My sister was going to bake some mince pies yesterday, but substituted the traditional 'pie' shape for pastry swirls. I'm not sure what to call them. Mince swirls? Mince pinwheels? Anyway, they're delicious.

MMMMM!!! Sounds delicious!

Lil Smokies cooked in Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce. It must be Christmas.

I just looked it up and immediately went mmmmmmmm

They are definitely mmmm and smell good enough to tempt the vegetarians in the family while they are cooking. But they are not exactly health food, so it’s a rare thing to see me opening a pack. I made enough that we should have had a lot left over, but apparently my son got in there with a big bowl last night and just about emptied the pot. Yikes! Good thing he will sleep through any stomach ache he might have this morning!

Today we are making my Gramma’s spice cookies with ginger, nuts, and candied fruit in them. The recipe makes a huge batch so we will be eating them for days.

*Packs knife & fork, then studies map looking for fast travel point to Grits' house*

*fires up coffee pot, fills plate with cookies*

My brother decided we would eat Xmas day lunch at an establishment new to me, a local Chinese centric all-you-can-eat buffet. Good stuff, though I prefer the flavor of some but not all entrees at another local Chinese centric AYCE buffet. Rolls at the new place are a definite improvement. The other place used to have really good rolls, but over a year ago switched to rolls with so little substance they can easily be squeezed to the size of marbles . . . yuk. I over ate shamelessly, piling my place high first time round and going back for a second, less filled, plate. (I normally do not go back for seconds at buffets.) No dessert . . . not even tempted. Water to drink.

This meal and our Turkey-Day lunch are my only two food purchases of the year budgeted under 'spending money' rather than 'food'. I do not feel this is cheating. These two meals are eaten as family commitments. Were it not for those commitments I would almost certainly not dine out for those meals, or if I did not spend as much as I did this Xmas. That meal cost me $15 plus tip! Outrageous by my standard. I budget myself $50 per week on food, be it groceries, dining out or a combination thereof. Though I occasionally go a few dollars over that, I more often stay within the $40-45 range. That being the case, $17 for one meal is too much. (The other Chinese Buffet is a more reasonable $7+ plus tip. I eat there maybe once ever few months if that.)

Including that meal I have so far spent only $193 of my $580 spending money allowance this month. The whole thing is in some way rather silly, as all budget categories draw from the same bank account. But budgeting as I do helps me keep a firm grip on my spending habits. I virtually never spend more than I make in any given month, except for rare cases like having the roof repaired and reshingled several months ago.

I'm big on budgeting too, but adding to that is that after seeing several episodes of "caught on tape" based in what servers do with your food at restaurants - not a fan of going to restaurants unless I know the place or people.

But when I do = At Buffets I normally take a small sampling of everything on the first plate, just enough to taste if I'm going to want more. Plate two is only made up of anything I enjoyed. My big weakness in Chinese restaurants is the Rangoons:




Some are made with crab and cheese; some just plain cheese - either equally good if the restaurant is good.

Other than that, in a Chinese restaurant I tend to gravitate toward the shrimp or crab items. (1) Seafood is scarce in the mountain areas unless you go to the streams and catch your own crawdad. and (2) Don't like to eat any meat I can't tell by looking at it what animal it came from; in hopes the words "It tastes like chicken" never have to pass my lips,

That makes me ask; what do they do with your food?

Unmentionable things that can never be discussed without revisiting the horror of the initial discovery, lol. Have you never heard Penny threaten Sheldon?

DANGER! DANGER!

Exactly!

Lemon pancakes. Because breakfast is one of the four most important meals of the day.

A bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich.

Hopefully not one with an obscene amount of bacon on top?

5 strips of bacon! I've been thinking about it since yesterday!

BWAAHAA! Call me from the hospital after your heart attack,

(actually, 5 isn't too bad; I always had 3 - I mean less than 3 you may as well not call it a BLT, lol. )





This post has been edited by mALX: Jul 17 2016, 02:05 AM

I eat largish salads most every supper. For years now I've topped 'em off with a selection of the more decadent dressings; blue cheese, Thousand Isle, several Ranch variants and so on. I've tried a number of supposedly saner alternatives but never cared for 'em.

Within the past two months I've begun to find my favorites repulsive. Problem is, I can't find anything to take their place. My most recent purchase, Balsamic Vinaigrette, is utterly tasteless. Raspberry Hazelnut Vinaigrette has little flavor, and that bland. What little flavor I do find in tends to be too sweet for me. (This holds true with my old favorites too. I usually try and counteract that with liberal doses of Franks RedHot Sauce. It helps, but isn't ideal.) As with most foods, I like something with a lot of "zest" to it but no sweetness, fruit and the preserves I spread on my morning buttered toast being exceptions. Oh, and milk of course. Think I'm gonna try an (Olive) Oil & Vinegar dressing next. My understanding is that some of those can be tasty but not sweet????? If anyone knows a yummy non sweet store-bought dressing let me know.

Pancakes soon