So...whats for dinner?
Comments
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Oh, another idea for dinner....La Morra on rt. 9 right out of Brookline Village (inbound side) is really close to DF and has fabulous authentic Italian dishes....run by a. couple who lived in Italy and now take people on gastronomic bike tours there.
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Kay HUGS so sorry about your mom, hope she is now resting peacefully.
This has been one rollercoaster week for everyone...are the moons not aligning right or something?
Spent the day with the wife of the friend that passed and helped with funeral and reception arrangemnets, she really held up a lot better than I thought she would, lots of friends and family there and lots of wine flowing. He had small cell lung cancer, which if I read it correctly when researching this, is only caused by smoking, not seen in non-smokers, very aggressive. He was a smoker and so was his wife, till he got diagnosed then she quit. ( he had quit years previously)
Got home so late, I threw together a potato salad and made turkey ruebens. Didnt really matter, I ate alone, Husband didnt show up till 9, working his butt off....spring rush for him, everyone wanting to start planting.
AWWW Michelle arent kids the best for boosting your spirits? that why I loved working with kids as a nurse, they always made me smile, no matter how I was feeling.
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Lacey - thanks for the tips, especially La Morra. We were talking about Italian and the location would be convenient because my daughter is coming, too, but driving separately. It would be easier than going to the North End, which was my first thought.
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Thank you everyone for all the good thoughts. It means a lot to me. She was very peaceful. The funeral will be Monday and my son is flying in from Minnesota tomorrow night.
Deb, I am sorry about your Dad. Both my mother and father had hospice and they were very good experiences. It is hard no matter what, but they were very kind and understanding and helpful.
Michelle, I will be thinking about you and your appointment today.
Agreed, it has been an absolutely brutal week around here. It can only mean better days are ahead.
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What's for dinner tonight will be something good on the menu at Keith Young's Steakhouse. The selections include seafood, and softshell crabs are in season. DH and I will probably opt for the crabs. It was my idea to ask some friends if they'd like to go out to dinner with us. And they're always ready to go out to eat! Lately I run out of ideas for meals. I think it's because we don't use the oven much when it's hot and that eliminates a lot of big pot meals.
I played golf today, teeing off at 8:10. It soon got very hot. Every day this week the temp. is up to 90 degrees.
Happy Friday to all.
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Michelle- Thinking about you and your appt with Dana Farber today. Hope you are able to enjoy a night out!
Laurie- How are you doing? Been thinking about you too! And i hope the storms didnt do to much damage!
Kaara- Congrats to your DGS!
Hope everyone has a nice week-end
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This has been a really tough week for all of us, so it's time for something a little cheerier! We are home from my Dana Farber appointment and dinner at Myer & Chang (not what I would have chosen, but DH wanted, really wanted chicken and waffles).
The appointment went very well and Dr. Chen was far less "gloom and doom" than my local MO. She tried to feel around for my enlarged nodes, but they are too small and she couldn't find them. She said my tumor load is really small and that made me feel really good about insisting on tumor marker tests and PET scans at regular intervals. We discussed several clinical trials, but there's no really good one for me at the moment using at least one standard therapy. I don't mind being a guinea pig so long as it's in combination with at least one tried and true cancer killer. Being diabetic, even a well-controlled one, disqualifies me for most trials at this stage of treatment. We discussed the pros and cons of Xeloda and Carboplatin, and ultimately decided on Xeloda. You probably know it's an oral chemo and has a lot less side effects than the heavy hitters. After two months, we will scan again to check on things. If the mets are gone, I'll stay on Xeloda indefinitely. If I have progression or we don't see shrinkage, we'll switch to Carboplatin.
I think we have all experienced a collective sigh of relief that it's not the worst possible scenario. Yes, it's true that the average metster lives just two years after reaching Stage IV. But remember that many women choose no treatment, some are diagnosed with very heavy tumor loads, and for some women, nothing seems to work. They all make up the pool which generates the statistic. So Xeloda is the first big test. If it works, I could be like Marybe or some of the others who have been Stage IV for more than a decade. And there will be new treatments - count on it!0 -
I hope that everyone is doing OK. It has been so hard with personal and family issues that keep coming for everyone. It makes me sad that such wonderful women have to go through this.
I have a favor to ask. I told a friend that I would make pasta with real clams (what was I thinking?) if she would provide the movie on Sunday. We are trying to do low key and not pay to go out. She likes white instead of red sauce and maybe garlic or parsley or something? We're trying not to use too much butter, for calorie's sake. Does anyone have any ideas for something not too hard that they have tried and liked so that I don't make a cooking disaster? She will buy white wine.
Thanks!
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Bedo - I've never made white clam sauce, but I would think some olive oil, white wine, lemon, garlic, and parsley would be good for starters. And maybe a little clam juice for extra flavor. I'd be tempted to add just a bit of butter to bind the sauce :>) Let us know how it goes, sounds like a fantastic dinner idea!
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Michelle, YOU ARE AMAZING!!! Your attitude, your intelligence and knowledge of all things chemo, your steady approach to deal with what confronts you, and ability to collaborate with your doc as partner. You are my role model for dealing with this dread disease!! I hope that does not sound too trite...but I was so touched by your example in this last post. Thank you!
I do hope that when DH is more in the mood for Italian you try LaMorra. We learned about it when they had a special event night...."Big Night" (done yearly). They showed the movie (check it out if it's not familiar) and produced all of the amazing dishes featured in the movie....and plenty of wine. It was really memorable! I never order chicken out since I cook it at home so much, and when the chicken course arrived I was stunned with its succulence....and that was one of many unbelievable courses.....what a "Big Night" !
Someone just recently gave us a giftcard for there which I can't wait to use when I can stay awake long enough to enjoy a great meal.
I am feeling so much better for you, Michelle....especially knowing you can enjoy your trip to Paris to the fullest now that you have a plan for when you return.
Today DH left for a family wedding (his extended family!) that involved driving to the Jersey shore, then tomorrow to Washington, then back to the shore, then on the way home an overnite stop to DS2 and his family in North Jersey (serious envy about that!), then a quick stop to my lovely step mother in CT before crashing back here. I could never do that trip with the damn fatigue that continues to bother me. I know things will improve when I can give up these ten hour days.....June 18th. Yea!!
Dinner was from Wicked pizza....not really worth the expense.
Back to the Celtics....0 -
My favorite thing is to
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Bedo...Ditto to Michelle's culinary advice for white clam sauce. Have a lovely meal!
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Michelle: That does sound like better news from your doctors at DF. They can sometimes put things in perspective and come up with a plan that instills confidence. Marybe would certainly be one to talk to...she is just amazing.
Bedo: Wish I could help on the white clam sauce...I've never done it at home, but I love it!
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Bedo,
I generally do a riff on this one: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spaghetti-with-Fresh-Clams-Parsley-and-Lemon-106443
I am allergic to clams, so haven't ever tasted it, but everyone always loves it. [I would avoid clam juice if you are using fresh clams for the dish.]
*susan*
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Michelle, Dr. Chen seems very positive. My onc is Dr. Chun, she is a very smart person, even my butt doctor commented on how smart she is. But pretty soon I'm going to find doctors closer to were I live. I'm tired of going to Woburn for my mammos, and Winchester for my onc appts. My PCP is in North Reading, now that I have BCBS PPO, I can choose my doctors instead of HMO were I had to stay within the network of my PCP and get referrals. That was a P.I.T.A.
Wednesday went to the Ophthalmologist
Phillip M. Gendelman, MD, my cataracts are getting worst but still not ready for surgery. He said becareful with the night driving especially those blue halogene lights.0 -
Michelle, your post put some of my worst fears for you at rest. I don't even know what a "tumor load" is.
Marybe is an amazing person. I used to encounter her on other threads which I no longer follow.
Our dinner out was wonderful. I had a cup of oyster and spinach soup that was seriously delicious. And I had the softshelled crabs with a shrimp cream sauce. I ate one crab and brought the other one home. For dessert we went to a yogurt place called Berry Tart. I had never been there before. When I put my cup on the scale, the young man told us that if you guess the exact weight, you get your yogurt cup free. I said, "Six ounces." He looked a little surprised and said, "That's the exact weight." So I got my dessert free! DH and our friends were amazed.
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Bedo, you are on the right track. Olive oil with a little butter (softens the taste) with lots of minced garlic till soft. Add some fresh ITALIAN parsley and white wine. If you are using clams in the shell, when the sauce is seasoned to taste, add the clams and cook over low just till they open. Pitch any that do not open!. If you are using canned, add them with most, not all, of the clam juice, then season to taste. Great with some good, fresh garlic bread. Check out Nigella Lawson's recipe (I know she's British, but it's a great recipe)
Let us know how it comes out.
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Michelle- Glad to hear your Dr was optimistic and doing everything she can, Sounds like you are in good hands at Dana Farber. There are so many women on the stage 4 thread who have been around for a long time and i know you will be one of them. Im sure you will be joining there thread and they will be able to help you through this and give you some great advice and support. we will also be here (always) for support for you too!
Bedo- I have a great recipe i use when i make mine i will look for it but its basically the same ingredients all the other ladies on here said, and if you wanted it a little creamier style you could add a couple tablespoons of heavy cream.
Carol- Oyster and spinach soup sounds soooo good. I had oyster shooters for dinner tonight, i have really started likeing them lately.
Deb- Sorry to hear your eyes are worseining, i had surgery for mine and it wasnt bad and it really did help.
Went to dinner tonight with friends we didnt stay late but had a nice dinner. I had oyster shooters for an app, clam chowder soup, and blackened salmon with brown rice and zuccini for a veggie. For dessert i had a marrionberry pie with ice cream and whipped cream it was delicious.
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I almost feel guilty. Sharon (slawson on here) is getting her 4th dose dence A/C infusion on Monday...and I'm experimenting on her...
It's a "what I had at the house" thing, so nothing is really measured.
The remainder of the container of orange juice. It filled the 5 cup blender about half way, so, about 2-1/2 cups.
The remainder of a large onion that was in the refrigerator...about 3/4 of a onion chopped into small pieces.
4 cloves of garlic (that's what I had) run through the mincer.
The remaining fresh cilantro in the refrigerator (about 3/4 cup) and hand shredded.
*About* 1 teaspoon each; dried rosemary, dried thyme, dried marjoram, red pepper and salt. I didn't bother with the measuring spoons. The pepper was what was left in the jar and the rest was "that looks about like 1 teaspoon"
I put it all in a blender and blended it until it was all ground up and mixed and then dumped it into a glass bowl of thawed chicken. It was all the chicken I had and I'm guessing it was about 3 pounds. In this case, it was boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Because each piece was so big, I cut each one into 3 or 4 pieces.
It's now sitting the in the refrigerator until tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully the experiment will work.
Tomorrow I'll cook the chicken and depending on her mood, put it on some rice or some sort of pasta.
The other thing that is going in the kitchen is a sourdough sponge for some sourdough bread. Sharon loves the stuff it and it seems to do a good job at quelling the indigestion that breaks through the anti-nausea meds.
Eric
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Eric- Hi and welcome. Your chx dish sounds good. I bet it would be great over rice.
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Hi ladies what a great thread I have just found hope you all don't mind if I jump in I love cooking so I might be on here quite a bit I'll put this thread in my favo
The clam dish you could try
Frying up in olive Iol in a deep fry pan add garlic , ginger, chicken or seafood stock cube,onions ,,basil fresh ,salt ,pepper .fry till onion softens then add clams and maybe a few green prawns, put the lid on for around 5 mins or until clams are opened if u like coconut cream add about half a cup YUMMO And mix it well into fome fresh spaghetti
Jojo0 -
Bedo, here is the recipe i use when i make this. Sometimes an addition to this recipe i will add some mushrooms, red pepper flakes and a small can of whole peeled marzano tomatoes diced up.
• 2 – 10 oz cans of clams, drained, juice reserved
• 3 cloves garlic, minced- or more i use 5 • Chopped flat leaf italian parsley • 4 tbsp butter- 1/2 small onion chopped • 5 tbl ex virgin olive oil
• ¾ c. white wine
• ¾ c. heavy cream
• Juice of ½ lemon, parmesan cheese
DIRECTIONS
• Linguine or spaghetti
• Salt and pepper to taste- · Cook pasta according to package directions- reserve some of the pasta water to use if the sauce is to thick
- · Melt 1 tbsp of the butter with the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat
- · Add the mushrooms( if using), the onion and garlic, cook about 3 minutes or until soft
- · Add the wine, stir. Let cook for 3-4 minutes, until wine has reduced a bit and it doesn’t smell so “alcohol-y”
- · Lower heat. Add lemon juice and the remaining butter, stir through and cook a few more minutes
- · Add cream, parsley, salt and pepper (you don’t need too much salt because the clams are fairly salty). Cook until heated through. add clams, (I like to add clams at the end so they are not to rubbery) stir, add a little parmesan cheese. I put the pasta right in the pan and mix together, and top with more parmesan cheese.
- A nice salad and garlic bread tops this off.
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Hi Jojo- And welcome to a great group of women. Your dish sounds good.
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Michelle, I am glad that the news is relatively good, as these things go, and that you have a plan. Here is to xeloda working a charm on the nasty little buggers.
Deb, I love that you have a "butt doctor."
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Thanks everyone for your support. I think we are all feeling a whole lot better now.
Carole - tumor load referred to the total volume of my mets. I have several, but they are all very tiny. If you added them all together, it wouldn't be a big mass.
Lacey - thank you! And yes, I've got La Morra on my "must visit" list. So as it turns out, the reason DH didn't want Italian (a first, I think) is that we had spaghetti and meatballs on Thursday night. Normally, he wouldn't care and could eat Italian several nights a week. But these meatballs were a frozen product, he picked them out (I offered to make some from scratch) and they were just plain nasty! I thought they were rancid, and we ended up taking the leftovers out of the sauce and throwing them away. I have another package in the freezer, and they're going out, too. They were called "Mama's" or something like that. We've used frozen meatballs many times in the past, but these were just gross. So he says he has to have good pizza to get past the thought of this...LOL!
Bedo - now look what you started, you have all kinds of suggestions for your clam dinner
and attracted some new posters. So do let us know what you end up doing!Deb - sorry about the cataracts. I think that is one SE of the anti-hormones. I know JoyceK will be having hers removed this summer. As for driving far for your doctors, it would seem to make sense to find one that you like closer to home. I like my Dana Farber MO in Londonderry and I am happy to not have to go into Boston on a regular basis. The traffic yesterday was pretty ugly. And I like having my PCP very close to home. No one wants to drive far to see a doctor when you're not feeling well.
Eric - welcome! Love to hear about the hubbies cooking for their wives during chemo. Mine told me for 30 years that he couldn't cook, then we found out last summer that he could, indeed! Your marinade sounds delightful!
And welcome to JoJo and Vicki!
We are heading off to spoil the grandkids in a little while. Our daughter and her DH are going to a wedding in Williamstown, MA. We're taking the kiddies for ice cream and bumper boats at 10, meeting my DS and his SO. The kids will be thrilled - they wanted to do this last week but it was just me with them, and it was impossible as they are not big enough to do it on their own. Our weekend weather is going to be spectacular!
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Susan - good to see you over here!
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You guys are killing me...now I am craving white clam sauce!! I have never made it or thought of making it, but now its on my list.
Michelle All of your new information sounds very encouraging and doable. I have also seen Marybe on other threads and she is an amazing person as well as a lot of others on these threads. What amazes me is that how can all of this be going on in our bodies and we not have any symptoms? You are like the energizer bunny, and from reading your post I get the sense that you are feeling good, right? Lots of energy and excitement for your trip! You can do this.
Welcome to everyone new to this thread.
We had an impromptu deck party at the home of the wife who lost her husband, we told so many funny stories in remembrance of him. So many people came by bringing food that we also had an unexpected dinner. Today she has requested we take her boating with all of her family that is in town. Going to be a beautiful day.
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I was feeling great in 2009 when I was dx'ed with bc. I got up each day feeling energetic. Couldn't believe I had a cancerous tumor in my body. I doubt I will ever feel that good again. I immediately stopped the HRT which was a magic potion for me. Now I'm taking 4 additional meds, one of which targets every cell of estrogen in my body. But I'm alive and feel better than a lot of other people in this world. Most of my energy comes from mental discipline. I can easily sit down and "rest" if I give in to a pervasive tiredness that I never had before bc and the little white pill from hell, otherwise known as arimidex.
Tonight I'm planning pizza for dinner. I think I'll use white wheat flour instead of all purpose.
Wishing everyone a wonderful Saturday.
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carole: I think you summed it up pretty well! Tiredness is a state of mind...if I allow yourself to go there, I can take a nap at almost any time:( When I'm busy I don't seem to notice as much...until I sit down! What I hate is that I can no longer read without getting sleepy and I love to read.
Was planning to visit DGD today and take the family to Lion Country Safari, but when I called, her older brother was ill with a high fever, so I opted out. With two graduations coming up and a trip to NC in the near future I sure don't want to get sick!
Tomorrow we having a "clean out the freezer" party and inviting my BF's kids and my DS#3 over. I don't like leaving stuff in the freezer while we're away due to power outages during hurricane season, so we'll thaw and bbq a mixed grill. Should be casual and fun. His kids are great...no drama!
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I made mussel salad and it was nice. The base was rye berries, boiled yesterday and chilled, but bulgur or lentils or brown rice would work too. I added steamed, shucked mussels as well as lots of chopped parsley, some mint and finely chopped scallion, red pepper, carrot and garlic. Dressed it with lemon juice and good olive oil from Crete.
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