So...whats for dinner?
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Special, thanks for your status report. I've been worrying about you being without power and a.c. But I know you were prepared!
Off to the g.i. doc today - still having stomach issues. Sick of it. Hope he can fix me.
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My dh would agree with bacon on all sandwiches! He likes bacon. I'm usually happy with one slice or half a slice.
It was weirdly like Louisiana here this morning with heavy fog and muggy air. We went to the gym and then to West Forty for breakfast. I had their Mexican omelet and a biscuit instead of toast. The omelet is very large and very tasty. I cut it in half and brought half home.
I'm thinking I will transform the two leftover roasted chicken thighs into chicken romano with some Rao marinara and grated romano for tonight's dinner. I did that once before and really enjoyed the outcome.
Eric, I will google again after posting and then test the pressure cooker on the outside grill burner.
I fear I have overstocked on freezer food and will have to gift my neighbor Mary with the extras when we leave on Oct. 1. We have a good cooler but I'm not sure about keeping meat frozen for three days of travel. I'll transport condiments like mayo and olives.
The local radio station just gave the weather forecast. Today marks the end of the unseasonably warm weather. Our highs will be in the 60's or 50's in the coming days.
Warm thoughts going out to Susan. I hope she's having happy times with Olivia.
Nance, sorry to learn that you're still suffering with stomach issues.
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Hopefully the pressure cooker works. I remember my mom and grandmother using them for all sorts of things and it's something I'm looking forward to trying myself (after next month).
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Met a good friend for lunch yesterday. We share the same b-day in August. We do celebrate every year, but it's rarely on the real day anymore. We live in different cities now so only get together a couple of times a year. (Lacey & Susan will remember my friend Pat from Boston). We went Mia Bellas. Wednesday is 1/2 price drinks for ladies all day, and 1/2 price on many of the appetizers. She had fried risotto mushroom balls with a jalapeno cilantro sauce. I had seafood lasagna with shrimp & clams and a delicious lobster sauce. They had the most delicious round loaves of bread with jerbs on top that you broke apart & wiped in a plate of olive oil & balsamic & red pepper, etc. I ordered wine ($4 for a lovely cab) and she had Sangria. We had just been served our coffee - mine accompanied Tia Maria & hers with Baileys - when they brought out two slices of delicious Italian Cream Cake and two flutes of champagne. A very nice celebration. We sat there from 2pm to almost 5pm. By the time we left I was so full I couldn't even waddle to my car. Still full today.
Carole - did you say you're going home October 1st?
Eric - so you weren't deployed? The news in Houston is that all the usual private guys who rush to disasters to help haul away the trashed buildings & mess decided to go to Florida for Irma instead of Houston for Harvey - better money, easier type of clean up.
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Had my Prolia shot this a.m. (forgot to switch from Zyrtec to Claritin last night, d'OH!), plus prelim. bloodwork. (Chem panel & CBC). All I know is that my enzymes & calcium are ok, otherwise they wouldn't have given me the shot. Was gonna train tonight, but my trainer got sick and had to cancel. (A reminder that even gorgeous perfect specimens of humanity are, well, human).
Brought home fried chicken, boneless rib tips, red beans & rice and slaw last night en route from my bc support group meeting. Lots of leftovers. So will have some of those tips, a small ripe tomato, and saute some dandelion greens for dinner. (No, I didn't pick the latter off my lawn). Maybe also rinse and drain some of the slaw. Gordy had a drumstick and half the red beans & rice, so I'll leave him at least the rest of those and the thigh.
Hoping, though, that Bob gets home early enough to visit the corner phone store and see if an iPhone 7+ will fit in his shirt pocket. (He always wears dress shirts. His idea of leisure wear is a brighter or patterned dress shirt with an open collar and no tie. Even the scrubs he wears as PJs have a chest pocket). If the 7+ fits, then so will the 8+. He has big hands and long thick fingers, and with his aging eyes he needs a large screen—and we both need two hands to use a cellphone (even a little 5S "back in the day" for me). He needs to ditch his ancient wheezing iPhone 6: it’s not water-resistant (and his fellow docs told him horror stories about getting caught in a downpour and trashing their iPhones), so he has it in a LifeProof case—which muffles the sound so he has to put it on speaker half the time, and it howls and screeches the other half; it also has a slowly dying battery; and his main hospital has ordered everyone on staff to switch to Verizon ASAP. He’s on Sprint, which has miserable coverage and a weird proprietary home screen interface overlay the Sprint Store installed on it. So it doesn’t make sense to port it over to Verizon. The 7 or 7+ are cheaper, have longer battery life and are water-resistant—but why upgrade to 2016 technology? The X is not an option—not shipping till Nov. 5, and so radically different that the learning curve (new OS & hardware’s gestures & conventions) would drive him batty.
I’m torn between the 8+ and the X, though I’m a bit leery of Face ID’s security (all a mugger would have to do is point the phone at me and voilá: it’s unlocked; with Touch ID they’d have to go to the trouble of either knocking me out first or making me press the Home button at gun or knife-point). I don’t really care about the cool large screen in a small footprint, augmented reality or the ability to voice a talking poop emoji—I’m more interested in better battery life, two cameras and all those lighting filters that the 8+ has also. Also have the nagging feeling that Apple still hasn’t worked out all the X’s bugs yet—if they did, they’d already have iOS 11 available as a download. And I’ve been burned twice in the past having been the first on the block to get the latest and greatest (especially with the two Androids I used to have)—if I have to pay close to $1K I want to be paid to be a beta tester. The nice thing about the 8 and 8+ is that they’re available in 64GB—our 6 and 6S are each only 32GB, and my 6S’ hard drive’s nearly full. True, a 256GB 8+ is as expensive as a 64GB X—but who the heck needs 256GB on a phone? I don’t even have that on my iPad. 64 is the sweet spot.
But Bob wants me ordering the phones tomorrow so they’ll arrive next weekend. So we need to decide tonight: 8 or 8+? (I’ll miss my headphone jack and am not looking forward to either having to Bluetooth yet another device to the phone or choose between listening to music & charging, but Bob never uses headphones, so he doesn’t mind).
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Tonight was leftover grilled chicken with whole wheat bow tie pasta w/alfredo, shredded Romano and sautéed squash ribbons with onions. I cooked 1 serving of the pasta but it looks like a lot. Tastes pretty good, simple and somewhat improvised (went a little off recipe for the alfredo & squash).
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Ilona, there’s a Jewish comfort food recipe my mom & grandma used to make with farfalle (bow ties) called Kasha Varnishkes. You use medium or coarse ground buckwheat groats (kasha), toss them gently in a little beaten egg to coat, on a skillet set to med-low, stirring to keep them separated & dry. Saute some mushrooms & onions. Add them and then some chicken stock and cook gently till the stock is absorbed and the grains are fluffy (not enough starch in buckwheat—which is really a type of grass seed—to use the risotto method). Correct the seasoning and then add some buttered cooked farfalle to taste (should be roughly 50-50 kasha/farfalle).
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Sounds good ChiSandy, I'll try it and post the results. Almost every Christmas Eve, I make my friends families traditional holiday meal Butterball Soup. Not turkey, the "butterball" is a Matzo ball basically with chicken and fine Jewish noodles. I feel in love with it in 7th grade and can eat it for days, it's my favorite thing about winter, can't wait!
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Ah, what we used to call “mishmosh” soup (sometimes we’d throw in kreplach—Jewish potstickers). My grandma used to call those fine noodles “luckshen.”
Slight change of plans tonight. Bob just called from a seafood/steak place out in Oakbrook where he attended a drug co. lecture. I ate a tomato and made the lemon-garlic dandelion greens (boy, do they ever shrink down in the pan); and he’s bringing back a mid-rare ribeye with the trimmings. He hasn’t had a chance to go to Best Buy or a phone store to see if an iPhone 7+ would fit in his shirt pocket—if it does, so would an 8+. If not, he has a hard decision to make: go with the 8 (same size as his decrepit 6 but water resistant) and have nothing new to learn; or wait till Nov. for the iPhone X (screen bigger than the 8+, body same size as the 8). His hospital is breathing down his neck, insisting he switch carriers from Sprint—which has been nothing but grief—to Verizon. If he’s gonna switch carriers, it’s time for a new phone. But the X starts at $1K and because it has no Home button and Face ID instead of Touch ID, its hardware and OS will pose a huge learning curve. It’s taken him more than 5 yrs (and 2 iPhones) to learn the basics as it is.
Under time pressure because he’d like me to order the phones online tomorrow so we get them by the end of next weekend. Might have to make a cardboard cutout of an 8+ to see if it’ll fit.
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DD is in the FL Keys, dropping off the boat she scooped the week before the storm, and delivering supplies. She has passed the first 5 military checkpoints, and is with friends pulling a huge trailer full of water, fuel, food, tools. I just talked to her on the phone, she is pretty aghast at what she is seeing. She is with friends whose elderly grandparents were stuck in Key West - don't know their current status, but they spent the hurricane on the 8th floor of a hotel. They are hoping to have them rescued and/or reunite with them if they already have been. I am experiencing mom stress, lol! Hopefully she will be back tomorrow.
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Awesome daughter you have there SK!
GI doc appt inconclusive as yet. Endoscopy scheduled in 3 weeks. In the meantime he's taking me off all supplements (vitamins except calcium) and COQ10. I'm skeptical that that will help but willing to try anything at this point.
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Nance - sorry for the gut issues. Wouldn't it be weird if stopping the vitamins made a difference - but I agree with you. Sorry you have to wait 3 weeks for the endoscopy.
Special - Yes your DD is just amazing. Hope the friend's family is OK.
I'm leaving tomorrow for a fall color trip to northern Utah & the Idaho border. It will be a full week of light hiking & seeing people I haven't spent time with in 30+ years. I had so much fun re-connecting with friends in Washington & Oregon, I decided I'd better visit other friends while I can & we're all still around. Winding mountain & canyon roads are still fun as long as it's daylight. I'll have meal reports when I return - particularly one restaurant that supposedly serves primarily Tibetan food.
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Minus what a wonderful trip and awesome Bday dinner. Special your dd is awesome. To give her time to help others is priceless. How proud but worried you must me. Nance I hope dropping the supplements helps. A while back I was taking a lot of tumeric, when I tapered off, my lack of appetite and rumblings stopped. Who knew.
I made a large batch of spicy sausage lentil soup with cornbread. Time to freeze the leftovers. Plan to grill a ribeye. I bought a prepackaged set of small potatoes in garlic and parsley from Whole Foods. You can either grill them, or do in the microwave. We'll see.
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Tonight is a grilled steak (overdone for my preference, waiting on something else and timing was off) with a baked potato and brussels sprouts.
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Special, I also appreciate your update and am glad that you are safe...especially given that wild ride to your doc appt post storm! And I add my admiration to your daughter and her service orientation. Not a surprise given the family in which she was raised!
My friends in FL lucked out with only tree damage and a period of no power. But my friend whose son and fam live on St. John had still not had communication from them since I last spoke with her, since the communications systems are out. She did hear that they were at least safe by Saturday, but I'm guessing that they may have lost everything. They had in recent years built a beautiful home by the water. I was glad to see Tim Duncan (NBA retiree) promote donating to the Virgin Islands, where he was raised. He certainly convinced me! Always admired him as a person as well as a player....sorry to bring my basketball addiction in even before the season begins....blame Irma!
Minus, I loved the sound of your birthday lunch! And your upcoming trip will be so much fun. Good for you for making the effort! Everyone benefits from these reconnections. Enjoy! And I certainly remember Pat. Please extend my best wishes to her when you next get together!
Carol, as I read about your extra food, I am reminded that I think our lake association started our Labor Day Pot Luck party to give folks a chance to use up, and not have to schlep home with, all the stuff in their freezers.
Yesterday, I used some of my "farm stand bounty" making ratatouille which we had with a poached egg over top, and some Providence corn I'd picked up at Volante's, which was delish. Tonight, DH is out in Western MA for his board meetings, where he will be wined and dined for his efforts, and I had a Minus-esque meal of Trader Joe's krinkle potato chips with ranch dip, and a nice ripe sliced tomato. Hope its okay to relate that to you, Minus. I rarely have a chance to eat like that, and it is so satisfyingly reminiscent of my early adult lifestyle! 😉
Tomorrow we are taking a good friend, S, out to dinner. When we reconnected with he and his wife after the summer, he told us his prostate cancer has finally metasticised to his bones, and after successfully treating this cancer for over 18 years off and on, his docs have let him know they will just try to keep the progression slow. He is just a great guy who is a true life contributor, so it's very sad news....and especially since he is in nagging physical pain. Anyway, S and his wife were scheduled to take their grandkids to NYC this weekend, but he is tired and is going to stay home and rest before starting his first round of chemo on Tues. They had a friend from Ariz visiting them last week and he brought some marijuana chewables, which he offered to S to mitigate some of the overnight pain. It helped. And S asked his oncologist if he might be able to have a prescription for this...legal in MA now. The doc told S he did not use marijuana for pain relief, but he could prescribe him oxycodone. What?!?!? Granted the research is not in about all the effects of mj use for alleviating pain, but we certainly do know what the issues related to oxycodone are. Anyway, while I was catching up on all of this with my friend, S's wife, we decided that DH and I would take him out for dinner this weekend so he is decently nourished while on his own but probably too tired (and depressed) to make good meals for himself. Cancer really does SUCK! This family has four members and three have had some form of cancer.
So, I think I will try to get some taggies completed tonight and tomorrow since several of my friends' children have been popping out babies frequently...and it sure makes sense for me to use some of the million yards of fleece and minky fabric I have gradually hoarded.
Illimae.....still loving your food porn!
Hope everyone is doing well....and thatyour reduction of supplements is the answer to stomach relief, Nance.
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Nance, sorry they can't figure out what's what with your gut. Hope they can find an answer soon and that it's easy to correct. At least there's no prep for an EGD and it's over before you even know it.
Lacey, so sad about your friend's mets from prostate cancer--but it grows slowly and he might get a few more years NED once the mets have been arrested.
Special, the things your DD must be seeing down in the Keys! I hear all the Hemingway cats in Key West survived (54 of them, some polydactyls, all descendants of his cat). Problem is getting from island to island--bridges are out, the airports in Key West and Marathon are closed, and many cell towers have been trashed (none remaining around Islamorada).
I've spent the last few days in digital-ordering/phone-and-accessories-purchasing/computer-setup hell. Gory details are in the Drinking thread (seems fitting). Not looking forward to the backup and restore hassle--not to mention how to pair my Apple Watch to the new phone when it arrives, and then wiping my current phone after transfer is complete. And still have to order Bob his phone and change his carrier.
Took the lazy way out: tonight at WF's hot bar the theme was Germany--so I brought home a dinner of goulash, spatzle and red cabbage. Maybe I'll defrost some salmon tomorrow. Last night was leftover ribeye, spinach, dandelion greens & tomatoes.
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Thanks all for the compliments on my DD, she is a big-hearted helper personality, as is her older brother the firefighter/paramedic. She is headed back home today and based on my conversations with her over the last couple of days, very ready to resume her normal life.
chisandy - DD has indeed seen some incredible things on this mission to the Keys. She stopped at her old internship location at Theater of the Sea, sea lions had been evacuated but not the dolphins. They are all alive, and they are frantically working to keep them alive and clean up. Their other static animal displays - sharks and fish - all dead due to pump failure. I am not sure they have yet figured out how to get a steady supply of enough fish in there to feed the dolphins and the place is physically ruined. She gave them some food and water to assist. Many of the landmarks and restaurants she frequented are totally wiped off the map, others remain relatively intact. They did find the grandparents of the two friends she went down there with - alone in a house with trees down on top of it, mold growing inside - these folks are in their 90's, one is blind and the other has pretty advanced Alzheimer's. They hooked up the generator they brought and a portable AC unit, got them cleaned up and fed and they evacuated them last night. The father of her friends (son of the grandparents) was arrested at some point over the last several days and that is why they were alone. They had spent the storm located in Key West on the 8th floor of a hotel, and at least he managed to get them back to their home, but sheesh! Craziness. Yesterday they tried to mostly distribute their supplies to people who had no transportation to the established food/water centers - great that they have places to get food/water, but they don't do any good if you can't get there. Of course, they encountered some who were mentally ill, drug addicted, or just plain sketchy. They encountered a woman wandering the street in her bra and underwear so they got her some clothes too. She and her compatriots were armed and openly carrying their guns. On her way north last night she stopped at Marathon to brief incoming private SAR folks, all former Marines, as she and her friends have been the only private group to penetrate the barriers and do any work down there. I have been able to keep in touch with her throughout as they have put up a new cell tower in Marathon that has facilitated pretty good reception for the limited number of people using cell phone down there. She and her friends have been using radios to communicate with each other. I will be very happy when I lay eyes on her tonight. I have been both proud of her and worried about her.
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Minus...no I didn't get deployed. The team I'm on was scheduled to be "first up" for October (there's a quarterly rotation schedule). When the August teams went to Houston, it was decided to augment their medical staff with folks from the October teams....Since the October teams were short medical folks, they were pulled from the rotation and used to fill any holes (people getting sick, family emergencies, etc.) that might occur.
All the medical folks have returned so the team is back at full strength. However, we remain on alert. There's another storm brewing in the Atlantic that is forecast to go over Puerto Rico. Hopefully the storm will die before it does anything besides be a spot on a map.
Special, my compliments to your daughter too. Hopefully my DD will be like her!
It's hard to see familiar places all torn up and all the people dealing with upended lives. It takes awhile to process it all. As I've said before, this is a case where it's good to not be needed. Your son would probably say the same thing about his job.
Cell sites...only the part between the tower and the cell phone is wireless. Everything else depends on wires (or fiber optic cables) to get the signal from the tower back to the main office and then out to wherever the call is going. Electricity issues can be handled by batteries and generators and my company has worked really hard to install generators everywhere that is allowable (some cities won't allow generators at the cell towers). The more difficult problem is the connection back to the main office. If that fails, "the lights are on, but no one is home". Many cell towers have two connections back to the main office even though only one is needed...but sometimes even that isn't enough.
So.....they have portable cell towers that have their own generators and satellite dishes so they don't depend on the fiber or copper cables to get the signal back to the main office. After a storm, they can be driven to where they are needed and get some cell service going again. They don't use them for normal use because there isn't enough satellite capacity in orbit to handle very many cell towers (two or three cell towers can fill up most of a satellite) but they come in handy for situations like this.
Yesterday, I moved all the furniture, vacuumed, mopped and dusted. Under the couches there was enough dog hair to build another dog. :-)
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eric - no worries about whether your DD will be like mine, she only needs to look to her dad as an example to follow - and I am sure she will. Interesting about the cell towers - I am very thankful that whatever arrangement they made in the Keys allowed me to talk to my DD the whole time. She just got home about an hour ago, and I am mighty relieved to see her. She is putting her pictures and videos in order for my DH and I to watch in a minute. She is loving on her dog a lot too - she saw a lot of animals in as bad shape as the people - very upsetting to an animal lover like her.
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I:m being deployed..no idea as to where.
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Good luck and stay safe, Eric. That you will be helpful goes without saying.
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eric - they need a lot of help in the Keys - have looked at DD's pix - OMG, there is almost nothing untouched in the lower Keys - pretty horrific, she went all the way to Duval St. If that is where you are going brace yourself. Keep safe.
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Thanks.
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SK- So glad your DD is home!
Eric- thinking of you as you deploy. Traveling mercies to you and your team.
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Stay safe Eric!
Special, your daughter is as special as her Mom!
I've been sick for way to long. Haven't eaten a lot yet, but finaly had to make one of my box dinners before it went bad. 2 weeks is a long time to cook it. LOL. Glad I Always freeze the meat! This is crispy pork with broccilini and snow peas, and a scallion pancake. It was really good. Remember, I have some free if anyone wants to try them. Just pm me.
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Special I'm glad that your family is OK.
There is too much to catch up on!
I met a bunch of women on my current assignment. We went to brunch and then a local festival.
There was a "Bloody Mary" bar. They give you the glass with ice and vodka and you make your own. You need lots of vegetables to stay healthy...
My brunch yesterday, (with avocado toast and two fried eggs) I drank one.
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Bedo- glad to hear from you....wow...I want that Bloody Mary. You know, when things tank- a really good, dirty...dirty Bloody Mary or dirty, dirty Martini can make aaaaaaalllllllllll the differerence!
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Dinner was just odds & ends--avocado toast with heirloom tomato, basil & shallot; charcuterie (prosciutto, coppa, paté) and manchego cheese. About to finish the dandelion greens I made last week.
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Supper tonight was a grilled grass fed burger and salad...yummy.
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Eric, my SIL and some members from her National Guard unit got sent to the Virgin Islands last week to help with the recovery efforts from Irma. My brother let me know this morning that with Maria coming that way those that were sent down were being evacuated
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