What's For Dinner tonite?

[Yhottys]

homemade Kettle Corn! We watched "It's A Wonderful Life" in bed and nibbled on a big bowl of kettle corn. Nom, nom, nom.

We had grilled ribeyes, grilled zucchini and sauteed mushrooms. Served up with holiday steamed rice.

[Yhottys]

Two nights ago we had fresh Dungeness crab again. Gemma was at an asian grocery store in San Francisco and fresh crab was $1.99 a pound! Amazing!

Even more amazing . . . the artichoke below. We had artichokes for appetizers. Look at that thing! It's the size of an eight year old's noggin! Kinda makes you wonder what they were using for fertilizer. Gemma made sure they were organic. And get this, $.99 each! For disturbingly large, organic artichokes! Gotta love California and asian supermarkets!

[Steelegood]

Originally Posted by Yhottys

homemade Kettle Corn! We watched "It's A Wonderful Life" in bed and nibbled on a big bowl of kettle corn. Nom, nom, nom.

We had grilled ribeyes, grilled zucchini and sauteed mushrooms. Served up with holiday steamed rice.

OK...., I confess, I'm a junk food junkie. You had me at "Kettle Corn", boy, am I sucker .

However...., I do appreciate "good food", but mutan artichokes??? I do have to admit the Dungeness crab did make me jealous! I'm back to my "7 on", and at the mercy of my significant other for dinner, (and the road kill proposal in TN takes precedence), the slam, bam, thank you ma'am approach to dinner . Apparently "I make too much of a mess when I 'fix' something!. In her opinion, I have to use every utensil.... and all available counter space, in the kitchen, not to mention...... using every square inch of floor space in the kitchen in the process". The girls have mentioned wanting to make something for their friends (food wise) for Christmas. Can't wait to hear this!
To be continued!

Terry

[Yhottys]

Hey there Terry!

Gemma totally sympathizes. Murray went to the CIA in upstate New York, has worked with Michael Mina, Bradley Ogden, Jan Birnbaum, Craig Stoll and lots of other great chefs. (He consults now.) So at times, he seems incredulous to learn that we don't have a full-time dishwasher on the payroll. He likes to use lots of pots and pans - even worse utensils and even worse; things like pasta makers, food processors and stand mixers, and believe us we have a lot of them ('cause he's a chef and all).

As for roadkill, you know they actually sell cans of roadkill in Tennessee. At least in Jonesborough, Tennessee, where we have a home. They kept it stocked for all the tourists. We don't think there was anything in the can but who's to say. We weren't going to pay three bucks to find out.

[Yhottys]

We were in the city and spotted an enterprising gentleman with a home made grill mounted on the back of an adult tricycle.

So . . . we picked up some barbeque from Country. We had ribs but Country had links, chicken and brisket. We meant to take a shot of the actual barbeque but completely forgot once we got home. We remembered right after we polished everything off and our fingers smelled like sweet, smoky sauce. We're already thinking about a link sandwich.

[Yhottys]

we had roast beast! Well really prime rib, with German butterball potatoes, green beans and steamed rice.

[Yhottys]

Yesterday was the annual Fisherman's Wharf holiday parade so we stopped by the Charming Gemma to put the finishing touches on her.

In spite of the rain we had a pint of Luna and Larry's Cappuccino Coconut Bliss (this being the Bay Area it is dairy and soy free and low on the glycemic index) while we kept warm in the itty bitty cabin.

We had leftovers for dinner after we got back from the boat.

[Steelegood]

Ok, for dinner last night, it was quick home-made chili!

Yay! the girls are finally home for the holidays...., and they decided to make not one, not two, not three, not four, but four gingerbread houses and a gingerbread church . The kitchen looks......, well......., let's say Chez Murray probably wouldn't want to be in this mess (of course Natalie said she could use an extra busboy and/or dishwasher! We "encouraged" boyfriend to help w/ construction). So dinner was a quick one in lieu of a time consuming spread, what, with all of the gingerbread making, going on. I can already tell you, I'm tired of gingerbread and we still have a week to go before X-Mas. Oh, yeah, for desert....., you guessed it, ginger bread pieces w/ "Mayfield's" vanilla ice cream (from a local dairy, very popular in these parts, however we tend to like "BlueBell"). Will try to keep everyone posted on our "gingerbread village" progress.

(a side note: Gemma & Murry; We really like the pirate nutcracker in the background, we have amassed a collection ourselves, will include a picture of them also)

[Yhottys]

Hey there Terry!

Yowza! That's quite a respectable collection of nutcrackers! Your mantle is beautiful. (Our pirate nutcraker has a hook for a hand and a peg leg!)

Kudos to the girls, they have our admiration. Are they making "stained glass windows" for the gingerbread houses? Your Kitchenaid must have gotten a work out! We used to live in a 1875 Stick Italianate Victorian in San Francisco and Murray once attempted to reproduce it in gingerbread. He had all of the panels made (they were huge at least 12" x 24" each) but when it came to putting it all together, the "glue" didn't seem to have enough "stick" to adhere everything together. Lot's of gingerbread to eat that year.

We (and by we, we mean Murray) are(is) making gingerbread cookies today and we'll break out the Kitchenaid. Gemma bought pounds of fresh ginger and even offered to grate it. They won't be as elaborate as InsideOut's beautifully decorated Airstream cookies, but hopefully they'll taste good. We'll post images soon.

Oh, and vanilla ice cream and gingerbread cookie "mistakes" will definitely be on tonight's menu. Thanks for the menu suggestion. Yummy!

[Yhottys]

Last night was wet, cold and rainy. Gemma made dinner. We had fresh pork hocks, taro root and mustard greens. Kinda a Southern/Asian thing going on. The pot liquor was outstanding. All served over steamed rice.

[Yhottys]

Okay, so last night, we (Murray) made gingerbread cookies in honor of the newest addition to our family. No . . . it's not another Airstream. Our newest addition to our family is Raymond. He's a rescue we adopted from the Mendocino County Animal Shelter. He's so sweet and we love him, although he does have a penchant for exploring our neighborhood's back forty and returning home an hour later with a look that says, "Hello my people - do you happen to have any water available? I'm really thirsty from my adventures!"

We had dinner with friends last night and for dessert we had vanilla ice cream with gingerbread lab cookies.

Without further ado, we give you Raymond and his likeness in gingerbread.

[Aage]

You can allow your dog to wander at will where you live? Jeepers!

Nothing like an old Lab for good company. Good for you for rescuing him.

One piece of advice though; don't turn your back on him when there's food around, he's a thief. At various times over the years, ours took and ate things that surprised (or shocked) us: a dozen doughnuts, a whole turkey, and, well, you get the picture.

[cclarkego]

That is the truth about Labs... Once my female crept up on the sofa in the trailer when I had my back turned and ate the whole pound of cheese I had just grated for lasagna!

[Aage]

One day, when my wife's late father was visiting us, she gave him his lunch on a TV table. The dog was always near bye in situations like this, and that day was no exception.

As he watched his TV show, she quietly leaned forward and took half his sandwich and made off with it before I could stop her.

Never trust a Lab when food is involved...

[warbler5]

What I want to know is.....where did you find a LAB cookie cutter?!?!? I want one! Of course, our cookies would have to be sugar cookies, to match our yellow lab, Bailey!

[Steelegood]

Last night, because of all the "whoop la" and all, over our gingerbread village, for dinner we went through the soup line at the Salvation Army (no..., just kidding, they did give us the bowl for being there and doing our part in civic duties) and had chicken soup with......, yep......, RICE , and grilled cheese sandwhiches. For desert you guessed it..., gingerbread pieces and candy (when I could sneak out a piece or two). I think everyone should try and make a gingerbread house at least once in their life time. Let me tell you, there is quite a bit of work involved (and I'm wondering if we will be finished in time for x-mas) in the baking/building/decorating. I also think I should have bought some Willie Wonka stock before we invested so much money in all the candy we have bought, and yes Murray & Gemma, those are "stained glass" windows. Please send us some "labs" to run about our village when it is complete. I don't think we could stomach making anymore gingerbread ourselves. No "Virginia" we didn't grate our own fresh ginger, but your welcome to come out and help? We're using "Royal Icing" for "glue", and after propping up with various items till dry, it seems to be holding out OK! However, I'm worried about the roofs holding up! (ps: We love Raymond, he is so cute. I also think Natalie 'or someone' IS going to get a new kitchenaid mixer from Santa).

Will try to keep you posted on our "village" progress.

[Yhottys]

Aage - Raymond isn't allowed to roam at will. He's usually really good about hanging out with us. It's just when we're in the garden and get a little distracted with chores that he chooses to explore. The first time he did it we were sick with worry, we had just had him for two days. (Many of the homes in our neighborhood sit on half acre lots and most of our neighbors do not have fences - so the opportunity to explore the neighborhood back forty can be very compelling.) He returned about an hour later, after Gemma was hoarse from yelling out is name, and Murray had driven throughout the neighborhood looking for him. He looked at Gemma and seemed to be saying, "Hi! You're my lady, aren't you? Do you have any water? I'm really thirsty!".

Carol and Aage - Raymond hasn't gotten to anything yet. He's been quite the gentleman and gently takes any of the treats we offer him.

Paul and Dee - We bought the lab cookie cutter from Sur La Table. Do you have one near you? If not, we'd love to bring you one. Will we see you at Casini in April?

Terry - Wow! Those windows turned out great! The trees look good too. Gingerbread labs coming your way. We'll send them to work unless you tell us otherwise. Yep, we're stalkers!

[Yhottys]

We made Pernil, Puerto Rican pork roast, traditionally served on Christmas, the same night we had dinner with friends and served gingerbread lab cookies. Murray made a mango, pineapple salsa to go with it. Roasted cauliflower and steamed rice rounded out the meal.

We didn't make Coquito, Coquito - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, but plan on doing so sometime before New Year's Day.

Last night we had pork roast leftovers. Today, we're having Cuban sandwiches: roast pork, ham, swiss cheese and dill pickle slices on grilled bread.

[Steelegood]

Well, we should have hired habitat for gingerbread humanity ! The kitchenaid is now getting a real workout making our Royal Icing......, er....., I mean our glue. Too much candy to think about. Talk about time consuming is an understatement. Talk about working in the real world , then in our imaginary world of the ginger bread village........ is wearing us out. We should have given more thought to how much work this is, not to mention the time constraints.

Dinner? Uh....., Oh....., Yeah......, real treat. Something simple and easy (note: CHOW MEIN even says it's quick and easy....., right there on the wrapper ), 'cuz no one wants to take the extra time to cook something. Too tired and full of icing, candy, and yep.... you guessed it......, GINGERBREAD to eat real food. (Has any one noticed a trend here?, the more involved we get with the "village", the slimmer the real food gets?)

Will keep everyone posted on our progress, and weight! NO, scratch that last remark, Natalie REFUSES TO STEP ON THE SCALE! It is the Holidays...., after all. Chow, oh, I mean, Ciao, pun intended. (ps: we will be watching and waiting for our gingerbread labs, can't wait to add them to the village, )

Terry and Natalie

[Steelegood]

Still working on "the village", putting on the finishing touches, and hoping a few lab gingerbread dogs will find their way here before we are done! Will post finished pictures, Oh and something very simple for dinner