Company's Coming

...or maybe that should be company came, but whatever.

I had a few of my knitting group friends over for dinner the other night.  Brian offered to cook us dinner instead of ordering out, and I gladly took him up on it.  He asked a friend at work, "What do you cook four women?"  His friend replied "I'm sure they'll appreciate whatever you make, because they didn't have to cook it!"

Roasted cranberry chicken, lemon and thyme quinoa, sauteed green beans.  Damn!  Brian even did the "Iron Chef" description of what he did as we started to eat, but I'm not sure anyone but me heard him.  We were already busily scarfing down the deliciousness.  Lots of leftovers too.  Oh, and I haven't been a big believer in quinoa in the past, but this recipe from America's Test Kitchen has made me a raving fan.  Into the notebook it goes!

The next day, we roasted a turkey.  One of my tenants asked if I'd like to have a frozen turkey that she wasn't going to use so of course I said yes.  We had my brother and SIL over, and it was a fun night.  lots of leftovers from that too, despite sending them home with some.

  And then last night, my next door neighbor brought over a baked ziti casserole as a thank you for helping clear her driveway last week during Snowpocalpyse '13.  Had that for dinner the past two nights, and there's STILL three helpings left for lunch(es).  Talk about a very good weekend!

No Cheese Necessary?!

As stated before, I love "stuff on toast."  My favorite sandwich in the world is probably hot turkey and gravy on toast.  Which I don't eat very often.  So when I saw a recipe for Steak and Onion Sandwiches, I knew it was only a matter of time.  Fridays are tough dinner nights at our house because quite often after five days of working, neither one of us feels like cooking.

Meet last Friday's dinner.  Rib-eye steak, caramelized onions over crusty rosemary bread.  (The recipe called for sourdough...we couldn't find it at two grocery stores.)  Served with frozen sweet potato fries.  Awesome!!
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Note:  We ate this sometime in January, I believe.  No idea why it is posting NOW, but let's just roll with it!  :)

Sunday Surprise

Brian felt so sorry for my Florida trip getting trumped by Snowstorm Nemo, he cooked me Eggs Benedict.  :)

Sassy/Saucy

Monday Night, 5:40pm.  I'm starving. 

Brian's clearing the driveway a bit more after this past weekend's blizzard, so I decide that I am going to cook a fast, simple dinner.  Defrosted pork chops in the fridge, waiting to be dropped into a hot skillet.  To make it friendly to all household members and FAST, I add a box of Kraft Mac n Cheese and a can of green beans.  I just don't want the complaints tonight and when we all eat the same dinner, everyone wins.

Then my wheels start turning and I decide to improvise a sauce for the pork.  This is what I came up with, and it was delicious!  Note:  this isn't quite a recipe, as I don't have exact measurements of every ingredient, nor how long I cooked this.  It's very much make-it-up-as-you-go-along, or MIUAYGA :)

Honey-Mustard Sauce

1 cup yellow mustard

1/2 cup honey 

2 cloves fresh garlic, chopped fine

couple of shakes of dried rosemary and dried sage  (I really have no idea how much, but not a lot.) 

Salt and pepper to taste.

chicken broth, to thin the sauce towards the end


I sauteed the garlic, then added the honey, mustard and spices to the saucepan.  After this got a bit bubbly, I added it to the pan drippings from the pork chops.  It got a bit thick, so I added chicken broth to thin it out a bit.  Two of the three pork chops were added back to the pan (the boys probably wouldn't eat this and barely are the last pork chop split between them) to coat.  Simple, yet divine.  And pretty fast on a Monday night, as dinner was on the table at quarter past six!  You have to love that.

Super Meatloaf

In honor of the Superbowl (not that anyone was really caring in our house, since neither of our teams was in it) we made a Super Meatloaf.  I'm not usually a big fan of meatloaf, but this was an exception: bacon.

Because bacon-wrapped meatloaf has GOT to be delicious, right?  Three of the four family members agree....it indeed was SUPER!  The fourth didn't like it but didn't make gagging noises at it AND was running a fever, so if that wasn't going on I conclude that he would've liked it.  It had two of his favorite things making a joint appearance:  burger and bacon.  What's not to like? 

Recipe from Epicurious.  I got a lot of Facebook comments on it...one person asked if I had stuffed it with cheese as well, as her mother-in-law prepares it.  Well, I didn't, but I know what to strive for next time!