Hi, Cem,
Lunch for 4? Or brunch? Or a late breakfast?
Well, we hear that a really good picture requires not much explanation. I thought I would give it a try.
So I guess this pic doesn't qualify!
But in fact this was the table set for a Christmas Day dinner (early afternoon) for Carla and myself and our two friends who live across the street. The main course, a pre-cooked spiral-sliced ham (a gift in fact from Carla's son in Texas, shipped from the provider in an ice-packed container) was still in the oven at the time.
The leftmost of the two square glass dishes holds an infamous
green bean casserole, a dish of which much fun is made (much as fun is made of Christmas fruitcakes). Topping it is said to be the only known use for the quite tasty "crispy fried onions" made by The French's Food Company, a well-known maker of spices, condiments, and such. (They are actually quite good on hamburgers, salads, and the like, but people hardly ever do that.)
Curiously, over her years of cooking, Carla had never before made the infamous dish (at some family gatherings in the past, when we lived in Texas, her daughter-in-law had made it), and of course we had regularly encountered it in the past at Christmas parties and the like.
But this year she decided to make it. Of course this was superior to any I had ever previously had. She bought the very best green beans available out here in the desert, and then pre-cooked them just to the ideal tenderness (
al dente, as it were). (Typically the green beans are seriously overcooked.)
The rightmost square glass dish contains
scalloped potatoes (
escalope, non?) which, curiously, she also had never cooked before. Not even realizing that, I had just mentioned as she discussed the menu for Christmas dinner that that dish might be nice. So she made it. And it was just delicious.
The round dish contains a delicious cranberry relish that is made every year in large quantities by a family connected with our town's Senior Center and sold by the center.
I was a lovely occasion, foodwise and otherwise.
Well, despite my initial attempt, again I seem to have again despoiled this venue, properly devoted to self-sufficient images, with an illustrated story of life here in the desert!
Now, off to lunch/ Leftovers! Yum!
Best regards,
Doug