August 2021 - what’s cooking in the dog days of summer

I had my annual girls weekend this week. Lots of food.  Lunch homemade Chinese chicken salad, dinner taco bar and brunch was frittata, grapefruit poppyseed cake, homemade yogurt with granola and jam.

Oh yes…wine, lots of wine

From Jimmy:

"Another new month.... It will be cavateli and broccoli.
The kids will be out to eat; so it's just me and Tina.

I had pea soup for lunch, and Tina had a turkey sandwich from Arby's."


Jimmy, there was already a thread started so I moved yours to the first one......(beth)

JanaAZ wrote:
I had my annual girls weekend this week. Lots of food.  Lunch homemade Chinese chicken salad, dinner taco bar and brunch was frittata, grapefruit poppyseed cake, homemade yogurt with granola and jam.

Oh yes…wine, lots of wine

Your meals look fabulous! Isn't it great to get back to some sort of 'normal'?

Nothing better for you than feeding the troops! Great job!

From Lore:


"Dinner Tonight. Sorry about how it’s photographed but I can’t redo it cause I ate it! I bought a frozen package of mussels with sauce that turned out really good. Added a little cayenne and served it over broad egg noodles. Tomato and sliced daikon radish with salt/pepper and a bit of oil and the last of the beets I bought a couple of days ago. Yumm!"

I cooked outside in the smoker today so we will have food left over for sandwiches later on. I smoked a small pork shoulder, a chicken and some corn.

NormM wrote:I cooked outside in the smoker today so we will have food left over for sandwiches later on.  I smoked a small pork shoulder, a chicken and some corn.

That's a lot of meals!

When I first read your description I immediately thought of the old Southern Classic of 'Meat & 3 Sides'......



But, wait, YOU changed it to TWO MEATS and some sides.............LOL


Fabulous!

I was still thinking about the Teriyaki Shrimp I made for supper last night when I got up. And then I tried to come up with a tasty sounding idea for tonight. My mind went blank. I told Dane I couldn't think of any ideas and asked what he wanted. He said, "Let me think about it....."

Well, 5 hours later, I asked again.

He wanted a McDonald's Quarter Pounder w/Cheese & French Fries.....


((sigh))


But, it WAS an idea and I was tapped out so since he came up with the plan I drove to the nearest McDonald's to go through the drive-thru. (Dining room is only open from 7am - 2pm due to staffing problems)

I saw an ad for their 'new' Crispy Chicken Sandwich ~ thought I'd give it a try. After all, not that long ago I tried the Popeye's Crispy Chicken Sandwich for the first time and it was excellent.


Well, let me tell you......

The chicken sandwich I had tonight was anything BUT crispy. The bun was touted as a toasted potato bun and they add two crinkle cut pickles on the sandwich.

Fortunately, I brought the sandwiches home so I could add a couple spoonfuls of my homemade tartare sauce to the bun. The first bite of the sandwich (sans the sauce) the chicken wasn't crispy (first thought) and the 'toasted potato bun' had a sort of acrid taste, not quite burned but not pleasant tasting and it was almost rubbery in texture.

But, as always, I know I won't die of starvation ~ but I can now cross that meal off my list of possibilities for the future! LOL

Had shake and bake thin boneless pork chops, and yellow Spanish rice, and corn as a side veggie.

Neighbor Jim called to ask if we wanted to go out tonight and I suggested he come here instead because I was going to grill some baby back ribs. He was a happy camper at that idea.

I cooked the ribs in the oven, tightly covered with foil for a little over an hour and then browned them up on the gas grill and added some sauce.

I made baked sweet potato & Penzey seasoned green beans as sides.

Had a cubed tomato salad with olive oil water, and garlic.
Finished the pork chips that we had last night. Ate them cold, and as we say; we nibbled on them. Anyway..... it was one of those, "Ho-Hum" suppers.

We wanted something different today so we had crispy chicken thighs with a creamy grainy mustard sauce. Mr Steve went nuts over it. I think it’ll have to become a regular in our rotation.

Everyone's meals look so good. Nothing tastes good to me. I will not be getting any more chemo because it almost killed me and I am too fragile to take anymore. Chemo takes you to the edge of death. I am going downstairs to see if I can find something to eat.

I hope with some rest and time you'll begin to feel much better, Bugs.

Prayers.

bethk wrote:There are delays in lots of things like appliances ~ everything is blamed on the Covid epidemic.  Lyn has had a microwave/wall oven on order since December and she's told there's a good chance it 'might' be here by the end of the month.  I know I couldn't find a Bosch Dishwasher anyplace around here.  I sure am glad I'm happy with the performance of the Kitchenaid I purchased instead.

Neighbor Jim said he's been looking for someplace that can install a hot tub spa for him and there is absolutely nothing available (except 'blow-up' soft sided camping types).

I've heard the cost of building supplies has skyrocketed as well.  

I'm just happy I can still afford to cook what I want without having to take out a home equity loan!

Gotta tell you, I'm sick and tired of everything being blamed on this stupid virus. Yes, I know it's dangerous and deadly. HOWEVER, doing the precautionary things like masking, handwashing and distancing works, so let's get on with it already. My son is construction supervisor for a company which does a lot of work in schools. He said that they quote projects well in advance. Last year, a 4x8 ft. sheet of plywood was $28, now it is $60.

Last week I went to a store to get some new shorts/pants. Dressing room didn't have a chair in it. "because of covid" I said to the sales person "I'm 77 years old, how am I supposed to take off my shoes and pants that I am wearing, try on the new ones and then put my own back on again?" She brought me a chair. They just don't want to have to disinfect the chair as my rear must have covid on it! LOL

Getting my new stove this morning, so it's going to be a good day! Backsplash has been done in the kitchen, so I can cook something today! YEAY!

I thawed a pork tenderloin.  I'll cook it stove top to sear and finish it in the toaster oven.  I decided on the pork because I saw the last of the peach salsa in the refrigerator (tasted it and it's still pretty good).  I want to use the last of the baby fingerling potatoes before they turn green ~ ~ and I've got cabbage that is screaming to be steamed with some butter.....

Now I'm hungry......


and it's a while before supper time...........


((sigh))


I'm also hungry for some grilled sausages (Jimmy, you got my mouth watering!) ~ like the Irish Bangers or smoked beef sausage....Then again, maybe sausage & shrimp in a low country boil for sometime soon.....

The pork tenderloin, baby fingerling potatoes & cabbage was just right for a rainy day supper.

I asked Charlie if he wanted me to get anything for supper tonight and he thought about for a while and asked for meatballs and spaghetti, so that is what we had.

From Lore:

"Dinner Tonight. Pizza made on a piece of naan, sauce, pepperoni, hot peppers, olives, anchovies and lots of cheese. Served on one of the cutting boards my son made."

I used my new oven the first time. Today I will probably use the stovetop, but I really like the shiny new CLEAN look! Kitchen still has a bit of finishing that needs to be done, then I will send some pictures (If you're interested!)

Yes ~ please send pictures. I love seeing what people remodel.