It’s such a quick and easy one too… ! THANKS to all for the warm welcome into this fun thread 
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Yeah, I wasn’t thrilled with the ones I used…probably lamb shoulder would have worked better.
Cool!
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Cookbook of the Month / Quarter nominations are underway.
Join in if you’d like to cook along together next quarter.
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Last night I did a review of the week on one plate in the microwave. Yummy. Corns fritters, fried haddock and hamburg stroganov on curly noodles. Gone but not forgotten cheeseburger on the grill and two chicken dinner on the grill. One was a commercial marinated chicken breast that fell off a truck and it was excellent. I made a vat of chicken salad with the leftovers for my dinner and Hawaain roll sandwiches for coffee hour at church. Tonight Im making a small version of https://www.simplylakita.com/hibachi-vegetables/ for dinner. No plans yet for the rest of the week.
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Greetings, People.
A good time was had last week when my sister and I made a border crossing and spent two days in Victoria BC. On the agenda were high tea, an overnight stay at the Empress, and a visit to Butchart Gardens which – in June – are in full, fantastic bloom. Among the many varieties of floral displays, my favorite were the roses and the fuchsias. Just fabulous.
Back home it’s back to picking strawberries and peas, and cooking for two adults in the PNW:
FRI: NYT’s original nachos (gift link). My favorite version. Will use both pickled scallions and pickled onions. Guac and refries on the side.
SAT: Steak on the grill. Salad with chimichurri dressing. This was rolled from last week when a just-picked-snow-pea-stir-fry took its slot.
SUN: More nachos. 
MON: WNBA game night. Dinner will be popcorn or pizza, or some other mediocre-yet-deliciously-salty-non-nutritional-fare at the arena.
TUE: Old-school tacos to clean up whatever Tex Mex leftovers are around.
WED: Lamb kebabs on the grill. Chopped salad. Raita. If I’m feeling ambitious there will be pita wraps, and if I’m not – then couscous.
THUR: A repeat of Wednesday.
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I loved Burchart Gardens. It’s been around 22 years since my visit.
.
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Fun fact: LLD worked immigration (CA side) at 3 different border crossings near you when he was in college.
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My friend worked at Customs/ Passport Control at the Calgary Airport while she was in law school. The stories she could tell. She had to be present for a lot of the strip searches. Despite a criminology undergrad, she ultimately decided to become a Oil and Gas lawyer instead. She practises Oil and Gas law in Scotland now. I suspect working in Customs for 3 years might have influenced that decision. LOL
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Too funny. Maybe we met!
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We’ve been several times in the last few years. Always something different, depending on the season. After this last-go-around, I’m looking forward to dragging DH back next June to see the roses (he’s recently started growing them).
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I am now in the throes of planning a two week staycation. Only three hours until it starts! It gets so busy in Ottawa during the summer I think I will need several months of vacations to do everything on my list, but since I am still working, I will have to pick which activities I would like to do the most. Also, I will in fact be planning meals to eat while I am off since I get a CSA during the summer months so I have veggies to eat up. I had to rearrange my menu slightly last week since I got some arugula in my share last Thursday that wouldn’t have lasted as long as I hoped so instead of using it in a salad on Sunday night, I made a pesto sauce with it on Saturday so I had fettucine al pesto. I had also planned a chilled soba noodle salad and realized at dinner time that I was missing some key ingredients so I had udon noodles with a peanut sauce and cucumbers instead so I will be carrying over a couple of meals to this week. Onto my menu for this week:
Today: I had my last take out lunch of the month. I bought a chicken pasta dish from the deli down the street (notice the pasta theme 
) so I will have a Greek salad for dinner. And Coronation Street (British soap) is finally back in its usual prime time slot! It gets bumped during hockey playoffs, which last a million years long, so I have to wait forever for it to come back at its regular time. (Can you tell I don’t like hockey? )
Saturday: First day of staycation so I will clean out my fridge and freezer, mostly because it needs it, and also because I would like to make a trip to Costco at some point while I’m off. I will also do laundry and whatever other chores that need doing so I can truly enjoy my two weeks off. I have cooked soba noodles in the fridge that I made for last week’s dinner so I will use them for a salmon and soba noodle salad for dinner tonight.
Sunday: I will be doing a volunteer shift at the Ottawa Art Gallery. They have a special exhibition of artworks by an Inuk artist so on Sunday they have day long activities to tie in with the exhibition. There will be a story telling in the morning as well as craft time and a lecture in the afternoon. I will be greeting people as they arrive and direct them to the appropriate sections of the gallery. I forgot to ask if a lunch will be provided since I will be volunteering from 10:00 to 3:00 so I will take a little money with me in case I have to buy lunch in the café. I plan on making a spinach pilaf for dinner.
Monday: I am hoping to visit a museum depending on which ones are open. (The smaller museums in Ottawa are closed on Mondays.) I will have a pasta with spinach and white beans for dinner.
Tuesday: One church downtown has noon hour organ recitals then a soup lunch after so, since I have the day off, I think I will take it in. I don’t have a dinner planned so I will play things by ear.
Wednesday: Off to Chinatown to replenish my Asian pantry items. I plan on having a chicken and asparagus stirfry again.
Thursday: I am planning a late afternoon visit to the Museum of Nature since I can get a discount on the special exhibition fees if I go after 5:00. I will have a pasta arrabiata for dinner with a salad on the side. I will make the sauce in the morning so I can throw dinner together quickly when I get home.
I also signed up for two more art classes to begin in July after my vacation ends. I will be taking another sketching class well as a portrait class. It’s nice to have activities to look forward to.
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Hi, all! Cooking for 2 in Chattanooga, where the heat will not keep me out of the kitchen
Breakfast: Cardamom buns
Saturday, June 21: Steak dinner to make up for a mediocre steakhouse restaurant experience this week: ribeye, Lyonnaise potatoes, creamed spinach
Sunday: Stir-fried vegetables with chili-tamarind sauce, rice, brownies
Monday: scrounge
Tuesday: Corn soup and maybe rosemary focaccia from Sundays at Moosewood
Wednesday: TBD
Thursday: Grilled shrimp, rice
Friday: TBD, possibly chili despite the heat
Hope everyone stays cool; happy cooking!
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Enjoy the two weeks off!
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Thank you!
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Sounds like you have lots of fun stuff planned, too!
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Definitely! There’s always tons of stuff to do in Ottawa during the summer,
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Planning and anticipation of vacation is almost as much fun as the vacation itself — enjoy your time off!
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Thank you I really am looking forward to my time off. Ottawa was dead when I moved here in 1988. The only museums we had in town were the National Gallery of Canada and the Nature Museum. We now have three or four new municipal art galleries just in the downtown core alone as well as three or four national museums which have opened since I moved here. And there are a TON of festivals on during the summer whereas there were none when I first moved here. I will never get bored here.
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Some cities really do summer right!
Enjoy!
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