So...whats for dinner?
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Divine, I also enjoy driving, doesn't bother me one bit.
Carol, the pork picatta sounds good too.
Wallycat, I do keep track of my milage and gas. I keep a little notebook in my car, and it all goes into my medical folder which goes to my accountant at the end of the year!
Not sure what I'll make for dinner. 3 days of steroids and not much sleep!
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I forgot to mention that our neighbor texted yesterday to ask if we'd like some boiled crabs. I said yes and Rodney brought over a bowl, saying that they had never boiled crabs before and didn't know if the seasoning was right. They're small blue crabs. I will pick out the crab meat today and taste it, of course. We sold these neighbors their three acres years ago and it was definitely a good thing to do. They're great neighbors.
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Hanging in there despite various challenges. One sick senior kitty and another fussy/picky one are murder on my back: the sick one from cleaning up his vomit and scooping his diarrhea from the litterbox every night (when I have my HK--no longer a given--she does the mornings); the older finicky one making me pop up & down like a yo-yo atempting to feed her something she likes and protect it from the sick one (who is always ravenous). If she likes a food (which is unpredictable), she nibbles, goes down to the litterbox and comes back upstairs to eat some more of it--so I have to swoop down to pick up & cover her dish as soon as she walks away from it to do her business. HK's DH has been in & out of hospital, mostly due to blowing off dialysis appts.--and Sun. night he had a mild heart attack, Amazingly, they discharged him Tues. The VA is arranging ambulance/medi-car service to get him to his semi-weekly dialysis appts--he's weak enough to be unable to resist the burly EMTS--but my HK has to be there to let them in and again when they return him. His DS promises to babysit him when my HK can't be there, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm on my own evenings & weekends--Bob is clueless about litter & cleanup duty (some men deliberstely screw up so wives won't ask them again) and inadequately administers and protects the fussbudget's food.
Add to my back woes a basic temporary inability to use my R hand. A week ago I lacerated the tip of my index finger on a cat food can lid--but I couldn't get it sutured w/in the requisite 8 hrs because it was too late at night for urgent care centers to be open; and going to the understaffed and crowded ER for a cut finger was a guaranteed wait (not a triage priority as it had stopped bleeding), as well as being considered a frivolous waste of precious resources. So of course the cut's edges won't close--band-aids won't stay on and it stings to wash my hands or type. So right after my Prolia shot yesterday I went downstairs to Immediate Care. The NP agreed it was too late to suture, glue or steri-strip it closed lest it get infected. She took 20 min. trying to rig up a bulky dressing that would leave it open to air but not to bacteria in the air (loose at the tip but several layers to protect it). I have to keep it on at least 48 hrs and not let it get wet. It is humongous, and the only way to keep it dry when I wash my hands or the dishes is to cover it with the thumb of an XL surgical glove or wear a baggie on the whole hand. (Let me tell you what a PITA it is typing with my other fingers, getting dressed & undressed, cooking, even handwashing--as Joni Mitchell says "don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone").
So obviously, when the temps go back down to polar vortex levels tonight, I can't go out--because a winter glove or even a mitten won't fit over it and I can't put my hand in my pocket without the dressing slipping off when I remove my hand from my pocket. My older (finicky) kitty has her arthritis shot & nail trim (her claws get ingrown) tomorrow afternoon. It'll be a tad shy of 48 hrs, but I will have to temporarily switch out the dressing for Neosporin and a loose band-aid taped in place below that knuckle--and hope it prevents infection and pain. My HK promises to help me get her into the carrier & the car and bring her back upstairs. The vet has only one tech--took a week to get this appt, so I dare not cancel.
And my exterminator "fired" me because I couldn't give advance notice that both my HK & I had medical emergencies (even though last month I gave 24 hrs notice due to COVID). Never mind that they sometimes don't have a tech they can send on our scheduled date; they come too late in the day after my HK leaves; or they send in newbies who don't bring pet-safe chemicals. I've used them for 35 yrs., and they know my HK's schedule (and my time slot preference) and the fact I have cats, but the new mgr/owner is a nasty a-hole who was likely a bill collector in a past career. (He's likely why so many of his employees quit). Never mind that they also couldn't send any techs during shutdown either. So now I have to find a new, dependable, competent and understanding exterminator--whatever the price.
So forgive my not posting dinner details for awhile.
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Sandy - you are having some trials! Hope things improve at your house soon. Litter boxes are the main reason I don't have at least one cat now. As one who has had multiple cats at a time, I know how much work they are with the bending over. With my aging MIL and her cat, we built an elevated table for her cat's litterbox. It helped but I'm not sure an elderly cat could manage it.
Carole - I'm sorry about your DH's recurring problems. My poor dad suffered with frequent UTIs during the latter part of his life. It definitely negatively affected his quality of life. I wish someone had tried to resolve his with a procedure. I hope you like your new stove. I have a GE that sounds similar except, like Sandy's, mine came with a griddle in the center (long burner). I opted to purchase an extra grate for the center but truthfully, we use the griddle more than the burner itself. DH loves to fix breakfast on the griddle. Anyway, I love my stove and will never give up gas until I'm forced to.
There have been meals here. Most recently, Senate Bean soup and cornbread. This actually has very little "soup" to it - it's really just thick ham and beans - navy beans, my favorite. I suppose you could make it soupier by adding more stock and/or water but we like it as it is. Tomorrow night will be Portuguese Chicken, which is basically colored peppers sauteed with chicken breast, similar to Julia Child's piperade.
I used to make lasagna roll ups frequently. They seem like too much trouble now lol. I discovered that Costco's sausage lasagna tastes nearly as good as I can make with much less effort. Btw, IKEA sells a potato pancake (rosti - but they're thin) that are ok as I recall. But we love homemade ones the best and I do make them occasionally. Sour cream on mine always. I may have to make some soon now that we've talked about them.
Wishing you all good health and recoveries. DH and I both see our respective cardiologists next week. I'm hoping I can discontinue the blood thinner since it's been a year since my stent but I'm doubtful about that. At least I have to discontinue it for a few days in order to have surgery to remove a benign tumor from behind my ear later this month. Not looking forward to that either.
Tonight's menu offering is grilled bratwurst, fried potatoes and steamed asparagus with lemon butter. Not the least bit heart healthy.
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(((((((((Sandy)))))))))))) I certainly feel your angst on sick and elderly felines. I've gone to bed weeping when he refuses food for a day.
Tuna melt with steamed broccoli as a side dish. Costco had new yellowfin canned tuna, so I wanted to try it.
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It was laborious--especially chopping the herbs (getting leverage on the knife w/o the bandage hitting the board and even eating one-handed)--but I made the ATK cheese omelette for brunch. (Swiss instead of cheddar, mixed herbs instead of just chives). Last night all I could manage was leftover S. Side "tavern" party-cut pizza. Couldn't get the crust re-crisped, so I mostly ate the toppings. The only pizza I'm tempted to eat completely is NYC or Neapolitan style. The crust of deep-dish is tasteless and the thin-crust tavern stuff leaves me cold--it just doesn't register as "pizza" to me, just sauced melted cheese with meat &/or veg.
Tonight I will make wahoo in parchment with herbs, tomato, and peppers. Will stir-fry snow peas & mushrooms on the side and nuke some Target wild rice. (I'm allowed to eat it, just in limited quantities and rarely). The slicing of the peppers and folding of the parchment will take an inordinate amount of time.
To give you some idea of what the stupid bandage looks like, remember Tom Robbins' novel "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" about a hitchhiker with disproportionately gigantic thumbs? (I think they made a movie of it, with Shelley Duvall). Well, swap one of those thumbs for an index finger and swaddle it in gauze & tape.
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Divine, Tabachnik makes frozen kosher potato pancakes (latkes); Dr. Prager's makes them with broccoli or zucchini.
Made walleye instead of wahoo (which was a bit too thick & meaty for en papillote). The bandage got wet despite my best efforts--just at the tip, but the gauze wicked it all the way down. Back to using Bacitracin on a nonstick finger band-aid (CVS didn't have the special fingertip kind), with a big surgical glove on my hand. Will rig up a bulky dressing tonight with a piece of Telfa pad over the Bacitracin, secured loosely with a finger bandage and wound loosely with gauze taped in place. Will have to keep it dry until I can try to fit it into a mitten because I need to take Heidi to the vet tomorrow and if I go gloveless I risk frostbite. (Going down below zero tonight--about to resume trickling the faucets--will be in the low teens all day tomorrow, back down into the single digits tomorrow night before rebounding Sat.).
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Guess I'll have to make some potato pancakes. I'll try mushing up the onions in my small food processor instead of grating them. The mention of onion crunch wasn't enticing to this anti onion eater. The realization that the grated onions would retain some crunch was a factor in not making the pancakes before now.
The beef veggie soup was ok but not as good as earlier batches during UTI No. 2. Must have been the beef. I cut up a top round roast into cubes since Piggly Wiggly didn't have any stew meat. I was reminded of early years when you could buy bone in stew meat. That was great for stews and soups. It had some fat, of course, adding to the flavor.
We had a good romaine salad with favorite additions with the soup.
Tonight will be leftover pork roast and baked sweet potato.
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Thank you, Goldie for the dentist recommendations. Sharon has a tooth that is beginning to bother her, so she has an appointment early next week.
Sandy, having a huge bandage in the way has got to be annoying...especially when it's an often used finger. It sounds like the 48 hour
torturetime is nearly over, and I'm guessing it can't get over fast enough.Yesterday we went into Flagstaff (2 hour drive) to get....Running shoes and a warm jacket for me and cross country skis, boots and poles for Sharon. I wear size 14EEEE shoes and "they ain't easy to find".
Dinner last night was at a restaurant in Flagstaff that specializes in curries, The food was good and the waitress was far better than phenomenal. I wasn't sure exactly what we ordered..the words sounded like it might be good, so we ordered it... :-)
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carole, I make a big batch of potato pancakes and use about 9 Idaho potatoes with one onion. By the time I mix in the flour and egg, the onion is only a small part of the equation so it in no way overpowers the taste. Yet imo, it's essential to making a flavorful potato pancake. However, it is a mild, blended flavor. The crunch I mentioned is not one of an onion taste; it will be a potato flavor and it's that combination of crispy texture along with the softer inside of the pancake that I find so satisfying. I wish you luck should you decide to make them!
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I love potato pancakes - my mom used to make them on occasion. I am a potato girl though - any form, any time. They were my salvation during chemo. I know the advice can be to not eat favorite foods during chemo so as to not have a negative association later, but I am only grateful to the humble potato! I like onion, and would probably add extra to my potato pancakes - but I did want carole to know that Ina Garten does not put onion in hers - I was curious to see if I could find recipes without onion, and there was the Barefoot Contessa!
Dinner tonight will be a kale salad, with mixed other cabbage and lettuce, and with a protein of some kind on top for a main dish salad. We spent the day having two new AC units installed - so we will be nice and cool, but have less $ in the bank. lol! I also wired the $ for the land in CO closing next week. Exciting and a little scary - we have never built a house before! The good news is that having lived in a bunch of different houses courtesy of moves by the US Air Force over 28 years, I know what I like and what I don't!
I got a message from my derm doc portal that there was a new report. Opened it to check it out - it was the path report from the skin cancer removal that left an open wound on my ankle. Almost a month in and it has only closed a couple of millimeters - this is going to take a while... Anyway, lo and behold, no additional cancer found in the report - all the cancer was removed in the biopsy. Trying not to be mad...
chisandy - sheesh, when it rains, it pours! Sending you positive vibes and I am sorry you are facing multiple issues with a hurt finger - that is no good.
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Carole - If you have a Trader Joe's anywhere nearby, there potato pancakes are what I have on hand to satisfy my cravings.
specialk - Glad to hear that they "got it all" and hope the healing process kicks in soon.
Sandy - Gosh, your finger wound issues sound awful. Hang in there!
Goldie - Sounds like your household repairs are coming along. Never a fun thing to deal with, especially from a $ perspective.
Mammo yesterday and all clear = 6 yrs NED. Had my usual "go to" salad for dinner yesterday - avocado, shrooms, chicken breast, sprinkle of shredded mozzarella w/yogurt ranch dressing. Two boiled eggs & 1 slice avocado toast for brunch earlier. Waiting on being hungry & some inspiration to set in for dinner.
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Carole, I agree with Divine, I don’t think the grated onion has a noticeable crunch. To me, it’s an essential ingredient for a potato pancake but I wouldn’t hesitate to eat one without it. I’m with special - all about the potato.
Good news about the leg Special! You’ve pcertainly had more than your share of that stuff. Let the healing commence!
Sandy, I had to laugh at the image of a Sissy/Sandy giant thumb hitching a ride
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Tonight I did a "sheet pan" dinner of sorts. Bratwurst, purple potatoes cut up for more edges, button mushrooms. I had leftover broccoli, so that was warmed up separately so as not to overcook. Leftovers tomorrow.
Thawing crab for Sunday and I'll make slaw as a side.
Bought some flanken ribs at the grocery store today and will make it on Sunday but eat it on Monday (wine and balsamic braised). I bought some "regular" kale (not the dinosaur kale) and am debating about tossing it in with the ribs to cook low and slow and longer. If anyone thinks wine and kale are a no-no, please warn me. DH is not a kale lovin' guy. I usually use the dinosaur kale to make kale chips so he is spared eating it.
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Well, the tip of the dressing grazed a wet spot on the sink edge last night, and the gauze acted as a wick. Had to switch to a semi-loose finger band-aid over a Telfa pad over Bacitracin--protected by a surgical glove. After making & eating dinner, I recreated the bulky dressing as best I could, and before going out, wore an XL surgical glove as a "liner" for my fleece glove (I held the wrist edge of the surg. glove when removing the winter glove). For tomorrow night's gala, I will just have to make do with a finger band-aid.
Had keto waffles & syrup for breakfast. Dinner tonight will be spinach & tomato salad, leftover wild rice, stir-fried snow peas & mushrooms, and pan-seared Nordic fjord trout. HK hates the smell the morning after I cook fish on the stovetop, so I make it now only the night before a day I know she won't be in. (Too cold to use the ceiling fan and let down the glass pane in the storm/screen door--and way too cold to even consider grilling).
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Dinner was a salad - spinach almost turning, mushrooms also almost turning, hard boiled egg, sunflower seeds, bottled Miso dressing (not as good as the Dole, but OK once I added sour cream). Served with an 8" French Baguette from Central Market/HEB. They are frozen in two packs and absolutely delicious after thawing 15 minutes and baking 6 minutes. I meant to eat two slices but ate the entire mini-loaf.
Dessert was a bowl of Kettle - Krinkle Cut Potato chips with Himalayan salt.
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SpecialK, I smiled at your reference to yourself as a potato girl. The people we associate with in northern MN during the summer are potato people. Eating rice has been a rarity to them. There are a lot of potato fields in the vicinity of Park Rapids, our nearest town, and even a business south of town that makes frozen French fries. AFter the potato harvest, some people go into the fields to do their own harvest of potatoes that were left behind.
Several years ago during the summer in MN we were invited to dinner at the nearby home of a couple. He said the menu was meatballs and gravy. I assumed we would be served red gravy with pasta. No, the gravy was brown gravy and the starch was mashed potatoes, not pasta. The food was delicious as the man is quite a good cook and is quick to tell you as much. Pasta is about as popular as rice with these descendents of Norwegian and Finnish immigrants.
Our leftovers pork roast dinner last night was completely satisfactory.
I splurged on two fronts yesterday. At Sam's Club I bought dark chocolate Heavenly Hash candy, an annual temptation at Easter season. Then at Winn Dixie I bought a small KIng Cake with cream cheese filling. Not all King Cakes are moist and tasty but this one was/is.
Another food activity yesterday was two hours of standing at the counter and picking out the crab meat in the boiled crabs our neighbors gifted us. They were small crabs so the picking was a bit laborious and my hands were cramping before I finished. I ended with a nice container of crab meat for future crab cakes. DH is a midwesterner who decided early on that eating boiled crabs was too much work.
Tonight I may use some sauteed pork in the freezer to make a stir fry with colored peppers and soba noodles.
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Eric, we visited Flagstaff during our rv travels. Gosh, your feet must be noticeable with all those E's attached to your shoe size!! LOL.
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Last night was a frozen pizza. We keep one in the freezer for those times when no one wants to cook.
The boots I wear when I'm in a disaster area are black leather, have a steel toe and some sort of nail proof soles (prevents nail punctures). They look like clown shoes. :-)
Sandy....hopefully the cut on your finger is getting less bothersome.
Today I'm taking time off from the garage wiring to get the house mopped up from all the mud I've managed, despite my best efforts, to bring inside. 99% of it is by the front door, but while we're at it, we might as well get all the tile...but before that, get the counters cleaned up, but before that get the counters de-cluttered...but wait, there's more. :-)
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Leftover brats/purple potatoes/broccoli. Tomorrow will be Dungeness crab with slaw. Eric, I'm trying to clean up and organize my pantry. I buy too much food, cook too much and have little motivation for putting away and cleaning up. A bad situation.
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Hi all
Carole sorry to hear that your DH is still having trouble with UTI"s. I've had another kidney stent infection and had to go to the Doctor for yet more antibiotics. I was so sick Thursday and Friday and still no appetite. Luckily I have surgery on Wednesday to remove the stent.
Potato pancakes are called potato rosti here and my Mum used to make them years ago and called them Mock Fish. I still make them today.
It's still been very hot here, Saturday night minimum was 25C. Tomorrow's max 28C, very nice.
Lot's of people out swimming in this weather, yesterday a 16 year old girl was killed by a shark in the Swan River. Lot's of sharks in the river's here not just the oceans. Very scary and sad.
Hopefully will get my appetite back after surgery.
Aussie12
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aussie12, sorry to hear you need surgery. I hope it helps you. Best wishes on an easy recovery! Sad to hear about the girl who lost her life due to the shark attack. Her family must be devastated.
My “hellish” week doesn’t seem so bad on reflection.
Dinner was shepherd’s pie from the freezer and baked pears in white wine, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom and brown sugar for dessert. I froze the shepherd’s pie about a month ago and it was still excellent. I thought maybe the mashed potatoes on top might not be good, but I will do this again. (I make my pie like the HelloFresh recipe, which I think is similar to the Once Upon a Chef recipe.)
Earlier in the week I oven braised a pork loin roll with garlic, fresh rosemary, parsley, sage, and thyme in clotted cream. It was good but I overcooked it a bit. DH bought loin instead of tenderloin, but I don’t think he’ll make that mistake again. I had frozen the loin in smaller pieces so we wouldn’t have to eat it for a week at a time. As it is we had enough for three meals. I varied the sides to keep things interesting.
Milk Street has a recipe for roasted beets, carrots, balsamic vinegar, honey, and thyme that was excellent. It’s topped with a little bleu cheese, which makes it even better in my book.
I also made charred Brussels sprouts with balsamic vinegar, yuzu marmalade and cardamom that was delish! The yuzu marmalade was a “splurge” purchase from Milk Street when I bought the oyster sauce and Col Pabst Worcestershire sauce. I can’t afford Milk Street on a regular basis, but I rationalized this as anearly birthday present.
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Aussie, interesting name for potato pancakes, Mock Fish. Sorry you're having infection that kills your appetite and makes you miserable. Hope your health improves.
We had the soba noodles, pork and veggie stir fry last night. I made the sauce I usually make. Not my favorite meal but dh seemed to enjoy it. The soba noodles I ordered from an Amazon seller are not as good as the ones I bought from Rouse's supermarket a few years ago. I would cook those 7 minutes and wash them thoroughly as the instructions said to do. They had more "body" than the ones I ordered. I guess I'll used them up as I got 6 packages.
DH noticed the ripe avocados in the vegetable drawer last night and commented that we should have guacamole tonight. So some kind of Mexican meal is in order. I may make the tortillas.
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Hi Aussie. I'm hoping the surgery fixes things and you have a quick recovery.
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Eric, my DH had big feet like that too. I don't remember how many E's, I think 3 and size 12. His feet weren't really that big, but they were so swollen from RA and circulation, that he need the extra big to get them on.
Aussie, I think I see a kidney stent in my near future, how is that? The procedure itself and afterwards? Do you get alot of infections? Does it stay in indefinitely? Sharks in the river? Never heard of such a thing.
Cyathea, I have frozen mashed potatoes before, and yes, they are fine. However, something with chunks of potatoes, such as a stew, not so much. I find the texture changes.
We have a butcher shop out here that offers monthly specials. I bought one awhile back that included bacon burgers. Hamberger with bacon mixed in. Not cooked bacon, but raw. Pretty good! And a bag kale salad.
Eric, do you know about the butcher shop in Snowflake? They have good meat, a food truck and are fixing up to open a restaurant. They have a page on FB where they tell what their specials are or anything else that they have going on. Here is the Feb. special. Then they have one for an additional $50 where you get what is listed below and they add more to it. A little pricey, but I don't mind supporting local.
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Flanken ribs braised in red wine and balsamic vinegar. DH raved. And to think, he thought wine and vinegar were poison. My how times change, LOL. Leftovers tomorrow.
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I spent many months/years before I found a pot roast braising liquid that I like. It's a red wine-balsamic vinegar mix. :-)
Goldie, If the Snowflake butcher shop you're talking about is the one on the west side of Main Street, and kind of hear the hardware store, I didn't realize it was open. I drive by it all the time and I've never seen any activity there. I'll have to stop by and check the place out. Right now it's kind of a moot point as we have only the tiny freezer section in the regular refrigerator and it's full. Once the garage's electrical wiring inspection is complete and I have the big freezer operating...then we will have enough room for stuff like you showed.
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Eric yes, on the west side of the street. They don't just sell package deals and they don't always have the same stuff. You would spend a pretty penny to fill a big freezer! Sunday almost 70 out, Monday we get snow!
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Last night dh grilled a ribeye steak and I baked some potatoes I bought a few days ago. They were definitely not fresh potatoes. Already putting out sprouts. I should give up on the bags.
Wally, you're sending me to Google again to look up flanken ribs.
Snowflake sounds like a nice town. What's the population?
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Carol, it's a small quaint little town, connected with another small town Taylor, so often referred to as Snowflake/Taylor. It's mainly a Mormon town and I'm seeing the population online at about 6200. I believe Minus2 has been there, as she has a cousin (I believe) that lives there. We have quite a few small little towns up here in the White Mountains of AZ.
Being just one person, I too have trouble with potatoes and often ask my neighbor if she wants to split a 5lb bag.
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