birthday, so it's a new restaurant for me.  Italian, I think, it should be both fun and delicious.

I made an Alton Brown recipe for ribs done in the oven today. I thought I'd try it to see if any of it would be good in the smoker but I like my old way better.

Mighty meaty ribs, Norm.......doesn't make any difference how you cook 'em, they look like they'd be good!

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No cooking here ~ Lyn's sister is visiting so we went to St. Augustine for the day and stopped at the beach on the way home just to look ~ too sandy to consider walking through the sand to get to water that's too cold to even put a toe in!

We went to one of the restaurants in 'Old Town'.....had a good lunch.

Thanks Beth. The ribs were meatier than usual. They were good too, just not like I'm used to.

Busy day.....Dane's sister came with her pickup today to help us move stuff from Lyn's house to ours. I think I mentioned they gifted us their Weber grill because Bill couldn't get it to light. Lyn got tired of the excuses and problems and ended up buying an indoor electric grill that she loves.

But she wanted the stupid Weber grill off the patio so she had room to rearrange around the fire pit.

So, we went top pick it up and, low and behold, she wanted to be rid of the water fountain, too. What the heck do I want with a little bubbler water fountain? But, Dane will probably love it. She had wanted Dane to look at their fire pit because it wouldn't light but thought he could come back since there was so much other stuff going on today.

I just looked at him and said, "Lyn says the fire pit won't light.....want to take a look?"

And, of course, he would. Turns out there's the valve on the gas tank that gets turned on and there's also a valve on the side of the fire pit that controls how much gas is released to control the flames. BOTH valves have to be turned 'ON'.......OK, so now that's fixed! It's sad that Bill can remember to turn everything off, including cranking the gas tank down so tight you practically need a wrench to open it......he's always afraid something is going to leak and it'll blow up or something. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.......

But, Lyn's a happy camper to have everything out of her patio so she can have room to make it all pretty.....

Before supper Dane tried to light the Weber ~ nothing. He changed the batteries in the ignitor and two clicks and it lit.

Yup, broken, Bill.......NOT. But, hey, a free Weber grill is a pretty cool thing!

Supper tonight was leftovers repurposed. I re-crisped the leftover pork chops and took all the leftover veg ~ green beans, braised potatoes, corn, etc. and browned that in the cast iron skillet. I wanted to get as much in that skillet as I could just so it didn't get tossed Monday night (trash night).

Pot LUck in my building tomorrow night.  I have a pork roast and sauerkraut in the oven right now.  I have no idea if my addition to the meu will be well accepted/welcomed.

How much potato salad did you make????

You and Ms. Tina have surely had your share of smile-busters lately ~ I hope she's feeling better and you get your legs back.

It was difficult, I'm sure, for her to see the uncle's property sold off.....but the prep is always the worst, going through everything and clearing out years of accumulated 'stuff'. Hopefully this will be the start of all better things.

Pot luck dinner in my building tonight.  Pork loin roast is cooked, sliced, ready for re-heating for dinner.  Sauerkraut is also ready.  I know, cabbage for St. Paddy's Day................. Germans just eat it pickled.  LOL.

My 85 year old uncle was also able to sell his place with everything in it.  He had a big property, two car garage, two cottages, two big barns/equipment sheds.  And it was all full.  My sons and some friends went there two or three times, bought some equipment, were given some equipment, but there was still soooo much stuff.................. good stuff and crappy stuff.  Remember Sanford and Son???? Pretty much like that.  

Since he left it all just after his 85 th. b-day last October, he's been to Germany twice; Cuba, Australia, Hawaii and British Columbia.  He still has 5 living siblings in Germany (He's the baby of the family)  When the weather in Germany is better, he said he's going back.  I'll go with him.  Most of his very large family (there were 12 siblings) have been at our place at one time, (some several times) and it would be really nice for me to see some of them again.   

He is amazing, had a colostomy about 15 years ago, but manages very well with a bag.

Niagara Visitor wrote:My 85 year old uncle was also able to sell his place with everything in it.  He had a big property, two car garage, two cottages, two big barns/equipment sheds.  And it was all full.  My sons and some friends went there two or three times, bought some equipment, were given some equipment, but there was still soooo much stuff.................. good stuff and crappy stuff.  Remember Sanford and Son???? Pretty much like that.  

Since he left it all just after his 85 th. b-day last October, he's been to Germany twice; Cuba, Australia, Hawaii and British Columbia.  He still has 5 living siblings in Germany (He's the baby of the family)  When the weather in Germany is better, he said he's going back.  I'll go with him.  Most of his very large family (there were 12 siblings) have been at our place at one time, (some several times) and it would be really nice for me to see some of them again.   

He is amazing, had a colostomy about 15 years ago, but manages very well with a bag.

What an amazing person he is! God bless him.
It's like Evelyn Read .... known as in the forums E-Read retired 1rst grade school teacher. She is battling cancer, has a colostomy bag, diabetic, and needs a walker to get around, and is so active. I don't know how she does it at 76 y/o. God Bless her.
She is on this forum member, but not active due to her illness.

Happy St. Patrick's day to all!

Got 4 big corned beefs in a pot of Guinness' beer, garlic, and spices cooking, and the aroma is driving us crazy.
Cabbage and potatoes will be cooked with bacon later.

A Big jar of pickled eggs and red beets to complement the meal.
Marble rye bread and butter. Irish Soda Bread too!

A meal of spaghetti with meat sauce for son Jimmy. He will not eat corned beef. He says, "Its red and looks like raw meat!? ?" Yuck!

No corned beef for us today. I wouldn't mind picking one up though and see if I can turn it into pastrami.
Last night it was smoked salmon on bagels with cream cheese sliced red onion and capers. Jo had two halves and Katie had two. It wasn't enough for Joe so he toasted another bagel and slapped on some butter and blackberry jam. It still wasn't enough so he got into the boursin cheese with crackers. Munched a few of those. It still wasn't enough so he got into a bag of Fritos. And he wonders why he is getting fat?
Tonight is Frisco burgers. Grilled sourdough with a parmesan butter smear. Beef patty, swiss, lettuce. tomato. red onion, avocado.
Tomorrow I am going to grill a piece of yellow fin tuna tha someone gave us. I have no idea how to do it. Recipes just have it seared on the outside and raw on the inside. Joe wants it cooked. I found a recipe that uses a marinade and cooks it completely. I have warned him it might be tough.

I picked up a box of Betty Crocker's new Mug Treats in triple chocolate fudge cake. I had tried Duncan Hines and was not impressed. Betty's were yummy!

Since my great-great grandfather was born in Ireland almost 200 years ago, I feel obligated to have an American style Irish day dinner. He was married in Ohio and  settled in Kansas, about 50 miles south of here and is buried at Trading Post, he may not have ever had corned beef or even ever heard of it but we love it and I make it from scratch every year. It takes about 2 weeks.  I tried something new called Irish Apple pie. I don't know if that is a real thing or not but I wanted to give it a try.  It would have been a lot of work for someone who didn't have electric kitchen gadgets.  We has smashed potatoes instead of boiled.  The two sauces were a sour cream and horseradish and a mustard with a little beer.

I'm back from the pot luck in my building.  My pork loin roast was really well received.  There were 30 people, I had 21 slices of pork, all gone.  My sauerkraut also went really well. there were scallopped potatoes, several salads, someone made stuffed pork tenderloin rolls, also really good.   Three different people brought Irish stew, I tried two.  Very good.  There was also lots of dessert. 

We are so fortunate, we have a woman living in the building (just moved in last year) who sings with a big band type orchestra, and has offered to entertain at some of our functions.  We had great Irish music tonight.  

We'll be having our third (annual) barbecue in May where Maggie will do a 50's show/singalong.  Gonna blow my own horn here a bit, please forgive me......................... When I moved in here 4 years ago and found out about the social committee I asked "Do we have barbecues for all the residents?"  I was told the City doesn't allow it, the fire department doesn't allow it, the board of directors doesn't allow it"................... I said, WHAT???? We own the building, we own the lawns, the parking lot etc., etc.,....................... And guess what? we now have barbecues! Next one coming in May!