Sorry to say, but this site has been so depressing for a few days. I thought I'd ask an average, everyday question....to make us all feel a little more normal today.
I made Eggplant Lasagna, and my BIL and SIL are coming for dinner. They leave for Cali tomorrow to see their beautiful grand daughter.
Sorry, sometimes we just need some REGULAR conversation.......or at least THIS caregiver does.
R and I actually made the orange spice chocolate cake some years ago. He was the one who urged me to put tbsps of spice rather than tsps into the cake and then add cayenne and black pepper. He likes a bit of cayenne in everything - says it enhances the flavours. My contribution was the ground up orange -peel and all. It really was good. Never thought of a glaze!!! We used to put an orange glaze on the old fashioned orange raisin cake.
Have you ever tried black pepper on fresh strawberries. Yum!!!
Strawberries and black pepper - yes! Another party memory: hard frozen whole strawberries on skewers, dipped in a hot, black pepper, sugar syrup that hardened to a crackly crust while the berry thawed inside. I have no idea how she pulled it off with everyone watching but it was exquisite.
We never made it again and I've been wanting to. R is more a pie person and I can't handle many carbs. That may have been the last time I had a piece of cake. Once every few years should be OK. I just don't keep food in the house that I don't want to allow myself to eat. If it's there sooner or later I'll eat it.
Those strawberries sound awesome though I don't think you need the sugar with it.
I’ve served fresh strawberries with balsamic vinegar on shortcake with whipped cream. Everyone loved it but me. I’m not a huge vinegar fan although it’s absolutely necessary to brighten up some things, like borscht, which can be too….earthy. I usually use half of what’s called for, even in salad dressings, and make up the rest with citrus.
Now, a vent: I was born allergic. My relatives didn’t find out until I spoke up for myself. I just kept eating the food at family reunions and reacting. But my mother could tell you every one of my cousins’ food intolerances and aversions. Yeah, I’m still working through my many issues.
I hear you about your mother. SMH ((((((hugs)))))
cw - no idea unless you partially thaw and separate then refreeze on cookie sheets. That's how I always freeze berries.
Thankfully I made something soft for supper tonight. R went to the dentist (didn't tell me) and related to the accident had 5 teeth prepped for crowns. So tuna chowder, mac cheese fortified with some cauliflower and sausages worked fine. Good snowy weather comfort food.
Ana, I’m curious about food allergies bc when I eat certain things my throat and Eustachian tubes get itchy and swollen feeling. I’ve never had a reaction that required meds or a doctor visit though. How much warning do you get if you accidentally ingest something intolerable? And if you need to use the Epipen is the result instant?
cwillie, what are you hoping to use the cherries for? Smoothies, or something cooked? If they don’t have to be pretty you might just be able to icepick hunks off. Cherries in the winter sound so nice!
Ana, I’m waiting for the Saturday after Thanksgiving to do an abbreviated version- I think butternut squash stuffed with turkey sausage, cornbread stuffing and….quartered Brussels sprouts maybe? I want the flavors and the smells but not all the work.
We shall see. There's always Doordash if things go south LOL.
Goldens soup world taste really good right now.
I'm on my 3rd Hallmark movie, so far. 😂
Actually Burnt, are oven only wants to work for my fingers. 😂 If he puts anything in the oven I have to turn it on. Ill hear him grumbling, talking to himself, and I know , I have to go start the oven
As far as your husband not being able to turn on the oven, if that’s your biggest problem, you’re lucky. Mine got his entire breakfast ready before bed last night - including milk on his cereal.
R is a decent cook thankfully but I am happy to cook supper most of the time. If I'm tired he will get his own food. He did the turkey on our Thanksgiving and the clean up.
Donna - just because your mom wants this or that, you don't have to fix it for her and get exhausted. Your home is not a restaurant. Give her easy stuff most of the time and the others once in a while for a treat as you feel up to it. She probably doesn't realize it's too much for you. Chicken rice soup soups good.
psue - that sounds like allergies. I like your idea about the flavours and smells but not all the work. I did a turkey meat loaf last year with pumpkin and cranberry in it. Got the flavours without all the work. Brussels sprouts on the side.
burnt - good luck! It would be great if he learned to cook a few dishes
nacy -hope hubby does well and you recover soon from your jab. I'm putting mine off for a little yet. I figure I my flu immunity is up so it will be covid first.
Going out today - R will drive. It's a snow day and very bright on the eyes. Got some errands to do and will food shop. Tonight will be a rotisserie chicken then that will form the base for the next pot of soup. Hopefully I will find a different coloured Christmas cactus too.
Psue - I love eating plain stewed cherries, but there are plenty of cherry desserts I can make too if I feel like cooking.
cwillie, I’m glad you got the cherry thing sorted. Are they sweet cherries like Bing or the old fashioned, sour, pie cherries? It’s hard to find those anymore but that tang is hard to beat. Cherries of all kinds are my second favorite fruit next to Italian prune plums eaten right off the tree. They are both a feast for the eyes as well as the tastebuds.
Golden again, are you able to get The Bear on tv? (Hulu) If you can get past the utter chaos and constant F-bombs it’s a really good drama series for foodies, and ‘peoplies’.
I'm going to have to try and watch the Bear again. For some reason I just couldn't get into it. Even though everyone raves about it, wasn't the language. It just bored me.
Nacy, this was my second shot at THE BEAR. I barely made it through the pilot the first time. Then my sister told me to give it another chance and after about the 4th or 5th episode I started to fall in love with the people.
We got so excited about a variegated hoya, a red Thanksgiving cactus and a full in flower hellebore, I forgot to buy the rotisserie chicken. I'll pan fry the salmon we did remember to buy, make some carrot/cabbage fritters, and a strawberry spinach salad.
Don't think I ever had a sour cherry.
Found out the hellebore is very toxic to us and to cats. Rocky got up on the coffee table and started to lick the petals. I said "No" and she stopped, but I will have to move it out of reach at night. I don't want a trip to the vet b/c of that plant. Normally she is very good about avoiding the plants that are toxic but not this time.
Hoyas were my favorite house plant in our high desert house. I had two that were many yards long, trailing across whole rooms. One, I had inherited from a GF - it was at least 70 years old.
Both of them promptly died when we moved into this house in the woods. I think it was a combination of low light and too much moisture in the air. GFs hoya lives on though, because 20 years ago, I rooted a dozen starts off the original plant and gifted them to relatives at a family reunion. My Mini Hoya survived relocation and remodel and is doing well in the new east windows. It’s a much better size for this small house.
I did not know you could grow hellebores indoors! I have a few in the garden but they die back to the ground every year. I wonder if yours is a different variety. Wonderful plants - toxic to deer too, which is why they’ve been left alone!
Your dinner sounds absolutely wonderful! You put together such lovely flavor combinations! I took stuffed cabbage out of the freezer yesterday for dinner tonight - hot and satisfying but definitely not exciting.
I don't know what I'd do without TV lol , got ice road truckers on now, background noise mostly, while I folded clothes.
Stepson that lives upstairs, he is a bit autistic, works as a janitor, we told him all we want him to pay for is TV. We have Hulu, apple, peacock, Paramount, Disney, you name it we got it. Netflix we pay for. But yeah we are pretty bad about to much TV.
Sounds like a great idea for your dh, psue. Tv and snacks!
Made another soup yesterday - sort of a curried chicken and veg. I used some pureed roasted eggplant I had in the freezer as a thickener and will do that again. It worked well. Since I am more limited in the veggies I can eat I am having to be creative.Threw in some chopped baby bok choy as well. Must get my green leafy veggies.
My father used to make what he call "Zoop". He made it from whatever leftovers were in the fridge, often a beef base, and finished it off by adding a glass of sherry. It was always good. Hmmm! A glass of good red wine added to a beef stew definitely brings it up a level.
Golden, actually I do all that and knitting, while hubby watch cop and spy movies. 😂