What are you cooking?

fishorama · Apr 20, 2026

Is tarragon something you could grow in your bird's cage? White vinegar would not be my 1st choice. I'd probably go with rice vinegar, but any fresh or dried herbs might work. A mix?

We're having spaghetti without meat balls. I blame my husband, as much as I appreciate his packaging of sauce, even just 1 small meatball would be nice.

jaylach · Apr 20, 2026

fishorama said:
Is tarragon something you could grow in your bird's cage? White vinegar would not be my 1st choice. I'd probably go with rice vinegar, but any fresh or dried herbs might work. A mix?

We're having spaghetti without meat balls. I blame my husband, as much as I appreciate his packaging of sauce, even just 1 small meatball would be nice.

LOL! I've been getting ready to make a batch of sketti sauce for 3 days now, just keep putting it off for simple quick meals.

Actually tarragon is fine for a cockatiel, in fact healthy with a lot of nutrients if he were to nibble. To be honest I forgot about doing herbs in the bird cage. I tend to do that at times. I have a problem with shutting down my brain so a lot of things present that I like the idea of and 5 minutes later it is gone. Not really an unusual 'side affect' of a 175 IQ. Herbs are now on my dry erase board.

jaylach · Apr 21, 2026

Tonight is a cheese steak and stove-top baked beans with bacon and onion added to the beans. Currently the bacon and onions are going in a sauce pan. When the bacon is a bit short of crispy I'll add the beans along with a bit of catsup and mustard. I use paper towels to get rid of most of the bacon grease before adding the beans.

fishorama · Apr 21, 2026

What?!? You don't have a jar for bacon grease in your fridge? LOL, my great grandma is rolling over in her grave. Just kidding, I also add some apple cider vinegar & brown sugar to my stove top "baked" beans. Now as a slightly healthier food (ha!) I use extra virgin olive oil for most frying.

I go all out with bacon, ground beef, many kinds of beans, etc. for super deluxe dinner. I got the recipe from a discus club guy years ago. Makes a ton & freezes well, the only way I eat lima beans

but they add a nice color. I also use way less meat.

We're having burgers; olive, onion, mayo, romaine for me. Not sure what my husband is doing beside washing lettuce. He bought pickles I don't like ;( so they're all his.

jaylach · Apr 22, 2026

LOL! After 3 days of procrastinating sketti sauce, with 24 meatballs, is finally on the stove. Actually 12 meatballs but they are larger than I like for things like a calzone or sub so I cut in half once fully cooked. Also the balls don't roll off the plate, due to the flat side, when someone sneezes.

jaylach · Apr 22, 2026

Oh, @fishorama , YES, there is red wine in the sketti sauce.

Just teasing.

Not trying to change your mind at all as to your not liking wine in cooking as each of us have our own tastes and that is cool. One thing I' discovered in cooking is that many people make two mistakes with wine and cooking.

One is that they use bad wine. You never should cook with a wine that you would not drink straight.
Two is that they don't cook the dish with wine long enough. If a dish done with wine is not cooked long enough the alcohol content will leave a bit of a bitter taste. Yes, the alcohol burns off quickly but the effect is still there as to taste unless cooked a decent time. Even if using in a marinade I'll simmer the wine, or other alcohol, for a while before adding to the marinade.

Not at all trying to change your mind and the above bullet list is for general info, not directly at you. This is one of the beauties of cooking. Pretty much anything can be cooked in many different ways. One item cooked one way may be hated but cooked in another way may be loved. When my mother finely got smart enough to divorce my father she told me, at 13, that she couldn't teach me a lot but could teach me how not to starve. She never taught me a single recipe but, instead, taught me to not be afraid to experiment with food. Take eggs... like scrambled? Do you add milk to scrambled eggs? Don't use milk. Use water instead. The only reason to add liquid is that it boils away but the process acts to add air to the eggs. If you use milk it does the job but leaves a lot of milk solids which make the scrambled eggs more dense and tough. Use water and it does the same thing but without leaving the milk solids. Makes for much more fluffy scrambled eggs. French toast is different. Basically French toast is bread in whipped eggs like scrambled eggs but different. With French toast you need milk as you are really making a custard. Just an example of using the same item in 2 different ways to get 2 totally different results.

Sorry about the bit of a rant but I love food and experimenting with food.

fishorama · Apr 22, 2026

I forgot, I have used wine in cooking a couple times. My late FIL asked if I made chicken Marsala. I said no, I've never even tried it. But if he was game, I'd look up recipes see if any sounded like what he wanted. I found 1 with some variations & sent him & my husband to the close liquor store for Marsala wine. I said it comes in 2 kinds, sweet as not so much. I said DO NOT get sweet, it sounds awful, even though his GF might like it better that way. It turned out quite good, we all liked it even if husband had to pick out mushrooms.

My FIL liked my cooking most times; beef pea pod was a favorite I made. He thought it was funny I went to the library for cookbooks back before good internet. He insisted my husband throw out food my SIL made a few times when he was visiting his dad. Her family hated onion & garlic, beyond even a minimal amount so it's not surprising it didn't taste very good, lol

I thought the Flyers hockey playoffs or maybe MLB Phillies vs Cubs were on tv tomorrow. We'd planned on cheesesteaks husband would fetch. But no! NHL on tv now, PHI vs CHI MLB on the lame computer graphics. So now I have to cook the nagged for mac & cheese & some veggies.

jaylach · Apr 30, 2026

fishorama said:
I forgot, I have used wine in cooking a couple times. My late FIL asked if I made chicken Marsala. I said no, I've never even tried it. But if he was game, I'd look up recipes see if any sounded like what he wanted. I found 1 with some variations & sent him & my husband to the close liquor store for Marsala wine. I said it comes in 2 kinds, sweet as not so much. I said DO NOT get sweet, it sounds awful, even though his GF might like it better that way. It turned out quite good, we all liked it even if husband had to pick out mushrooms.

I use wine according to the protein. If beef I'll use red and chicken and pork, white. Marsala is a good all purpose choice as it is sort of in between the red and white. For instance I'll use Burgundy in tomato sauces and such things as beef stews. If chicken soup or chicken and dumplings I'll use white. I guess that I use wine according to the color of the meat.

One mistake that people tend to make is to over do the wine. A proper amount will add a richness but not much, if any, wine flavor. Over due the wine and you end up with wine stew.

Another mistake is using those cheap 'cooking wines' you can grab off the shelf at your grocery. Never cook with a wine you would not be happy to drink straight. If you like red wine but hate whites go ahead and use the red for chicken. Same goes if you like white but hate red, use white for beef. There is probably a 'rule' as to what wines to use but rules are to be broken. Use a wine you actually like to drink. There are exceptions to this such as Stroganoff. I would never use a white wine for this as it is one of those dishes that really needs the red wine taste.

Anyway, tonight, I'm having kielbasa links done like a hotdog on a bun with baked beans.

jaylach · May 1, 2026

Pork chop with cold baked beans and Brussels Sprouts. Beans were already cooked and I'm weird as I like them cold as well as hot. Sprouts are cooking and close to adding the chop. I cut the sprouts length wise and pan fry until they start getting dark on the edges. Chop will be flavored with a bit of smoked apple wood spice mix.

jaylach · May 3, 2026

Pizza on Boboli bread with my sketti sauce, meatballs, onion, bell pepper, shrooms and cheese. I don't use Boboli often but the crusts are pretty good. When I use I get the original crust which is hard to describe. Think a thin crust that is bread based and thicker or a thin pan crust. I don't care a lot for pan or thin crust but these are sort of between the two and quite good without having to deal with actual pizza dough.

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Fishmanic · May 3, 2026

Due to my success with my last batch of chili, I made it again. This time, instead of canned kidney beans, I cooked up a batch of beans from dry beans which took about two hours to make. Chili came out great. I also baked Jiffy corn muffins to accompany the chili as recommended by @fishorama. I have enough chili for at least 4 more days of meals. I'm thinking of making some hard shell chili stuffed tacos with lettuce and tomatoes topping.

I used the same great recipe as my previous cooking of chili. I highly recommend this recipe.

The Best Chili Recipe {EASY RECIPE} - Spend With Pennies

This Chili Recipe is thick and chunky and full of flavor! A hearty ground beef base is filled with tomatoes, and the perfect amount of seasoning.

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Fishmanic · May 6, 2026

When you have extra lemons,
Make lemonade

And when you have extra Chili
Make tacos!

jaylach · May 7, 2026

Fishmanic said:
When you have extra lemons,
Make lemonade

And when you have extra Chili
Make tacos!

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Or chili dogs! I prefer chili brats but dogs still work.

I have no idea what I'm having tonight. I MAY just do a frozen chicken pot pie but that can change at any time.

jaylach · May 8, 2026

Saw something interesting on the Food Network. I can't do as I don't have a waffle iron but still sounds good and I'm sure that I could figure out another way.

They used the waffle iron to crisp cook bread turkey stuffing to make the stuffing a bread for a sandwich, not corn bread stuffing... I don't like corn bread stuffing anyway. Make a sandwich with roasted turkey and a cranberry glaze. I bet it would be really good!

Fishmanic · May 8, 2026

Tonight I made spaghetti with meat sauce. I used jarred Bertoli tomato and basil sauce…my favorite. Added, more basil and oregano, minced garlic, diced tomato and a bit of red pepper flakes. I added 1/4 pound of hamburger. I made a side of Bird's Eye Broccoli and seasoned with some butter and salt. It was delish.