This sounds so delicious!
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I was wondering about that dumpling and tomato salad - thanks for the endorsement!
And happy anniversary! Have a wonderful trip – look forward to hearing about what you ate and where you went !
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One night we’ll go to Balthazar, just because we went there after we got our license, just the two of us, so I felt like that was our own, private celebration. (We got married in NYC.)
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Love that private memory 
What?! That’s lovely – were you living there at the time?
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No, but I visited a lot and love it. So LLD suggested we get married there! I’d wanted to elope, and he couldn’t get his head around that, so this was a compromise.
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Sounds like a wonderful compromise for your wedding, and I hope you have fantastic trip!
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Interesting! I’ve always cooked mine to the pull-able stage. Yours looks good, too! And 100% on the scallion sauce.
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How old is yours?
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He’ll be 13 next month… such an interesting age!
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Me three on cooking this one to the pullable stage. Also another thumbs up on the scallion sauce. I love this dish, and keep intending to make it again “soon”.
It’s pretty amazing! I over salted a bit which is probably a good thing as it slows me down a bit. It used up a lot of CSA green stuff which I wasn’t sure how to use with our week’s plan
I loosely followed this recipe: https://www.budgetbytes.com/scallion-herb-cream-cheese-spread/
Green garlic- 3 stalks I think, half a bunch of scallions, a bunch of basil, some dill, a bit of thyme buzzed up in the food processor. the cream cheese and the juice and zest of a lemon plus S&P. Should have used more lemon juice and less salt but that was me trying to get this done during showers/bedtime so i wouldn’t be running the processor after the girls’ bed time.
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You know, I never even thought about that!
I’m not a huge fan of pulled pork / chicken (find it stringy rather than tender that way, or maybe it was when I’ve eaten it and shouldn’t have been).
I guess it’s like the difference between Chinese ribs that keep a definite chew vs fall-of-the bone ribs (though I do like the latter a lot more than pulled pork).
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My sister came to visit my nearby MIL for a week and a half because my MIL is recently widowed (sister and MIL became friends way back at my wedding to my wife). Because my sister didn’t want to feel like she was making my MIL work, she voluntold me to make the dinners while she visited. (This is not as bossy as it sounds as she already knew we’d been inviting MIL over every night for dinner because she’s not felt much like cooking). Sister is GF for some 15 years now but eats everything else so she’s an easy guest to me, considering my GF/veggie/no-dairy now college-aged daughter for whom I’ve been cooking for for years.
Number of diners was either 5 or 6, depending on whether my newly graduated and just started working daughter came down. Her new job is less than 2 hours away so she was here Sun night and plans to be back this coming Fri-Sat at least.
Here’s the plan (we’re almost half-way through at this point).
- Sun – Baby Back Ribs, Roasted Veg (broc/mush/caul/Brussels) & Small Taters
- Mon – Pizza, Green Salad (for Sis, using KA’s GF Pizza Flour - it’s really good if you haven’t tried it but a bit tricky to get it to turn out right. And Charlie (Chain Baker) biga pizza dough for the rest of us which is also stupendously great). Sautéed mushrooms and onions, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, mozz and sloppy mozz (fresh/wet), pepperoni, pesto islands, anchovy toppings. White and red sauces.
- Tue – Gyros! Gyros! Gyros! (home-made everything from meat to tzatziki sauce (well… I didn’t ferment the yogurt this time…) and homemade pita bread loaves, with Sister’s pitas being from KA’s GF Bread Flour, which turns out well as long as you mind the admonition on the package to increase the hydration level a bit more than you’d normally think).
- Wed – Bible Study Group, Dinner at group’s choice which turned out to be standard Americana fare (we both had the NY Strip Steak Iceberg wedge salad)
- Thu – Mediterranean Style Yogurt/Herbed Marinated Pork & Veggie Skewers.
- Fri – Chicken Dum Biryani (Basmati rice, chicken, veggies dish).
- Sat - “BBQ” Shrimp plus rice & random veg (some explanation - a neighbor gave me some “River Road New Orleans Style BBQ Shrimp” bake packets. It’s not really barbecue but he swears it’s killer good so I’m going to give it a whirl).
- Sun - Tacos with (separately) Shredded Chicken & Shrimp as proteins, plus usual fixings.
- Mon - Chicken Wings both herbed (Mrs. Dash & salt) and ~ Buffalo style, with a Cuke/Tom/Cottage cheese Salad, Green Salad, and of course celery and lots of blue cheese/dressing.
- Tues - Lunch before running her back to airport will be roasted tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches.
Wednesday, I start getting fat on any leftovers I wasn’t able to foist off on my MIL and Sister during the period above.
P.S. I should add that I almost never plan more than one day in advance, and actually most often don’t decide what dinner will be until 3 p.m. or later, then run out to the store and get the necessaries. The few exceptions being a long-ferment dough like biga pizza dough, or a longer required marinating time like the yogurt marinade for the pork skewers mentioned above. Where I stretch myself to decide a day in advance.
But the few times I do need to plan in advance, this board is a huge resource.
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Greetings, People.
A last push in the freezer cleanout of proteins, leftovers, flat breads, and the tail end of last year’s produce. I’m really happy with the progress made during the first 6 months of the year, but could still use any more freezer space I can manage.
I put up close to 25 lbs. of frozen strawberries over the last two weeks, and it’s looking like an equally good year for blueberries. There will be cherries soon, and down the road thorn berries. Add to that a year’s supply of green beans, peas, roasted tomatoes, and squash. We’ve booked a fishing charter for early August – our first since the pandemic! With any luck, we’ll be bringing home some salmon or halibut for the freezer, as well.
I hope I haven’t jinxed myself by mentioning the fishing trip. 
Cooking for two adults in the summary PNW:
FRI: Pot stickers. Asian inspired chicken wings. Scallion pancakes. Green beans. Rice.
SAT: Leftover lamb kofta meatballs. Flatbread. Hummus. Greek salad.
SUN: Fresh sockeye salmon. Refried scallion potatoes. Carrot salad.
MON: Leftover carnitas. Refried beans. Corn tortilla. Roasted squash.
TUE: Sopa de fideo to include leftover scallion chicken in tomato-onion broth. Homemade tortilla (50/50 or Sonoran-style TBD). Veg TBD.
WED: Leftover ispanak with yogurt sauce. Green beans. Pita
THUR: Tri-tip on the grill. Creamed spinach. Carrot salad.
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Jealous of your produce, and inspired by your freezer clean out. I’m trying (much more slowly than you are) to try to whittle down my freezer too.
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Congrats on the freezer clearing success AND the 2023 new-produce freezing, so far! I have managed to refill my freezer after Jan-April successes so I’m back in use-it-up mode. At least now most of the items in there are less than 6 months old.
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Victory!
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I know you’re probably just kidding. It was helpful for me to learn that this is called magical thinking - OCD or not (in my case) . 
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I was kidding, but it was an interesting read. Thanks for the link!
Actuals for the last week of June, cooking for 2 in MN. Where you know you over-did re-planting flowerpots in the heat when you can’t decide what to order for Chinese takeout and just cook instead; Saturday dinner actually was pretty tasty despite being a throw-together.
Mon: chicken beside corn cut from cob/zucchini/tomato galette
Tues: Philly cheesesteak sandwiches – beef lunchmeat, mushrooms, peppers, onions on small baguette. Spinach. Red grapes
Wed: Galette (reheated), chicken nuggets with orange sauce, spinach, carrot apple salad, Dessert – freshly baked Carrot Apple Lunchbox cake. Dinner - Baked Savory Bundt, served with rotisserie chicken, shredded carrot/apple/craisin salad (Baking writeups and photos are on June baking discussion)
Thurs : me -lunch OUT and late-afternoon cupcake after shopping, with a friend, so snack before bedtime. He - leftovers for both lunch and dinner.
Fri: Brown rice/rotel casserole (from freezer) & chicken in tortillas with salsa & avocado. Dessert - Carrot cake
Sat: Honey lemon shrimp & walnuts over cheese tortellini. (commercial) Spinach souffle. Ice cream and oatmeal cookie…
Sun: (today) Lunch - Walleye, sandwich with coleslaw, tomato. Dinner -Zucchini/farro/halloumi/apricots skillet. Kiwi.
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