Spent the day taking down the Christmas tree and other decorations, a good excise for a quick dinner of the rest of the tomato vegetable soup and nice crunchy baguette with butter. And wine.

Oh boy. Boneless pork loin roasts on sale, $1.27, 4.6 lb. Instant Pot, EVOO, sauté, 1.5 large white onions. Add seeds: Cumin, Coriander, Fenugreek, Fennel, Black Mustard. Bloom = wait until the seeds start to pop open = releases flavors. No salt. High Pressure 95 min. Serve with a bit of cherry wood smoked sea salt and butter.I might be biased over my cooking but if you where here right now I would indeed expect you to announce it is the best pork you ever had.

Gene, your post makes me smile. It's always great when the food we make turns out to be a winner for us. Best pork dish in memory for me was some puerco asado we had in a high-end and absolutely fabulous restaurant in Philadelphia; don't remember the name, and after these many years, I'm doubting it's still there.

Karen, thanks for the link. I'm familiar with the concept but it is the seasoning mix that makes the dish. I'll experiment.

Two friends just left, and we enjoyed a delicious dinner. Locally caught thresher shark steaks were marinated in an enriched soy sauce blend with ginger, garlic and goodness, then broiled. Asparagus was steamed, blanched, and finished in butter and oil with parmesan. Rice was done with sauteed onions and some chicken broth. And there was a touch of a ripe slightly salted avocado too. All dressed up with fresh parsley. (Pretty plate but the quick snap was bad.) Company brought a nice white blend.

Cat is doing well.

Sean was the restaurant in Philadelphia Bookbinders?

I had a salad tonight and the kids had chicken nuggets, roasted broccoli and tater tots. Lou went out to eat with his parents.

Simply seasoned chicken breast, sprouted brown rice pilaf with sauteed diced onion, orange pepper, celery, radish, seasoned with chipotle powder, which DH really liked and had seconds, and steamed broccoli with a squirt, it's in a squeeze type ketchup bottle, of my spicy mayo/mustard sauce.

Sean, glad to hear that the cat is doing well.

Ronnie, it wasn't Bookbinders (another winner) but a traditional Cuban restaurant. And I'm thinking it was about 12 years ago or so. It could have been Alma de Cuba, but I'm not sure.

So for dinner... as the numbers in our soup kitchen are running a bit low (40-something guests, verses 60 or 70-something), the Wednesday night chef (a friend) put together a little "gift bag" for me which I picked up at church yesterday -- a few pieces of sliced ham, almost two cups of baked beans (!), and a beef and vegetable soup. The beans have been excellent; I even had some with eggs this morning. The ham made for some great ham salad, which I prefer over warmed up leftover ham. Tonight I tried the soup. I really wanted to like it. But the base was mixed with cream and it reminded me of a cafeteria or hospital soup. I managed to eat about a quarter of a cup but then it was history. The ham salad with toasted bakery bread and half of an avocado picked up the slack. A nice red blend on the side.

Meat sauce from the freezer, over al dente spaghetti, and a nice mixed salad with pine nuts and good parm. Red wine of course.

One of my handiest, favorite utensils in my kitchen drawer.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Plast...

Just up from one of those "just fine" dinners for one. It was baked seasoned chicken thighs (one for the cat, and perhaps some chicken salad), two small baked potatoes rubbed with oil to crisp the skin, and roasted onion and baby carrots with a little bit of celery to enhance the gravy. It was all tasty enough, but I've decided I need to step up the game a little even when I'm just cooking for myself. Tonight easy won out, and so it was just fine. The Sauvignon Blanc and cigar, however, are hitting the spot.

Gene, welcome back. Still enjoying the park. Margaret, I'm glad you're here. I am wondering about the rest of the crew.

I just opened a new 2019 thread, as I'm thinking it's time to jump.

The thread "Chow Time 2019" in Sandbox forum

Best to head over to the newest chow down thread, or could do as you did with the grumpy thread keep posting here just to show how bad the food is.