Sunday Night with the Family

Enjoyed having Martha Rhodes for dinner.  Pictures compliments of Mason.  Standing rib roast with homemade mashed potatoes (YUM!) and mixed greens salad with delicious balsamic vinaigrette.  Comfort food to end a fabulous weekend.

Breakfast Break

Homemade granola cereal always starts the day off right.  It just looks pretty......

Santa Baby

My favorite thing this weekend?  A fabulous new find.  McClure's Bloody Mary Mix.  Made by a small family owned business that makes pickles, they take the pickle brine and make this most delicious and quite spicy, very flavorful, chock full of herbs and good stuff mix.  I can't get enough of this stuff!  Check out their website for some alternative uses for this special concoction.  Be prepared - it bites!  Not for the wimpy!  Served with quiche.
Thanks, Santa Baby, for a nice day!!!!!!!!!!!

Liquid Lunch

My honey took me out today to play. A little holiday shopping, visiting friends, a long walk on the golf course and now a new restaurant to try and critique.  Got an awesome burger we brought home and split with the kids....just wanted to have a bite of one....called an "Angry Bird".  It was awesome!  A turkey burger with habanero pimento cheese and sriracha spicy lime mayonnaise.  YUM! Hope I can figure out how to duplicate that one soon.  Just loved the name and I wasn't disappointed. The best part of the bar was the THIRTY TWO draft beers!  Here comes the holiday!!!!!!!!!

Cocoa to Start the Day

Can't get those little peepers open this morning.  Maybe some homemade hot cocoa will help.  (Maybe not).

Friday Night Cool Down

A four day weekend and the kitchen's getting cozy.  Starting it off with a little liquid refreshment and some warm crab cakes and fresh green beans.  Comfort food.  Hitting the hay early.......

Tough Week

How sad about the shooting and the loss of so many innocent lives earlier this week.  This week has been tough as two families we love lost members of their own families as well.  I have not done much cooking this week and have not been good at taking pictures of the fabulous food we have enjoyed at holiday parties.  Although I promised to be committed to posting regularly to the blog, you will just have to cut me some slack once in a while.  In the meantime, thought you might enjoy a few pictures of the liquid lunch Kevin and I had between funerals today.  As you can probably tell, I am a bit tired.  The hot toddy helped.  Here's to the memories of two wonderful people we have lost, Bruce and Doug, as well as prayers of comfort for the families of all those who were taken too soon from their families.  

Honey Sesame Chicken

Enjoyed this with both white and black rice (we really love that rice!  Also known as forbidden rice as it was only given to emperors centuries ago due to the fact that it was rare and expensive).  Everyone was happy.  Another successful meal and time to go view the meteor shower now...

After the game....

OK, because of the basketball game dinner wasn't on the table until 10:00, but it was worth the wait.  Fish tacos with honey cumin  cilantro slaw and chipotle mayo.  The kitchen was a mess, but our bellies were happy.  The Corona is a must! 

Remnants from the Garden

I love my fresh herbs!  Rosemary is probably my favorite and I can never have enough.  Wouldn't dream of wasting a single plant, so here are my spoils for the winter.  I see soup in the near future!

LEFTOVERS

Went to the co-op today and got some delicious fresh spinach.  Even Mason said he liked it much better than "regular salad" as he put it.  Enjoyed leftover tenderloin (which was really moist and I believe I might have to change my mind about the cooking method here; the grill really works well to keep it moist) and delicious black rice that our friends Lisa and Hayden turned us on to a few weeks ago.  YUMMY is all I can say.  That is my new ingredient for the month so be on the lookout for "how many things can you make with black rice" in upcoming posts.  

MOOOOOOOO

OK, just rub it on my hips!  Loving this homemade butter.  It didn't last long around here.  Thanks to my foodie friends, Bob and Fran.  The only people I know who actually take the time to make things the old fashioned way.  Thanks, guys!

Monday night at the races

Did I mention that our typical dinner time is 9:00 - 10:00 pm?  The kids think it's a holiday if we eat by 7:00.  Well, tonight was par for the course and we sat down at 9:30.  Cuban Pork Tenderloin on the grill.  It was pretty good, but I don't think I will be making that again.  I prefer my standby tenderloin recipe.  The best part of dinner was the delicious pie that my bestest ever dentist makes me every year!  It got rave reviews (as always!)!  Thanks, Caroline!  You saved me tonight!  Have a great week!

Dinner in Danville

Spent 24 hours hanging with my friend, Kristin, and her awesome family.  Fabulous friend, good times and good food.  Thanks, my friend.  The Thai chicken rocked!

Sunday Night Comfort Food

Beautiful day and not much desire to cook.....decided to do something warm and filling.  Chicken and Italian sausage in a tomato base with red wine mixed with bowtie pasta.  Yummy.  After several glasses of wine and warm food in my belly, I am feeling very fat and sassy.  Looking forward to going to bed early and reading a good book.  Another fabulous weekend.  More delicious food.  Life is so good!

Well, the week has been comprised of many leftovers from the holiday and a few meals out, but tonight I managed to throw together some cod with salsa on top.  Nothing fancy, but a good home cooked meal for a change.  Looking forward to lots of baking and cooking this weekend.  It's Mason's birthday this weekend so I envision cake in there somewhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Happy weekend!!!!!!!!!!

Holiday Hosts

Dining with Lisa and Hayden is always a culinary treat.  They constantly inspire me with their ideas and ability to make anything taste fabulous!  Tonight was no exception!  Hayden and his grandchildren had gone fishing on Friday and caught six huge Stripers which he proceeded to make into fish cakes (the biggest ones I have ever seen!).  Crab cakes, watch out! You cannot believe how delicious these were!  Especially with the roasted red pepper sauce.  Paired them with black rice, broccoli, and strawberry, pomegranate walnut spinach salad. Topped it off with some fabulous homemade chocolate meringue pie.  Afterwards we got caught up on the ten months since they got married and all the awesome things they have done.  Two fabulous friends, one fantastic meal, many wonderful memories.  Love you guys!
ps - Hayden is an artist and I just couldn't resist putting some of his high school/college sculptures up on the blog.  Talented in so many ways......!

Did Someone Say Soup??????????

Made two huge pots of soup with the leftovers.  Ummm Ummm good!  I had to use Kevin's big camping pot to hold it all as my pots were overflowing.  I must say I am truly a soup girl and can't stand the thought of throwing away a good soup bone.  Friday's dinner....Mexican turkey soup with cilantro, cheese, corn chips and sour cream.   Saturday night's dinner.....bean soup with ham.  My tummy is SOOOOOO happy!  Shared some with friends; I like to share the love.  Only thirty days until Christmas when we will probably do it all again.

Thanksgiving 2012

Nice day with family and friends.  Laid back.  Grateful for so many things..... A friend of mine suggested that he and his family were going to do a bacon wrapped sage turkey, so I decided to try that this year.  Nice and juicy, but I was amazed that the eleven pound turkey ended up being about six pounds of bones (did someone say soup?!).  Paring that with a sage, apple, sourdough dressing, honey baked spiral ham and all the fixings....all in all a success.  The pomegranate martinis rocked and we could have munched on the pumpkin salsa and goat gouda cheese all afternoon.  Thank all of you who made it a special day.  We love you all!!!!  The Reyers

COMMITMENT

OK, I AM COMMITTED!  Those of you who know me well know that I prepared to make the big leap as I turned 50 this month by committing to doing 50 new things within the year.  I always do that during the decade changes and it is so much fun to experience new things, broaden my horizons, stretch my imagination, make new friends..... (I still haven't had to succumb to getting the last minute tattoo I keep threatening to get as I get down to the homestretch!)....The amazing thing is that I have done that exercise for THREE big birthdays now and I STILL haven't run out of things to do!   Soooo, I had so much fun this past year reaching that goal that I was trying to think what to do this year to help me realize every day is a gift, and a gift to share with those that I love.  Somewhere along the way I remembered this little blog that my family talked me into starting two years ago that seemed to go by the wayside as life happened.  As many of you know, almost every night at the Reyer household involves food (and usually wine).  The reality is that we don't usually get to eat until around 9:00 or 10:00, but that is the fun of spending the evening with those that I love, hearing about their day and knowing that I am trying to impart to my children the value of good food and family time.  Oh, and did I mention, that we do LOVE our food?!  While my culinary skills are limited, I do enjoy learning how to cook new foods, trying new processes, and simply venturing out into the abyss of all things edible (and drinkable).  So, here is my goal for the next twelve months that I formulated today (after being coached a bit by my special friend, Kristin, who really knows how to blog and just put it out there)....
- work hard at blogging weekly about the meals we shared during the week
- experiment with one new food or beverage item per month
- shake a bit of my Scorpio mindset of keeping things to myself by sharing the culinary triumphs as well as the  defeats with the world (OK, this is a bit of a leap for me so be kind....).
I don't really intend for people to read this regularly, but if you do read any part of this, know that I appreciate that you cared enough to check it out and spend your valuable time with my family and friends in our kitchen.  This is my world.  Welcome to it.  If you know me, you know the door is always open and the kitchen is always warm.  Bon appétit!

The Year In Review

WHERE has the year gone?  I have been so bad!  I can barely get the food made, let alone remember to take a picture of it and then find time to post it.  Here are just a very few meals that I was able to take pictures of and remember to upload to the computer.  I hope I haven't duplicated anything.  Looking back at some of these pictures makes me think that we sure do like to eat in the Reyer household.  I am going to really put my best foot forward and try to keep up with this blogging since several of you have asked me about it.  It is kind of fun looking back over some of these pictures.  I can't remember what all the dishes are as I do like to just make things up on the fly or cook a recipe once for kicks.  I feel like I am just putting on the pounds looking at all of these pictures. Enjoy!