Tonight

Tonight I made fresh pappardelle (not mine, sniff, sniff, but from a package) with mushrooms and onions in cream sauce with escarole on the side.

Boil macaroni.

Saute diced mushrooms and onions in olive oil with salt, pepper and sweet paprika until the water is exuded.  Add a sprinkle of Wondra (very fine flour), mix, then add heavy cream. The sauce will thicken.
Pour over pappardelle.

Saute ecarole with garlic until almost done, add chopped tomato and cook until soft. Yum!

That's all folks!

After the Visit

Sunday night, after we visited my brother's new house (which is great), we ate dinner with Glenn, Eileen, Emily and Sarah. Eileen and Glenn made London broil on the grill, with baked potatoes and a really good cauliflower and tomato casserole. I ate Emilio's pizza. It is my absolute favorite (http://emiliosonlinemenu.com/).

Monday night I made a roasted chicken with Leslie's gravy (way yummy) and spinach on the side.

Tuesday night I made shrimp and chorizo with escarole on the side.

Michael has a baseball meeting on Wednesday night, so I am not cooking.

For Thursday I plan (plan being the operative word) to make a slow-cooked barbecued pork.

Friday night, last week, was my 47th birthday :) We went to My Moon with Joe and Denise and Barbara, Paul and Jackie. We had every spread, calamari, tuna tartare, doner kebab, chicken kebab, pan seared tuna and ribeye with peppercorns. Two bottles of Turkish wine, coffee, tea and truffle cake and Turkish flan. A really great evening with some of my favorite people!

The weekend is open...Enjoy the warmth, while it lasts :)

Chicken Riggies

Yes, the recipe is from Rachel Ray, originally, but I adulterate everything I cook. Just can't leave it the way I found it :)

Brown chicken pieces, breast, boneless thigh, whatever, in olive oil and remove. Add onions chopped, cubanelle peppers chopped and garlic-lots. Soften. Add chopped roasted peppers and chopped hot cherry peppers-yum! Soften. Put chicken back,add can of crushed tomatoes and cook. Add heavy cream 'till pink. Salt and Pepper. Serve over rigatoni (hence "riggies") or not. Serve with side of escarole and garlic.

That's what we will be eating later tonight. I pick out the chicken and Michael doesn't eat the rigatoni (that's why he loses weight and I ...).

Just saw Jesse on Skype (video chat), but he was too busy for me, was going to chat with Ian. So glad he's independent, yet hard not to be needed. Better this way, just not easier...

xo

Today, Tuesday

On Saturday, Michael and I went to Ethan's Bar Mitzvah. The party was at Burton and Doyle Steakhouse. The food was really good. During cocktails JUMBO shrimp, baby lamb chops, tuna tartare, crab cakes and chicken on skewers were passed on trays. Sushi was presented in giant boats set on the bar. Todd Wolfe (and his band) played. They were great as always. Dinner was your choice of filet mignon, grilled salmon (I had mine nearly raw-yummy), chicken (I can't remember how it was prepared, and I don't think anyone ordered it-steakhouse-remember) and grilled marinated skirt steak (Michael thought it was great). All accompanied by potatoes (didn't eat them) and creamed spinach (could have eaten a gallon-but didn't). Dessert was fresh berries with real whipped cream and red velvet cupcakes. Coffee was excellent. Bloody Mary's really good too. Cabernet (my 3 glasses) was really good. DJ played, people danced, got henna tattoos, played blackjack (1 table set up with Lizzie as dealer), had photos taken and put on your choice of backgrounds, key chains, etc.

I came home and collapsed. Slept until 9:30pm. Woke up, ordered pizza and salad from D'Angelo's on 108th Street.

Sunday, I did laundry. I kept expecting it to rain, as I have for the past 7 days, since that's what the weather forecast has predicted. But they have been wrong most days, and it poured for a minute, then the sun came out. Michael was at the fields.

Dinner was marinated, grilled chicken cutlets and escarole with garlic and tomatoes (which became escarole, garlic, tomatoes and white beans for me).

Monday was rigatoni with broccoli, garlic and oil.

Today, Tuesday I am not cooking. It is the night of my last SLT and PA meetings (EVER). Not quite sure how to feel...happy, relieved, sad, nostalgic...all of the above. Jesse is graduating and I guess so am I.

Jesse's senior prom is Wednesday night at Chateau Briand On Old Country Road, then overnight at the "after-prom" house in the Hamptons. No school on Thursday for Brooklyn-Queens Day and senior barbecue on Friday. Monday 6/14 is the last full day of classes. Then Regents, then graduation, then GET A JOB for god's sake :)

Saturday will be our 27th anniversary of dating. Seems like yesterday at Charlotte Beach on Lake Ontario 6/12/83 when Michael and I first met. Maybe we'll be at the beach here.

TH and F

Thursday night we had the marinated steak with escarole and biscuits (from twist packaging). Jesse requested the biscuits. I guess I should learn to make them from scratch, however, they are not good for any ones diet, so maybe I won't. Those cylindrical packages come in handy when you need them. Except I am always startled when they POP!

Last night Michael and I went to Dani's House of Pizza with Jill. We shared a carafe of wine (just Jill and I) and salad. I had eggplant casserole (surprise)(not really) and Jill had something new: Calamari ala Lucia, which is sauteed calamari in marinara sauce over whole wheat penne. It was really good and Jill says she found a new favorite. Michael had his usual also :) Grilled chicken breast over peppers and onions in marinara sauce (no pasta, no rice, no nothing). It's not on the menu, he made it up and Geraldo makes it for him.

I asked Jessica (the greatest waitress) if I could make something up that Geraldo could make for me too: Baked marinara sauce parmigiana. Sounds weird right? Not to me :) I don't usually want what comes under the sauce and cheese, I just want the sauce and cheese. So she said we can ask Geraldo to make it next time. Now I only have to remember that I wanted it :)

Today is GORGEOUS! Michael and Jill are out bike riding. Later Michael and I are going into Chinatown to wander around, take in the varied sights and sounds and smells, and then eat...maybe at Joe's Shanghai on Pell. Maybe not....