• A Progressive’s thoughts
  • postaday
  • postaday2011
  • postaday2012
  • Uncategorized

laurieanichols

~ Just another WordPress.com site

laurieanichols

Tag Archives: dinner

Sunday dinner

25 Sunday Sep 2016

Posted by laurieanichols in postaday, postaday2016, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

dinner, postaday2016

My husband has been busy in the kitchen, our son and his girlfriend are coming for Sunday dinner. I think he has done a wonderful job, everything looks quite appetizing. He had fun with the slab of pork belly we got from our local Mennonites, they have locally sourced grass-fed beef, pastured pigs, raw milk and organic, free range eggs. I forget what he did to the pork belly before it ended up in the slow cooker, but it smelled real good during the entire process. The mashed potatoes went under the broiler after I took the picture, they smelled delicious after being browned by the flames.

I love the salad my husband put together, watermelon, blueberries, romaine lettuce, peppers and iceberg lettuce with a blue cheese dressing, a yin and yang kind of salad. The cheeses and the pate made sense both before and after the pork belly and mashed potatoes with the salad acting as the palate cleanser to finish the meal.

We had a very lovely dinner together, it’s wonderful when dinner gets on the table and you had nothing to do with it. Thank you my husband.

What a show!

24 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by laurieanichols in postaday, postaday2014, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

bands, dinner, food, music, postaday2014

IMG_0402.JPG

IMG_0404.JPG

IMG_0405.JPG

IMG_0401.JPG

My husband and I had a great time. When our son’s band came on “The Vanities” Zach, the lead singer/screamer, dedicated the set to my husband, which made my husband so very happy. So we were standing in the audience, beaming with pride and it must have been so apparent on our faces because after they were done with their set, three very pretty girls who were standing right in front of us turned around and asked us “You must be the parents of one of the band members” We both proudly said “yes the guitarist/singer on the left over there” The three girls told us “they are so GOOD” That was pretty cool.

While they were performing, quite a few guys were dancing and the dancing has certainly evolved from the slam dancing of my day. The dancing was really aggressive, arms whirling around really hard as well as the legs. It fit the music and I was wondering as I was looking around the crowd, most of which were dressed in conformity, even though they were dressing to make statements, where did all the angst and “anger” stem from? I was thinking probably their angst and anger stems from the power of being young and I mean that in the best possible way. When you are young that is when you should be railing against The Man and injustice as well as the “way things are just because they are”.The kids were dressed in the skinny jeans or Bermuda shorts, with either Pro Keds or Vans as sneakers and the many tattoos and piercings, none of which are inexpensive, so these kids were living within a certain means. I was thinking these things as we were driving home, just wondering where the audience was coming from and what appeal did my son’s band hold for them. It was a sociological stream of consciousness I would say and it led me to thinking back to my high school years of listening to Heavy Metal and Punk Rock, hanging out with my own group of friends, listening to the rebels and finding meaning and truth in the lyrics.

Arriving home, my husband and I got to work in the kitchen to prepare a feast for our tired and hungry musician upon his return. There was breast of duck, that my husband cooked perfectly and I made a morel mushroom cream sauce, accompanying the duck was a paillason de pommes de terre or a potato “straw mat” filled with grated Gruyere cheese, basically a large round hash brown filled with cheese, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside with the nuttiness of the Swiss cheese as a bonus. I had made the red and yellow bell pepper frittata on Friday.

IMG_0406.JPG

IMG_0400.JPG

IMG_0407.JPG

All in all, a full day and a great one at that.

I’m an Amazon, not an Egyptian

16 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by laurieanichols in postaday, postaday2014, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

dinner, fence, macaroni and cheese, postaday2014

If you are thinking what a crazy title for a post, I’ll fill you in to the context of the phrase. My husband has been a very busy man since yesterday. I’ll get to his culinary achievement later, but now to explain the Amazon and the Egyptian. Our fence has been needing a few repairs for some time and this morning was the day that it was going to be done. We went out back together and as usual I tried to help, but I am not a very good helper. My husband says that the reason is that I don’t follow direction because I always want to lead. As we were moving the sections of fence, I was inadvertently fighting the board instead of letting it be while my husband was getting the old screws out. He said that I needed to learn the physics of leverage and I definitely wasn’t Egyptian in my ways of lifting and moving heavy objects. A second later, my husband exclaimed that of course I wasn’t Egyptian or using the geometry of angles, why would I when I was acting like the Amazonian that I am at heart.
I was laughing at everything that he was saying because I didn’t care as long as the fence was getting fixed and Jack couldn’t escape, that was what was most important. I could be an Amazon or an Egyptian, I’ll even be both as long as the job gets done.

Now last night, in honor of the remaining few days left until our daughter returns to school in Miami, my husband made an incredible baked 5 cheese macaroni and cheese just for our princess. It was excellent, he used cheddar, sharp cheddar, extra sharp cheddar, parmesan and asiago cheeses, he melted half of it in the béchamel sauce and the other half sprinkled all the way through and on top before he added bread crumbs and pats of butter and then putting it into the oven. His macaroni and cheese was the best that I had ever tasted.

IMG_0385.JPG

IMG_0384.JPG

IMG_0383.JPG

My husband the chef

11 Monday Aug 2014

Posted by laurieanichols in postaday, postaday2014, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

chef, dinner, postaday2014

My husband is a great chef and he never minds taking over in the kitchen especially when I am not feeling well. I have been exhausted for the past few days and having him come in and do all the work is such a gift for me. Our children are always happy when he takes the reins in the kitchen; he made veal scaloppine picatta, sautéed baby potatoes and baked vegetables.

IMG_0380.JPG

IMG_0382.JPG

IMG_0379.JPG

My birthday celebration in New York

10 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by laurieanichols in postaday, postaday2014, Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

celebration, dinner, food, postaday2014

I had a fantastic weekend celebrating my birthday with my mother, my sister and her family and of course my husband and our children. We went to my sister’s and I just love spending time with my niece and nephew, they are growing so fast. Jack was with us and he is always a hit with them; he loves running and jumping with them and they love hugging him.

IMG_1224.JPG

IMG_1223.JPG

IMG_1225.JPG

I took just a few pictures because I was busy speaking with my sister about what is going on with her and I was joking and teasing my niece and nephew, but we ate very, very well. My sister made this tremendous gaspacho, a cold soup of tomato richly flavored with garlic, I made a pig of myself because I boldly stated that I would finish the rest of the container and I did. It was absolutely delicious; the tomato wasn’t acidic or bland, it was exactly what a ripe tomato tastes like, only enhanced with liberal use of raw garlic. It was so good that I cleaned my soup bowl with my bread.

IMG_1218.JPG

IMG_1221.JPG

IMG_1219.JPG

IMG_1220.JPG

IMG_1222.JPG

IMG_1226.JPG

The next item on the menu was a light salad of greens and tomatoes topped with poached lobster and blanched new potatoes, dressed with my mother’s vinaigrette. It was very good, slightly decadent, but offset with the clean flavors of the greens and tomatoes.

What I was really waiting for was dessert; there was a Saint Honore which is the cream puff and pastry cream French idea of confectioner’s heaven, there were chocolate eclairs, my personal favorite and little cheesecakes.
Dessert was delightful and followed by coffee, really hit the spot. It was a wonderful family get together.

Gearing up for Father’s Day

14 Saturday Jun 2014

Posted by laurieanichols in postaday, postaday2014, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

dinner, Father's day, postaday2014, Vietnamese spring roll

I can safely write about what the children and I were doing today together in preparation for Father’s Day because my husband specifically asked for his menu and given all of our traveling, today was the only day that I had to make his special Father’s Day treat. His treat for his special day are Vietnamese spring rolls. I have written about making these before, it essentially takes a few hours; making the filling, wrapping them into rolls and then frying them, but they are so tasty that it is definitely worth all of the work. I even had some help from our son; he was a tremendous help in wrapping the filling into rolls, he loves them even more than my husband does or his sister; I think that I am on par with him on the Vietnamese spring roll love. My husband was very happy eating them; I made sure to get enough mint and lettuce since the last time I had been too stingy in the purchasing department and we were short with the accoutrements. Not this time!

20140614-202423-73463473.jpg

20140614-202424-73464342.jpg

20140614-202425-73465624.jpg

20140614-202424-73464768.jpg

20140614-202423-73463912.jpg

20140614-202426-73466050.jpg

20140614-202425-73465192.jpg

Dinner in Soho

17 Saturday May 2014

Posted by laurieanichols in postaday, postaday2014, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

dessert, dinner, Francois Payard, Lure, postaday2014

Today my husband, our daughter and I drove down to New York to stay with my mother and we took the occasion to take my mother out to dinner in the city to thank her for all of her hospitality. I remembered that she had been to Lure and had really liked it a few years ago; particularly Lure’s crab cakes, those had stuck in her mind and I figured that she would be happy to go back once more.

20140517-211341.jpg

The picture up above is the salmon tartar that our daughter ordered; she is the queen of tartar; that was her appetizer and for her main course she ordered lobster ravioli. My mother ordered two appetizers; her crab cakes and she was very happy with them and then she had grilled Spanish octopus and she enjoyed it very much. My husband started with a tuna ceviche and finished with sautéed soft shell crabs. I had an exquisite fluke ceviche; it was so very flavorful with a citrusy zing that made my taste buds sing with every bite. It was so lovely on the palate. My main course was steamed Red Snapper on a bed of steamed Bok Choy with a red curry sauce right next to it for the swabbing, because that is what I did with my fork, I cut a piece of Red Snapper and Bok Choy and swabbed it into the red curry broth and it was fantastic, I normally shy away from red, green or yellow curries because I am not too sure what to expect, but tonight I threw my usual caution to the wind and I am so very happy I did. The dish was perfect; the fish was flaky and clean tasting, the Bok Choy is one of my favorite greens so I was instantly happy but the red curry broth blew my taste buds away, it had so much flavor and depth, it gave real character to the fish and the Bok Choy.
We all left Lure satiated and happy and intent on walking for a while taking in the sights and sounds of New York on a Saturday night.

As we headed North or uptown, we stumbled across a Francois Payard patisserie on West Houston. Here is a picture of something that they offer:

20140517-213349.jpg
This is a rouleau hazelnut, doesn’t it look delicious?

We looked, salivated and kept on walking uptown. We passed my alma mater New York University and then continued up to Union Square Park. We followed Broadway up towards 23rd and stumbled upon another fantastic French patisserie; Erik Kaiser, it was here that we made a few purchases; a pain au raisins, a financier praline, an eclair au chocolat, an eclair Paris Brest and a Sainte Honore:

20140517-214144.jpg

As soon as we got home, my mother asked me if I was going to have a taste of the patisseries; when my mother says it that way, she means that you take out the patisseries and cut them into small pieces so everyone has a tiny bite. It is a great to eat patisserie, just enough so that you have a wonderful flavor lingering in your mouth, but not too much that you feel guilty.

Tonight was a very lovely evening.

Daily prompt: Saturday Night!

26 Saturday Apr 2014

Posted by laurieanichols in postaday, postaday2014, Uncategorized

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

dinner, mashed potatoes, postaday2014, Saturday night, sausage

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT! What’s your favorite way to spend Saturday night?

Our favorite way to spend Saturday night is to spend it together, no matter where we are, home or away. My husband and I love spending our Saturday nights home with the kids if they are around and most definitely with Jack. We love the quiet of our time at home, watching the shows that we had missed during the week. Usually Saturday is when I make something for the rest of the weekend so that Saturday night we have something tasty to enjoy while we relax together. Tonight I made something very simple; mashed potatoes with grated Jarlsberg cheese and smoked Andouille sausage from the purveyor D’Artagnan that we miraculously found for the very first time at our local supermarket. Right next to the sausage we also found from the same purveyor D’Artagnan, Jambon de Bayonne and cured duck bacon, we bought all three products. I also bought a cantaloupe to serve with the Jambon de Bayonne, a cured ham very similar to prosciutto, which is why I thought of the cantaloupe; the combination of the two is delicious as an appetizer; the sweet and the salty is a marriage made in heaven.

So that is the extent of our Saturday nights; together, uneventful, full of good food and good entertainment, can’t ask for more than that.

Happy Easter everyone!

20 Sunday Apr 2014

Posted by laurieanichols in postaday, postaday2014, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

dessert, dinner, Easter, postaday2014

I am wishing everyone a very Happy Easter! It is late and I am tired from driving all the way from my sister’s house in Westchester, New York down to Herndon Virginia. We had a fantastic meal of steamed artichokes with my mother’s vinaigrette followed by butterflied leg of lamb on the barbecue, roasted fingerling potatoes, flageolets simmered in chicken broth, after having had shallots and garlic sautéed with diced prosciutto to give the beans added flavor, finally we got to the salad and then it was the piece de resistance, le Saint Honore:

20140420-225917.jpg

My mother, my sister and my brother-in-law, all of them, outdid themselves with this fine feast. But besides the food, our favorite part of visiting is to spend time with the little ones; my niece and nephew. Their eyes lit up at dessert time; the cake and the Lindt chocolates were a lot more fun to eat then the beans, at least in my opinion.

I am off to bed.

The guilty pleasure of Taco Bell

23 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by laurieanichols in postaday, postaday2014, Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

dinner, postaday2014, Taco Bell

After spending close to 8 hours in the car, driving down to Virginia, I don’t think anyone would be in the mood to go out and deal with finding a restaurant, which is why we are lucky that we have a Taco Bell right next to our hotel.

After we unloaded the car and got the luggage cart up to the room, I took the cart back down and walked on over to Taco Bell and just 10 minutes later, we had dinner in the room.

My order never changes; 3 soft tacos Fresco and fresco only means tomatoes and lettuce, the filling is their “beef” mixture, I choose not to dwell on it too closely, there have been some stories about Taco Bell and there are times when ignorance is bliss. Can you tell that this is one of those times? I am more than satisfied with 3 tacos, a little of the mild Taco sauce poured over my tacos and it tastes a little spicy, quite tasty and very easy going down to my tummy.

Now that my hunger has been sated, my exhaustion from all of the driving has just hit me, hard. It is time for me to rest, watch t.v and read at the same time, but most importantly rest.

← Older posts

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,208 other subscribers

a work in progress

February 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728  
« Dec    

Archives

nanowrimo

2012 Blog of the Year Award

Blogroll

  • Discuss
  • Get Inspired
  • Get Polling
  • Get Reading Now
  • Get Support
  • Laurieanichols
  • Learn WordPress.com
  • Rebecca Franklin
  • The Laughing Housewife
  • Wee Scoops
  • WordPress Planet
  • WordPress.com News

business of blogging

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Top Rated

Member of The Internet Defense League

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • laurieanichols
    • Join 768 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • laurieanichols
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...