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This is a Jim meal.  I had a very social life visiting doctors.  everyone wants blood to make sure I am not anemic again.  So Jim made dinner

Trader Joe’s Mushroom Ravioli 

Trader Joe’s Mixed Vegetables

He buys the ravioli all the time.  This was a first with the mixed vegetables.  They were very good.  It was carrots and I believe Napa Cabbage.  It could have been fennel.  The package disappeared before I checked.  Actually I was in bed within an hour of dinner.

I think this recipe came out of the Costco magazine.  It was good and very easy.  First you do not need to buy Balsamic vinaigrette.  The following Is all you need.  I put it the bottom of the salad bowl first and whisked it up.  

Ingredients:

2 T Balsamic Vinegar

1t Shallots

3 T Canola oil

2 T EVOO

Salads seem even better in the winter.  Maybe our bodies crave more vegetables.  Actually it is raining here.  One day 9” of snow and zero degree temps.  Next day, raining and 50 degrees F.  We had leftover chicken, I threw it in the salad so Jim had meat!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C corn kernels, fresh or frozen

6 oz. balsamic vinaigrette

6 oz. baby spinach

1 C watermelon, cut in 1/2’ Cubes

2 avocados, pitted, peeled and diced

10 oz. cherry tomatoes

salt and pepper

1/2 C sunflower seeds, roasted or raw

Directions:

1. Char the corn by sautéing in a dry skillet for 3-5 minutes.  Remove from skillet and set aside to cool.  (I roasted the sunflower seeds in the skillet next.)
2. Not a large salad bowl, whisk the balsamic vinaigrette.
3. Add all ingredients except sunflower seeds.  Stir to gently to coat evenly.  
4. Sprinkle with sunflower seeds.

This recipe taught a special lesson.  When it says cook on the grille, do not use a grille pan on the stove.  The stove and surrounding area was a terrible mess.  The end results were very good.  I have extra sauce and more pork chops so as soon as it is grilling weather we will do it again, outside.  

The recipe said boneless pork chops, but the photo in the magazine shows bone in.  I did bone in.  We had 2 chops. 

This recipe comes from Nashville’s Edible magazine.

Ingredients:

2 T coarse grain mustard

1 T apple cider vinegar

2 garlic cloves

1 C peach jam or preserves

6 (6 oz.) boneless pork chops about 3/4” thick

Kosher salt to taste, about 1/2 t EVOO

Directions:

1. Prepare your grill to about 400 degrees F.
2. For the glaze, place the mustard, vinegar, garlic, and jam  in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.  Let it rest while the grille heats.  The flavors will come together the longer it sits.
3. Pat the pork chops dry with paper towels and sprinkle both sides with salt.  
4. Drizzle well with oil.  
5. When the grill is hot, add the pork chops and grill until browned, about 2 minutes per side.  
6. Brush with the peach-jam glaze and cook another 2 minutes per side until the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees F.
7. Remove the pork chops to a warm plate and cover with foil.  Let them rest for 8 minutes or until the internal temperature climbs to 145 degrees F.  (I like 140 as my final temperature, I took them off at 130 F.  The 8 minutes brought them to 140.)

Jim only buys frozen vegetables, in this case broccoli.  I boiled the new potatoes.  

Next day I had leftover chicken dinner so I decided to make an apple pie.  I did not realize how week I was and it was very had to cut the apples for me. Go to October 8 2016 to see instructions for apple pie from the Joy of Cooking.  

A college friend stopped by as she was teaching a class on art to local photographers.  I was shocked when she said she actually landed during the largest and (by now) the longest snow storm in 10 years.  Nothing was moving in this town.  Luckily the venue had been changed from Franklin to the Airport Hotel.  Jim was able to pick her up Wednesday night and we went out for Japanese food.  I fixed an early dinner of shrimp stir fry from Trader Joe’s and Shrimp Tempera from Costco.  That showed my current cooking and entertaining skills.  Embarrassing but I just got home from the hospital and had to depend on Jim’s idea of food, if he cooks.  

I had beeen on line been hearing all kinds of airport horror stories.  One person said they did not have enough water to de-ice the planes.  Her plane left on time and landed early in Boston.  She lives in NH.  A friend picked her up.  Up north the cities are not shut down by snow.  She didn’t bring gloves or boots as she thought she was flying south.  Ha Ha, joke is also on me, I thought I was moving to the south.  

I sat down the following day and made a meal list and then a grocery list.   The first thing I wanted was roast chicken.  I got a book of Julia Child quotes for Christmas and all I could think about is roast chicken.  There are so many funny stories about her and a chicken.  Some of you might have seen the Saturday Night live chicken/Julia skit.  

Jim brought home almost a 9# chicken.  I asked for a roasting chicken not a turkey.  I consulted French Cooking Vol. 2.  the instructions are 6 pages long.  A little longer than I felt like following.  

Ingredients:  

She does not put anything inside the bird except salt.  I put a cut up onion and sprinkled rosemary and thyme.  She salted it.  I did not.  

Directions:

1. I trust the chicken close to her instructions.  Wings under the bird.  Wrap string around the swing where it joins the body.  bring it across the back and tie the legs together.  I used a turkey pin under the tied legs and tied up the tail over the hole.  
2. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  For basting sauce use 2 T butter and 1 T good cooking oil.  After a while she says to use the pan juices.  This is to be done every 15 minutes.  I was a little neglectful.    
3. She did a lot of shifting of the bird.  I used a convection oven and set it on it’s back, basted and roasted for 15 minutes at 425.
4. I then reduced the temp to 350 degrees and set the the temperature to 350 degrees F.   According to her chart a 5 1/4# chicken will take 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes to reach 175-180, done chicken.  
5. Ours was done, juicy and delicious.  This chicken lasted 2 nights.  I could have this everyday of the week.