So...whats for dinner?
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Special....adorable cupcakes!! And you reminded me that I must sometime USE that free 60 day membership that BJs mails to me every few months. Several years ago I stopped getting big box store memberships, but do like some of their offerings. And your "hitch the house" reference made me laugh since often when we go away, DH suggests we just hitch the whole house to the car.
when we built our lake house, we used to muse about how neat it would be to just jump in the car and go.....right?? Wrong!! There are always a lot of supplies that need to be brought.....and then, sometimes, returned home....depending on their expiration dates! . Silly us!
Smurfette, happy that your DH is taking good care of you. H-E-A-L fast and well!
It is VERY late after a busy day closing up the lake house....then I drove us home after DH got to watch the Cubbies (very little traffic, yay!), unpacked here (more organizing!!), and relaxed. But I am pretty jacked up so decided to post....I am such a night owl!! Always have been. Will never understand how I held a job for which I needed to arise at 6AM!
Anyway, Nance, I have to say, while we watched the Cubs game, I felt for you. How disappointing... However, having recently been at Wrigley with DS2 and Chicago girl, we have adopted the Cubbies as our fave Nat'l League team....at least for a while. The historical scenario is so similar to that of our Sox. And boy does that city love their sports teams!
Susan, so glad that your birthday dinner was OUT!! And that you might be able to make it a birthday rest of week by the sound of the portion sizes. Perfect!
I am excited that I was able to eat some of the lobster salad I made, before we hit the road, with no ill effects. Yay!
Minus, glad you are catching up on some needed rest!
I think I might need to catch some ZZZZs now.....
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DH chose lamb chops out of a choice of lamb, beef, pork or chicken for dinner. I bought gorgeous (expensive) loin chops at Winn Dixie this week. I can justify the expense when I think about ordering lamb at a good restaurant. We'll have asparagus as the veggie side and a lettuce salad with additions.
Smurfette, there's nothing like a caring dh to help you recover from bc surgery and to lend support through whatever treatment follows. What is he cooking for you? We're extremely inquisitive about what people are eating!
It's a lovely day here and I'm doing house cleaning, out of choice. Actually I'm doing a fall version of spring cleaning. The stuff will be accumulating for the Veterans charity truck to pick up. I no longer cart things off to Goodwill after learning it's a for profit business.
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Really? Good Will is for profit? Wow! I have donated tons of stuff there!
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Yes, it is, Sunshine. It does hire people with disabilities. That's the reason, I assume, that people can claim donations as charitable contribution.
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I'm confused about the Goodwill "for profit" comment since Charity Navigator gives them a high rating. But it looks like there are discrete GoodWill industries in different geographical areas. I regularly donate my clothing and small household goods to the VietNam Vets of America. My understanding is that they sell the items and use the proceeds for the VVA programs that support the Vets.
We also have a "generic ministry" in our town which consists of a number of caring folks that keep a van with donated clothing and personal care needs. Twice a week, it goes into Boston with these local volunteers and clothes and other items are distributed to the homeless along with sandwiches. I always know exactly where my clothes donations go when I direct them to this small organization, but I would guess that such groups are rare...and financially hard to keep going.
Just returned from an hour walk during which I stopped at Trader Joes. They didn't have what I was looking for but I noticed that they have the Pesto Gouda cheese that DH and I really like. It has been missing! The cheese manager was there and told me that they just recently brought it back....nice! It's a colorful and tasty one to add to a cheese board around the holidays.
On my own for dinner. So will make my favorite eggs over sauteed kale and veggies. I have no idea why I love that dish so much, but find myself craving it on occasion.
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I quit donating to GoodWill a long time ago since the amount of the money that goes to the needy is minuscule. Lately I've been giving everything to Salvation Army or to the local battered women's shelter. BTW - if you stay in hotels, take the shampoo & soap & shower caps, etc. The women's shelters always need emergency "cosmetics".
Was at our Med Center today so I got my shingles shot. It's such a chore to find someone who will give shots in the thigh or butt. Because of the LE, I don't want them in my compromised arms. On the way home I stopped at my favorite (American) Italian restaurant for a Heartland Salad. Several kinds of lettuce. tomatoes, avocados, hard boiled eggs, bacon, etc., and breaded chicken chunks. Yup an oldie and a staple from the early days of this restaurant in 1954. I needed the roughage and ordering the salad got me as much garlic bread as I could eat - which was more than I needed. No dinner tonight.
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Guidestar indicates that Goodwill is a non-profit. There is no one Goodwill of course. There are 1000 chapters across the country. As it happens, I generally donate to either the Boys and Girls Club or a battered woman's shelter when we are paring down.
Pantry is getting pretty bare. We ate the rest of the smoked salmon tonight. My body feels that it has eaten too many refined foods lately, so I made some French lentils with mustard and vinegar. The perfect antidote.
Tomorrow we should sign the Purchase & Sale for this house. The lawyers are not working that quickly, so we will see. However, if their lawyer is the holdup, I don't think that there will be a problem. The other side has not yet sold.... not sure why that makes me anxious.
*susan*
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Susan is right and I am wrong. I looked up Goodwill Industries and it is a nonprofit. Apparently the belief that it is for profit has been circulated on the internet. There have been some accusations about overpaid executives and underpaid disabled employees. But I'm glad I didn't haul all those carloads of items over the years to a for profit business. One year I took a load of nice clothes, some of which were still in cleaner's bags, and they were wheeled out into the store on a rack almost immediately. I saw them as I was browsing inside the store.
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Tonight's dinner is "help yourself to a rotisserie chicken from Sam's Club and anything else you can find to eat." DH and I both had lunch out today so we've eaten our big meal for the day.
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I am making a vaguely Turkish grilled chicken marinated in yogurt and "Ottoman Spices." Serving with a saffron rice topped with caramelized onions and toasted pine nuts. I will be serving two salads: the first will be with the last of the cherry tomatoes that we picked this afternoon and the other will be a simple green salad with a lemon vinaigrette. Purchase & Sale document is still at the lawyers' offices, and they have agreed that since they are the hold up, it doesn't affect the contract at all. Maybe tomorrow?
*susan*
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Carole: funny, I'm having grocery store rotisserie chicken too.
Susan: Love the thought of "Ottoman Spices". Still keeping my fingers crossed for a positive ending to the real estate saga.
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My Aunt left his am to go home after caring for my dad for 30 days. I am already about to stroke out. Dinner is a gas station pizza and 1.49 screw top Miller Lite that the attendant helped me loosen the lid on before I drove off ( I wasn't drinking and driving, just my wri\ist wouldn't work tonight and I live alone...)
And if one more person tells me to "make my own Happiness" I am probably going to prison for doing just that......
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red - I don't know if you meant your post to be hilarious, but it is! Any of who have walked in your shoes understands.
susan - we are holding our breath for the 10 days to elapse during which the buyer of the condo can back out and get their deposit back. That ends on Monday and we have not heard they are developing cold feet, so we are cautiously optimistic. Hoping you get some news soon!
Tonight was Barilla veggie pasta with meat sauce and a wedge salad with red onion and bacon, Greek yogurt ranch dressing. The leftovers are lunch tomorrow for both DD and DH.
I picked out granite and stacked stone for the outdoor kitchen. The granite is sapphire brown, stacked stone is canyon creek - you can google them and click on images. I initially wanted our same kitchen granite, but the sapphire brown has little bright blue flecks and our pool tile is cobalt. It blends with the inside existing granite well enough because it is pretty neutral. Had fun in the granite yard - and also found a slab I want for the bathroom countertops. Turns out that the kitchen contractor will put those in for us too. Yay!
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Oh Redheaded, I feel for you.... any chance to get someone in to give you some relief from the renewed difficult dad duty? It is such a challenge. Hugs coming your way!
Susan, your dinner sounded great... The "tandoorish chicken" (?)with saffron rice must be delish!
I think the cool weather got me back into cooking a bit. When I went to the grocery store after class, I bought lots of meats to use in the next couple of days....and salmon for tonight. I marinated it in a teriyaki sauce and baked it. Sides were mashed butternut squashed with ginger, salad of a loose leaf (not paper for your three ring binder!) lettuce, carrots, red onion, and grape tomatoes sprinkled with a new item from Trader's....an olive oil lemon juice mix. It does the job nicely on a naked salad. Last side was a saute of orzo, portobello shrooms, onion, and a sprinkle of balsamic (which I just added to my vegan friendly recipes:). It was all delicious and I took a picture of my colorful plate. Now I know that some folks do not like food porn, so I will hold off on displaying it. But loved those colors!!
Now if only there could be a nice slice of apple pie in this house!
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Costco run today. I lucked out and snagged one of their applewood smoked hams. That was dinner along with "butter" beans (which taste nothing like butter otherwise I would love them instead of hating the things) for dh, steamed broccoli and smashed baby potatoes for me, and cornbread. Good stuff.
Red, I feel your pain. My dad just called. He wrecked his car today. He's fine but he rear ended someone at a stop light. I have to go back over there tomorrow to take him around to various places. Of course he got a ticket. Sigh!
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Yes, I knew you would l get the humor in it. I think I should have got a small pizza and the 6 pak of beer.
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Looks like today is a Penzey's day. I need to make some harissa [new recipe] and thought originally that I might need ancho chills. Nope, found them in the pantry but then, I grabbed the jar of cumin seeds and I only have about 4 tablespoons left! This recipe will use 2 of those tablespoons. There is no way I am going to live without cumin seeds in the house. This is a flat-out emergency! I have defrosted some lamb shoulder and will make up some Merquez sausage. Again, a new recipe which I can only hope that we enjoy.
*susan*
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Susan, as always I admire your culinary energy and creativity.
Two pork chops are thawing for dinner. We will also have fresh okra and tomatoes cooked with some garlic. I will probably cook dh's chop with breading but mine without. I've been eating high protein/low carb since Monday and the lbs are dropping.
The dear man is outside washing my dirty little newish Prius. I must go and towel it off. My favorite car wash place upped its price to $25. That's too much to pay for a clean car.
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SpecialK..those cupcakes are adorable!! Love them. Think I might attempt that for my grand twin daughters and grandson!! I need to get moving on that thought...I leave for Cancun on Halloween. So looking forward to a real trip away since diagnosis.
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I found the deep orange sanding sugar at Williams Sonoma - some of the others I saw were too light. They are cute and I am sure your grands will enjoy. So glad you have a trip coming up - it will be nice to relax!
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Oh, no! how will the _02143 family survive without cumin seeds? (teasing springing from deepest sympathies--I have a cabinet of spices from Penzey's that I really need to sort through.)
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I have a Penzey's catalog that I have pored through and have not yet placed an order.
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Carole - I am horrified that LA doesn't have a Penzey's. Too bad you didn't have a chance to go while you were up north. Ordering is good but actually walking into a store & getting to smell samples of everything is a fantastic experience. Have fun with your order.
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Minus, there may be a Penzey's in New Orleans or Baton Rouge. I had never heard of Penzey's before it was mentioned on this thread. What's for Dinner? thread has been an education for this south Louisiana native! In truth I'm ok with the spices I buy in the supermarkets. But I have been meaning to order a couple of the ground peppers like Aleppo.
I went to Longhorn today to have lunch with a good friend that I don't see often enough. I checked the menu ahead of time and was all set to order the Caesar salad with grilled shrimp. Instead we both ordered a wonderful salad with romaine, bacon crumbles, and blue cheese dressing. Also some slices of medium rare steak on the plate. It was so delicious and the plating was really nice. Longhorn is about 3 minutes from my house and dh and I never go there. But I've altered my snooty attitude. The interior of the restaurant is quite attractive. I've been to a newer Texas Roadhouse a couple of times and I didn't like it at all except for the roasted peanuts.
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Just did a google search and no Penzey store in the state of Louisiana.
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Today was a very long day taking care of business with my dad. After finally getting home late this afternoon, I was too tired to think about dinner, so it was carryout pizza. Tomorrow night will be better with two fresh walleye fillets waiting in the fridge.
We have a frost/freeze warning for tonight so after I got home, I harvested most of the basil. I have 3 large vases sitting around full of basil cuttings, which smell wonderful! Pesto and pho in my future.
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The sausage was pretty crumbly, which is to be expected given the lack of emulsifier. The harissa from this book is not going to be a keeper. For now, I am going to be sticking with Ana Sortun's version from Spice. Served with some leftover saffron rice. Since, my workload is on pause while various committees confer, I know that I won't be working all that much this weekend. [Hence making sausage today.] So, we went to costco and bought hunks of beef. Bought a package of flap steak, and as I was looking at the chuck, Mr. 02143 noticed that the short ribs were $.50/lb cheaper! Score! So one of each. I have processed them into chunks and tomorrow I will grind. Two and half pounds will be 5-alarm chili, 5 lbs will become meatballs, and the rest will burgers for the grill [I think.] Tomorrow I will start some cut oats so I can have oatmeal bread this week for my Sunday breakfast at noon. Yea, I am on a cooking tear. I know that the work is still there. I know that I will get slammed. The magic freezer could use some new entries.
Never made it to Penzey's today, but will head there tomorrow. I now need ancho peppers for the chili. The kid's new house [assuming the lawyers stop yammering at each other and get me a document] will live just minutes from Penzey's. It won't be such a "voyage" if there is a grand baby to visit. Speaking of that grand baby, they had their first midwife appointment today and have been given a preliminary due date of May 8th. By my calculations, this grand baby was conceived in Copenhagen. Great start don't you think?
The stories here of Dads in decline are just so very hard to read. I guess I was lucky. As my father receded from reality he remained kind, gentle, and interested. The fact that he didn't remember what you said 10 minutes ago didn't change the underlying feature of his personality. He told stories of companies bought and sold, about his college buddies, anything at all. He was grateful when good food was put in front of him. He always said thank you and please. What I learned in those last five years was that, my father, was a truly kind and gracious person. He hadn't pretended to be someone else during his lifetime with filters.
Carole, There are a few things that I think Penzy's does particularly well. I like buying my Indian spices [whole] from them since they check for lead levels. They stock some excellent versions of Mexican chills and herbs. I think their sesame seeds and the like are far superior to the supermarket variety. In fact, my biggest issue with the supermarket is how long has a ground spice been sitting there? In general, if it is a spice that can be easily ground at home, I am going to buy the whole seed. If you would like suggestions on specific herbs and /or spices, I will let you know if I think Penzey's makes a superior product.
If work doesn't pick up again soon, you will all get very tired of hearing from me!
*susan*
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I was wondering why the thread was so suddenly quiet and I figured out I had "un-favorited" it. Oops. I read it on my smart phone and it's easy to do that.
Hi Smurf. I'm glad your husband is spoiling you. That's good! I did the same for Sharon (wife).
For the Cardinals and Cubs fans. ET (evil twin) grew up outside of Chicago and is a die hard Cubs fan. I could tell who won by the "YESSSSS!!!!!" text message that I got from her. DD, (Dodgers Fan) was sorely disappointed by that game's outcome.
Happy Birthday Susan and Special.... and Special...I've got my fingers crossed for Monday to roll around. I guess they could still back out after that, but would lose the deposit....so I'll keep crossed fingers until after the final closing.
Red, I won't tell you to make your own happiness. Your comment made me remember when I was on the receiving end of similar platitudes and how mad it would make me.
I don't have an outdoor kitchen. I've thought about it, but during the summer it's a bit too hot to stand outside any longer than needed. :-) It's kind of amusing to me to see the grill temperature gauge up onto the scale BEFORE I light the fire in the grill.
Susan, funny you should mention Penzey's. there is one in Phoenix and I was there last weekend. Sharon's cousin and her husband were our house guests last week and she (cousin) asked about spices......and away we went. That place smells so *wonderful*. Only some peppers do I get there as I grow Serranos, Habanaros, and Ghost Peppers. I either slit them with a razor and can them in a 2/3 vinegar - 1/3 water mixture or I let them dry in the Arizona sun and crush them in a mortar & pestle. The first makes a good base for a spicy salad dressing and the latter is good for adding some heat to a dish that needs it.
Tonight I've been printing out travel orders and authorizations, ticketing information and reservation stuff....I'm off to Maryland again for 2 weeks. Tomorrow it's pay mom's neighbor for all his efforts with my mom, print boarding passes, pack, get my hair cut and see why DD's car windshield wipers aren't working. Sunday morning it's "at the airport at 5:30am", so that will be an early start to the day.0 -
I have a "fragrant" cabinet in my kitchen where I stored the jars of ground spices and seeds I purchased when I was reading about mideastern and classic Italian food. I have some other things I use fairly often in that cabinet and when I open the door I inhale the fragrance.
Good point, Susan, about shelf time of the spices we buy in supermarkets. If there's no cut-off date of when to buy them, they probably sit there indefinitely. The more popular items are undoubtedly fresher.
Dinner may be chicken salad eaten about 6 pm (early for us) before we drive to Abita Springs for the Abita Opry tonight. The important thing is to be sated so I won't be tempted to visit the concession stand. Fortunately the audience is so packed into the Abita town hall that there's hardly room to eat anything. The couple who sit on our right have aisle seats and buy an extra seat that's always vacant. The concessions are junky (and tempting) foods like hot dogs and brownies. The Abita Brewery root beer is full sugar and very good.
A pork butt roast is thawing. I will stuff it with chopped garlic and green onion seasoned with salt and cayenne and pop it into the oven tomorrow morning for noon dinner at my mamma's house. I will also make a lettuce/veggie salad and cook some green beans out of the freezer. My sister Michelle is also doing Atkins. She will have to provide a carb side dish for her dh which my dh and my mother will also eat.
I'm off to the farmers' mkt in Covington this morning. Last Sat. there was a good selection of vegetables and I didn't buy much because my refrigerator was already stocked with veggies from the supermarket. The young guy was there with his beautiful oyster mushrooms and range chickens. He had already sold out of the chickens. I bought one of them last year and it was huge.
Have a great Saturday.
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The St. Louis area now has two penzeys. The original one is in an area that is pretty far from me or the places I frequent, so I did most of my shopping on line. The new one is a short distance from two of my docs, so it's easy for me to stop there. The store is one of the few places where I can find the large box of Diamond Crystal salt, my favorite kosher salt. I love their chili peppers too. I'm lucky to also have another place to get "fresh" dried herbs and spices of good quality, whose prices are somewhat cheaper than penzey's.
I will be doing a lot of drying and freezing of basil this weekend.
Carole, the pork roast sounds delicious. I need to get a pork butt.
Susan, I plan to make some merguez the next time I can find a lamb shoulder. I don't have a sausage stuffer though so it requires some planning.
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