In article >,
"jmcquown" > wrote:

> First of all, chicken marsala is not grilled chicken breasts (marinated in
> an Italian herb dressing). That was dinner at one of John's art patron's
> house on Sunday night. It was served with sauteed mushrooms and at first
> when I saw she was sauteeing mushrooms I thought okay, she's going to add
> marsala wine and some chicken breast halves and simmer them together. But
> no, she didn't.
>
> What she did was grill the chicken, which was fine. She tossed the
> mushrooms with bowtie pasta but there was still no marsala in the dish or
> even on the table. It was delicious, don't get me wrong, but she sure
> didn't know what the 'marsala' meant when it came to chicken marsala The
> boneless chicken breast halves were HUGE! My god, are you sure these aren't
> turkey breast halves? Wow and wow again! I could only eat half of one,
> they were so big!
>
> Her sweet son, Alex, brought me a doggie bag for the other half! Man, I
> wish all children were like this! Both of their children are so well
> behaved, you wouldn't be afraid to take them to a fancy restaurant!
>
> Ooooh! And dessert was creme brulè and the boy wielded the kitchen torch
> like a professional chefl! Odd, because his thing is baseball. (laughing)
>
> Their older son is an artist; he's into doing pottery and glazing right now
> but wants to paint.
>
> I digress.
>
> John brought a little grill along on the trip; he forgot the hibatchi so he
> got a cheap little round grill at Wally World along the way and we used
> that. He made some hamburgers and I sauteed mushrooms in oil and then a
> little wine and we put those on and he topped them off with swiss cheese.
> Oh YUM! Leftover hamburgers, of course... for lunch and so on.
>
> Another night he picked up some bacon wrapped petit filets. Once again he
> was the grill-guy. I normally don't like nuked potatoes but I rubbed them
> with butter and sprinkled them with salt and nuked them about 10 minutes and
> they turned out good! I also sauteed slices of yellow squash with onion in
> olive oil until they were nicely tender (almost carmelized). That was a
> very nice meal!
>
> Then the last night, we got some tilapia fillets and a big acorn squash.
> Woohoo! I pan fried the fish, gently seasoned with some of the Mrs. Dash
> and some cornbread crumbs, and nuked the squash. (Cut some slits all around
> the squash so when you put it in the microwave it doesn't 'splode LOL)
> About 10 minutes total for the meal to be done. Plate the fish and then cut
> the squash in half and scoop out the seeds and pith. And you're ready to
> put on the butter and whatever else you like. Some folks out there like
> brown sugar and cinnamon; go for it! We just added some butter and our
> forks. Was a great "light" meal to top off a heavy week of eating some
> serious food!
>
> My cat, Persia, is still checking out the apartment to make sure no one
> stole her toys while she was being boarded. She's wandering around meowing.
> My lovebird, Peaches, really couldn't care less Persia will settle down,
> just takes her a bit to make sure I'm not taking her back to the "smelly
> place". She'll snuggle down for a nap with me and all with be right again
> in her world. She got a clean bill of health from the vet; he said she's
> doing very well for an 8 (we guess) year old kitty
>
> It was a very good art show for John and also a nice mini-vacation for both
> of us! And good food, so there! Steve Squertz can kiss my ass before he
> even comments. He's just jealous he doesn't have this muich fun in his
> life.
>
> Jill

Awesome trip report, thanks! :-)
I always cut my winter squash in half and remove the seeds and pith
prior to cooking, but that's just me. Makes it easier IMHO. <G>

Give Persia a snuggles for me! I understand how she feels. I just had to
have Celene at the vets last Friday for a dental. Her breath reeked and
it was hurting her to eat. She had 3 teeth pulled. She was also boarded
for two nights.

Celene is 12. She was one very annoyed kitty but she settled back in
after about 24 hours and is now eating well again as her mouth no longer
hurts. <G>

Worried me to put that old of a cat under anesthesia... She is still
coughing a bit.
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson