Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Return of the Chives

The wife wanted to try the chive scones again and figured this evenings spaghetti and meat sauce was the perfect opportunity. It was. The scones were up in flavour but were perhaps a little salty (wife's comment). The sauce, very little tomato as we forgot to put that on our shopping list, was fabulous. Zuchinni, celery, onions, garlic, ground beef, a few fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, basil, bay leaf, vinegar, salt and pepper. I was originally quite disappointed by the lack of tomato-yness but as seems to be the standing order I was more than pleasantly surprised after sitting down to eat(currently I am uncomfortably stuffed due to my inability to stop eating it). The salad dressing made use of a creamy dill veggie dip I made this weekend. It was mixed with a good portion of lemon juice. Sappari is the word in Japanese. The english eludes me. With the scones for sopping up leftover sauce and salad dressing the complete meal experience was again amazing. I am away for dinner tomorrow evening. However, I will report on whatever the crew gets up to. Manyana.

Monday, April 28, 2008

A home cooked meal.


Well this evenings dinner was just right. Miso soup, with just the right amount of tofu. One child had three bowls. Diakon and carrot salad also accompanied the meal, pickled in vinegar and something else, I did not get clarification but nevertheless great. The main dish was a Pork stirfry with purple cabbage and bean sprouts served over a mixture of white and brown rice. There was no flash to this evenings dinner. It was exactly what one wants on a Monday night. With the Miso soup and Japanese style salad I told the wife that we could even serve this to guests. She was aghast as it is such a simple meal that she would never dream of serving it to someone else. I disagree. With the soup and salad acting as real Japanese elements you could pass of the stirfry as some holiday dish. I think we are an appetizer away from serving this to someone. As for this evenings picture the batteries in the camera died. I tried to steal from every possible electronic device I could lay my hands on but hunger prevailed over the desire to get the shot. When I couldn't find AA batteries in any toy, remote, or flashlight (the flashlights had previously been stolen for something else) I couldn't muster the desire to go down stairs and keep searching.
Well the camera has new batteries and we are looking at spaghetti and meatballs tomorrow night. See you then.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Fish cakes with Kick

Post 6 year-old birthday party and with Harry Potter number two twirling in the VCR I vaguely see through the afternoon almost nap my wife busily baking bread and whipping up home made fish cakes. Upon coming to an hour later there are four enormous fluffy loaves and a frying pan of home made fish cakes ready in the kitchen. So for dinner we had fish cake sandwiches. The bread was still warm and oh so fluffy, forcing us to cut thicker than usual slabs. The fish cakes, a mixture of mashed potato, salmon, lemon, chives and dill were a flavour explosion. I was caught completely off guard and even made the unfortunate mistake of trying to add a condiment that shall remain nameless. The lemon did not come with a full frontal assault but rather attacked from all directions once my defenses were down and it was safely in my mouth. The fish cake sandwich was also overwhelming with the fresh warm bread complimenting the fish cake. The sliced tomato and cheese covered cauliflower played the role of the garnish this evening. They played their parts well but they were definitely supporting players. The black covering on the fish cake you can see in the picture is sesame seed. It added a distinct variation but the strength of the seeds somewhat diminished the impact of the lemon. Nice but not quite as good as the original. Looking forward to lunch tomorrow.

No cockle shells here.


So you may be wondering how the vegetable garden is coming along. The tomato and pepper army is currently taking over the picture window in the dining room. As you can see, some got off to a better start than others. The sweet, long, yellow pepper seeds I saved from last year are the farthest seeds away. All of the other seed I saved was not viable. Not a single chile, jalapeno, or habanero sprouted for me. Oh the pain. So I will be buying my hot peppers in pots this year. I am loathe to buy plants in pots as I feel I should be able to start them on my own. That is one of the challenges I am finding with gardening. You measure your progress year on year rather than minute on minute. Not being the most patient person in the world this poses no small challenge to me. But since there is nothing I can do about it I guess I will have to learn.

Thursday, April 24th.


This evening we were very lucky to have some deer meat smokies. They were given to us by my good friend Jack Lucky. He has the luxury of no longer being tied to the school year and gets to go hunting and fishing at his semi-leisure. In any case these smokies were awesome. I know there are some who would scorn my use of ketchup on something as precious as homemade smokies. But I worship the read sauce and must pay homage whenever the opportunity arises. You, dear reader, may be wondering about the carrots. The were pickled with the jalapenos you also see on the bun. Spicy smoky greatness. The bun was a nice baggeute cut up into smoky sized buns. After a long (four day) work week I deserve this kind of glorious fare.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Who took that one?


Well as you can probably tell from the picture this was my plate this evening. It sure likes nicer when the wife's reasonable portions are nicely spaced on the plate. That whole massive mountain of food effect does not transfer well to digital. However, it did transfer well to the old digestive tract. We had a mushroom, spinach and rice casserole this evening. Funnily enough our son finished the meal saying, "mmm mushrooms are delicious!" whereas our daughter wouldn't even try them. I love the shitake so it all worked out for me. The pasta salad was back for round two (three if you include lunch) but it was just as good as always. The rest of the plate was a green salad with nice little carrot sticks. The dressing was purple onion pickled in vinegar with some dijon mayonnaise and other assorted flavourings. Reminded me of calamari. Truly original salad dressing this evening so I have to give the wife huge kudos. The meal was really great. I am living a dream here :)

I think tomorrow is leftovers as there is soup and chili to be eaten. Stay tuned.

Oh yeah, the starfish on top of my plate is a scone-ish creation that has chives baked right in. Interesting. It could have used some cheese perhaps to be a fully realised dinner addition. Still worth the time spent eating it.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Ebi furai.

Or deep fried shrimp for those playing in Canada. This dish is made with Japanese panko (translation: bread crumb). I am willing to concede that there is a distinct difference between the Japanese and the North American version. It is noticeable in the wonderful way my wife makes this dish. There was pasta salad teaming with vegetables, lightly bathed in salt, pepper, vinegar and oil. The chives came from our garden. These hearty chives are getting big and green despite winters best effort to stick around. In the bowl you see nimono with some shitake mushrooms and tofu. It sure looks delicious doesn't it.

Unfortunately for me, this evening I was also shut out on eating with the troops as I had another late night Professional Development meeting at school. Don't get me wrong there are perks to being a teacher. They are just a little hard to see when you are right up against it.

Monday April 21st

Well I went for a run today, or yesterday now. I was actually taken on a run by someone I took for a run maybe five months ago. This person is now in wicked shape and is looking to move up to half marathon distance. I, on the other hand, am just coming back from a three week cold. I haven't done any real exercise in those three weeks and I haven't been for a real run in five months. Needless to say I am feeling it today. Anyways, between that, marks being due this morning and a bunch of planning for school I was fully engrossed last night, oh yeah also spent a bunch of hours trying to get the best deal on tickets to Japan this summer. So yesterdays dinner is a little late. What we had was a bean curry with bean sprout and purple cabbage salad. Very nice and it was great today for lunch. I am definitely getting all the fiber one man could want. So that was Monday.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Sunday Lunch

This was in actual fact dinner but due to the menu it sure seemed like lunch. We went with clubhouse sandwiches, french fries, roasted orange peppers and steamed cauliflower lightly dressed. It was fabulous. This was originally the rest of Saturday evenings menu but we held off and it was great today. The sandwiches were made with a sour dough bread bought from the previously mentioned bakery. Fabulous. Then we had sliced smoked turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato, real mayonnaise, butter and mustard (for those who wanted it). Simply outstanding. The french fries were thick cut and then baked after being drizzled with olive oil and lightly salted and peppered. There may have been basil involved there but I didn't notice. The peppers were done the same as the potatoes and were unbelievably rich and sweet. Couldn't get the kids near them in a radiation suit but they have to come around some day. I mean roasted orange peppers. These are the moments and this is our life. The cauliflower on the other hand was devoured by the kids to the tune of three and a half helpings (between the two of them). The like the white vegetable. Interesting. Well this weeks menu is in the planning stages and I am pretty sure we will start to see some repeats. Not identical but definitely similar. Keep tuned dear reader.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Weekends are tough

So you may notice a difference in this evenings dinner picture. Once again a busy Saturday made for a haphazard afternoon and then dinner in fits and starts. We had cheesy flavoured nacho chips with home made salsa, the fish chowder was made and consumed but I don't think more than one person was ever sitting eating at the same time. Finally, the bread from last night was polished off one small slice at a time. It may have been the weather. Almost the end of April and we had a snow storm today. Wind howling, snow coming in side ways and there go a troop of five year olds chasing a soccer ball. The ones who stayed out to play had a good time I think. Tomorrow should be better. Not the weather, just the dinner.

Friday, April 18, 2008

After the Fact

So we got a little carried away, what with having guests over for dinner, and we completely forgot to take a picture of a nicely manicured plate pre-tucking in. So this evenings picture is of seconds. Sorry. I did my duty though and had a little of everything. The lasagna was much more of a classic lasagna than I usually make. Low and behold it was truly delicious and lasagna like. I usually try and make layers of vegatables and it just doesn't work out. This evening I used the Jessica Seinfeld puree and hide the vegetables trick with yams and carrots. They went right into the sauce and man was it good. The green salad was nice with the same soy sauce dressing the wife made a few nights ago. However, the topper was the pumpernickel loaf that came from the organic, no white sugar or white flour bakery we have in town. It was truly amazing bread. We are sending an espionage team in to find the recipe and take out anyone who tries to stop them. I honestly think the baker would give us his recipe if we asked. He is a really good guy. We did have healthy brownies for dessert (bran in the brownies, who'd of thunk it) and they were a nice accent. The molasses in the pumpernickel was nicely offset by the shiraz that our guests brought for dinner. All in all a good night.

Here is a shot of the kids after dinner. Thanks for coming friends from Kamloops. Hope you eat as well in Trail as you did here.

Tomorrow: Probably fish chowder. We are indecisive at the current time.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

The Grill before the Storm

So we managed to get the BBQ fired up tonight. It was a beautiful 18 degrees out. They are calling for snow on Saturday. Will this winter never end? In any case the barbequed pork chops were awesome. Garlic power, salt, and pepper swished together in a small bowl and then sprinkled over top. The mashed potatoes were outstanding, so fluffy yet at the same time moist. The salad was spinach and strawberries. We often have this with roasted almond slices but alas, they were no where to be found tonight. The wife made a lemon and honey dressing. Just lemon juice and honey. Talk about au natural. Leftover spaghetti was lightly panfried with some red peppers and some other flavouring, I did not get the details. I was thoroughly satisfied with this evenings meal. Just what I needed to finish a short week of work. We have friends who called today to say they will be passing through tomorrow around dinner time. We invited them for dinner so we may have to upgrade from fish chowder. We will see what tomorrow brings.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

All hail the King.

Tonight was apparently Chicken A la King. I was unfortu -nately subjected to Panago for the third time in the last two weeks. Oh the misery. Anyways I will have to let my wife do the describing for this evenings dinner. (Wife) I put broccoli, chicken, onion, white sauce, mushrooms, and green peas in the sauce. The kids didn't like the mushrooms. We saw that one coming. I also made Daikon (japanese radish) and carrot salad. It was kind of like a sweet pickle. There was also some of yesterday's leftover nimono. But the kids didn't have any. They did like the salad. Anything with vinegar and they love it. Makes their old man proud. (Me again) Looking at the photograph I am so disappointed by the meeting meal I ate at school. I mean I am appreciative that there is food provided but when I see what I am was missing it really sticks the knife in and gives it a turn. Enough with the whining. Here is a picture that one of the kids took of the other. I think there is genius in the air.

Tomorrows Dinner: Pork Chops with mashed potatoes. Mmmmm Pork.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Tofu, the other white meat

Well the vaunted tofu steaks were skillfully seared this evening. Lots of garlic slices in the pan and just a little oil. After a few minutes the soy, garlic, honey sauce was added into the mix. Not an overpowering flavour but it really brings out what is great about tofu. The nimono was served cold tonight, which unfortunately was not the liking of child one or child two, although I think child one's immediate dislike cannot be discounted as a major factor in child two's behaviour. The rice was served plain and the garlic was pan fried with the bean sprouts in the tofu after math. Miso soup had big chunks of yam and small chunks of carrot. A thoroughly satisfying second night of vegetarian in a row.

Now back to that kids not eating their veggies thing. Did everyone know that Jerry Seinfeld's wife one Jessica Seinfeld has written a book. I believe it is called "Deceptively Delicious" and is all about how you can get pureed vegetables into almost and dish without your kids realising. Then the don't complain because they are eating the mac and cheese they love and only you know there is a bunch of wholesome cauliflower in there. I pooh poohed the book when my wife first brought it home because usually our kids do pretty good with the veggies. However, this evening I was wishing we had done some pre-planning and had made a rice dish with hidden squash in it. They did gobble up the tofu and rice but there was not a lot of vegetable action going on. I loved it all.

Tomorrow: I have a meeting to attend but apparently there is some chicken a la king (we don't have Easter turkey leftovers because we had ham instead) coming in for a wee stay. Looking forward to the nine o'clock second dinner. Yes!!

Monday, April 14, 2008

Who cut the carrots?

This evenings fare was spaghetti with a bean and tomato sauce. The beans were chick peas and there were onions, garlic and the other usual suspects in the pot. The tomato flavour came through really strongly this evening. It really said, "hey, yeah, thats me baby!" Just the right blend of flavours and kapow, knocks your socks off. There must be something to the science of cooking. For all my dash of this and pinch of that non-sense I would really love to know why the magic happens when it does. There is too much chance involved in cooking a truly great meal. I am maybe one in fifty. Of course the wife used a recipe tonight. Who ever wrote that one sure knew what they were doing. Also the soy sauce, vinegar, honey, oil dressing was so light and refreshing and at the same time perfectly accented the simple green salad.

I had seconds. It couldn't be helped. Yoga will have to wait a few hours for this one to get down, however being a veggie meal it should be better than a meat and potatoes night.

Tomorrow: Pan fried Tofu steaks. Bring on the garlic.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Mayonaise (said like "Newman")

Well that is the last time we buy fat-free mayo- nnaise. I mean it sounds like an oxymoron to begin with but I am sure it seemed like a good idea at the time. We have been trying to use it up in our normal salad dressings, dips, sandwiches and such but it just doesn't cut it. We keep wondering why we are mildly dissatisfied with some of the dishes we make and there it is sitting on the top left door shelf staring us in the face. PC fat-free mayonnaise. In the light blue jar. Fortunately, it did not ruin this evenings entire meal. Te-maki (hand roll) sushi is a cornucopia of toppings set out on the table and then you, the eater, get to choose the different roll combinations you like. I like the working mans sandwich, cheese, ham, cucumber and carrot. I usually put a little mayonnaise on this but not tonight! In Japan I would use the cupid mayonnaise that comes in the squeeze bottle. So very handy, and cute. Ah the Japanese. Getting back to the rolls, the mayonnaise was mixed with canned tuna and onion for a tuna salad roll, nice with a few shreds of lettuce (noticeably but forgivably absent this evening). However, this evenings version was just a little off. The shrimp rolls were lovely and the umeboshi (salted sour plums) were spot on. We also had some garlic fried bok-choy which was nice but just didn't compare to the rolls. I was forced into taking a second helping when my wife gave me that hurt, you don't like this face and then said "don't you like this?" It was nice but it brings me to the problem with Te-maki. They are so small that one tends to not realize how much they have eaten until they are well overfed. Fearing this I didn't want to fill up on bok-choy but in the end marital bliss (okay harmony, well at least it isn't war) won out over an extra roll. By the way we got a shot of the last surviving koroke. Sure must be lonely sitting on the plate all alone, waiting for one of us to swoop down and devour it. Who will it be... who will it be....

Planning is progressing on next weeks menu and shopping list. We are going to try for a fourth week of no repeats. It may be tough. Stay tuned.

Has anyone seen Friday or Saturday

Well we haven't. We started making the much anticipated koroke on Friday but as I am still sick and spent most of the day in bed (I believe the flu has morphed into a sinus infection) there wasn't a lot of motivation to turn the beginnings of koroke into the actual thing. With all the dipping and battering and redipping it is a real job. Fortunately, I was feeling better Saturday morning and we got them all cooked up. They are best served right out of the deep fryer (frying pan with oil for us) but we have been eating them constantly for the last 24 hours. There are two left now as I ate the third to last one for breakfast. Last nights dinner was courtesy of some friends and I felt awkward about broaching the subject of taking a picture of their meal and then blogging about it. I am sure I will get over that awkwardness some day but until then our evenings out will be this blogs loss. I am pretty sure we will be back on track tonight as the wife seems pumped.

On a happy note spring is sprunging and lots of pepper and tomato sprouts are up. The two broccoli sprouts are sizing up nicely so we should be getting them into the garden soon. The carrots, spinach, beets and swiss chard have had one planting and once they start coming up I will get a second planting in the soil. I just hope we have something to eat before we head off on vacation. Vegetable gardens and extended vacations do not mix. Rats.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Not quite chicken fingers

Well instead of chicken fingers we went with fish sticks. The potatoes were fried with garlic, broccoli, cauliflower and cheese. The miso soup was full of yam, squash and broccoli hearts. The rice was unadorned and though I had already had my Thursday afternoon beer did not seem too overwhelming in the carbohydrate department. I am a big believer in ketchup. Not surprisingly, my kids are following right in my foot steps. That whole sins of the father thing really does happen. Or perhaps it is just the apple not falling that far from the tree. In any case if you look closely enough you can see yourself in your children. I may need to step back and squint for a while.

Tomorrow: Koroke, Japanese croquets.

April 9th: Home alone

Well do to work circum- stances this evenings meal was taken with out me. It sure looks good though. I am told it was quite delicious. The fried noddles had bean sprouts and pork along with various other vegetables. The salad was a vinegar, cucumber, soft tofu and soy sauce affair. This is a very light dinner. Excellent for when the heavy eater is being fed elsewhere. You can tell from the distraught face on my daughter that they really missed me at dinner.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Paper Fish

This evenings recipe was a blatant sales ploy by overwaitea. It worked. We saw the add for buy one get one free fish fillets (sole perchance) and beside it was a recipe for pesto baked fish. We we had the pesto we bought two weeks ago for the pasta so instead of making our pesto from scratch we opened the jar and pesto, there it was. Tonight's nimono was squash, yam and spinach. Fabulous as usual. The cauliflower and broccoli were lightly steamed and then the wife made a vinegar based dressing for them. The miso soup was teaming with tofu and dried Japanese radish (daikon). There was also rice of course. I was stuffed. I had a sister point out that the previous five plate dinner we attempted was insanity seeing as we don't have a dish washer. I hope she notices that we only used three dishes this evening even though it could have fit on five. Up tomorrow. Parent teacher interviews. So I will not be eating with the crew. It sounds like a toss up between home made chicken nuggets and yaki soba (fried noddles). I am looking forward to finding out which it is almost as much as you.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Kansas: they make chili there.


Just got back from watching the NCAA final game. Kansas came back at the end to send it into overtime and then prevailed. Memphis had four free throws in the last minute of regulation and only made one of them. Free throws win basketball games. But the real story this evening was the chili. It was kid friendly and you should have seen my son throwing back the zucchini chunks. I even added mushrooms tonight which was really nice. Low on the heat but it was juicy enough to warrant the garlic bread. A really nice green salad with grated cheese and romano sprinkled on top. All in all a good eating Monday. Sure to see that chili again this week for lunch. The nice thing about chili. Its always better the next day.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Everything Mexican.

This evening my mom gets back from her second trip to Mexico this year. In a quasi celebration we have made our version of chicken fajitas. I do not claim to have any aspirations to making authentic Mexican food. I do really like our versions though. The chicken is sprinkled with salt and pepper, beaten with the back of the big knife and then cut into strips. It is fried with garlic, paprika, nutmeg, and chili powder. Then sliced red peppers and onions are added in and the whole mess is fried up till the onions go brown and the chicken starts to get little black spots. With fresh tomatoes, lettuce, our home made salsa (canned last august, only 9 litres but all five varieties remaining), the guacamole and shredded cheese rounding out things the wraps came out great. Chips, salsa and guacamole filled up the plate and my daughter and wife made lemon pudding in individual serving cups for dessert. Interestingly, I was the only one unenthusiastic about the salsa. The first batch I made last year I put peach in and didn't add many jalapenos. Well the kids loved it and my wife really enjoyed it. I was disappointed because there was no discernible heat. Can't please everyone. We have this weeks menu whipped up and though it was a bit of a mental hurdle we have not repeated anything from the first three weeks. Look at that, we can make at least 21 different entrees. Can you hear my sore elbow popping.

Tomorrow: Chili, with garlic toast. I promise to make it juicy enough to warrant the toast.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

It had to Happen

So the fact of the matter is there was carrot, squash and shrimp tempura tonight. There was also some fried potatoes covered in cheese. We just never sat down to eat them. The kids had a play day and at 7 our daughter is still fast asleep on the couch. Some of our friends dropped over and between snacks and beverages there was not a lot of momentum to sit down and eat a proper dinner. So we have been picking off the stove top and our son has a plate sitting on the counter that he is picking off of. However, it should just be a blip. We will have some dinner pics tomorrow and it looks to be good. Chicken fajitas with home made avocado sauce (one of my sisters doesn't believe it is guacamole) Back to the basketball game.

Friday: April 4th.


Well seeing as it reached 15 degrees this week we figured it was time to Barbeque. Silly us. Not that the hamburgers weren't great but we woke the next morning to find a few centimeters of snow on the ground. Will this winter never end. On a gardening note, the carrot and spinach seeds that I have under plastic in the garden are doing absolutely nothing. Apparently good intentions have absolutely zero effect in the actual world of raising vegetables. Back to dinner. The baked potatoes were great. I have recently improved my wrapping technique. I use the Long thin strip and go diagonally. Anyways, it makes me happy and I am sure I save fractions of a penny, which may no longer be in circulation soon, on every potato. At this rate I will save at least 2 cents in tin foil yearly. Of course I do such a crappy job with my garlic bread wrapping that I probably give back ten times that. Penny wise and Pound foolish. Damn... thats me. Once again back to dinner. We forgot to buy burger buns so they were served on toasted bread. Delicious but the sauce sort of oozed through. The real treat was the Moyashi (bean sprout) salad that the wife whipped up. It had this amazing blend of ginger, vinegar, and sweet. I must of seemed slightly crazed as I raved about it because she was giving me the, -- did I really marry this guy -- look. Anyways it was good. We also finished of the pork miso soup. As my flu extended to the fourth day I was a little disappointed I didn't have more of an appetite.

Tomorrow: Ebi Chili. Tune in to find out what this is.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Pasta Casserole


Well I went with my own idea for a three cheese pasta casserole. The three cheeses were cheddar, emmental and romano. The wife whipped up her basic white sauce from milk, butter and flour and then we added in the cheese. The onions and tuna were fried up. The pasta was boiled. In the casserole dish she laid out the pasta, covered it with broccoli and cauliflower, the onion and tuna mix, and then poured the cheese sauce over the whole thing. The kids said that it was a little sharp for them, I think that was the emmental. For a first attempt at our own recipe I think it went really well. The accompanying vegetable was tomato and cucumber slices with a sprinkling of vinegar. Once the garden comes in this is one of our favourite dishes. From about mid July to mid September the kids probably eat this at least once a day. I am still way under the weather. I actually didn't go in to work today.

Tomorrow: BBq hamburgers with baked potatoes.

Wednesday: April 2nd.


Well I am still sick and the food continues to roll on. Today we went with omrice. We also had a pork based miso soup which had an amazingly rich flavour. The boiled squash (kabocha nimono) was lovely as well. Omrice, is basically an omelet draped over a little mound of rice. In Japan, the classic form of this is made by a fairly special technique of rolling the omelet around in the frying pan by holding the pan up and gently tapping the handing of the pan. In this way you get a shell of firm omelet surrounding an inside of basiclly runny scrambled eggs. This is laid over the rice and then slit across the top so the runny scrambled eggs cover the rice completely. The video below shows and excellent description of it. This snotty egged final version is excatly what the discerning japanese foodie is yearning for. I really like it but for some westerners it just doesn't work. Their loss I say.

Tuesday: April 1st

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Well in spite of my catching the flu, dinner was still eaten. What a shocker. I have no bearing on life carrying on here. By the way my older sister warned me that this years flu was different and it really is. My whole neck is sore and has been for days. Very little cough or runny nose but the night sweats have been wicked and sudden movement brings on a whale of a thumper in my head. Back to the meal at hand we had the forecast pork stir-fry. Lovely use of honey and garlic. I wish I had had more of an appetite. The crisp green salad looked lovely and by all accounts accented the dish nicely.