First Day Of Spring Monday! Our Daily Dinner

First Day of Spring Monday!

chuckieb 7 years ago
Good Morning Everyone! It's officially the First Day of Spring/Spring Equinox. YAY! Jim and I had fun yesterday. Went to Fulton's Sugar Bush and hooked up with our friends but the line up to get into the restaurant was HUGE!!!!! So we took a stroll around and then decided to head to Almonte and eat lunch at the Barley Mow instead.
https://barleymow.com/locations/barley-mow-almonte-pub/
I had an awesome naan flabread with chorizo bolognese and provolone cheese drizzled with balsamic reduction and Jim had a Chicken pho which he said was "Meh". But it was a lovely atmosphere and fun to get out.

May run in and grab some groceries today at Costco. I was too full from lunch yesterday to have Beef Dip for dinner so may have that for lunch and freeze the remainder. I did make myself some stuffed parmesan, garlic, olive mushroom caps. They were yummy. Our Ottawa Sens lost terribly to Montreal though and Jim was in a foul mood because of it. :) Not sure what to make for dinner yet.

Nice on your Bean with Bacon soup Linda. I'm really craving some home made soup.

I am SO with you on your opinion of Don Cherry Bren. I despise him. Yum on your roast beef dinner. That's very cute your sister used to treat you to pancakes at Smitty's if you went to Church with her. :)

How did it go with your daughter's car troubles Karen?

Too bad the meal at the Japanese steakhouse wasn't up to snuff Kimmer. That's always so disappointing. "Just cook my damn food and quit trying to possibly slice everyone's throat with your stupid trick" ROFL! LOLOLOL. Too funny. Yum on your steak and baked potato.

I've been sneezing like crazy this morning. Kind of worried I may have caught a cold. :( Heading down to the treadmill before brekkie. Wishing everyone a great First day of spring!
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MissouriFarmWife 7 years ago said:

Good morning Janet.

Ugh on the maybe cold. My eyes are itchy and Wayne has sinus problems so the Spring allergy season is here for sure!

Daughter made it home. Wayne decided she should get it to a mechanic ASAP to diagnose the problem. It is a weird sound that increases as you drive, but not a leak or bearing or ???????? We were prepared to conduct a rescue mission if she broke down on the highway, but as long as it was driveable it was better for her to take responsibility.. Ha ha ha - excuses excuses.

Fire Dept meeting is tonight. Then we pick up GS at her work since a friend is taking him to swim and back. Will probably just wait outside in the truck until she is finished working.

AC and Geezer are eying each other at the window. I need to go feed Geezer so must go. See you later.

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mommyluvs2cook 7 years ago said:

Morning! I didn't realize it was the first day of Spring, thanks for letting us know Janet!! Sounds like you had a great day yesterday, that restaurant sounds good, I'll have to look at the menu when I get home on my laptop. Ugh on the Sen's loss :(
You may just have allergies? Last night my eyes and throat started getting really itchy and I was like "Uh Oh" bit I feel fine today :)

Lol, just saw you have itchy eyes too Karen. Hope your daughter can figure out what's going on with her car!!

Finely made it back to the gym. It's been forever and I'm sticking with it this time. Going to get out into the garden and pull some weeds. Also going to make a batch of almond milk because I've really been craving my smoothies for breakfast lately. Bri has a game tonight but it's about 30 minutes away so we will be leaving early in the evening and home late. Pulled chicken thighs out before I left this morning so I'm thinking about making chicken cacciatore but I don't have white wine so I'm guessing it's ok to sub chicken stock or just leave it out? We will be eating SUPER early lol. Wishing everyone a great day!!!

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chuckieb 7 years ago said:

Hope the Fire Dept. meeting goes well this evening Karen and that grumpy guy doesn't fuss again. :)

I hope I don't have allergies Michelle. I'd rather have a cold to be honest. LOL. I haven't suffered from allergies before (knock on wood quickly) so I hope none begin at this stage of the game. That's great you got to the gym. Good luck with weeding. Good luck to Bri with her game this evening. I'm sure chicken stock would sub fine for your recipe.

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mommyluvs2cook 7 years ago said:

Lucky you Janet for never having allergies. They are the worst :( I think I'll just go for it and sub with chicken stock :)

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LindaLMT 7 years ago said:

Good Afternoon Everyone.

Busy morning. Had to get up early and take a shower then drop the car off for a recall fix. They give me a loaner so I can get home and am not without transportation. When it's ready we will pick it up and eat out after. I've been wanting to go to Pinchers, a seafood restaurant, I love their grilled Mahi Mahi platter. If it's warm enough we will bring LD but I don't think it will be, it's still in the low 70's (f) but the breeze is cold.

I could eat soup and salad all the time Janet, some nice bread to go with it and I'm set. I try and change up my soup rotation but DH likes the same few ones. Your flatbread lunch sounded delicious, too bad Jim's Pho was not that good as that is an awesome dish. Hope your sneezing stops and it's neither a cold or allergies.

Happy to hear your daughter made it home Karen. And hoping it's nothing too expensive to fix.

I so envy you getting back to the gym Michelle. I have been since DH landed in the hospital and I'm going crazy. Hopefully soon I'll be able to go at least to our amenity center's fitness room. Yum on making your own Almond milk. Love chix cacciatore. Most people make it red but I prefer it white. My ex-husband made a fantastic one!! Probably my favorite out of anything he made (he was a chef by trade) and of course I never wrote down what he did and I sure as heck am not going to track him down and find out now. LOL!

Allergies seem to be kicking in as I too have had scratchy eyes and still have an irritating dry cough. At least I'm not coughing that much but when I do I can't seem to get relief.

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chuckieb 7 years ago said:

I'd love to go to a Seafood restaurant this evening Linda. Lucky you! Goodness you have scratchy eyes and a cough too. I think we all are a bit under the weather in here today.

I've decided to make
Teriyaki Salmon With Sriracha Sauce
for dinner this evening with Edamame on the side.

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LindaLMT 7 years ago said:

Yum on the Salmon! Looks like a recipe I'd like and too I usually have those ingredients on hand so next time ... Saved!

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gaspesiangal 7 years ago said:

Good afternoon everyone.
Lol @ Kimmer and "just cook the food"
I am not a fan of Barley Mow, Janet. We went with a group a few weeks ago and I had their burger that was supposed to come with caramelized onions but they were crunchy. The dish that Joe's meal came in was tall and thin making it very difficult to ear. We were told that they would not add a tip to the bill and after paying and leaving a tip realized that they did. I will never go back there. As well, our server didn't put our order in for 40 mins after taking it.
I always had a great time at the Sugar Bush, glad that you did. We'll hope that it's a cold then, Janet.
That's great that your daughter make it home safe and sound, Karen. I hope that the repair is something minor.
I went to the gym years ago Michelle but like most people I could never stick with it, good for you getting back into it. I haven't had chicken cacciatore in ages. I would just leave the wine out as you don't have any, it won't make that much of a difference.
I could eat soup and sandwiches too Linda but Joe doesn't consider soup a meal. Hopefully the dealer will have your car back to you quickly. I could go for seafood for dinner anytime!!
I've decided to have salmon for dinner as well. I like mine plain and pan seared. I'll have a look at your recipe in a bit Janet.
Joce, I didn't grow up in Ottawa so didn't go to Fisher. My children spent time there doing various after school things.
Happy first day of spring!!

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LindaLMT 7 years ago said:

How do you pan sear Salmon Bren? I never have and want to but hesitate because I never did. I've read some things on line and they say use a really hot pan but how do you do yours. Does the outside get a crunch to it? I love it like that.

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gaspesiangal 7 years ago said:

You will need a skillet that isn't non stick. Heat about 1 tsp of oil, high heat, until is simmers but not smoking. Lay your well dried, room temp. salmon into the pan and turn the heat to med-high. Cook until there's a nice crust on the bottom, about 5 mins. Flip the salmon and place in an oven that's been heated to 400. You have to guess the time in the oven, I use 10 minutes if the salmon is 1 inch thick. Let me see if I can find a tutorial

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gaspesiangal 7 years ago said:

This is a good one and doesn't use the oven: http://www.seriouseats.com/2017/01/how-to-pan-fry-salmon-fillets.html

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LindaLMT 7 years ago said:

Thanks!! I need to get a non stick pan and too something that can go in the oven ... my pans are ceramic. I'll look for something just to do salmon. It doesn't have to be huge. Nice link! Seems the hot non-stick pan is the key.

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gaspesiangal 7 years ago said:

Your welcome. You could use cast iron if you have it. Something that I've found out about non stick pans is that you shouldn't have the temp higher than med on the stove but they can be put into an oven that it 400 or so. Also, never use cooking spray. Yes, non stick, room temp salmon and well dried are the key. I picked up a Wolfgang Puck pan at Winners for about $15.
I had a peek at your recipe, Janet, and I would love that...Joe not so much. He's a purest when it comes to some things, haha.

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MissouriFarmWife 7 years ago said:

Hi everyone.

Soup and salad is good as far as I am concerned! Wayne growls if salad appears more than a couple of days a week. I could eat salmon in most any form.

We took Fritz on an hour long Gator ride, he was ready to go home for sure and is asleep on Wayne's recliner. Wayne is finishing some landscaping and will be the snide soon. I put a Schwanns beef dinner in the oven as we need to eat early this evening.

It is around 85 F and feels like 90 to me. I am sipping on apple cider vinegar ice water -- it was too hot outside and I neglected to take water along. Tomorrow will be a high of 65-ish and maybe rain, we hope we hope we hope. Could sure use some.

I have joined the scratchy eyes group for sure. Spring allergies here we come.

Hav a nice day.

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LindaLMT 7 years ago said:

Dinner out was wonderful. We went a little early and figured after we were done I'd then go pick up my car from the shop.
DH must have been hungry. I know he didn't eat breakfast and lunch was just a tuna salad sandwich. We split a shrimp cocktail and crab meat cocktail, we each had a Caesar salad, and we each had grilled mahi mahi for dinner with green beans. DH had mashed potatoes and I had big fat French fries. We both are stuffed!
After we ate I wanted to pick up my car. Couldn't even get on the main road that I needed to get on the traffic was so bad. I didn't want to get stressed with all the traffic so I called the dealer and asked if I could get the car tomorrow and they understood as someone else called with the same concern. It would have taken too long to get there with the traffic and I still had to stop and replace the gas I used. It'll be easier to do it in the morning after rush hour traffic.
The traffic here is just horrendous this time of year because of all the "visitors". I can't wait till they leave and most everyone else local to the area feels the same way.

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chuckieb 7 years ago said:

Jim and I did a Costco run. Then we decided to head over to the Volkswagen Dealership to see what a new Jetta is going for these days. We still hope to get another year or two out of our current one but Jim was worried that the price had risen substantially over the years. Of course it takes forever to just get a base price. LOL. We went for a test drive and sat with a Jr. guy and then his boss came over, yada, yada, yada. We told them up front we were just pricing things out. Turns out the price hasn't changed a whole lot which was a nice surprise. Unfortunately they have quit making Diesel models as we got great mileage with our Diesel.

Stopped in at Sobey's for a few more items. Saw in their flyer this week that Hagen Daaz (sp?) has these new ice cream flavours out like "Vodka Key Lime PIe" and "Rum, Caramel, something" etc. Managed to have enough willpower not to put one in my cart. They did however have rotisserie chickens on for $7.99 so we couldn't resist and will have that this evening and bump the salmon 'til tomorrow night. I'll just cut up some tomatoes and avocados as a side.

Indeed it sounds like you didn't have a very good experience at the Barley Mow Bren. We weren't expecting a lot to tell you the truth but my flatbread was actually delicious and the ambiance, sitting beside the fireplace with the Mississippi River flowing by was great.

Apple cider vinegar water Karen. Interesting.

I'm guessing it's Canadian visitors you are complaining about Linda. I heard that tourism is down quite sharply now after your new President was elected but I guess not down enough eh? :) Your dinner sounded wonderful.

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kimmer 7 years ago said:

Tourism is surely not down here

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LindaLMT 7 years ago said:

Or here either. The people are from all over.
It just gets to be too much with traffic and not being able to get timely appointments for anything because the people who do come down will rent for a month or two and then book everything up.
The other day I was pulling into one of the shopping centers and I almost hit a car because the woman driving was in the wrong lane... it's stuff like that. You have to be very careful because half the people haven't a clue where they are going and the other half is frustrated and trying to get around and away from them.

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LindaLMT 7 years ago said:

Janet, if you are a member of Costco it may be worth looking at ...
https://www.costco.com/auto-program-services.html?COSTID=Header_Services_CostcoAutoProgram

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