What's for dinner?

I did my first sauce with broth (was bone broth, actually, just what I had on hand) and cornstarch last night, added a splash of worchestershire and put it in with the chicken and peppers. It all turned out ok. I'm going to try flour next time, seems like making sauces with flour would be easier than cornstarch but it came out alright, it was edible.

I've never had anyone to cook for but myself so my skills are a bit behind, I feel like, but I'm learning... and I enjoy experimentation and learning some new tricks.

Making simple sauces and gravy from scratch is a good cooking skill to have.

**Thank you very much for the encouragement on my new classes, all!

Count me in on the wine🍷!

Is it party time or are we drowning our sorrows? Either way I'm all in 😜

SendHelp, you gave me a giggle. Stock up on the wine? Do you see some indication that I may need more than one bottle split???? Hee hee. Elections are tough on us all, but we will all get through, right?

Alva,
Stock up on the wine dear.

Velbowpat, sounds so good. This dish is one of my favorites. I like spinach salad with homemade lemon dressing.

Eggplant Parmesan, spinach salad and lots of garlic bread!

Well, given present circumstances, when I go to Trader Joe today (after I go to the rock place to buy some decomposed granite to put between the flagstones)
I am going to allow myself to buy a nice bottle of good white wine. Something with a pretty label.
Then I am making up a big batch of my LETHAL recipe for Buffalo Hot Wing Pasta Sauce. Then I am going to cook up my best linquinie. Then I am going to eat an overdose amount of all that. Will have to share the white wine, so will be hard to overdose on that.
I don't think it will all really kill me (though some may support that idea), but I do think it will make the last episode of Breaking Bad go down a bit more smoothly. If I don't show up in the a.m. you will know it DID kill me.

Awesome, ali. Wishing you all the best.I know you will do well.

Ali,

Good for you! Best of luck regarding your new plans.

HORRAY, ALI! Good for you going back to school. You are a brave one and motivated from the sounds of it. I went back at age 55 during recession, I had been laid off and figured it was probably the only way I would find work again. Good luck, so very exciting!

Shell,

Okay, I think that I have the basic concept. Thanks.

NHWM,

Yes the hamburger has a different texture to it and a different taste. This is why: when you fry hamburger it keeps the fat which turns to grease and it sticks to the meat. When you boil the hamburger the meat release the fat making the hamburger cook in the fat but not stick to the meat. The hamburger is lighter some how. Does that makes sense?

I don't make coney sauce, but if I did, that would be pretty close to how I would make it. But whatever I make with hamburger, I boil my hamburger first than add it to my chili, rice, spatti, ect...I hope I didn't lose you.

Reason #193,672,453 why the Internet is amazing --

Because there are so many recipes on there, all I have to do is google my ingredients on hand and something comes up. Tonight will be chicken, peppers, onions in either the cast iron (going into the oven after browning), or just pan frying. Probably do the pan fry because it's already 9:20pm here and that's faster.

I finished my orientation class tonight for new college classes -- all online -- I'm starting. I'm nervous but excited. Hoping I can complete a Psych 4 year degree in about 2 years (I already have 4 year gen studies degree from 20 years ago) and then apply to Occupational Therapy program. I wanted to do something adjacent to elder care, and this is what my brain came up with after a lot of thinking and reflection. Want to challenge myself to learn on that college level again, but it's been awhile.

Already ate my hot dog.

Shell,

So is it a different texture? It has to be. Or different taste and texture?

I am going to try Stacy’s recipe. I have to. I am very curious now.

Oh gosh, Stacy has convinced me as a southern cook to abandon a traditional southern style of cooking.

Well why not? I’m open minded. I am willing to try it. I might like it better than my way.

Shell,

Look at Stacy’s recipe. Are your ingredients similar?

NHWM
Your welcome! It is not normally done that way up here either, but this is the way my parents cooked it and I just followed them and I like it better than fried.🙃

Shell,

Thanks for clarification. I’ve never heard of that. It’s not done like that in the southern states.

Barb: Cracking out the vodka. That's funny. Wish I had some, but I am so tired that I may fall asleep.

I once served my mother a new age style oatmeal. She stunned me when she said "I don't like it" because normally she would say that was it was okay.

Stacy
I thought my family was the only people who boiled hamburger. Who knew there were others.

NHWM
To boil hamburger you put raw hamburger into a sauce pan add your onions and your seasons add just enough water so your hamburger doesn't stick to the pan and were you can see a little water bubbling. When your hamburger is done take your lid to your pan and cover the pan leaving a small opening to drain the water and fat out. This makes your hamburger less creases therefore, making it healthier and have better flavor. Don't forget to stir up your hamburger while cooking.

Any more questions...just ask:)

Golden,

I agree with the old woman. It’s true. We have our own individual taste.

When my husband goes to China on business he says they eat all sorts of things. Some he likes. Some he won’t even try.

Stacy,

Wait. Forgive my ignorance please. I don’t know what you mean by boiled!

That’s not how we do it. We brown the meat, Drain the fat. Add seasonings. Simmer.

Please explain boil the meat. Sorry to be dumb but I don’t know this method and now you have me curious.Do you not brown meat? Do you throw it in raw and boil in a sauce?

NHWM:
Coney Sauce:

1 lb hamburg boiled
1 can tomato paste
1 tsp or more chili powder
1T or more hot red pepper seeds
Enough tomato juice to make sauce

Before serving add 1 tsp baking soda

Stacy,

We use the same chili for hot dogs. You do a different recipe for hot dogs? Oh yeah, don’t guess you’d want the corn in it, right?

New Orleans has a vendor called ‘Lucky Dog.’ Hahaha

We put chili, cheese, onion, relish, mustard. I don’t understand why anyone would put ketchup on a hot dog! Some people like it though.

Hot dogs are different all over, Chicago has their way, NY has a certain way, and so on. Kind of like pizza. I vote for NY pizza!

cwille,

I cook like you do. I ‘make do’ as grandma used to say with what I have on hand.

I like how you didn’t waste that half can of tomatoes.

I roasted a chicken yesterday so I can make a few dishes with my chicken.

For tonight’s dinner I combined pesto sauce and cream to make a sauce, then added cubed chicken to it, threw in cooked pasta and had, pesto chicken pasta. Yummy!

Chili dogs are completely different than regular chili. The meat is boiled and it uses tomato paste.

nhwm - a wise older woman once told my mother there was no discussing of tastes.

We like or dislike what whatever we do. There is no right or wrong in that.

Golden,

I will eat beans in chili. I love beans but if I eat chili on a hot dog then I don’t want beans. If it’s a bowl of chili then beans are fine.

Hahaha, does that make me weird? If it does, I plead guilty. LOL

So as a general rule, beans are optional but most of the time I omit them.

I know that our neighbors in Texas do not want beans in their chili.

Stacey - my dd always puts corn in her chili and I do when I remember

nhwm - no beans in chili? That wouldn't be chili for me.