This week in the kitchen

Monday/11-Mon-22: Dinner was Indian Potato Salad with Cilantro Omelet (SimpSups, p106; cookbooker). I made a half recipe of the (very delicious) potato salad and a 3-egg omelet for the two of us. As suggested, I served with Red Lentil Soup with Greens (SimpSups, p121; cookbooker); this was also good, but needed quite a bit more water to make is somewhat soup-like. All was good. (Ed took a picture, but it got lost in iPhoneland.)

Tuesday/12-Mon-22: Dinner was Pinchos Morunos—Moorish Skewered Meat. (This is a printout. I can't find a PDF for the recipe. No idea where it came from.) But it was good. Served with Grilled Red Pepper Strips with Pomegranate and Cumin (EastMed, p154), a nice salad I've made before. This used up half a yellow bell pepper plus a whole and a half red bell pepper. (Still have a lot of red ones in the fridge.) And some store-bought Moroccan couscous.

Wednesday/13-Mon-22: We got shopping from both Drives today. Our favorite boulangerie is closed on Wednesdays, so there's no bread.

Dinner was, more or less, Harissa Salmon (CL/apr07; MC; web). I use store-bought harissa rather than making it. I cook my own brown rice rather than using instant. I squeeze some lemon over the salmon, then spread with harissa from a tube, then bake according to Ackart (10min/inch @ 450F). This was good as usual. Served with Tunisian Zucchini Salad (MedLight, p117). Nice dinner. 

Thursday/14-Mon-22: Oops, forgot to put the liver on to soak overnight for tonight's dinner, so we had tomorrow's dinner tonight. 

That was Sweet Pepper Risotto (MDGrains, p33), working again on my bell pepper surplus. An egg mixed with parmesan cheese was stirred in at the end, so it was really creamy. Not a favorite risotto, though. Somehow didn't satisfy. 

Liver on to soak in milk overnight.

Friday/15-Mon-22: Ed got his liver dinner tonight. I made Liver and Onions, following a recipe I got from a friend on EAT-L, with a bit of support from my old Joy. It wasn't bad, but I'm still not a liver fan. It has an unpleasant texture, but the onions help with that. Served with parslied egg noodles and Creamy Broccoli & Bacon (web), more or less. I didn't really measure anything out here. There was a packet of lardons in the freezer needing to be used; that replaced the bacon. Used frozen broccoli that I bought for something that didn't get made. The sauce seemed a bit runny, so I thickened it with a bit of cornstarch. Was pretty good stuff. We had one chocolate-covered madeleine each for after. 

Saturday/16-Mon-22: I recently picked up HealthyInd again (cookbook reading having stopped with our trips to the grocery store), but am not finding it appealing read. Although I've marked a few recipes, I think I'm going to give this one up.  

Leftovers for dinner, Bulgur Chili. Then a big kitchen-sink salad. Then one chocolate-dipped madeleine each.

Sunday/17-Mon-22: We had a lovely lunch out before we went to a concert in the late afternoon. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 PHOTO: yes;
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG2: no; #6 BACKLOG3: no; #7 RECYCLE: 0; #8 NEW: 2

This week in the kitchen

Monday/21-Feb-22: Dinner was White Veal Stew with Mushrooms, Corn, and Sherry (Essential, p553). Unfortunately I forgot to notice how long it wanted to cook, so I ended up plopping it in the pressure cooker and finish it off there. Served over a bit of tagliatelle. Good stuff.

Tuesday/22-Feb-22: Dinner was Mediterranean Vegetable & Fish Stew (web). This was yummy, but made twice the servings that the recipe indicates (only two). There's the amount of fish I'd serve for two, plus the amount of shrimp I'd serve for two. I'll freeze the leftovers for another time.

Wednesday/23-Feb-22: Dinner tonight was Gingery Cauliflower Soup (Q&E, p11). This is a yummy soup I've made a couple of times before. Served with Sandwiches with Mint and Chili Butter (Q&E, p19). These should be proper English sandwiches with white bread missing their crusts. I found some square bread, whole wheat and thinly sliced, and used that with the crusts. Interesting and went will with the soup. Not sure why you need to slice up some lettuce to decorate the plate. 

Thursday/24-Feb-22: We had lunch out with friends from The Netherlands today. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Friday/25-Feb-22: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Crabby Crab Cakes (web). (Ed asked why we couldn't have Cheerful Crab Cakes.) Using two 145g cans of crab bits, I made four crab cakes. These were good. Served with leftover beans and rice, and (more or less) Cilantro Lime Sweet Corn (web) with a small can of corn. This was a nice way to tart up a can of corn. Good dinner altogether.

Saturday/26-Feb-22: It was Lex's Roast Chicken* (MC; GD), made with the two coquelets that were meant for our xmas dinner. This is really a favorite. Plus some steamed broccoli. 

Sunday/27-Feb-22: Dinner was Baked Stuffed Tomatoes (SimpSups, p49; cookbooker). I used some freezer-burned mimolette for the cheese, along with a spring onion and a bit of the flesh of the tomatoes. As suggested, served with Broccoli Slaw (SimpSups, p208). No packaged broccoli slaw mix here. I shredded the end of a broccoli, the last of the cauliflower, and a couple of carrots; simple dressing of lemon juice and olive oil. Some onion might have been nice. 

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 PHOTO: yes;
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG2: yes; #6 BACKLOG3: no; #7 RECYCLE: 0; #8 NEW: 2

This week in the kitchen

Monday/23-Aug-21: Monday again. Dinner was a halfish recipe of Pan-Fried Chili and Garlic Chicken Livers (web). This was pretty good as chicken livers go (not my favorite thing). They went well with the grits. Also served with Kentucky Minted Carrots (TLSouth, p67). I made a half recipe of what should serve four and thought it servings were a bit skimpy, especially because it was good. A pair of chocolate chocolate-covered madelines for after.

Tuesday/24-Aug-21: Started to make dinner, then discovered I'd neglected to ensure there were fresh bread crumbs available. So I make a loaf of Easy French Bread (Electric, p62). 

Tonight's dinner, Mushroom Tortellini Soup (SimpSups, p116), was on the plan for tomorrow. I used the end of one jar of dried cèpes (porcini) and opened a new jar. Yuck, the "dried" cèpes were moldy, and seriously yucky at the bottom of the jar. So we were a bit short on the dried mushrooms. Pretty good stuff, though. The whole recipe should serve four, but the two of us ate it all. (Used my last jar of AH Paddestoelen Fond. When will we be able to get more, I wonder?) Some mini Häagen-Däsz ice cream cups for after.

Wednesday/25-Aug-21: Dinner was Moroccan Carrot and Chickpea Salad (web). (I collected this from my EAT-L list.) This was a salad to serve eight, but it was a fine dinner for two. A pair of chocolate chocolate-covered madelines for after.

Thursday/26-Aug-21: Shopping today. Our favorite boulangerie is still closed for vacation and I forgot to buy bread at Leclerc, so I guess I'll be making more bread this week. Ed really likes the one I just make, but it's almost gone now.

Used up the last of my chicken livers to make Chicken-Liver Casserole with Mushrooms and Eggplant (TLSouth, p45). This wasn't bad at all. I did expect the eggs and cream to make a kind of custard around the livers, shrooms, and eggplant, but it was pretty watery. Still, tasted okay. Make a little salad as a go-with. Store-bought custard with caramel for after. It's late, but we're well-fed.

Friday/27-Aug-21: Made a loaf of German-Style Whole Wheat Bread (Rustic, p150). This is about the best tasting and textured whole wheat bread I've made.

Dinner was Crispy Fried Catfish (Delightful, p73). The fish was cod rather than catfish. The cod, as cod does, flaked after being steamed. So I fried the flakes. Only a bit of crispiness appeared. The green mango I bought for the go-with salad in the recipe was rotten at the core; I used a can of mango slices instead. Served with plain basmati rice and a half dose of Cabbage Salad (Delightful, p50), which was good again. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Saturday/28-Aug-21: Dinner was a half dose of Turkey Tenderloins and Apricot Sauce (EAT-L; web). I used turkey scallops, from the freezer, rather than tenderloins; the cooking time was a bit less, I think. Served with orzo and broccoli. For after we had Peach Clafoutis (web). This was very easy and very yummy. Used my oval Wedgwood casserole, oval being the traditional shape for clafoutis.

Sunday/29-Aug-21: Dinner was, more or less, a half recipe of Tonnarelli al Granachio e Rucola—Tonarelli with Crab and Rocket* (ClassPasta, p107), made with linguine. 

More Peach Clafoutis for after.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 PHOTO: yes; #3 *DMA: yes
This month: #4 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG1: no; #6 BACKLOG2: no; #7 RECYCLE: 11; #8 NEW: 4

This week in the kitchen

Monday/16-Jun-14: I planned a crockpot dinner when we thought we'd be out for the day. That didn't happen, but I'd already defrosted the turkey, so this morning I started Slow-Cooker Turkey Stroganoff (web), using two turkey filets rather than bone-in breasts. Turned out the filets I got had been brined or otherwise treated; I just hadn't read the label that closely and there was no clue in the name. Good thing, then, that I added only half the salt to the sauce. I was short on mushrooms (a 500g package was hiding in the fridge), so I served over mushroom pasta. It was pretty good actually, and might be worth making again with some unadulterated meat.

Before dinner I made some banana bread with smashed banana from the freezer using a recipe for Banana Cupcakes (SimpSups, p274). Baked into two smaller loaf pans at the advertised temp, but for at least twice the time. Still a bit damp on the bottom but quite tasty. Didn't frost.

Tuesday/17-Jun-14: Shopping today; nothing special, although they did have chicken livers. Some now in freezer.

Dinner was a half recipe of Linguine with Lemon, Garlic, and Thyme Mushrooms (web), which simple and pretty tasty. I was worried about having enough thyme, but as soon as the pasta was added to the sauce the thyme smell bloomed. Followed by a big salad.

Wednesday/18-Jun-14: Off to Vallée des Singes for the day. Put Sicilian Lentil, Vegetable, and Pasta Soup (SlowItal, p32) in the crockpot before we left. When we were back six hours later, the lentils were still a bit crunchy. Poured the whole lot into a Dutch oven and simmered a while, then added the dilatini (the first pasta suggestion, which I thought might be too small, but was just right). It made a lot, so I froze the rest.  Some banana cupcake bread for dessert.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/19-Jun-14: For this month's potluck at IHCC, I made a some of Mark Bittman's vegetable stock along with some broccoli soup. It was good.

Friday/20-Jun-14: Stopped at the store today to get some fish (since we missed our fresh fish earlier in the week) and also found some pretty good looking corn on the cob. Dinner was a very loose interpretation of Po'Boy Sandwich (SimpSups, p172), served with Mama's Garlic Coleslaw (MC, HandyBook) and corn on the cob. I got blue ling for the fish, fillets which turned out to be quite bony, ugh. I rolled the fish in cornmeal and seafood seasoning, then sprayed with olive oil and broiled rather than frying. They turned out nice and crispy. Should try this technique again. Fish served on ciabattas, topped with coleslaw. The seafood seasoning I used (not Old Bay) was a gift from someone along the way, but was very salty. Decided to toss it. Dessert was two almond triangles from a boulanger, crispy pastry with almond paste filling. All pretty good.

Saturday/21-Jun-14: As a go-with for dinner, I made Cayenne Cornbread (BigGerman, p182) in the bread machine. Except that I forgot to add the yeast, duh. Actually it was better than I'd have expected with no leavening at all. Not going to make a sandwich, but it was good for munching and better crumbled in the soup.

The soup was Chile Bisque (H2CEV, p130), a recipe I spotted while looking at the broccoli soup. Sounded promising, but was almost too bitter to eat. I'll try to salvage the leftovers by adding some beans and corn. We split a classic magnum for dessert.

Yogurt on overnight.

Sunday/22-Jun-14: Off to a concert this evening, so we had our main meal in the early afternoon. That was Broiled Lamb Leg Chops on Eggplant Planks with Mint-Yogurt Sauce (Essential, p549). I had only five little chops, so made a halfish recipe. The mint-yogurt sauce was a nice touch, but too sweet even though I cut back the honey. The eggplant slices were oiled, S&Ped, and had minced garlic pressed into the side that was down for the first bit of broiling. They were good. The lamb chops were coated with coriander seeds, black pepper, and salt; instead of crushing and grinding, I whizzed them all in my spice grinder. Broiled, then rested while the eggplant cooked. Served with some orzo. All good. No dessert.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes; #2 VEG/FISH: 5
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 FotW: no; #5 BREAD: none

This week in the kitchen

Monday/20-May-13: Made some Whole-Wheat Soda Bread (Magic, p66) in the ABM this morning to see us through lunch and tomorrow's breakfast. Used milk and yogurt instead of buttermilk. Nice texture this has.

Went to start dinner and discovered I was an hour late, having misread the timing this morning. Oops! So, dinner from the freezer, some pork with green pepper sauce. Served over mashed potatoes with some haricots verts (that I'd cooked on top of the boiling potatoes) on the side. There's enough sauce left to serve with pasta for another quick meal in the next days.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/21-May-13: I've had my eye on High-Temperature Roast Leg of Lamb (CC1, p209) for a long time, just never got around to doing it. Turns out the same recipe is in Essential (p526; cookbooker) as High-Temperature Roast Lamb. With the cookbooker challenge for Essential going on, I decided to give this a try. Yum. Served with asparagus roasted under the grill and Clothilde Dussolier's Perfect Roast Potatoes, which were especially good tonight, I think because I tossed the half-cooked and shaken potatoes with the bit of oil after they were in the baking pan, rather than in the shaking pan. For dessert, there was Chocolate Rum Mousse (Essential, p814; cookbooker).

Wednesday/22-May-13: Grocery shopping today. Bought some panga to use for a half recipe Moroccan Spiced Fish (SimpSups, p157). Made half of the Moroccan Spice Mix (SimpSups, p239) to make the rub. Really easy, really tasty. Accompanied by a pilaf sort of thing and a half recipe of Carrot Salad (Couscous, p75); looks like the first time I've tried this recipe, it's easy and tasty. Finished off the Chocolate Rum Mousses for after.

Thursday/23-May-13: Today's big accomplishment was filing our French tax return. Online. Then I rushed to get the chicken for tomorrow night's dinner on to marinate before we went quizzing. Only to find that it wanted to sit 15 minutes rubbed with salt and lemon, before it was topped with the marinade. So it spent the quiz time, salted and lemoned, in the fridge, and I added the marinade on our return.

Friday/24-May-13: An IHCC dinner tonight, potluck with Whole Chicken Baked with an Almond and Onion Sauce (MJ@Home, p99; cookbooker), Yellow Basmati Rice with Sesame Seeds (MJ@Home, p208; cookbooker) and Sweet-and-Sour Eggplant (MJ@Home, p153; cookbooker). For afters there was a new cheese, Timanoix, a cat-sitting gift from a Trappist monastery in Brittany. A softish cow cheese that has been washed or soaked in walnut liqueur for a brown rind and nutty taste. Oops, there went our resolve to limit ourselves to a quarter of the cheese at a time!

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/25-May-13: Off to a quiz tonight. Baked another Rhubarb Crumb Cake to take to Barbara's for dinner. Otherwise nothing much happened in the kitchen.

Sunday/26-May-13: Put some Authentic French Bread in the ABM in time for breakfast this a.m. I guess I should really learn another ABM bread by heart so I have more of a repetoire.

Dinner was leftover lamb leg, plus more of Clothilde Dusolier's Perfect Roasted Potatoes and some roasted asparagus and broccoli. For afters, more of the Timanoix and then a slice of cake.

Started a half-batch of a King Arthur Flour no-knead bread so we have bread for tomorrow's lunch.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 IHCC/COOKBOOKS: yes, #2 VEG/FISH: 1
This month: #3 PASTA: yes, #4 BREAD: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/1-Apr-13: There was an easy dinner tonight, that turned out surprising well, Baked Stuffed Chicken Breasts (web). Don't remember where I picked this up, since it's not a blog I watch ordinarily. Per person, open up one chicken breast half, top with some roasted red bell pepper strips, some asparagus (two stalks was all that fit nicely), and some blue cheeese. Tie it all up with string and bake for 30 minutes at 350F. Pretty, tasty, and easy. Served with some buttered, parsleyed potatoes (using up the potato supply), which were good, but weren't the right thing to serve with the chickie. Then a bit salad. Then we started on our chocolate easter bunnies.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/2-Apr-13: Use-up-leftovers dinner tonight. Pasta, broccoli, roasted red bell pepper strips, rest of chicken, with a sauce of onion and garlic, milk and mushroom-soaking liquid, plus a bit of goat cheese. All tossed together and baked for 25 minutes. Not bad at-all. Then more of our easter bunnies. Ed might have finished his, while I've got one more night (and only one, since I was piggy last night).

Wednesday/3-Apr-13: Shopping today. DInner was a half dose of Oven-Roasted Miso Sesame Salmon (SimpSups, p155). I liked, Ed not so much. Now I've got a jar of miso to use up. Accompanied by Pan-Asian Slaw (SimpSups, p212) and some tagliatelle dressed with Spicy Peanut Sauce (SimpSups, p256). No Asian slaw mix here, so made my own; this was quite good anyhow. Peanut sauce was okay; spaghetti, especially whole wheat, would have been better maybe. Q quick wash-up and out to a movie.

Thursday/4-Apr-13: Dinner was a half dose of Fusilli with Green Lentils, Root Vegetables, and Parsley-Caper Puree (Bishop, p353). Not bad, if a bit plainer than I expected.

Friday/5-Apr-13: The main was Buttered Prawns with Tomato, Olives, and Arak (Otto, p150) served with polenta. This dish starts off the new season at IHCC. This was followed by a rocket and mâche salad topped with warm cabecou on toast, cabecou being the local cheese where we visited on the weekend. A nice dinner.

Saturday/6-Apr-13: Ed finished in the kitchen very late, while I was ironing and watching a clock that neglected to spring forward. So, out with the planned dinner. Got Beans and Cauliflower from the freezer, warmed up, and served over couscous. Still a bit left for something.

Sunday/7-Apr-13: Went to our first bric-à-brac of the season today. A bit cool and breezy, but at least it was dry. A small one, and we didn't buy anything, but it was a nice outing.

Dinner was Baked Eggplant Stuffed with Curried Vegetables (Baingan ka Tikka) (web). I made a half recipe, using more or less all the spiced. It was good, but there's a similar sort of recipe in one of the Moosewood books, using potatoes instead of mushrooms, that I think I prefer. Served with some brown rice, followed by a salad. We ate some double-chocolate mini-Magnums when we took Pogo for a walk.

Yogurt on overnight. Authentic French Bread in ABM for tomorrow morning.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 IHCC/COOKBOOKS: yes, #2 VEG/FISH: 5
This month: #3 PASTA: no, #4 BREAD: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/29-Aug-11: Dinner started with a made-up sort of zucchini curry soup. Then some grill-panned pork chops rubbed with Angela's Aromatic Spice Rub from the freezer. Served with grits and some runner beans from Sally. Those really didn't do well; don't know if they were too ripe when they were picked or if I did something wrong. The idea of doing them with shallot-butter was nice, but the beans were pretty inedible.

Earlier in the day I made an apple tart using a Toupargel pâte sablée. Yucky pastry, sorry Toupargel. Spread the bottom with rhubarb jam, then lots of sliced apples (thanks to our new peeler/corer/slicer). Sprinkled the layers with brown sugar and cinnamon. Pretty good except of the icky crust. Also, this is the second thing in a row I've baked that was charred black at the center back. Don't know if I pushed the dishes too far to the back or if something else is wrong with the oven.

Tuesday/30-Aug-11: Dinner was a half-dose of Orecchiette with Pancetta (web, soon to be MC) accompanied by polenta-stuffed tomatoes. The pasta was easy and good (yes, it included zucchini), definitely a do-again. The tomatoes were inspired by a recipe from VPQ, and made a nice side dish. Cook 25-30g of polenta for every 2 people. Cut the top off and empty one tomato per person. While the polenta cooked, I sautéed the last bit of some lardons from the freezer, added a chopped shallot and then a handful of grated zucchini. (You could used any bits of leftovers here.) Stirred that into the cooked polenta and spooned the mush into the tomatoes. Topped with some of the herbed pyramid (goat) cheese, and popped into a 200C/400F oven for 20 minutes to brown. All good, but I'm very full.

Yogurt on overnight.

Wednesday/31-Aug-11: Shopping today. In the "bio" section, I found some stuff that purports to be tofu, but it looks weird, is good for ages, and isn't refrigerated. We'll see.

Dinner was Jean B's Shell Pasta and Black Bean Salad (soon to be MC). It's supposed to be better the next day. We won't know, since we ate it all tonight. Followed by last bit of some reblochon and then some cookies.

Thursday/1-Sep-11: Added a chopped chili to Cooking Light's wimpy apricot chutney, then made a starter/munchie with leftover brick surrounding goat cheese and chutney. Pretty tasty, but not sure how you'd serve this to company, since it's pretty messy as finger food goes and doesn't seem right for a plate. Oh well.

Dinner was Old Bay Roasted Fish and Vegetables (SimpSups, p164) with panga. Used Old Bay Blackening seasoning, rather than the regular stuff. A bit salty to my taste, but not to Ed's. Pretty good altogether.

Friday/2-Sep-11: Seeded 4 of our Beefsteak tomatoes today, big ugly things that they are, and made 1 cup of thick (and plain) tomato sauce. Will have to take some pictures of these one of these days.

Dinner was Penne à la Vodka (KnowHow, p245) , a half recipe of the sauce with almost the full amount of pasta. Quite tasty, with seeded plum tomatoes. Then a salad of mâche. Then some crème brulée from the freezer.

Saturday/3-Sep-11: I went with friends for an afternoon's outing to the Emmaüs charity shop in Angoulême. And came home with a set of pottery (15 salad plates, 15 soup plates, two serving bowls, and two platters all for €10) plus some tablecloths, a long-sleeved t-shirt, and an art book (that cost as much as the pottery). Now I need to find some solid blue dinner plates to go with the pottery; then we can ditch our old, very chipped Corning plates.

On the way home we stopped at a boulangerie to get bread. I also picked up two little quiches (one leeks, the other lardons) for a quick dinner since we were supposed to go out for a bat-watching trip this evening. The weather was not promising, so we skipped the bat outing that we'd planned to attend. We had a simple dinner of carrot sticks, some St Maure with the delicious bread I brought home, and some chocolate roses for dessert.

Sunday/4-Sep-11: Pizza tonight. A sauce of roasted red bell peppers from a jar. Grilled eggplant and zucchini. Mozzarella and goat cheese. Basil from the garden. Yum. Ed ate two quarters, leaving the leftovers in an awkward situation.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: yes, #2 SOUP: yes #3 MIDDAY: no
This month: #4 PASTA: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/22-Feb-10: Soup night tonight, Creamy Chickpea Soup with Garlic and Lemon (MC), really fast, simple, and tasty. For a starter we had toasts with tuna salad from a jar and carrot and ginger pickle. More of the Beaujolais cake for lunch.

Tuesday/23-Feb-10: Finished off the Beaujolais cake for breakfast. Disappointing dinner tonight, probably compounded with worry about my mother's craziness. :-( Started off with some more little toasts spread with tuna salad and topped with ... the end of the carrot and ginger pickle. This is a good munchy and would be a good finger food for a party. I made Chocolate & Zucchini's Galletes de Sarrasin (a half recipe), some filled with a fried egg (rather than an egg cooked right on the crêpe as she suggests) and comté, some with mored of the dried ham and comté. Maybe I used too much batter so that the crêpes were too thick? When I went to turn them, they tore in half or shredded. Tasted ok, but ugly on the plate. Salad afterwards was better. Better tomorrow, I hope.

Wednesday/24-Feb-10: Garlic and Pepper Shrimp tonight, over basmati. I liked it, Ed thought the pepper was too strong for the shrimpers. To save or not to save, that is the question.

Thursday/25-Feb-10: Made it to the market today. There was one tiny eggplant (somebody bought the other five, leaving an orphan), so of course I got it. And some rutabagas for Rutabagas Anna, only to discover that it wants 300F in the oven, and ours will sometimes hold as low as 350F, but never 300F.

Another unsatisfactory dinner, Pork Chops with Garlicky Broccoli from Real Simple. Served with rice as they suggested. Boring.

While Ed was at choir practice, I made the old Honey Crunch Coffeecake recipe. We had that for dessert as we watched another episode of Civilization after dinner.

Friday/26-Feb-10: Shopping this afternoon. The chard was limp and ugly, so those Cooking Italy meals will be postponed. Next week radicchio? Fat chance. Maybe we should shop at Géant in Angoulême.

A better dinner tonight. Made Moroccan Spiced Fish (SimpSups, p157; soon to be MC) with cod from the market, Laura's Garlicky Lemon, Feta, and Couscous Salad (MC), and some (steamed) mini-eggplant halves with a stuffing of shallots, falafel crumbs, and chopped eggplant innards, held together with an egg. (This might have been enough for a main course, even though the eggplant was tiny.)

Saturday/27-Feb-10: More Honey Crunch Coffeecake for lunch; none for dinner. Dinner was Cauliflower-Leek Patties (MC 2BTried), another failure at patty-ness, even though I added an egg to try to glue it together. Made two of Anderson's fresh sauces as go-withs, Parsley Relish with Capers and Cornichons (HowTo, p172) and Pickled Pink Onions (HowTo, p173). Served with some buttered tagliatelle.

Seasonal tarts is the theme for new Vie Pratique Gourmand (20feb-10mar). A couple of interesting ones. The children's section is on making pasta, showing kids rolling pasta and chopping leeks for the soup.

Sunday/28-Feb-10: Attended the farci charentais meal in St. Adjutory today. It was good, but no further food needed today!