Tarragona until Friday and a relaxing drive home to Barcelona. My parents and inlaws shall spend the weekend and then go home to Northern Empordà on the Capes. We had some extraordinary Basque ecological beef … Similar to how we prepare at home.
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I have always been tempted to say the same, and didn’t want to overstep. I understand the joy of cooking for family. However, this appears to be an adult son who is always bringing home a crowd. CCJ you are already opening your house to him. Why can’t he cook for his friends and for you, instead of the other way around?
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@ccj From here it seems like cooking and delicious food are your love language (very familiar to me) and my guess is, it’s all a labor of love. But do let him take care of you, too!
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Singapore noodles are trending. I made it tonight based loosely on Serious Eats’ recipe. Sides were spicy smacked cucumber salad and miso-roasted “Japanese style” butternut squash. Truth is, I made this with eggplant but incinerated it in the broiler, so started over with squash.
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Thanks for advise. We had always welcomed his friends but them coming every weekend is getting to be disturbing. They typically sail to Solomons Island and camp out on the beach or sleep in the boat for a night and return on a Sunday. I do not mind them sleeping over when they return and giving them breakfast the next morning because I do not want them to have an accident driving back to Va or DC but it is when they stay for 2 or 3 days, that I get very upset as I like to have my privacy. I do stay upstairs but they go to powder room, go in and out of various doors and I just have problem keeping track of which doors and which lights are on I also hate the fact that so many beer cans are around, and they never seem to finish drinking it to the last drop! . Yes, they enjoy the fact that there is an indoor heated pool but I do not like people brining drinks into my pool either. They also like paddling and having out on the pier but to often is sometimes disturbing
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I don’t want to overstep at all. Please tell me to butt out and I will. I have 2 sons 19 and 15. As they got older it became very important for us to establish boundaries of what we would do for them and what they needed to do for themselves. If we didn’t, they would take everything we were willing to give.
I don’t believe your son would be happy knowing your feelings that you have described. Kids don’t like feeling like they are taking advantage of their parents, and sometimes are just so wrapped up in their lives that they don’t realize it. Especially if you don’t say anything. I would have a chat with him. It sounds like perhaps some boundaries and expectations might be helpful.
That’s all. I promise I won’t say another word! Good luck with all of it.
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As Rob Thomas sings at the beginning of Santana’s “Smooth”, “Man, it’s a hot one…” It hit 96° in Boston today. 
So of course I decide on a sheet pan dinner that requires turning the oven to 400°. 
I turned UP the A/C to make it not so unbearable in the house.
I combined two recipes found online and came up with a respectable dinner: big-ass b/s chickie boobie cut in half lengthwise, put on a large rimmed baking sheet with a cut up yellow potato and green beans. Everything was sprayed with cooking spray, then the chicken and potatoes were sprinkled with a combo of minced fresh rosemary, thyme, parsley, garlic powder, paprika, dried orange peel, and s/p.
The chicken had a “sauce” of melted butter, honey, garlic powder, and s/p drizzled over it, and into the oven to cook for about 35 minutes, turning the chicken once and tossing the potatoes in the melted “sauce” in the pan.
Not bad, and there was wine, 'cause Thursday. And crazy last minute stuff to do at work. But mostly Thursday.
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We had to get a new oven recently (Gaggenau), and it’s so well insulated that it doesn’t heat up the kitchen when we use it.
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Definitely out of my price point, but a new stovetop/oven is on my wish list.
Here in Switzerland eveything is too expensive. But we can purchase these things in Germany. The German firms bring the products, install them, and take away the old stuff, at no extra cost. In Switzeland, in addition to the higher purchase price, all other services would cost extra.
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You are a saint! I realize that generosity runs in your veins, but the flip side of that is gratitude, which I’m sure your son’s guests feel but are so enveloped by your hospitality that they forget that they are not at home…with their beer cans, noise and coming and going. Our son is well out of the house with his own family, and I love having them at our home for food or stayovers. BUT I have recently had the “we are getting (GOT) old” conversation with him. I like a day or so notice for dinners or outdoor picnics, will cook but love someone else to “wait table”, especially when the back stairs to yard are involved. It’s a flattering surprise that our kids don’t notice that we have aged. One grand-kid asked, “Ama, are you old?” I answered, “Very!” Another asked, “Ama, are you rich?” I answered, “I have you and your sister and brother, plus your Daddy and your Mom. Yes, I am VERY rich.”
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deja vu all over again… BLTs with COTC. with TPSTOB - although the BF’s idea of “shit-ton” is slightly different than mine. i corrected at the table.
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Deep fried prawns and fries. A good do: shattering crust with juicy interiors. Equally good fries. Wish I had a handle on why this was a superior fry, but we chowed down, no leftovers.
And some salad
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Tonight was a pizza night at a nearby pizzeria/bar known for their thin crust. We all had bar pies: mine was a white pie with onion, garlic, and half hot peppers, mom had a clam pie, and BF got pepperoni with black olives. We shared garlic bread with cheese.
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omg that cheese!!
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Are you referring to the ricotta on my white pie? A little too much for my liking! But I forgot to say not too much-- had to scrape some off. (I know, I know, why bother with a white then?)
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My freezer was getting full so I have been eating leftovers. The only meal of note was repurposed gumbo. I sauteed hatch chile sausage, onion, garlic, swiss chard stems and leaves and then added the gumbo and cannellini beans. A salad of sugar snap peas and radish with ranch dressing.
Forgot to thaw anything this morning so I made a BLT with another of those Brandywine beauties. Kettle truffle & sea salt chips.
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ohhh i didn’t read that right - i do think that would be a bit too much ricotta - so rich!
i thought it was fresh mozz, which i can never have enough of.
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I love the way your Mom is included in your life and posts here. I’m biting my nails to fly from Providence to Columbus, OH on Sept. 1st to see my 89-year old mother again since Dec. 2019. I’m nervous about the travel, have to connect through Baltimore. I talk to her everyday on the phone. This is the longest I’ve gone in my life without being with her. Wish us a healthy visit. She drinks scotch, I drink bourbon…
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I am a cheese-a-holic ! Looks divine. Never had a pizza with Ricotta. Barcelona has several boutique dairies that produce Goat cheese Ricotta for the famous Dalí dessert Mei y Mato …
It is Goat Cheese Ricotta with honey and rasberries … It may resemble a “Trifle” if put in stemware or glassware and layered.
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