Thanks!
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I did have a second helping, so I suppose this works perfectly 
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How did you open the oysters? I’m no good at it.
I can’t find the video that taught me, but this one looks like what I do, except I don’t wear a glove - I fold a dish towel into a long, 4" strip and make a palm guard out of it. Note that there’s a pretty steep learning curve, and this guy makes it look like no big deal. You have to find the access point in the hinge, which takes practice. I watched Jacques Pepin, and a guy named Shucker Paddy a number of times, but I worked up quite a sweat shucking my first few dozen.
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Thanks.
" Pan fried Chilean Sea Bass Steak with Pizzaiola Sauce "
The Italians love using this ’ Pizzaiola Sauce ’ ( EVOO, butter, anchovies, basil, capers, garlic, shallots, tomato paste, white wine ( I added some Mirin as well ) on their steaks.
Today, I saw ‘fresh’ Chilean Sea Bass on special ( X’mas? ) at Costco, so I bought this small ‘cheapest’ piece…still $16!!
For dinner, slowly, pan fry it with EVOO & butter to crispy brown! Sooo delish with the tangy and sweet sauce!.. another good use of my home-grown Basil!
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We had a Mediterranean fish stew using some striped bass DH caught in the bay and froze in October. The green blob at 10:00 is a Bouquet Garni that got fished out…this was delicious and enough for leftovers.
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“Sunshine” (girlfriend) is having a “Girls Night Out” with a bunch of her girlfriends. So, I’m solo and going back to my college days!!
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For peeps who never made a whole turkey we sure have a lot of leftovers 
Turkey spinach quesadillas with a 4 Mexican cheese blend (sadly, Tillamook was completely cleared out, so Kraft had to do), cilantro, sour cream, store-bought-but-made-on-site-and-actually-quite-good guac, and today’s ADVENT CALENDAR HOT SAUCE: jalapeño hot sauce. Not as hot as the ones we still had leftover from our last taco run, but a decent kick. Salad on the side. Positively stuffed 
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Quick meal tonight. Boneless center cut pork chop seasoned with s/p and seared on both sides for a couple of minutes in hot olive oil. Removed, added a bit more olive oil to the pan and added thinly sliced red onion and a peeled and sliced apple.
Sauteed that for a few minutes, seasoning with dried thyme, dried cracked rosemary, and rubbed sage, then added a blend of 1/2 cup white wine, 1/2 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar and 1 tsp of Dijon mustard and stirred to get all the tasty bits off the pan.
Added the chop back in, spooned some of the softening apples and onions over top, covered and cooked on medium-low until the chop was done and the sauce was reduced.
Sliced and served over leftover sour creamy mashed potatoes with asparagus alongside.
Wine.
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We’ve been gnoshing on a holiday ham all week. Here’s the tail end of it in a bean and veggie soup.
Onions, carrots, potatoes, pumpkin and peas from our garden.
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A couple of Wednesdays ago I got a terrific caldo de mariscos at a little hole in the wall Mexican place in Brooklyn. Naturally I became obsessed with replicating it, so I gave it a shot. I got reasonably close, but Pronto Cafe’s version is definitely better.
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I made three giant spinach-artichoke and cheese crustless quiche with tater tot topping and 3.5 dozen pumpkin muffins for our teachers. So I paid someone else cook for dinner. 
Aaaah.
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Tonkatsu, rice, onion, red bell, snap peas, furikake. Salad of kale, crucifers, pickled carrot and daikon, rice vinegar, oo, red curry paste dressing, black sesame seeds.
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I enjoyed some tacos at a newly opened taco place near me called Tacos is Life. Unfortunately they were out of the beef Birria tacos (which I was looking forward to trying for the first time). However, I did enjoy the chicken Birria tacos, as well as the shrimp and al pastor. I also had the al pastor and chicken empanadas, as well as the Mexican street corn (not pictured). It all went great with an excellent Cabernet/Shiraz blend.
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Spent the day making jam/jelly out of my summer fruit harvest (all stashed in the freezer until I found time for it!). Sour cherry jam, elderberry jelly and a new-to-me combo, raspberry-gooseberry, simply because I had both on hand! Will be given out as Xmas gifts over the coming weeks.
Somehow, standing over a hot stove all day gave me a craving for deep fried food, so Buffalo wings will be dinner. Crudites, too!
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Last night: roasted chicken thigh, jasmine rice, kimchi. Started late and tried to hurry the chicken thigh with predictably tough results.
Tonight I took my time roasting the chicken thigh and was rewarded with super crisp skin and meltingly tender meat. Reheated leftover rice with baby peas. Made a quick pan sauce with sautéed shallots, white wine, highly enriched chicken stock from two days of roasting, seeded and smooth Dijon and a bit of cream. So good!!
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Chicken Pahhhhhprreeeekasssh.
Thought I had BISO chicken thighs in the freezer, but I didn’t. B/S thighs worked. Just shortened the cooking time a bit.
Served on mini lasagna egg noodles because I didn’t have enough wide egg noodles. Same diff, or close enough.
Green beans and wine alongside
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“ Chi-Star House, Richmond Hill “ - Inconsistent but still some wonderful food.
Ever since the sudden closure of two of my favorite, Cantonese ‘wok-hay’ stirred fry specialists….’Maple Yip’ and ‘Judy’s Cuisine’. For consistently fine, traditional, homey and well executed Cantonese fare, in a less formal surrounding, “ Chi-Star House “, operating under a similar business model, has become my regular go-to place. This, until rumors started to circulate regarding internal ownership feud that resulted in the departure of its talented co-owner chef to rivals like ‘Starchiva’ and/or the newly opened ‘Kingsfield’. The uncertainty put a temporary stop to my visits.
Based on latest feedback from trusted, long standing ex-chowhound ‘SkylineR33‘. He affirmed to me that, of all the Chinese places he has eaten recently, ‘ Ch-Star ‘ is still stellar in certain areas and ranked pretty high on his go-to list. As such, I decided to gather ‘the gang‘, brave both nasty wind and rain and give this Richmond Hill icon an overdue re-visit.
Welcomed by a familiar, diverse menu and augmented with daily specials posted on the surrounding walls, the four of us ordered a few of our perennial favourites, enhanced by a daily specials or two.
We had the following:
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Jumbo Tiger Prawns with Maggi Sauce accompanied by stirred fried rice-vermicelli ( a stupendous dish that impressed in both presentation and taste. Lovely use of the super-aromatic Chinese celery in the stirred fry vermicelli )
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Stirred fry sliced beef with Chinese Kale aka Gai-Lan. ( This is one gorgeous dish!..our perennial favourite stir fry. Never fails! Well seasoned and caramelized beef with great Wok-Hay smoky aroma Perfectly cooked veggie )
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Sauteed Filet Mignon Cubes with Port wine glaze and minced garlic ( Lovely, exotic aroma and taste profile. Highly recommended. One of top 10 house specialities )
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Stirred-fry Cauliflower with mixed Chinese preserved meat and sausages ( Poorly executed and very ordinary tasting. Total lack of inspiration )
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‘Advanced order‘ - Hand held oil-poached crispy skin free range chicken ( A total disappointment! Flaccid and limp skin. Under-seasoned! )
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Stirred-fry lotus roots with fermented brown bean curd ( Passable but not as good as ‘Best Choice’. Again, dish was under-seasoned )
Overall, I would rate this a very inconsistent meal with quality of food, all over the place! Certain stand-out dishes like the Tiger prawns, sliced beef with Gai-Lan and the Port wine glazed beef cube came close to delivering wow-factor. Sadly, these stand-outs were offset by some barely passable and close to failure dishes. Maybe, ‘trying to avoid potential pit-falls in ordering’ forms part of the fun and dining experience at this place? Ha!
BTW, reservation is a must! Place was fully packed at 5.30 pm!!
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