Food/Drink

Second Christmas Dinner

Photograph taken on Saturday, February 08, 2025 by Henry
Hannah, William, Abba, Jim, Dorothy, and Anna

Hannah, William, Abba, Jim, Dorothy, and Anna

Today was the second day of Second Christmas. William and Beth arrived late yesterday and this morning we all went to visit grandma. We spent a while with her in the activity room, visiting with her and with each other. We returned home and mostly just hung out and we had our ‘traditional’ Second Christmas gift exchange, which is pretty low-key and non-extravagant. Beth went to visit a friend so she’s not in this photo, although she did join us a little later and finished the meal with us. Cathy also decided to stay home and enjoy a few moments of quiet.

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Thanksgiving Dinner

Photograph taken on Thursday, November 28, 2024 by Henry
Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving Dinner

We had a lovely family dinner for Thanksgiving this year, hosted by Iris and Seth. It was something of a first for Cathy and me, as it was our first Thanksgiving without Dorothy there since she was born. There are two empty chairs at the table, because Danna was a little late arriving but she got there no long after the photo was taken. I think everyone enjoyed themselves and we did have a call from Dorothy so she was able to say hello to everyone.

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Bacon Dinner

Photograph taken on Friday, December 15, 2023 by Henry
Bacon Dinner Starters

Bacon Dinner Starters

Our good friends Krystal and Mike hosted a dinner this evening and asked us each to bring a dish. The only stipulation was that everything had to feature “the theme ingredient” (a la Iron Chef). The ingredient was bacon. I brought bacon wrapped asparagus, which I think turned out pretty well. We also had bacon wrapped filet mignon and bacon wrapped sea scallops. Thiz photo is of the appetizer table. As you can see, there are bread slices with cheese and bacon, deviled eggs with bacon, cheese (one of which is smoked gouda with bacon), and at the far end of the table, leek and potato soup shooters with bacon. We all ate too much but definitely enjoyed ourselves.

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Presidents Coffee

Photograph taken on Saturday, December 09, 2023 by Henry
Presidents Coffee

Presidents Coffee

In years gone by we would drive up to the farm to cut a Christmas tree. Every few years dad would plant more trees and there was usually one that was suitable for our house. When there wasn’t and especially after dad was gone we’d go to a tree farm near the farm to cut one. We would stop somewhere for a meal before returning home. In 2006 we ate at a little place in Gettysburg called Seasons Bakery.

When Cathy’s mom came to live with us, we started using hrr artificial tree. This year we decided to return to our tradition. We drove up to see Dorothy and cut our tree at Showers Tree Farm. Interesting side note: my parents bought the farm from Mr. Showers in 1964. We went to Gettysburg and had coffee at Presidents Coffee. It’s in the same location that Seasons Bakery was in 17 years ago. They have been open long but its a good spot for coffee.

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Thanksgiving

Photograph taken on Thursday, November 23, 2023 by Henry
Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

Iris and Seth hosted our family Thanksgiving feast this year and it was quite a feast. While I confess to being indifferent to turkey and while most of the sides are high in carbs, taking them off my regular diet, it is still a meal I enjoy. That’s more for the family I’m blessed to have than for the food itself. With three little kids in the house, it’s not necessarily a time for quiet chats but it’s still good to get together as a family. We missed having George and Carmela here, but they plan to come down for Christmas.

I made green bean casserole, sweet potatoes with oranges and marshmallows, and a fruit salad. Tsai-Hong also brought various fruits and amazingly, with my five fruits and her four, there were no duplicates. After the turkey came out of the oven and I could get some of drippings from that I made the giblet gravy, as well. The turkey was quite large and of course there was more than enough for everyone with leftovers to take home with us. There was dressing with chestnuts, peas, salad, bread, broccoli, and two types of cranberry sauce. Mom brought cake and Steve made both pecan and apple pies and of course there was ice cream. Trader Joe’s had a sparkling, rosé tea that Iris bought, which was really nice (but sadly appears to have been a one time thing).

It took two pictures to get everyone in.

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Eggs

Photograph taken on Monday, March 06, 2023 by Henry
Eggs

Eggs

I spent the day working with Dorothy today. She’s been clearing a tree/fence line that’s about a quarter mile long. She has finished cutting out the brush and small trees and I came today with my chain saw to cut some stumps down to the ground so they wouldn’t be a problem when driving a tractor over them. Meanwhile she pulled out old fence wire and piled that up It was tiring work but we got quite a bit done and she’s nearing completion. Before I left for the day, she gave me 30 eggs. Egg prices have been crazy lately, although they have come down a little since their high a few months ago. Regardless, I’m always happy to get free food.

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Christmas with Margaret

Photograph taken on Sunday, December 25, 2022 by Henry
Christmas with Margaret

Christmas with Margaret

We had Christmas breakfast with Margaret today. Last night after we got home from the Christmas Eve service I made a quiche. This morning we took that, as well as croissants, orange juice, sparkling cider, and a few other things to Margaret’s room. We put a recording of a fireplace on her television and hung the stockings from the dresser, with presents laid out under them. It was a very festive and enjoyable time. David and Darius called shortly after this photo was taken and then after we ate, we opened presents.

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Beef, Kangaroo, and Camel

Photograph taken on Saturday, December 17, 2022 by Henry
Beef, Kangaroo, and Camel

Beef, Kangaroo, and Camel

When we were in Lititz, Pennsylvania for a wedding in June (see Friday, June 3, 2022) we went into a little shop called The Savory Gourmet. I bought two one-pound packages of frozen meat. One was kangaroo, the other was camel. They had more, but I thought that was enough for my first try. They’ve been in the freezer since then, waiting for an opportunity to give them a go. I thawed them yesterday and this evening I made three small burgers, one each of beef, kangaroo, and camel, accompanied by onions and oyster mushrooms. The kangaroo is definitely the gamiest of the three and I loved the flovor but it also had an unpleasant grittiness to it. There seemed to be small pieces of gristle that hardened up when cooked. The camel was easily my favorite of the three and I’d be happy to do that again. On the other hand, there are more meats to try, so who know what I’ll get the next time I’m there.

The Savory Gourmet (https://www.savorygourmetlititz.com/)

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Ampersandwich

Photograph taken on Monday, November 21, 2022 by Henry
Ampersandwich

Ampersandwich

After yesterday’s wedding and a good night’s sleep, we headed back towards the airport this morning. Our flight was not until mid-afternoon, however, so we had a bit of time to do some things. We went to the Bass Pro Shop just off of Interstate 20, east of Birmingham because Dorothy had asked for a Carhart jacket for Christmas. After driving into downtown Birmingham, we started to look for a place to have lunch. We got ourselves relatively near the airport and then Dorothy found this place, called Ampersandwich at 4124 3rd Ave S, Birmingham, AL 35222. If you’re looking for a good sandwich from friendly folks, this is a good choice and if we ever find ourselves in the neighborhood again, we’d revisit them. Tell them Henry sent you. It won’t get you any better service. There’s no chance they’ll know who I am. But it might be a good for a laugh.

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Still Life with Mango Lassi

Photograph taken on Sunday, July 17, 2022 by Henry
Still Life with Mango Lassi

Still Life with Mango Lassi

We went to Fourth Presbyterian this morning with Dorothy and after church decided to go into Bethesda and walked around a little while before stopping for lunch at Tikka Masala, a very nice Indian restaurant on the north side of Elm Street, a half-block from Arlington Road (https://tikkamasala.us/). I took this photo of a bottle of cold water, a small vase with pretty (although fake) flowers, an interestingly textured water glass, and Dorothy’s mango lassi, against the open window to the street. I also took photos of the food, but that’s overdone (even by me) so I decided to skip that. I had lamb saag. Saag, for the uninitiated, is a creamed spinach which in this case had very tender chunks of lamb meat in it. I consider it a good test dish, although that’s risky because it’s sometimes very bad. I’m happy to say that at Tikka Masala it is quite good and if you like that sort of thing I highly recommend it.

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Deviled Eggs and Veggies

Photograph taken on Friday, March 25, 2022 by Henry
Deviled Eggs and Vegetables

Deviled Eggs and Vegetables

I was asked to take photos at the missions banquet at Fourth Pres. this evening. I took quite a few photos of people but they won’t be all that interesting to those who don’t know them and of course picking on out of so many that’s representative of the evening is nearly impossible. So, instead, I’ve decided to punt and post a photo of some of the food prepared for the evening. These trays have deviled eggs and vegetables and are, I think you’ll admit, quite festive looking. And who doesn’t like deviled eggs? Although I do wonder about the propriety of serving deviled eggs at a church dinner.

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Korean BBQ

Photograph taken on Wednesday, February 23, 2022 by Henry
Dorothy, Nadia, Lexi, and Cathy

Dorothy, Nadia, Lexi, and Cathy

We met Dorothy, Nadia, and Lexi for Korean BBQ this evening at 9292 Korean BBQ in Annandale. It was a lot of fun and the food was terrific. With my diet being so protein heavy and carb light, it was a good meal for me. At the same time, even as it is, I need to control my portion, especially now as I’ve lost 50 pounds. So, it’s not like I could eat here with impunity. But once in a while it’s nice to have a real treat and the food was really good. I was surprised by the pork neck, which I’ve never had before. Very good flavor. Recommended (but not cheap).

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New Year’s Day Fondue Party

Photograph taken on Saturday, January 01, 2022 by Henry

Fondue Dinner Party

After finishing up year eleven of my photo blog (and the first year NOT to have a picture taken every day), I got a bit lax about posting. I’ve taken photos on twelve days in January but I’m only getting around to posting them now, on February 2. They’ll continue to be dated the date the photo was taken, of course.

We had our annual New Year’s Day fondue party today, ringing in the new year with good friends and good food. Due to concerns about Covid among some of our regular crowd, we had a slightly different group of attendees this year. It’s always good to mix things up a bit and it was a really nice time.

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Margaret’s Birthday Dinner

Photograph taken on Thursday, September 23, 2021 by Henry
Margaret, Cathy, Ron, and Dorothy

Margaret, Cathy, Ron, and Dorothy

I’m nearly a month behind in my posting but here’s a picture from September 23. For Margaret’s slightly belated birthday dinner I made qaubili pilau and chicken. The chicken was in pretty huge pieces (as you can see on my plate on the right. I made a big batch of pilau which is flavored with a spice mix with equal amounts of the five Cs, which are cinnamon, cloves, cumin, cardamom, and coriander plus a half measure of black pepper, and a pinch of saffron for color (and if you have both green and black cardamom, that’s even better, but I only had green). It also has thinly sliced onions and carrots plus golden raisins and my version has barberries, as well, which may not be traditional but it’s a nice addition, I think. Slivered almonds and pistachios finish it off. Anyway, everyone agreed it turned out pretty well. We had a really nice dinner and a good time celebrating Margaret’s birthday.

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Rocklands Winery

Photograph taken on Friday, September 10, 2021 by Henry
Rocklands Winery

Rocklands Winery

We went to Rocklands Winery this evening with a couple friends, Krystal and Mike. I took a few pictures of them but they aren’t crazy about having their pictures taken and even though they turned out well, I decided not to post them here. We ran into two young women that knew Krystal from her days as a first grade teacher and I took pictures of her with each of them. We were also fortunate enough to have Greg the Elder join us for a bottle of wine and a wonderful evening of laughter and reminiscing. If you’ve never been to Rocklands, I can recommend it quite highly.

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Gooseberry Pie

Photograph taken on Thursday, June 24, 2021 by Henry
Gooseberry Pie

Gooseberry Pie

After Albert died, Brady asked if I would like the gooseberry that he had planted. I took it and it’s doing really well in my back garden. It’s having a particularly good year and I went out and picked a quart of berries from it today. That was nowhere near all the berries, although because it’s situated against the fence, it’s a little hard to get to the far side of the bush. It’s also pretty well protected with spines and I think it might be worth actually pruning some stems off to get at their berries as well as to make room for new growth.

In the evening I made a crust and baked a gooseberry pie which I served with freshly whipped cream. I think that good vanilla ice cream would have been better, but I can’t say the whipped cream was bad.

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Easter Eggs, Part 2

Photograph taken on Sunday, April 04, 2021 by Henry
Easter Eggs

Easter Eggs

As seen in the post from yesterday, Dorothy dyed Easter eggs using natural dyes. This is what they looked like after soaking in the dyes over night, being allowed to dry, and then being rubbed lightly with a little vegetable oil. The colors were really very intense. I especially like the blue, which came from boiled red cabbage leaves. The other colors were from beets (the red), turmeric (yellow), and onion skins (a mixture of red and yellow onions, producing brown).

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Dyeing Easter Eggs

Photograph taken on Saturday, April 03, 2021 by Henry
Dyeing Easter Eggs

Dyeing Easter Eggs

I bought a dozen eggs specifically for Dorothy and Abba to dye for Easter this evening. Dorothy wanted to try using natural dyes. She used onion skins (a mix of yellow and red onions) to make a brown color, beets to make red, red cabbage to make a surprisingly blue color, and turmeric to make yellow. They turned out quite well. Here you can see two of them, the turmeric and the onion skin dyes. She left the eggs in them overnight and when they came out, they looked amazing. When the dried they lost some of their intensity so she rubbed them with a very light coating of vegetable oil, which made them look remarkable again.

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Thanksgiving Meal

Photograph taken on Thursday, November 26, 2020 by Henry
Thanksgiving Meal

Thanksgiving Meal

Like many families this year, we had a very small Thanksgiving meal today. I’m not fond of turkey and with only four of us, it seemed like a waste to bother with one. So, I roasted a 5.5 pound chicken, stuffed with a pilau with onions, currants, pine nuts, lemon zest, and allspice. We were meant to have green bean casserole but somehow I forgot. We did have a salad, though, as well as two cranberry sauces, the jellied version out of a can and one made from fresh cranberries and an orange, blended together with a little extra sugar.

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Birthday Dinner

Photograph taken on Wednesday, November 18, 2020 by Henry
Cathy's Birthday Dinner

Cathy’s Birthday Dinner

I already shared a picture here from the surprise party we had for Cathy on Sunday. I figured I’d share a picture from her actual birthday dinner, as well. I’m afraid I didn’t fix anything fancy for it. In fact, it’s about as unfancy as they come—frozen pizza—although there was a little leftover Thai, as well. Dorothy came over for dinner and we had a nice evening together. Dorothy, Margaret, and I all gave her a few presents and it was what passes for festive this year.

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