The What's For Dinner Thread - October'11 (recipe index in OP)

[PrincessInOz]

My work still throws a pretty big bash every year for Christmas. I consider myself real lucky....

The theme this year was Starry, starry night. It was really really really dark in the room.....

....really really really dark. (I'm pushing the envelop of my camera to get these food porn shots without them looking too grainy.)

The menu, with more stars...

Starters

The Victorian Plate - scallops, salmon, prosciutto, sour cream, potatoes, carrot, spring onion...

The vegetarian version.

The duck.

Both options were served cold. From what I can gather, the Victorian plate was the better option....the duck looked better than what it tasted.




Mains

The lamb was just lovely. It was flaking on the plate and melt in your mouth tender.

The fish....no idea what that was like.

The vegetarian option. Don't be fooled...underneath all that spicy lentil was a wonderfully cooked aubergene or eggplant. Certainly one of the better vegetarian meals DH has had at one of my work functions.

For the number of people in the room, service was surprisingly brisk, well paced and attentive!

We had a bit of a dance after mains and the band just kept playing until it was time for the next course.


Desserts


So this stage, we were all pretty stuffed! My company understands that we like to eat dessert.....so there was no such thing as the alternating plate for dessert here. They also made sure that there was LOTS of dessert.
That area where the flowers were? The dessert was also served out there. I think if you look beyond the flowers you can make out some tables. They were dotted everywhere in this 'foyer' area.


So I headed out to where the light was better for these shots.

Every table inside got one platter like this. On the outside area, the platters just kept coming for about 30 minutes....until we slowed down.

The Mango sorbet. Delightful!

Lemon tart....to die for!

Chocolate affair....dark chocolate encasing a chocolate cake at the bottom, topped with chocolate mousse, with sweet praline highlights. That "twille" following the starry starry night theming.

And for those of you on the Scrollies and Bacon War thread.....that's what is coming in the next couple of posts!






ps. I'm still considering dinner tonight. At this stage, I'm thinking that I still too stuffed to eat a toast and avocado.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Morning, all!

Today we are going out after church. It's my praise team week again and I refuse to cook on those days. I really want to go to our local Greek restaurant for some spaghetti and meatballs, so we'll see.

Mmmmmmm, I'm totally making those cherry muffins!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Morning Lindsay. Hope you get your Greek spags and meatballs!





Okay ladies. I'm in mourning....

My Magimix of over 25 years is officially dead and I was totally lost without it today.
I kinda knew that "Magi" was kinda sick and no amount of Frankenstein was going to keep it going. Well...today was the day I admitted that it was gone.

We'd been talking about getting the second Magi, probably with OTT bells and whistles. DH had planned to get me Magi II for Christmas. Yeah. Like I couldn't see THAT coming! I'd talked him into waiting until AFTER Christmas, when our sales are on.

I don't need one with bells and whistles and I had kinda wanted the version that had the little bowl inside the big bowl.

But I'm gonna need 'something' like yesterday. So, I'm thinking of going out to get the baby Magi tomorow.

Here's my issue. I know KitchenAid does a similar model.....and it's about $120 CHEAPER than baby Magi.
If I go get the little KitchenAid, I'm highly unlikely to go get the top of the range Magi.

Should I get the baby Magi? Should I get the little KitchenAid? Should I just settle for some other brand?

What do you have in your kitchen?

 

[Nancyg56]

PIO- I have to say that I seldom use a food processor but I believe that you use one frequently. If you are just trying to get by with the least expensive until you are ready to buy the one with big guns then get the lest expensive right now and go with that. If you are like I am and once an appliance enters your home it stays until it is dead then do not compromise. You will be using an appliance that you find substandard until it bites the dust. I am still mourning that I did not buy a gently used commercial Hobart when I had the chance because my Kitchenaid was working fine. Well 15 years later it is still working fine but it will never kick the bucket, It is over 25 years old and running perfectly and that darn Hobart is more money now than I could ever justify spending just because I want it.

 

[Goofyluver]

My old one didn't but my new one does! Love it!


I started my XMas shopping yesterday and made a little progress... last night I picked up Taco Cabana for us because I was later than I thought getting back home.

Today was Christmas with DH's immediate family; we drove to his sister's house. DH smoked a turkey and I brought spinach and artichoke mac and cheese.

Tonight is leftovers... or a fudge poptart, which is what I ate

Yea, my new cell uses a flash too. But, it's easy to turn off and not as noticeable as a real camera...PIO!!!

I love poptarts.

Dinner was nice! We all had a great time and there was a surprise waiting for me. My nephew Steven was there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I made the almond joy pie, a peppermint dip served with pirouette cookies and the cookie brittle posted the other day.

Anna made something like the saltine candy posted earlier but she made it with graham crackers. Oh my stars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHe has been assigned that for Christmas

Buddy is going back into the woods tomorrow. He has been falling trees with Dan and hauling them out. HE has to get them cut up into lengths that fit in his dump truck and haul them to Welby's farm. He will be busy upon layoff I think

I am so glad that you had a great time.

I've seen the saltine candy with graham crackers. We may have to try that!

Finally home after another hectic weekend.

You know....there is such a thing as too much going on and over-activity!

I realised I only got about 3 hours sleep last night and am particularly slow right now. I'm loading up pictures and should be able to share some of my weekend if I'm thinking straight later.

I'm too tired to catch up on your news; so I hope I haven't missed out on anything major.

WFDT? I told DH that he needs to work it out. I'm gonna have a simple toast with avocado. I heard him talking to DS and I think DS was going to have some microwave bowl noodles from Costco. I suspect DH will be happy to have avocado on toast too.

I hope you're getting some sleep.

Cherry Muffins

I ate mine hot from the oven...because I just couldn't wait!

Enjoy!

OH PIO!!!! MMMMMMMMM!

Bits and pieces from this weekend....

I wasn't entire satisfied with my shots around town and think that I might have the opportunity to revisit some of these sites on Tuesday or Friday night this week. Also hoping to catch the sites around twilight time. We'll see.

I think your shots are beautiful!

My work still throws a pretty big bash every year for Christmas. I consider myself real lucky....

ps. I'm still considering dinner tonight. At this stage, I'm thinking that I still too stuffed to eat a toast and avocado.

I want to go to your work party! I don't blame you for being stuffed!

Morning, all!

Today we are going out after church. It's my praise team week again and I refuse to cook on those days. I really want to go to our local Greek restaurant for some spaghetti and meatballs, so we'll see.

Mmmmmmm, I'm totally making those cherry muffins!

Have fun today!

Okay ladies. I'm in mourning....

My Magimix of over 25 years is officially dead and I was totally lost without it today.
I kinda knew that "Magi" was kinda sick and no amount of Frankenstein was going to keep it going. Well...today was the day I admitted that it was gone.

We'd been talking about getting the second Magi, probably with OTT bells and whistles. DH had planned to get me Magi II for Christmas. Yeah. Like I couldn't see THAT coming! I'd talked him into waiting until AFTER Christmas, when our sales are on.

I don't need one with bells and whistles and I had kinda wanted the version that had the little bowl inside the big bowl.

But I'm gonna need 'something' like yesterday. So, I'm thinking of going out to get the baby Magi tomorow.

Here's my issue. I know KitchenAid does a similar model.....and it's about $120 CHEAPER than baby Magi.
If I go get the little KitchenAid, I'm highly unlikely to go get the top of the range Magi.

Should I get the baby Magi? Should I get the little KitchenAid? Should I just settle for some other brand?

What do you have in your kitchen?

We have the KitchenAid. I am more than happy with its capabilities, power and performance.

However, I agree with Nan. If you want your Magimix, I'd go get a cheapie machine, deal with it until you can get a good deal, and then you can use it as your "back-up" should you need it.

I'm not sure of the capabilities of the MagiMix compared to the KitchenAid. Maybe you could do a side-by-side comparison IF you're leaning that direction?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Good morning y'all!

We cozied down last night and watched movies and TV.

We watched "Larry Crowne"...it was only all right, if you're looking for a review. We also ordered the complete set of Mad Men DVD's and we began watching those. OMGosh! What a great show! I can't wait to watch some more.

Today's dinner is white chicken and artichoke lasagna...another pinterest find. It looks so good!

Hope everyone has a great Sunday!

 

[Goofyluver]

Dinner was...

Creamy White Chicken and Artichoke Lasagna


Ingredients

2 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts
1 can (14 oz.) artichoke hearts, drained, chopped
1 pkg. (8 oz.) KRAFT Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
1/2 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup chopped drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 cup tightly packed fresh basil, chopped, divided
12 lasagna noodles, cooked

Directions

HEAT oven to 350°F.

COMBINE chicken, artichokes, 1 cup mozzarella, Parmesan and tomatoes. Beat cream cheese, milk and garlic powder with mixer until well blended; stir in 2 Tbsp. basil. Mix half with the chicken mixture.

SPREAD half the remaining cream cheese mixture onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; cover with 3 noodles and 1/3 of the chicken mixture. Repeat layers of noodles and chicken mixture twice. Top with remaining noodles, cream cheese mixture and mozzarella; cover.

BAKE 25 min. or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining basil. Let stand 5 min. before cutting to serve.



***First, mmmmmm. Yummy. And I mean, oh my gawd yummy.

I didn't have any fresh basil on hand, so I added in 1/2 T dried straight to the cream cheese/milk mixture.

One more time for effect...mmmmmmm, yummmmmmy.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Well...We only have a few nights left to eat whatever we want!

So DS had Lucky Charms with EXTRA marshmallows(Kraft has ENTIRE shakers of the crunchy mallows like in hot cocoa and cereal, so he got to shake a few extra on).

DD had "noodles and white powder cheese" (parm cheese on buttered noodles).

I will be having 2 Digiorno(sp?) 200 cal pizzas.....Okay...lets be honest... One measly little flat bread pizza isn't really enough...So I eat 2. 400 calories is still a low cal meal. BTW...they are really good!

We also made Cowboy cookies today and they came out really good. But I shouldn't have doubled the recipe. I thought it looked small, but after you add the oats and the coconut it plumps up the batter quite a bit!

 

[Goofyluver]

Well...We only have a few nights left to eat whatever we want!

So DS had Lucky Charms with EXTRA marshmallows(Kraft has ENTIRE shakers of the crunchy mallows like in hot cocoa and cereal, so he got to shake a few extra on).

DD had "noodles and white powder cheese" (parm cheese on buttered noodles).

I will be having 2 Digiorno(sp?) 200 cal pizzas.....Okay...lets be honest... One measly little flat bread pizza isn't really enough...So I eat 2. 400 calories is still a low cal meal. BTW...they are really good!

We also made Cowboy cookies today and they came out really good. But I shouldn't have doubled the recipe. I thought it looked small, but after you add the oats and the coconut it plumps up the batter quite a bit!

OMG, that is genius!!!

What does hubby want for his first home-cooked meal?

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

OMG, that is genius!!!

What does hubby want for his first home-cooked meal?

He didn't really say...

I'm going to make a roast in the crockpot though. Easy enough.

The only thing he requested is Mountain Dew Whiteout, Holy Clumpsheadache and chocolate chip cookies....Oh and Egg Nog.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

OMG, that is genius!!!

I thought he was going to EXPLODE with excitement when I showed him! He LOOOOOOOOVES any kind of marshmallows, but the crunchy ones are his favorite! I have to go back and try to find more...They have chocolate ones too.

 

[Goofyluver]

He didn't really say...

I'm going to make a roast in the crockpot though. Easy enough.

The only thing he requested is Mountain Dew Whiteout, Holy Clumpsheadache and chocolate chip cookies....Oh and Egg Nog.

He must have a bit of a sweet tooth.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

He must have a bit of a sweet tooth.

Yeah...It's quite disgusting...He puts sugar on Frosted Flakes...

But Cinnamon Life(no extra sugar) is his favorite

 

[Goofyluver]

Yeah...It's quite disgusting...He puts sugar on Frosted Flakes...

But Cinnamon Life(no extra sugar) is his favorite

My teeth hurt just thinking about that.

I hope you have lots of Cinnamon Life waiting for him when he gets home.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

My teeth hurt just thinking about that.

I hope you have lots of Cinnamon Life waiting for him when he gets home.

Wellllllllll....I only have ONE sealed box left.

I had 3 last week...But since DS's love for cereal has been renewed now that ANY cereal can have marshmallow goodness, he has been eating BOWLS of it.

He's 4 and weighs 32 lbs...When the kid wants to eat, I feed him.

 

[denisenh]

You all have the most lovely recipes ever! I love to come over to this thread and browse, only rarely posting.
The recent lasagna recipe will be repeated in my house. It looks delish! And the toll house cookie brittle too, along with a few others!
and the photos, .....heavenly. yummers!
Tonight I have beans soaking in a pot and will be making soup tomorrow along with herbed cornbread. It is finally cold enough for some good hearty soups.

 

[Goofyluver]

You all have the most lovely recipes ever! I love to come over to this thread and browse, only rarely posting.
The recent lasagna recipe will be repeated in my house. It looks delish! And the toll house cookie brittle too, along with a few others!
and the photos, .....heavenly. yummers!
Tonight I have beans soaking in a pot and will be making soup tomorrow along with herbed cornbread. It is finally cold enough for some good hearty soups.

Don't you just love this time of year? I love to have cold-weather soups and stews!

I hope you like the lasagna and the cookie brittle. We were just sitting here eating some. It becomes quite addictive!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Well everyone....after 25 years, I'm pleased to report that my DH has learnt a few things!

He found a way for me to get that Magimix BEFORE Christmas without me feeling bad about spending the money.
You may remember that we celebrated our silver wedding anniversary in November? Well....I had kinda decided "no presents"....we have a good life together, have a house full of 'stuff', didn't really need anything; plus I had booked the Hong Kong trip.

Anyway, DH told me that we should consider the Magimix as our present to each other for the anniversary...and to go out and get the silver/chrome finished model.
BRILLIANT IDEA!

And to cap it off??? I went into 3 stores today to go shopping for it. The 3rd store price matched the 1st store (which had the cheapest price) and also gave me 15% discount immediately....because that was going to be the discount on the Magimix AFTER Christmas.

One very happy little Vegemite here!

 

[franandaj]

Again, I had a whole post prepared and my computer died on me. I gave up on that machine and have now adopted our "travel computer" as my regular one.

So I can't comment on what I was going to say because I am too darned tired!

I've been training my friend Arline on the DIS, she's not internet savy and knows that and the DIS has been throwing her for a loop, but she is coming along like a champ!

She may join in on the thread here, but she doesn't cook a lot anymore because now she lives alone since she lost her life partner of six years. They were very close and soul mates and has had rough time getting back into life since then, but she does love to cook and I may get her into this group because everyone here is so supportive, so you may see her join in the next couple weeks while she is visiting. She will love to call you all friends!

We had a great couple meals since she has been here, last night was the turkey involtini and it was a little dry, some gravy would have done it good, tonight was meatloaf, velveeta shells and cheese and my zuccini boats that I posted the recipe back in who knows when!

Tomorrow may be leftovers since we are trying to leave for Vegas a day early to break up the driving for Fran. She can only sit in the driver's seat since her arthritis makes it difficult for her to get into any other seat in the car. Let's hope we get some fun and relaxation on this trip. If nothing else I'm the one who needs it!

 

[cornflake]

Wellllllllll....I only have ONE sealed box left.

I had 3 last week...But since DS's love for cereal has been renewed now that ANY cereal can have marshmallow goodness, he has been eating BOWLS of it.

He's 4 and weighs 32 lbs...When the kid wants to eat, I feed him.

Buy...

in bulk.

The latter site has a frequent buyers' program and is famous on the Internets for starting the bulk cereal marshmallow fad. Maybe if you order quick, you can have a giant, like 12-lb sack for x-mas.

His weight sounds normal for his age though.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Well, we didn't get to the Greek restaurant yesterday because it was insanely crowded so we went to Firehouse Subs, which was also nuts. Grrr. Today I am making chicken and beef tacos with rice and refried beans. I am hoping to make molasses cookies today, too.

Dinner was...

http://tandriantastytidbits.blogspo...howComment=1320724777727#c2360032814037639630

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

I've been training my friend Arline on the DIS, she's not internet savy and knows that and the DIS has been throwing her for a loop, but she is coming along like a champ!

She may join in on the thread here, but she doesn't cook a lot anymore because now she lives alone since she lost her life partner of six years. They were very close and soul mates and has had rough time getting back into life since then, but she does love to cook and I may get her into this group because everyone here is so supportive, so you may see her join in the next couple weeks while she is visiting. She will love to call you all friends!

We had a great couple meals since she has been here, last night was the turkey involtini and it was a little dry, some gravy would have done it good, tonight was meatloaf, velveeta shells and cheese and my zuccini boats that I posted the recipe back in who knows when!

Tell Arlene I am so sorry for her loss But I do hope she joins us!