EEE Cooks: Meals from 2003-11

2003-11-02 Pancake Dinner

“Can I wash my hands? Because I really like to make pancakes.” Our daughter likes to make them and likes to eat them. Tonight, both kids took turns measuring, leveling and pouring the ingredients for the pancakes. And both kids ate more than their share of their work.

2003-11-03 Soup and a Side of Roast Chicken

This is a great dual purpose meal. We roast a chicken tonight (similar to the roast chicken that we made last year), but that’s not the centerpiece to tonight’s meal. We take the innards to make a quick stock which, in turn, serves as the base of a rich, creamy and smooth cauliflower soup.

2003-11-05 Mole, Mole, Mole!

Monday’s roast chicken fulfills its destiny – as chicken mole. We had a little of the chicken that night, but we prepared it with this meal in mind. It was definitely worth the wait, but it was more work than expected. Happily, we had some helpers in the kitchen.

2003-11-09 Nesting

Week 24 of our third pregnancy – nesting begins. The two kids that we already have are terrific. They’re bright, happy and have many wonderful talents – making a mess being very near the top of the list of those talents. Our basement has seen the clutter build to a point that we have to spend the entire weekend cleaning it. We conclude a fun-filled weekend with an interesting little egg dish.

2003-11-16 Making Nanny's Rice Stuffing

The Thanksgiving spirit arrives at our house today. Robin has been on the phone with Nanny, trying to get the family recipe for rice dressing. As usual, talking recipes with Nanny is an adventure, “Oh Robin, just put in enough rice to make it look right.” We think we’ve got it right, but that won’t stop us from experimenting some more in the future!

2003-11-17 Re-Use Soup & a Sandwich

We use Monday’s leftover rice stuffing as the base for something entirely new. We could have re-heated the meal entirely, but we’re always intrigued by something new. Plus Robin really likes lentils. No really, she adores them. She’s funny that way. This one was so good that even the non-lentil eaters enjoyed this meal.

2003-11-19 What's for Dinner When There's No Water

A rather large water main break forces us to scramble our meal plans. We gave serious consideration to going out, but bad weather and the extent of the water outage changed our minds. Instead we enjoy a simple bean chili.

2003-11-25 Anticipating Thursday

And so it begins. Our preparation for Thanksgiving begins, that is. We serve fusilli in a sausage tomato sauce with caesar salad and toasted Italian bread on the side. None of these will be part of our celebratory meal on Thursday, but they help to clear up space and share some common ingredients with some sides that will be included on Turkey Day.

2003-11-26 Leftovers Before Thanksgiving

We couldn’t quite finish all of last night’s dinner. We do so tonight. We also continue to get ready for the big day tomorrow with a preview of the salad that we’ll be serving (an asparagus shallot vinaigrette).

2003-11-27 Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is among our favorite holidays. For this year’s celebration, Grandma, Grammy, Boppy, Erin, Brian and Kristen gather around our dinner table to enjoy pleasant company and good food.

Goat Gruyère and Brie, Carrs Crackers , Roasted Hazelnuts , Crudité (carrots, peppers, celery, and broccoli) and Ranch Dressing , Eggnog with Whipped Cream , Salad with Roasted Asparagus and Shallot Dressing , Shallot Dressing , Dinner Rolls , Stuffed Artichokes , Grandma’s Mashed Potatoes , Sweet Potatoes , Grammy’s corn pudding , Oyster Dressing , Nanny’s Stuffing , Orange Cranberry Sauce , Canned Cranberry Sauces , Steamed Broccoli , Turkey , Gravy , Apple Crisp , Pumpkin Pie , Apple Pie , Pecan Pie , Ice Creams (vanilla and cinnamon) , Girl Scout Cookies

2003-11-28 The Day After

‘Twas the day after Thanksgiving and, in our house, we’re quite grateful for leftovers. Robin is still bitterly disappointed at the turkey results, but that doesn’t prevent her from putting together Thanksgiving leftovers at their finest (and simplest).

Meals from November 2003