Tuesday's Dinner

Yet another snooze-fest. How many nights in a row can you eat tacos? Three and counting. Once again, Poppy and I set the goal of not drinking at home during the week, unless it is a special meal. We lasted one night. Poppy suggested that last night's tacos were considered a special meal, even though they weren't the night before. We shared a lovely bottle of Cab from Boeger Winery in Placerville. Boeger is one of the two wineries that we belong too...the other is Trione in Geyserville.



I walked to work this morning and found a new pet. His name is Mr. Sluggo. You know on the Presidio, if you can put a leash on it. it's considered a pet. In fact, I asked Boss Karen if I could have chickens at my house as long as they were on a leash. She replied "Don't even start with me." I took that to mean there is room for negotiation! Yeah, I've been working for lawyers way too long...

Bye bye!

Monday's Dinner

This is starting to get boring...

Taco night again last night. I'm not complaining, mind you. I loves a good taco but that leaves me little to write about doesn't it? Hmmm, I can write about someone else's dinner then...Niece Ashley is on a Gluten-free diet so Sister Kathy made fried chicken the other night. She soaked the chicken in milk and some spices for about 7 hours, then rolled it through some Gluten-free flour. She said it was a medium-high on the NOM scale.



Yesterday was a good day for Jax-The-Cheese-Connesewer not only because we had tacos and that means I grate cheese (some happens to fall on the floor...a lot), but she got a new toy. It makes kind of creepy noise, but she likes it.

I wanna be a stay at home mom!

Later

Sunday's Dinner

Since we spent most of the day house-hunting and then hanging out at the Stray Bar in Bernal Heights, we didn't feel much like cooking. So, we had a Ploughman's Lunch. Used to be very popular in England when the menfolk were out ploughing the fields. It's pretty much cheese and veggies with some bread and Branston Pickles. I bet you want to know what a Branston Pickle is, don't you? Let me tell you...Branston Pickle is made from a variety of diced vegetables, including swede, carrots, onions, cauliflower and gherkins pickled in a sauce made from vinegar, tomato, apple and dates with spices such as mustard, coriander, garlic, cinnamon, pepper, cloves, nutmeg and cayenne pepper with sugar. Poppy and I usually have crackers, cheese, Claussen Pickles and anything else I can find laying around that can go on a cracker, along with the Branston Pickle. NOM!!

Oh, we found a flat in the Mission that we're going to buy. I'm going to pretend our offer will be accepted...once we put one in cause we both want this place bad!! Oddly enough, it's right next door to our co-worker, Rob. I took that as a good sign that this is the one we've been waiting for.

bye bye!

Saturday's Dinner

Rut-Roe...I forgot to take a picture of dinner last night. Here's the pan Poppy cooked the taco meat in...Yep, that's right, it was Taco Night at Kasa Kecky's!! This time I bought a little pork roast and a beef pot roast and ground it up into burger. I made up this Southwest seasoning/rub so Poppy uses that to season the meat. She really likes it. She thought the meat lacked a little fat so was a little dry. I thought it was NOM, especially after I added the cheese, sour cream, onion, tomato, lettuce and hot sauce!

We're off today to look at 3 more houses. Two in Bernal Heights and a condo in the Inner Mission. We would both love to live in the Mission.

Enjoy your Sunday!!

Friday's Dinner

Sorry to disappoint, but I have next to nothing to report. Poppy and I had the leftovers from Pasquale's. Even better the second day. Poppy is not a fan of "wet" chicken so I've never made Cattiatore but it seems that if you brown the skin first, she'll eat it. So that will be coming to a future "What's For Dinner?" near you.



If you are wondering about the picture, her name is Fatass. She is my Mii for our Wii Fit. Yeah, the thing you step on and it goes "Ohhhhh" like you're so fat you broke the machine. So, I set a goal of losing 20 pounds 300 some odd days ago. I was supposed to lose that 20 pounds in six months, which I think was last August. Needless to say, I didn't make my goal and Fatass is 5 pounds fatter than when she started but I'll never give up!! Now, you might ask what Poppy's Mii name is? Well, being from Texas (Praise the Lard and Pass the Biscuits), her name is LuvBacon. She might of had a goal too, but she didn't achieve it either. I think we're co-dependant enablers!

So this Fatass set yet another goal of running a 10k with Netty-Mae. The race is on April 18. We'll be running 4 miles this morning. I'm wondering if there is some kind of sling I can make for my stomach so it doesn't bounce up and down as I run. I'd like it better if it had wheels. The best part of the 10k is that after we're done, we'll drive up to Chandon Winery for some bubbly and oysters!

I will leave you with this saying that comes from Texas: The hirer the hair, the closer to God.

Have a great day!

Thursday's Dinner

Okie dokie, last night we set out to look at three houses. Yep, that's right, we still haven't found our new home. The one house that we're really interested in is on Kirkham/8th, which is just above that little Irving Street neighborhood area that we like. It's a bit over our budget priced at $750,000 but if there's absolutely nothing wrong with it, we could probably go $725,000. It's been on the market for a while and we think it's because the guy who is staying there (family member of owner) is a total pot-head pig so the house reeks of pot and very old dog, which was out in the backyard when we looked last night. Very sweet husky named Bear. Scared the crap out of our agent, Lynnea!

So after we looked at that place, we decided to stay in the hood for dinner. We stopped in at the Buckhorn Grill for a beer. Poppy was in the mood for some pub food but the odd thing about the Buckhorn "Grill" is that they didn't have any food. We asked the bartender for some restaurant recommendations and we ended up at Pasquale's Pizza. It's your basic no frills excellent Italian place. Great food and great prices. They had a ribeye on the menu for $17!! I had the Chicken Cattiatore and Poppy had the Puttanesca. I forgot to take a picture of dinner so here's the aftermath. Portions were really large so you know what we're having for dinner tonight!!

That is all!

Wednesday's Dinner

Last night was what we call my Trophy Wife Dinner. Poppy and I have this little arrangement that I do all the house cleaning and she takes me out to dinner once a month for my services. I know, it kind of sounds like I'm prostituting myself doesn't it? Sometimes, I'll trade in a dinner for a new pair of shoes glorious shoes!

Anyway, last night we went to the Tee-Off since we'd yet to try their regular menu. So me, Poppy and Jax-The-Cheese-Connesewer walk in the bar and walking right past us is Curtis-My-Favorite-And-Best-Bartender-In-San-Francisco heading out the door. We ask how he's doing - he says not so good and that he needs a little air and by the way, didn't make didn't make any Bloody Mary mix! He comes back in about 10 minutes later and I ask him what's wrong. He says, I really don't want to know. This goes on and he tells us that his girlfriend of over 3 years took a powder on him for no apparent reason. Poor guy is taking this really hard, as anyone would. All Curtis-My-Favorite-And-Best-Bartender-In-San-Francisco wants to do is go to a titty bar and get drunk. Can't blame him, I guess. Felt bad for the guy...

On to the food...I had the Spinach Enchilada and Poppy had the famous Mac-n-Cheese. Both were INFINITY NOM! We have leftovers for dinner tonight so I'm very excited! Oh, and I looked around for Jax-The-Cheese-Connesewer and found her mowing on pork chop bone. She's such a little beggar pig!!



Check this out, I just got off the phone with Sister Kathy who was to have a sigmoidoscopy today...one of the joys of turning 50. So you have to drink mass quantities of this Make-U-Pooh-Pooh Liquid in a very short amount of time and then wait for the rumblie-tumblie to start...only in Sister Kathy's case, she's evidently allergic to the Make-U-Pooh-Pooh Liquid and projectile vomited it just about all night long. The visual she described almost made me cry it was so funny. Poor girl...and after all that, the exploding bowel hits her this morning. Besides not eating all day yesterday, spending the night having a firehose vomiting reaction to the Make-U-Pooh-Pooh Liquid and now this morning with an exploding bowel, she can't have the procedure! Ain't that the shits?!

Tuesday's Dinner

So many choices...yet I'm feeling uninspired. I ended up asking Poppy to take me to sushi but then I changed my mind and went with my original plan of making pizza. Why does my dough never rise?! Whatever. I had some cherry tomatoes that I sauteed in olive oil for about 5 minutes. Then threw them in a big bowl with some crushed fennel, crushed red pepper, garlic, salt and Pepper. I squished those with the back of a fork until they were chunky. I added a drained can of diced tomatoes as well. then I thinly sliced onions and red bell pepper. Had some fresh mozzarella and a little sharp cheddar. Right before the pizza was done we put some egg on top and then some basil. Called it dinner.



Looking at my past pictures, I'm starting to notice all my food looks the same...like a big blob on the plate. The colors are pretty but it all looks like a big lump. I think I'll go home and go back to bed now...

See you tomorrow.

Monday's Dinner

For some reason, I was craving a baked potato so that's what we had...and they were loaded. I still have the leftover Roquefort Butter in the freezer so I took that out. I also had diced pancetta, cheddar cheese, chives and Greek style yogurt that I added some seasoning too and used that instead of sour cream. Steamed some broccoli and then I took a handful of Brussels sprouts and peeled each leaf off the little stem end...and fried those in the pancetta fat. Yeah, just a little NOM!

Friday and Saturday's Dinner

As you know, Sister Kathy, Nephew Lucas and I went to Dad-n-Shirley's for the weekend. So, nothing fabulous to write about for Thursday's dinner or Sunday's dinner, for that matter. But the good news is I think I've perfected Belly Brand Bloody Mary Mix!! I'll get to that later...

On Friday's Le Menu was Pit Master Missy's Ribeye Steaks. They were good!!! I put a little of Kecky's Steak Shake on them and then made up some of the NOM NOM Roquefort Butter. NOMMY-NOM-NOM!!



For Saturday's dinner, I bought a couple of leg-o-the-lamberts. They marinaded overnight in a mixture of garlic, honey, chopped rosemary, Dijon mustard and lemon zest. I served them with mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy and dry-fried green beans. NNNNNNOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!



And the final product...



Okay, back to the Belly Brand Bloody Mary Mix...I've been so taken with Curtis-The-Best-Bartender-In-SF's Bloody's that I tried to recreate it. I'm awful close. This recipe makes 66 ounces of NOM-O-Licious bloody Marys:

Two small can six-packs of V8 hot/spicy
2 Tablespoons ground pepper
2 teaspoons celery salt
2 teaspoons garlic powder
10 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
4 tablespoons horseradish
1 tsp hot sauce (I used Crystal Louisiana Hot Sauce)
2 lemons, juiced
2 limes, juiced

Mix it all up and it to your favorite Wodka!!

This is pretty much what Sister Kathy, Nephew Lucas, Stepsister Missy and I drank the whole weekend!

Okay, bye bye...

Wednesday's Dinner

Okay so, went to the Tee-Off to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Now that I think about it, that was the first time in years that I'd been out on St. Patrick's day. Such day is usually reserved for the armatures...but did we have some fun! Poppy and I...oh and Jax-The-Cheese-Connesewer sat at our usual places at the end of the bar tucked back in the corner. I know, nobody puts Baby in the corner, but this is a great viewing area. We got there around 6:00 so things hadn't quite started yet. Bar snacks included Lucky Charms and green JellyBelly's. Can you name the original Lucky Charm's Marshmallows? We can. There was a nice young man at the bar. He had a fro that rivaled Bernie's on Room 222. Wow, the original Lucky Charms Marshmallows and Room 222...am I taking you back? By the way, Lucky Charms were invented in 1962. Tell your friends.

So anyway, the young buck sitting at the bar (Curtis-The-Best-Bartender-In-SF called him Tumbleweed or MoFro) as you would expect was quite the stoner dude and Jax-The-Cheese-Connesewer adored MoFro-Tumbleweed. I'm thinkig it was his calm-layed back energy. It was very cute. Anyhow, MoFro-Tumbleweed went outside and came back a while later smelling of skunk...hmmmm.

Meanwhile, I ask Curtis-The-Best-Bartender-In-SF if he's got his jug of oh-so-NOM Bloody Mary mix. He tells me he just made a fresh batch that morning. So I ask him if he can make me a half of one cause I don't want a whole one. He says "F__ck no!" I tell him he's mean. He ends up making me a big one and gave it to me on the house...and it was INFINITY NOM!



So back to the fun...MoFro-Tumbleweed starts talking to this nice girl and they end up doing a shot Jameson (I'm sure it normally would have been Jagermeister but it was St. Patrick's day after all). Since the gal had been sitting with a table full of PLU's (people like us...aka Lesbians) I'm thinking MoFro's chances of scoring were pretty slim, plus he's drunk, stoned and having trouble walking upright. I know this because I watch him walk to the bathroom and not quite make it inside the door, then lean over and well, I'll leave the rest to your imagination but it involved a mop and bucket a few minutes later. Did I mention they had Lucky Charms and green JellyBelly's as bar snacks. Did I also mention the fun was just getting started?

A word about Lesbians...we found out on Saturday while we were there at the Tee-Off that our dog definitely is one. She spent a good bit of time dry-humping the owner's dog, Olive and some other girl dog. The bar was in hysterics...All Curtis-The-Best-Bartender-In-SF could say was "Only in San Francisco."

Back to my story and here's where it gets really good! Poppy and I sat on our perches watching the St. Patrick's festivities go by when all of a sudden a what appeared to be a leprechaun in street clothes came in the bar. It's hard to see him in the picture because the leprechaun is a very elusive creature. Notice he's got a bright aura around him. I wonder if there is a pot-o-gold somewhere close by? I'm sure MoFro-Tumbleweed can see it in his current state of hallucinating, but we can't.



I say to Poppy...Like a black cat on Halloween, why in the world would a Little Person go out in public on St. Patrick's day...to a bar, no less, with a bunch of drunk people? You know at some point, some jerk (kind of like me) is gonna say something to Tiny O'Smallguy. But as it turned out Shorty O'Iweargranimals is a total regular. So I, or someone would have got their asses kicked if we'd made fun of Mini O'Littledude.

Guess I should say something about the dinner...On the menu was traditional corned beef and cabbage, shepherd's pie and beef stew. Poppy got the corned beef and I got the shepherd's pie...Jax-The-Cheese-Connesewer was making it her life's work to lick the pant leg and shoes of MoFro-Tumbleweed. Wonder why?? ;) The corned beef was medium O'NOM and the shepherd's pie was small O'NOM.

So there you go...a most NOM and enjoyable evening!

Sister Kathy, Nephew Lucas and I will heading up to Dad and Shirley's later today. I'll check in after I get back. So long for now!

Tuesday's Dinner

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!! Well, last night was night three of Jubilee Casserole leftovers...only this time, thanks to Netty-Mae, I had diced pancetta that I cooked up and served on the side along with some steamed broccoli and carrots. I'm over the Jubilee Casserole now.

Very excited about tonight...Poppy and I are heading to The Tee-Off for a corned beef and cabbage extravaganza! They're also going to have a potato bar. More on all that tomorrow...

“May the enemies of Ireland never eat bread nor drink whiskey, but be afflicted with itching without the benefit of scratching.”

Monday's Dinner

Lots of leftovers so it was Jubilee Casserole Phase II. You may recall a few posts back how excited we were about the house. We'll, we had a pre-inspection yesterday that revealed a little more that we're ready to take on. So, after a weekend off from house-hunting we'll be back at it. Well, Poppy will.

A few words about my Poppy...she really is my rock. She has worked so hard on this home buying project and has the patience of a saint for putting up with me, cause you know, I do not have the patience of a saint. If it were left to me, I'd just use all the money we've got saved up for traveling...or buy a closet full of shoes!

Sunday's Dinner

I'll get to that later...after we talk about lunch. I asked Poppy to buy me a tortilla press cause I like making my own whole wheat tortillas. So she bought me one and she also requested that I make her some corn tortillas. And that's what I did today. Way easy to make and the tortilla press is quite a simple invention...it's all about the leverage.

Actually, last weekend when I made my whole wheat tortillas I thought that maybe I could press my own, so I put the dough between two pieces of plastic and then between two cutting boards and sat on them. I guess I didn't have enough pounds-per-square-butt-inch to make them thin enough so I gave up and rolled them with the rolling pin.

Okay, back to the corn tortillas. To start with I put two cups of Mesca flour in a big bowl, then threw about 1/4 tablespoon of salt and 1 1/4 cup of water into the flour and mixed up with my hands until is was a moist dough-ball. Roll the dough into little balls with your hand and then put them through the tortilla press. I heated a cast iron skillet and cooked them for about 50 seconds on each side and there you have it...corn tortillas!



On one of those corn tortillas I put a little shredded sharp cheddar, green onions, cilantro and...YEAH, some Pancetta...cause everything tastes better with pork! I heated it until the cheese melted. Served it with a little side of plain Greek-style yogurt (I use that instead of sour cream) and salsa. Again, NOM!



Stay tuned for dinner...

So I'm a fan of Lundberg rice. I bought a six-pack of Jubilee Rice (a mix of different brown rices such as Wehani, Black Japonica, short and medium grain red rice, short and long grain brown rice and sweet brown rice). I ended up getting a recipe off of Lundberg's website for Jubilee Casserole. Pretty simple, rice, cheddar cheese, zuchini, tomatoes and sour cream all layered...but I added pancetta to it also! Served it with a spinach salad. Medium NOM...



See ya!

Saturday's Dinner

So Poppy and I decided to go on one of our urban adventures and set out to find a couple of nice grass-fed pieces of beef. Oh, and Jax-The-Cheese-Connesewer came with. After a pit-stop at the Presidio Golf Course for some light refreshments, we decided to head towards our new favorite watering hole, The Tee-Off and from there would find some beef. As luck would have it, Curtis was working at The Tee-Off...and you know what that means?? Yep, I get one of Curtis' Bloody Marys. It is so deliciously spicy, it takes a while to drink...so freakin NOM!!



After we left The Tee-Off, we headed over to a butcher shop on 25th Avenue, called AK meat. They also make sandwiches. We bought a couple of "natural" New York Strip Steaks. According to the USDA, natural beef is raised without hormones but is not necessarily grass-feed. I don't think it was grass-fed juding by the taste, but good all the same. We had it with that NOMMY-NOM-NOM Roquefort butter and steamed broccoli and carrots.



Have a great day!

Friday's Dinner

That's going to be a repeat of last night's dinner...so let's talk about lunch. I took the day off today. I just finished cleaning house. I was supposed to have a playdate this afternoon with my friend, Stacey and her Yorkie, Stilton. Yeah, Stilton is named after the cheese...another cheese-connesewer of a dog! Playdate was rained out. Anyhow, Stacey is having lunch with her brother so I asked if Stilton could come over for an indoor playdate. Here they are. Sorry about the alien eyeball shot. The high-tech camera I use for all these pics is my cell phone. I sent one of these weird dog shots to my friend, Jeannie. She calls them "Puppies of the Corn".

Back to lunch. Time to forage...I had some noodles leftover from the soup I made the other night. Also had some chopped green onions and some baby spinach. I heated up the pasta, then put it in a big bowl. Tore up the spinach, added the onions, some Kecky's herb salt, some danish blue cheese, some pepper and some garbanzo beans. Tossed it all in some really nice olive oil. WAY NOM!!

Thursday's Dinner

Not much going on really, so I made some chicken salad and we had it on crackers. But before that, I made a little appetizer. I blanched some green beans and then dry-fried them in a little olive oil and garlic. Just before they were done, I added a little sesame oil, hot chili oil and Wasabiyaki. Wasabiyaki is a sauce/marinade made by the company, Soy-Vay. Very NOM-Tasty!!

Wednesday's Dinner

Well I finally got around to using the chicken broth I made on Sunday. I made a miso chicken soup with tofu, thinly sliced onion, chayote squash, bamboo shoots and chopped oyster mushrooms. For starters I heat the broth, then I take a teaball and fill it with about two tablespoons of ground black pepper. I take the teaball and swirl it around in the hot broth for about a minute tasting it as I go along. I like it peppery but not so hot that it makes your eyelids sweat. Once I get it to the flavor I want, I add the onion and chayote and bring it to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes. Throw in the rest of the ingredients and simmer another 10 minutes. I used about 1/2 cup of miso paste mixed with a little of the broth so it gets a little liquidy. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the miso. In the bowls I put cooked Udon noodles, shredded chicken, finely diced green onions, baby spinach leaves and a little chopped cilantro. I also have condiments such as soy sauce, Sriracha sauce and Nanami Togarashi (Japanese chili pepper seasoning). Yep, NOM! Sorry but the picture doesn't do it justice...I forgot to take it until we were almost done.

Tuesday's Dinner

Lots to talk about...Last night we went to see what could be the new Kasa Kecky. As most of you know, we've been looking to buy a house. This has pretty much become our life's work. I think we've been looking since last September, but it feels like a lifetime. I can't even remember what we used to do with our Sundays before there was house-hunting. Anyway, we found this place out on 47th Avenue and Balboa that we both fell in serious like. It needs some work but it's got lots of funky charm.





So after looking at what could be our future restoration project, we went to the Tee-Off for a pre-dinner confab and cocktail to talk about the future Kasa Kecky. We're both pretty excited about this place. Now all we need is a pre-inspection to see how much of a money pit it'll be.

From there we went to a Burmese/Thai restaurant called Pagan (pronounced "Bagan"). This was our first time at this place and it was NOMMY-NOM-NOM! We usually to to Burma Superstar or Mandalay Bay for our Burmese fix, but this may be our new place. We had the Tom Kha, Tea Leaf Salad, Pumpkin Pork Stew and Spicy Eggplant with Dried Shrimp.

NOM...


More NOM...



So wish us luck...and if we happen to buy this place, we'll be tapping some or all of you for your home-owning expertise...which translates to we'll be asking you to help us. But, if I have a working oven, you know I'll make it worth your while...

Enjoy your day

Monday's Dinner

Don'tcha know that it's going to be Taco Night once again. So, let's talk about Monday's lunch then. I woke up with a screaming sinus headache and general malaise over our house-hunting expedition (aka, our second job) so I stayed home from work. I'm pretty sure Jax-The-Cheese-Connesewer would love it if I was a stay at home mom. Already today, she has hoovered up small pieces of chicken (okay, a really big one too) and whole wheat tortilla crumbs and a few crumbs of Feta. That should give you a hint as to what I had for lunch. It all starts on Sunday because my goal was to make my whole wheat tortillas and some chicken stock. I like to have the tortillas for my breakfasts during the week. I'll usually put some of my favorites on them like cottage cheese and chives or even some peanut butter. I know, I know it sounds disgusting but it is really nutritious and not processed and damn it, I like it! For those of you who don't know me, EVERYTHING tastes better with cottage cheese on it! Onto the chicken stock. I boil a chicken, take the meat off the bone and make stock. This would be the base for Tuesday's dinner, chicken miso soup. After I boil the chicken for an hour, I remove the meat and skin. Then I take the bones and crack them so the marrow will release. The bones go into a roasting pan on a bed of Mirepoix. Roast for about 45 minutes until the bones start to brown and release their juices. Then I take all that NOMNESS and put it in the pot with the water that I used to boil the chicken. I deglaze the roasting pan with a either a little chicken stock, Fino Sherry or dry white wine and throw that in the pot too. Cover and boil for an hour. I strain it and put it back in the pot and cook it down uncovered for about 20 minutes just to reduce it and get it concentrated...and viola, Liquid Gold!


Back to today's lunch...I took a couple of my whole wheat tortillas and heated them up, put a little chicken, salt, fresh spinach, onion, Feta and Chipotle Tabasco sauce and called it lunch. Tad dry, but still NOM NOM! You can probably see how "rustic" looking those tortillas are. I roll them by hand so they are very less than perfect but I'm happy to report Poppy has purchased a tortilla press for me! I should get it tomorrow and I'm very excited. It's not that I don't like the "rustic-ness" of my tortillas, it just takes a long time to roll them out. I'm old...I have arthritis in my hands so might as well make it easy on myself, eh? That's all for today. Chow for now!

Sunday's Dinner

Since taco night only comes once every few months, we have it more than one night. So last night's dinner was a repeat of Saturday's. Besides, after a few hours of house-hunting and hanging out at the Tee-Off, who wants to cook? The Tee-Off is a local bar next to Lincoln Park Golf Course. It's one of the few dog-friendly bars in the City. They also serve food that is supposed to be fantastic, but your timing has to be right. If you get there between lunch and dinner you're SOL. Poppy and I have tried to get some food there a couple of times but just can't seem to get our timing right. They have a Mac-n-Cheese with Pancetta on the menu that we've been dieing to try. So instead, I had one of Curtis' evidently famous Bloody Mary's. This was by far the best Bloody I've ever had! Just writing this is making my mouth water. I don't know his recipe and I'm sure he wouldn't give it to me anyway. If you like the Bloody, you definitely need to check it out. Sister Kathy, this Bloody is way better than the one in Genoa or the Bucket of Bloody at Stateline in Tahoe!!

Bye bye!

Saturday's Dinner

The ultimate NOM NOM NOMMY and one of Poppy's favorites...TACO NIGHT!!! Just like Mom/Jean used to make. Because Poppy and I are trying to eat more sustainably, I ground my own burger meat from a nice chuck roast so at least we knew that it came from one cow and not a bunch of different cows and all their parts and pieces. You may also notice my Chihuahua taco holder. Poppy bought these for me long before we were blessed with Jax-The-Cheese-Connesewer. I'd been whining for a purse Chihuahua so the taco holders were as close as she could get! Enjoy your Sunday!

Friday's Dinner

Hmmm, the evening is a little foggy but the Donner-Mae's, as always, had a blast! We had a smattering of Donner-Mae's throughout the evening starting out at Liverpool Lil's. The party started with me, Becky-Mae and Jeanette-Mae. Amy-Mae, II showed followed by Jody-Mae and shortly after that, Allison-Mae and Amy-Mae arrived. JJ-Mae had some trouble getting there because one of the riders on her MUNI bus decided he needed to go wee wee right there on the bus. Yeah, I know...only in San Francisco.

Unfortunately, Renee-Mae was unable to attend, so we made fun of her all night.

Oh, and a word or two about Amy-Mae, II...She's the newest member of the Donner Party and evidently doesn't quite understand the rules of being a member...she invited her husband, Sam-Mae or John-Dean-Mae or whatever his real name is. I'm pretty sure he's in the witness protection program. And as a typical selfish guy...Simca-Sean-John-Whateverhisnameis-Mae orders himself an appetizer knowing full well all the Donner's were starving...that kind of goes without saying, don't you think? Whatever.

So after much dinner reservation changing due to Jeanette-Mae's weakened constitution, it was time to leave Lil's and walk over to the Presidio Social Club for dinner. JJ-Mae was unable to join us for dinner so we left her there to starve with Sam-John-Darwood-Whateverhisnameis-Mae (cause you know he wasn't going to share any of that appetizer with poor emaciated JJ-Mae). We also left Jody-Mae at her car so she could go see some Lesbian twin Ren & Stimpy show. Don't ask because I don't remember that part.

Once seated at the table right off the bat we ordered two bottles of Malbec and then ordered our dinner. Jeanette-Mae and I had the fried chicken with white country gravy. I thought it was okay, but the gravy didn't even resemble country gravy. More like pan drippings with corn starch.



Not sure what everyone else had. I think Becky-Mae had the pork as did Amy-Mae, II. Amy-Mae had the meatloaf with the fried shallots and mashed potatoes. Those shallots were NOM! Can't remember what Allison had.

So, after another bottle of that Malbec, some banana cream pie, butterscotch pudding and mini chocolate cupcakes, it was time for the Donner-Mae's to all go home. A very fun and mostly NOM evening was had...even if Amy-Mae, II tried to ruin it by inviting Sandy-Darin-John-Whateverhisnameis-Mae!

The End.

Thursday's Dinner

Alrighty then...what do you do with potatoes, onions, bacon (bacon, bacon, bacon bacon!), cheese, Swiss chard and a 28oz can of tomatoes? Uh huh...you make potato lasagna (or as Dad likes to call it, labanya...damn foreign food!). Poppy called it Kitchen Sink Labanya. On a scale of 1 to 5 NOMS, I'd give it a 2.5. Tasty and we had seconds, but not something I'd make for company.



As you know from yesterday's dinner, the cupboards were getting bare so this about does it. Wonder what I can do with a can of tuna, kidney beans and garbanzo beans? Ha! Tonight the Donner's Do Dinner. As you recall, last week we had our Donner Prep Pizza Party to plan for this weekend's expedition to Clear Lake. Unfortunately, we've had some trouble getting all the Donner-Mae's together in one place so we've opted for dinner at the Presidio Social Club tonight and a later camping date in the spring. Stay tuned...

Wednesday's Dinner

Unfortunately, the food fairy hasn't made a drop since last week so I'm just about out of anything green or healthy. I managed to put together a simple salad from all the stuff I'd bought for last Saturday's dinner and a few items that were leftover from Donner Does Pizza. One of the staples we keep at Kasa Kecky is frozen wild Sockeye Salmon that we get from Costco. So that's what we served with the salad. Since we decided to go with a Japanese theme, I made a dressing of seasoned rice vinegar, sesame oil and pepper. Poppy dusted the salmon filets with some Furikake and then pan cooked those bad boys. What is Furikake you might ask? Well, let me tell you...It's a Japanese seasoning made with dried ingredients such as seaweed, sesame seeds, sugar and salt. NOMMY-NOM-NOM!!

Tuesday's Dinner

In a word...NOM!!! Went to Sister Kathy's to celebrate Brother-In-Law, Darryll's birthday. Sister Kathy made Grandma's to-die-for chicken and dumpling recipe. Sister Kathy makes two comfort meals that are my favorites. The chicken and dumplings is one and the other is her lasagne. Unfortunately, I was enjoying dinner so much that I forgot to take a picture of it. Chow for now!

Monday's Dinner

Yep, you guessed it...still working on the leftovers from Saturday night. So, to go along with those mashed potatoes and gravy, I breaded a couple of boneless pork chops (yeah, those were the pork chops we were going to have on Sunday but I never got around to making them) in Italian-style panko that had a wee bit of grated Parmesan and fresh chopped parsley mixed in. I ran the chops through an egg/milk mixture and then dredged them through the panko. Put some oil in my favorite cast iron pan and sauteed a couple of chopped cloves of garlic. When the garlic was a little brown I removed it from the pan and left the oil. Browned those chops in the oil and put them in the oven at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes. Served them with the mashed and some steamed broccoli. I can see that I need a few more tries with this dish. On the one chop, most of the breading was left in the pan. Poppy said she liked it and would definitely eat it again, but commented on the gravy that I made Saturday...she didn't like the touch of Marsala I put in it. I agreed so that won't be happening again.