Breakfast
Leftover hard-boiled eggs
Leftover stewed prunes

Dinner
Grilled salmon
Grilled foil-packet zucchini
Grilled foil-packet sweet potatoes

Late-night snack
Lemon chess pie

Recipes:

GRILLED SALMON
3/4 to 1 lb. salmon fillet
2 Tbs. olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
juice of 1/2 lemon

Marinate fillet in olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice for about an hour. Grill over hot coals, skin side first.

GRILLED FOIL-PACKET ZUCCHINI
2 small to medium zucchini, cut into thin rounds
2 Tbs. olive oil
salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste
a few sprigs of fresh oregano, chopped

Create a double-walled foil packet by tearing off two rectangles of foil and doubling them. On one piece, drizzle half the olive oil. Arrange zucchini slices on the foil, season, and drizzle remaining olive oil. Top with the other doubled piece of foil, then tightly crimp the edges.
Cook the packet on both sides over hot coals, until zucchini is quite soft.

GRILLED FOIL-PACKET SWEET POTATOES
1 large sweet potato, skin on, cut into thin rounds
2 Tbs. butter, cut into small pats
2 Tbs. brown sugar

Create double-walled foil packet as above. Place a few pats of butter on the bottom, then arrange sweet potato rounds on it. Dot again with butter and sprinkle with brown sugar. Top with the second piece of doubled foil and tightly crimp the edges.
Cook the packet on both sides over hot coals, until sweet potatoes are quite soft.

LEMON CHESS PIE
Prebaked 9-inch pie shell
3/4 c. buttermilk
2 eggs
2 egg whites
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. grated lemon peel
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbs. flour
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Whirl all the filling ingredients in the blender until smooth. Pour into baked pie shell and bake about 35 minutes, until firm.

Breakfast
Hard-boiled eggs with kosher salt
Grapefruit

Snack
Chocolate chip cookies

Dinner
Black bean soup
Corn bread

Recipes:

HARD-BOILED EGGS
Put eggs in a pot with tepid water to cover. Bring to a boil and boil exactly 1 minute. Turn off heat, put the lid on immediately, and let stand exactly 7 minutes. Drain and rinse in cool water.
Cooked this way, eggs should be barely, perfectly done, perhaps even with a spot of bright yellow in the center of the yolk. There won't be a trace of dryness or green discoloration.

BLACK BEAN SOUP
1/2 lb. dry black beans
pork soup bones (in this case, a few precooked pieces we had saved out from the other day's ribs)
1-2 Tbs. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 large carrots, sliced into rounds
bay leaf
1 tsp. ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 c. salsa

Bring 4 c. water to a boil in a large pot. When it's boiling, add black beans and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let beans soak 2-3 hours or so.
When you're ready to make the soup, drain the beans and set them aside in a bowl.
Heat the olive oil in the pot. Saute onions and garlic for a couple of minutes, then add celery and carrots and saute until the onions are translucent. Add the soup bones, the beans, and 4 c. water (or more, if necessary). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until beans are fully tender.
Fish out the soup bones, cut the meat off of them, and return the meat to the pot.
Add remaining ingredients and let soup simmer 1/2 hour more.

CORN BREAD
6 Tbs. butter
1 c. cornmeal
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1-2 Tbs. honey
1 c. milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put the butter in a 10- or 12-inch seasoned cast-iron skillet and place it in the oven so the butter melts as the oven heats.
Stir the dry ingredients together in a bowl, and make a well in the center.
In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. When the butter is melted, whisk it in, too (it's okay if a little pool of butter remains in the pan, since that's what makes the cornbread brown and crispy).
Quickly mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients, then pour the batter into the pan and bake 20-25 minutes, until it's golden on top and the sides pull away from the edges of the pan.

Breakfast
Oatmeal with brown sugar and milk
Stewed prunes

Dinner
Sweet and sour pork ribs (see 2/26 for recipe)
Green beans
Leftover strawberries with lemon pizzelle

Snack
Chocolate chip cookies

Recipes:

STEWED PRUNES
Prunes (sorry, "dried plums")
Water
Sugar (about 1/3 c. per pound of prunes)

Place prunes in a saucepan with enough water to barely cover them. Add sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook about 30 minutes--a little longer if the prunes start out very dry.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
1 1/8 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 stick (1/2 c.) butter
3/8 c. sugar (measure this as one and a half quarter-cups)
3/8 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
In a large bowl (preferably the bowl of a KitchenAid mixer), beat butter, sugars, and vanilla until creamy. Add egg and continue beating.
Gradually beat in flour mixture, then fold in chocolate chips.
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake 10 minutes, until golden brown but still soft in the center. Makes about 20 cookies.

Brunch
Leftover crepes with fresh strawberries, sliced and sugared

Dinner
Beef stroganoff

Late-night snack
Sweet and sour pork ribs (these are actually for tomorrow's dinner, but we made them tonight and gnawed a couple right away)
Stir-fried baby Vidalia onions and green peppers

Recipes:

CREPES
200 g all-purpose flour
3 eggs
500 ml milk

Put the flour in a bowl, break the eggs into the middle, and start beating. Little by little, add milk until the batter gets to the consistency you like--somewhere near that of light cream.
Heat a nonstick crepe pan until very hot and smear lightly with butter. Ladle a bit of batter onto the pan and tilt to make a thin, even pancake. When the bottom is lightly tanned, flip and cook for about one more minute, then turn out of the pan. Repeat until you have a giant stack.
Leftovers freeze well, stacked loosely in a Zip-loc bag.

BEEF STROGANOFF
3/4 to 1 lb. shoulder steak, cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips across the grain
2-3 Tbs. butter
1/2 a large onion, diced
1/2 lb. button mushrooms, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
a pinch of nutmeg
1/4 c. red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
1 c. sour cream

Saute the onion in 1 Tbs. butter until clear. Add beef and brown lightly. Remove contents of pan to an ovenproof bowl and keep warm in oven.
Melt remaining butter in pan and add mushrooms. Saute until softened. Drain excess liquid, if any, and add the beef mixture. Season.
Add wine and heat briefly, then add sour cream and warm gently, being careful not to boil.
Serve with No-Yolks noodles.

SWEET AND SOUR PORK RIBS
4 lbs. pork ribs
juice of 1 lemon
dash of apple cider vinegar
soy sauce
1 c. apple cider vinegar
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. sherry
2 Tbs. soy sauce
2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
4 tsp. cornstarch
2 Tbs. water

Cut the ribs apart and parboil them 3-4 minutes in water acidulated with lemon juice and vinegar. Drain and dry. Brush with soy sauce.
Bake ribs, uncovered, 45 minutes to 1 hour at 350 degrees.
Briefly boil vinegar, sugar, sherry, soy sauce, and ginger. Mix cornstarch with water and add to sauce. Cook until sauce is transparent and sticky. Pour over cooked ribs and serve at once.