Oh, didn’t realize your dislike of cukes. I like them a lot, just not with my gin. Pure sacrilege IMO. Yep, the English Garden is indeed perfection, to me. The danger is they don’t taste as potent as they are…
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Ha! Tzatziki is literally the ONLY way I like cucumber. It does NOT belong in beverages!
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Barcelona and Madrid are finally in Phase 2 … And lightening up a bit with terraces packed with reservations and a few restaurants are open too … Most being over 400 metres. MASKS ARE COMPLUSORY however, it is a true preventive and does not effect us one bit in public places. It keeps the Covid19 from its destruction and that is all we care about.
Here are Alessio´s rose wild oysters, we picked on at one of our local terrace stops.
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Stunning, meal and plants. What was the flowers in the last photo?
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i am sooo hoping and crossing everything that it will be ok to return in the fall - i have tix to Barcelona again in mid-Oct.!
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So i take it you don’t like Hendrick’s? (It’s one of my top fave gins.)
The other night I made French 75s with a friend’s galangal/chile simple syrup. A spicy change-up to an old favorite! Need to get more bubbly.
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Getting hot here again. Dinner was a repeat; rice noodle salad to use up some veggies (green beans, tomato, red cabbage, onion) and a little piece of filet from the freezer. All dressed with a lime, fish sauce, jalapeno dressing, and topped with roasted salted peanuts.
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Thank you 
That was a closeup of wisteria flower starting to open up. The previous picture had the wisteria vine with a few flowers hanging down. They smell really nice.
ooh this gives me a plan for some leftover grilled steak i have in the freezer…
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I actually do like Hendrick’s. Its top of the line. And yes, even though they use in their distilling and recommend cucumber in cocktails, I still can’t do it.
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I made some chicken seekh kababs as a test run, using up half a ground chicken package from the bolognese run a while back. I had not realized the cilantro had all been used up for chutney, though, so get the flavor in, the mix became a bit wet - and fine. Flavor was good, though. I’ll have to make them again when all supplies are at hand. Also, my first time using the grill from scratch without help!
Turns out lamb had also been cooked sous vide, so we stir-fried it with onions and some spices - didn’t feel like putting in more effort than that. But it didn’t need more than that. Meal rounded out by roasted cauliflower and frozen naan. Vegetarians had takeout mexican.
I also made pao de quejo late last night to test, and froze then baked today to accompany lunches. I prefer gougeres - the tapioca texture isn’t my favorite, so I may tweak it closer to gougeres with a blend of some tapioca and some of the other GF flours I’ve been using for bread.
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Dinner last night - checked all the right boxes! Pork Chile Verde smothered burrito, with a little brown rice to soak up the juices, and slaw. Vinaigrette for slaw was coconut white balsamic vinegar, homemade pepper jelly and a squeeze of agave nectar.
@gcaggiano and @mariacarmen, if I may ask, what are your favorite gins, ranked? Mine are Tanqueray, (can’t help it - for T & T’s, English Gardens.) Bombay Sapphire (prefer for martinis) Hat Trick/Hendricks, equally. Ak Air used to serve Hendricks, but I was happy when they brought Tanq back. For some reason, the attendants always give me freebies, & I fly coach. Haven’t figured it out yet, but I do love that airline. BTW, if you haven’t tried New Amsterdam, stay far, far away. When you can taste pronounced vanilla in gin, something is very wrong IMO.
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The puffs look pretty good to me @Saregama - I’ll have to put them on the to try GF list. Posted the failed bread on GF novice thread. Meal looks good too!
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Catching up. Lake house meals: our friends made salmon two ways, sweet kale slaw, and I contributed a minted pesto couscous salad, because baked potatoes were going to take too long. Also made buttered shells and peas for the kiddos.
The next night I made grilled, sauced chicken breast cutlets, garlicky sauteed Swiss chard, vinegar slaw, the neglected twice-baked potatoes, baked beans, and grilled baby zucchini. Leftover pasta and pasta salad were also available for those who wanted.
For dessert, both nights, s’mores:
For those who might be wondering: With no family nearby, we have expanded our “circle” temporarily to this other family that is equally paranoid and “distant” - at least until school starts or the status quo changes.
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Looks great - all of it! Paper plates are adorable with a most definite hippie vibe. Great for us nostalgia freaks in the time of Covid. 
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Concession for the sake of not doing lotsa dishes while on vacation 
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Oh you needn’t feel one bit of guilt about it. Quite compostable. Hope you enjoyed the getaway!
Thxs. They were a big hit.
Very festive and delicious.
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Haha, I know wisteria, but only from a distance, my neighbours have it. Never saw them so close. I bought one last year, but it was young and no flowers yet.
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