What's for supper?

[Rufus]

Pinwheels (chorizo sausage meat wrapped in beef), baked spaghetti squash with olive oil and garlic, and steamed broccoli.

[brothers]

Sounds healthy and delicious!

[ShadowsDad]

Last night we were invited out to a friends house. She made Thai curry chicken. Delicious!

[Rufus]

Would love to have a chicken, or any other kind, curry for dinner one of these days. Tonight we"re being very healthy with baked cod, grilled tomatoes and steamed French beans. We've managed to slip in a glass or two of Pinot Grigio as well.

[Squire]

I've had some very good curry in restaurants but only passable results in my own kitchen. Perhaps some Pino Grigio would help.

[ShadowsDad]

She told us what she was going to cook and said she'd tried it a few days before but that it was missing something. So I went online to research it and brought "stuff" over. We taste tested it and added ingredients until it was OK to her and my wife. I never order chicken curry when out (the ladies do) I always get the duck breast anything if it's on the menu.

[brothers]

Today was very cold and we got a few inches of snow. For supper we (my wife) made a big pot of stew. Primarily beef and vegetables. Cooked it a few hours, and it was outstanding.

[ShadowsDad]

Beef stew is hard to beat on a cold day Gary.

Of course there are other ingredients, but it never fails that when I make one that the wife asks, "Are you really going to add all of those carrots!?", "unh huh". Many veggies are 'just there' but I find carrots are what really hit it off with beef in a stew. Along with a dark roux to slightly thicken it and lend it's flavor. After all these years she always asks and always tells me that it's delicious. I'd probably think something was wrong if that sequence of events all of a sudden didn't happen.

[Squire]

I think carrots add a distinctive touch to beef stew though in truth I don't eat them, rather my son gets my share.

[Rufus]

I like a lot of carrots in my stew along with parsnips, onions and Swede/rutabaga. No potatoes, however, dumplings instead. This is making me very hungry.

[Rufus]

Tonight it's grilled Boerewors with steamed baby carrots and peas.

[ShadowsDad]

I had to google that. Sounds like sausage I would and do make. Someday I'll need to get a recipe for the actual sausage.

[brothers]

I'm only saying one thing...

David, it occurrred to me that when I think of photos of delicious looking eats, it's probably the result of some well-qualified photographic experts who know how to make food look good through the lens of a camera. I understand it is a lot of work and careful preparation to make food look good in pictures. If I took a snapshot of a Big Mac at McDonalds, my picture wouldn't look much like the commercial pics. Same goes for what you'd be seeing if I took a picture of my home cooked supper!

[Rufus]

I had to google that. Sounds like sausage I would and do make. Someday I'll need to get a recipe for the actual sausage.

Brian, that's right. It's South African, as I am, and is usually made from beef, but it can be made with chicken or any other meat you choose. I don't have a recipe for it, but, fortunately, there is a South African butcher in the town where I live. In addition to boerewors he makes other South African delicacies such as biltong (similar to jerky) and imports a lot of food products, sweets, chocolates, soaps and creams made in Zuid-Afrika. My wife is English and the town she is from in southern England has a South African butcher(actually he's from Kitwe, Northern Rhodesia , now Zambia) who makes boerewors, biltong, etc., so when we're in England, which is at least once a year, we are able to feast on Boer delicacies.

[pausted]

Tonight we had grilled pork chops (boneless and 1 inch thick), baked sweet potatos with butter and a bit of brown sugar and roasted asparagus spears with olive oil, garlic and parmesan cheese. A feast!

[ShadowsDad]

Normally I buy shelled shrimp, but I have a recipe for shrimp where the entire shrimp is eaten, shell and all, so I bought a mess of them. What flavor with the shell on shrimp! I will never buy shelled shrimp again.

Anyway, tonight I took 8 ozs of them and made garlic shrimp. I had some rice in the refrigerator and threw together some fried rice to go with it. It was finger messy due to the shell on shrimp, but oh so good!

[Squire]

Brian you might try peeling the shrimp and simmering the shells to make a stock for cooking. The strained stock preserves the added flavor and the shells are discarded, also freezes well.

[brothers]

Today I was craving something different, so I made one of my favorites. Two pieces of multi-grain whole wheat bread, liberally buttered on one side; in a skillet I melted more butter and placed the bread dry side down in the hot butter in the skillet until the dry side had absorbed most of the melted butter and started to brown, turned them over so they'd brown on both sides. When they were ready I put them on a plate and spread a huge amount of peanut butter on one and a huge amount of blackberry preserves on the other and gave them a few moments to cool a bit and then I put them together and made a beautiful buttery pan fried peanut butter and "jelly" sandwich. Sliced it in halves and enjoyed it with a large cup of hot coffee. Amazing! This is one treat I don't give myself more than about once a year.

[EL Alamein]

Tonight was Parmesan encrusted chicken breasts in a brown butter sauce with a side of buttered broccoli. Gosh it was good. Plenty of leftovers for snacks and lunches.

Chris

[Rufus]

Medium rare prime rib roast, roast potatoes, onions and parsnips, steamed carrots and broccoli, Yorkshire puddings , mashed sweet potato and lots of gravy.