Sloppy Joes and chips.

Pizza tonight

My mommy made me eggplant parm last night. It was delicious.

I'm jealous!

I'm hungry!

It's been rainy and miserable here, so I made beef stew last night. I filled a ziploc bag with cubes of beef, some flour, salt and pepper, and shook it up. I browned the meat in olive oil, then added four cups of water, two beef bullion cubes, some red wine, a bay leaf, onion and celery. I let that simmer for a few hours, then added green beans, carrots and cubed potatoes. I cooked it another 45 minutes, removed the onion, celery and bay leaf, then added a little cornstarch to thicken it. It was delicious, and perfect for a cold, damp March night.

I'm having a dirty dish blonde moment but why did you remove the onion and the celery?

To make room for the tangleguts!!

I'm going to KY for the weekend hopefully I can find some. Yum-yum

I got KFC tonight. I love the cole slaw.

Steak......

It's artichoke season. We had stuffed artichokes last night. Real Southern Italian style.

Like this:

I love stuffed artichokes! I don't know how to make them, so I have to rely on my mother's generosity! She keeps promising to show me how to make them, and I've told her that at her age, she'd better show me soon!

What do you use to stuff them? I've never ate artichokes.

Fresh bread crumbs, minced garlic, good grated cheese and finely chooped anchovies, all held together with a little extra virgin olive oil. It makes a very light "stuffing."

That's Italian soul food right there, Mig.

Thanks PB. Take out the anchovies and I'll try it.

Visiting the In-Laws. We had leather britches and fried potatoes and some corn bread. Yummy!! But it is playing havoc with my stomach.

What are "leather britches", Mig?

Probably one of the Colonel's pets .

I thought Mig called him "Sugar Britches"?...

Leather britches are grren beans that were strung up and dried out. Then you cook them. Yummy.

Fish and chips tonight

Four cheese ravioli tonight...deelish!

We went to Friday's for dinner last night. They're still running their 3 For $12.99 special, and I don't know how they do it. It's a lot of food for $13!

I had the spinach dip (which I'm not supposed to eat, but couldn't resist), the petite sirloin with sweet potato fries and onion rings, and finished with the peanut butter pie. They also offer free refills on the soda. For five us the bill was $95, including tip and tax. You can't beat it.

I am soooooo glad you posted that, Babe. I'm almost embarrassed to use it (because I'm a jerky guy, I guess), but I got a $50 Fridays gift card as a Christmas gift that's still in my wallet. I think they expire after a year, so it's use it or lose it. I think maybe I'll go on Saturday afternoon. There's one on Central Avenue on the Scarsdale/Yonkers border (where South Seas used to be). My wife gets her hair done at Adam and Eve, just up the block, so I'll nurse a beer while she's in there, then we'll chow down. Thanks!

All of the appetizers were very good. At the table we had the Italian Wedge Salad, the potstickers and the fried green beans. For entrees, two of us had the sirloin, one had the fried shrimp, one had sizzling chicken and cheese, and the other some pasta and chicken dish. The only slight complaint is that there are only two choices for dessert: vanilla bean cheesecake or peanut butter pie (both are good, btw). My daughter's boyfriend hates both, but the waitress offered to substitute a dish of ice cream, and he was very happy with that.

What I don't understand is that they also have a 3 for $16.99 menu, and they're very similar. We can't figure out why anyone would pay more!

They have two martinis that involve cotton candy. I've had the pink one (a highly recommended girly drink), but they added a lemon one now. I'm not drinking, but dying to try it!

A cotton candy martini?

How healthy is that?!

It's a martini!! It should be healthy????

They put cotton candy in the bottom of the glass, and then pour the martini over it. It was really good. I guess it's the equivalent of sugaring the glass, only backwards.

Went to this Brazilian restaurant for dinner last night. It was amazingly good. The service was excellent and the food was delicious. I highly recommend it.

http://www.churrascariaplataforma.com/

Had some fam over today (folks, bro, 2 nephews), plus my bff stopped by to say hi. My bro supplied the "San Gennaro-style" "homemade" sauseege from the new (and supposedly awesome) Italian deli near him (in Matawan, NJ). They were really good off the grill.

He also showed me his "peasant" sauce recipe, borrowed from Lidia, which includes tuna (he calls it "Italian tuna" and thinks it's a different species, but I'm pretty sure Cento catches the same tuna as everyone else lol)

The tuna is nice and subtle, tho, so no fears:

2 med (29 oz) cans tomato sauce (he uses Hunts, which is fine, but I'd go with the Cento San Marzano, personally)
2 cans Cento Tonno "Italian" tuna
1 medium chopped onion
5-6 cloves chopped garlic
Season to taste, incl a bit of sugar to counteract the canned sauce

Sauté onions and garlic a few minutes (he prefers non-EVOO, but that's all I had, and it was fine), add sauce and spices, then simmer about half hour, poof, done.

Very good!!

I also grilled my famous corn (in-husk, with spray margarine and dashes of salt and sugar under the husk, refolded then rinsed in water, then wrapped in foil over the grill for 15-20 mins, turned often, and unwrapped near the end)

Wawa supplied the 10" sub rolls for the sausage sandwiches -- they have great bread. Mom premade the sautéed peppers and onions.

That, and some 100-degree Whiffle ball with the nephews, made it a perfect day.