Look, there's only so much I can do. Take today for instance. Here I am in St. Louis. Our landscaper (who was supposed to do our property in early May, then later, then June) now finally July 1 shows up unannounced. And not only doesn't he perform the work to the design specs, he ignored our warnings not to come *RIGHT NOW YOU STUPID SON OF A GUN* because it is the hottest part of summer and there would be no one to water our hydro seeded lawn 4x a day since I am out of state and he didn't landscape for a garden in front of our garage as per plan and he didn't landscape for a garden east of our house as per plan and he didn't fill in the decorative retaining wall and he didn't level our lawn with the neighbor's and, and, and...

Now if it were just me or any number of other people here it wouldn't be that big a deal. We have a contract, an agreement. You do it the way we agreed upon for the price we agreed upon or you don't get paid the full amount. Period. End of discussion. You do what you say you will and we'll all be happy. You don't, then I have a problem. And you do *not* get paid the full amount. (And I *will* see you in court if necessary). But for some reason that just doesn't sit well with some people. Horrors, holding people up to their word?!

Eek, I've gone off on a tangent. Where was I? Okay, there's only so much I can do. But I will try.

Wow Jack. And all this time I thought she never read a word I said.

Opps... my ears are burnin' again.


Not with me. I only use my super powers for good.

But I don't know about TomK. Speaking of TomK.... you out there, my evil twin?

I'm so confused. You had hydroseed for dinner? :p Hope you get it all straightened out.

I cooked out of Cooking Light magazine today - Fresh Corn Risotto with Seared Shrimp and Salsa Verde (or something like that) it took 2 and 1/2 hours of standing in the kitchen, it was very good, but not great, so I'm not it was worth my now aching feet. I did get to use fresh herbs out of my garden, though. That was way cool.

Jodi

Gryphon,

Snap out of it man!!! Pull back!! Pull Back!!!

Ken

plays88keys mentions yellow squash and one of my favorite summer vegetables is yellow squash fried with cornmeal. Just mix some yellow cornmeal with some black pepper and maybe a little salt, slice the yellow squash 1/8" to 1/4" think, dip in cornmeal to coat both sides and fry the slices in butter. Ooooh. Yum, yum, yum.

I have no problem with that. When a contractor signs a contract to which is attached a statement of work, it is implied (by his signature) that he has read and understands the statement of work. If work is done differently from the statement of work then said contractor cannot expect payment until he takes action to come into compliance. I would present him with a punch down list of items that will need to be corrected before acceptance (and payment) is signed off. You understand all of this as much as I do but, as you said, many here may not understand.

Especially when *he* designed the landscape and drew up the plans for which I have already paid him a separate sum of money! (In all fairness to myself I warned my wife but she wouldn't listen).

By the way, the steak was wonderful!

Filet Mignon wrapped in bacon.

Chicken, veal, and beef tortellini or Ziti con vodka. Whatever the chef still has.

Korean. I'm heading out the door for the restaurant in about 15 minutes. mmmmm bulgogi

Peanut butter and jelly sandwhich, now and forever. (What wine goes with that?)

I have long prided myself on a very efficient method in the kitchen that minimizes the time spent there even while coordinating several items that require different timing for cooking and prep that would make an efficiency expert beam with glee. Generally I orchestrate the entire affair in perfect order and harmony, with a series of timer bells to cue me to return to the kitchen from the piano, this place, or TV. Last night's plan was simple--NY strip broiled and stir-fried veggies. I prepped the veggies and got out my favorite skillet and spatula for them with the intent of putting them on the fire when the steak was halfway. Then I got out the big broiling pan for the steak and since the big skillet and spatula were in the way and the empty and cold oven rack was closer than the counter, I "temporarily" put them in the oven while I prepped the steak in the huge broiling pan. You can figure it out from there. About the same time the timer dinged for me to flip the steak, the fire alarms went off in the house. Yes, indeed, I had broiled my favorite skillet and spatula, along with the steak. The skillet's black plastic handle and the spatula's white one created an interesting gooey puddle in the bottom of the oven that created a house full of smoke. I got so out of sequence on the veggies thereafter while cleaning that mess up and venting the house, I skipped the veggies and just ate the steak.

About that "aging" thread again...

WAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Left over low-carb pasta! Yum!

Civic holiday up here in my neighbourhood. At work now and not too many food places open today. Just got back from the supermarket with a whole BBQ chicken. Perfect for my ketogenic diet!

First fresh tomatoes from the garden. Also garden grown basil.....

Pomme d'oro con fresco......(fix my syntax)

A pasta sauce from fresh tomatoes from the garden with black olives and basil....

This is probably the best food I have ever had and it is so simple. My cook is a genius.

Wine... a humble Placido Primervera that equals the Cavit Pinot Grigio that I usually get at twice the price.

Great meal. Great cook (not me).

jf

Spaghetti, cheese, and an unpresumptive (but not crappy) Liebfraumilch.

You dont have to watch what u eat if you buy these rings!
http://www.alexchiu.com/affiliates/clickthru.cgi?id=splices

go away

jf

Garden salad with Italian dressing (I use honey instead of sugar, it takes a bit more mixing, but the flavor is fantastic).

Tandoori Shrimp (A nice recipe from Williams-Sonoma Complete Entertaining Cookbook)

Couscous (Store bought package). Believe it or not, it's the first time I ever make or eat couscous. [thumbs down] What a pretentious food, really!

Corn on the cob.

My current house red: Woodbridge (Mondavi) Cabernet Sauvignon.

Orange Sherbert.

Good choice Bernard.


jf

turkey sandwich, peach, and a beer (Black&Tan. just one). too tired to bother with much else.

Whoa, Net, new avatar! Nice, but now I'm beginning to reel from all the bombard of comradish new images.

comradish new images... Hmmmmm...I kinda miss my old one. I feel I've betrayed my wunder-beast. But this will do for now..

Our last full family meal in a long time. Peter goes to college tomorrow.

Dinner (at his request): Linguine with homemade pesto, homegrown tomatoes with salt, homegrown cukes sliced thin with balsamic vinegar. Lots of parm.

Sophie made desert: melted chocolate bits frozen into muffin tins filled with cut fruit (she saw it on Zoom).

jf

Today I harvested most of my basil and made a large amount of pesto sauce. What isn't used tonight will be frozen in individual portion sizes to use throughout the fall and winter.

Tonight I'll be tossing the pesto with linguine cooked al dente, and then topped with a sautee' of mushrooms, green pepper strips, black olives and tomatoes and a sliced, grilled chicken breast on top of that. Fresh fruit compote for dessert.

Farewell to another summer!

I have enough basil to make 2 gallons of pesto and freeze 20 baggies. I am always terrified I will not have enough basil and allot more and more of the garden to it yearly. 22 plants this year!

I make batches and batches and freeze it in decorative jars and give it for Christmas presents, after placing a 1 carat diamond, carefully washed of course, immediately beneath the lid.

Made a batch of lemon basil pesto which turned out to be something entirely unusual.

It's been a wonderful year with the cool temperatures and abundant rainfall. The ones I planted in the a shade garden grew bushy and lush.

We eat it instead of butter, which my kids hardly know exists.

brats... that was a simple answer

I can't cook. So I don't.

When I'm alone I usually drive over to a little privately owned chinese food restaurant and order from there. Sometimes I'll order pizza. Fast food is off limits because I absolutely despise any kind.

I need to eat more healthy. But my dad cooks really well. He could so had been a chef. But alas, he's a businness guy person.

Bluefish poached in lemon juice and (5 minutes before done) topped with dill and yogurt. Rice. Spinach with a dash of balsamic vinegar. Brancott Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. (Hey, where's MattG anyway?)

jf