Cinnamon pancakes with cranberry-orange sauce

Jackie: "Breakfast today was cinnamon pancakes!

Randy made cranberry-orange sauce to top the pancakes and added some sausage cakes. Perfect!"

Beef Stew with Dumplings and Cranberry apple pie

Jackie: Randy is cooking up a storm. He made a cranberry apple pie that is so good that I tried to talk him into letting me eat it raw. He wouldn't agree.

Then he made beef stew with dumplings. 

Amazing dinner - this is why it is hard to find a place to go out for dinner!"

Cranberry waffles

Jackie: "Randy already makes great waffles but he keeps improving them anyway. This time it was by adding cranberries to his mix. 

The best part is that I get to enjoy the finished product!"

Breakfast sandwich

Jackie: "This morning Randy fixed a breakfast sandwich for me and as usual, he made it special. Soft bread roll, toasted until just the edges were crispy. Prosciutto ham, slightly warmed. Over easy egg, topped with my favorite cheese, White American (that was as a favor to me, he prefers other cheeses).

I love sandwiches for any and every meal, so this was perfect!"

Homemade Shakes

Jackie: "Randy has a collection of old-fashioned shake machines and recently he decided to use one of them.  He started with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. 

The machine may be old but it does a nice job of mixing.

Then he added malt powder and more chocolate sauce (yea!).  

And one more time in the mixer to blend everything together.

It would have been nice to get a photo of the finished product, in a pretty glass. But I was too busy drinking this delightful shake!"

Stuffed Manicotti

Jackie: "Randy made stuffed pasta today.  First step: cook and cool the pasta. 

He already made the paste so next he filled the manicotti shells.

Then wrapped each on in bacon. 

Looking good!

Looking even better!

And once again, I get to enjoy the fruits of his labor!"

Cinnamon Rolls

Jackie: "Randy makes great cinnamon rolls. Of course he starts with his homemade dough...

Then he mixes the cinnamon filling. This smells so good!

Spread it evenly across the dough, then start rolling it, fairly snugly. 

Slice into even sections.

Then into the the pan, just barely touching. 

I didn't get a good photo of the rolls when they were iced....I was too busy eating them!"

Porchetta Redux

Jackie: "It turns out that Randy's Porchetta is even better the next day!"

Porchetta

Jackie: "When we were in Rome's airport waiting to fly back home, we had a Porchetta sandwich for lunch. It was very good, so of course Randy wanted to make it at home.  His version of this very old and very Roman dish started with pork belly, with layers and layers of good stuff on top.

Then he ground some fresh parmesan cheese onto it...

yep, that should be enough!

Roll it up tight and tie it up, to keep all those goodies inside. 

Perfect! Now into the oven...

And it comes out looking amazing!

The crust was crispy like pork candy, the inside was juicy and the taste was simply unbelievable. I can't describe it but it was worth all the calories that are probably in there."

Smoked Grouper, Stir Fried Vegetables, Caprese Salad, Lasagna, and Key Lime Pie

Jackie: "Randy celebrated being home from Italy by inviting our friend Marcia over for dinner. He served smoked grouper spread (amazingly sweet, and one of my new favorites), stir fried vegetables, Caprese salad, lasagna, and Key Lime pie. So good!"

Excellent old beef

 Jackie: "One side effect of our extended stay in Italy was that the prime beef Randy was aging ended up aging longer than anticipated. On June 14th we got it out of the fridge; Randy assured me that it was supposed to look like this...

Today day he set about transforming it. It took lots of weighing and trimming to convert what looked like a mess (to me, not to Randy) into something wonderful.

He was careful to trim only what needed to go. This beef is really well aged and very dark. 

And when he was done, we had some very beautiful beef. This has a rich, unusual flavor, and was well worth the wait!"