Merry day after! We enjoyed cinnamon rolls for breakfast yesterday, then went out for a long walk to enjoy the strangely mild weather. Sriracha apricot meatballs and olive cheddar balls for afternoon snacks, followed by dinner! I ended up swapping some mains around this week so we had ribeyes instead of ribs with our potato gratin last night, plus sauteed sherried mushrooms and a salad. Fabulous bottle of red, too - a Spanish blend of Garnacha, Syrah and a grape I hadn’t heard of, called Mazuelo. A very nice meal indeed. Today was shopping and leftovers in preparation for a trip to see family over NYE.
5 Likes
Wow! That is so sweet of you!
Dinner Christmas Day was a Beef short rib Tagine over couscous. Turned out very nice.
Tonight, I went ghetto on the left over prime rib from Christmas Eve. I shaved some thinly and turned it into the tastiest, most expensive quesadillas. Delish though!
9 Likes
Sat out the holidays this year for a variety of reasons … although I know it doesn’t work I continue to fill the hole in my soul with comfort food … DH has been rather happy about this
The oven was not turned on at all this weekend.
I wasn’t planning on cooking but we had to eat. Christmas eve I roasted dark chicken quarters in the breville smart oven, a few Yukon golds were thrown in for good measure . The chicken was given an extremely heavy handed application of a very spicy dry rub of garlic, onion, oregano powder, paprika, smoked paprika, cayenne, salt, a grind of every kind of pepper corn I have in the house plus some raw sugar. While the chicken rested I quickly roasted carrots, celery, onion, garlic cloves in the pan drippings I added a little more chicken fat that I had removed from the chicken before roasting it was cut into thin strips and rendered some additional goodness. When the vegetables were roasted and removed from the pan, some toasted bread was dropped in and dragged to soak up all of the brown bits and every last drop of intensely flavored goodness from the bottom of the pan … and it was good if I say so my self … win win win warmed my soul … at least temporarily and was the best meal of the weekend.
Saturday was Chinese … the Christmas day food of my people. Dan dan noodles, ribs, pea shoots … s&p pork chops for him, crispy sea bass for me. The fish itself was good but the sauce of which there was way too much was way too sweet and way too gloppy. The fish head came home with me so I could eat it in peace and not horrify the majority of my fellow diners. Oddly there is a separate room where most of the Asian customers are seated 
Sunday morning was a toasted everything bagel with 2 over easy layered with lightly smoked and warmed ham and a bit of a very good grass fed Australian cheddar. I made DH an egg mcmuffin with everything previously mentioned but switched out the cheddar with American, he took it with him to eat while we ran a few errands 
Sunday night (tonight) Mr. happy had 2 hotdogs … I had a headache and a bit of nausea from my two day shit show of a grease fest.
bah humbug everyone … on a personal note although I am not holding my breath, I am looking forward to next year new beginnings … better days (not a political reference)
14 Likes
Not sure. We tend to buy mussels from the fishmonger, where they are not obliged to have source information. There is some significant mussel farming off the North Wales coast, between the mainland and the island of Anglesey which must be a significant supplier to my home area.
It’s still a holiday in the UK. And dinner is from the sea. To start, potted shrimps (our local delicacy). And a main course of cod, topped with a chorizo crumb. The sausage is chopped up and fried till a bit crispy, then blitzed in the processor with bread, olive oil, almonds and lemon zest. That mix goes on top of the fish and its baked. Spuds & veg to be determined. Definitely cheese for afters (the Xmas Day offerings were hardly touched by the guests). And there is still some Xmas pudding, if something gut-wrenchingly sweet is required.
6 Likes
Sumptuous photos, chowdom. Well done!
1 Like
Your meals look great Chowdom. Wishing you peace of mind. Your meals look great. Any thing, even if it appears “insignificant”, that can improve a person’s perspective or mood is a good thing IMO. Hey I’d take anything that can give a bit of happiness. Best wishes.
4 Likes
@chowdom, you dined VERY well these past few days - cooking or not! The food pics are making me hungry!
2 Likes
We’ve become quite close. She is getting up in years and it was important to her to put on Christmas one more time. Her body and spirit remain strong but forgetfulness is becoming very frequent and has her worried that her independent days are limited. I always enjoy the time we spend together and was happy to help her. She’s a treasure and I’m glad to have her in my life.
6 Likes
Left Budapest this morning. This is my train. Reminds me of old German trains from at least 15 years ago. I tried to look for texts or anything that could indicate it is German made or formerly a German train but couldn’t find much. Luckily we got off at the right station. The train was right on schedule because there was no announcement when approaching a station, and there’s no electronic read-out inside the carriage to show name of station. Train is old, like from the 90’s as I remember it back then. But no big deal, it’s like a time capsule and we enjoyed the ride (lasted a little over 2 hours). Train was full of pensioners and elderly people.
I think my childhood dream came true and am living it.
It’s nostalgic for us (and Lingua, too, I think). Not long ago signs like this were used on every carriage door. The sign on German train is nicer, though. (Pssttt… I stole one 
)
Tokaj is all about (sweet) white wine and freshwater fish dishes. We ordered a plate with assorted fish, 2 pan fried and 3 breaded. Not our choice of cooking it but that’s how they do it here. (I apologise for the poor quality of the photos, lighting is horrible in the restaurant, in every restaurant so far.)
Fish were catfish, carp, zander, pike perch etc. They love these typical fish here having 2 rivers running through this town. I don’t like freshwater fish at all but the 3 pieces that tasted a little swampy were not so bad, actually. I could get used to it, with the help of a lot of chillies which are plentiful here.
I’ve mentioned things don’t get sold here without fat. Check out a piece of fat on top of the fish. I ate the crackling. It was too crunchy I was afraid I’d crack my tooth! Must be careful next time. There was some nice sauce with mushrooms and pork over a piece of pan-fried fish.
I always order mixed pickles. They all call it “homemade mixed pickles” on the menu.
We sat next to this ceramic tiled hearth. Too bad it was not in use. These hearths are common in southern Germany and they are on full blast in the winter. It’s so lovely to enter a restaurant or brewery tap room and get blown away by the heat. The hearths in Germany have beautiful designs as well.
Having just arrived from super busy touristy Budapest we got a bit of a shock. Took this photo shortly after arrival. Few people and hardly any car on the street. Left restaurant just before 7pm and the whole town was deserted. We were walking back to our lodging along the only big main street that runs through the town from the train station and saw NO cars, just 2 dogwalkers.
Wine tastine signs like this are numerous. Sign indicates a tasting cellar ahead. Tokaj is in north eastern Hungary.
8 Likes
I was wondering what that thing on the fish was??- the fat! Wow.
The only fresh water fish I like is Steelhead trout, pickerel/walleye and smoked goldeye.
Sorry to hear that you are having a rough time. Christmas can be rough and I am not a fan of it either.
3 Likes
Pork tenderloin was for dinner yesterday - cut into thick medaillons, seasoned with s&p, then seared briefly to med-rare. Took the meat out, added some more oil & butter, then sautéed chopped up maitake shrooms. Added a generous splash of wine, a few tsps of BTB beef base, lemon juice and finished it off with a few tbsps of crème fraîche. It was really, really good, but not particularly photogenic. A very brown plate 
As for tonight, I’m making spicy crispy chicken tenders (seasoned flour with more cayenne than is healthy, paprika & salt), egg wash, panko. Fried till golden brown and served with lemon halves to squeeze over. One of my favorite, fairly no-fuss meals.
Mixed salad with cherry tomatoes & avocado in a balsamic-soy vinaigrette on the side.
Shootin’ for shootin’ some pool with buddies afters.
6 Likes
Yesterday afternoon was freezer cooking for my parents, which i try and do whenever i visit now, they seem to really appreciate it and it’s fun to get a text a month from now thanking me for making them dinner 
They love love these spinach ricotta lasagna rolls, i made two lasagna noodle boxes worth! No cheese on top since they get frozen (and kinda crappy photo)
So mom and dad had those with some of another giant everything salad that i made.
I also cooked up a huge batch of the potato leek soup they love- another terrible photo here before i blended it all up. I had a bowl of this before i added in the cream (without the cream it’s vegan!), and some of the giant salad with a side of wine. Enchiladas and creamy wild rice soup are underway right now… tbd which becomes dinner
7 Likes
The last of the prime rib used in a quesidilla with a bowl of Mexican chicken soup. My husband’s meal before he left for his night shift. Nice, hot food.
6 Likes
Been there and done that. In Germany they used to call those the Nahverkehrszug. A lot of times they were diesel locs. Stopped at every saw mill and milk stop in the Schwarzwald.
I’m an enchilada amateur and the damned corn tortillas were NOT cooperating…! Plan B they turned into a layered casserole style situation which i sliced like a lasagna and then tupperware-d before freezing most of it.
Last night dad went for the enchilada lasagna whatever thing with some sour cream and (another) Big Salad of Stuff that i made - the produce in CA is just so freaking fantastic and fresh and cheap. Mom went for the creamy wild rice soup as did i, it’s not especially attractive but it came out well and she enjoyed it which is what’s most important to me. More salad for me, mom went for baby carrots with ranch because she has the palette of a small child. (I have semi-successfully pushed her to be more adventurous over the years)
Photo of the leftover soup, four tall containers and two small ones are headed to the freezer for them. Tomorrow’s project is stromboli (!)
Tonight mom made her fantastic chocolate chip cookies with a sprinkle of sea salt on top, dad had dinner plans with The Boys, so we made the executive decision that if we had a big glass of milk (almond for me) with the warm cookies then it was definitely a balanced meal, so we called that dinner 
I’ll have a pear with my tea as dessert since they’re finally ripe.
5 Likes
Curious, what’s in your Wild rice soup??
All the soups look delicious. Perfect for a snowy day here.
1 Like
