onrushpam's Profile
Need a place for early, casual dinner on Sunday in Sandy Springs
Thanks all! The movie came to PTC/Sharpsburg and we wound up going to Grinds and Wines in PTC. It was pretty good. I'm sure we'll make use of the Sandy Springs suggestions on future trips!!! I really appreciate the suggestions.
Two Fat Ladies
There's a very long, funny story about how I came to meet her and be part of her BBC series... but it has nothing to do with food, so I'll refrain.
Her "Clarissa and the Countryman" series was all about country life and sport, not food.
But, on the day I met her, she had quite the set-up in the back of her truck. She was standing back there, slinging bacon/eggs/cheese onto buns and handing them out to anyone who could belly up and grab one! This was at a HUGE dog sport event, with thousands of people. I was blessed to have made friends with a guy who knew her. So, I was escorted to the front of the line to get a bacon bap from her!
It was a fun day and I cherish the memory, though I HATE how I looked on the telly show!!!
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Need a place for early, casual dinner on Sunday in Sandy Springs
Thanks, all!
Local Three and Cafe Sunflower are not open on Sunday evenings... :-(
Leaning towards The Brickery at this point... the brisket and crab cakes both sound good!
Still open for suggestions, maybe even in Vinings or Smyrna, which appear to be on our way???
Need a place for early, casual dinner on Sunday in Sandy Springs
6 of us will be coming from Newnan up to Sandy Springs for a movie (it's not playing anywhere else) on Sunday evening. DH and I are more concerned about food/drink quality than the others. We need a place somewhere in Sandy Springs or on the way up I-285 from Newnan (Smyrna, Vinings?)
DH is a beer lover. I'm a wine lover. The others probably won't drink.
We're up for most anything, cuisine-wise, but not sure about the others... so, maybe bistro, brew pup, Italian... open to other ideas.
I really don't know the area (we live in far South Georgia).
I'd like to go to Muss & Turners, but not sure that will work for the others...
Good recipe for shrimp fajitas?
Okay, not fajitas, but shrimp tacos... We LOVE this one...
http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/shrimp-tacos-citrus-cabbage-slaw-recipe-00000000017320/index.html
Edited to say, I use corn tortillas, not flour, because we like them better...
72 hour pass in Columbus, GA
A few months ago, we stopped for lunch at the Cannon Brewpub. It's in an old building downtown and they've done nice things with the space. The food was decent bar food and DH kinda liked a couple of their beers. It would probably be fun for your crew.
Blue Bell ice cream now in Raleigh/Cary
Try the Blue Bell Homemade In The Shade with fresh strawberries! We can't get enough of it. :-)
amazing salad or salad dressing made with fresh basil?
A local pizza place makes ones of my favorites...
They grill a humongous portabella, plonk on bits of fresh mozz, small slices of tomato (usually cut up grape tomoatoes) and a bunch of basil. They serve it on a bed of fresh spinach and drizzle with vinaigrette. The bed of spinach usually has a fair number of basil leaves mixed in. I think the kids in the kitchen get lazy and just mix the spinach/basil together, rather than cutting up the basil to sprinkle on top. I love it that way! The hot shroom kinda wilts the spinach/basil and really brings out the flavor. It's simple, but so good. Think I may need to go there soon! Or, make it at home. :-)
8" Lodge Cast Iron - recipe ideas?
I love my little 8" cast iron pan. It's perfect for a half recipe of cornbread or a frittata for two. Caramelize onions. Saute mushrooms. It gets a lot of use here, where I usually just cook for one or two people. I have a bunch of other cast iron... bigger Lodge and some vintage Griswold. But, my little 8" Lodge probably gets more use than any of the others.
Help with menu for casual dinner this weekend? Sorta Southern themed
The roll recipe I used is from Chickens in the Road: http://chickensintheroad.com/cooking/cornmeal-yeast-rolls/
I did them in my KA mixer... used 2 t of yeast instead of one and more salt (still needed more). I think they could also do with a bit more sugar. I used stone ground coarse cornmeal and KA bread flour. I think it only took about 3 C of flour. (When it comes to bread, I only use recipes as a starting point and go with what feels right.) I made the dough and did the first rise Friday evening, made out the rolls (I got 20 in a 9x13 pan), then refrigerated them. The second rise, yesterday, took a couple of hours. I nearly let them go too long!
Help with menu for casual dinner this weekend? Sorta Southern themed
Thanks to y'all for the help! Dinner turned out great. We had really horrible weather yesterday, so I didn't even bother going to the field. I had a lazy day, making the slaw and the crisp. Everything else was already done. The stalwart field trial warriors returned mid-afternoon, sopping wet. Everybody chowed down on the snacks (though I think I'm the only one who ate any of the pickled okra and green beans). I only have a bit of the pimento cheese and one or two deviled eggs left over. We watched a movie while I baked the ham, potatoes and rolls. The rolls and potatoes were HUGE hits. I'm going to make another pan of potatoes tonight because there were none left! My peach/cherry crisp turned out very watery (I kinda winged it, not following a recipe and should've added more flour or cornstarch), so I had to serve it with a slotted spoon, but it tasted good on top of vanilla ice cream. We all had ham on rolls for breakfast this morning. I'd made those cornmeal rolls before, but forgot how good they are... pillow light, but with a bit of texture from the cornmeal. So good!
Looking for help recreating Granny's ham & milk gravy
The problem with trying to make gravy after cooking a ham steak is you may not have enough fat/drippings left in the pan. She likely added some bacon grease or other fat to the pan, then flour, then milk.
One of my favorite breakfasts is pancakes (made w/out any sugar in the batter), with bacon and milk gravy made from the bacon. Put the gravy on the pancakes, in place of syrup or other sweet topping.
Help with menu for casual dinner this weekend? Sorta Southern themed
Thanks to all!!! I'll do the big shop tomorrow evening and stop at a different store Thursday for the few things I can't get at my regular market (plus, DH is going to Costco tomorrow for cheese and a few other items). Here's what I think I'll do:
Snacks:
Deviled eggs
Pickled okra and green beans
Pimento Cheese (choice of bread toasts or celery)
Mixed Nuts or cheese straws (couldn't find the good cheese straws I usually buy)
Dinner:
Baked ham
Scalloped potatoes
Field peas
Roasted cherry tomatoes
Either cucumber salad or broccoli slaw with a vinegar dressing
Cornmeal yeast rolls
Dessert will be a peach/cherry crisp, with vanilla ice cream (it's a recipe I've made before and it was really good...y'all jump started my brain to remember it). My peaches are really a bit dodgy (they were really ripe when I froze them). They taste okay, but look ugly. I figure mixing with the cherries will help on that front! :-)
Is this too much food??? If so, what would you eliminate?
I'll do the pimento cheese tomorrow night.
Field peas and roll dough (can be refrigerated for a couple of days) Thursday night.
Potatoes, slaw, eggs Friday afternoon/evening (company doesn't arrive until late)
That doesn't leave too much to do day-of...
Help with menu for casual dinner this weekend? Sorta Southern themed
I do field pea salad/salsa a lot... just have to decide if I want them cold or not.
Why didn't I think of pimento cheese? I'll do some of that for snacks, with some little bread/toast rounds.
Don't want to do anything fiddly for dessert... I can always do peach crisp... or maybe just make them into ice cream topping?
Help with menu for casual dinner this weekend? Sorta Southern themed
Need your help, gang…
I just realized this coming weekend is our weekend to have houseguests and a bunch of people for dinner Saturday night (we do this twice a year, in conjunction with our local sighthound field trials). The date got away from me....
Last time, I did a big seafood feast and it was fabulous, but cost nearly a fortune. That isn’t happening again this weekend. So, I was thinking maybe a good ol’ Southern dinner. Here are my thoughts:
Baked ham
Scalloped potatoes (from the Les Halles cookbook...not really Southern, but good!)
Field peas (I have two bags of purple hulls still in the freezer from last summer)
Roasted cherry tomatoes (one of the guys LOVES these)
Cornmeal yeast rolls
Maybe some deviled eggs (just because I love them?)
I need ideas for:
Before dinner snacks: folks are always munchie coming in from the field, but I don’t want anything too heavy, as we’ll be having a relatively early dinner.
A cold/crunchy side to go with dinner… I could turn the field peas into a salad… Or do them the traditional way and make something else?
Dessert… I have a TON of frozen peaches I put up and haven’t used. They aren’t the best… they were a little over-ripe when I put them up. So, nothing that requires pretty peach slices. Need something easy.
Wine to go with ham and the Southern sides?
What is the one item you always leave Costco with?
Dog food! It's why we have a Costco membership...
But, also... avocados, Parmigiana, cleaning/laundry supplies, TP... sometimes marcona almonds, other snacks. Got some NASTY Kirkland peanut butter yesterday... I'm guessing those two big jars will go into the dumpster.
Pot Roast without using pre-packaged Lipton Soup
Well, it's not the same as the onion soup, but my favorite pot roast (from the cook at a long-gone diner outside Boston) is to season and brown a chuck roast well, plop in a pan, cover the top with thinly sliced onions, pour V8 juice (the original version) in to about half-way up the thickness of the roast. Cover and bake at 325 for 3-4 hours. Add potatoes, carrots, parsnips, etc. the last hour. At that point, you'll have to decide whether to keep it covered or cook uncovered. You can use beef stock in place of the V8. If you do, you'll need a fair bit more salt.
What makes a great red pasta sauce really great?
I made a simple sauce like this last night, to be used in eggplant parmigiana. I had a quart bag of tomatoes I froze last summer (from a friend's garden). Used those, with just a little olive oil, garlic and fresh basil. Then, I tossed in 2-3 small pieces of rind from some good parmigiana. Oh my! The sauce was truly outstanding. By far the best eggplant parm I've ever made.
Poor planning, too much leftover roast beef
Freezer archeology recently dug out half an eye-round roast I'd done MONTHS ago. That, a container of good beef stock from same freezer, along with some rolls and we had French dips. They were great!
Dinner for 6, when the table seats 4 and it's a small home
I think the one my friends have is made from 3/4" plywood. I don't think it has the braces. I'll ask them for specifics.
Dinner for 6, when the table seats 4 and it's a small home
Here's a great blog post that shows how to construct a topper to make a table larger.
http://inmyownstyle.com/2011/11/how-to-enlarge-a-dining-table-for-extra-seating.html
What to expect at a "Tea"
gardencook, the OP, doesn't state her location and I can't figure it out from her profile...
That said, I'm wondering if she is in the South (and/or people involved with this event are of a Southern "bent")... I grew up helping my grandma when she hosted "tea" for her friends, the church circle, etc... the parties varied, based on season... iced tea/hot tea, indoors/outdoors, etc... but, it was always a refined gathering with light snacks (finger sandwiches, crudites (relish tray), deviled eggs, and sweets (mini tarts, mini cheesecakes, cookies, etc.) Always with best table linen, china, silver, etc. A Southern "tea" doesn't need any other explanation (high/afternoon). It's just a "tea"!
What happened to "Search This Board" option?
I used that a lot and now it's gone! As far as I can tell, there's now no way to search only within a specific geographic board?
Dinner for 6, when the table seats 4 and it's a small home
I don't know if your space would allow for this, but it's an idea...
Friends have a table that seats 8 comfortably, 10 if everyone gets cozy. But, the room is large enough to allow for a bigger table. They had a piece of plywood cut to sit on top of their table to make it bigger. They had it cut with rounded corners. Actually, it may be 2 pieces of plywood that fit together and allow for easier storage... not sure about that. They put a table pad under the plywood and another over, then cover with a cloth. The plywood is both wider and longer than the table. With it in place, they can easily seat 12... 2 on each end and 5 down each side. Perhaps you could do something like this, to allow more room for your two extra stools?
What did you or your Mom make when you were sick?
Potato soup... always potato soup. I made it for both my grandmother and my mother when they were dying.... Just very plain potato soup. Comfort.
Cooking for 2 on a budget?
I really like skinnytaste.com, mentioned already by someone else on this thread. I get lots of good ideas from it, using some recipes exactly, but often just using it for inspiration and applying to items on-hand. I also check the online ads for my grocery before making a meal plan and/or shopping list. Often, I'll plug on-sale items into the search function on that and other websites, looking for ideas.
Report from my most recent Denton/DFW visit
We had the german sausage (Fishers?) klobasneks and got a dozen kolaches (one of just about every choice). I love the sausage ones. Of the sweet kolache, my favorites are cheese (with lemon flavoring), cherry/cheese and raspberry. My husband loved the chocolate/cheese one and my sis loved the apricot. We didn't eat breakfast out, but I was disappointed to hear the diner I liked on the square closed and is now some other sort of restaurant.
I'm looking forward to the next trip...
Report from my most recent Denton/DFW visit
Well, we also had a couple of beef dishes, which were also very good. The fish was from the gulf and its sauce had a definite Texas flavor we all loved. I had planned to try the guinea fowl, which was shown on their online menu, but it wasn't available that night. I don't know if that qualifies as a Texas choice or not.
Report from my most recent Denton/DFW visit
We are headed home from another fun week in the DFW area.
The trip started off well with fried shrimp po boys and fries @ Old Tyme Grocery in Lafayette, LA (I know that's off topic, but it was too good not to mention).
Our fare in the DFW area included (in no particular order):
Very good lunch at Mi Taza in Denton. We all had sampler plates with different choices and it was all very good. The portions were huge. We should've split two plates, but were glad we ordered four because we were the only.people.there (at noon on Tuesday). They gave us a complimentary bowl of queso and it was some of the best I've ever had. Different.
Lunch at Tillman's Roadhouse in Bishop Arts. Fun place. Good food and my DH particularly enjoyed the beer selections. I would've been happy with just a loaf of their bread.
Dinner at Lonesome Dove. All I asked for Christmas was for DH to treat the four of us to a great dinner. I sent several choices to my sister (Pyles, Fearings, Craft, LD and Keiichi). We couldn't get a reservation at Keiichi (my nephew's first choice), and LD was his second choice. It was a good one! We had a great time. Atmosphere and service were spot on and there wasn't a disappointing bite of food on the table (we all shared everything around). Standouts were the rabbit loin, the fish in papillote and the ancho chocolate cake with amaretto ice cream. We nearly passed on dessert and were SO glad we didn't. The four of us split that cake/ice cream and it was plenty, but I could've eaten a whole one myself! Oh, and the rabbit/snake sausage app.
Until next time... I hope to be back in March, so I'll be starting my food foreplay for that soon. :-)
Pam
Dinner at Frilly's in Denton (good, as always).
Kolaches from Kolache Haven.
(Those two are on my must-do-every-time list.)
I also wanted thai at Andaman, but we ran out of time.
Jim Harrison A Really Big Lunch
Here's a link to a copy of it:
http://outyourbackdoor.com/article.php?id=1717
