So...whats for dinner?
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I never burned anything on the stove to the point of catching fire, although I have flambeed stuff intentionally. But one year I was over at my BFF's house celebrating my birthday. Her mom was in from Nova Scotia, and the two of them baked me a cake. I leaned in to blow out the candles, and one side of my long "Veronica Lake" 'do caught fire. Her husband threw a glass of 7-Up on it, extinguishing it immediately. But it was sticky & shaggy till I washed it at home that night. And I did trash a microwave once when I let a bag of popcorn go a tad too long—its entire core was a charred still-smoking blob of carbon. The lining of the oven had scorch marks and smelled of smoke. It needed replacing anyway. And back in my coffee-roasting days, I let a batch of beans in the roaster go a 5 seconds past "second crack," and the chaff began to smolder. I had to air the place out…in midwinter…in hopes my FIL wouldn't notice the smell when he got home from church. That was the end of my home-roasting days—considering one of the region's top roasteries, Metropolis, was four blocks away. Everything in stock there is no older than 5 days post-roast. They've spoiled me!
The paella class was fun. It was a demo, but the chef asked for volunteers, so of course my hand shot up. Unfortunately, I didn't get to eat my creation, as it had to be whisked away after simmering to bake for 40 minutes; but we all had part of the larger communal paella (which was sausage, pork confit, swiss chard & apples). Because there was no seafood involved, it stayed in the oven long enough to form a soccarat (crust on the rice), which IMHO is the best part. We started with pinxtos (sort of like amuse-bouches) of cockles conserva (high-end tinned clams) in saffron aioli on brioche toast, blood sausage with apple-date jam, and a mild red piquillo pepper stuffed with mushrooms & goat cheese. Next was tortilla español with sherry aioli; then roasted iberico ham "secreto" (the very tender flank of the pig) with crispy garlic—half of which I took home because I wanted room for the main event, the aforementioned paella. Dessert was a green cardamom flan with a very light caramel broth. Wine pairings will be listed in the "drinking" thread.
A bonus was a paella kit to take home: a carbon steel pan big enough for 2-4 servings, a bag of Bomba rice, little can of Spanish olive oil, imported smoked paprika, and a generous bottle of mancha saffron. I had a larger paella pan but it's in storage after the fire; and of course had to sacrifice all my unsalvageable foodstuffs—incuding Bomba & Arborio rices and a little jar of sofrito (sort of a cheat, containing the tomato sauce, garlic, onion and a hint of saffron).
After I dropped Gordy back off and said hi to Leslie (she was just coming home from work) and drove home, I crashed for what I intended to be a 30-min. nap. Three hours later, I awoke to BangBang sitting on my chest, nuzzling and purring. (She woke me up this morning 90 minutes before my alarm, so I'd had only 5 hrs. of sleep). Dinner was four smal leftover baby back ribs and a bowl of leftover hot & sour soup Bob brought home from "Adequate" (not so Great) Beijing down the street.
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Dinner last night was a large Old-Fashioned and cheese snack crackers. I thought about Minus. DH and I had a long day, arriving at the surgery center at 9 am. He was soon taken back for surgery prep but wasn't taken to surgery until about 1 pm. I waited in his room and got messages on his progress. He was finally brought to the room about 4. I left about 5:30 and made it home just before dark. We were told that his surgery went well and his x-rays of the knee were perfect.
It's icy again this morning but the sun is out and it will warm up. After I do some chores and get things ready for him to come home, I'll drive to the surgery center. I'm sure there's no hurry because being discharged always seems a slow process.
Thanks for your concern. Wish us both luck in week number one of recovery.
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Hi all! I have been MIA for a long time! I am not sure what happened, but I felt far more overwhelmed by the holiday season of 2024 and checked out of a number of things. I don't know if it is because I need to dial back on holiday gifts and decorating, or I am just getting older, but I was exhausted. I was recently diagnosed, incidentally during some cardiac tests, with COPD. I have never smoked and not worked in any hazardous environments, so there is not an easy explanation for the why part. I was supposed to be seen the first week of January by the pulmonary doc I have been referred to, but that appointment has been rescheduled twice. It is now set for Feb 3. I am not sure if this is contributing to my level of fatigue, but I do feel better now that the holidays are over, so… I apologize because I really enjoy our interaction on this thread, and should have signed on to wish everyone a happy holiday for whatever they celebrate. I am going to resolve in 2025 to be less absent…
chisandy - good to see you posting here again!
I know I have missed birthdays, anniversaries, etc., so I will issue a blanket happy congrats for those.
carole - hope DH is doing ok after the knee surgery.
Cooking has been pretty par for the course. I am still feeding DD, usually making salads and dinners in meal prep containers and giving them to her in sets of 8 - 4 lunches and 4 dinners, twice a week. Dinner last night was a pasta bake that I had also given to her for one dinner. She is gearing up for her event here in FL that spans the last couple days of Feb, first couple days of Mar. We have made some tweaks to how we do things which should improve the process (for my responsibilities) so I am looking forward to that being easier. I delivered meals to her last night and needed to count some merch inventory out in the barn - it was COLD!
My local grocery store (Publix) had standing rib roast on sale a couple of times in late December so I bought a couple and cut them into steaks and wrapped them in packages of two for the freezer. I may pull a package out for dinner tonight and reverse sear them along with some roasted broccoli and little red potatoes tossed with parsley and butter.
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@specialk and @chisandy - hello and nice to meet you and read about your food adventures. I’m relatively new to this thread and love it. So many tastes to imagine through the stories, individuals and families who share their love of cooking and eating here . Specialk - sorry to read about the COPD diagnosis. I hope it is manageable .
Carole - so glad the surgery went well. Now the recuperation period and strengthening begins , hope recovery goes just as smoothly.Hope there are no more fire stories though, omg. I can’t imagine how traumatic and painful that was Maggie!
Minus- enjoy La Boheme, one of my favorites.Was not feeling adventurous today, so made one pan curried tofu with peas and green beans with brown rice. Good vegan comfort food for a cold blustery day. Skipping the neighbors party, and settling in with a pot of China rose green tea and peppermint with a Deborah Crombie mystery.
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Carole, Good news on the positive surgery report. I hope the recovery goes well and you are not run off your feet.
Special, Good to hear from you but sorry to hear about your COPD diagnosis. It can be caused by other things such as asthma, respiratory infections or alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency (a genetic liver disease.) DB's SIL was diagnosed with AATD at about the same time they discovered my RIPF so we occasionally meet to do things together since she has the same restrictions I do. We had Thanksgiving dinner in her open garage the first year but she bought a second home in SC so she could do more outdoors in the winter. I do fine with 60% of my lungs functioning but pace myself to avoid fatigue. What a helpful mom you are but it's good you are stepping back a bit from your daughter's big event.
Rhonda, Curry is always good even if not adventurous. A pot of tea and a good book sounds more relaxing than a party.
Sandy, It seems you had a delicious meal even though it was not your group's creation.
Dinner tonight was oven fried chicken with acorn squash and tater tots for DH.
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DH seems to be suffering more with this second surgery than the first. The home health nurse is here now and she is being something of an alarmist. With any encouragement she would contact the doctor's office. The therapist is coming next. When he leaves, we will have a late breakfast.
For dinner tonight we will have a home-made soup that a friend brought yesterday, sausage, kale and lentil.
I'm glad dh doesn't have any more knees to repair. LOL.
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Oh…Carole, I hope DH's discomfort/suffering quickly goes away.
Hi, Special. Good to see you posting again. I'd been wondering "where did she go?". I'm sorry to hear about the COPD diagnosis. Hopefully the pulmonologist will have some good ideas for you.
Sharon made some taco shells today. They are quite a bit more "puffy" than the store bought ones, but taste great. She also made some chicken taco filling to go with the shells.
I spent the afternoon cleaning up the spare bedroom that had been used as a "get it inside" staging area. It's almost done…and only took 2-1/2 years to do it…and soon the room can be used for something other than "storage". :-)
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Carole, I’m sorry this surgery recovery has not started as well as the last one. Hopefully things will improve soon. It’s good you have home-made soup to heat up for dinner.
Eric, Items made from scratch may not have the uniform appearance of store bought equivalents but the better taste is what’s important. Well done on getting the “storage” room cleared out. Two and a half years is reasonable. At times I moved again before unpacking everything.
Dinner tonight was chicken parmigiana on ziti.
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Carole, hope the recovery kicks into high-gear. I'm sorry your DH (and by default, you) are dealing with this.
Happy belated birthday, Sandy.
Special, I too hope the COPD is manageable.
Leftover shrimp yakisoba. Tomorrow will be chicken quarters (I butchered my first whole chicken this morning. No idea why I've never done that before) with roasted potatoes and whatever veg I can find in the freezer.
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Yesterday was better. DH got some sleep in his recliner, actually seeing little action in the two football games. Then he slept well during the night. I think the pain meds are kicking in. I had some good sleep, too, much needed and valued.
DH ate very little yesterday. I intend to make him a good breakfast with protein a little later.
I ate well, too well, yesterday. My sister dropped off two meals, each with a barbecued chicken leg and generous helpings of her homemade mashed potatoes, which are better than Bob's. DH is not a chicken fan and it's probably my favorite meat.
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eric - hi! Thanks for the welcome back. Good for you on the storage room organization - I have one of those too - in organizing the garage a couple of months ago a bunch of stuff made it into the house to the back room - used to be DD's room, now is an alternative TV room with a sofa in it, and bookshelves full of books. It is full of empty plastic bins, and that closet is also home to things that are not used as often, like formal dresses and winter boots. I need to get in there and figure out what to do with the bins - surely something can go in them!
Dinner tonight is something I have not made in quite a while - thin chicken breasts spread with a mixture of cream cheese and lots of scallions, then rolled up and wrapped in bacon and baked. Will also make French onion rice and roasted broccoli or carrots, which can go in the oven with the chicken.
DH and I are in the process of deciding on a company for a refurb of our pool enclosure. We have had three estimates, two that are similarly priced from smaller companies, and one that is more from a very established company. We spent part of the morning deciding on the color and researching the companies to make sure they actually are licensed and looking at reviews. DH had done some research before contacting them, but we did a deeper dive. All will do the same process with the same materials. We have a white enclosure that goes from the edges of the roof, over the pool with a screened wall that overlooks the preserve. It will now be a dark bronze color, and have all the guy wires replaced and screws redone with rust proof screws, and all new screens. The pool deck will also be painted. The deck and cage are 23 years old and need this - we have areas of rust from the original screws and don't want that rust to compromise the integrity of the enclosure itself. I am looking forward to having it done, the whole back of the house is essentially glass so this area is visible from everywhere - it should look nice. Not looking forward to the week that this will take to be done, but trying not to be whiny, lol!
carole - how is DH doing?
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Wally, I’m impressed. I always had DH do the butchering since he had plenty of experience from evaluating carcass meat distribution. Now I have to remove chicken from the bone before he’ll eat it.
Carole, It's good everybody got some sleep last night and you were able to enjoy one of your favorite meals that you don't often have.
Special, Those chicken rollups sound delcious. What oven temp do you bake them at? Renovation work is a pain to live through but you'll enjoy your new pool enclosure when it's done.
Dinner tonight was marry me salmon (a variation using two different recipes) on rice.
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There seem to be a lot of "marry me" recipes.
Yesterday I thawed a hunk of beef roast. Earlier I cut it into small cubes and did stage one of making a beef stew. DH requested the cubes be small because easy chewing is best for him with the jaw issue. Taking the hint, I cut the carrots and potato small, too. And quartered an onion and secured the layers with toothpicks. I'll cook the veggies with the beef later. And warm up the leftover mashed potatoes my sister gave us in her meals.
I have cut up many whole chickens and find it easy from repetition. My mother cut up chickens to make as many pieces as possible. We always had "little legs," because she cut the wings into two pieces. My favorite part of the fried chicken pieces was the back, cut into two pieces. She fried chicken in a large cast iron skillet with high sides. My brother Gary has it. She made other dishes in it, too.
The home health pt is here now.
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I love the back too!!!!!!!
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Hi all, I’m back. I’ve been fine, just a little quiet. Nice to see Sandy back too.
DH made red beans & sausage and I’m cooking the rice. Enjoying a glass of Moscato and baguette slices with olive oil and a Tuscan herb mix while it wait.
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Carole, Those high sided cast iron skillets were awesome. My sister has my grandmother's. Hopefully the PT is helping with DH's recovery.
Illimae, Good to hear from you. Hopefully you have been keeping warm and enjoying the view from your beach bar. Have a second glass of Moscato for me. It’s my favorite wine but I haven’t been able to drink for many years. I cook with wine since I love the taste and enough of the sulphites which cause migraines get burned off..
Dinner tonight was chicken in an orange curaçao sauce, Brussels sprouts sautéed with dried apricots and mashed potatoes.
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Hi 'mae. Between you and Special, "I was wondering a lot." Glad to know you were "just quiet".
Carole, it sounds like DH's pain levels are becoming more tolerable. That's good for both you you!!! I'm sure everyone on here can relate to either side of the "care giver-cared for" role being difficult.
Special. Renovation…at least it's outside the house….
On the cast iron. Cast iron cookware is about the only thing we use on the stove or in the oven. My BCO avatar is cast iron Dutch Oven. It was a gift and is among the most cherished things I have.
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SpecialK, illimae, glad you're back!
Special, COPD can develop from a long history of asthma, repeated bouts of bronchitis or other respiratory ailments, even living in an area with poor air quality (though that would take several years to manifest). Sorry you're going through this. Nowadays, you can buy nebulizers over the counter (even Amazon); they make portable battery-op or USB-chargeable ones small enough to stash in a large purse or shopping tote (an excuse to buy a nice one of the latter).
Carole, glad to hear your DH is doing better than a day or two ago. There's a site, Bonesmart.org, I used to frequent around the time of my TKRs. It was (at least as of 2013) run by a rather opinionated British orthopedic surgery nurse named Josephine. One of our BCO sisters, brithael, was on it. Josephine did not believe in PT, just OTC pain control and elevation. Of course, her attitude towards what she called "physio" (inpatient, outpatient, home) made her an outlier. But the OTC protocol she devised—the "Bonesmart Cocktail" of 1000mg acetaminophen (paracetamol in the UK) plus two ibuprofen q.6h—is a good transition after weaning of the Rx stuff. My own hand/arm ortho surgeon and endodontist both advocated using four ibuprofen, assuming your gut could handle it. I was skeptical, but it actually worked better than Norco for me.
Sat. night we went out to Cooper's Hawk Winery for dinner. The waiter saw our club card and said I had a birthday treat coming. We started with seafood bisque, then seasonal sausage/fontina arancini. Bob had bay scallops in brown butter over what was described as "jasmine rice," but turned out to be risotto. I had shrimp scampi over capellini (angel hair) with a light tomato sauce & pesto. The treat was a glass of ice wine and two very decadent truffles. Sunday night was leftovers. Monday night we went to L. Woods for the weekly turkey dinner special—but they'd run out by 7pm. So Bob had the Restaurant Week special of French onion soup, a rack of baby back ribs, slaw and a baked potato, plus the included glass of house red and key lime pie for dessert (a ginormous slice, of which I had an intense, dense sliver). I had grilled salmon, broccoli and a baked sweet potato (of which I ate 1/4). Tonight was leftovers again—I still couldn't finish the broccoli or sweet potato. Tomorrow night, we'll investigate another place participating in Restaurant Week.
(One reason I've been scarce around here is what's happening now: Bangbang is sitting firmly atop my L wrist as I attempt to type on my laptop; at least she can't bat it out of my hand like she can my phone).
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I remember working on my master's degree thesis was a bit challenging because of Mr Pooh, a full grown 3-1/2 pound tiny fluff ball cat wanting to sit on the computer keyboard.
While in grad school, I had about 8 months of PT for a broken leg. I wasn't allowed to drive for the first 6 months, so a friend had to drive me. After the first PT session, I found a pre-appointment pitcher of beer made the PT more tolerable. :-)
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Tuna melt
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Steamed shrimp with snow peas and brown rice, garlic sauce on the side. Allowing myself more fish and shellfish on occasion. It was so good! And I had a homemade latte with instant espresso and almond milk, surprisingly good.
Eric - 30 years ago I was gifted a set of Le Creuset cast iron enameled pots. Love my Dutch oven too. And have a few sautee pans that are wonderful, but my Dutch oven is my fav and go to pan cooks everything perfectly.0 -
We moved into the city of Edinburgh when the farmer whose cottage we had been renting sold his farm and took the working cats with him to a bigger place in another county. We ended up with a new cat almost immediately, a stray that had been taken in by DH's office but constantly sat on whatever anyone was working on. He was a great lap cat. To avoid 6 months quarantine (seemed cruel) we found him a new home before we moved to AL. His new owners were so pleased with him they gave us a L100 gift certificate to thank us. When we opened offers to buy our flat someone had included the cat along with the fixtures knowing we were going abroad but we accepted a higher offer.
Dinner tonight was angus strip steak and baked butternut squash.
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Pest adopted me. Mr Pooh was a stray kitten that was given to us by one of Sharon's coworkers. Jessiecat was a shelter cat who was both old enough, and had been in the shelter long enough, that the adoption fees were waived. We donated an amount equal to the fees. All were "let me on your lap", even to those that they had never seen before.
Dinner tonight is spaghetti and a homemade (by Sharon) sauce.
Yesterday we made tortilla shells. It's about a 2 hour project from start to finish, but most of the time is letting the dough "rest" so it can be rolled out into thin sheets without springing back. Actual hands on time is probably 15 minutes.
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Every cat we've ever had was a feral/stray or rescued kittens from the ferals we were feeding.
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Eric - love the pitcher of beer "treatment" before PT.
My BFF came in to town to stay over last weekend and we went to the matinee performance of La Boheme at the Houston Grand Opera on Sunday. Since the weather was so horrible, we had ham quiche at home after the show. Monday was leftover huge green salad. Yesterday was leftover quiche. Today was just a big bowl of Cheerios with a sliced banana. Tomorrow will likely be the last piece of quiche. I know it sounds boring but I love leftovers.
My ex-BIL is in town, so he and my ex-DH are coming up for lunch tomorrow. They want to have patty melts at Angies Country Kitchen. Later in the afternoon I have a Zoom session with my son so he can finish setting up my new computer with Windows 11. It will be good to test my new Lavalier microphone since the mic on my camera makes me sound like I'm in a tunnel. (Yes - I'm using a desktop w/o a built in camera or microphone).
Happy Lunar New Year to those who celebrate.
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chisandy - OMG, when I read about your hair catching on fire I had to comment - I had a very similar incident when I was in high school and had waist length hair. we were having T-Giv with family friends and I leaned over to get something off the counter and my hair brushed a corning tea kettle on the stove and caught on fire. Our hostess put the fire out with a tea towel, I was not burned, but my hair was about six inches shorter on that side, and smelled hideous. I returned to school on Monday with a bob haircut, and there was an audible gasp when I took my coat off in class and people realized my hair was not in my coat, but was actually gone. On the COPD note - I do indeed have a long history of asthma, which is usually confined to spring allergy season. I did start to see an uptick in asthma flares post-surgically which I attributed to irritation from general anesthesia. I have an appointment with the pulmonary doc, now scheduled for Mar 3, they called yesterday and rescheduled it for the third time, ugh. I am trying to wait for this specific doc (there are three in the practice) because I feel like this will be a long-term relationship.
Dinner last night was leftover chicken roll ups, French onion rice, and buttered corn. DH is leaving with DD tomorrow for a recon trip to PA to look at a venue for a potential additional off-road expo to expand her business. I am thinking of ribeye steaks from the freezer for tonight to send him off with a nice dinner. Likely sides are new potatoes with parsley and butter, and Brussels sprouts with balsamic glaze.
eric - much like your beer anesthetic I always advised people on this site to medicate with pain meds prior to immediate post-surgical follow-ups with their surgeons because of the moving around, particularly if they were having drains pulled. I have had a mixed bag of experiences with drain removals - some painless, some felt like being shocked with a cattle prod.
minus - love a patty melt - one of my faves! I can rarely finish a whole one though, but don't mind having a leftover half.
Cats and computers - we made the recent mistake of putting chipmunks/birds/fish on the desktop screen for our cat to watch. Now he sits in front of the screen waiting for them to appear at the most inopportune times… clearly we didn't think that through.
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We had a VHS tape of an aquarium that we would play on the television. Mr Pooh…was fascinated by that. :-)
MIL gave her cat, Duffy, to DD before going into assisted living. DD and beau already have a Bengal cat and now both cats try to catch the puck when ice hockey is on the television. :-) They say watching the cats is as entertaining as the game.
I guess a "bob cut is better than what I call a "paint brush". Did you let it grow back out again?
I have been watching the coverage of the air crash in Washington, DC. The agency I work for has mobilized resources for victim identification. Sigh….. :-(
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Minus, Hopefully you can finish the install of Windows 11 remotely. I'm waiting until closer to the Oct deadline and am considering going with a Mac to ditch Windows.
Special, It is worth waiting for the good pulmonologist. Mine is my favorite doctor; I trust his medical advice on how other issues/treatments can affect my lungs. Lol on the cat videos encouraging your kitty to sit right in front of the computer.
We had a cat who would spend the entire televised hockey game trying to catch the puck. She had so much practice I thought she would have succeeded in real life if the puck and players didn’t run over her.
Eric, You and your agency do a really tough but necessary job behind the scenes. We’re lucky to have people take on that difficult task when tragedy strikes.
Carole, I hope your DH is improving and you are surviving the running around and fetching.
Dinner tonight was shepherd’s pie.
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Mapo tofu tonight. Leftovers tomorrow. YUM!
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Special - great to hear from you and catch up on your doings. I heard Pensacola had 8" of snow last week.
Carole - hope things are improving with your DH's knee and you'll soon be out of a nursing job.
Maggie - yes we did more Windows 11 fine tuning/installation on a 3 hours zoom call this afternoon. Whew!!
I met my ex-DH at a local "cafe/diner" for lunch. His brother (my BIL) was in town from San Antonio so we had a great visit. Of course we ate "the usual" - the best patty melt in town. I want to order other things, but I just can't pass this up. My BIL ordered the CFS (chicken fried steak) and said it was delicious.
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