What's for dinner?

boni, soup isnt soup to me unless its at least thickened with white sauce and or sour cream. white sauce = flour gravy. if it isnt a chowder , i call it briny swill.

Bonichak, I hear ya girl!!! I bet you could make anything and I would eat it.

Bookluv, you are very likely a very good cook. Wanting to be one is the biggest step toward that goal. I too struggle with cooking. I hate anyone being in the kitchen with me, and that has been the biggest issue with my parents being with us. Now mom is in NH and that has made it much better for me. You keep trying hon, and know you are capable of doing anything you want, and doing it right for yourself and no one else. (hugs)

I ALWAYS share! I grew up cooking for a family of 8, as soon as I could reach the stove. After 35 years in the restaurant business, I ALWAY make too much for 2. My brother stops by regularly for "take out" from Chez Chak.
I am a purest. It MUST be sour cream. FULL FAT! LOL

Did you know that the making of Greek yogurt is very harmful for the enviroment? I need to look into this, but my daughter was telling me about it.

tonight we are having chili. I really try to keep meals simple. I don't like the cleaning up. With chili, you have protein, fiber in the beans, i use preseasoned tomatoes and some spices, so we have a veg in there too. Sometimes i use celery and onion in my hamburger too so more veg is added. Top the chili with a dollop of sour cream and some shredded cheese.... lookin good!!!!!! Not too bad for us, especially if you leave off the sour cream and cheese.

i agree about the multiple dishes , book. if your going to fry chicken, fry a bunch cause im eatin chicken. most of my meals are one course. ie, spaghetti , filled brotchen rolls , chili dogs, twice stuffed potatos, etc. all the ingredients you need in one dish.
still eating up my bean soup tonight..

Heart attack in a bowl ... what a way to go! That sounds awesome. I'm not feeling well today and I could use a bowl of soup. Do you share, Boni? Glad we have good leftovers in the fridge. I think I'll put off making today's menu for a day.

By the way, do you ever use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream? Course, that particular recipe doesn't sound like it can be redeemed, but I find we like yogurt in place of sour cream or even of mayonnaise in a lot of recipes.

Making Potato soup today......AKA...Heart attack in a bowl. Potatoes, onion,S&P, parsley,milk, butter, cheddar cheese, bacon and sour cream. Yum.

Captain, you were just very fortunate that your mom was supportive of you and had no problems being truthful of your cooking. Several times, I have tried to cook. My father was such a perfectionist. I was washing the rice wrong, measuring the water wrong, marinating the meat wrong, turning the meat wrong, etc... then when it was time to chow down - too salty (lie - I rarely eat salt and so I skimp salt when cooking), no taste (lie - I added other spices), too overcooked, too, etc.... In the end, I just stopped cooking. And came home with take out dinners. Can't go wrong with that - since I didn't cook it. Now that he's bedridden, I've been digging out my cookbooks and choosing simple recipes with very few ingredients. I'm slowly getting excited about cooking. And I find incentive when I read some of your meals here. sigh... you guys eat way too much variety of food for one mealtime... When I read your menus, I think it's like attending a dinner function and the host/hostess makes a variety of dishes for that one meal.

alison is about cute enough to get by without doing much cooking but i think shes missing the thrill of someone telling her " you really outdid yourself this time, that soup was delicious " ( my moms voice in my head ) .
lol, sour cream is the secret ali.. and red pepper / garlic powder..

Tonight I made meatloaf in the crock pot. It was filled with a feta/spinach/dried tomato mixture which looked lovely when sliced and tasted awesome. With it I made steamed carrots and tiny peas with dill butter. We also had fruit cups with 4 kinds of berries, kiwi, and canned peaches. If we both weren't trying to lose weight, I would have included bread. We sure got in our recommended servings of fruit and vegetables, though. :)

Alison, if Babe Ruth quite baseball the first time he struck out (or the second, or the 40th) none of us would have ever heard of him. Do you think those of us who are "good cooks" have never learned from failure? Good heavens! That is not the case. So, if you WANT to be a good cook, start cooking. Start with simple recipes that don't require doing two things at once. Take some cooking classes. Cook with a friend. There are lots of ways to improve.

But I don't think it is necessary for everyone to cook well. If you enjoy it, it is satisfying. If it is not your passion, don't worry about it.

I think I can speak for many of us when I say we figured out how to do it right by making our share of mistakes along the way!

its a labor of love alison and possibly an art form.
if its only a hobby its a dam fun one.
i make the chilidog from hell. smashed red beans in the meat sauce gives it moisure, flavor and makes em less messy. double grinding hamburger makes it more like DQ might serve, cept theirs has no flavor.
red pepper can benefit almost any dish. its flavorful even if you dont reach spicy / hot ..

that's funny and appropriate, glad, but sad that he is losing it too. I am sorry.

Turkey sandwiches, potato chips, cole slaw, moose head salad (for your benefit Emjo) Well mom's husband is losing it too, trying to come up with the name for frog eye salad, you know tapioca, marshmallows, mandarin oranges, coconut, etc. Trying to remember the name for frog eye salad, all he could come up with is moose head salad. Not sure how I feel about him starting to lose it now too.:(

One of the few times I tried to make a proper dish - it was a pork with peaches, I believe, not apricots, but same thing. The recipe required that I do a couple of relatively easy things at once, have one thing simmering while I'm prepping the other things… very normal stuff if you have experience cooking. I didn't. I made a complete frantic mess of boyfriend's kitchen, the dish was bad - terrible, even. He and I ate a little and that was that, he was the cook again from then on. And he was an excellent cook, I was very envious, he knew what to do and how to do it.

So I read all of your wonderful dinner descriptions and try to somehow channel how it is you all figured out how to make wonderful food. I'm very challenged in that area. :)

Black-eyed peas, pole beans, fried okra and baked chicken. My daughter cooked and delivered. LOL

Sounds delicious. Apricot goes well with pork or lamb. I once had an stove with a rotisserie spit in it and did a roast basted in apricot. It was great.

The pork and fruit played perfectly together, captain, but I did have to use both toothpicks and string to hold the roll together in the oven. The fruit compote had star anise, allspice berries, and a cinnamon stick, all of which should be removed before the compote goes into the port. The stars and stick were easy to remove, but who the heck can tell the berries from the dates and raisins? Crazy. Then to make the sauce you remove the cooked roast and add butter to the pan, scraping up the nummy bits. Cook the shallots in the butter until translucent. The shallots immediately are covered with the brown mixture in the pan! How could anyone tell if they are raw, translucent, or burned? LOL, glad I have a lot of cooking experience behind me. In spite of a few recipe jokes, the dinner was absolutely worth the trouble to prepare it. Wow! I hope to do this often, and use different fruits.

LadeeC, I do understand completely that cooking for just yourself is not very satisfying. I did much simpler cooking the last years I was caring for Coy. I'm delighted now to have a boarder who loves good food.

good. jeanne knows to get the pork with the fruit and make em play nice.. throw crushed black pepper on em if they misbehave..

:chuckles: .. well, Book .. my version of ramen is more like spaghetti-os .. would gross out most people, but feels like a treat to me. And actually it's more than a few hours before I get hungry again.

Jeanne .. I may try your recipes, they sound absolutely scrumptious. I used to be a really good and enthusiastic cook, but, frankly it doesn't seem worth the effort these days. As long as what I put on Edna's lap tray gives her a smile and she eats enthusiastically, I'm content. As for myself, I have a tendency to wait until I'm ravenous and then don't want to take the time to prep and cook something, so it's gotta be FAST. And 3 minutes in the microwave suits me just fine, lol. I'm awful. I know it.

Ramen...is more like a snack. I like mine plain, nothing fancy thrown in. I cook according to instructions but add 1/2 cup more of water. Just before the 3 minutes boil is up, I quickly crack an egg, smell it to make sure it's not spoiled (sigh... I once cracked the egg into the frying pan, and a spoiled rotten egg got mixed in with the food. Threw the whole thing out.), quick whisk with the fork, and then dump it into the boiling noodles. I wait for the eggs to cook a bit before I gently swirl the eggs/noodles. I want the eggs to still be intact when I eat the soup. When done, quickly scoop the soup into the bowl, sprinkle in black pepper and eat it quicky before the noodles expand and become soft. I haven't had Ramen in a long time! Favorite flavor is shrimp. LadeeC, don't you get hungry after an hour later?

Top ramen? Oh, LadeeC, I wish you could come eat with me!

OMG with the latkes, again .. drool ..

And, Jeanne .. oh, yum.

Meanwhile, I had top ramen.

I love ice cream. Just reading it here makes me one to eat the ones in the freezer. I bought 2 boxes of Dreyers. One for me (Coffee flavor with nuts), and for my dad & sis to share (Neopolitan.) I love both ice creams. So, 2 nights ago, I decided to eat combine it together - so I get to taste all the flavors - vanilla, strawberry, chocolate and coffee flavor with Nuts. Yum!!!!

Tonight we had sliced sweet potato tossed in olive oil, honey, and cinnamon then roasted, along with leftover roasted broccoli and cauliflower. Also a pork tenderloin butterflied and filled with a fruit compote (dried apricots, dates, and raisins simmered in cranberry juice), roasted, and served with a shallot sauce made with the pan drippings.

Oh my! Seriously good dinner.

my god. even my off topic cant stay on topic. * sigh *
i spin out..

He really doesn't care? He is not a foodie! That would be hard. Gary is not great on verbal compliments, but the clean plate and seconds say a lot, and with a little prompting he will comment positively. I think on the farm women were expected to dish up good food - it was their job and compliments were not expected or given. I have to laugh as I remember the first time I made stew for Gary. His mum was a very good baker, but not a great meat cook from what I can tell. He tasted the gravy, and got a far away look in his eyes as he said, "I do believe that is the best gravy I have ever tasted." I can go a long while on that.

I don't know if I would like requests - I kind of go with the flow.

At least your man does some cooking. Gary can, but is too busy. A couple of New Years ago we went north to a cabin for "our" holiday time. I told him my only need was for him to cook all the meals. He did a fine job.

Oh my, " Real pho and ban mi. Carnitas tacos and Jamaican jerk." I am so limited by my food allergies. My dim sum days are over.

got to thinking about my brain and my liver hashing out their differences and now i crave hash. i say this with utmost sincerity. if i get a terminal prognosis in a few years and have the money to leave my son set up here and a handful to waste.. i would like to go to germany during the season of the wacken metal fest -- it would be a one way plane ticket. that sounds more eerily like a plan as opposed to a fantasy. wth is the difference between comfort medication for the dying and SELF comfort medication ? my life has been nice. my death could be too.. he he . now ive got some stone to lay in the usa in preperation.. it would be rock and roll geriatric camp as the monsters of rock are graying too.