Last night’s dinner was hamburger casserole served over spaghetti.
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After a satisfying brunch at a local diner we drove over to the festivities around 3pm. The reunion took place in one of the cousins’ backyards, who’d set up a large army tent, many tables, and numerous coolers with libations. There were at least 40 people who all knew each other, and we eventually ended up in a large circle listening to countless stories about my PIC’s uncles’ shenanigans from way back when, mostly told by the remaining uncle, who is my PIC’s last living connection to his mom, my late MIL who unfortunately passed before I could meet her.
As for the food, a huge buffet was set up in the tent that included excellent, homemade juicy pork sausages & burgers, Utica tomato pie,
very good pulled pork,
baked beans & German potato salad,
and a LOT of pasta variations — it’s upstate NY after all 
that included the chicken riggies our SIL brought:
rigatoni with chicken, green peppers & hot peppers in a creamy, spicy tomato sauce. This version from one of the top purveyors in the area wasn’t spicy, it hadn’t really been properly warmed up, and the pasta was overcooked. Sounds to me like one of those pasta dishes I’m sure we’ve all thrown together from random pantry & fridge items, so how this has become a ‘thing’ was kinda lost on me…… but maybe I can come up with my own 'hyper-local’ pasta for our hometown 
We stuck around long enough for a bonfire & a small set of fireworks, then joined our BIL & SIL who’d left early to be with their baby-I-mean-dog 
, and where we ate the other hyperlocal dish my PIC and I’d picked up at a local pizza parlor: Utica greens. Two large servings of sautéed escarole with TPSTOG, hot cherry peppers, pecorino, breadcrumbs, prosciutto.
This was very good, but I’d probably not cook the shit out of the greens myself & try for a lighter dish. Lobster tails my PIC and I’d picked up at the diner for a late night dessert.
It was a good weekend & wonderful to meet / see all those folks again 
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Would love to hear it! 
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Those tomatoes look wonderful!
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(post deleted by author)
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Ribs and wing combo from Casa Pedro( my crib)
Ribs, half a rack, were leftover from yesterday’s family outing to a local-ish RibFest, wings and fries from the freezer. Gravy on the fries of course.
Ribs were good, not too saucy or sweet but nothing mind blowing
. The park were it was held was lovely and well maintained and we even saw a pair of swans in the pond 
too bad the parking was a bit of a clusterfuk, which is usually the case with these events.Top photo is from the fest., full rack.
Had to delete my first post due to a technical glitch.
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Pork sausage squozen from its casing, broccoli florets, and mini penne with pork liquid ( what cooked off from making pork ribs…could use pork stock), and pasta water, using some crumbled goat cheese to help thicken the sauce. Dried oregano, parsley, and Aleppo pepper added, with chopped green onion and a sprinkle of grated Parm-Reg on top.
Wine.
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Wine is fine.
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This rivals the NJ spreads!
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Where would we be without our volunteer fire departments and SARs?
I gathered a greater appreciation of their fundraising after reading ‘Population 485:’ byMichael Perry.
Your pizza journey is so inspiring!
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Simples after a long drive I took no part in bc I couldn’t
Wings from the local delivery / pickup joint for which I ‘made’ extra hot buff’lo sauce & poured Frank’s Nashville sauce in the other bowl.
Celery with a blue cheese dip my dude whipped up.
Nice to be back home.
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Tonight’s dinner was a salade nicoise. The tuna I used was a tiny can of Clover Leaf lemon pepper tuna.
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Halibut cakes, from Friday’s Keralan curried Halibut, with green onion added, and some egg and bread to bind,
Salmon cakes with dill, basil, celery and green onion, made from Thursday’s salmon
Tomato baked with Mexican cheese blend (pre-grated, from the grocery store up here in Ontario)
Tomatoes with olive oil and basil
Samosa from the farmers’ market
T bone with Joe Beef Butcher’s Blend
I’m curious.
How long would you say a cherry pie good to eat? 4 days? A week? When would you throw it out? I have a personal sized cherry tart that’s a week old, wondering if I should throw it out. (I’m throwing it out because I have a fresh sour cherry custard tart)
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Some NYCers I know think anything north of 125th street is upstate!
I think mine is not the most common definition. In my mind if you drive along the NY Thruway/87 north from NYC and continue when it turns west at Albany, changing to 90, you are fast leaving upstate and moving to western NY (I lived off the exit after the Northway). I find it somewhat annoying that the whole state is “defined” by a relationship to NYC.
Where abouts in Rochester did you live? I have family in the area and The Sprout went to RIT.
Italian sausage and mushroom risotto, parm reg and parsley. Little gem wedgie salad, from the garden my first three ripe Sun Sugars and snap peas, green onion, peppercorn ranch dressing. Wine.
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Alaskan halibut on Yukon Gold potato rafts. A lemony green sauce with tarragon and chive. Cabbage slaw in vinaigrette.
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I had leftover broth from my take-out kimchi ramen lunch of last week - it’s pork based but spicy from the kimchi that sat in it, and absolutely delicious. I heated it up, boiled A-sha Meteor noodz (used half the noodles and saved the packet of flavoring), added soft tofu, a hard boiled egg, cilantro, scallions, and furikake. Very satisfying, and I have leftovers for bfast. The BF made himself a ground pork stir-fry that was very tasty but again wouldn’t let me take a pic!
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for me, if the tart doesn’t smell bad or isn’t molding, i’d eat it. It will probably just be a bit mushy. We are kind of fanatical about eating things that may be past their prime date so as not to waste, so maybe we’ve built up a tolerance…
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