So...whats for dinner?

Looks yummy, Deb! Oh, to have a sister here cooking for me!  

Speaking of sisters, mine seems to be doing fine in her primitive VT barn/house...except for the rainy day earlier this week when she ended up with lots of water in the huge basement. She is prepping for the next anticipated warm up  with hay bales and sand bags (which her township provides...very nice!) to keep the cellar dry. Hope it works to get her through the winter and spring. She says that her entire property is a huge skating rink right now. I suspect Monica and Carrie have the same in their northern reaches!   What a crazy winter we are having!

In DH's effort to clear out our freezer, (his motivation is to get a new fridge/freezer since ours is over twenty years old with intermittent struggling... and we have soooo much in the freezer)he unearthed some lamb burgers for dinner. I took a long errand walk during which I picked up some enhancements for the burgers, (I really do love being able to do most of my errands on foot these days....even in the cold, if bundled,....like stopping at Walgreens for some skin cream, the travel agency  to pick up some ideas for our Italy trip, and the food store for a few dinner items...and when you are on foot, you don't overbuy!). When I returned home, my neighbor called to say that she just made a boatload of soup she hoped to share with us. Well, why not depart from my kale soup first course staple! So for dinner DH grilled the lamburgers while I put together the add ons, and a salad and dressing, and we first enjoyed my neighbor's sausage corn wild rice soup.....it was really yummy!

Warm thoughts going out to all......

Monica, this particular version calls for thick chops marinated in a mixture of fish sauce, brown sugar, shallot,

Laurie, hopefully hubby's discomfort is calming down.    I remember a conversation between my cousin (a doctor) and Mickey (studying to be a doctor).    The first time the two of them met was right after he had just finished doing a vasectomy.  His comment was that the anatomy books were all wrong about the vas deferens..that, despite it's location, it was most certainly attached to a man's chin.  He said that during the procedure, he would carefully "tug" on the vas deferens to make sure he had it..and every time he tugged, the man's chin would move downward.  

Moon, I can't say anything like that was in our freezer when we cleaned it out (pulled in the trash can and threw it all away) due to freezer failure.  

Lacey, I love walking to the grocery store. The way the city zoning regulations are set up, it's almost impossible for commercial establishments to be within what most people consider would be walking distance of their home...and the place isn't that walking friendly...so everyone drives.

And Deb, that spaghetti sauce looks good. 

I'm off work today....more house cleaning and about 5 hours from now, I'm taking DD to the driver license place to take her driving test so she can (!) get her driving license.....  The insurance companies say this is one of the worst places in the country for staged wrecks.......sigh.....so the insurance rates are *high*...and, in my case, going *way* up......

Laurie - Hope your DH is recovering without incident. Yay for 2 days no kids. Minestrone sounds good.

Eric - the insurance may go up but you will pay less with a DD. I still think there is some incentive for good grades too but has been awhile for us (DD is 26.5 now) so could certainly be wrong. Why is AZ so bad for staged wrecks? Monica - I forgot about the graduated license. Yes, we have that too. DD tried to change a tire once, but it had been put on with automatic wrench and she couldn't budge it. She does check her tire pressures and fills them up if needed.

MinusTwo - I've looked at Central Market, not found anything but then I'm a wimp on hotness. There is an HEB but in Burleson, south of FW. Just googled 50 miles. But I do need to go visit the cemetery where my DM's buried which is down past that. Looks like we're getting a stretch of good weather. Maybe next week.

The enchiladas did not get made. DH came home earlier than I anticipated. Ate last of turkey, made good brown rice, froz. broccoli and biscuits. We're going to clean out storage closet in a bit. Oh joy. Major rearranging. Good day to do it - rainy but nicely warmer.

Eric - best of luck to DD and to you to on your new adventures. Sure know about the driving miles.

Laurie, sounds like you are taking good care of DH during his recovery. I actally broke out laughing after reading your response to his  pre-op declaration. I could just picture you saying that with a quizzical look and it struck me as so funny! I'm sure the Pat's game will motivate him to push through any residual pain!

Apropro of our recent posts about connections with grown kids, DS2 texted DH this week to ask if he wanted to go to the Pat's game with him and his crew of friends. Then, when he heard it would be raining (but fortunately, not freezing!) for the whole game (and tailgating time) he gave DH the chance to opt out, but my DH would rarely wimp out of anything due to weather....so off they will go....and I get to happily watch the drenched fans from the warm/dry family room. Actually that makes me think....I can make them some tasty cookies for their tailgating and it gives me a chance to use my new kitchen aid mixer blade, while not having to have any high caloric "product" in the house!

Hope the driving test went well, Eric. My two sons had such different approaches to that process...DS1 was dying to drive, and called every single day to be sure he could get the earliest possible test date. He finally succeeded and it snowed on that day...he actually took his test in the snow storm! DS2 was way more relaxed about the whole thing, maybe because DS1 was usually willing and able to drive him whereever. Definitely a family milestone, Eric. Congratulations!

OH bananas Eric....so frustrating!

Laurie  Now is the time (while he is under the influence) to take the credit card and run!  LOL Was totally laughing at his comment to you...probably felt like he was going in front of the firing squad.  My BIL just had this done and he had an allergic reaction to the metal clips and his "stuff" swelled to the size of huge grapefruits....no kidding...I saw them!  In spite of all the ice...he could not walk for a week. When he finally made an appearance in public, they still barely fit in his shorts....boy did we have fun at his expense!  never seen anything like it in all my nursing career.

Anyways....staying home tonight, leftover something for dinner. Maybe popcorn.

My brother was circumcised as an adult. Turned out he was allergic to the iodine they used to swab the incision.   Looked like he had a third thigh.  Could only wear sweats for a couple of weeks.  His wife was not happy.

laurie - my DH was hilarious on the valium they gave him for his vasectomy - because he was active duty military at the time and on flying status he was never allowed to take much in the way of medication other than Tylenol or Advil - so he had never taken valium - he insisted that he could drive home from the procedure!  Not!  He had a colonoscopy a few years ago, was the same way - DD had to take him because I had a consult at the same time for a tumor in my calf, and she was mortified because he was like an extremely happy drunk and kept asking to fill out a customer service survey because everyone at the medical center was so great he wanted management to know.  She kept saying "dad, come on we have to get in the car..."

We're on vacation in Whitefish, MT~~~skiing and relaxing before next week's lumpectomy. We ate at my favorite restaurant last night. I had blackened salmon salad, with organic mixed greens, blue cheese, grapes, apples, roasted pecans and citrus vinagrette. It was delicious. DH had chicken fried steak, smashed Yukon gold potato and Mac & cheese. They are known for their homemade pies, many with huckleberries, but I had chocolate pie and he had coconut cream.

Today is our last day here, so while DH skies in heavy snow and howling winds, I'm headed into town to shop and have lunch at a little cafe. I already know I'm going to order a BLAT~~~bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato on homemade wheat toast!

We've skied a lot and enjoyed the spectacular scenery. It's been nice to get away before next week's reality. We've gotten 24" of snow on the mountain since Tuesday!

Best to all, with and without testicular issues! Gina

gina - good luck with your surgery - glad you had some fun beforehand.

auntie - what a culinary adventure - I'm drooling!  Since I have given up gluten, I am vicariously imagining I can smell the bread you are baking!

Lacey, cuccidati is an Italian fig cookie. Rather like the best fig newton you ever ate. I make them at Christmas sometimes.

Oh nance sounds great. Lacey is there something about popcorn we don't know??? LOL

Tonight DH took me out to eat. The only thing interesting was the Berkshire pork chop. Yum. Grilled , tender and juicy. But OMG was it fatty. but good. Did I mention it was good? LOL.  The loin area was so tender. I had to stop myself from picking up the bones and Sucking on them. Charred fat.... lots of it. LOL There's a theme going on here. Hmm. Christmas party was ham. Neighborhood party was pulled pork. Dinner out was pork chop. What mineral or enzyme does pork have that I'm craving? went through this one time before and all I wanted was steak. At that time I was anemic and didn't know it. Strange. LOL.  

Nance, your description of cuccinati reminded me of the tadales my mother used to make....and I sometimes still do. They have a prune, walnut, orange zest filling, dipped in sugar rather than icing.

Now that I see your recipe, I think these would be fun to make....and eat!

Luv, my DH texted me that the rain wasn't too bad, but the walk to the stadium from wherever they parked was a grueling trek thru some woods. Hahahaha. That's a first.....but one never knows what awaits when you hang with thirty year olds. Can't wait to hear about it.....:)