Thanksgiving 2024 - Bloody Mary Time

Thursday, November 28, 2024

At 8:30 I turned on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and mixed up a Bloody Mary.

Kowalski's makes a great Bloody Mary mix. My unopened bottle's been sitting on the counter since last Christmas. It had settled quite a bit so it required a LOT of shaking. In fact, after shaking it up and giving it an initial pour I realized I needed to dump a little out to make a little more shaking space in the bottle. 

Anyway,  it all turned out great. I garnished it with a pickle,  an olive, and a couple of pearl onions.

Delicious. And by the way,  as a second career I think I might have some potential as a food and drink stylist.

November's Here - Fall Golden Hour: Cocktails

Saturday, November 5, 2022

Took the above photo while walking home from school the day after Halloween. I guess this is a sign we're ready to move on to the next holiday. 

Out with Noel today for lunch. Afterward we of course stopped by the 2nd hand shops and they're starting to set Christmas stuff out. Personally I'd rather stick to one holiday at a time but I suppose  stores gotta make their money. 

Dale and I headed off to Kowalski's after my afternoon adventures with Noel. We picked up all the makings for a chicken pot pie and it's gonna be GOOD. Tonight's golden hour and dinner are to  celebrate going off Daylight Savings Time and going back on Central Standard Time. Not sure why  getting that one extra hour back feels so luxurious, but it does. Cocktail hour started at 5:30. 

The pot pie was assembled and in the oven by 6:30. 

Continued with cocktails and music while dinner was in the oven. 

Cocktail Hour, Cigar, Dinner, and a Movie

Saturday, May 1, 2021

Cocktail with Dale in the backyard. I had a cigar. 

Very lovely day today. It actually got up to 88 degrees. Dale grilled hamburgers for dinner. We also had potato salad and a broccoli salad from Kowalski's. 

We watched Grease which I haven't seen all the way through in a number of years. 

Mom took me so see it back in the summer of '78 just after my 6th grade year. She thought it was a little raunchy. It's tame by today's standards but this viewing made me realize how much went over my head as a kid.

Overall lovely day today. So nice to feel warmth and spend some extended time sitting in the yard. 

Sunday Dinner

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Dale made the most delicious dinner. It's been a while since we've had steak and even longer since we've had his most awesome oven baked Brussels sprouts.

Dessert was one of my favorites from Kowalski's. Chocolate dream.

Thanksgiving Eve Day - Kowalskis

Having off the day before Thanksgiving makes holiday grocery shopping so much more humane. Dale and I were to Kowalski's by about 9:30 this morning. We got everything we needed!

The Season of Pumpkin Pie Has Arrived

From Kowalski's.

Dinner to Go

Grilled vegetables, macaroni and cheese, and beef medallions all from Kowalski's. Pick a main and two sides and for $9.99 you're good to go.

Blueberry Tart from Kowalskis

It was so wonderful it deserves its own post. The filling was lemony and it worked very well with the blueberries. Fancy that.

Dining Alone 2014 Part 2

Dale's up on the Island again and when he's gone I usually go for ease when it comes to cooking. One quick meal is cold fried chicken, a twisty roll, and a wedge of cored pineapple (no, I didn't eat in one sitting what's shown, only the part which is missing)). All are from Kowalskis. Dale would probably be on me for not having vegetables but when he's gone I like to take a break from them. Absence will make my heart grow fonder for broccoli and asparagus.

Yesterday Was Super Bowl Sunday

I know most of our fellow Americans would find us strange, but Dale and I have no interest in the watching the Super Bowl. We watched Downton Abbey instead. I know it's the biggest eating day of the year second only to Thanksgiving, but the most exciting thing we ate was some sea salt and caramel chocolate cake from, where else, Kowalski's.

Thanksgiving Eve 2013 - Getting Ready for the Big Day

We managed to get to Kowalski's by around 10 a.m. to pick up all the food for tomorrow. Dale called his mom and dad when we got home. Athena rested on his foot while he chatted with them.

I'm attempting to make pumpkin pie this year using an actual pumpkin and not just the canned puree. I started the process of getting the pumpkin ready at around 9:00 p.m.

Top left: The pumpkin

Top center: Halved

Top right: Seeded

Middle left: Cubed

Middle center: Boiling

Middle right: Skin removed (I think next time I'll remove the skin before boiling. 

Bottom left: Ready to mash

Bottom middle: Mashed!

Bottom right: Ready to spend the night in the fridge until tomorrow morning when the pie will be made.

Here's the directions for preparing the pumpkin from allrecipes.com:

"Use 1 1/2 pound of skin-on, raw pumpkin to yield 2 cups of mashed. Halve pumpkin and scoop out seeds and stringy portions. cut pumpkin into chunks. In saucepan over medium heat, in 1 inch of boiling water heat the pumpkin to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until tender. Drain, cool and remove the peel. Return pumpkin to the saucepan and mash with a potato masher."

Note: I didn't pay attention to how much the pie pumpkin I bought weighed. I chose one that wasn't too big and wasn't too small as compared to the other pie pumpkins at the store. I ended up not cubing about 1/8th of the pumpkin. What I yielded from what I used was about twice as much as I need for the pie. Next time I think I'll save what's left over for another pie!

Kowalski's

Interior shot of my favorite grocery store, Kowalski's.

Quiche

Dale and I made a quiche last weekend. It didn't turn out as well as I would have liked because I forgot one important ingredient - the swiss cheese. How I forgot that I'm not quite sure as I've never forgotten it before. We bought it when we went to Kowalski's to get all the ingredients but for some reason I forgot to add it while assembling it. Anyway, it was tolerable. Dale seemed to like it a little more than I did. We had pumpkin pie from Kowalski's for dessert. We usually use whipped cream with it but this time we had vanilla ice cream which was a fabulous combo.

Pumpkin Pie

We had pumpkin pie for dessert last night. Mrs. Kowalski baked it.

More Signs of the Season

Pumpkins! Another recent photo from Kowalski's. I admire people who can make pumpkin pie from an actual pumpkin. I tend to buy these for decorative purposes.

Signs of the Season

We are definitely moving into fall. Was at Kowalski's today and snapped this photo.

Cocktail Hour - Saturday May 5, 2012

Dale found some wonderful cheese with truffles in it at Kowalski's. I found it to be somewhat similar to brie in texture. We ate it out on the porch during cocktail hour. 

Golden Hour - December 17, 2011

Delicious beef stroganoff for dinner tonight. Dessert was a roulade from Kowalski's. Divine.

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving 2011

Dale and I hit Kowalski's at around 9:00 a.m. this morning and it wasn't crowded at all. We got all the food we need for tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner. Pictured on the stove is the food we bought. We forgot to add the dinner rolls to the display. Tomorrow Mom will bring the green bean casserole and the sweet potatoes.

Pumpkin Pie

Tonight marked a first for the season. It's the first time we've had pumpkin pie this fall. It came from our good friend Mrs. Kowalski and I love how she offers just half a pie. Dale whipped up some cream for the topping. He actually cut himself a quarter of what we bought. I had to make a bit of fun of him because I knew he should have just taken half as I did. Of course he went back for more pie after he finished! I know him so well!