okay
 		okay now as you were saying
 	
 	
 		i said one thing we've been doing around here is trying to find ways of having uh
 		my husband likes gourmet food
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 	
 	
 		and i'm trying to figure out how how to feed him so he'll eat this stuff  and the kids will eat it too and it's not going to be fattening high in fat or high in cholesterol
 		get's to be a a real chore with little kids who basically want every thing covered in cheese
 	
 	
 		right that's true um i have the same problem i've uh in fact both of us like cheese uh my children are grown now um and i also like ice cream so
 	
 	
 		
 
 		i just have been fortunate with that i have never really had an ice cream fetish but i'm married to somebody who just feels that you know if you offer it to him he'd eat a hot fudge sundae every night of the week
 	
 	
 		oh
 	
 	
 		and i hate him for it
 	
 	
 		
 
 		yeah well
 		everyone has their own little things right his is ice cream or hot fudge sundaes but i tell you what we use to do even when the children were growing up every Friday night
 	
 	
 		oh yeah
 	
 	
 		would be our night that um
 		uh put to kids to bed when they were younger and my wife and i would would uh she'd set the dining room table with candles and
 		no one disturbed us no one called on Friday night and we would just have this quiet dinner for the two of us
 		and that uh that's held up until our youngest is graduating college in the couple of weeks and we still do that
 	
 	
 		wow
 	
 	
 		um
 		well we also like to do is we like to cook out a lot even in the winter time we got we got a grill and i've got like a wood shop off the garage and i've got a
 		a like an over hang and we keep the grill out there so i just out and we you know grill steaks or salmon or whatever
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 	
 	
 		um so um so i can give you something that we like to do
 	
 	
 		give me something that's really easy to do
 	
 	
 		or
 		well clams casino if you like clams casino
 	
 	
 		i love clams but i'm not sure what clams casino are and i don't know if i could find clams that i would eat down here in Texas
 	
 	
 		oh yeah well but well i like  well you lived in Boston so you know a little about you know
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 	
 	
 		and in a restaurant they they just kind of serve them on a half shell with a little bit of uh stuffing
 		what we like the to do is uh
 		is to cut them out and then cut them into little quarters or eighths you know not so much just one big bite
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 	
 	
 		and then cut up fresh peppers and fresh tomatoes and fresh celery and bread crumbs and mix it all together
 		and
 		pre cook bacon so it's kind of soft
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 	
 	
 		and put a strip of bacon over the top of that and then and then pop them in the oven
 	
 	
 		God that sounds good
 	
 	
 		and we usually have that and then we'll have a salad
 		and i'll throw a steak on the grill with uh what i call a potato bake
 		i buy a uh
 		couple of yams and some either red potato or either white potato
 		and i put them in a microwave and cook them
 		so they're fairly soft and i slice them i peel the yam slice that
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 	
 	
 		i slice the white potato with the skin on
 		i slice up a mild onion preferably a  onion
 	
 	
 		now in Texas it would have to be ten fifteen
 	
 	
 		oh
 		and then i put it in tin foil and i interweave put a i put a slice of white potato and slice sweet potato and slice of onion
 		and then i do that until i got
 		the size of a baked potato
 		put butter and salt on it garlic
 		close the tin foil and i throw it on the grill cause i like it a little crispy on the bottom so i throw it on the grill maybe about
 	
 	
 		uh
 	
 	
 		ten minutes before i put the steak on
 		and then once once the steak is done that's usually done
 		and then we have uh
 	
 	
 		God that sound wonderful
 	
 	
 		and then either spinach i like spinach or uh asparagus
 		because we grow own asparagus we have asparagus patch so in fact right now it's it's in season so we just go out and there
 		lop off a few
 		and then whatever you want for desert
 	
 	
 		well i'll give you one that that that i i put together modified out of a Heart Smart Cookbook
 		now my husband really thinks that this is one of those French fancy French sauces
 	
 	
 		oh
 	
 	
 		so when he  when he request this i always tell him he has to take the kids for an hour
 		and it really only takes about fifteen or twenty minutes to do  but it gives me forty five minutes to sit by myself where it's quiet
 	
 	
 		that's nice
 	
 	
 		but what you do is you go take you can use pork tender loin it's more expensive but i and i like the leaner cut of pork
 	
 	
 		yeah
 	
 	
 		the um like the center cut pork chops
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 	
 	
 		and you you need to have them thick at least a three-quarters of an inch think
 	
 	
 		okay
 	
 	
 		and all you do is take those things and coat them in lemon pepper marinade
 	
 	
 		okay
 	
 	
 		on both sides
 	
 	
 		
 
 		um when you say lemon pepper marinade you put lemon juice and pepper together
 	
 	
 		no just the uh the you know you can do that just that you buy just lemon pepper
 	
 	
 		the spice that you buy
 		
 
 		okay all right
 	
 	
 		and then you take about two tablespoons of butter
 		which you know most people kind of go  you know this is a low fat recipe but it is
 	
 	
 		oh yeah
 		
 
 	
 	
 		and you just melt that in a skillet
 	
 	
 		okay
 	
 	
 		you broken the uh the pork chops or the pork fillets
 	
 	
 		okay
 		uh-huh
 	
 	
 		you just brown them on both sides and i like to get them at a good golden brown
 	
 	
 		yes
 	
 	
 		and then just take them and stick them on a plate and keep them warm and into that same skillet add the juice of lemon about anywhere from a quarter to a half a cup
 		to that you add two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
 	
 	
 		two
 	
 	
 		and one teaspoon to a tablespoon depending on how much you like it
 	
 	
 		two tablespoons wait wait a minute that was two tablespoons of Worcestershire
 	
 	
 		uh
 		yeah Worcestershire
 	
 	
 		okay
 	
 	
 		and then
 		anywhere from a teaspoon to a tablespoon of Dijon mustard
 		and what you do is you just cook this down and it makes a a really pretty almost dark black brown viscous sauce
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 	
 	
 		it's pretty spicy now i like to throw in just a you know a shot of white wine
 		and then you just take the pork chops put them on a serving platter pour this sauce over it and i garnish it with fresh cut chives
 		it really is a really pretty entree to look at
 	
 	
 		um
 	
 	
 		uh-huh and the sauce i mean it has kind of this nice complex flavor where you feel that somebody's you know played around with this all afternoon
 	
 	
 		yeah
 		that
 	
 	
 		and i have served it to company
 	
 	
 		so so you cooked the the pork is cooked at that point then okay
 	
 	
 		and
 		uh-huh
 		but you know the trick with pork most people think you have to cook it at a hundred and eighty five degrees well done
 	
 	
 		oh no no
 	
 	
 		you don't have to do that
 		it can still be pink in the middle and that makes all the world of difference
 	
 	
 		oh uh um
 	
 	
 		the other thing that that i've really got into down here in Texas is fresh uh herbs
 	
 	
 		that's what we do we we grow our own and dry them and
 	
 	
 		oh yeah
 	
 	
 		um
 	
 	
 		well see i don't have to try them cause they'll they'll pretty much grow all winter long and if
 	
 	
 		yeah you guys are kind of lucky down there
 	
 	
 		oh i don't know we also have you know foot long roaches all year long too
 	
 	
 		yeah  yeah
 	
 	
 		hey don't laugh
 		don't laugh but what makes a really elegant um just a side dish and most people don't have any idea what it is why they don't i don't know and you can make it a day ahead of time
 		because i just take about a cup of fresh cut basil i mean i really like basil
 	
 	
 		yes
 	
 	
 		and then cook spaghetti and i the the this is smaller thread spaghetti it's like the cappelletti is the better
 	
 	
 		okay yep
 	
 	
 		add and i add almost equal parts parmesan cheese
 		a a healthy balance of garlic i mean i really like garlic
 	
 	
 		oh that's what we do we yeah
 	
 	
 		yeah so you're basically makes a kind of a a pesto
 	
 	
 		like a pesto yeah
 	
 	
 		yes but if you serve it cold it really is just a wonderful
 	
 	
 		so is it a cup of basil leave fresh basil leaves
 	
 	
 		uh-huh uh-huh and pine nuts and if you can't get pine nuts because to me they're always kind of mushy i just grind up walnuts and use that in it
 	
 	
 		uh
 	
 	
 		it really is nice
 	
 	
 		yeah
 		that's uh
 	
 	
 		and even my kids will eat it
 		and they've gotten to be kind of food snobs one of them went over to
 	
 	
 		we're going we're going to have that Friday we're going to do the pork and
 		we don't have the we don't have any fresh basil but we've got dried well we'll have to go down to the market
 	
 	
 		dry basil doesn't have quite the taste
 	
 	
 		it doesn't you can't pesto out of it they've got some pesto frozen though
 	
 	
 		yeah i keep i do that and i find that it tastes just about as good
 	
 	
 		
 
 	
 	
 		and i freeze it in like little half cup quantity so i can even pull it out whenever i want to
 	
 	
 		but i like that i like those uh-huh i like that sauce with the pork
 	
 	
 		you you'll be surprised you'll be really surprised at just how simple it is and and it's not a a clear cut you know this this this and this it's kind of to taste
 	
 	
 		and
 		yeah
 		that's what i'm going to do because we each take turns doing it
 		you know i usually do the grill work and you know it depends if she makes uh uh anything with shrimp on it or not you know she'll do that but i'll do the grill stuff but this is nice this is i can cook the pork on the grill
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 	
 	
 		and just make the sauce
 	
 	
 		you know what also is really good just really really good and really really simple if you like to do grilling
 		if you can get a hold of fresh sage
 	
 	
 		yep yep
 	
 	
 		have you ever worked with that
 		just take the fresh sage and and you know
 		crumble it so that you you release the oils
 	
 	
 		yep
 	
 	
 		pour you know put that stuff over fresh pork chops
 		and if you've got balsamic vinegar there
 	
 	
 		we do we make all of our vinegars in fact we do canning too we do all of our own canning and
 	
 	
 		oh i love that stuff
 		oh
 		i do my own vinegars too but just put a a touch of balsamic vinegar on that until