So...whats for dinner?
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Eric - no offense taken and you are absolutely right. 100 degrees and 100% humidity. It's the humidity that's the killer, but also the fact that mountains & deserts cool down at night. Even this early in the summer we rarely get below 80 at night. It's supposed to be over 100-102 the rest of the weekend & Monday.
Special - how about Florida? And I'm sure Louisiana isn't much better, which is why Carole is in the North. And how are you both? Nance, are you sort of settled? No need to unpack everything. Lacey, did you make it up to the lake?
Love the idea of your 'new' truck Eric.
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Sorry to hear about the dental woes for some of our dinner table friends. I braved the dentist last week for a cleaning, which had already been delayed - so I was at 8 months - just because I don’t want a repeat of the abscess that ultimately caused the extraction and implant that took 18 months. All seems ok for the moment, but they took no xrays and no exam by the dentist. The hygienist was the one who discovered the problem last time, it didn’t show on X-ray anyway. Much like my mammo and TVU and MRI all missed stuff - my teeth are following suit, lol!
minus - I just checked, it’s 84 degrees out now at 10pm, and it has rained several times today, so I’m right there with you. Summer here can easily require three showers a day, depending on activity level. Kudos on your walking! That is a super effort considering the season - I need to get out and walk now that the pollen is reduced, but I face the weather dilemma. You practically have to get up at dawn to not melt. I also have to watch how warm I get because it affects my lymphedema as well and outdoor exercise with bi-lat sleeves and gauntlets in the summer is tough - are you wearing yours? I was really in a gym groove before the shutdown and I miss it, but even though the gym reopened with limits, I’m not going.
Dinner three nights ago was chef salads. Last night stir fry with shredded beef, cabbage, carrot and onion over ramen. Tonight sliced chicken Kielbasa type sausage with sliced onions, peppers and bbq sauce over rice
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I grew up in 29 Palms, CA at the USMC base. It would be 115F degrees at night and 68-75F degrees by morning. If anyone is familiar with the climate at Edwards AFB or NTC/Ft Irwin, 29 Palms is very similar.
I mowed the lawn tonight and I'm both itchy and soaked. Sharon is pretty much "dead in the water with allergies" if she does it, so I take care of it and stay away from her until I can use the shower to de-pollen.
Neither of us were hungry tonight. . I had a microwave oven "baked" potato and Sharon had the rest of the eggplant parmesan,.
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Our forecast is for triple digits for at least the next week and today proved to be a start!
Tonight's dinner was Asian chopped salad (from a bag), sliced chicken breast(cooked in air fryer yesterday with a companion that was used in a pasta salad) and a slice of gluten free bread 20 minutes out of the breadmaker and topped with butter and honey. Glass of Cass winery(Paso Robles, CA) viognier as evening sipper.
Auto correct wants to turn viognier into cosigner! Glad I caught that one.
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Special - my lymphadema is mainly breast & truncal. I do wear a compression bra 24/7 (even in the swimming pool), but have found the WearEase is light & cool enough to work. My goal is to prevent the LE from progressing to my arms, so I do have sleeves & gauntlets. But no I don't wear them walking. Probably should, but that really would stop me going at all. I did wear them for flying (hmmm, do we really remember that activity??) and heavy repetitive activities.
I'm finally cooking some of the yellow split peas today. I soaked the "beans" last night and have already cut up onion, carrots & celery to add, along with ham hocks.
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Wow! You guys are amazingly tolerant to be able to walk/work in such heat. I did some yard work this week in 85ish temps with only some humidity, and felt like Eric’s description of himself after mowing the lawn...with the addition of tiny hair pieces on my skin after my hair cut. I purposely engaged in my weeding/pruning tasks then since I knew it would be a sweaty, dirty business and I was already itchy from the hair snippets.
I cringe when I think of dental anesthetic. Back in the 70’s while undergoing a root canal through a cap, the need for extra anesthetic resulted in a shot that left my brain feel like it was fireceacker exploding. I subsequently developed a real fear of any oral anesthetics. Shortly afterwards we moved here, and when I sought out a dentist I told him about my new heightened fear. Up to that point I had never minded dental visits, which were well known to me through my formative years . The new dentist explained how gently he anesthetized patients, following exactly the method that you described, Eric. I was greatly relieved and never had another fear for the many years I saw him. Unfortunately, he just retired and I have yet to see the new dentist. Hoping he follows the same plan......eeeeek! Of course Covid has disrupted my dental cleaning schedule, and I have yet to follow up, so I am currently dentistless! Probably not a good thing at this age.....
I’m about to make gazpacho which we will have with BLTs on sour dough bread for dinner tonight. No serious cooking is going on in this unairconditioned kitchen. After a pulmonologist appt on Monday, we will probably head to the lake to do a VERY LATE house opening! I hear that the pine pollen was just wrapping up last week, so at least we won’t be clearing it twice.
We are in for a rainy weekend here. I think I will cut out lots of mask fabric so that next week I can bring it north to sew when I feel the urge to be productive there.
I hope all of you Southwesterners are staying safe....the news here about the Covid cases and hospital admissions there sounds so serious. Or is it “ fake news”? I’m really hoping that MA citizens use their heads as we open up, so we don’t re-surge after such a long time of quarantining. Our gov and his administration have done a great job managing our crisis, As has the Mayor of Boston and I do not envy their jobs at all.
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Lacey, it certainly is not "fake news" here in Texas. While the state has not shutdown again, DH and I are essentially behaving like it is. We are both of age to be at high risk and to top it off, I have type A blood!I
Would that you could share some of that rain. We have just started drought restrictions with predicted highs in triple digits for at least the next week. Staying inside for that too.
What time is dinner? Your menu sounds great! Enjoy!
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TX is definitely not "fake news." Gordy's GF's parents live in a suburb of Houston and if they were to escape to Chicago, they'd have to self-quarantine for 14 days, per city order. (They'd have to find a hotel willing to take them). IL has seen 1000+ new cases two days in a row now, but deaths are steady on the low side. Positivity rate is up to 2.9%. However, Chicago's case count is down, averaging 171, with 6 deaths. City's Health Commissioner predicts that w/in the next couple of weeks we may see a day with no COVID deaths in Chicago. The city's Phase 4 is stricter than the rest of the state's, with 17 citations issued to violator establishments. As of today, any place that serves alcohol must close by midnight (and turn off the taps by 11pm); and package stores still must close by 9pm. (Bob says that's racist, because so many minority people work late shifts and can't buy alcohol to go before 9pm).
Dunno what or where we're eating tonight. Must be a) w/in walking distance, b) have al fresco dining, and c) have either a liquor license or allow BYOB on its patio. Tall order.
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We went to Indie Cafe, next to Whole Foods: a sushi-Thai-sake-wine bar. No indoor dining--they are doing an extremely busy, almost assembly-line takeout operation from inside. We sat on their patio. Shared a bowl of "Daruma Ramen" (I had the broth, veg, and a slice of pork belly--left the noodles to Bob) and each had a "Seven Samurai" salad: 7 generous pieces of sashimi, field greens, radicchio, carrots, radishes, kale and cucumber pickle in vinaigrette. Very reasonable--we will be back more often. (Last time we ate there was a decade ago)! For dessert, will put strawberries and home-grown black raspberries over Greek yogurt (or maybe Enlightened Keto butter pecan ice cream) back here at home. Pan-seared halibut (might marinate it in white miso), heirloom tomato, and snap peas tomorrow night.
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Well, Beaver, I am glad that you are hunkering down away from those “nasty Covid particles“. Think how well Tx would be doing medically if most people dId the same. I’m also Type A, so we were treating me the most like spun glass for those three plus months of isolation. At first our son insisted on doing all of our grocery shopping. And gradually DH took it over. He still enjoys doing it!
We are still not taking great socializing risks, and even gave up our outer Cape vacation this week.
When we head to the lake we’ll have more control of our environment in our house there, and NH is also quite low with positive cases...so we’re ready for that minimal level of risk. We’ll be doing a short trial run staying there since DS2 invited us over next Sunday, so we’ll return to be with them to see how their home improvements are coming along. Will likely need to socially distance with them since toddler Amelia Is back at her daycare home several days a week now. This is all so nerve wracking and weird. But no high risk takers here....Dinner tonight ended up a great choice for our sultry weather. Weadded avocado to our BLTs, which was delish. Our sandwiches were huge, and the soup more moderate, so we’ll have some for tomorrow night. I took a pic for Laurie’s Facebook dinner page, so will share It here...
Have a nice weekend, everyone!0 -
I'm also Type A--personality and blood.
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Type A blood here too. Interesting.
Boxes are mostly unpacked. Still have the guest room to put together. I finally got my clothes all in one place which will make it much easier to get dressed lol. I actually cooked a meal last night - grilled rosemary lemon chicken, buttered noodles and asparagus. DH made a (box) cake yesterday which we had with fresh strawberries. There won’t be any complicated meals at this place. The kitchen is just way too small and the counter prep space nearly non-existent. It’s a situation where to do a thing you have to move something.
Tonight’s simple meal is bbqd pork steaks and corn on the cob.
We are caught in the large heat dome with predicted temps nearing triple digits for next week and lasting for 10-15 days. Of course we have the added blessing of humidity. I will say this for the apartment - the air conditioning is outstanding
Perfectly delicious looking summer meal Lacey!
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Lacey, your meal looks as good as it sounded.
Nance, glad you are getting at least partly sorted out. Your kitchen brings memories of our apartment living right after we got married. We at least had a table nearby to help with space (it was a pink Formica hand me down from DH's parents). Any idea how long you will be dealing with cramped quarters?
Sandy, your dinner out sounds yummy. Be glad your weather supports that. We are in full blown summer mode here which means both heat and humidity. Early on, when under official stay at home orders, we ordered take out about once a week. When reopening began we starting hearing about restaurant staff being diagnosed with Covid so we stopped getting take out. I'm ready to start again, running out of menu ideas!
The good news here is that Covid data for the county today show a decrease in the number of active cases, for the first time. Finally, more recovered than new cases! However, still lots of new cases and an unacceptable positivity rate with hospitals showing the stress and strain. We are definitely not through this yet.
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Dinner last night was none for me and a plate of cheeses/crackers, deviled eggs, and fruit for DH - he was feeling tired from the week and not like a heavy meal. I was all about easy last night, and just wasn't hungry myself. I had some apple. I have chicken thawing for tonight but that is as far as the plan has gotten. I would love to make BLTs and gazpacho - two of my personal faves - but DH is a non-tomato person. He will eat cooked tomatoes like in marinara or chili, but not raw - he can't even look at them. There is a school of thought that this is a genetic disposition - much like the cilantro situation. If I make a BLT for me I often add avocado to make it a BLAT, so I just make a BLA for him, lol!
I am also type A blood (A-) and personality, lol!
Florida Covid cases are not showing a let up - and I am starting to hear about more incidental exposures for people at work - including DH, which of course, makes me nervous. Our ICU beds are not looking good here and we have two regional trauma centers as well as a bunch of additional good sized hospitals. My neighbor's DD is a medical resident in the ER at Parkland in Dallas and she just tried to come home to visit. They had to meet in North Carolina, she was not allowed to come to FL due to the high Covid numbers. Our DS may need a tonsillectomy - he had his third strep case in short order. If so, we need to go to Virginia to be with him. I just looked at VA cases, they had as many in the last week as we did in the last day.
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Hi:) have been reading all your posts, took a while:) We have an abundante of berries this summer, I bought a special Devine for picking blueberries and in one hour.. 2.3 kgMy eldest got into a romance with a boy from Netherlands who came here for two weeks, not in my place, he is staying in a hotel but they already been here for dinner. I cooked Persian, three different kebabs, cholo-, dgooge-, and bargikebab with rice, a yoghurt sauce and grillen tomatoes plus sallad and some confidential. The first one is minced meat kebab, the second is chicken pieces marinated in yoghurt and Saffron and grilled, the third one lamb rostbiff rubbed with spices and also grilled. The new boyfriend said it was like in a restaurant😄 It is just a dgooge and bargi on this picture
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The blueberries
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Otherwise, I made bulgur and meat stuffed cabbage rolls this week as well)
Even stuffed tomatoes
ChiSandy, I can do so many dishes of beets, one of my favorite veggies
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We are lucky to be near the lake, which when the wind is from the east is about 10 degrees cooler than everywhere else. We ate in our dining room today because I'm getting tired of shooing away gnats & fruit flies (I know they're real and not my floater, because I can see 'em with the right eye).
Dinner was miso-marinated halibut filets over "zoodles" with pesto, and heirloom tomato-homegrown basil salad. (Brunch was keto pancakes and snack was tuna saled lettuce cups).
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Cherry, that food looks *WONDERFUL*!
Last night it was 108F degrees at 11pm. I'm not sure if F is for Fahrenheit or a more crude word. :-)
I just got a "be ready" email telling me that I *MAY* be sent out tomorrow. Whether I'm deployed or not depends on how many logistics/communications folks are needed and that depends on the deployment location, which is something I don't know yet. I'm guessing I'll know for sure in another hour or so.
My blood type is O+ and everyone says I have my dad's personality. When possible, he was quite "mellow". His idea was that if he wasn't likely to die in the next few minutes, then there was no sense in getting "all excited" (his words). When needed, however, he could, go from "mellow" to "intense" in an instant. I'm guessing that was learned during his 30 years active duty in the marine corps.
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Carryout pizza tonight from one of the many possible joints
Wonder how Carole is doing in MN - haven't heard from her in a while.
Love the food pics.
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Cherry, once again you are making me drool with all that gorgeous food!
Cellars was out of quiche today, so I had a sausage/red pepper/mozzarella frittata with a small Caesar salad (Bob had a pork chop & eggs with toast, potatoes and a small Caesar). Mine came with roast potatoes but I had them packed to take home. We have leftovers (he has more), so that'll be dinner as well (I will supplement the proteins & spuds with a fried duck egg for me, and a small Caprese for both of us). Then fresh berries for dessert. We are out of all fresh green veg. except lettuce & Brussels sprouts.
Watched Hamilton last night--took a long time, but Bob was delighted to be able to put it on "pause" to go to the loo or answer urgent pages. Wish our largest TV were Android OS, but the 46-incher has it and was okay. The close-ups & camera angles, and clearer sound, beat the heck out of the view and sound from the balcony at the theater where we saw it in the Loop in 2017. The Bar Show did a parody in Dec. 2016 called "(This case is a S)hamilton" and we parodied the title number as "Mayor Rahm Emanuel," "The World Turned Upside Down," "My Shot," and "The Room Where it Happens" (substituting "Womb" in one verse)--I got to play Rapping Mike Pence. (The theme of the parody, starring Planned Parenthood's Cecile Richards, shouldn't be discussed in this apolitical thread). So I got some major Bar Show flashbacks.
I'm not big on the rest of the "Disney universe" (saw all the Star Wars stuff and am not a Marvel fan), but maybe there'll be more available on Disney+ to watch before we decide to ditch the subscription. (Might want to see Hamilton again, especially once--if--it's safe to have friends over again).
Speaking of the Bar Show, it will go on this Dec., only online. (Tentative title: "Peter Pan(demic)." Skits will be recorded either at home or the Bar Assn.'s studio (only one performer in the room at a time) at its Loop HQ. There's a reasonable (with SpotHero) self-park garage nearby, so I think it'll be safe. But I don't envy our tech director for the major job he'll have syncing and editing everything together.
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Nance, I'm doing ok in MN. Call us Disappointed because the weather has been hotter than usual this July. We are thankful for two a/c units in our 5th wheel camper. Still it hasn't been as hot and humid as Louisiana.
Yesterday was our 51st anniversary. We had dinner at La Pasta and were unfortunate enough to be seated in a room with two other tables, each with a crying baby. The food was good as always. The tables were distanced apart and the servers wore masks but I wasn't entirely comfortable with inside dining. This large county has had 10 Covid-19 cases according to the state website. Otherwise I wouldn't have made the reservation.
We have been eating "uninspired" meals not really worthy of description. I keep up with reading posts.
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Happy anniversary to you and Monty Carole! I’m sure the heat wave is disappointing. We’ve had more than one trip north plagued with unseasonable heat. On one trip to Canada we experienced 100 degree temps that had the citizenry losing their minds lol.
I don’t know when I’ll be comfortable eating in a restaurant again. During the times we find ourselves out and about at lunch time we find ourselves eating fast food in the car more often than not. I detest eating in the car. My birthday is coming up and it’s a strange one with all of my favorite birthday activities - eating out, going to a movie, going to a casino, etc. - off limits. Can’t imagine what the holidays are going to be like.
No idea what’s for dinner but I’ll be digging in the tiny freezer to find something palatable. Possibly pasta of some sort. Clearly I’m lacking inspiration these days.
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Carole, Happy Anniversary!!
Sounds like we might have the beginnings of a new club for uninspired dinners! Haven't decided if it is the heat, a need to go to the grocery store, or pandemic fatigue but dinner ideas have been pretty much meh around here. Certainly have not been very creative of late.
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Bob went hunter-gathering last night and brought home chili and a salad (w/goat cheese) from Beard & Belly BBQ/Honey Butter Bakery. I used it to supplement our leftovers.
Just got a delivery of prev. frozen shell-on 16-20 shrimps (will slit open the back shell & devein them, then skewer & grill them). Supplement with whatever salad fixings or maybe stir-fried sugar snap peas for dinner. (Bob will have to eat his--and my--spuds or else I will freeze them). Had a duck egg & bacon for brunch today--the shells on duck eggs are brutally hard to break. But I fried it in olive oil and it was wonderful.
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Finished off leftover creation made on Friday. Cauliflower/Spinach Gnocchi, Sauteed Baby Bellas, Chicken Sausage, a bit of Alfredo Sauce & some Basil. Must admit I am somewhat uninspired these days as well.
Sandy - Your meals always sound so good, especially since you are able to pick up such great items. Do duck eggs taste different? Have to admit I have never had or even seen them available around here.
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Duck eggs taste just like pasture-raised chicken eggs, only with a very large yolk.
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Carole - so glad you are both OK. Belated happy anniversary.
Nance - I'm with you about eating in a restaurant - nope - no pressing reason to take the chance.
So my uninspired yellow split peas turned out good. Well - not the first day. I found them boring and if I looked at the spoon while I was eating they looked like cracked corn - which didn't match with the taste. I had been given a 2 lb bag and was just going to toss the rest uncooked - and I NEVER throw away food. But I was so pleased in the long run that I'll definitely make again.
Soaked overnight. Simmered 2 hours with onion, celery, carrots and a ham hock. I forgot the garlic - which no doubt accounts for some of the 'blah'. But eaten luke-warm later and even a couple of spoons cold, and then left over the next day just barely warmed they were really delicious. Just the right amount of crunch.
My friend Pat's son cooks a lot of lentils and always eats them luke-warm. Go figure.
I thought the history of the word was interesting: Lukewarm actually comes from the Middle English word lukewarme. It was a combination of "luke" and "warm," and the "luke" part was an alteration of the Middle English word lew, which meant tepid. Tepid means neither hot nor cold…or about room temperature.
Tonight was a a large serving of Cole Slaw that I made ahead last night and two tuna sandwiches on Hawaiian rolls.
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Happy Anniversary carole and Mr carole!
I had a chuck roast in the freezer so I thawed it, seared it after generously salting and peppering, and put it in the crockpot with some French onion soup, some tomato paste and Worcestershire, thyme, garlic, onion powder, and half a large onion that I sliced. When the meat was tender I added par cooked carrots and some roasted little potatoes. I thickened the gravy with a cornstarch slurry. Yummy and served with biscuits.
This whole production was interrupted by DD who, with her impeccable timing, arrived with an abandoned newborn opossum that a friend gave her to hand off to a wildlife rehabilitator.
DD used to bring duck eggs home when she worked with the wildlife at Busch Gardens. They are huge! DH loves them but I struggle with the viscous whites
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Mazel tov, Carole & Monty, on your "golden+1" anniversary!
Nancy, we have a winemaker dinner coming up in 2 weeks at Cellars, the only place I would trust eating indoors (but not yet, of course). Our preference is for a patio table (the winemaker's rep would come outside to give her spiel), but if the weather is stormy we will have to dine inside--socially-distanced two-tops (sadly, sharing a table with others is normally one of the best features of these dinners), no more than 25% capacity (which means 20 customers, tops, in the entire large 3-room space). There will be three nights (T,W,Th)--seriously considering reserving all three, and might sacrifice our reservation if indoor is the only alternative. We currently have our res. for the third night. If Bob can arrange his schedule so that he can make all three nights, we'd go on the first night it's not raining. If that turns out to be Tues., we will cancel the next two to free up space for braver oenophiles. Bob says that nothing is absolutely safe, of course--but that there might be a phased-reopening backtracking or even shutdown later on if IL or Chicago's daily new case and rolling positivity rates rise higher than it is now. Today saw 833 new cases (lowest since last Wed.) and 6 deaths.
But meanwhile, I want to minimize indoor interactions as much as possible. I've gone back to ordering my groceries, will let my roots grow way out again, and might rethink keeping up my manis & pedis (my nail tech actually does a better job on my ingrown toenails than does my podiatrist).
Bob's high school buddy (who, with his wife, visited us last summer) in Colorado Springs called last night to touch base. He says that his state gov't is strongly discouraging travel outside one's own city, even within CO. His kid brother set up a Zoom call so everyone across the country could wish his mom back in Queens a Happy Birthday...happy 105th, that is! (Armenians eating a Mediterranean diet are definitely on to something).
Didn't make the shrimps because Bob had office hours and ate dinner there. So I supplemented the leftover chili with peppers & onions, and the leftover salad with the dregs of a bag of cashew pieces. Will have his leftover pork chop with scrambled eggs tomorrow.
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