So...whats for dinner?
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DH made a rib roast with carrots and Brussels sprouts and it’s delicious.
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Re-hired the exterminator, now that they have their veteran pet-safe techs again.
But my entire front-room A/V system went out last night (cat may have knocked plugs out of the wall, trashed the power strip--it won't reset--or both). As I contorted myself trying to plug the cords back into the wall, the TV fell over. Nothing will power on--not sure if the problem is the outlet (old ungrounded), the "cheater" adaptor, the circuit, the power strip or any or all of the above. Electrician will be over later today to check both the breakers (none appear tripped, most are unlabeled and I don't want to screw anything up any further) and the outlet. If both are intact, I will need to buy a new cheater plug before I can ascertain if the TV is ok once I power it back on (assuming I can). At the very least I will need a new power strip (that takes both AC cords and coax cables) and HDMI cables (which now appear to have been chewed and one's metal plug was so bent when the TV fell that it broke off). I may need a new TV too. But this time I'm not buying one I can't see and have demoed first, plus have professionally set up with my system--so no thanks, Amazon, Costco or the Albanian appliance store down the street that sold me the set in the first place.
Dinner was spicy shrimp salad appetizer followed by grilled salmon Caesar. Brunch today was spinach/tomato/chevre frittata with cucumber salad. Dinner tonight (solo, Bob's working again all this weekend) will be various leftovers.
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It's too hot for hot meals. Last night was a big taco salad without any "taco." Sliced lettuce, tomato, avocado, ground beef seasoned with chili powder and cumin. Dressing was sour cream and salsa. Very satisfying.
Tonight will be rib eye and small potatoes. All cooked outside on the grill.
We have been invited to ride on a pontoon boat in today's Island Lake Fourth of July Boat Parade.
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Steak, rice and corn for dinner tonight
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Last night, leftover salmon Caesar salad. Brunch today was a 2-egg tricolor pepper/mushroom/onion & cheddar omelet. Before leaving to walk to the beach and watch fireworks tonight, a mini tuna salad sandwich (needed to use up the tuna); And when I got home, a no-starch double-decker eggplant parm--dipped the slices in grated Romano, then layered with Rao's, garden basil, "Buf" fresh mozzarella, and topped with provolone. 20 min. in the toaster oven at 325. Yum--I don't miss the breading at all. Dessert is a square of Vosges "Mo's Dark Bacon Bar" (exactly what it sounds like, 72% cacao chocolate with bacon bits).
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chisandy - ugh on the electric/electronics situation!
We traveled over to St. Pete (about 45 mins) to see my BIL/SIL and their kids and grands for several hours, then back home to sit with the fireworks averse dog. The good news about dog deafness - less aware of fireworks, but we were not comfortable leaving him alone. I am finding I am tiring easily - I am less than a month out from surgery, compounded by the allergic reaction. I need to factor stamina into my activity decisions for a while longer I think.
When we got home DH grilled some cheeseburgers and corn on the cob. Had some potato salad with that, and red/white/blue cupcakes leftover from a batch of cupcakes we took over to St. Pete. We had about an hour of neighborhood fireworks, which ended around10pm. Next year I want to go out on DD's boat to watch the downtown ones from the water. She is due home late tonight from AZ, just in time for a tropical storm!
Dinner tonight will likely be a Buffalo chicken salad - greens with celery, leftover fried chicken removed from the bone and tossed with Frank's hot sauce, blue cheese dressing with extra crumbled cheese. Easy, but yummy.
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The smokers (cooking appliances) were going full blast during the holiday weekend and the cooks shared. We had smoked ribs and sliced ham on Sunday. DH and I are in agreement that we like the taste of the ribs we cook better than the smoked.
Last night we had the dinner we had planned for Sunday. Ribeye and small potatoes, the latter tossed with olive oil and sprinkled with garlic powder and cooked on the grill in a packet.
Tonight the plan is for 8 of us here in the resort, all fulltimers except for one, to go out to a Mexican restaurant. I'm hoping that most of the holiday folks have gone home. I made a reservation just in case.
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In hurricane prep mode - cleared stuff from around the pool and yard, outside freezer is full of ice trays, extra cubes from the ice maker inside, and bottles of water to freeze for the coolers. Moved any protein out of the outside freezer, and am charging my extra phone power banks. Just cooked a bunch of chicken breasts and am considering cooking some small sirloins. We are not boarding up or doing anything drastic although DH trimmed the big trees yesterday. He went in to the base this morning to do a few things but was supposed to leave at noon (mandatory) and not return until Thursday. Not sure if they will evac the base housing - the storm surge is supposed to be pretty high and with high tide could be bad there - it is very low and right on the water. We are quite a ways inland so not a worry for us. I’m glad we put hurricane windows in at DD’s house.We have extra propane in case we are cooking on the grill due to power outages. DD and DBF successfully returned from AZ very late last night and both had to work today. Hoping they will be released early as they have to cross bridges to get home. DD has to square away some things around her house as well - mostly with her boat.
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Stay safe, Special!
Last night we grilled cheeseburgers out on the deck (sharp Cheddar, lettuce, heirloom tomato, Vidalia onions, dill pickle chips) with a salad of greens from the farmers' market, 'shrooms, red onion and Persian cukes. Made a vinaigrette from olive oil, champagne vinegar, Dijon mustard, herbes de Provence, salt & pepper. (Could've used some sugar, but I never touch the stuff--don't even think I have any in the pantry). Tonight we planned to go to Barbi Yianni for some Greek fish--but found when we got there that it's closed for kitchen remodeling. Didn't want to give up the convenient (and scarce) parking spot we scored, so we checked the menu of Cafe Bourbon--a Bosnian joint across the street that used to serve only espresso, slivovitz, and disgruntled revolutionary-plot talk but now offers a generic Mediterranean/Balkan menu. Too hot to sit outside (though the patio was filled with people drinking up a storm), so we went inside--only to find that despite the lovely cool air conditioning, there were no customers. Not a good sign, so we walked back across the street and dined at Artango--an Argentinian steakhouse we'd gone to a couple of times before (and pre-pandemic, offered both flamenco guitarists and happy-hour tango lessons).
We started with a crudo of snapper and halibut instead of the usual ceviche, and a green salad that came with avocado, big thin slices of pink "watermelon" radish, and a poached quail egg. (No empanadas this time--I find them too tempting and a gateway to carb-loading). Entree was the "Asado Argentino:" grilled NY strip, ribeye, budino sausage, morcilla (blood sausage), chorizo and sweetbreads. Outstanding.
Picking a strawberry a day as each one ripens--there's nothing like homegrown. And one of my "pineapple" tomatoes is beginning to ripen--but still hard as a rock and firmly on the vine. Hope I can get it before the squirrels do--and before tomorrow afternoon's rain. Tomorrow night, if the rain lets up, I will grill marinated shrimp, using rosemary sprigs as skewers (I got the idea from a Tuscan-style restaurant in Boca). Otherwise, I'll broil them in the toaster oven or even on one side of my panini press. (Or maybe defrost some corvina or halibut, pan-sear it, and top with pineapple salsa for Bob & chimichurri for me). Adding tonight's leftovers will make it surf & turf. Will serve it with sauteed rapini.
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The Mexican restaurant, Campaneros, was very busy last night as usual. The food was typical "Mexican" fare, melted cheese covering the plate. I had a tamale and chile relenos dinner with rice and refried beans. DH had a burrito dinner. I left with no intention of going there again soon if ever. One plus was the margarita especial. It was perhaps the best margarita I've had at a restaurant.
I will be making eggplant lasagna today.
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Dodged the storm for the most part - got a lot of rain, but really bad winds never materialized. The pool is to the very top but there was not too much lightning, so managed to sleep through most of it. As did the very lightning averse dog - yay! BIL/SIL in St. Pete lost power but they have a generator, so they are all good. So now I have a LOT of cooked chicken, lol! Glad I didn't cook the sirloins!
carole - I often order tamales and chile rellenos in Mexican restaurants because they are so labor intensive to make at home. I have never attempted tamales, but used to occasionally make chile rellenos with a two step dredge involving a whipped egg white batter. I like the cheese stuffed, not the more traditional picadillo because I don't like the sweet raisin component - suppose I could leave them out, but the ones I grew up eating in California were cheese stuffed. I don't make them anymore mainly because DH is not a fan so it is too much effort for just me, but will order them on the rare Mexican restaurant visit. We have a really good restaurant locally that also makes tamales en masse during the holidays that you can order ahead for having at home.
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Sorry I've been missing in action. Just wrote the final check for the contractor today after he completed the punch list. And hooray - one of his guys spent the last two days carrying in boxes for me - AND handing me what was in the boxes so I could put it on the shelves. I had intended to sort while unpacking to get rid of more stuff but I can always do that later. Couple of issues where the carpet meets the tile incorrectly, but I have a year's warranty with that company so holding off for a month.
Lacey - so sorry about your concussion. I hope things are going better. Nance - what did you end up doing for the 4th? Special - sounds like you're healing & HOORAY that the storm mostly missed you. Eric - have you tried Proper Meats & Provisions in Flag? Started out as a butcher shop & now 60% restaurant. They also have vegetarian options. Carole - I'm in the middle of trying to find a "decent" Mexican restaurant that's close to the house for my son's upcoming visit so I know what you mean. Mommy - hope you got some good sleep & have your energy back. Mae - food pictures are gorgeous & it's good that you're making progress on emptying your house. Hi everyone else. I've read but sorry I haven't responded.
Today's meal was the last of the leftover potato salad (sour cream & mayo, no mustard) and a large piece of lemon bundt cake. Can't get excited about cooking or even eating when there are contractors in the house. It's possible my son may come for a two or three days in the next week to tackle some of my 'honey-do' list. He hasn't been here since 2018 and I haven't seen him since August 2019. Hope he'll be able to make it. I'm not even going to try to try to get everything straightened - so it will be "warts & all".
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I forgot to check in last night but I made chicken soft tacos and DH made a pot of beans.
Tonight is surf n turf with beef tenderloin, garlic butter gulf shrimp, broccoli and DH made fried squash bites.
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Beautiful plate, Illimae.
I used the grill as an oven to heat the eggplant lasagna but had to give each serving a minute in the microwave. Side was a delicious tossed salad made with spring mix lettuce and favorite additions.
I also made a chicken salad yesterday to take to women's golf league this morning for the potluck lunch. So I spent hours in the small kitchen yesterday.
Glad for you that you're getting back to normal, Minus.
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minus - I was starting to get worried about you - glad you checked in! I bet you are relieved that the major work is complete - I think my glass doors will be installed at the end of the month or first week of Aug - not looking forward to it, but am looking forward to having new doors. I started looking at flooring but still haven't figured out how to handle the convergence of room entrances that currently have three different floorings - one hardwood, one carpet, and one bamboo. Bamboo and hardwood are complementary colors so it doesn't look weird, but is forcing some choices. Yes, healing and yay for minimal storm impact for us. I went over to DD's yesterday afternoon to help her with some organization and a couple of streets up from her I spotted a massive live oak - at least 100 years old - that had split in half and was on that person's house. Same size lot and house placement and tree as we had - so glad the city removed that half dead termite infested tree in our yard - could have been disastrous. On the way home I went the other way and there was a partial large tree down on the opposite side of the narrow road going out on the way to the highway. There is a lot of large tree overgrowth in that area of 50's homes so this is bound to happen in storms - glad it wasn't worse.
In dinner news I did a quick angel hair alfredo and added broccoli and some of the abundance of chicken. Will do a salad main dish tonight with, you guessed it - chicken.
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Special - glad you escaped much storm damage. I was worried about you. I sympathize with the stamina issues. That seems to be a persistent age related issue with me. Exacerbated I think by not being able to exercise much because of my crappy needing-replacement knee. Like you, in Mexican restaurants I order the stuff I won't make. I have made tamales but can't say I've mastered it. I judge a restaurant on how good the tamales are and whether they offer chicken tamales - my favorite.
Minus - so happy you're at the putting back stage. What a relief that must be. I can relate.
We had friends for a barbecue on July 2nd to celebrate the husband's birthday. I made ribs, huli huli chicken, german potato salad, baked beans and coconut cream pie. Consequently, we weren't ready for bbq again on the 4th so we had grilled hamburgers and plank fries with some Amish sliced (delicious) tomatoes. This is our first 4th here in this lake community. Last year fireworks were cancelled due to COVID. We are less than a mile from the dam where the fireworks are done and on a hill so we were hopeful that this year we could see from our house. We were happy to find that we could see the entire display from our front yard. It was the most eventful part of our 4th lol.
We have dedicated the month of July to cleaning out and consolidating our 3 storage units down to one. Even though the units are air conditioned, it's understandably minimal and it's hot work.. In fact, our last trip resulted in both of us getting slightly dehydrated as we stupidly didn't take water in with us. Won't make that mistake again. We have a young man friend in college whom we hire often as our "muscle". He's moving into an apartment next month instead of living in the dorm so we have offered him his pick of the various household items in the storage units that he could use. There is quite a lot of home decor - rugs, lamps, etc. that may be useful to him. I would be glad for someone to use them instead of the trash man hauling them off.
There has been food. The night we got overheated I made a pasta with nothing but fresh tomatoes, basil, olive oil and freshly grated parm. It was just right. Last night was fish tacos with chipotle slaw and black beans. Tonight is to be determined. The freezer is full. Surely there is something to be had. Tomorrow we travel to our old town to purchase some freshly picked corn on the cob. I know what's for dinner tomorrow night.
Illimae - the pictures are gorgeous as always. I bought a tenderloin filet for DH for father's day and nearly fainted at the price.
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auntie - thank for worrying! It is interesting with storms here - glad we are a bit inland and out of a flood zone, and not in a wind zone that forces us to install impact glass, like the downtown house. Tropical storm Debbie a few years ago spawned a tornado in our neighborhood that stopped a block up from us - it tore the pool enclosures off and tore up fences and damaged one roof badly - the last house affected before ours. Scary - but actual hurricanes have not done much except make a mess of trees and plants and flooded streets for us locally. We have a pond across the street and it is super full right now - the resident alligator must be thrilled as it had been receding prior to the last two weeks of steady rain. I am curious about your method for Huli Huli chicken - we made trips to Oahu, Kauai, and Maui in Jan 2019 and Jan 2020 and never had any - or sadly, a Puka dog. Too focused on garlic shrimp. On our way home from the last trip my SIL the nurse was worried about this new virus from China.....sheesh, who could have known how it would play out over the rest of 2020, right?
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I use this recipe Special. In this case I made wings and legs
https://www.seriouseats.com/hawaiian-huli-huli-grilled-chicken-wings-recipe0 -
auntie - thanks! Looks delish and I will try it and report back
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Special.. I'm glad to hear that the storm was not a "big deal".
Minus. You are unboxing things, while Sharon and I will be boxing things.. Tomorrow I'm going to get the wood to build a
2nd mortgageset of shelves so the boxes can be stacked to the ceiling in the storage units. The only problem is that it's now the time of year where it's nearly midnight before the outside temperature drops below 100F/38C degrees. So....lots of ice water and the pop up sun shelter will be in order... :-)Dinner tonight will be at a Greek restaurant. with a couple that plays bluegrass music with Sharon.
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Special, glad you dodged the storm "bullet."
Yummy plate, Illi.
Minus, nice to see you're in the construction home-stretch.
Lacey, hope you're continuing to recover from your concussion.
Nancy, nice to see you checking in here! My standard for Mexican restaurants is how well they do al pastor pork (tacos or bowl), ceviche or carnitas. Nopales salad is a plus.
Carole, I had never had real BBQ ribs all the time I was growing up in NYC and then living in Seattle. And for a long time after moving here, the only ribs we ate were "North-Side" style baby-backs: the only thing "BBQ" about them was the sauce in which they practically drowned. The way restaurants made them was to first par-boil them, then slather them in sauce and bake them till the meat fell off the bone. It wasn't until I learned about Hecky's (Evanston) and Leon's (South Side), and then the Smokey Bones chain that I tasted the real thing: spareribs (St. Louis), with the telltale pink "smoke ring" on the inside. Before that, I thought spare ribs could be found only in Chinese restaurants, tea-smoked and glazed cherry-red. Now the only ribs I'll eat are true BBQ--I like them to "fight back" when I bite into them, and if I don't use my fingers, to use a good knife as well as a fork. (St. Louis ones are often so meaty that three bones can make a meal).
Last night we started our dinner with salmon and American sturgeon roes (on sale at WF)--on blini for Bob, Atkins wafers for me. Then a green salad (Little Gem lettuces, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers and red onion); sauteed broccoli rabe (garlic, lemon, olive oil, chili flakes; and our grilled leftovers from Artango. Tonight, I pan-seared halibut out on the grill (topped with pineapple salsa for Bob & chimichurri for me), along with grilled asparagus and an insalata Caprese. Ate inside both nights--too hot & muggy last night, too chilly tonight.
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Lunch was a piece of lemon bundt cake. Dinner was a spinach salad w/bacon & miso dressing. Nance - hard to believe you've been there a year. Special - so glad you were spared the wrath of the storm. Has the doc totally released you? Lacey - hope you check in soon. Eric - have you decided where you're going to go? Or are you just packing to get it done? You're right - dumb time of year for either of us to be working outside, in attics or in storage facilities.
Maybe my son will be here tomorrow. Depends if he can get on the plane. I haven't seen him since August of 2019 and he hasn't been here since 2018. Needless to say there is a long list of 'honey-dos'. His only requirements are two restaurant meals - good old Tex Mex that he grew up eating, and BBQ - brisket but not ribs. I'll have Laurie's Mexican chicken slowly cooking in the oven when we get home from the airport.
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Sandy, I like some "bite" in my ribs, too. I don't want them "falling off the bones," which is the preference of some people. We like baby back ribs. I boil them with onion, garlic, some cayenne and s & p until I can easily stick a cooking fork between the bones. Shortly before we're ready to eat, dh puts them on the grill over hot heat with barbecue sauce brushed on the surfaces. We have a difference in choice of barbecue sauce. He likes the brown sugar sweet variety. I like the vinegar based. We mostly go with his choice.
Last night was hot dogs and Bush's baked beans. A summer go to meal that requires minimum effort.
Tonight will be leftover eggplant lasagna and salad.
Minnesota summer weather has returned this week. Enduring days of heat makes me really appreciate comfortable days.
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Yesterday turned out to be a crazy day. Our temperature was 102 degrees then at 4PM we started having earthquakes. We had several over the course of an hour. Our grandchildren came over to swim & we had them join us for hamburgers and hot dogs. It was nice to watch the pool water move because of play rather than the earth moving. Today is supposed to get to 105 and tomorrow to 110 degrees. I think we will have a cold dinner of cold cuts & melon.
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Hoping the temperatures cool and the E ticket rides end soon.
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Goodness, jhl, that must be so bizarre to experience earthquakes.
We had roasted chicken thighs, skin on and bone in, for dinner last night. Cooked in an aluminum pan, using the outdoor grill as an oven. Side was yellow squash, large dice, steamed in the microwave and then browned in butter in a skillet. Satisfying dinner.
I bought cucumbers and beets at the farmers market yesterday. My neighbor, John, bought a medium tomato for $2 from a farmer with a large greenhouse.
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The beets were delicious last night. The cucumber was good, too. DH added sliced red onion to his beet and cucumber salad. The meat was grilled pork steak.
Tonight we plan to celebrate our 52nd wedding anniversary with dinner at Necce's Italian restaurant in Park Rapids.
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carole - Happy Anniversary!
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Yes. Happy Anniversary!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)
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Carole, a most happy anniversary to you and your DH.! Hope you have a lovely dinner to celebrate.
American chop suey here tonight with a side of local corn off the cob. Also, some sweet cantaloupe will join the meal.
We are in the midst of monsoons with periods of sun and of course, humidity. My poor plants barely have time to perk up before the next deluge beats them down again. I would like to send some of this excessrain to the west. Truly an extraordinary and alarming situation there.
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