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That sounds wonderful. Last night I made 2 margherita pizzas, following the Robert's recipe for dough that was published by the NYT a few years ago. Spinach salad for her, arugula for me. I really shouldn't be allowed near flour. I tried to be careful, but turned the front of my black t-shirt mostly white and I'm still finding flour scattered about in various parts of the kitchen and dining room this morning. The dough turned out ok and I think I know how to improve on it next time. This is only my 4th or 5th attempt over multiple decades so I'm still making rookie mistakes -- need more practice.

Two obsessions: Charlie Trotter's citrus smoked salmon (available at WF) and Jose Andres mayo-jar dressing. I've been hooked on the CT smoked salmon for quite a while. I usually throw it into an arugula salad with various add-ons. Today I only added a few small "Wild Wonders" tomatoes. About that dressing: Have you seen JA's recipes for the people videos? An episode of the "chicken experience" includes a vignette about what to do with a mayonnaise jar that has only the dregs remaining. He adds mustard and olive oil (lots of olive oil) an shakes it up to make a dressing. That's what I put on my salmon/arugula salad for lunch today -- perfect. http://www.joseandres.com/en_us/recipesforthepeople

Been slacking off on posting, so ... Saturday was charcoal-grilled rib eye steak with steamed fresh green beans and ?? probably simple buttered pasta. Sunday was grilled shrimp (cayenne, cumin, oregano, garlic) with more buttered pasta and frozen green peas with carrots. Monday was steamed fresh asparagus, panko-crusted cod (adapted Jonathan Waxman's halibut Milanese), and orzo. Tonight will be grilled soy-sauce-marinated Atlantic salmon, leftover pasta from Sunday, and fresh steamed broccoli.

After a week off from cooking, last night was pork loin from WF, brined and cooked low-and-slow on the charcoal grill, slathered with a little bottled bbq sauce for the last 15 minutes or so of roasting. The result was pleasantly smoky and still moist. Vegetables were grilled zucchini, sweet onions, and Roma tomatoes. Being lazy, I pulled out a box of "Far East" brown rice pilaf that had been hiding in the back of the cupboard for some time. My 2 dining companions were OK with it but I thought it was pretty bad -- the wages of sloth (in fairness, I think their mushroom-flavored version is decent).

Baby back ribs, with a simple dry rub, low and slow on the Weber kettle. Well, not slow enough. Temperature control was a problem. I had it right at the beginning but at some point when I thought it was getting too low, I opened the vent further and it got up over 300. The ribs were still good -- there's nothing left of the two racks, divided amongst us three. We also had steamed kale with carrots, and macaroni salad from Snider's (one of my vices).

For some reason I've been craving swordfish🤫. Last night was the leftover crab cakes I made from our ProFish order. They survived their two-week stay in the freezer in good shape. Steamed fresh asparagus on the side. Hollandaise would have been nice but I"m lazy and dressed mine with a little Briannas champagne vinaigrette, which Pat turned me onto a while ago.

Last night was the last of our ProFish order: black sea bass fillets, simply prepared with salt/pepper and sauteed in olive oil, served with lemon wedges, steamed fresh broccoli, and basmati rice. I hadn't eaten black sea bass in a long while. Crisfield used to have it on their menu way back in the 80s when we would go there for dinner most Friday nights after swimming laps at the Y -- it was dropped from the menu eventually. They usually have whole ones at WF but they never look good. The eyes are always cloudy and the other whole fish, such as red snapper and bronzini, appear fresher. Some day I'll have to ask the fish monger what gives.

I wish my menus were as varied as Pat's. Once again, I made carbonara for dinner last night. At least I vary the type of pork . This time it was prosciutto, which was good, but not nearly as savory as the version I made with speck. On the side was steamed fresh asparagus. I'm not sure what tonight will entail. I'd planned on ordering takeout but the weather is not looking good so far. It got so dark here about 1/2 hour ago that the street lights turned on. Might need to root around in the freezer to come up with an alternative.

Salmon, marinated briefly in soy sauce, low and slow on the charcoal grill. Nailed it -- moist and not too smokey (believe me, I'm not bragging. my success rate is not that great). Buttered ziti garnished with flat-leaf parsely. Steamed fresh haricot vert.

From our ProFish order that arrived earlier this week, I made crab cakes using a pound of their MD lump crab meat. The crab was good but not the freshest, lacking the sweetness of crab just out of the water. In fairness, it it did sit in the fridge for 3 days before I used it. The recipe I semi followed uses no bread: dry mustard, old bay, worcestershire, fresh parsely, mayo, and egg. Combined the crab meat with all those ingredients then put it in a colander to drain off excess liquid starting early this morning. The resulting cakes were really good. The two of us shared 3 cakes and put away 3 more in the freezer for later. Veggie side was steamed fresh asparagus -- nice thin stalks. I plan on ordering crab meat and other items again from ProFish.

Leftover barbecued chicken, leftover mushroom rice pilaf, and steamed fresh English peas, some of which were sprouting -- the raw sprouts were pleasantly sweet.

I don't have wide-ranging experience with this, but I generally enjoy Mike's Mighty Good, available at WF. It's not instant, as in the just-add-boiling water type. The noodles need to be cooked and then the spice and sesame oil packs are added when the noodles are done. Kimchi and tonkatsu are my preferred flavor variants. And I can't resist "enhancing" with an egg or soy sauce or chopped scallions or all three additions. Now I'm looking forward to trying the other versions mentioned above -- thanks.

Ordered from ProFish for the first time. Order arrived early this morning -- nice, though I feel guilty about the styrofoam container. The Silver Spring Whole Foods, where we buy most of our seafood, hasn't had clams for months and I've been craving them. The promised count from ProFish was 2 dozen. I think we received at least three extra. They were clean and fresh -- all of them opened when cooked. So tonight was linguine with (white) clam sauce and steamed frozen green peas, enjoyed on the patio with my favorite person in the whole world on our 36th anniversary.❤️

Last night I made the Judy Rodgers/Zuni Cafe brined pork chops again. I adjusted the salt downward, which was an improvement, but I think I should also reduce the sugar content of the brine next time. The challenge is getting the ratios right when making 1/2 of the original recipe. Sides were steamed fresh green beans and, shudder, Near East brand mushroom pilaf -- yes, out of a box. Shame on me😄 Tonight I spatchcocked a chicken and roasted it over indirect heat on our charcoal grill. It turned out well, though not as smoky as I'd hoped. Sides were (I'm so not worthy) Whole Paycheck 365 mac and cheese! and the best Swiss Chard I've ever had. The chard was on special this past week and as soon as I took it out of the fridge and started breaking it down, I was astonished at how crisp/fresh it was. Peace.

Yesterday was hamburgers, potato salad, and mixed green salad with onion, avocado, celery etc. The latter two were made by my favorite person in the whole world ❤️. The burgers turned out well, as in well-done. I'm out of practice cooking with charcoal and I"m now convinced my so-called "instant read" thermometer reads low. Fortunately, the ground beef had enough fat content (20%) to keep the burgers from drying out. Tonight I think we'll do prosciutto-wrapped cod, a simple pasta, and steamed fresh broccoli.

Leftover meatballs from Sunday, which were a tribute to Marisa: I made pasta instead of polenta. I've made this with polenta before and either way it's wonderful. This recipe liberated me from browning the meatballs and making a mess of the stove top with splattered grease. The flavor of the tomato sauce and meatballs is just fine as long as the ground beef has enough fat content. I lust after the polenta stirring machine in the video. If I had one, I'd make polenta more often.

Phoned it in tonight. Spaghetti alla carbonara with steamed frozen peas on the side. I used WF 365 organic smoked bacon which paled in comparison to the flavor contributed by the speck (La Quercia) I used for the previous iteration of this, one of my go-to dishes. But that's one of the charms of making carbonara dish as a home cook. On rare occasion I score an "A", other times it ranges from blah to passable.

Tonight was skewers. First up on the grill: skewers of cremini mushrooms, red bell pepper, and vidalia onion tossed in olive oil with freshly ground black pepper, sea salt, and chopped fresh rosemary (I'm going to jinx myself, but I feel compelled to mention my rosemary plant is looking particularly healthy this year). Then big fat sea scallops, tossed in olive oil and minced garlic, with paprika, salt and black pepper generously applied. I served the veggies over greens, dressed however the customer chose. Just a simple meal which probably tasted better because it was consumed outside on a beautiful evening with the best person I know.

Last night was pan-seared arctic char with a ginger/soy/mirin glaze, served with lime slices and chopped scallions. Sides were steamed green beans, and farro sautéed with shallots in olive oil, the pan deglazed with dry white wine (Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc) and then finished with a simmer in 50/50 water and chicken stock. The rest of the wine wound up in our glasses.

If I lived closer I'd drop off a bungee cord for you. I like to keep a couple on hand as they do come in handy, like when a raccoon was getting into our garbage can -- lashed the lid on and attached one end of the cord to a porch railing (She had been climbing onto the railing and then knocking the can over popping the lid off. Then she and her kids would feast). Last night I made house-cured pork loin chops from the Zuni Cafe cookbook. I only brined the chops for 24 hours and would like to try a longer soak next time. They turned out well, if a little sweet for my taste. I first cooked them low-and-slow in the Weber kettle to get a little smoke flavor and then seared/finished them on the gas grill. Sides were steamed fresh English peas with a couple carrots thrown in, and leftover penne in a simple tomato sauce.

Tonight was arctic char marinated in soy sauce, mirin, grated fresh ginger, and olive oil then grilled. Sides were simple, as usual: buttered cavatelli and steamed fresh haricot vert.

I've written off one of our local spots for takeout because over 2 visits the front-of-the house person was not wearing a mask (I know, I shouldn't have gone back after the first incident) and the 2nd time I went to pick up our order he violated my personal space (remember that throw-back phrase?) when he came around from behind the counter to fetch a bottle of wine. I would name names, but Dean is right -- I should contact the establishment first before outing them. On a happier note, The Daily Dish is killing it https://thedailydishrestaurant.ordereze.net. We've been regular customers for years and we are very impressed with their takeout game. I'd been reluctant to order fish until Sietsema wrote that he'd had good experiences with takeout. I had their red snapper loin recently that was cooked perfectly and survived the 10-minute trip beautifully. The accompanying risotto was so good that I ate way more of it than I should. And their family meal options have been great, saving me from cooking at least one night weekly.

Burnout was a problem for me well before the current stay-at-home situation. I would often get in a rut cooking things that were simple/easy after leaving work and, often, stopping by the gym on the way home. I've had to change things up when my SO protested that "this is the third week in a row we've had X". Dining out at least once a week was an absolute necessity. I'm jealous of Pat, Dean, and others for the amazing variety of dishes they prepare. Maybe I just need to retire so I have more time . I have so many cookbooks from which I've prepared only 1 or 2 dishes (apologies to the late, great Judy Rodgers). Last night was pan-seared boneless pork loin chops with a simple sauce of white wine, chicken stock, garlic, and rosemary from the garden. Sides were steamed fresh broccoli and leftover fresh linguine (La Pasta) with mushroom sauce. Tonight will be spaghetti alla carbonara. I don't have my preferred guanciale but will make do with some speck.

Last night I conflated two traditional pasta sauces: Arrabbiata and Amatriciana. I had a leftover slice of North Country Smokehouse organic applewood-smoked bacon which, when I found it lurking in the fridge, became the inspiration for the dish. The rest of the ingredients were a mish-mash of those that go into the two traditional sauces and a couple of outliers: garlic, onion (actually shallot), red pepper flakes, parsley, white wine, and parmigiano (wish I had some Romano, which would have improved the flavor). I used dried fettucine instead of the more traditional bucattini or penne. I thought it turned out rather well, worthy of at least a C+. On the side was steamed fresh organic broccoli. That bacon, BTW, is quite good (found it at WF). It has a little brown sugar and molasses in the mix, but it doesn't come across as sweet. The smoke/salt/fat/sugar flavors are nicely balanced.