SimplyYummy123

Okay, so I made WAY too much food for Thanksgiving dinner.  It was all very delicious … but … after eating it for 4 days, well, I was happy to see the last of it!  Yes, I did eat the brussel sprouts and they were very tasty.  So simple to make – stirfry in sesame oil with shallots, add pepper and apple cider vinegar.  Ta da … done!  Once I figured out how to barbeque the pork roast without the flames, (place it on the top rack and light the burners on either side, NOT the ones directly underneath), it turned out perfect.  The roast was so tender, it nearly split into two when we were removing it from the grill onto a serving platter.  The next day we ate it heated up with gravy.  The day after and the one after that, we just sliced off pieces of the roast and ate it – cold.  So yummy any which way it was eaten!  The pumpkin soup was a hit.  The first taste test seemed to be lacking something, I added more spices and a can of coconut milk.  It was heavenly.  As for the pictures, well, I was so busy getting the food out and on the table … I forgot to take any.  Next time.  There is now a sign in my kitchen – TAKE A PICTURE!  Not something I’m used to doing …  Live and Learn.

This coming Friday (Oct. 21st), I was supposed to be catering a dinner party for 15.  Unfortunately the host had a bit of an accident and the party has been cancelled.  Organizing/planning fanatic that I am, some of the food was purchased mere hours before I received the cancellation email yesterday.  Now what do I do with all this food?  Well, here’s the plan …  All the chicken breasts, except for 5, (tonight’s dinner), will be frozen for future use.  A couple of the sweet potatoes will be cut into wedges, seasoned, roasted and served tonight.  Thankfully the rest of the sweet potatoes will last until we can eat them all.  Sweet potatoes disappear rather quickly in this house.  The 5 GIANT leeks – a friend will pick up three and I will cook the rest today to complete tonight’s dinner.  Ten pears will be made into the dessert I would have made for the party – I know that’ll be eaten up quickly, no waste here.

Tomatoes ready for roasting - garlic is added at the halfway mark!

Roasted Tomatoes & Garlic

Tomatoes, what do you do with 10 very large tomatoes?  Three are being roasted with some chili peppers and garlic as I write this.  Fresh basil, celery leaves and vodka will be added after I pureé them for soup tomorrow.  Mmmmm …

Aaahhh ... Delicious!

Three went into the blender – fresh, then poured into a sieve and are now draining into a bowl.  The juice that drains out will be made into a … “caesar” martini.  Strained tomato juice, vodka, lime juice, tabasco sauce, worcestshire sauce, celery leaves, salt. Pour vodka over ice, add a few dashes of tabasco, a dash of worcestshire, a squeeze of lime, pour in tomato juice and garnish with celery leaves or a celery stick.  A pinch of salt or celery salt may be added or used to rim the glass.  That is for 5 o’clock, today.  YUM!

The remaining pureé in the sieve will be added to a pan of onions, garlic, peppers, celery and herbs, fried, then simmered and stored in the fridge for a vegan, gluten-free pasta dinner on Thursday.  A few days (there will be leftovers) worth of cooking (for three people) in one day!  For the rest of the week all that will be added to each meal are some veggies or a salad.  Which leaves me time to continue uploading recipes on to the new website.

Tuesday:  Chicken, sweet potato wedges, leeks baked in white wine.
Wednesday:  Tomato soup, chicken bites (leftovers chopped up) in gravy, served over wild rice.  Side baby greens salad with raspberry vinaigrette.
Thursday:   Vegan, gluten-free pasta dinner with broccoli & cauliflower salad (steam – just enough, add EV olive oil, fresh lemon & pepper)
Friday:  Maybe houmous with an avocado & tomato salad on the side, maybe fish, maybe a cleanse day … or maybe I’ll go out!
Saturday:  A party!
Sunday:  We shall see … 🙂

Pear dessert – every day … until it is all gone!

Happy cooking!