how about drinking?
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This is a "French Dream" and tasted like it! Kaluha, chambourd and Baileys (I think). Yum 😋
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Happy belated V-day! Kim, nice to see you back, albeit hitting the ground running as soon as the alarm goes off. Nice that you have the puppers as a comfort and source of entertainment. Not so nice that your weather is so trying.
Your observations on how hospital admissions for surgery used to be handled are spot-on. Had my appendix out in '64 (at age 13). It was an emergency, with me in the OR within an hour of my parents driving me to the neighborhood hospital where as soon as I walked into the lobby an orderly shoved a wheelchair under my butt and a nurse drew blood for a WBC. I spent a full week as an in-patient. 19 years later, when it became apparent that I was miscarrying, the OB ordered me across the skybridge from the professional bldg to the hospital for a D&C…to be performed the next morning. I wasn't allowed to go home and bring essentials: Bob had to bring me a robe, change of clothes and nightgown. Meanwhile, they admitted me and let me go down to the cafeteria and eat whatever I wanted…provided I was done with it before midnight. That piece of coconut pie was probably the most delicious thing I would eat for decades. Surgery in the morning, double cheeseburger & fries as soon as I could pass gas, and another night in just to be sure. When the next year I had Gordy by emergency C-section (4 days after touring the L&D unit and filing an elaborate natural birthing plan), he was ready to go home before I was—I spent the week on a surgical floor because I'd gotten a uterine infection for laboring too long after breaking water. Ten years later, for a lap choly, I was admitted in the morning but spent 2 nights in, till I finally farted to their exacting discharge standards. For each of my TKRs I was an inpatient for 3 nights before being moved to rehab. Now? Everything is outpatient/ambulatory surgery, at most "23-hour observation-admit." Blows my mind to see even ORIFs & joint replacement surgeries (not just meniscal repairs) done at freestanding surgicenters (albeit within a mile of a hospital) and of course those "drive-by mastectomies."
Carole, glad to hear your DH's recovery is proceeding apace and you can get back to the gym. Seems like it takes forever until a couple of months later you suddenly realize you're ready to rock.
We had three rounds of snow. Didn't think my Edgewater landscaper could come up here to Lincolnwood to shovel—I figured he'd have his hands full back in the 'hood (including doing my house's sidewalk in order for me not to get fined by the city). So I hired Plowz & Mowz Wed. to do the driveway, sidewalk (even though the village doesn't require it and nobody seems to clear their own—though the side streets are so suburban that there are no sidewalks) and even clean off the cars. They arrived 3 hours late, did a great job…but I awoke to find it had snowed 3 more inches. Talked to my landscaper, and when he plugged my address into Google Maps he found I was closer to his northern boundary (S. Evanston) than to his southern boundary (Wrigleyville). So he now does both houses…for $100 less than Plowz & Mowz did for one.
V-day saw another round. He came by early morning so that Bob could get to work. We had dinner reservations at the Alcove in Evanston, and decided to drive. (Couldn't take our usual route there due to a massive water main break in Skokie that closed everything from Old Orchard Mall in the west to the west bank of the river just across the Church St. bridge to the Evanston city line). It was very hairy driving (suburbs are not as conscientious about plowing & salting as is Chicago), but despite crawling gingerly we still arrived 20 minutes early, and the 7:30 diners were eating so slowly our 9:30 seating didn't get underway till well after 10. So, knowing I'd be tasting some of Bob's paired wines during dinner, I opted for a mocktail of lime juice, agave nectar & ginger beer while Bob had his vodka martini.
Wines were: with the appetizer, Sancerre; with the fish course, champagne (of which I had the lion's share because I love bubbles); with the meat course a classic Medoc (Bordeaux), albeit not from a cru classé; and with dessert Taylor Fladgate 20-yr-old tawny port. The pace of service was so leisurely that despite generous portions (it was a prix fixe, not a tasting, menu) i didn't feel stuffed…or buzzed. While we were out our landscaper came by to touch up after the snow had stopped.
No snow today, just a little rain and then a flurry. But tonight we were going downtown to Topolobampo (Rick Bayless) for his "Eras Tour" tasting—celebrating his years in business with each dish representing a different milestone in each decade the place—the gourmet experimental offshoot of Frontera—was open. (Took a Lyft, of course, due to distance and anticipated drinking. Drove last night despite the snow because we'd been quoted a fare twice as high to Evanston last night due to holiday surge-pricing—$58 one way for an 8-mile drive to Evanston…as opposed to $27 each way tonight between here & River North, 20 miles).
Ordered one wine/mezcal pairing for Bob with an empty glass for me to taste. Halfway into the meal the waiter begain pouring for me too. Had a mocktail (Paloma Highball) in the lounge with amuse-bouches before being ushered into the main dining room. First course (a twist on the classic Caesar salad served their first months in business) was paired with an Albarińo from a winery in the Baja. Second, with a riff on fideo soup, was an agave that was past tequila but not quite a full mezcal—a little floral sweetness on the finish. Next was a bonus DIY beef/guac taco, with another splash of the above. With BBQ quail, a mezcal steeped in botanicals and briefly (I'm not kidding) with Cajun-spiced turkey. With rack of lamb, a Garnacha/Carineña ("Carignane" over the border in FR) from just south of the Peñedes in Catalonia. With the transitional sweet-savory dish (riff on carrot cake), a funky aged dry mezcal with a bouquet & finish of cream cheese. Sounds disgusting but with the carrot cake it tasted like I was drinking the frosting. Finally, with a 25-layer chocolate torte, a Mosel botrytised (aka "noble rot") riesling Beerenauslese—dead ringer for an eiswein.
Got home at midnight to hungry kitties and round 3 of snowfall beginning. I'm still tasting everything, and cannot bear the thought of eating till at least 1 or even 2 pm tomorrow (but then again, there's half a poppyseed hamantaschen calling my name).
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Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Sunday Funday! Waking up to 16 degrees, breezy but not really windy. Some light snow with heavier snow expected soon. So far no ice or sleet. Of course, this storm is just starting, really, so there is plenty of time for the ice and sleet and crappy stuff to come. Lots of churches canceling services this ayem. It will be interesting to see how things go through the night and if schools are closed or delayed tomorrow. I remember one of my school nurse colleagues talking about a parent of a couple of the students in her school who wouldn't allow her kids to come to school if she felt the roads might not be good, by which she meant if there was any snow on the roads at all, or if it was expected to be snowing around dismissal time, or if it was raining hard. She was certainly within her rights, but her kids missed lots of school.
Carole--wow, those Elmer's eggs must be really, really yummy! Isn't it amazing how many hats we end up wearing during a day! It sounds like you managed the water leak crisis really well and have everything in hand. Hiring out as a Handy Woman might be a lucrative side line!
Wally--good grief, what a mess that must have made, fizzing out like that! I've never had that much fizz out of a bottle before, either. I hope the remaining glass each was exceptional!
Reader--Oooh, that does look yummy! Anything with Chambord in it gets my vote!
Chi--one of the things that made me feel very old at work was talking about how things were done when I was a new nurse with younger nurses and seeing their reactions. I was working in the NICU when pulse oximeters came on the scene. They were only used in ICU settings at first, then during surgery, then by respiratory therapists, and then spread to the rest of the hospital, and now can be bought from Amazon or drug stores! I'd get asked "But how did you know what your patient's oxygen level was?" and then blow their minds telling them we didn't use numbers, we assessed skin color, respiratory rate and effort, level of consciousness/alertness/mental orientation, nail bed and lip color, capillary refill times, skin temperature and trusteds our gut instincts. Certain changes warranted putting on oxygen and ordering a blood gas test--this was back in the day when nurses were expected to assess patients and intervene as indicated, and then call the doctor with an update and to discuss ongoing treatment, before health insurance started requiring a doctor's order in order to pay for blood tests, oxygen therapy, etc. We literally wrote nursing orders in a section of the chart labelled "Nursing Orders" (this was in the day of paper charts) for things like when the diet progressed from clear liquids to full liquids to soft, to regular and putting on compression stockings, and when the patient could get out of bed, just like doctors wrote physician orders in the "Physician Orders" section of the charts then and now. Doctors didn't approve discharge from the hospital until Nursing verified full recovery from anesthesia, pain controlled without narcotics (or with minimal narcotics, like once or twice a day), no fever for at least 24 hours, able to walk 100 feet without assistance, bowels moving, and post-op education understood, able to get to and from the bathroom safely unassisted, get dressed with minimal assistance. Patients usually stayed until the stitches came out (this was before skin staples came along). The nursing profession really let the health care re-imbursement industry strip away our professional authority and standing as an independent profession in the 80's and 90's. It's really sad to see. And I don't think our health care system is providing better care now that it was then, in a lot of ways. You got a good deal on the plowing and snow clearing! It's good you thought to call the landscaper. Sounds like your dinner was very leisurely and enjoyable! Mezcal steeped in seasoned turkey? That sounds really odd, how did it taste? What a variety of dishes and pairings!
New Orleans Fizz
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 ounces gin
- 2 ounces cream
- 1 1/4 ounces simple syrup
- 1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 small or medium egg white
- 2 dashes fleurs d'orange (orange flower water)
- 1 to 2 ounces club soda, to taste
Directions
- In an cocktail shaker, pour gin, cream, simple syrup, lemon and lime juices, egg white, and fleurs d'orange.
- Dry shake without ice.
- Fill shaker with ice. Shake vigorously again (more than normal to ensure egg and cream are well mixed and drink is silky).
- Strain into a chilled highball glass.
- Top with club soda.
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Sandy, your food/drink experiences are mind-numbingly beautiful!!!
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Reader - thanks for The French Dream. I have all those ingredients so it's in my future. I found several recipes but the one that looks best is exactly what you said: equal measure of Kahlua, Baileys & Chambord.
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Kim, I remember the days of ABGs—as patients we dreaded them because they were really painful. Doctors & nurses weren't very enthusiastic about them either. Nowadays, not only can you buy fingertip pulse-oximeters online or at the drugstore (in fact, in the early days of the COVID pandemic we were warned about silent aka "happy" hypoxia and urged to buy one and use it several times a day), but pre-lawsuit AppleWatch Series 9s have a pulse-ox function. Apple lost a patent infringement suit over that feature, which is why I'm keeping my Series 9 until it croaks (no matter how good the 10 or later are—unless they get a blood pressure or temperature sensor). My purses are crowded enough without having to hold a fingertip pulse-ox.
That New Orleans Fizz is sometimes called a Ramos Fizz. Used to be a brunch staple back in the late '70s, but largely disappeared till the 2020s cocktail renaissance—especially in the new "speakeasies" (anyone can enter). I had one in January at a Bar Show cast party in the speakeasy behind a south Loop tavern. They're sort of controversial (as are Pisco sours) due to the eggwhites—the pre-pasteurized ones don't whip very stably.
I'm teetotaling till my gut recovers from last night (which consequence is a long unappetizing story that doesn't belong on this or the Dinner thread). So it's water (lots of it) and an Aeropress cup of Counter Culture Coffee's Fast Forward dark roast. Aeropress has become my brewing method of choice—I set it up at bedtime: fill the electric kettle, weigh the beans & put them in the grinder, and load the brewer with a little white paper disc filter. In the morning, I boil the water, preheat my Ember mug (which keeps beverages hot down to the last drop), grind the beans and fill the brewer, pour the hot water, stir, fit the plunger into the chamber to create a vacuum, wait 1 minute and then plunge (which is good upper body exercise). You clean it by standing over the trash can, unscrewing the bottom of the chamber, pulling back and then quickly pushing the plunger. It ejects the grounds and filter as a little puck—and after rinsing the bottom and the rubber of the plunger you're good to go again. The thing looks kinda like a manual breast pump—it's made of plastic instead of glass (one of the three drawbacks of French presses, the other two being a mass of spent grounds that require rinsing and a 4-minute steeping time). Pourover drip requires standing over the cup and filter cone, pouring slowly in a counterclockwise direction for 3-4 minutes—which makes my arm really tired. Keurig? Only when I'm almost sleepwalking when I get up.
But oh, how I miss my real espresso machine! Nespresso is a pale imitation. The only time I will pay for a coffee is when I must have an espresso, macchiato or cortado—preferably at an independent coffee bar.
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Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Monday Monkey Day! Very cold and breezy here today, lots of the powdery snow we got yesterday and overnight is now flying around in the gusts making drifts all over the place. When I opened the kitchen door to let the puppers out I got a face full of snow courtesy of one of those gusts. VERY cold, it was! I'll be glad when this Polar Vortex goes back where it belongs.
Morning, Wally!
Morning Minus!
Chi--Now that you mention it, I do remember how painful getting an ABG was for the patient and the respiratory therapist, and how long the procedure could take. Working in NICU we more often relied on venous blood gas tests, as they were easier to getand took less blood and gave us info that we could use to estimate the arterial blood gas values. At the same time we had transcutaneous oxygen sensors that gave us real time oxygen level monitoring, but required a probe taped to the skin that heated up the skin to bring blood to the surface and often caused burns. Fingertip pulse oximeters are readily available these days, but many people do not know the limits of the technology and trust the heart rate readings or know when the results are not reliable due to circulation issues. Sorry to hear you are having a digestive upset, hope it clears up quickly. The Aeropress sounds like it's pretty easy to use and would have the advantage of being more portable than most other methods. Sounds like the clean up is a lot easier, too.
Mexican Coffee
Ingredients
- 1 fluid ounce coffee-flavored liqueur (such as Kahlua®)
- ½ fluid ounce tequila
- 5 fluid ounces hot coffee
- 2 tablespoons whipped cream
Directions
Stir together coffee liqueur and tequila in a mug. Pour in hot coffee and top with whipped cream.
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Good morning friends:
Happy Presidents Day. Happy Belated Valentines Day and Groundhog day to. Did I miss anything here in February?
This month is breezing along and looking forward to spring. We get our evening light back in a few more weekends and feel ready for that. We have had a dry winter here in the SW but are getting some more moisture lately, nice three day storm this past week (I think it's on east and creating havoc). I see a few things starting to wake up and have a beautiful helliobore (lenten rose) in bloom which is a winter bloomer and will share a photo for anyone bloom deprived here in the middle of winter in the northern hemisphere,
Chi- welcome back! I have not been here very much but have thought about you and hoped you were doing okay. Did they get your home repaired from the fire last year?
NM- I like that NOLA drink you posted. My sister and I are meeting up there end of March for my 65th birthday and looking forward to the food and drink yet to come. Your mom doing okay?
Teka- hi up to North Country.
So about the job, I think I mentioned long ago when I took this job in 2020 during the pandemic when I was self employed that it was going to be a paycheck and benefits until I got to Medicare (now eligible) and met a few other milestones. I wanted to have the new car before I retired which happened in December as you may remember I posted about, and will be vested in my retirement come this fall. With any luck this project will also be done this fall so I am not looking too far out from being able to leave the FT work world. I have a couple things in the works for the "what next" and more to follow on that. It's easier to get through things when you come to the end of a gig or a project and almost there. This whole working FT time thing has just gotten old….
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Jazzy - thanks for the job update. I hadn't remembered that you are so close to the end. Hooray.
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Good Morning, Loungettes! We are getting up to som every chilly wind chills today--from -9 to -22, just plain brrrrrr. I think today is going to be the coldest of the week, at least I hope so. Or even if the wind would just die back, the wind chill and blowing snow are creating more problems than just the cold temps. Poor Zoe takes one step outside and starts shivering like mad! She's primarily a Siberian Husky, Alaskan Malamute, and Canadian Eskimo mix, but doesn't have the double coat for insulation, probably the effect of the American Pit Bull genes. Which is also why she doesn't shed very much.
I got a message from Delta the other day that there was a schedule change in the Amsterdam trip itinerary. I went to look at it thinking it was going to be another 5 minute time change or one or another of the flights, which has happened a couple of times already. This time was different. I originally had a return flight from Amsterdam to the US, and over night stay in New York, and a final flight from NY to home. That last leg had been changed to the same day as arriving in NY, with a departure time TWO MINUTES after the arrival time of the Amsterdam to NY flight! It was already flagged as a missed flight! OK, no huge biggy, I'll just get that leg changed back to the next day. So I spent over an hour on the customer service chat and find out that there are NO flights from NY to home the day after getting back to NY. The agent's responses, besides telling me I should wait until just before the trip to rebook the flight, kept trying to change everything from Amsterdam to home by a couple of days, I could not make him understand that I didn't need or want to change that leg, only the NY to home leg. I even asked about flights from NY to a different airport in Maine where I could rent a car and drive the rest of the way, or to Boston and catch a commuter hop or rent a car, but he kept changing the whole thing. I finally realized that I must be dealing with and AI or someone who does not speak English fluently, said so and asked if I could be transferred. I was transferred to a supervisor, after being told I was "technically speaking to a human being". It took the supervisor, who was much more fluent and obviously a real person about 10 minutes to look at the options I was asking about, and to suggest that I change the entire roundtrip ticket from the local airport to the other one that I was going to becoming home to, which in the long run will be better for me--no rental car needed, and I should have enough time to drive from Portland to Bangor to pickup the puppers. Gotta love travel drama!
Jazzy--welcome back!I didn't realize the spring time change was coming up so soon! I guess the two clocks I never reset can be left alone now and just wait for the time change
and save myself the trouble. I can't wait to see the flower pic. Mom is doing ok. Her new big thing is planning a trip to Texas to visit her brother. She would like to do that for her birthday, which is March 5th, but I don't think we can get her a passport or Real ID in this short an amount of time, and I'm trying to get her to wait until after she gets her new dentures at the end of April so she can eat real food without pain while she's visiting. It sounds like you are really close to goals for getting out of FT work! That whole thing does become a drag after a while.
Morning, Minus!
The recipe didn't have a picture of the DOTD, so here's my favorite pic of Zoe instead:
Siberian Husky
INGREDIENTS
1oz cranberry juice
1oz lemon-lime soda
2oz blueberry vodka
DIRECTIONS
Add all the ingredients to a highball glass withice
Stir and serve
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Teka - you're just a bit ahead of me. I just completed 13 years on BCO.
NM - The travel drama is crazy. Although I'll never remember & probably have to ask again, what is your departure date? I hope you can get your Mother to wait. Blame it on the gov't!!! So maybe Real ID or the passport will be overly slow….. Will she be OK by herself if you get her to the plane and her brother picks her up?
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Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Hump Day! Taking Mom grocery shopping today, and if she's found her birth certificate get her Real ID drivers's license, pick up an order from Sam's Club (stuff for me and for Mom), find some lobsters to steam for dinner tomorrow, and I'm sure there is at least one other thing that I am not thinking of right this moment. Hopefully it will come to mind as the day goes by.
I mixed up some cornbread to bake yesterday, stepped out of the kitchen for a few minutes while the oven was preheating, came back to the kitchen to find an empty pan. Guess who had corn bread batter all over the snout? Zoe. I'm surprised she didn't get sick! Nothing is sacred in this house as far as the puppers are concerned.
Teka--that's my fav pic of Zoe, I even have an enlarged print that I had up in my office when I was working! Congrats on 15 years on BCO!
Minus--I leave for my trip on April 27th, come home on May 12th. Mom is not able to fly on her own, even on a non-stop flight, which I don't think exists from Maine to Texas. So I will be flying down with her, turning her over to her brother's step-daughter who takes care of him, and flying back the next day, and then 2 weeks later fly down and pick her up. I suspect she will need vision testing to get her driver's license renewed, and I suspect she won't pass, so we will have to go the passport route, which will take more time than we have between now and my trip. I'm aiming for fall, maybe October or November, when it won't be as hot as in the summer but won't be far enough into fall to have to worry too much about weather issues.
Jazzy--beautiful blossoms!
Tongue Twister Cocktail recipe
Ingredients
1 oz Sambuca
Dash Lemonade
Dash BlackcurrantCoridal
2 wedges Lime
1 oz Black Sambuca
Method
How to make a Tongue Twister
Serves1 · Takes 3 minutes
Add the black sambuca to a tall glass with lots of ice, then pour the white sambuca i n
Give it a stir, squeezing the lime juice into the glass and dropping the two lime wedges in
Add some lemonade, add a dash of blackcurrant and give the whole thing a stir before serving
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NM, I lurk because I love looking at the drinks even though I can't have them. Even if your mom can't pass the vision test for a driver's license she can get a real ID state ID card with her birth certificate which would allow her to fly domestically and is cheaper than a passport. I got a state ID for my then non-driving mom before real ID came into being. Dealing with elderly mothers is quite the adventure; enjoy it while it lasts.
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Today bloom du jour
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Definitely enjoy your mom. I miss mine a lot.
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Our weather is balmy compared to NM's but not balmy to us. It's windy and in the 40's. Weather for an old-fashioned tonight.
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Not balmy in Houston either. It was supposed to be 44 today but can't seem to move up past 32. I just covered all the plants again. Carole - I think you are correct - bourbon instead of gin tonight.
NM - I had to look up Black Sambuca since I had no idea there were two kinds. Interesting.
Maggie - glad you're lurking. Yes you can get a state ID, but I think NM is wanting to delay the process anyway. Maybe the birth certificate won't turn up in a handy place.
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We hit 55 today. Over it.
I'm having huge issues with my HOA and the dog-neighbor-idiots. Rant.
Leftover mac and cheese tonight and I may make some sort of indian dish tomorrow.
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Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Thirsty Thursday! Well, I thought it was going to be warmer today but it hasn't gotten there yet!It does look like the high temps will be better today than the last few days, though. Took Mom grocery shopping yesterday, she was only in the store for 2hours. So far this morning she has called me 3 times with items for me to stop and pick up on the way in that she forgot. Right now I'm making a list and am planning to put in a delivery order a bit later, because I absolutely despise going into Walmart stores. Much of the time if I'm just picking up one or two things I can get away with going to another store, but some of the things she wants today are brand specific and only in Walmart. OK, Just had call number 4to add to Mom's grocery list! Any bets there will be a 5th call before I leave the house in a little while? :)
Maggie--glad you enjoy the DOTDs. I have fun looking for them. Thanks for the info about the state Real ID card, I didn't realize that was even and option, and will definitely be less expensive and quicker to get than a passport. I do try to enjoy as much time as I can with Mom. She turns 89 in a couple of weeks, and I know she won't be around forever.
Jazzy--love the flower pic
Carole--I can see my Mom declining and it saddens me. I know I won't have her many more years. I'd love to have some temps in the 40s for a few days!
Minus--I had to lookup Black Sambuca when I first ran across it a while back, too. I am trying Tomaka things work out so Mom is going to Texas in the fall or next spring, and that looks like it's going to happen as her birth certificate hasn't been located yet and Mom hasn't called to find out what airport we should be flying into. Soit looks like I'll have the summer to get this trip organized.
Wally--sorry to hear you are having HOA/neighbor problems. That is never fun. 55 degrees? Really? Share some of that with Maine, would you please??
Snowball Brandy Cocktail
Ingredients
- 2 ounces brandy
- 1/2 ounce simple syrup
- 1 large egg white, optional
- 2 to 3 ounces ginger ale, to taste
Steps to Make It
- Gather the ingredients.
- In a cocktail shaker, pour the brandy, simple syrup, and egg white. Fill with ice.
- Shake vigorously to ensure the egg is properly mixed.
- Strain into a collins glass filled with fresh ice.
- Top with ginger ale. Serve and enjoy.
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It has warmed up to 29 degrees and is sunny out. I had to run a trickle of water in the sink last night because this house wasn't built to withstand freezing temperatures.
NM, I enjoy your DOTDs, too.
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Denver is just peaking at 33 today, but is slated to be in the 50's come Saturday and in the 60's on Monday.
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We made it up to 26 today, and indoors it briefly got to 72 in the living room (70 in the bedroom, with the space heater cranking away). They say the ideal sleeping temperature is 66, but it feels positively arctic—Cuddl-Duds lounge/long johns with a scrub top over it; a down blanket under a heavy comforter. I have to almost hug myself to stay warm till the blankets begin to trap the body heat but my face feels cold. Takes awhile but eventually I fall asleep—till BangBang yowls and paws the door to be fed in the morning.
The house repairs are on hold until the dumpster company can replace the overflowing dumpster out front (no point in doing drywall, ceilings, finishing floors, etc. if there's nowhere to put the detritus); moreover, the contractor is having difficulty finding laborers thanks to immigration crackdowns. (A problem now for contractors in general these days). Used to be that day laborers would gather around Home Depot or Lowe's seeking work—but that's one of the first places ICE goes, so it looks like a ghost town. At least they were able to install a new staircase between the first & second floors to replace the dangerously rickety one.
Just had a scary alarm go off—sounded like the kind we get for active tornado warnings. It woke Bob up. I went around looking for the smoke/CO detector but couldn't find it (will have to ask the property mgr. where it is). I was panicking till Bob said "there's an Amber Alert on my phone, something about a Ford…." Aha—my phone is next to me as I type on my laptop, his phone is on the nightstand. Must be hyper-local if it goes off at 2am! They're usually issued on those electronic signs over the freeway. I just tried looking it up on my phone but there's no sign of it.
DOTD with leftover cassoulet is Menage a Trois "Silk" blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot & Petite Sirah.
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Good Morning, Loungettes! Well, it's being an interesting ayem today. When I got up the dogs were really interested in the door to the garage/basement. I opened the door and let them go down, thinking there might have been a critter in there, and they came up with wet paws. I went down and found it raining in the basement! Apparently I have a broken pipe. Not a lot of water coming down very fast, but enough to make a mess. Got a plumber coming in about an hour and a half. This is the first time I've ever had a really big problem with the house, so this will be a new experience for me.
Carole--it' warmed up to the 20's here, too, for which I am very grateful this ayem! Iremember leaving a faucet trickling over night in the house I grew up in forthe same reason.
Miriandra-- I can't wait for those kinds of temps here! I am done with winter!
Chi--Ilike a cold bedroom, too! I have found that my face gets cold, but if I put a scarf over my head and arrange it so it partially covers my face my nose stays warm. Depending on what kind of phone you have you may need to turn on the Amber and Government Safety alerts. Those alerts can really make you jump when they go off! Sorry to hear that your house repair is being delayed. That must be frustrating.
Busted Pipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ oz. Amaro Nonino
- 1 ½ oz. bourbon
- 1 luxardo cherry
- 1 lemon twist
Instructions
- Place a large ice cube in a glass.
- Pour in the amaro.
- Pour in the same amount of bourbon.
- Garnish with the luxardo cherry and lemon twist.
- Stir with a spoon, then enjoy immediately.
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NM, that's great that your dogs alerted you to a problem. We have a problem outside that may turn into a major inconvenience. A gas leak. DH has been smelling gas just outside the carport. He bought a gas detector and it goes off at a pipe near the ground. He says the gas company will come and detect the leak and turn off the gas. We have gas heat, water heater, cooking stove, clothes dryer. Goodness knows when we can get a plumber. Gives me a headache to think about it. I insisted he wait until the freezing weather was over before calling the gas company.
Almost enough to drive me to drink! LOL.
Sandy, you will have a wonderful new house when your ordeal is over.
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NM - Thanks for the Bourbon Amaro drink. It's another one I can try with booze already on hand.
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Reporting back - the Bourbon/Amaro drink was delicious. Perfect for a COLD day.
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Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Saturday! Yesterday did indeed turn into a rather interesting day. The plumber who came out was very helpful, found the leak was in the spare bedroom, where the pipe in the baseboard heater froze and burst. The carpet in the spare room is very wet, even after taking out quite a bit of water with the shop vac. I’m going to have to get rid of that carpet eventually, which is no great loss. The biggest Surprise was the cost. The poor man was here for 2 and a half hours, had to weld 5 segments of copper pipe fix the leaking spot and another weak spot that was threatening to break, must have gone up and down the stairs a dozen times. He apologized for charging me the high end of the fee range: $329.00. Yup, three hundred twenty-nine dollars. I was expecting it to be $1K or more! Considering they got a plumber here within 2 hours of my call, I am feeling truly blessed to have found this plumbing business. They also do all kinds of other plumbing work besides emergencies, so I am going to look at them for renovating the bathroom this summer. In the meantime, I've got quite a mess in the basement/garage that will need to be cleaned up when it gets warm enough to work down there for any length of time, but it doesn't look like there's any real damage. Getting the furnace running again so I can have hot water again is the next project. At least no hot water is only an inconvenience and easily worked around.
Carole--good heavens, having the gas turned off would be a major problem for you! Probably a good idea to wait until warmer weather to report the problem as long as you think it's safe to do that. I’m thinking about replacing the oil furnace with a gas hot water heater and the electric stove with a gas model while I'm at it, hopefully this summer. I only use the oil furnace for hot water right now and am not interested in putting a lot of money into that thing if I can do away with it.
Minus--great to hear the Burbon/Amaro drink was good for a cold day! I may have to get some Amaro and try it out myself!
Carpet Licker Cocktail
Ingredients
- ▢2 oz Chardonnay
- ▢1 oz Melon Liqueur
- ▢1 oz Peach Liqueur
- ▢1 oz Pepper Soda
- ▢1 oz Whipped Cream
Instructions
Pour Ingredients:
In an old-fashioned glass 1/4 filled with ice cubes, pour 2 oz of Chardonnay, 1 oz of melon liqueur, 1 oz of peach liqueur, and 1 oz of pepper soda.
Stir the mixture well to combine the flavors.
Add a generous dollop of whipped cream on top.
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NM, good news that you got help so soon and the plumber was able to diagnose the problem and do repairs. DH is very concerned about the gas leak so we will call the gas company on Monday. Whatever happens after that, we'll have to deal with it. DH got the names of several plumbers from a neighbor. Possibly the gas company might have a recommendation.
It's currently 54 degrees and mostly cloudy outside. I continue to have sinus congestion thanks to the high level of pollen that tells me spring will soon be here.
Happy Saturday.
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Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Sunday funday! Looks like we're going to get a little snow today, not enough to amount to anything though. I really am tired of snow and ready for much warmer weather, but still have the rest of February and March to get through before I can really expect much improvement on that front. Oh well, at least it's warm inside!
Carole--I hope the gas company gives you good news that the leak is not serious and I hope you have as easy a time getting it tended to and I just did with the leaking pipe. Sorry about the sinus congestion. I'm looking forward to pollen season, even if it does make me sneeze and turn my Jeep yellow-green!
Good Morning to everyone!
The Whisky Penicilin
Ingredients
•
• 0.5oz Ginger Liquer
• 1oz 1:1 Honey Syrup
• 1oz ml Lemon Juice
• 2 dashes Aromatic Bitters
• .5 oz Johnnie Walker Black LabelDirections
Fill cocktail shaker with ice. Add ingredients. Shake hard for 5-7 seconds. Strain and serve in a tumbler with fresh ice. Garnish with a slice of fresh or crystallized ginger.From
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