There’s a particular Mexican restaurant near my vet’s office that makes, among other things, plain simmered pinto beans that I have occasionally dreamed of over this past year. They’re doing takeout only and they’re far enough away from me that up until today, I took a pass.
But today, since the little dog needed a glucose test, I went ahead and ordered their street tacos with carne asada, cilantro and onions, and a big helping of those pinto beans. Splashed out and even brought home some guacamole to go with the warm corn tortilla chips and spicy salsa.
My goodness, something I didn’t cook myself! It feels celebratory and special! Here’s to 2021.
Italian-esque baked in cubed tomato and basil sauce chicken thighs topped with mozzarella and fresh basil. I’m giving the fresh basil a shout out because that really made the dish. Served with Linguini Aglio E Olio.
I like how you think! I was just pondering what my birthday meal would be since it’s next month and I figured we still won’t be able to go to a restaurant by then … I may throw a bit of cake in there to go with the ice cream.
Tonight was scallops Florentine and sauteed snap peas, with the last of the bauernbrot I got for Christmas. and later.
Prime rib sandwich (prime rib, lettuce, and mayonnaise on low-carb bread), dill pickle spear, smoked almonds, Tillamook medium cheddar cheese, and Santorini Sunrises (like a tequila sunrise, only with ouzo instead of tequila).
Leftovers for dinner. I made butterscotch pudding for late dessert. It wanted whiskey, but I didn’t have any. I used half dark muscovado sugar for the brown sugar portion, and extra egg yolks. Yum.
As of right now, the plan is to break in the nifty rice steamer received for Xmas (don’t laugh, rice is my kryptonite- I have never successfully made it) with a scrummy bowl of General Tso’s chicken.
Shredded beef crispy tacos with guacamole. The chuck roast is slow-cooking right now seasoned with chile, cumin, oregano and garlic and the house smells awesome.
I haven’t been shopping since before Christmas, and I’m running out of a lot of quick prepared foods. But I have some frozen homemade pasta sauce with meatballs (as good, or better, than the specialty pasta sauce that I get from an upscale Italian grocery), which I thawed yesterday. And still-fresh cremini mushrooms that I had forgotten about. And lots of spaghettini and parmesan cheese.
So tonight will be spaghettini with homemade pasta sauce and meatballs, cremini mushrooms sauteed in Provençal garlic butter, sprinkled with lots of ground parmesan. And of course a few vats of cab sauv.
Trader Joe’s frozen (cooked) shepherd’s pie, some fruit, and coleslaw.
The coleslaw was from a new recipe, as my daughter is trying to eat “cleaner”. The dressing was only a little olive oil (I would use avocado oil next time), white vinegar, maple syrup, and salt. I liked it better than the more elaborate stuff I’d been making.
Sounds lovely – like something my mother would have made!
The use of garlic here is new to me, but it sounds perfectly appropriate and maybe something I’ll try next time. Frying in butter with onions is of course de rigueur! And in this house, “topped with a bit of sour cream” would be replaced by “a lot of sour cream on the side”.
How was yours? Mine was deliciousness. We have taken to making an aluminum pouch of hardwood (apple for pork) to throw on the grill just before we put the chops on. Just about any pork chop is good, but the flavor added by even that short smoke makes it worth making the backyard all hazy.
Mmmm, the onions and marmalade-garlic concoction sounds good. We usually just dress the chops with salt and pepper, but the apples mentioned earlier are meant to be eaten both alone and with bites of the chop, so they kind of serve the same function.
Yummy, thanks. Pan-seared after cooking the onion, then bubbled the marinade (which was just some of the garlic-orange mix spooned into a bit of pineapple juice) with the rest of that mix.
I was throwing together what was in the pantry and cooking by feel. Love doing it that way!
and 
later.
