"September 2017" "What's for Dinner?"

There you go, bribing a priest........

LOL

bethk wrote:Debbie - I apologize to you for my rude behavior.  

I am truly sorry for offending you.  I have no excuse.

You didn't offend me Beth. I was thinking I opened my big mouth again and said something offensive. I have never been good at judging what is OK to say and what is not. Sometimes I think I have Asperger's. What I think is being helpful or funny turns out to be either inappropriate or offensive. In many ways I am like a man: I enjoy bathroom humor. I like medical science. I will continue to be what I am and probably say something offensive - again. If you would prefer that I leave the forum, I will, with no hard feelings.

Ok-- I am stepping in here.. No one is asking anyone to leave this group.. WE are ALL friends here...we all know and love each other for themselves....warts and all... and I have plenty...

I may be overstepping my boundaries for saying this, but we are all here because we care about each other, can state our minds, and let it go.. no big deal...

We all have our 'moments'..... just like a close family... we are a family...

Ok---enough said from my big mouth and fast fingers....

(((hugs))) love to all....

Bugster2 wrote:

bethk wrote:Debbie - I apologize to you for my rude behavior.  

I am truly sorry for offending you.  I have no excuse.

You didn't offend me Beth. I was thinking I opened my big mouth again and said something offensive. I have never been good at judging what is OK to say and what is not. Sometimes I think I have Asperger's. What I think is being helpful or funny turns out to be either inappropriate or offensive. In many ways I am like a man: I enjoy bathroom humor. I like medical science. I will continue to be what I am and probably say something offensive - again. If you would prefer that I leave the forum, I will, with no hard feelings.

No one is asking you to leave this forum.

Let's just close this subject and move on.

Thank you, EVERYONE, for your concern and comments.

I am glad that this is having a happy conclusion.

Thanks.

Now for food. I just saw a recipe for sweet potato soup with toasted pecans. Now that sounds interesting. I am going to have to check it out.

I may try a recipe for Polly's Pancake Parlor oatmeal bread today.
I also may drive to a newly opened Von's grocery and buy some choice porterhouse steaks. They are on special for $6.88/lb.

A couple of years ago (I think), someone on this forum was asking about a plastic wrap dispenser. It was decided that the dispenser was junk so no purchase was made. I was reading about another brand that has high ratings. If you are still interested I will post the link.

UNCLE JIMMY wrote:This is a weird one.  Calling Food Doctor Jimmy!
Tina made a meatloaf, oh around a month ago, but she froze half the mix for later meals.
OK.... The meatloaf, was like a bread ball with seasoning. Period.

Now comes the remainder which was frozen. Tina asked me to rejuvenate it.
She said it needs stuff, and more meat for sure.
Well I figure some grated fine carrot, and celery. Maybe some minced mushrooms that I have fried. 3/4 cup baby bella.

I remember, the last meatloaf, Tina was too lazy to make a glaze. I like a brown sugar; ketchup and lemon juice glaze on meatloaf. Actually we both do.

I make meatloaf mix, similar to Norms Meatloaf.

I mix in some grated cheddar in my meatloaf. Makes it moist. Green peppers are good too. Crumbled bacon works.

I always add egg to my buttermilk/panko panade, along with the sauteed onions, celery & carrots. I glaze in the last half hour with ketchup, brown sugar, worchestershire, tiny pinch of nutmeg, clove & ground ginger.

I think the egg/buttermilk/panko panade is what keeps mine moist but not dense.....but you definately didn't need any more 'filling' if it was like a bread ball.

Bugster2 wrote:

Now for food. I just saw a recipe for sweet potato soup with toasted pecans. Now that sounds interesting. I am going to have to check it out.

Debbie - I made (leftover) baked squash soup today. The method and seasonings might be similar to what I did. I posted in the lunch section.

Well, it sounds like a plan.....but even if it's not 'like usual', I bet it tastes good and then you can move on to your regular recipe next time.

It's only 1 meal out of hundreds during the year.

I grilled chicken wings and then basted them with the Korean BBQ bottled sauce ~ the BEST part was the crispy/crunchy/blackened wing tips. Oh, YUM!

Added a sweet potato to split between the two of us, some steamed broccoli and a bowl of the Sam's Club Sweet Kale Salad/Slaw that we like.

NormM wrote:
Here is a picture of the model I ordered.

I seriously could not live without my gas stove.  Just find that the heat is more consistent, you get to the amount of heat you want immediately, and you get a higher heat with gas than with anything else IMO. And it’s not a burner that wears out!  When you put a new electric “coil” in an electric stove, it’s not long before it starts to begin to wear out, so the heat you get out of it at a certain number on the dial continues to decrease until you eventually need a new coil for that burner.  Seemed to take forever to heat up and then you had to move your pot to another burner to wait until the heat decreased if that’s what you needed right away.  Use to drive me batty even after I got used to the particular electric burner coil I was using. I’ll bet yours also has one of those high BTU burners, which are wonderful when you need them; and a simmer burner, too, which surprised us with its efficiency. I make a sauce that I reduce for ages, from around 12 cups to a half- or a quarter-cup; when I put the pan on that burner, the sauce just gives off a slight whiff of steam while it reduces but looks like nothing is happening, but it’s reducing the whole time and I don’t have to adjust the burner as the contents get smaller and smaller.  Love, love, love my stove and I’ll bet you will adore yours, too. AND it handles any types of cookware, too. Love charring a poblano pepper right on top of the grate itself, too – gas really offers one a lot of possibilities, you know?

Brian and I rented places and had an electric stove until we bought this home 19 years ago last August (and finished paying for it TWO WEEKS AGO – hurrah!!! We now own our house outright!!). When we were looking for a house, my four MUST HAVES were: (1) it had to be a raised house (as opposed to a slab house); (2) had to have central air and heat; (3) had to have a dishwasher; and (4) had to have a gas stove (or at least have a gas line already running to the house).  I got everything I wanted including TWO central air/heat units, so that made it even better.  And now the icing on the cake is that darn whole house generator, something that we’re really thrilled with THIS hurricane season for sure!

Norm, love that slate color, too – that’s a GE, right?  I looked seriously at stoves with a double oven when I bought our new LG a year ago April but I wouldn’t have been able to fit a huge turkey in the larger oven so I didn’t end up getting the double oven type.  Don’t ask me why that was so important to me, as we no longer host a crowd for anything, and I doubt I will ever make a 25 lb. turkey ever again – but it was stuck in my head that I needed that space “just in case.” Plus I wanted a warming drawer, especially for holiday use so I had to give up on my dream of having two ovens. But if we ever win Powerball, I will add on to the back of the house to reconfigure the kitchen so I can have two wall ovens, another pipe dream of mine! And a glassed in room will be adjacent to my new and bigger kitchen – with remote control blinds that will cover the top of the sun room when the sun is too much. (I think I was "supposed" to be wealthy and the ball was dropped by someone along the way.)

Cooking the way you do (lots of various dishes) and the types of things you bake, I think that stove is a perfect choice for you, Norm. I can already smell the bread baking in one oven at the same time you’ve got a turkey in the oven! Mine is much the same (you’ll ADORE that center oval burner, as it’s not only great for the griddle itself but it’s for fitting rectangular roasting pans or oversize cookware) except my grates run totally across the stove top, and the griddle is fitted so it drops right over the middle grates.  I like that feature because I can slide heavy pots to an unused burner if I need to get them off the heat without lifting the pot if Brian’s not around.  

And we’ve fallen in love with that griddle that came with the stove, as we’ve never had one and we use it ALL the time; nothing sticks and it’s handy for breakfast, lunch and dinner – it’s a dream to clean, too.  We love the griddle so much that I just searched Saturday for another one that’s reversible, as ours is only a flat top and I wanted one with a ridged side too.  I found a super one at Target which should be delivered Thursday; it’s by Lodge and is a pre-seasoned cast iron reversible one that’s 20” by 10-1/2”, which is perfect for our stove and is two inches wider than the one that came with the stove.  So now we, too, can make 6 grilled cheese sandwiches at a time! I could use the new one at the same time as the middle griddle, placing it over the two burners on either side of the oval one, too, if I needed to make a lot of something at the same time, like pancakes (or grilled cheese).

Can’t wait to hear how you like it!

UNCLE JIMMY wrote:

NormM wrote:I bet she will like the instant pot once she starts using it.

You know how many pressure cookers we have?/?
Two from Aunt Margie.
One from Uncle Elmer
Two from Uncle Gabes
Tinas Moms
A presto with no pressure regulator
A Mirro Matic 5 Quart
A Mirro Matic  20 Quart Canning pressure cooker.
R I D I C U L O U S !

The silly ass thing....... is we don't cook in them! ..... Period!

I'll gladly take that 20 quart canning pressure cooker off your hands, Jimmy!!

I don't use my pressure cooker often but I do use it occasionally.

Jimmy wrote:True story.
When Tina was around 13, her mom bought a pressure cooker.
They never read the instruction booklet. They put a small fryer ( chicken ) in the darn thing. Tina shut off the gas flame, and opened the lid without relieving the steam pressure.
The chicken blew out of the pot, and the water / bird and juices, hit the ceiling.
I shudder, just to think of it!

I've heard stories like that but they all occurred years ago. They're a lot safer today, and it's virtually impossible to get the top off without reducing the pressure. I plop mine in the sink and run water over the top of the entire pot when I want to reduce the pressure fast, say if I want to check what's in there or if I want to add some vegetables to a roast that don't have to cook long. Works great.

I worked with a girl one time who was thinking of getting one. I offered to lend her mine so she could try it. She could not believe I would lend her the pot but I told her it wasn't like I used it very often; told her to feel free to keep it two weeks. Like me, she liked hers. She ended up buying not one but two of them -- a smaller one and a bigger one. Her grandma used to make boiled peanuts in a pressure cooker (I've NEVER had those) so one of the bennies she was dreaming of was making those peanuts in it.

Jimmy wrote:Tornado's are rare, but we do get an occasional spin funnel every 20 or so years.. We live bordering Pennsylvania and the Appalachian Mountains. Tornados get broken up traveling over the mountains.
Plus, we live in a Valley and Mountain area's around us.

Sounds like you're in an ideal location, Jimmy.  Except you get snow (grin).  You do experience the occasional blizzard, no?  I know you hate the heat but at least we don't have to shovel it!  

NormM wrote:Jimmy I read somewhere recently Instant Pot was listed by Amazon as being the best selling thing in it's category and was on track to becoming it's all time best seller ever.

Well, it sure does take the place of a lot of storage-hogging or counter-cluttering appliances so I can understand its popularity.  And it's super for those just outfitting a kitchen, too.  

I just finally acquired what is hopefully my last appliance that I didn't have but wanted -- a freaking slow cooker.  It took me long enough.  Its "home" is on the rolling three-shelf stainless steel cart that I bought to hold my KitchenAid mixer and lots of other big and/or heavy items -- which is why I finally got it, as I didn't have a place to store the darn thing when it wasn't in use.  Plus over the years, I've seen where people use them to make so many things you didn't think possible years ago, like lasagna, cakes, desserts, etc. I really wanted one that you could remove the ceramic pot and brown the contents on the stove and then plop it back into the slow cooker but they were too big and I decided I wouldn't use it enough to justify the higher price. Got a 6 quart Crock Pot brand on Amazon that was not only highly rated, but pretty cheap.  Brian really wanted one, too, which also motivated me to get one.  

It would have probably proved handier to have if I'd have gotten it while we were still working but that toss it in mentality really appealed to Brian since we've gotten older and have such bad backs so we're not always up to making an entire meal even though we both really enjoy cooking.

UNCLE JIMMY wrote:

bethk wrote:I didn't know you had started taste testing for America's Test Kitchen, Jimmy.

Good for you!

Yeah! ..... And soon I will be tasting Butter Flavored Ice cream.

Brian, who thinks one should have ice cream every single night, even if you have brownies and/or pudding, picked up some Blue Bell Ice Cream the other day in a new flavor: Butter Crunch. Not sure if it was one word or two, as pints don't last long in the freezer around here, and I rarely eat any! He brought me some when I was already ensconced in bed after supper -- supper probably being a damn sandwich as we've been having construction in the kitchen for ages due to all the problems that have been discovered once the old ceramic tile floor was removed so we haven't been cooking "real food" for ages until yesterday (yeahhh!!!). It was really, really good and the best ice cream I'd had in ages that wasn't a premium ice cream. Tasted like butter pecan but had more butter flavor and there were little crunchy pieces in every bite -- like you'd broken up a hard candy into a zillion pieces.

Jimmy wrote:The Muffin with the melted butter, was ok, but NOT as tasty, as the the hard buttered muffin.

You put me in mind of my father and his mother, Jimmy. They would put a thick slice of cold butter on something they were eating in hand, even something needing nothing at all on it -- like a cinnamon sweet roll with icing on it. I like butter but I don't like the idea of biting through a big piece of cold butter on anything.

Give my vote to the muffin with melted butter, or soft butter!

bethk wrote:We had our weekly Ladies' Lunch today ~ went for Chinese cuisine and everyone was a happy camper.  It's one of those little 'family run' restaurants.  They have a long list of luncheon specials running from $6.65 to $7.00 for a combo lunch that includes a cup of won ton, egg drop soup, egg roll and entree.  The ladies thought it was really tasty and the price was right!

That is quite a low price. How many old broads, er, I mean women are in that Ladies Lunch group, Beth? (Ducking and running, and you KNOW I am just teasing you, of course...) I've never been a big fan of going out to eat with a large bunch of women. How do you pay the bill? Does everyone bring cash and look at the bill to see what they owe, or do you just add in a tip and then divide by the number of attendees? Is anyone ever unwilling to leave their part of a decent tip?

This is what would usually happen when I would go out to lunch with a group of anything more than 4 women when I worked. I'd end up pretending I'd left something on the table after we were outside leaving(sunglasses or whatever) and would go back in and add a $5 or $10 bill to the tip tray if it was still there. If the table had been swiftly cleaned, I'd track down the waiter or waitress and apologize as I handed them a five or a ten depending on how big the party and the tab had been. And I'd think "never again," at least with some of them.

One chick one time threw in about $15 for her share of the food and cocktails she'd consumed and added a dollar for the tip. Then she went on a five-minute discussion about how SHE'D always "been told" women didn't need to tip more than a dollar for lunch. I bristled and told her I didn't know where the heck she'd heard that but that even a miser usually tipped 15% which would be $2.25 in her case. She wasn't even embarrassed but didn't cough up a penny more, just said that's what she always did and didn't see a need to change. And if you didn't keep an eye on the chick "collecting" the money and assuring it was enough, she'd put in only a couple of dollars for her meal and drinks, as she'd "use" the tip money already in the kitty to pay a good portion of the amount she owed so I'd see the server wasn't going to get much of a tip, even though a couple of us had tipped generously knowing how difficult it is to wait on a larger table. Some of these women would of course be the kind who wouldn't want another drink until the waiter returned with drinks for the others, and then would decide she did indeed want another drink after all. Then after that trip to the bar and back, another would pipe up that she, too, now decided she wanted another drink. They run that poor server to death and wouldn't think twice about it. I used to sit there stewing and wondering why the heck I'd agreed to participate in a large group of women eating out yet again and swearing to myself that I'd never do it again. Finally learned my lesson and would decline, especially if a couple of the "regular" cheapskates were going. I just ended up not only spending $30 for a $15 lunch but would be hot under the collar to boot. But there was no way I was going to let the server get a tip of a couple of dollars for a table of 6 or 8 women.

The women I went out with most often were always willing to just divide the check by say 3 or 4 and we'd first decide what a decent tip would be and THEN divide the tab between us. Nobody was the type who would mention that she'd only had water and hadn't ordered an iced tea or a cocktail. Or if we went out every so often together, we'd just take turns picking up the entire tab.

If it was a drinking lunch, I even tried a couple of times to head to the bar when we were being seated, get a pitcher of margaritas, pay for it myself and bring it back to the table for all to enjoy, assuming it might alleviate some of the nickel and dime thinking that went on when it was time to pay the bill. Nope -- the cheap ones would never even think to throw in a couple of bucks extra to tip the waitress since they'd had a cocktail or two they hadn't paid for. And this was when I was working in legal, so the participants we're talking about were legal secretaries and/or paralegals who were all quite well paid.