Quarantine and chill and kindness chatty clubhouse: Jump in and join the conversation! All is welcome!

[Meriweather]

Glad this thread is here.....you are right the community board is very hard to wade through now.

Beautiful day here......84. Tomorrow we go up! Welcome to the desert! :sun:

Love burgers. We do them at home a lot. Grilled, and I have a lot of concoctions too.
Not a fan or Five Guys or In n Out Red Robin is my go to place.
At home I like a burger with mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato, onion.....and if I have it, avocado and/or bacon.
But no bun

Tonight's dinner is the Smokey Sausage Chili (I posted the recipe a couple of days ago)

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Worked a long weekend and just caught up with this thread. Ordered a pizza while I was reading about pizzas.



My favorite is Regina Pizza in and around Boston (since 1926) but we have some outliers that are also good with a similar style (pic). Love Papa Gino’s too (a pp mentioned it upthread), but many have closed so I haven’t had it in a while. Some from around here don’t like Papa Gino's but it reminds me of when I was a kid and it had just opened in my city - my friends and I used to take the bus to go get some, and sit inside booths with little jukeboxes on the tables. So I’ve been enjoying it for a long time and every bite brings me back to those days,

I love classic cheese with a crispy crust, but I also like plum tomato and carmelized onion , veggie, hamburger and onion (from a pub we frequent), sausage pepper and onion (known locally as the Fenway), Hawaiian and BBQ chicken (from a place close to home and which my DS loves). But it depends where we get it or whether we make it ourselves.

We bought a pizza oven that someone here on the Dis had actually mentioned once (probably on a pizza thread!). It is fun! We make our own pizza sauce (no cooking required) but get the dough balls at the supermarket. DH can whip up a whole bunch of pizzas if we have a party or people over. We use it outside and it is portable too. You do have to roll the dough out pretty thin.

https://www.pizzacraft.com/products/pizzeria-pronto-outdoor-pizza-oven
Some of our pizzas







As for hamburgers my favorite is the Swiss and mushroom at Red Robin. I also like their parmesan garlic fries! DD makes a really good turkey burger. The recipe came from a culinary class she had in HS. I told you I don’t do recipes but here is how you make them. People who’ve tried them often request them again.

1 1/2 to 2lbs ground turkey
Broccoli florets of three large heads chopped finely (eta mainly the “flower” part and a small bit of the stem)
I package of shredded cheddar cheese
McCormack’s Hamburger seasoning (to taste; DD uses appt 2-3 Tbsp)
Salt and pepper
Can add onions, peppers, zucchini if you wish

Mix, then grill. we use pepper jack cheese to top toward the end and serve with picalilli relish. Makes about 6 to 8 but they reheat and freeze well. We love another next day!

I also missed the favorite recipe to share a few days ago. My mother always made a simple corn chowder and I make it for something quick and good, too. I try to keep canned corn on hand.

Whole kernel corn - one can, drained (can add liquid to water to cook onion and potatoes)
Creamed corn - two cans
Potatoes - three or four, scrubbed clean
Onion - one decent size
Milk or cream
Butter - 1-2 Tbsp
Bacon - one or two slices crisply cooked (or can use Oscar Mayer Real Bacon Bits)
Salt and pepper

Chop onion and potatoes. Can leave skins on potatoes if you wish (and are feeling lazy!) or peel. Cover with water JUST TO COVER AND NO MORE maybe even a little less (or it will be watery). Cook till potatoes are soft. Add corn, a little milk or cream, butter and salt and pepper to taste. Let it all heat together for a few mins, and gently stir to mix. Serve with bacon bits on top after putting in soup bowl (and a dollop of butter if you want it to be extra good).

Thanks for keeping this going, it was a very rough weekend at work and I was glad to get lost in this thread for a while before I have to do it again.

 

[KevM]

*drool* I love burgers. My two favorite types are either topped with bacon, fried onions (or even better an onion ring), and bbq sauce. Or a hangover burger; bacon & a sunny side egg.

 

[AuntieMe3]

Worked a long weekend and just caught up with this thread. Ordered a pizza while I was reading about pizzas.

View attachment 489797

My favorite is Regina Pizza in and around Boston (since 1926) but we have some outliers that are also good with a similar style (pic). Love Papa Gino’s too (a pp mentioned it upthread), but many have closed so I haven’t had it in a while. Some from around here don’t like Papa Gino's but it reminds me of when I was a kid and it had just opened in my city - my friends and I used to take the bus to go get some, and sit inside little jukeboxes on the tables, so I’ve been enjoying it for a long time.

I love classic cheese with a crispy crust, but I also like plum tomato and carmelized onion , veggie, hamburger and onion (from a pub we frequent), sausage pepper and onion (known locally as the Fenway), Hawaiian and BBQ chicken (from a place close to home and which my DS loves). But it depends where we get it or whether we make it ourselves.

We bought a pizza oven that someone here on the Dis had actually mentioned once (probably on a pizza thread!). It is fun! We make our own pizza sauce (no cooking required) but get the dough balls at the supermarket. DH can whip up a whole bunch of pizzas if we have a party or people over. We use it outside and it is portable too. You do have to roll the dough out pretty thin.

https://www.pizzacraft.com/products/pizzeria-pronto-outdoor-pizza-oven
Some of our pizzas

View attachment 489810

View attachment 489807

View attachment 489811

As for hamburgers my favorite is the Swiss and mushroom at Red Robin. I also like their parmesan
garlic fries! DD makes a really good turkey burger. The recipe came from a culinary class she had in HS. I told you I don’t do recipes but here is how you make them. People who’ve tried them often request them again.

2lbs ground turkey
Broccoli florets chopped finely
I package of shredded cheddar cheese
McCormack’s Hamburger seasoning (to taste; DD uses appt 2-3 Tbsp)
Salt and pepper
Can add onions, peppers, zucchini if you wish

Mix, then grill. we use pepper jack cheese to top toward the end and serve with picalilli relish.

I also missed the favorite recipe to share a few days ago. My mother always made a simple corn chowder and I make it for something quick and good, too. I try to keep canned corn on hand.

Whole kernel corn - one can
Creamed corn - two cans
Potatoes - three or four, scrubbed clean
Onion - one
Milk or cream
Butter - 1-2 Tbsp
Bacon - one or two slices crisply cooked (or can use Oscar Mayer Real Bacon Bits)
Salt and pepper

Chop onion and potatoes. Can leave skins on if you wish (and are feeling lazy!) or peel. Cover with water JUST TO COVER AND NO MORE maybe even a little less (or it will be watery). Cook till potatoes are soft. Add corn, a little milk or cream, butter and salt and pepper to taste. Let it all heat together for a few mins, then gently stir to mix. Serve with bacon bits on top after putting in soup bowl.

Thanks for keeping this going, it was a very rough weekend at work and I was glad to get lost in this thread for a while before I have to do it again.

I LOVE Red Robin garlic fries. It's why I only eat half the burger at the restaurant and take the other half home. LOL Gotta get my fry fill while there and they are fresh and hot.

And sorry work has been rough.


I found out tonight one of our favorite to go places reopened for take out orders. I got fish tacos, DD got a chicken bowl, hubby got a shrimp burrito and taco. Yum...soo good. Now that I know they're open again, its going to be our "taco Tuesday" place.

 

[ten6mom]

I am a strange person who prefers a burger from a place like Smashburger to a super thick one.

I like a bit of mayo, and sliced dill pickles. Cheese I can take or leave.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Burgers...I love cheeseburgers with tomato slice, lettuce, ketchup, sweet relish and if available sautéed mushrooms! My bun sometimes falls apart! Meat fixed on grill!

I am grateful that another friend had a stent placed in her heart yesterday, and that she will go home today from the hospital.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

How could I forget my pets? I have a sweet and and funny Little Cairn Terrier (a Toto) after a lifetime of having only German Shepherds. My last two Shepherds lost the use of their back legs prematurely and it broke my heart into too many pieces. Plus the care needs were great when they were on wheels and we had to carry them out to go to the bathroom, etc. I was already taking care of my mother, so we decided to go small for a while, but we are still waiting for the right German Shepherd to come along and join our family again as we all really miss having one. (Now is not really the time, either, though, as my work is taking most of my energy these days, but we’ll see what happens. We’re in no rush.)

My father brought our first big German Shepherd home in the days of the Boston Strangler! My mother wasn’t really a dog person but she liked the protection a dog like that offered. But the rest of us grew to love the breed. (I think she did in her own way, too, as I remember one day many years later when I was taking one of the dogs for his last ride to the vet’s, she was standing in the doorway crying and came out to kiss him goodbye. She also enjoyed watching them for us when we went away.) Six of them have shared their lives with me, my family, and later my DH and kids. Dogs have been a hobby of mine since I was very young. I love them and take a strong interest in their welfare.

I also had hamsters from a young age, and DH and I had two cuties when we first bought our house. (Our German Shepherds always liked them so no problem there, but we are careful with our terrier as they were bred to kill vermin. Our Cairn knows our hamsters are part of the family so largely ignores them, but still careful.) Since then DD has taken to them and we’ve had quite a few over the last ten or twelve years. Many have been featured here in my posts over the years. They only live about two years so that can be hard.

We got our first hamster of the last ten years one day when we were browsing in a local pet shop. He was fully grown I think someone didn’t want him and the owner took him in. He was in the “room of death” as we called it with the snakes and such, and DS, who loves animals, at the time was freaking out we couldn’t leave him there! We were actually driving out of the parking lot when he was still pleading and saying he’d use his birthday money, so we went back, and the rest is history! (And though DS loves them he never really took on the responsibilities the way DD did.)

Most recently our last beloved hamster died and DD went and bought another one. We thought it was just being shy but we found it dead in its house. I was pretty pissed they apparently sold her a sick one but she didn’t know. When I went back with her all the cages were empty so they must have had an illness outbreak. We had just bought a new cage so we had to bleach everything thoroughly. So we went elsewhere and got the little guy we have now. The new cage is easy to clean - that is the secret right there to having this type of pet! And it’s nice to have a bigger cage so they have room to move around. Socializing them takes a little patience as if they come from a pet store they’ve already been through a lot and they’re scared. But just being gentle with them and rewarding them with a treat when they come out of the cage nightly (as they are nocturnal) goes a long way. (And also means they can be grumpy or even bite if woken up and handled during the day - or overhandled or handled roughly.) Our guy now is a little shy still but gentle and sweet. He loves his nightly treat which could be a blueberry, a piece of dried pasta, a crust of raisin bread, or like in the picture below, a piece of mozzarella. Last night he had a tiny piece of pizza! Easy to please! (Too many fruits or vegetables can give them diarrhea but they like a little bit.)







Sorry, could not get that last one smaller

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I enjoy eating my hamburgers while drinking a 1961 Cheval Blanc from a Styrofoam cup like Miles did in Sideways...

OMG I loved Sideways!

In regards to burgers, I go for pickles, ketchup and mustard. Although if I do Culvers, I get pickes, ketchup, an mayo.

 

[bobbiwoz]

...

I am grateful that another friend had a stent placed in her heart yesterday, and that she will go home today from the hospital.

Not going home today, but doing okay.

 

[monkeydawn]

We bought a pizza oven that someone here on the Dis had actually mentioned once (probably on a pizza thread!). It is fun! We make our own pizza sauce (no cooking required) but get the dough balls at the supermarket. DH can whip up a whole bunch of pizzas if we have a party or people over. We use it outside and it is portable too. You do have to roll the dough out pretty thin.

https://www.pizzacraft.com/products/pizzeria-pronto-outdoor-pizza-oven

Thats a much more resonably priced pizza oven than the ones I was looking at. I take it you would recommend this? Do they ever have sales/ coupons?

 

[easyas123]

If you click the link and go on their website you can sign up for a discount - 10 or 20 % I think!

I checked it out - looks like a fun idea!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Thats a much more resonably priced pizza oven than the ones I was looking at. I take it you would recommend this? Do they ever have sales/ coupons?

We like it a lot. It's not something we're going to pull it out for one or two pizzas though, because it's a fair amount of work and mess! But for special occasions or if you want to make a lot of pizzas, it's really great!

We keep ours in our shed so it stays in good condition. It has a propane tank and heats to 700 degrees. We set it up on a workhorse type table next to the grill and keep a good size glass table next to it to work on. Inside you have to roll out the dough so there's flour everywhere. And pizza pans and sauce and various ingredients. If you don't roll out the dough thin enough the pizza comes out fat (like bread) and kind of curls on itself, lol. But once it gets very hot the pizzas do come out really nice. We use cornmeal in the bottom and you have to change that out every few pizzas as it burns. So it takes a little while to get the hang of. It says it's portable which is a nice feature, but I can't really see making pizzas at the beach or at a picnic, for instance. A friend was going to borrow it one time and that would've been easy.

I looked and looked for a discount when we bought ours, but never found one. They do make a cheaper model but I didn't think it was as good. I would recommend it just knowing I don't think it's realistic to use it every time you feel like a pizza. Otherwise it's a great little pizza oven. We first bought ours for our kids' HS graduation where we had an all day open house in July. It was hard to keep foods hot or cold all day, but with this we could simply pop more pizzas in when people came in. I think I saw on the website they were closed due to Corona, but I think we got ours on Amazon anyway.

 

[Praying Colonel]

My favorite burger at home is one I can do in the summertime on the grill: the grilled beef (medium rare) and a big slice of garden tomato are the stars. A little bit of ketchup and mustard, that's it.

My favorite burger place in town does what they call an Argentinian burger: provolone, chimichurri, arugula, roasted tomatoes, chorizo and caramelized onions. It's a lot of stuff but man, is it good.

 

[mrodgers]

Burgers - home grown grass fed beef, mix some ranch seasoning in the meat if so desired. I make 1/3 patties.

Burgers cooked preferably in the woods over an open fire, but over charcoal on the Weber with melted cheddar cheese or smoked Gouda at the end works at home (rented property, at the house I cooked almost every weekend over fire.) Grilled kaiser roll. Bacon, mushrooms, lettuce, mayo, and ketchup. End of August, add thick sliced tomato from the garden. Can't stand store bought tomatoes. I usually get only 2 slices of a garden tomato for a sandwich, lol.

 

[monkeydawn]

We like it a lot. It's not something we're going to pull it out for one or two pizzas though, because it's a fair amount of work and mess! But for special occasions or if you want to make a lot of pizzas, it's really great!

We keep ours in our shed so it stays in good condition. It has a propane tank and heats to 700 degrees. We set it up on a workhorse type table next to the grill and keep a good size glass table next to it to work on. Inside you have to roll out the dough so there's flour everywhere. And pizza pans and sauce and various ingredients. If you don't roll out the dough thin enough the pizza comes out fat (like bread) and kind of curls on itself, lol. But once it gets very hot the pizzas do come out really nice. We use cornmeal in the bottom and you have to change that out every few pizzas as it burns. So it takes a little while to get the hang of. It says it's portable which is a nice feature, but I can't really see making pizzas at the beach or at a picnic, for instance. A friend was going to borrow it one time and that would've been easy.

I looked and looked for a discount when we bought ours, but never found one. They do make a cheaper model but I didn't think it was as good. I would recommend it just knowing I don't think it's realistic to use it every time you feel like a pizza. Otherwise it's a great little pizza oven. We first bought ours for our kids' HS graduation where we had an all day open house in July. It was hard to keep foods hot or cold all day, but with this we could simply pop more pizzas in when people came in. I think I saw on the website they were closed due to Corona, but I think we got ours on Amazon anyway.

Thank you very much for the tips. There are just two of us so I dont know how "worth it" it would be but it sure is fun to dream right now!

 

[lovemygoofy]

Please share the recipe, Tina..it sounds delicious! TIA

Here is the link for honey lime chicken. I added in garlic, ginger, chili flakes, and pretty much doubled the recipe and cooked half in the chicken and half with the veggie stir fry.
https://dinnerthendessert.com/honey-lime-chicken/
For the rice, I cooked up some brown basmati rice with can coconut milk and quarter cup of water and topped with touch ground nutmeg.

I heard really good things from Matt and I even liked it. Very rare for the first time making something.

 

[lovemygoofy]

Happy Wednesday to all,

It's been busy day here today. I threatened to push Matt out into the plague today. I am not used to having someone around so much. I love gim but I'm going to need one of us start working again and involves leaving the house. Today was day of phone call interviews for us both, which is nice to have. We will see what pans out next and where the wind takes us.

Dinner tonight is probably going to be if you can fix it without me having to cook it, then you can have it dinner. Fancy, isn't it?
I do have a ham in crockpot but it's weird one I'm not familiar with and still cooking I think. I'd never had a ham that wasn't already spiral cut and ready to look pretty served. It smells good though.

It's pretty out right now but supposed to be ton of rain coming this way, which probably not we really need but it'll be fine. That's my words for everything "it's fine." Last summer all kinds hell had broke loose in my office and I'm like it's fine, it's fine..there's a guy threatening to kill himself in my office and guy in the office next to mine a guy that having withdraw issues and I'm like it's fine..you say it enough I guess you might believe it.

Gratitude today:
1. Nice conversation with a cousin today on FB messenger. I don't particularly like Facebook or want to use it that much but it is nice to talk with people I actually like.
2. I bought cordless kettle today. I drink quite bit hot tea especially after meals and I'm excited to have something just for me.
3. It's Masked Singer night. I don't have much else exciting in my life so I need to know who these people are that I've barely heard of singing in the ridiculous costumes.

Peace and safe health to all.

 

[lovemygoofy]

Question of the day: 4/22: Current or last job? If interested in sharing more about yourself, what is your current job or last job?

I'm nosey about people and always interested in knowing what people did or do. I'm starting to tip my toe back out in the work force again and I'm trying to decide which was I want to turn next and always wanting to hear what others do. My last job with the Army was a Suicide Prevention Program Manager. Not easy and some long miserable hours or days but I worked with some great, great people who had the best hearts. I sometimes wish I could interview the staff before agreeing to new job.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

In my past life, I was a restaurant manager. Started in high school at McDonalds, worked my way through the ranks and that led me to other positions over the years, including a foray into fine dining. I kinda miss working.

DH is a civil designer/CAD drafter. He's been doing this kind of work (with the occasional foray into mechanical engineering) for...geez....30 years now.

Tonight, we're doing big thick ham (leftover from yesterday) sandwiches with swiss, mustard, pickles, and tomato; and a big salad (spinach, baby greens, carrots and a lemon dressing). I've got strawberries macerating for a strawberry shortcake. I am not a big fan of berries, but the strawberries I picked up today are just...perfect. A bit tart, a bit sweet, a bit soft, a bit crisp. Just right. It'll never happen again. LOL

 

[lynxstch]

Happy Wednesday to all,

It's been busy day here today. I threatened to push Matt out into the plague today. I am not used to having someone around so much. I love gim but I'm going to need one of us start working again and involves leaving the house. Today was day of phone call interviews for us both, which is nice to have. We will see what pans out next and where the wind takes us.

Oh boy do I hear you on that one. Hubby has been working from home for 5 weeks now. This 24/7 stuff is getting old fast. We are losing patience with each other. I feel like everything I do gets questioned. I am used to him being gone all day, doing what needs to be done on my own, with noone watching over my shoulder. As much as I love him, I need him to go back to work in the office, at least until he retires, which won't be very long anyhow.

Dinner tonight is probably going to be if you can fix it without me having to cook it, then you can have it dinner. Fancy, isn't it?
I do have a ham in crockpot but it's weird one I'm not familiar with and still cooking I think. I'd never had a ham that wasn't already spiral cut and ready to look pretty served. It smells good though.

LOL you and I had the same thoughts. I made ham and pickle salad earlier today from most of what was left of our Easter ham. Ham isn't my favorite meat, and I'm getting pretty tired of it. We had ham salad sandwiches and beef and country vegetable soup. I am tired of planning and cooking every single meal!

It's pretty out right now but supposed to be ton of rain coming this way, which probably not we really need but it'll be fine. That's my words for everything "it's fine." Last summer all kinds hell had broke loose in my office and I'm like it's fine, it's fine..there's a guy threatening to kill himself in my office and guy in the office next to mine a guy that having withdraw issues and I'm like it's fine..you say it enough I guess you might believe it.

Same weather here. Was a nice sunny 60 degrees today, but pretty windy. They are calling for rain the next couple of days. I am glad that I got the garden tilled, and the manure, fertilizer, and lime down on Monday, so the rain can pound it in.

Gratitude today:
1. Nice conversation with a cousin today on FB messenger. I don't particularly like Facebook or want to use it that much but it is nice to talk with people I actually like.
2. I bought cordless kettle today. I drink quite bit hot tea especially after meals and I'm excited to have something just for me.
3. It's Masked Singer night. I don't have much else exciting in my life so I need to know who these people are that I've barely heard of singing in the ridiculous costumes.

Peace and safe health to all.

Today I am grateful that I was able to kind of hold my temper in, and not say some of the things I was thinking when hubby jumped on me for every little thing
I am grateful that our granddaughters concussion is going away day by day.
I am glad it's Masked Singer nite also, but like you, I hardly know most of the people who have been behind the masks all season, and I have been wrong on every single one of them, lol!