What's for dinner?

M and I had a lovely wedding shower yesterday, where we received more kitchen gadgets and cookbooks than a pair of soon-to-be-newlyweds could hope for. I think our families have caught on to our shared hobby... but not so much as to invite themselves over for our weekendly suppers.

Today's menu (and the rotating leftovers menu for the rest of the week) is:
Bread-thickened minestrone soup
Potato Fennel Gratin
Oven-fried Chicken
Chocolate Ice Cream

Most of these dishes are out of our new cookbooks. The minestrone was the first to finish, and I love it but M declared it "excellent for Minestrone" meaning he would like to have it infrequently come up in the weekly soup rotation. Bummer.

The potato fennel gratin smells wonderful in the oven, and I'm sure the chicken will be fine (but largely un-spectacular) as it's a variation on the twice-dredged chickens dishes we all know rather well.

M's got some salad greens and I'll make a vinaigrette for them to round out his weekly fare. Too bad I travel so much. I have a feeling all that will be left for me is the excellent-for-minestrone soup on Friday.