First Place (030/365)

TIME: 6:40 PM
PLACE: Ott’s Tavern
SUBJECT: Dry Wing Trophy

HH wanted to go to Ott’s tonight – Tuesday’s are a Chili and Hamburger special.

I ordered the dry seasoned wings instead. Good stuff.

Sushi With Stella (022/365)

   Marge: Mm, there's that new sushi restaurant on Elm Street...
   Bart:  Sushi?  Hey, maybe this is just one of those things you hear on the playground, but isn't that raw fish?
   Lisa:  As usual, the playground has the facts right, but missed the point entirely.
  The Simpsons, `One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish'', Season 2, Episode 11. Jan 24, 1991 

TIME: 7:02 PM
PLACE: Shichi Sushi Bar
SUBJECT:  Stella and tea

Much needed hair maintenance (cut and color) was on the agenda tonight.
Stella went with me.
Then, it was off the the sushi bar
She’s been on my case for the last 10 days about going there.
This should keep her quiet for awhile.

Why You REALLY Need to Wash Your Lettuce

TIME:  5:34PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  Unwanted dinner guest in DramaQueen’s salad

The HandsomeHusband picked fresh greens from our garden for dinner tonight.

It looks like quality control was severely lacking in his lettuce cleaning department this evening.

It also looks like Caesar dressing and roly-poly bugs are a bad combo.

Birthday Dinner (140/366)

“A family with an old person has a living treasure of gold.”

Chinese Proverb
(Sorry Dad, I couldn’t resist)

TIME:  8:24 PM
PLACE:  Andria’s Restaurant
SUBJECT:  Shayne, Dad & StellaDella

Officially, Pop’s big 70th birthday is tomorrow (May 20th), but we took him to dinner tonight to celebrate.  We being me, HH and the kids, my oldest brother and his family and my sister and her family – 14 of us.  They even gave him a small cake with a candle to blow out.  He proceeded to cut it into the tiniest pieces I’ve ever seen so we could all have a bite.  After, we went to get ice cream and brought it back to his house to eat it.
 

For such an old man, he looks good! *wink* Love ya Dad!
~*~*~
(My godchild and I visited his front yard after midnight to decorate. Photos to follow!)

Mother’s Day Dinner (134/366)

“My mother's menu consisted of two choices: Take it or leave it.”

Buddy Hackett (born Leonard Hacker, American comedian and actor. 1924–2003)

TIME:  6:00 PM
PLACE:  Nobu’s in St. Louis
SUBJECT:  California & Cucumber maki
(taken with cell phone)

I was taken out to eat by the HH and the kiddos today in honor of Mother’s Day.  Sushi.  Then we went to Ted Drewes and got custard for dessert.  What more could I ask for?

Breakfast For Supper (221/365)

 
“It frequently breakfasts at five-o'clock tea, And dines on the following day”

*The Hunting of the Snark*, Lewis Carroll (English Logician, Mathematician, Photographer and Novelist, especially remembered for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. 1832-1898)

TIME:  4:06 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  StellaDella’s supper plate

Around once a month, I declare that we will be having “Breakfast For Supper.”  Usually it’s because we have things to do and places to be in the early evening and need something quick and easy to make or it’s because I’ve run out of ideas on what to make for supper.  Tonight it was a little of both – although I’ll admit that it was a bit more of the latter than of the former.

Lenten Meal (048/365)

 
“I get a little behind during Lent, but it comes out even at Christmas.”

Frank Butler (1890-1967), British screenwriter, and Frank Cavett (1907-1973), U.S. screenwriter. Father Fitzgibbon (Barry Fitzgerald), Going My Way (1944). Explaining how he rations his bottle of brandy over the course of a year.

TIME:  6:26 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  Cheese sandwich

Today is the first day of Lent for those of us who observe this period leading up to Easter.  I am a rather sporadically practicing Catholic myself (my father joked that he wasn’t standing anywhere near me at Aunt Dee’s funeral mass, lest the Cathedral burst into flames due to my presence), but I do abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and Fridays during the Lenten season.  Tonight I fixed the kids spaghetti with leftover plain sauce and I made myself a toasted cheese sandwich.  I eat many of these during this 40 day period as they are quick, easy and rather tasty.  I used a slice of American cheese *and* a slice of provolone in my sandwich this evening – très gourmet!

In The Sauce (332/365)

 
There's no sauce in the world like hunger.

Miguel De Cervantes (1547-1616), Spanish author. Teresa Panza (Sancho's wife), in Don Quixote, pt. 2, ch. 5 (1615), trans. by P. Motteux. This well-worn proverb was attributed to Socrates by Cicero in De Finibus, bk. 2, sct. 90.

TIME:  9:21 PM
PLACE:  My Dad’s kitchen
SUBJECT:  Spaghetti sauce with meatballs

Tonight was the “Family” Thanksgiving.  The family being my Dad, my oldest brother and his family, my younger sister and her family and my family.  I have another older brother, who lives in San Francisco with his family, but unfortunately, they did not make it into town for the holiday.  My Dad had the idea for each of us to make a pot of spaghetti sauce and meatballs and bring it to his house where we poured them all in to one huge pot.  We all have the same base recipe handed down from my Dad’s mother, Edna, but it is interesting how the end result differs from parent to child and from sibling to sibling. Doesn’t matter…the melding of the four sauces was superb.  Dad made some chicken spiedini, bread and a salad to round out the meal.  We also each brought some pie – pumpkin, chocolate pudding, pecan, peanut butter and apple.  I also brought the turkey cookies I made.  We all ate way too much.

Rock Lobster (314/365)

 
'Tis the voice of the Lobster; I heard him declare,
'You have baked me too brown, I must sugar my hair.'

Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832-1898), British poet. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. . ; pseud. of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson Oxford Book of Children's Verse, The. Iona Opie and Peter Opie, eds. (1973) Oxford University Press.

TIME:  7:01 PM
PLACE:  Knights of Columbus Council Hall
SUBJECT:  Lobster Dinner

Two local Democratic Clubs sponsored a Lobsterfest tonight and, as HandsomeHusband is in the political scene, we went to offer our support and eat some crustaceans.  Having been dragged under duress cheerfully accompanied him to many other political functions, I can honestly say that this was one of the better fundraising events I have attended.  We had freshly cooked Maine lobsters, corn, potatoes, and slaw (with feta cheese!).  Good stuff.  Thanks for taking me to this one honey…I enjoyed it!

Zuppa Del Giorno (250/365)

“Soup of the evening, beautiful soup!
Soup of the evening, beautiful soup!
Beau—ootiful Soo—oop!
Beau—ootiful Soo—oop!
Soo—oop of the e—e—evening,
Beautiful, beautiful soup!”

Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832-1898), British author, mathematician, clergyman. The Mock Turtle, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, ch. X, Macmillan (1865).

TIME: 5:25 PM
PLACE: The kitchen table
SUBJECT: Minestrone soup

Today was Labor Day here in the USA (Canada and Bermuda as well) where we celebrate the social and economic achievements of the American worker. Normally the family walks in the Labor Day parade here in our town with HH’s union. The kids love it since they get to heave candy (mini tootsie rolls) all along the parade route, but since SD is still getting over her sickness, only HH and MB went to march this morning. I celebrated by doing laundry and going to the grocery store to get the ingredients to make this minestrone soup that was posted last November on Scribbit – Motherhood in Alaska. I loved it and HH declared that it “was pretty damned good soup,” so it will definitely be made again. I like soup and try to have it with homemade bread and salad a few times a month during the fall and winter season.

It's A Good Thing (174/365)

 
"I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number of carats in a diamond.”

Mae West (American Actress and sex symbol, 1892-1980)

TIME:  8:42 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen Counter
SUBJECT:  Carrot-Ginger Cupcake

I really was SuzyHomemaker today.  I ran several errands in the morning with the kiddos - Post Office, the newspaper to place the yard sale ad, City Hall to purchase a yard sale permit (our city requires one), the Library, Farm Fresh convenience store for our milk in glass bottles, the Farmer's Market for broccoli, carrots and nectarines, and the butcher for chicken breasts for dinner tonight.  Are you tired yet?  This afternoon, I went downtown by the library to meet a buyer for a Craigslist sale.  Then it was back home to make dinner.  We had Korean Grilled Chicken & Sesame Noodles with Vegetables.  For dessert I made Carrot-Ginger Cupcakes - the recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook.  The cream cheese icing is straight from my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook.  DramaQueen made a face when I was mixing it up, but she tried the batter and changed her mind quickly.  I'm sure there are no calories in these cupcakes, the recipe only called for 1-1/2 cups of vegetable oil...do you think that the oil counteracted the health benefits of the 2-1/2 cups of shredded carrots that were in there?
Nah, I don't think so either.

Half Shells (172/365)

 
“It was a bold person that first ate an oyster.”

Jonathan Swift (Irish Author and Satirist of prose, 1667-1745)

TIME:  8:18 PM
PLACE:  Broadway Oyster Bar, St. Louis, MO
SUBJECT:  Oyster shells and bottle caps on the wall

Happy Father's Day to all Dads, past, present and future!  I made breakfast for HandsomeHusband this morning and let him take a nap before he mowed the lawn in the heat.  That's the kind of wife I am. *wink*  This evening we took my father to dinner at  the Broadway Oyster Bar in St. Louis, Missouri.  We picked up another friend and then met 4 other folks at the restaurant.  HH and I first dined here together after an afternoon at Mardi Gras back in 1990.   They have great Cajun/Creole food.  HH ordered a bucket of crawfish, a dozen oysters on the half shell, Shrimp Remoulade and some gumbo.  I ate a couple of the crawfish and oysters - yummy!  My main course was a delicious Crawfish Etoufée.  Dad had linguini with a sweet Creole red sauce and crawfish.  Several people in our party had bread pudding for dessert...but I was too stuffed for that.

The oyster shells and bottle caps are part of this mural on the outside patio.

Life Is Just A Bowl of Berries (094/365)

 
"Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did."

William Allen Butler, (American lawyer and writer of poetical satires, 1825-1902)

TIME: 4:48 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen counter
SUBJECT: Hulled strawberries

I braved the "Mart of Wal" (WalMart) today, while StellaDella was at a birthday party at the nearby YMCA.  DramaQueen was with me while MonkeyBoy and HandsomeHusband were at MB's baseball practice.  I needed to pick up some items (toilet paper, paper towels, Kleenex - it was a paper extravaganza!) and something to make for dinner.  I found my main course ingredients and then saw that they had 1-pound containers of strawberries for just $2.00 - Score!  So we had beef & vegetable fajitas with strawberry shortcakes for dessert. 

Each year when strawberries are in season, I am reminded of a conversation at my family's supper table about 27 years ago.  My sister who was about 6 announced that strawberries were not fruit, because they have their seeds on the outside.  This caused quite the stir in our family unit at the time.  But, as it turns out, my little sister was partially correct.  To quote from http://articles.gourt.com/en/strawberry - "The strawberry is an accessory fruit; that is, the fleshy part is derived not from the ovaries (which are the "seeds", actually achenes) but from the peg at the bottom of the hypanthium that held the ovaries. So from a technical standpoint, the seeds are the actual fruits of the plant, and the flesh of the strawberry is a vegetable. It is greenish-white as it develops and in most species turns red when ripe."  The things you can find out on the web are amazing.

Meat and Potatoes (081/365)

"Say hey, good lookin’. what ya got cookin’?
How’s about cooking somethin’ up with me?
Hey, sweet baby. don’t you think maybe,
We can find us a brand new recipe?"

I got a hot rod ford, and a two dollar bill;
And I know a spot right over the hill.
There’s soda pop and the dancing’s free
So if you wanna have fun, come along with me.

Hey, good lookin’. what ya got cookin’?
How’s about cooking somethin’ up with me?"

Hey Good Lookin'!, Hank Williams (Acuff-Rose Music, Inc./Hiriam Music (BMI), 1951)

TIME: 5:14 PM
PLACE:  The backyard BBQ grill
SUBJECT: Pork Roast and Baked Potatoes

HH made dinner tonight.  A spice-rubbed pork roast, baked potatoes and a wilted slaw.  Damn, not only is he good-looking, but that man can cook!  He makes a great roast on the grill and the slaw is excellent as well.  We invited my Dad; he accepted and joined our zoo for dinner.  StellaDella called dibs on sitting next to Pa-Pa.  DramaQueen was not happy with that.  But she was contented to sit across from Grandpa.  I even made dessert, a gingerbread quick bread, with whipped cream topping.  Don't be impressed...it was a clearance (90% off!) mix from Target after Christmas.  Doesn't matter, it was pretty darn tasty!   

Don't Hold the Anchovies (063/365)

 
Counselor:  Ah, Mr Anchovy! Do sit down.
Anchovy:  Thank you. Take the weight off the feet, eh?
Counselor:  Yes, Yes.
Anchovy:  Lovely weather for the time of year I must say!
Counselor:  Enough of this gay banter. Now, Mr Anchovy…”

Monty Python's Flying Circus, Season One, Episode Ten, Vocational Guidance Counselor, John Cleese (Counselor), Michael Palin (Anchovy), Aired December 21, 1969

TIME: 4:06 PM
PLACE: Kitchen counter
SUBJECT: King Oscar Anchovy tin

There is only one reason this tin of anchovies made its way to my kitchen counter this afternoon.  I was making one of HandsomeHusband's favorite elixirs...homemade Caesar dressing.  I only make this dressing when preparing tonight's particular dinner:  Caesar Salad with Crispy Parmesan Chicken.  Mayonnaise, fresh lemon juice, anchovy fillets, garlic and Dijon mustard are combined to make the dressing.  Chicken cutlets are dipped in an egg wash, then dredged in a breadcrumb mixture (fresh breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese and some black pepper).  The chicken is cooked in a small amount of olive oil on the stovetop.  Finally, Romaine leaves, some chunked tomatoes and the fried chicken are arranged on a plate and drizzled with the dressing.  Pure bliss.