Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

What’s for Dinner

corner of the table 

What to cook for dinner? That is question that haunts me every single day around six thirty in the evening and not a second before.

That is my problem…. not thinking in advance what to cook for dinner… I do not know what is wrong with me? I never think about dinner until it is time to think about it… or when my stomach hollers out: Food. Or worse when I open the fridge, and it is empty, and it Sunday, and the grocery stores and markets are over and out… and when French Husband comes in like a happy puppy with friends in tow singing, "What is for dinner?"

Lovely, simply lovely, as I stare into the empty fridge.

Somehow a miracle happens and food appears.

Thank goodness last minutes make me hyper creative.

What are you having for dinner tonight?

 

Comments

30 responses to “What’s for Dinner”

  1. g

    we meaning my dad and I will be having soup and bread-or maybe hot dogs and beans or something left over from earlier in the week I am not a planner and fly by the seat of my pants and I do not really like food shopping–the problem is my dad is a very plain eater so creative must be plain-so I guess soup it is-canned soup his favorite Campbell’s….I wished you had asked on a night when I was cooking a meal-but it is what we are having!

    Reply
  2. Kathie B.

    We eat dinner at 6 PM, so a bit before 4 I started preparations for Cream of Artichoke Heart Soup, based on the recipe from Duarte’s in Pescadero, CA. Farmboy Husband repurposed some leftover Ciabatta bread into something appropximating Focaccia, and we had home-canned peaches and tea for dessert. Best part is that there’s enough soup leftover to reheat for two more dinners next week!

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  3. nancy w

    Chicken noodle soup. homemade. It is very cold & snowy here. Winter has been oh so long.

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  4. Bev S.

    I try to plan out the food for the week, mostly because I do not enjoy going to the grocery store here in the States (living where I could pick up fresh bakery items, meat and fruits and vegetables daily was something else).
    Tonight it was homemade pasta sauce (frozen from this past summer) with 4 cheese ravioli.

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  5. Kathie B.

    One of all-time comfort-food favorite meals is Campbell’s Cream of Tomato Soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.

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  6. Marilyn

    Tonight is French Onion Soup and a Basil Lemon Cake. Actually thought ahead, which is rare here too.

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  7. g

    OH MY GOSH YOU ARE RIGHT….I had forgotten my mom would make that for us on snow days and Fridays during lent …

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  8. g

    THAT SOUNDS DELICIOUS YUM YUM!

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  9. g

    I totally agree long cold winter!

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  10. g

    summer in winter my favorite!!

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  11. g

    boy this sounds good too! Yum!

    Reply
  12. tammyCA

    BBQ chicken, Gouda, red onion pizza..I make the dough from scratch and vary the toppings. Also gonna bake some lemon muffins..I love to bake not so much cooking.

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  13. Laurie SF

    Take out from the Burma Star on Clement St, San Francisco
    One order of tea leaf salad, one order of spicy basil chicken, and a coconut rice for two.

    Reply
  14. Candy

    This is the story of my life only I’m just not that creative when it comes to food.

    Reply
  15. Ourfrenchoasis

    Roast Chicken and roasted vegetables, it’s a British tradition “the Sunday Roast” and even though we live in South West France it is the one British thing that still continues in our family. We tend not to have a Sunday roast in the summer as we are usually outside, at the beach, taking a picnic or feasting on fresh fruits and salads in the garden, but on a cold winter day, there is nothing quite like a Sunday Roast with all the family eating around the big old kitchen table, our 12 year old son says it is by far his favourite meal of the week!

    Reply
  16. Dd

    Sesame salmon , sautéed spinach, and salad w blue cheese.

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  17. WR

    Ina Garten’s Winter minestrone and mini bagels with wild salmon… eat your heart out DC!

    Reply
  18. Wendy in Kennewick

    Leftover pizza and fresh salad

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  19. Nancy H

    I knew it was going to be chilly and rain today so I planned ahead, we are having chili tonight.

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  20. Kathie B.

    It was tasty, and oh-so-warming on yet another cold night. There’s still enough left over in the fridge for two more evenings.
    For the record, I make the soup as a chowder (i.e., with bite-sized chunks of potato, artichoke heart and sautéed chopped onion), although others prefer to purée it. For liquids I use vegetable stock, white wine, imitation vegetarian chicken broth, milk — and, at the very end, heavy cream. I season only with a little salt plus ground red pepper (just because black pepper flecks would look unsightly).
    BTW, the same general procedure can be used just as effectively for other vegetable chowders, depending on what you have on hand (e.g., cut corn, to which we like to stir in grated cheddar just before serving).

    Reply
  21. Kathie B.

    For chowders in general, I always cook a little smashed peeled garlic with the onions, and sometimes add a little finely chopped celery if I have it (in a pinch, I pour in a canful condensed Cream of Celery soup).
    For corn chowder, a little green and red pepper (which Farmboy Husband chops and freezes from our garden at the end of each summer) adds a bit of welcome color.

    Reply
  22. Kathie B.

    Have you ever had chili Cincinnati-style, served over cooked spaghetti, then topped with grated cheddar cheese, sour cream and/or chopped raw onion? (I skip the onion, but some folks love it).

    Reply
  23. g

    OH MY …. I am so GRATEFUL for the how to!! Your suggestions make it seem very doable without fuss-and for one who flies by the seat as I said before… I usually have these ingredients on hand -except heavy crème-but certainly can get that easily enough-THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING I REALLY AM SO GRATEFUL-and left over soup in my opinion is always better the second day! Have a wonderful week!

    Reply
  24. g

    Kathie B. YOU ARE ON FIRE WITH THESE GREAT SUGGESTIONS-another one to try!

    Reply
  25. Nancy H

    Even though I’m from Ohio (northeast) I don’t really care for Cincinnati Chili, there’s something about the flavor I don’t like and at my age I don’t need the extra carbs of pasta with mine! I do however love any of the toppings that you mentioned.

    Reply
  26. Lynn

    Maybe because he and I are both retired, sometimes when it is dinnertime, and there is no food planned…. WE GO OUT! Because, even though I am older than you are 🙂 where is it written that it is my job just because I am the woman to put dinner on the table every night…I did that all the years I was young and worked too……

    Reply
  27. Franca Bollo

    Love their tea leaf salad …

    Reply
  28. Franca Bollo

    Cook dinner? We graze … cheese, crackers, olives, nuts, popcorn. Last night, we walked down the hill into North Beach and had dinner at Park Tavern. Chicory salad, roasted cauliflower, and a vodka gimlet.

    Reply
  29. g

    this too sounds delightful and delish!

    Reply
  30. jh

    hi! everyone! we’ve all been “doing dinner” for decades now….dinner prep was “my time” to relax when the “kids” were young… I still like doing it, but—-would someone else figure out the menu!?! I’ll cook, just tell me what to do….! yet, somehow it comes together….I
    love the simple recipes from “martha”, better homes & gardens, “real simple” magazine, crockpot, etc….

    Reply

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