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Tim in the Kitchen

The End of Week Ten

We're both down twenty pounds! This, boys and girls, is pretty heartening - it means all of this work is actually paying off! We feel better. We have more energy. Everyday tasks are easier to do. It's a flippin' miracle. This proves
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Tim in the Kitchen

Chicken, Beef, and Pork

We've been eating - I just haven't been writing about it. I've been busy updating the Tim and Victor website, going to the Doctor for my annual physical, making all of the appointments for all of the follow-up tests... Blood pressure
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Tim in the Kitchen

Mushroom Ravioli

The Bayshore Diner was the full-service restaurant in the Westin San Francisco Airport when I opened the hotel in 1988. It was a '50s-themed diner with black and white checked floors, Wurlitzer Jukebox, and hostesses in poodle skirts and roller
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Tim in the Kitchen

The End of Week Nine

It's been nine weeks. Nine whole weeks since we began this odyssey. And, slowly but surely, it's starting to pay off - Victor is down 19 pounds, I'm down 17 1/2. Hallelujah! I hafta tell ya, though, this has not been
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Tim in the Kitchen

Oven BBQ Brisket

My impulse buy of the day, yesterday, was a brisket - they were on sale in my WASP grocery store for Rosh Hashanah. Brisket is not one of my normal go-to's in the beef department. I don't have a Jewish bubbe
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Tim in the Kitchen

Chicken Rice Soup with Leeks and Lemon

Since Victor made a vat of chicken stock, I thought it only fitting to make a small pot of chicken soup. I'm clever like that, sometimes. My mantra is soup is soup is soup. You put stuff in a pot and
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Victor in the Kitchen

Chicken Stock

Last night, as I was making my shopping list, Victor said, if you get a couple of chickens I'll make chicken stock and you can can it. With an offer like that, how could I refuse?!? We both prefer homemade stock,
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Tim in the Kitchen

Corn and Fish Chowder

Wow. It's cold enough to make a pot of soup! How did that happen? It's been raining all day - flood watch until Tuesday - with that wet, penetrating cold. Granted, I'm sill in shorts, t-shirt and thongs - flip-flops
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Bread

Sourdough Bread - Two Ways

I've just spent the past 10 days making sourdough bread. Well... Most of the time was sitting around and waiting for the starter to start - and then throwing out one batch that didn't start - but methinks the end
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Tim in the Kitchen

The End of Week Eight

We've made it through eight weeks. That's like half of Boot Camp. I went into Boot Camp right around this time in 1971 - 47 years ago. I don't remember it being this tough, however. I'm sure that it has
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Tim in the Kitchen

Eggplant and Shallots

The eggplants are still coming in and I've been looking for more and different ways to cook them. Every time I turn around, there's another one or two ready to eat - and the neighbors are starting to avoid me.
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Tim in the Kitchen

Leeks, Fennel, and Rice

I really can't count the number of times I cooked steaks for us and midway through dinner said we could have gotten by with one. Knowing I was cooking too much food never seemed to stop me from cooking two,
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Tim in the Kitchen

Corn Two Ways

Tonight's dinner is brought to you by my friend, the fresh cob of corn. Corn on the cob is such a good friend that I picked up two ears of it today. As I was putting groceries away, I noticed
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Tim in the Kitchen

Figs, Chicken, and Sweet Potatoes

Tonight's dinner is brought to you by my impulse-buy of the day - a 2-pound package of fresh figs. I love figs in all their many guises - but fresh black mission figs may be the tops. I was in a
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Tim in the Kitchen

End of Week Seven

It's been another grueling week at the gymnasium. We've been dealing with dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, squats, lunges, and every sort of pain-inducing piece of equipment the Marquis de Sade and the Inquisitors have been able to conjure up. The good
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Tim in the Kitchen

Golden Beets and Apples

Victor started liking beets when he first had roasted golden beets. They were totally different than the canned pickled beets of his youth - they had flavor without vinegar. Golden beets aren't in the market very often - even though
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Tim in the Kitchen

Brussels Sprouts and Fennel

Would you think me weird if I told you my most favoritest vegetable in the world is the Brussels Sprout? Of course you would. Actually, you'd just add it to the list of my many weirdnesses. But it is true. I
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Tim in the Kitchen

The End of Week Six

And there's more good news coming from the boys in Gym Class - we're both down 12 pounds in 6 weeks! We're maintaining a 2-pound per week weight loss - and still eating like Kings! We are pretty psyched! It is
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Victor in the Kitchen

Stuffed Eggplant

The eggplants are coming in fast and furious. It's amazing what less rain and more sun will do for a garden! I brought in two this morning - with a lot more out there - and Victor volunteered to make
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Tim in the Kitchen

Tomato Sauce

It seems the weather has finally started cooperating - we're getting tomatoes! We went out to do some yard cleanup and a bit of harvesting - and the bit of harvesting was 20 pints of tomato sauce - 16 canned
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Tim in the Kitchen

Put an Egg On It

Last night's pasta with an egg on top! How could life be better - or easier?!? We're both feeling a bit beat up after our gym experiences this week, so an easy dinner was definitely in the cards. Our trainer
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Victor in the Kitchen

Ragu di Funghi e Finocchio

Victor mentioned a couple of days ago that he wanted to make some fresh pasta. Any time he wants to make pasta, I'm eating. End of discussion. We were watching Lidia last night and she made a dish with mushrooms and
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Tim in the Kitchen

Spiedini di Pollo, Fagioli, e Prugne

I get a daily email from La Cucina Italiana magazine - in Italian. It always has lots of recipes - also in Italian. My web browser automatically translates to English, but we all know how web translators can butcher a
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Tim in the Kitchen

Eggplant Three Ways

The eggplants are coming in fast and furious. That means the brain has to get working - I can only eat so much caponata. Coming up with ideas for food is fun - and making several of those ideas is
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Bread

The End of Week Five

We're both down ten pounds! What a way to go! It's pretty crazy. I feel good - sore, but good. I honestly never saw myself as a person who would go to a gym - let alone semi-enjoy it! It's rather
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Tim in the Kitchen

Almost Jambalaya

I did a bit of a 'fridge clean-out for dinner, tonight. These are fun dinners because they're usually good and probably won't be replicated anytime soon. I seem to do this a lot with Jambalaya - I never quite have
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Tim in the Kitchen

Pork Cutlets and Roasted Beets

Yesterday, I roasted beets, white carrots, and leeks as our dinner side. For the main course, I had made lamb chops with peppers, tomatoes, onions, and marsala. When I looked at the amount of food I had produced, the beets
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Tim in the Kitchen

Fried Peppers

The weather - the torrential rains - have pretty much destroyed the tomato crop, this year. It's pretty sad how poorly they have done - literally rotting on the vines. Today, it rained so much so hard so fast, that we
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Tim in the Kitchen

The End of Week Four

“My doctor told me I had to stop throwing intimate dinners for four unless there are three other people.” -- Orson Welles It's the end of Week Four and we're doing pretty well. I'm officially down 8 pounds and Victor is
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Tim in the Kitchen

Chicken and Lentils

I think my most difficult habit to break is always having a ton of food around the house. Or, more realistically, it's cooking portions or amounts small enough that there's not a ton of food around the house. It's a challenge
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Tim and Victor's Totally Joyous Recipes

Welcome to the site!

We have recipes from family reunions, heart-healthy from the ’90s, artery-clogging from the ’60’s, rustic breads, gooey desserts, hundreds of recipes from friends and family, quick and easy ideas, and whatever we decided to pull together for dinner.
Eclectic, to say the least.

And eclectic really does sum up what it’s all about – fun food for fun people with something for any occasion.

Peruse the site and have some fun! There are several thousand recipes just waiting for you!

Tim in the Kitchen

The End of Week Ten

We’re both down twenty pounds! This, boys and girls, is pretty heartening – it means all of this work is actually paying off! We feel better. We have more energy. Everyday tasks are easier to do. It’s a flippin’ miracle. This proves me wrong about eating w...

by Tim Dineen

Victor in the Kitchen

Chicken Stock

Last night, as I was making my shopping list, Victor said, if you get a couple of chickens I’ll make chicken stock and you can can it. With an offer like that, how could I refuse?!? We both prefer homemade stock, but lack the freezer space to make and freeze it. I honestly ...

by Tim Dineen

Both of Us in the Kitchen

Pork Tenderloin

The planned dinner tonight was a pork tenderloin. Planned, as in I took a pork tenderloin out of the freezer. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but then, that’s not unusual. I tend to kinda wing things, ya know?!? After bacon, the tenderloin is pretty much the w...

by Tim Dineen

Bread

Sourdough Bread – Two Ways

I’ve just spent the past 10 days making sourdough bread. Well… Most of the time was sitting around and waiting for the starter to start – and then throwing out one batch that didn’t start – but methinks the end result was worth it. Really worth it! T...

by Tim Dineen

Desserts

Vanilla Cake for Two

Since I made a Chocolate Cake for Two a couple of weeks ago, I thought it time to make a Vanilla Cake for Two. I love cake. hell – I love desserts, period. This is where I really take after my mother. You’ll note in the cook books she put together over the years tha...

by Tim Dineen

Holidaze

The Social Security Birthday – and a Four-Day Birthday Weekend

One of the [many] fun things about being retired, is I can take a 4-day birthday weekend and not have to use vacation days! We get to just go. Well… after arranging the Nonna-Sitter, and all… but, you get the idea. It’s totally liberating to just do things when ...

by Tim Dineen

THE COOKBOOK COLLECTIONS

Family
and
Friends

This is a collection of recipes from family and friends, TV personalities, and stuff just found along the way. There are handwritten recipes from long-gone relatives and things we’ve recently found. There’s no real rhyme or reason to anything other than they’re things we like. Because that’s really what it’s all about.

THE RECIPES
THE COOKBOOK COLLECTIONS

Outrageous
Holiday
Cooking

These are recipes shared by our wonderful family and friends. Recipes that have been handed down over the years as well as fun foods newly created. A one-stop-shop for all your Holiday Cooking!

THE RECIPES
THE COOKBOOK COLLECTIONS

Family Reunion
Recipes
One

Family recipes shared at our first Family Reunion at Fort Robinson, Nebraska in 1986. They run the gamut from savory to sweet - with something for everyone.

THE RECIPES
THE COOKBOOK COLLECTIONS

Family Reunion
Recipes
Two

Family recipes shared at our second Family Reunion at Fort Robinson, Nebraska in 1996. Even more fun foods!

THE RECIPES
THE COOKBOOK COLLECTIONS

Tim's
Mom's
Cookbooks

Here it is! Tim’s Mom’s collection of recipes from the 1960’s and 1970’s. Days when cooking was definitely more fun and adventurous! The two original loose leaf binders contain recipes culled from magazines and newspapers, as well as handwritten recipes by her, her mother, and other friends and relatives.

THE RECIPES
THE COOKBOOK COLLECTIONS

Recipes
From The
Heart

These recipes were created for the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center by menu and recipe coordinator Christine Leishman, who has extensive experience in some of San Francisco’s finest restaurants. They are for anyone who is serious about cooking and eating delicious and healthful foods.

THE RECIPES
THE COOKBOOK COLLECTIONS

Little Gram's
Cookbook

“Little Gram” was Mary Ferante, nee Taomina. She was our sister-in-law Marie’s Grandmother, and, while not exactly a blood relation to us, was nevertheless “Little Grandma” to us as well. She was spry, active, and ready to talk politics or cooking right up to her passing in July 2008 at 105. Yes, one hundred and five.

THE RECIPES
THE COOKBOOK COLLECTIONS

Recipes
From
Villa Modica

The villa is located in Modica, province of Ragusa, in Sicily – in the southeastern corner of the island. Close to Syracusa, Catania, and easy driving to Mount Etna, it’s the perfect location. And the food. The food. The food...

THE RECIPES
THE COOKBOOK COLLECTIONS

Quick Meals
In
Minutes

These are mostly recipes created when Tim was doing demo work. They are quick and easy - and should really take only minutes to throw together.

THE RECIPES

The End of Week Ten

We’re both down twenty pounds! This, boys and girls, is pretty heartening – it...

Tim in the Kitchen

Tim Dineen
Chicken, Beef, and Pork

We’ve been eating – I just haven’t been writing about it. I’ve bee...

Tim in the Kitchen

Tim Dineen
Mushroom Ravioli

The Bayshore Diner was the full-service restaurant in the Westin San Francisco Airport whe...

Tim in the Kitchen

Tim Dineen
The End of Week Nine

It’s been nine weeks. Nine whole weeks since we began this odyssey. And, slowly but ...

Tim in the Kitchen

Tim Dineen
Oven BBQ Brisket

My impulse buy of the day, yesterday, was a brisket – they were on sale in my WASP g...

Tim in the Kitchen

Tim Dineen
Chicken Stock

Last night, as I was making my shopping list, Victor said, if you get a couple of chickens...

Victor in the Kitchen

Tim Dineen
Chicken Rice Soup with Leeks and Lemon

Since Victor made a vat of chicken stock, I thought it only fitting to make a small pot of...

Tim in the Kitchen

Tim Dineen