So...whats for dinner?
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Last night turned out to be a fun search for dinner. We met Carl and Dorothy, who have a summer home on Long Lake, at the Dorset Liquor Store to ride with them to the Red Barn Liquor store which has an attached bar and restaurant. When we arrived, we learned the restaurant was reserved for a wedding reception.
So we retraced our route on Highway 34 to the village of Nevis. The Iron Horse, which is very popular, looked quite busy from the appearance of the outdoor seating on the front deck. But Carl lucked upon a parking place close enough to give him a short walk. He's in his early 90's. Inside we lucked upon an open table against one wall.
I was tempted to order the walleye sandwich but the Iron Horse is noted for its smoked brisket. So I had a Reuben with brisket. It was delicious. DH had one of their mac and cheese special dishes and enjoyed it. The conversation was nonstop as we always enjoy the company of this couple, whom we met at couples golf about five years ago. We no longer participate in that golf group and neither do they since Carl no longer plays golf.
It is 45 degrees outside this morning but the sun is out and it should be warming up.
Dinner will probably feature chicken.
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Brunch today was a keto toaster-waffle (made Bob a full can of split pea/ham soup and toasted a couple slabs of sourdough). Not much of an appetite--due both to a doozy of an immune reaction to yesterday's bivalent booster and worry over my flooded (sewer-backup) basement. Whole neighborhood is experiencing this thanks to 2-4" of rain falling w/in a couple of hours early this morning. HK and I will try to attack it tomorrow with bleach, mops & buckets. So bad that it unmoored the two litter boxes. Can't even reach the brand-new Litter Genie (the current one, recently emptied, fell over). So will make do with my deep-fry "spider" and my stash of produce bags. (The upside to being a pack rat).
Dinner will likely be fridge-and-pantry-foraging, as I'm sure Whole Foods is flooded (our temple and the place we usually order brunch from are both closed due to flooding). The temple is right on the lake (literally--there is a short seawall between the lake and low-lying parking lot) so every time it storms and especially with high waves, its first floor gets swamped. This is one of those times I'm glad that we live 8 steps up from street level. I don't know how the family who lived here before us coped: with 6 kids they turned every possible space into a bedroom. When we moved in, we had to rip up the basement carpeting twice before giving in and painting the bare concrete floor and installing a check-valve & sump pump. They didn't even have a standpipe. The owner was the chairman of the English dept. at Loyola--he & his oldest sons watched a few episodes of This Old House and Hometime and figured they could DIY everything. 35 years later, we're still fixing their mistakes.
Words to live by: Never give a PhD access to hand tools.
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Today's meal was a modified Lacey special - sauteed onion, zucchini, garlic & a cod 'steak' with Rao's then on top to simmer. Served over pasta. I only added half the veggies & Raos to the cod - thinking I would eat later with meatballs - but it was still WAY too much. It will be interesting to see how the Rao's & veggie mix freezes.
Carole - love your temperatures. Only 93 today with 74 last night.
Eric - hope you have a safe trip & a fun time visiting with your DH and beau (love the word beau)
Missing so many people who used to be regulars!!!!
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Fake caprese tonight. Canned san marzano's that were nasty...hope it was a bad can because no way is it worth triple the price, fresh moz and and added sliced avocado.
We have been indoors for 2 days because of air quality. Seattle did hit 92 yesterday so they have broken their record. We only hit 72 yesterday and today but no way to leave windows open with the air. Should be OK tomorrow. It is cutting into my fishing!!
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I'm making zucchini sabzi (basically an Indian stirfry/curry). Our garden is going nuts with the zucchini. Serving with Naan bread.
Clean air slowly coming in.
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I can't imagine a Caprese with either San Marzanos or canned tomatoes, much less canned San Marzanos. They're strictly for cooking (though some use fresh plum/pear tomatoes as slicers for sandwiches because they're firmer even though they ripen earlier and are usually cheaper than the round ones).
Had the plumber over today. Turns out the basement muck was not raw sewage but rather silt. Soil, car exhaust soot, street dust and the like washed down the storm drains along with the torrential rainwater, especially the stuff that ponded up because of the backflow valves installed in the curb drains to avoid overtaxing the sewer system and prevent the water from entering basements. Didn't work, because 4-5" of rain in 3 hrs. was too much for the system to handle. That's 2.5 gal. of water per sq. foot. Our sump pump worked but turns out our check valve bit the dust years ago--we just never noticed. Estimate for an outdoor-installed pump/one-way valve flood control system that'd prevent a rerun of yesterday? About $16K. Ouch. But considering how much the house is worth, saying no is a false economy. Should have done it years ago, the last time the basement flooded.
Whole Foods was open yesterday, so Bob walked over and picked up a couple of their deli-dept. "entree+2 sides" dishes. Baked salmon, green beans & Brussels sprouts--and I could finish barely half (was still feeling crummy from Sat.'s booster, but. I'm fine today). Brunch was a toasted cheese & tomato sandwich on keto white bread. Dinner will be last night's leftovers.
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Sandy, sorry to hear of your basement ills. I miss having a basement.
I agree, not ideal to use canned for caprese but didn't want to venture into the bad air to shop for bad tomatoes, LOL.
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Dinner was mushroom ravioli with kale, walnuts, and a cream sauce. (DH had marinara sauce since he is on Coumadin and has to watch his Vitamin K intake.)
Sandy, I hope you have some help with cleaning the basement from the flooding. So sorry you’re dealing with the mess
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cyathea - we live fairly near the onramps for the highway and the vast majority of places we go require taking the south ramp. My DH goes to work that way, downtown is that way, as we are in a northern suburb. There are a few things that require taking the north ramp - I can't tell you how many times both he and I have gone on autopilot and just taken the south ramp when we meant to go north! Every time I do it, I ask myself why? Lol! Habit is a strong director of actions!
minus - I ordered See's online for the first time last holiday season so am now on the email list. I got the one about the big birthday! I have to restrain myself every time I see an email - it is like Pavlov's dog! I'm like yay See's! Wait, no, can't have See's! Haha!
eric - have a safe drive and move - I am sure you will be so happy to see DD (and beau) and for them to see you both - and the pupper!
chisandy - sorry about your basement, ugh! Did you get the new Moderna boost? I went ahead and got the previous Pfizer in July, but will get the new one prob in Nov. DH had a bad case of Covid in mid-May and he just got a boost a couple of weeks ago to supplement any immunity conferred by being sick since we are about to travel and they have also lifted the mask requirement for him at work (again) just recently. This is the first time he has had any side effect from any of the vaccinations or previous boosts, I am hoping that is a good sign. He got sick in May from exposure to a co-worker who did not mask despite his whole family being positive, who then tested positive, then DH did. Everyone had mild cases except for DH! He had to cancel his trip to CO with DD (who hasn't seen her brother since 2019) so he is doubly excited to go on Sat.
wally - my dad had an organic garden in our backyard when I was growing up, and he grew lots of things, including zucchini. It was famine, then feast as they all became available at once. He was like the zucchini fairy, leaving them on neighbor front porches, taking them to church, etc. He decided to let one go and see how big it grew - it was huge! I don't think they ate that one, just took photos with it! My mom got creative with zucchini recipes - I think I mentioned one here once - zucchini, tomatoes, and onion layered and baked with basil and oregano and mozzarella. I also like zucchini bread or muffins with lemon and have incorporated it into chocolate cake as well.
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I saw people at the farmers market carrying huge zucchini. I assumed they would be used to make zucchini bread. I like yellow summer squash but am not a big zucchini fan, though I do occasionally cook it. It's available in the supermarket year round.
Dinner last night was a huge salad on dinner plates, topped with strips of chicken breast fillets I had pounded, breaded and pan fried.
One of our neighbors brought a homemade apple caramel pie to happy hour. DH took a slice to enjoy for dessert but I passed. The tight fit of my jeans is a clear signal that I must cut back on food choices and portions.
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DH had his two yucky annual scans (crossing fingers) so I made some quick nachos and a small salad.
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Speaking of zucchini, our friend gave us a huge one from his garden, not sure what to do with it yet. Tonight we had salads.
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I often just saute zucchini with onions & tomatoes - rather than Special's baked dish. Last week I added Rao's marinara to sauteed zucchini & onion to and served it over cod on a bed of pasta. Froze the remaining zucchini & Rao's mix (minus the fish & the pasta) but I have no idea how it will be after freezing.
Mae - that's a serious zucchini. I've never made zucchini boats, but seems to me someone here did. I can't remember what was in the filling.
Wally - fingers crossed for your DH's scans. Let us know.
Carole - I never cooked zucchini either for most of my life. Only yellow summer squash. Now I reach for it fairly often.
Oh Special - of course you can have Sees.... But it's really still to hot to ship where we both live. I have a friend going to Santa Cruz tomorrow & she has promised to bring me back 2 butterscotch squares.
Eric - hope your journey & subseauent moving services turn out fun.
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I saute sliced zucchini with olice oil & herbes de Provence; grill planks of it; spiralize it to make "zoodles;" make thin slices lengthwise as "lasagna;" ratatouille ("E.Z.-POT," the order of adding to the pan: eggplant, zuccini, pepper, onion, tomato); and hack it up (along with yellow squash, bell peppers, mushrooms, onions, tomato and sausage crumbles) to make breakfast hash, with an egg on top. Don't even miss the potatoes (though I do adore corned beef hash).
Special, think of it this way: bad shot reaction=strong immune response. I got my Moderna bi-valent booster on Sat.aft. , and ached all over for almost 36 hrs. No real fever, though, and I was fine by yesterday morning, Bob gets his Pfizer tomorrow morning, and I told him to plan to take it easy for at least a day. If he doesn't feel like going out to dinner, I'll order out for BBQ. (Grilled wurst & tomatoes tonight...because we could). Or might defrost cod and nuke it in parchment with veg & herbs.
My HK cleaned the basement yesterday and moved stuff from cardboard boxes into plastic storage tubs (discarded what was ruined) today. I'm picking up some more storage tubs from Container Store tomorrow. What we basically need doing is playing heavy-duty real-life Tetris: stacking dry boxes atop each other and salvaging what we need to salvage from flood-damaged boxes, transferring it into plastic containers, and discarding what can't be saved &/or what we'd not used in >10 yrs and wouldn't use again. All the instrument cases were high up off the floor.
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Zucchini was among the grilled veggies last night. Also eggplant, onion, and yellow bell pepper. The meat component of the meal was a thick ribeye. DH was the cook. I enjoyed not cooking as well as the meal. Slices of steak were left over but no veggies.
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Minus, I’ve made zucchini boats several times and did so a couple months ago with others from the friends harvest. DH also made cheese stuffed zucchini balls last week, which were delicious. This one is so big, we could use it in multiple ways. No plan for tonight yet.
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We'll be in Traverse City in a couple of hours.
It's been a quick trip.
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We spent a week in Traverse City one year when the cherries were ripe and available at roadside stands. Also available were luscious cherry pies.
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Leftover Indian and added some brown rice and fleshed out the zucchini with a ton of overly-grown green beans and a 1/2 can of red kidney beans.
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Dinner was a roasted pork tenderloin marinated in garlic and herbs with balsamic vinegar sauce with shallots, rosemary and a tablespoon of fig jam. I used the quinoa I made over the weekend to create a quick hash with scallions, tomatoes and edamame. I used fresh lemon juice and smoked paprika to give the hash more flavor. I’m looking forward to having the leftover quinoa hash for lunch tomorrow. Trader Joe’s has shelled frozen edamame that is very convenient. I think some red bell pepper would have been a good addition as well but I didn’t have any this time
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sounds good Cyathea. I love tenderloin.
Tonight was leftover ham cut into chunks, onion and potatoes in a white sauce and seasonings. I added a Mediterranean side salad for us both and it was tasty.
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Last of the Indian leftovers. No luck fishing tonight.
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We met Ron and Judi, "neighbors" at the farmers market, at West Forty for an early dinner. I had a BLT salad that came with a bread stick. DH had a BLT platter. No before dinner cocktail and earlier than we normally eat. The company was more enjoyable than the food. They don't plan to be regular vendors at the market next summer. We'll miss them.
The weather has turned mild but is gloomy this morning. I plan to cook a small pork roast in the slow cooker.
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DD and beau are packed up and the rental truck is loaded except for sleeping stuff, cat stuff and their cat. They're hoping we can be underway to Detroit by 10am.
We've been eating out since we got here to Traverse City. The dinner meals have been hamburgers Wednesday night and tacos last night. Tonight is ?????
Our internal clocks are still out of sync, so we've been eating only an early lunch and an early dinner. This has worked out well as they fall asleep fairly early--DD works from 6am to 2:30pm and Beau works 2am to 11am.
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Frozen burger, broiled zucchini slices and a steamed sweet potato. No fish again. argggghghghghhg.
Taking car in tomorrow so no idea what/when we'll eat dinner.
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Wally - sorry about the lack of fish. Any fishing trip is a good day, but it's sure nicer to catch too.
Eric - glad the trip is going OK. Crazy schedules. I like the early lunch & dinner plans.
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Minus, you are right...any day out in our gorgeous parks is a great day; and it is cool and fall like!
DH's scans all came back stable. YAY! Now if we could fix his back pain (stenosis, not cancer related).....
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Unloading the truck in Detroit. They decided on a 20 foot truck but none were available, so they thought two trips with a 15 foot truck.
My logistics & transport job skills were useful. 1 trip in a **VERY TIGHTLY** packed 15 foot truck. :-)
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wallycat, so happy your DH had good scans!
Today, we had a late breakfast and a late lunch, so we skipped dinner. Breakfast was Kodiak pancakes with added flax seed and blueberries. Lunch was a tomato sandwich and yogurt. We picked up some BBQ take out, but I need to work in the yard to pull the knotweed that grows around the perimeter, so we’ll have the BBQ sampler tomorrow: brisket, pulled pork and chicken to share with coleslaw, mac and cheese and corn bread. I’ll probably skip the corn bread because it won’t be as good as my mother’s recipe
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Eric - as we already knew, you are a clever fellow. Hope the trip is smooth.
Wally - yup - good news on your DH's scans.
Cyathea - Pulled pork is my favorite. Due to the BCO board weirdness, I can never tell or remember where anyone is from anymore - but I believe pulled pork is usually from the Carolinas? I'm stuck in Houston where BBQ usually means mesquite.
Reporting in from Lacey. They spent some quality time at their lake place this summer. Now (like many of us) they are considering how to downsize their living arrangements and eliminate stairs. She is terminally frustrated with the BCO program problems but said to please tell everyone hello.
Nance - how did your downsizing work? I know both Special & I have one story places - so at least no stairs. And no snow!!! I added 'tall toilets' in the last couple of years, and bars in the shower. Hope I'll be here until they carry me out feet first - but of course I've never had the funds for a house keeper, let alone visiting nurses, or a care giver. Best I can do is a lawn guy every other week since Lymphadema curtailed my ability to pull the start cord on a lawnmower. Don't mean to whine. Life is OK.
Yesterday's meal was Romaine lettuce salad w/Campari tomatoes. Today's meal was two hot dogs.
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