MONDAY MORNING RECIPE POST - SEARED SCALLOPS IN GARLIC BUTTER SAUCE

Seared Scallops in Garlic Butter Sauce 

1 pound sea scallops

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons butter 

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped 

Lemon wedges for serving 

Pat the scallops dry with paper towels and season both sides with salt and pepper.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat.

Add the scallops to the skillet, making sure they are not touching each other. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until a golden crust forms and the scallops are opaque in the center.

Remove the scallops from the skillet and set aside.

Reduce the heat to medium and add butter to skillet. Once the butter has melted, add the minced garlic and cook for about 30 seconds until fragrant.

Stir in the lemon juice and chopped parsley.

Return the scallops to the skillet, spooning the garlic butter sauce over them to coat evenly.

Serve immediately with lemon wedges.

What did we think? It was delicious and we have put it in the make-again folder. Scallops are really expensive right now but we bought a big bag of frozen from Costco a month ago for a reasonable price. Once cooked we couldn't tell the difference from those found in restaurants that we have had on special occasions. 

We served them on a simple, throw-together salad of mixed spinach leaves and leaf lettuce, grated carrot and sauteed yellow cherry tomatoes fresh from my sister-in-law's garden (nothing like having them fresh-picked as many of you know - incredible taste - and a big thank you to s-in-l as she gave a big bowl of them). I also grated a carrot over the top and sprinkled a few pumpkin seeds into the mix, finishing off with chopped cilantro leaves.  

My dear other half also made a wonderful salsa with the same tomatoes two days ago, and we used the last of it as a dressing. I am very picky on dressings, preferring to have my salads without, but this changed my mind today. I will share that recipe another time.

We also had Jasmine rice as another side, all served up in one bowl.

We didn't change a thing with the scallop recipe, thinking it was excellent.

That's about it. I am not sure where the recipe came from. I have had it for a while and, as sometimes happens, forgot to make a note of where it came from.

Thanks for looking, have a great day

and Bon Appetit!

AROUND AND ABOUT FROM 3-24-25 TO 3-30-25

  Hello Family and Friends, thank you for reading my around-and-abouts and letting me know by emails, texts and comments, that you enjoy them. It is enjoyable for me keeping in touch with you all, letting you know what we have been up to and in return, what has been going on in your world. Again, thank you!

Weather forecast from 3-31-25 to 4-7-25

A lot of food talk with pictures this week, so maybe you had better not look at this while you are hungry.

Monday, March 24th, 2025: I have just returned from the DMV, in a different area that our son told us about. He said it was a little quieter than where we were before, with shorter lines of people. Very true! We had an appointment and arrived early but were seen way before our set time. The process was smooth and we were out the door in no time. One thing I was surprised at, that although we got this Real ID well before the May 9th deadline, I still have to get it renewed again before my birthday in July of next year. This is when my ordinary driver's license would have expired. The process won't be as long though as I had to fill out extra forms today. Apparently the rules have changed.

No breakfast today but when we got back and for lunch, I told my dear other half that I fancied the same chicken sandwich that he fixed yesterday, plus the addition of a mug of tomato soup. Very nice! No photos of that one though.

Tuesday, March 25th, 2025: Again, no breakfast as we were discussing where to go for our weekly lunch and I was tired of MickeyD's. 

I suggested driving to Gregg's favorite, the Bahn Mi place, which I have shared before. They do the best Bahn Mi Sandwich on a French Roll that we have ever had, and it is consistently excellent. We always order the meatball sandwich which is nothing like the Italian-style meatball. They are made of ground pork and seasoned differently with Vietnamese flavorings. You can look at a recipe here to give you an idea of what is inside the bun. Not exactly the same as ours as we have more slightly and delicately pickled vegetables.

He had a longer wait for the first time ever and we arrived later nearer the lunch hour rush.  I was outside sitting in the car reading the news on my phone. 

The delay in the store was because they were waiting for a new batch of bread to be baked, which is all done on the premises.

 

He was in line for 20-plus minutes but once they had the bread, he was out of there in a few minutes, and we had our car picnic. That fresh-from-the-oven French roll was the best ever! (As you can see, he likes to send photos while he is waiting. Do we go together or what? The photo below is a cropped version of above, so that you can see a few of the different foods they have on sale. Looks like they had a recent delivery and were still putting boxes away.)

On the way home the man said something to me which I didn't hear. This had happened earlier at home and the second time I said perhaps he was mumbling. He then said no, it's your hearing, you need to go get your ears checked." I turned to him and said, "Well, someone may think me as deaf as a doorpost, but that someone needs to be reminded that the eye doctor said I've got better eyesight than he has and who knows, maybe even better hearing. Stop mumbling!" You'll have to read last week's account to get that one. He had a good laugh, which was my intent, always enjoys the banter and as he is practicing his French, "Touché" he said. And to add, Gregg has a pretty loud/clear speaking voice and so does our son. And yes, my hearing check is on the list because he may be right on this one.

Word of the Day? 

Touché (pronounced ‘tooshay’)

Example: when you pull a rare fast one on your husband, he just might say "Touché". 

The word Touché means, "You hit me with the tip of your foil" in fencing, or "Wow, that was a perfect retort, or “You made a really good point." or "Touché Denise, and stop looking like a cat who has just finished the cream!"

The foil is one of three fencing blades used in Olympic fencing. Who knew? Not me apparently.

Interesting information online, and I got all this from a website I found on my curiosity journey, all thanks to Gregg and his improbable mumbling and my probable unhearing, and his "Touché".

Gregg actually took fencing which was a compulsory class in his first year at the naval academy in 1965. 

Well, I made my 'point' that day, doesn't happen very often and yes, I am smiling.

(There is no rhyme nor reason to my posts. Jumping from one topic to the other is how I roll.)

Anyhow, he and our son met up in the afternoon. I was happy they got together, and I enjoyed pottering at home for a few hours. 

Later, Gregg had just gone upstairs for the night when I thought I heard some yowling not too far away. I was listening when Gregg came downstairs to tell me, and we heard it again. I opened the front door and peeked out just in time to see a fox on the opposite side of the road in my neighbor's front yard. It was trotting along, clearly visible in their door lights and only seconds in sight, but it was a lovely one. I wondered if it was the same fox our son saw on his way into the neighborhood the other day. There are several around. There is a creek and a wooded area not too far away, where we think there are dens. A nice ending to our day. 

Wednesday, March 26th, 2025: the sun is shining. Lovely! My breakfast was a late lunch of Weetabix with a cup of strawberries, 4 dates and pecan halves. 

Dinner: we made a new shrimp dish and were going to add scallops, but it would have been too much. The shrimp dish was outstanding. The seafood was purchased at Costco, frozen in large packets and I will share that dish next Monday. 

Snack: This you will have seen in yesterday's Monday Morning Recipe post. I had bananas and strawberries that needed to be used and found a recipe for Strawberry Banana Cake. That was another ten out of ten. I am still looking for nice meals to serve up when family arrives in the middle of next month.

Thursday, March 27th, 2025: another quiet day so far at 1:39 p.m: breakfast was the same as yesterday beginning with the letter 'W'. 

Lunch/Dinner: We have just eaten the scallop dish I mentioned yesterday. Another winner on our never-ending mission to eat more seafood - sautéed in a mixture of olive oil and a sauce of lemon juice and butter added. I will share it on here eventually. So easy, simple and fast! I served both shrimp and scallops with steamed broccoli.

Snack that evening: a slice of the Strawberry Banana Cake.

The sun is shining! The current temperature is 55 degrees F.

In the evening our son and daughter-in-law called.  They are in Los Angeles for a few days and wanted to let us know they had arrived. It is a semi business trip. 

Friday, March 28th, 2025 at 11.23 p.m: Gregg went off to meet his old friend for lunch. I spent my time doing a few chores, blogging and watched a show on Netflix called Tracker. I quite liked it but only watched one episode. It is about a man who finds missing people and I thought was very well done with good acting.

Breakfast/Lunch: I didn’t feel like breakfast until noon, and had a small slice of the banana and strawberry cake, with blueberries on the side. I froze the rest of the cake for another day.

Dinner: I had a single portion of a stir fry I found in the freezer. Neither of us were that enamored when originally made a few weeks ago, and yet I couldn’t bring myself to throw it away. I liked it more this time round. It had ground cooked pork, shredded cabbage and carrots (a coleslaw mix), and baby corn you usually find in a can that also had beansprouts and sliced water chestnuts. Not bad and ate something fairly light and nutritious while not having to cook anything, but did not like the addition of the can. There was a brine taste that even after rinsing did not completely disappear. I won’t add that again. Normally we like stir fry a lot.

Gregg came home and told me about his day. 

Saturday, March 29th, 2025 at 8.40p.m: for breakfast Gregg picked up our weekly doughnut and my coffee which carried us through to dinner which was cheese on toast and a commercial beef and barley soup with veggies. It was another no-fuss-in-the-kitchen day today.

We drove over to Lowe’s, our home and hardware store. We are interested in getting a couple of chairs and a small table to go on the deck in the far corner.

My knee was acting up and I didn't get too far walking around, but I had a great time looking at all those open blooms. However, I didn’t see anything I liked enough to purchase in the way of outdoor furniture. 

A big truck was outside and the gentleman delivering said he was dropping off flowers and plants from North Carolina. Inside, the cash register was busy with over 20 people in line, but we were basically reconnoitering. I took photos of flowers with prices and loved looking at the different ones. I want to go through the photos quietly and decide which to get. Gregg is leaving it up to me to choose. I'll point to the spot and he will dig the hole.

Spending a quiet evening. We find ourselves with our head in a book more often than not. I completed the jigsaw puzzle below…

and sometimes play a game of scrabble. If there is anything I want to watch, my dear other half goes upstairs early and I may either watch an episode of something, or a movie. I enjoy ‘Dark Winds’ which is a series that takes place in the 1970’s. It is about the Navaho Tribal Police in the southwest and the acting is very good. I started the third series a couple of weeks ago. 

An early night is in order, we are both getting tired.

Sunday, March 30th, 2025: Very nice weather and sunny. It was 80 degrees F. according to our car thermometer. It didn't feel that warm but there was no humidity. No breakfast and nothing until we went out for a late lunch at Santini's, a submarine sandwich shop. Gregg ordered a cold cut, and mine was a steak and cheese. We shared a packet of fries. I take half of mine home with me and reheat for dinner. Gregg fixed himself spaghetti that night. This week has turned into something like a food fest, and I keep saying next week we should do better at not eating out quite as much. 

We had another lovely chat with my brother-in-law in Germany. Always lots to talk about and we enjoyed at least an hour on FaceTime. Such a fun guy to talk to, especially when we all get going and always a brother, not just a brother-in-law.

With our fox sighting this week, I started thinking of them and did a scribble sketch of a fox today. You can see the original that I chose to copy. 

Scribble, scribble, scribble, never perfect but fun to do.

And on that scribble note, thanks for following along on last week's daily journal…

and a very happy first day of the month!

MONDAY RECIPE POST - SEARED SCALLOPS WITH WHITE BEAN RAGU

We just enjoyed another Scallop recipe that I found here.  Always fun to sit, taste the meal, and then discuss what we would have added or not added to tailor it more to our own tastes.  All in all this was a delicious meal which we both enjoyed and yes, it was a healthy one.  

Seared Scallops with White Bean Ragu and Charred Lemon

From: Eating Well Magazine, September 2019

1 pound mature spinach or white chard, trimmed and thinly sliced (we used baby Bok Choy)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper, divided
1 (15 ounce) can no-salt-added cannellini beans,
drained and rinsed
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon butter

1 pound dry sea scallops, tough side muscle removed if still attached
1 lemon, halved
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add greens and cook, stirring often, until wilted, about 4 minutes.  Stir in garlic, capers and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add beans, broth and wine and bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat to maintain a low simmer, cover and cook for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in butter.  Cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile, sprinkle scallops with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Heat the remaining 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the scallops and cook until browned on both sides, about 4 minutes total.  Transfer to a clean plate.  Add lemon halves to the pan, cut-side down, and cook until charred, about 2 minutes.  Cut into wedges.  Sprinkle the scallops and the bean ragu with parsley and serve with the lemon wedges.

And for those who are taking a special note of things.

Serving size per person: 

3 ozs. of scallops and 1 cup ragu each:

Per serving: 
255 calories
8 g. fat (3 g sat), 
5 g fiber
21 g carbohydrates
21 g protein
141 mcg folate
35 mg cholesterol
1 g sugars
0 g added sugars
5.997 IU vitamin A
22 g vitamin C
110 mg calcium
4 mg iron
590 mg sodium
853 mg potassium

Nutritional bonus

Vitamin A (120% daily value)
Vitamin C (37% dv)
Folate (35% dv)
Iron (22% dv)
Carbohydrate Servings: 1-1/2
Exchanges:
2-1/2 lean protein, 
1fat,
1 starch
1/2 vegetable

MONDAY RECIPE POST - SCALLOPS WITH BABY BOK CHOY AND RICE

This scallop recipe is not from any particular website.  The vegetable rice recipe came from Blue Apron, with an addition of our own.   

We both enjoy scallops but have only cooked them one other time.   When we pass the fish counter we have often said we should try cooking them again.

For this meal it is best to cook the vegetables first and then cook the scallops, because they cook in no time at all.  

When the meal is ready to be served, place the Bok Choy/rice mixture on your plate, put the scallops on top, with a lemon wedge on the side to be squeezed over the scallops before serving.  

For the rice dish we used a packet of Trader Joe’s Frozen Jasmine rice.  It is placed in the microwave and heated for three minutes.  If you have regular rice, follow directions on the box.  

Gregg did a great job of preparing and cooking our meal.  We have a routine where I find the recipe a couple of days before, making sure we will both enjoy.  If one doesn't I move on to the next, but that doesn't happen very often.  As we start our preparations, I sit at the kitchen table and read out the step-by-step instructions.  Also my job is to prepare the garlic if used, and chopping other veggies when asked.  Our cooking together is a fun element to our dining experience. We prepare, we eat and critique; should we add more of this, less of that, etc., and fine tune it to both our tastes.  We decided this dish didn't need any changing.  It was just about perfect.  So, here we go!

Prepare your ingredients.  

After washing all the vegetables, thinly slice 2 green onions, and chop very finely 2 cloves of garlic.

Use 1/2 of a 1 lb. bag of Baby Bok Choy.  Cut the root end off.  Cut in half lengthwise and slice into 1/2 inch pieces crosswise.  

Take the tops off 4 small sweet peppers.  Deseed and dice into small pieces.

Heat a packet of Trader Joe's rice for three minutes in the microwave.  If you use regular rice cook on the stove top following the box directions.  Start cooking earlier so that it is ready by the time you have cooked the vegetables.

Heat 2 teaspoons of avocado or olive oil on medium high until hot.  

Cook sliced onion and garlic for up to 2 minutes, stirring frequently so that the garlic doesn’t burn. 

Add bok choy and sweet peppers.  Cook an additional three minutes stirring frequently.  

When done add mixture to the bowl of cooked rice and mix well.  Cover and keep warm.   

Cook the scallops. 

Heat frypan to medium-hot, add 1 tablespoon butter.  It should melt immediately.  Pan should be hot enough so that the scallops sizzle when placed in pan. 

Scallops should not touch. 

Cook the scallops 2 minutes on one side.  Turn over and cook another two minutes on the other side. Some people suggest a minute-and-a half but we thought 2 minutes worked for us. Cook any longer and they turn a bit rubbery.  

Serve as mentioned above.  

We bought half a pound of scallops which gave us five each. We also have leftover rice and Bok Choy which we will have tomorrow.

It's a great meal for the summer months.  Not only does it cook quickly but you don't have to turn a hot oven on.  Everything is done on top of the stove.

Nothing much to add other than to say it was an excellent meal and we've already put scallops on the grocery list for next time.

Thanks for looking and enjoy your day.