John Pizzarelli at the Dakota

Tonight Dale and I took Noel to see John Pizzarelli at the Dakota for her birthday. She loved the performance and so did we. Mr. Pizzarelli has a great report with the audience and sounded great as well. The three of us all had the hamburger with fries for dinner. The Dakota's burgers are, I think, the best in town. Their fries are incredible too especially with bernaise sauce. Absolutely delicious. I find the Dakota to be the most fun place in town to hear live music and their food is incredible.

Easter Parade

Dale and I arrived home stuffed from dinner at Mom's at about 6 p.m. and decided to watch Easter Parade with Judy Garland and Fred Astaire. I love the scene where Jules Munshin, as Headwaiter Francois, prepares an imaginary Salad Francois for Judy Garland and Peter Lawford. My mouth always waters a bit when I see this even though no actual food is show. The power of suggestion is pretty strong... especially when it comes to food!

Easter Sunday 2011 - April 24

Dale and I went to the Easter Sunday service at Gethsemane Episcopal Church in downtown Minneapolis. Mom had us over to her condo for Easter dinner this afternoon. She made a lovely ham, twice baked potatoes, green bean casserole, candied yams with marshmallows, bread and salad. Oh yeah, and cherry pie for dessert. It was all very delicious!

Dorothy? Who's Dorothy?

A back to back showing of The Wizard of Oz was on TBS during this past Sunday's dinner. We watched it while eating but took a break to get the scones ready. At one point I poked my head out of the kitchen to catch up on what was going on and "Surrender Dorothy" was on the t.v. screen. I gotta say that even while watching this as a little kid I was impressed that this girl, despite her fear, just didn't give up. Years ago when this was on CBS-TV, it was often on at this time of year and I'd remember watching it at Grandma's house when we were up North for Easter weekend. Grandma's Easter dinners (actually, all of her dinners) was HUGE. She'd usually make a ham. I have fond memories of coloring eggs at her house with my brothers and our cousins.

Last Night's Dessert - Scones with Fresh Strawberries

While shopping for yesterday's dinner at Kowalski's, Dale and I decided we really wanted scones with strawberries for dessert. Kowalski's used to carry some wonderful Bramblewood Cottage scones but we haven't been able to find them there for a long, long time. We couldn't even find any of their in- house scones that were plain. I decided to just pick up some Bisquick and make our own scones. Mom used to make pancakes from Bisquick when we were kids. We used the recipe on the box which made six good sized scones. They were really quite delicious with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

Sunday Dinner - Beef Roast

One of the things I remember most about Sunday dinner as a kid is roast beef. I remember visiting my Grandpa Les in Two Harbors, Minnesota and he absolutely loved Grandma Jean's beef roast. Dale and I tried our own version today. We stopped by Kowalski's and got a 3 pound beef rump roast. According to directions found online, the rump roast should bake for an hour a pound. That made for 1 hour. The directions on the roast said the same thing and that the temperature should be about 130 degrees at least. We browned the roast in a cast iron skillet and put it in our Le Creuset roasting pot in the oven at 350 degrees. After an hour our meat thermometer read only 65 degrees. We upped the oven temperature to 375 and let it go a bit longer. It took another half hour to reach a temp of 145. To the Le Creuset pot the roast was in we added carrots and onions. We boiled some red potatoes for good measure. It all ended up to be very delicious!

Dinner On Sunday Blog - Five Year Anniversary

When I began this blog five years ago I had no idea what it would become or if it would even last. Well, it's lasted this long so I guess I had something to say about food and sharing meals with others. I'd like to dedicate this 5th year anniversary post to my mom, Annie, with whom I've shared lots of meals over my last 44 years. She taught me three things about dining with others that have stayed with me: 1) Sit up at the table 2) Chew with your mouth closed, and 3) the importance of having polite and meaningful conversations with others. Thanks Mom, I love you!

How appropriate then that I had dinner with her tonight. Dale went over at about 3:00 today to help Mom with her taxes. I joined them at about 5:30. Mom made a delicious white bean chili. We had salads and bread along with it and also some wine. For dessert she made vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting. She had them in the Tupperware container that she's had since I was a little kid.

Here's the recipe for the chili which comes from the Minnesota Cancer Registrars Association cookbook and was submitted by Amanda Hlad:

White Chicken Chili

2 cans great northern white beans, drained

6 c. chicken broth

2 small onions,chopped

1 T. oil

6 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tsp. oregano

2-3 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

4 c. cooked chicken, cubed

1 c. sour cream

Combine beans and chicken broth and simmer. In frying pan saute oil, onions, garlic, and spices. Add to stock. Add chicken to stock and cook 30 minutes. Add sour cream and heat through, do not boil. Garnish with shredded cheese and sour cream.