GWSmith

Good morning (Saturday) [C] Brac, I know what you mean, if you are fussy about your kitchen tools (as we are), then its good to go to a store to hold them and check for balance and feel... Chris is a Wusthoff 'Grand Prix' man, and they always hone up nicely. My Lamson knives as you have seen are made locally and I have stuck with them. As you see, I have the resin rosewood handles which maintain a nice finish at all times while still having a real wood look and feel. You probably noticed that its the OLDEST, still in business cutlery company still running in the USA [Y] Boxx, Chris gets the olives from WF and the Stop and Shop supermarket where the essentials are shopped for...[] We alternate the olives/nosh and salad nights all week (when we are not eating out that is [] ) Have you had that wine in your club mix ? I enjoyed that last glass without food = NICE Thanks for stopping by, and enjoying the photos, more to come tomorrow evening with that mushroom tomato pasta sauce, fingers x'ed ... ..........Gary Brac, looking forward to seeing that block! Send it along soon...

Thank YOU StewMan, thanks for stopping by, AND, the VINO is wonderful !! Your family can be proud my man! [] , and Rick, I didn't even think about the reference to your town... But, glad I did [] We have PLENTY of it.... The late partner for the company I work for gave me HIS set of Corning Ware, and then my boss and president of the business gave me a very nice set of Corning as a house warming gift when I moved into my first apartment back in 1995..................THEN, when Chris and I bought this house, he brought his clear glass set, one of which you you see in the photo. So, there is PLENTY in the cabinets for our use [Y] I was thinking of starting to put up photos of the collections of kitchen tools etc. here for all to see. From the French nesting PREP bowls, to the knife collection. Stay tuned [] ..........Gary

Here is a lovely Syrah from Portugal, thanks to our wine club...............this vino is SO good, that I took a last glass of it with me to the studio here, and am enjoying it as I post these dinner photos [Y] I hope you enjoyed this 'pre fab' dinner I put together from Whole Foods. Sunday evening will bring another PASTA dish.............we have been trying to capture the tastes/flavours of a mushroom sauce that our local Italian haunt (Joe's Spagetti House) has been serving for years. Lets see if I can come close! [] Until Sunday night...............all for now ...........Gary

A nice closeup photo. This FiestaWare in the dark cobalt blue really adds contrast to the colors of these ingredients of the dish, don't you think?

Here, the dish is plated and a look at our table setting as always.... []

Meanwhile, I put together a nice little nosh to get us started..........mixed olives of ALL kinds, along with a fine cheese and rosemary cracker..

Here, a photo of the Carrot Tzimmes..............a nice, somewhat 'winter' dish... Sweet potato, carrots, figs, apricots and prunes with a sweet glaze of honey and juice of oranges ! This is placed in a Corning glass dish and INTO the microwave for a quick warmup...

Ok, tonight (a Friday evening of Hammond B3 organ music over XM radio) we have a shot of the Zucchini Parmesan Latkes placed in a tray with XVOO and ready to go into the counter top oven...

Hello Boxx. Well, I have Chris 'hooked up' with an ICON on his desktop now so he can click and check out the photos AND your lovely comments too [] Coming up NEXT: A simple Whole Foods dinner of.................. Zucchini Parmesan Latkes and a Carrot Tzimmes for the side. Check it out ! ........Gary

Thanks Rick for your compliment as always [] Check back again soon .. .....Gary

Ok, ok..........here is my source of vino DURING the week and each night with dinner and afterward.... The weekend is a different story, Friday through Sunday we open FINE bottles from our wine club (Laithwaites). Hope you enjoyed tonight's dinner feature, and stay tuned for more [] Meanwhile, get inspired, COOK and take lots of photos and post them HERE [Y] 'Til next time........... ..........Gary

After a lovely, freshly made Risotto (by Chris), its our usual FINAL course of salad....

The glass of vino..........(I'll reveal the source in a moment.....)

A closeup of the my plate..

OK ..........the dishes have been plated, candles (whats left of them) are lighted, some icewater and VINO are poured and its time to dine [Y]

Meanwhile, as Chris continues to stir the Risotto, I put together a little salad, kind of a 'chop, chop' as they say at one of our favorite restaurants uptown............ Here, fresh tomato, red sweet pepper and little 'pickle' cukes are chopped up and plated...

Here is the final mixing of these fine components together.... []

The CHEESE is now added to this....

Stir that up a bit....

Mushrooms into the mixture....

Chris is now adding the veggie stock...

...........and IN it goes.............

Ahhh, the genuine rice needed for this Italian dish [H]

The heated veggie stock

Here, Chris is grating the cheese which will soon go into the mix...