GRANPA HELPS WITH THANKSGIVING DINNER

Thanksgiving dinner is Barb's domain. Most of the ingredients are bought. My job now is to buy the fresh items like the Italian sausage from Longos, dinner rolls for the little one, brussel sprouts, broccoli and mushrooms. Barb makes an amazing stuffing that everyone loves. I help on Sunday Morning- we like to have the dinner Sunday so we have lots of leftovers on the real Thanksgiving to enjoy the day.
I help prepare the vegetables like peeling the potatoes for the mashed potato dish.
Yes, Barb can do it all but it is hard to keep this cooking granpa out of the kitchen.
My girls bring appetizers and pies so it is a real joint family affair. Of course pumpkin pie for Barb. I like apple pie.

#thanksgiving#dinner#October#italiansausage#Longos#broccoli#mashedpotatoes

GRANPA DINES AT A FRIEND'S HOUSE

Barb has two university friends she has known for over 46 years. Mary and Ben entertained us and our friends Rose and Paul

A nice array of appetizers allowed for friendly chatting until moving to the dining room.

Salad with a slice of Apple for appeal. Oil and Vinegar dressing.

Homemade lasagna by Mary.

Ben barbecued the steak and potatoes. Mary made the seafood platter with vegetables along with beans, asparagus and broccoli.

Red and White wine was served. Some of us just drink water.

Dessert was Zeppoles in honour of St. Giuseppe March 19th.

Tea and Coffee and more chatting, laughing and enjoying the evening. Time to leave came too soon. It's my turn to make dinner for the next get together. Granpa likes to cook but Granpa also likes to taste good food by others especially close friends.
#diningatafriends'shouse#zeppoles#fruitplatter#seafoodplatterswithvegetables#steakandvegetables#appetizertray#funtodineout#granpalovestocook#granpaloveseatingatafriend'shouse

GRANPA OUT FOR DINNER AND A MOVIE

Barb made me do it. Montana's with a Christmas gift card to use. I had the burger and Barb had steak with salad and curly fries. It is a fun restaurant close to home with a outdoors theme. Country music songs provide the background to the meal. Next door is the Silver City Cineplex Richmond Hill. Barb could have seen any of the variety of movies currently available. I settled for the movie LION. It was a drama. At least it was not a chick flick. Surprisingly I actually stayed awake for the whole movie. Barb likes to make a birthday week celebration. So dinner and a movie it was!

GRANPA LOVES SUMMER BARBECUE COOKING

Summer barbecuing is so tasty. Last night steak barbecued with some corn on the cob cooked with the  husk. Accompanying the steak and corn a Greek salad using some romaine lettuce from the garden. Tonight chicken legs on the barbecue with grilled eggplant using the new grill accessory bought by Barb. Used the remainder of some meat sauce, making a few rigatoni along with fried zucchini pieces and peppers- picked fresh from the garden for our meal. Of course we eat outside as much as possible. Barb works inside all day so wants as much of the outdoor life as possible. I like to annoy Barb as soon as we eat asking what should we have for dinner tomorrow. She always reminds of the story of her first trip to Italy in 1991. My cousin Maria Pia was a great cook and would spend hours cooking the evening meal. At one of Barb's first meals, everyone was eating the delicious food, not commenting on it but talking about what would be for dinner the next day. Well it's an Italian thing, what can I say?