**Monday's menu: Mac and cheese baked with ham. Leftover Chinese takeout.
**Because: Kevin was in charge today. Mac and cheese with ham was a meal specifically requested for a holiday treat.
**What I ate: Warmed up soup and leftover tofu and broccoli over rice. I don't like mac and cheese. See, we accomodate many preferences at our table.
**Tuesday's menu: Baked potatoes. Green bean hash.
**Bonus: We actually had sour cream as a topping for the potatoes (we usually use yogurt) because we'd gotten sour cream to go with chips and dip on New Year's. Turns out only me and AppleApple like sour cream. Lucky us.
**The side: The green beans were ho-hum. But it's my fault for buying green beans out of season. They were tough. This is the problem with local eating: one gets spoiled by the real deal, and the imported stuff does not pass muster. So it's back to beets and cabbage.
**Wednesday's menu: Kids at at grandma's house. Parents ate at a movie theatre.
**Why? The occasion was a sleepover at grandma's, which the parents celebrated by going to a yoga class together (seriously), and then out to a movie (The Descendents; not cheery). We got panini sandwiches and ate them in the theatre. A pretty good date.
**Next time: Choose a more light-hearted film.
**Thursday's menu: Risotto. Roasted squash.
**Uh-oh factor: I used nearly 3 cups of raw rice to make what looked like a massive cast-iron pan of utterly delicious risotto (with onions, garlic, turkey stock, wine, butter, grated parmesan, salt and pepper). Our eldest was at another sleepover. Our youngest thought it was yucky. Our second-youngest ate soup instead. The rest of us ate the entire pan of risotto. Vanished. Scary. Next time I'll have to use four cups of raw rice.
**Happy daughter: This meal was AppleApple's request for a special holiday meal. I don't make it unless I'm blessed with extra time. It's stand-and-stir cooking. But oh so insanely good. Thank you, Italy.
**Friday's menu: Sweet and sour chicken in the crockpot. (Actually leftover turkey). Steamed rice. Cabbage salad with tamari dressing.
**Finally: A Side! AppleApple and I could not stop eating it. Guess we were starved for the crunch of cabbage.
**The end: That's the last of the leftover turkey. I've got a few parts frozen to make stock, but we shall soon be back to all-veggie meals once again. Perhaps with the exception of "cooking with kids" when we will allow the kids to cook with meat if they so chose.
:::
**Weekend cooking accomplishments: Eight loaves of bread (double batch), plus homemade pizza on Saturday. Good enough.
**Cooking with kids (Sunday night): Albus's turn. (pictured above)
**On the menu: Garlic bread. Meat lasagne. Cababage salad with cooked dressing. Plus sparkling cider to drink.
**Reviews: Excellent.Labels: supper, suppers