Best Of

Intolight, Homemade banana bread makes any meal delicious.

Carole, I'm glad you ended out at a quieter good restaurant by default.

Eric, That's great turnaround time on your passport. I renewed mine last September and it arrived quickly. I think this time of year is quiet for passport applications since summer is finished and holiday travel is still a bit away.

Illimae, Good to hear things are stable enough. Those au gratin potatoes sound delicious.

Dinner tonight was salmon, sautéed summer squash and pan fried baby potatoes. This afternoon we drove out for ice cream: black bear for me and apple crisp for DH. The leaves are starting to change. In spite of the drought the sugar maples are brilliant red and pink.

Sockeye Salmon and spinach tonight.

Illimae, glad you are fairly stable.

Back from Houston for scans. All good except for a few pesky old spots in the brain that decided to grow a bit (watching them for now).

Dinner was crunchy onion chicken, au graten potatoes, steamed spinach and roasted squash and zucchini wedges.

Pizza Ranch was swamped with people. Parking lot full. A long line of people waiting to get in. The four of made a quick decision to go elsewhere. We went to West Forty, which wasn't crowded at all. I had the walleye basket, which came with cole slaw and french fries. DH and our friends had the chicken fried steak. We were all satisfied with our meals.

Maggie, I avoid buffets too. It is just not worth it. I have turned in to quite the germaphobe. I think it is the combination of Covid plus this disease. Dinner tonight for us was just cold cereal and fruit since I didn't have to cook for my DD and DGD. I made some banana bread earlier today so we had a piece of that too.

Wally, I hope great things come from DH's treatment.

The passport issuance office emailed me that I will have my new passport (in my hands) by 30 Sept. I will be astounded if that happens.

I just brought in a bit more than 15 pounds (almost 7kg) of Roma tomatoes from the garden. These were the ones that were the "fall off when jiggling the vine" ones and there is likely to be another similar harvest in a few days. For the past three weeks, we've been getting about half this amount each week. It's been getting into the 45F/7C range in the mornings, so I guess the tomatoes are trying to get done before the frost happens.

Both of us got "perfect scores" on our dental checkups today…so another 6 months.

We are in the middle of a severe thunderstorm warning.

Carole Pizza Ranch has zero ambiance but the chicken is pretty good. DH likes the pizza. I think it's just ok. The best part is that you can try different varieties. It's not as bad as Chuck E's but there does always seem to be a lot of kids in ours. I think it's kind of pricey for what it is but there's a senior discount.

Dinner is a complete unknown. Last nights meal tasted good but gave me a severe case of acid reflux.

I buy New Zealand lamb at Sam's Club and it has been good. Not as good as American lamb, which is much more expensive and rarely available in our supermarkets. I used to find it at Fresh Market, but not in recent years. The farmers must sell to upscale restaurants.

Wally, glad you felt positive about the dr. appointment. Hope your dh continues to defy the odds.

We're meeting our farmers market friends, Judy and Ron, in town tonight to eat at the newly opened Pizza Ranch, a chain in this area. It serves buffet style. Pizza, fried chicken and sides. I'm expecting it to be very crowded and probably noisy. I was told that it has a children's arcade similar to Chuckie Cheese. I hate Chuckie Cheese.

Dinner last night was more pork. Baby back ribs cooked in the slow cooker and finished on the grill with barbecue sauce. For dh, warmed up mashed potatoes and country gravy. For me a very small portion of potatoes and a large chopped salad with tomato, lettuce, avocado, and Greek olives.