Congratulations Eli! Enjoy your new direction in life
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Commercial product - we get big bags of this Orchard valley harvest salad toppers mixture at Costco. I’ve made my own at home (in COVID times…) from components on-hand, but really like the convenience of the pre-mixed.
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Congratulations!!
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Grilled porcini dressed with bagna cauda . Grilled prawns with garlic , olive oil, herbs de provence. Agostino recca anchovy juice drizzled . On a bed of cole slaw . Side of potato salad. Cheers. ,
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Got back from Lisboa Friday late afternoon & were craving pizza from our favorite place in Berlin run by Italian punks. Hit the spot.
Last night I made Molisana rigatoni with white asparagus (season officially ended on the 24th), Italian rosemary ham, fresh parsley and a ‘sauce’ of butter, sautéed shallots, white wine, a lil pasta wooder, crème fraîche, parm & chili flakes. Came out nicely despite my continuous struggle with the induction system.
Fresh local strawberries with smashed up pistachio Magnum for dessert.
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Congrats! I hope you’ll have more fun time to do things you love.
Personally, I don’t think I’m one that can support the idea of retirement, maybe when the time comes, I will adapt… 
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Continuing my retirement celebration, we enjoyed another excellent dinner at James on Main in Hackettstown, NJ. We enjoyed roasted duck breast; pan fried tilefish; foie gras; calamaretti; mushroom panzanella salad; duck leg confit; and truffled hand cut fries. It all went great with our favorite Caymus cabernet and bourbon barrel aged red blend.
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Summer weekends are spent mostly at the beach club which kind of infringes with shopping and cooking time. This leads to a lot of weekend take out or delivery.
Saturday was pizza night
Tonight Chinese
Beautiful weekend at the Jersey Shore!!
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Insanely juicy burgers, smothered in melted swiss. Hit the perfect spot between rare and medium rare. Accompanying slaw barely made the frame!
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Absolute perfection.
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Quiet day.
Too damn hot outside to think about doing anything.
Some stuff to use up in my fridge and freezer, so this recipe worked out. My changes:
Added some dried thyme to the mushroom/shallot sauté part, i used BTB vegetable base, because it’s what I had, and multiple handfuls of baby spinach at the end.
It’ll give me multiple work lunches.
Pre-dinner drink was a French Tart (vodka, St. Germain elderflower liquor, grapefruit juice, a splash of lemon juice, and simple syrup. It should have been a rosemary simple syrup, but I didn’t make it in time for libations) and a glass of wine with dinner.
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Last night I made a great salad of roasted cauliflower and garbanzos, mixed greens and herbs, cucumber, radish, green onion, feta, honey mustard dressing, with grilled chicken thighs. There was a Negroni cocktail. While washing dishes I ran out of water and discovered a broken pipe. Spent all of this afternoon making repairs with the help of Jr. Life in the country. Too tired to cook, freezer to the rescue with shrimp gumbo. Music and Beefeater on a pile of rocks makes everything better. And there will probably be ice cream later. I earned it
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End of the Copper River sockeye run – an inexpensive and lucky purchase at $10 a pound. Pan-roasted with salt and pepper. Garden romaine lettuces with homemade Caesar dressing. A quick corn bread. More strawberry cake for dessert.
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Great meal nasty “dessert”. Apparently sangria for one is harder than I thought. Off to gaze at the fireflies now. >clink<
For the final dinner of my retirement celebration we enjoyed an excellent tasting menu at the Circle Restaurant in Newton, NJ, including agnolotti; lamb chop; Chilean sea bass; creamy burrata; spring salad; and flourless chocolate cake. It all went great with an excellent cabernet and Chateauneuf Du Pape.
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Thank you! I agree that Mrs. P looks gorgeous. I, however, have a face for radio 
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last night’s dinner at my sister’s. i made Sticky Balsamic Ribs in the oven, an old Gourmet recipe finished under the broiler - so far my favorite prep for ribs. I used the meatier spare ribs instead of baby backs, but otherwise followed this recipe (since Gourmet no longer exists): https://www.cocinadecoco.com/post/sticky-balsamic-ribs. I love the addition of butter to the glaze. Turned out perfectly tender.
Sister made ATK cucumber salad with onions and sherry vinegar, delish, and we nuked COTC and slathered in butter. Great summer meal.
and tonight’s dinner with the BF - I made Enchiladas Suizas - chicken in a tomatillo and crema sauce, smothered in Jack cheese. I’d made the tomatillo sauce a few weeks ago and froze it. Really good.
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that drink looks and sounds delightful!
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What a long but amazing day it was. I had not been to NYC since well before Covid. BF wanted to go to the Pride parade and I gave in, despite not being a fan of mass transit and crowds, of which there was enormity today. Several delays for the train, and in short, with the exception of a quick stop at a pub for a drink, we were on our feet from 10 AM until almost 8 PM. I wish I had something that kept track of steps. It would have exploded.
Dinner was a quick shrimp stir fry after long day. Frozen shrimp thawed. A zucchini in the fridge on its last legs thrown into the wok. Basmati rice, why not. Freezer bag with chicken dumplings, into the air fryer they went. No pics. But from earlier in the day:
Obligatory street food followed by a quick afternoon cocktail at the Celtic Pub.
Not dinner, but I’ll include anyway: Stopped for bagels on our way to the parade area. We each had an everything, mine with scallion cream cheese and his with chipotle bacon. Amazing. Bagels will never be the same again, and so many choices for cream cheese (the blue one is birthday cake)!
The City has ruined me, as it has been so long. I had forgotten what it was like to be with a crowd and a buzz/energy in a city environment. Pride notwithstanding, it was great to just be vibing with people of all kinds. We later hit the subway to take a walk in Central Park.
We even found a stand selling pastries and breads, and yes this is me carrying around two French baguettes sticking out of my backpack. When we got home, I threw one in the oven and it was quickly devoured with softened butter.
I’m not a parade guy or a public celebration of any kind guy. But being in a rather bland suburban area, today was a wakeup call that the world still does indeed exist.
Hope everyone had a great Sunday!
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