Earl and I eat at The Cranberry Bog about once a month.  It’s the bar inside the restaurant more familiarly known as Grande Mere Inn.  And while GMI features windows that look onto Lake Michigan and offer spectacular sunsets, (when there aren’t clouds or grey skies) The Bog looks onto the highway. That is, if it actually had windows.  But it doesn’t. Instead, it’s a cozy space with high tops (a fancy word for tables at bar height with bar stools) and a reduced menu.  It suits us perfectly.

Tonight, for example, Earl enjoyed a Wisconsin cheese soup and blackened swordfish.  I took the salad instead of the soup, but also requested the swordfish.  The thing is, neither of us got an entire slab of fish, some of which would end up in doggie cartons.  Rather, we had a reasonable portion with our sides and enjoyed the entire thing.  It was wonderful.

We’ve been to The Bog enough to observe the patrons.  And meet the wait staff. And sample the various items on the reduced menu.  I recommend that if you’re in the neighborhood you do the same.

I am attempting to empty our freezer, except for the duck (More on the duck later.).  I do this a couple times a year, although I’m not sure what motivates me.  Is it that the food needs to be used before it becomes covered with freezer burn? Is it that we will soon make a trip to Costco to stock up, and we need the space?  Or what?

This week I gave away the loaf of white bread someone had given us. I used the boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a chicken and biscuit meal (I won’t make it again.), and I used the frozen peas and carrots in the same entrée.

At last count, there are two Banquet® pot pies (For Earl), one stuffed chicken entre, some frozen cheese, leftover peas and carrots, and the duck.

We got the duck as a Christmas gift.  I actually like duck, but it can be a mess to prepare in one’s oven.  So I’m waiting until we fire up the grill to cook it. At the rate the seasons are going, it could be June.

This means our freezer will still house one duck and an ice pack the size of a small blanket when I have accomplished my goal.

Call me a cynic, but there are three days in the year that I avoid restaurants.  They are New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s Day.  I refer to them as ‘Amateur Nights.’

It’s not because I dislike those who want to celebrate by dining out. I imagine many a person appreciates not having to cook on those days.  It’s not because I wish the servers a bad shift at work; but the truth is they are often overwhelmed, especially if the establishment isn’t ready for the crowds.  And it’s not that I disparage the idea of celebrating a special event in a restaurant.  I certainly have done that a time or two. But this perfect storm of expectations usually ends with long waits for tables, longer waits for meal presentation, and big bills for mediocre service.

Earl and I eat out once a week for what we call ‘Date Night.’  We take turns choosing restaurants, and by doing so we’ve pretty much covered the gamut of eating establishments in southwestern Michigan. We’ve also had experience with all types of menus, service, and ambience.

Which is why I believe Valentine’s Day, for example, is not the best time to have that great meal if you eat out regularly.  Just give it a day.  Or two.  We are.

I’m not much of a cook; I prefer cleaning house to making meals.  Once you master cleaning rhythms, they’re simple repetitions .They allow you to bond with your things too.  But when you’re cooking, it’s always a challenge.

We’d invited friends over to watch the Super Bowl game.  I’d warned that the fare would be bread and soup.  Nothing fancy. So this is what I learned from the meal I made for Super Bowl Sunday.

Coriander and cilantro are not the same thing, even if they come from the same plant.  And even if the clerk at the grocery store thinks they are. Coriander comes from the seed of the plant, and cilantro comes from the leaves. It makes a difference in taste.

I didn’t learn this until late in the game when I’d already added fresh cilantro to my cauliflower/brie recipe.   But once I realized my mistake, I doubled the coriander and stirred it in.  Nobody objected.The other soup, Denver Chowder, was a corn chowder with fresh shrimp to add some twist.  We all liked it.

And what I learned in preparing this recipe is that there is a brand of frozen raw shrimp out there that is perfectly suited for recipes where chopped shrimp is an ingredient. I don’t remember the brand name, but I will recognize the package next time it’s needed.

As for the bread, its packaging bragged that there was no white flour involved in making it; instead it was one hundred percent whole grain.  While I’m not much of a connoisseur of breads, it was delicious.