Breakfast/lunch/Dinner, what are you having?

[lizkat]

Tonight was takeout from a local chicken nugget place that we like to frequent - who also do a real nice Mac n Cheese with Bacon.

It's been so long since I've had anything resembling fast food that I sometimes daydream about a BK whopper or McD's nuggets... either one of those used to be a sometime impulse-buy on the way upstate on a weekend when I was still commuting, or after running errands over in Binghamton after I moved upstate. They are a sort of token of "summertime and the livin' is easy" to me, I guess.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

It's been so long since I've had anything resembling fast food that I sometimes daydream about a BK whopper or McD's nuggets... either one of those used to be a sometime impulse-buy on the way upstate on a weekend when I was still commuting, or after running errands over in Binghamton after I moved upstate. They are a sort of token of "summertime and the livin' is easy" to me, I guess.

I know the feeling; think of them as an occasional (perhaps monthly, or every two months) treat.

Tonight, ramen noodles in what was supposed to be miso soup, - it started out as the er, chicken - stock - to which I added miso paste - I had parboiled potatoes in for yesterday's evening meal (parboiled potatoes, then fished out of their stock and sautéed with what were slowly sautéed caramalised onions, and served with organic free range sautéed eggs) with diced pak choi and French onions, but miso soup that somehow, inexplicably, got spiced up (Tom Yum and fish sauce among the additional culprits).

 

[lizkat]

Some fusilli pasta tonight, cooked al dente, sauced with a mixture of sliced zucchini and chopped fresh tomatoes sautéed with a little garlic in olive oil, served with some torn-up fresh basil leaves, a dash of nutmeg, salt, pepper, and some freshly grated romano cheese. Salad of young spinach and half-grown greens on the side with some sliced red onion half-rings and a couple sliced green olives tossed in, oil and vinegar dressing.

Perfect for a summer night and quick to make in case the area lost power during a storm while I was preparing the meal. Could always toss out the half-cooked pasta in that sorry sort of event and just have the half-done sauce there over some decent torn-up bread, or drained off a bit and served in a pita as one might with some caponata. But I got lucky and the meal as planned was what I managed to end up with.

It's still threatening to make a thunderstorm here and it's almost comical, just can't quite pull it off even though we've had a lot of rain. No lightning, just faraway rolls of thunder a few times. Dinner music, I guess!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Some fusilli pasta tonight, cooked al dente, sauced with a mixture of sliced zucchini and chopped fresh tomatoes sautéed with a little garlic in olive oil, served with some torn-up fresh basil leaves, a dash of nutmeg, salt, pepper, and some freshly grated romano cheese. Salad of young spinach and half-grown greens on the side with some sliced red onion half-rings and a couple sliced green olives tossed in, oil and vinegar dressing.

Perfect for a summer night and quick to make in case the area lost power during a storm while I was preparing the meal. Could always toss out the half-cooked pasta in that sorry sort of event and just have the half-done sauce there over some decent torn-up bread, or drained off a bit and served in a pita as one might with some caponata. But I got lucky and the meal as planned was what I managed to end up with.

It's still threatening to make a thunderstorm here and it's almost comical, just can't quite pull it off even though we've had a lot of rain. No lightning, just faraway rolls of thunder a few times. Dinner music, I guess!

Sounds very tasty, but - to my mind - the magic word in that post is "caponata".

Now, that is a dish I cannot (ever) get enough of.

And it goes really well with absolutely everything.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Reading caponata recipes.

 

[lizkat]

Reading caponata recipes.

That's ambitious... at least for this time of year in my mind... I'd be reaching for a tin from my pantry stash!

Anyway In summer I'm more into a quick fix in the kitchen, falling back on recipes from the likes of Rose Elliot's Vegetarian Meals in Minutes.... a lot of her stuff involves things I almost always have on hand including cooked beans or lentils I've stashed in the freezer, plus fresh items --peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, onions, green herbs-- so a little planning the night before can evolve to either a salad or a warm dish on a cool night after a hot day in which one has no desire to spend much time over a hot stove. I don't mind a few minutes over a sauté pan but past that or warming up a soup base taken from the freezer, I tend to lose interest in July or August.

For me tonight, it's all going to be even simpler. A cool and partly rainy day has put me in mind of having poached eggs with some wilted greens over buttered toast cubes w/ hot milk, salt and pepper. Ten minutes max and it's dinner!

 

[User.191]

Just threw together a rather delightful Pseudo-TexMex Chili dish with green, red & yellow peppers, stew meat, and black & red beans with my secret Taco Sauce mix.

Cooked for 2 hours then served on Tortillas with sour creme, guacamole, Lettuce, shredded cabbage, shredded carrots and a sprinkle of grated cheese.

Oh my, how utterly delightful.

Washed down with 2 pints of Manchester's own Boddington's Beer.

 

[lizkat]

Nothing especially notable for supper but a treat for dessert, ginger cookies: Anna's Swedish Thins. Love those things, thin and crispy. I don't often have desserts but I like these once in awhile, so some tonight and a cup of English breakfast tea w/ some milk and stevia stirred in.

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[Scepticalscribe]

Nothing especially notable for supper but a treat for dessert, ginger cookies: Anna's Swedish Thins. Love those things, thin and crispy. I don't often have desserts but I like these once in awhile, so some tonight and a cup of English breakfast tea w/ some milk and stevia stirred in.

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Seriously good, especially - you are absolutely right - with tea. (And I write this as a coffee fiend).

 

[lizkat]

Seriously good, especially - you are absolutely right - with tea. (And I write this as a coffee fiend).

My favorite tea is that English Breakfast from Twinings, even in bags which is the way I buy it for convenience since it's packeted to at least stay fresh. There's some Stash tea I also like though, a "Christmas Morning" variant -- blend of black and green teas-- that also comes with the bags in packets. I switch them up but having the English breakfast kind more often.

I can't drink coffee late in the day the way I used to, but the caffeine in tea is different and doesn't seem to slosh around in my brain as long as the coffees do. Makes me savor the morning coffees all the more though. I need to make another virtual run to re-up my supply of choices from GimmeCoffee up in Ithaca. Last time I got some great ones from Central America, nice for summer mornings, light and fruity.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

My favorite tea is that English Breakfast from Twinings, even in bags which is the way I buy it for convenience since it's packeted to at least stay fresh. There's some Stash tea I also like though, a "Christmas Morning" variant -- blend of black and green teas-- that also comes with the bags in packets. I switch them up but having the English breakfast kind more often.

I can't drink coffee late in the day the way I used to, but the caffeine in tea is different and doesn't seem to slosh around in my brain as long as the coffees do. Makes me savor the morning coffees all the more though. I need to make another virtual run to re-up my supply of choices from GimmeCoffee up in Ithaca. Last time I got some great ones from Central America, nice for summer mornings, light and fruity.

Some biscuits just work perfectly with tea.

And I will agree with you re those Swedish ginger thins; delicious.

I find them in the local health store.

And agreed: While I still (sometimes, but not often) take coffee in the evening, increasingly, I have come to favour tea at that time.

 

[lizkat]

A pasta salad night for me last night: chopped celery and red onion, quarter-round slices of radish, coarsely grated carrots, diced green peppers, some sliced small manzanilla olives, a few ounces of flaked albacore tuna, just enough pasta (small ditalini cooked earlier and refrigerated) to be able to say yeah i think i saw some, and a simple oil and vinegar dressing with light Mediterranean herbs... all on Boston lettuce with a little sourdough bread on the side, which I ran under the broiler and rubbed with garlic. Big glass of iced tea w/ lemon.

The pasta got thrown in last, after some of the rest of that salad was set aside for a sandwich on pumpernickel toast today. I'm having a mostly chores-free weekend after a mostly unserious and work-free week.

This is all in aid of my midsummer vacation escape from just about everything. Look forward to it every year as practice of the entirely necessary art of doing nothing for awhile now and then. It's refreshing in a way I can't even describe properly, with physical, mental, emotional and spiritual components. But I still gotta eat, so it's been a week of living off veggies and hummus and pitas with a few forays into tinned fish from the pantry.

Hope everyone has a great weekend (should I add "weather permitting")... !!

 

[Pumbaa]

Nothing especially notable for supper but a treat for dessert, ginger cookies: Anna's Swedish Thins. Love those things, thin and crispy. I don't often have desserts but I like these once in awhile, so some tonight and a cup of English breakfast tea w/ some milk and stevia stirred in.

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Don‘t take this the wrong way, but — Wait, what? Pepparkaka? In July? It’s like the most christmassy thing ever!

That said, I really don’t mind, it’s not like I’m offended, just shocked. There is really no reason for us not to eat them all year round (aside from most stores here not carrying them). We probably just eat too many during December/early January and need to detox for 10-11 months to really appreciate them again…

Glad you enjoy them! Keep it up!

A related tradition, by the way, is to put one of the cookies in the palm of your hand and gently tap it with your other hand. If the cookie breaks into exactly three pieces you get to (silently) make a wish.

And I will agree with you re those Swedish ginger thins; delicious.

I find them in the local health store.

Local health store? Wow!

 

[lizkat]

Don‘t take this the wrong way, but — Wait, what? Pepparkaka? In July? It’s like the most christmassy thing ever!

That said, I really don’t mind, it’s not like I’m offended, just shocked. There is really no reason for us not to eat them all year round (aside from most stores here not carrying them). We probably just eat too many during December/early January and need to detox for 10-11 months to really appreciate them again…

Glad you enjoy them! Keep it up!

A related tradition, by the way, is to put one of the cookies in the palm of your hand and gently tap it with your other hand. If the cookie breaks into exactly three pieces you get to (silently) make a wish.

I do really really like them. I have to keep myself from buying more than one little box at a time.

Re the tradition of the wishmaking, thanks for that, it's lovely.

 

[Herdfan]

Brisket burger. First time I ever had one and it was awesome.

I think there is someone on here from Columbus , OH (or maybe it was MR), but there is a nice Italian grocery Carfagna's and they have a great meat department. We always bring the 110 when we go to Columbus and stock up on filets, butts and anything else they have that looks good. Last time there they had brisket burgers so the wife grabbed a couple to try. She didn't get enough. Will be getting more the next time we are there.

 

[lizkat]

She didn't get enough. Will be getting more the next time we are there.h

That's how I felt when first trying an order of the Korean frozen entree-maker Bibigo's vegetarian potstickers. It was back when coronavirus lockdown was new and nothing was certain or familiar... first time trying Instacart, first time buying more than just paper towels at BJ's, etc.

So I ended up with assorted groceries in bulk including these veggie potstickers. I know how to make them and do sometimes, but I figured I should hang on to the flour I had in case bread became scarce, etc. I popped four of those things into a pot of water and 8 minutes later i'm like wow I only got 2 pounds of these??!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Yesterday, I treated myself to some delicious sushi (and a most tasty mixed salmon and tuna "don") from the best Japanese restaurant around, which they delivered to my door.

Sushi - really good sushi - is one of those foods (actually, almost all Asian cuisine falls into this category) is something I can never have too much of.

Earlier in the week, craving curry but disinclined to cook, - @Alli will like this - I had ordered vegetable biryani (which came with delicious dhal), chana saag (chickpeas and spinach) and vegetable korma from the best Indian restaurant in the city.

 

[Deleted member 199]

Yesterday, I treated myself to some delicious sushi (and a most tasty mixed salmon and tuna "don") from the best Japanese restaurant around, which they delivered to my door.

Sushi - really good sushi - is one of those foods (actually, almost all Asian cuisine falls into this category) is something I can never have too much of.

Earlier in the week, craving curry but disinclined to cook, - @Alli will like this - I had ordered vegetable biryani (which came with delicious dhal), chana saag (chickpeas and spinach) and vegetable korma from the best Indian restaurant in the city.

My sister in law and her husband had a “restaurant” for about a year, that sold essentially nothing but biryani.

I cannot tell you how many times we ended up eating free stuff that smother-in-law brought home at the end of each day.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

My sister in law and her husband had a “restaurant” for about a year, that sold essentially nothing but biryani.

I cannot tell you how many times we ended up eating free stuff that smother-in-law brought home at the end of each day.

Good biryani (it doesn't have to be vegetarian) is one - another one - of those dishes that one can never have enough of.

And I am also more than partial to central Asian pilau (pilaf) dishes (the stuff you can get in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, or is prepared and served by people from those regions); absolutely delicious.

 

[User.191]

Just a light 6 course meal tonight…

Appetizer: Fricassee of Atlantic Sea Scallop & Swap Lobster Tossed on Creole Spice, Heat of Season Tomato Ragout, Served on a hard shell
Soup: Consommé of Louisiana Bayou Turtle with Vegetable Brunoise & Imported Sherry
Salad: Water’s Edge River Salad of Petite Cresson Endive Wrapped Salmon Eccosaise with Vinaigrette De Dijon
Sorbet: Sorbet de Limoncello & Citron Blanc Alec Petite Fleur
Entrée: Filet of Ohio Black Angus Tornedos Rossini Topped with Seared Foie Gras, Gratin Potatoes & Vintage Port Reduction
Dessert: Almond Tuille with Warm Rum Bananas & Butter Pecan Glacé

Coffee & a Birthday cake - wine was on the house tonight!