So...whats for dinner?

luv - I love those Rolo things!!  I lay out as many mini pretzels as will fit on a jelly roll pan and put a rolo on top.  Put them into a low oven for 3-4 minutes, then take them out and top them with either a pecan half or another pretzel, and gently push down so the rolo squishes. I have also used the butter snap pretzels (the little square ones).  They are bite sized and you get the sweet, salty, crunchy, creamy thing - awesome!  You can actually make them in the microwave too.

Luv, meant to say that my niece's children think a grilled cheese is made the same way. Toast with a slice of "American" plastic cheese melted onto the white bread toast in the microwave.

My only problem with the Rolos and pretzels was that Rolos were 99 cents for 8 candies. Ridiculous. Much better treat to bake maybe at Halloween time. Maybe WallyWorld or Target would have had big bags. Not here in town. But think they turned out good. In refrigerator at the the moment. Need to get them out and put in container. Special - Planters had small tins of salted caramel peanuts. That's what I used about 3 to a Rolo. The one I had to taste test was good. It's funny - this was an adaptation of a recipe from KAF in email last week using their block caramel, chocolate disks. Someone made a comment about using the Rolos and I latched onto it.

Cinnamon chip oatmeal bars cooling. I think maybe a bit crumbly. I would have been better off to have made the cookies but didn't want to juggle cookie sheets. I'll take the easy way out anytime. But then the bars have hardly cooled. As usual I will prob. cut them and run out the door.

Carole - weather has no idea what's going to happen. Now snow removed from forecast. I don't care but do think it will be much colder. Last month's electric bill was the highest I believe we've had. Have a heat pump which we use unless it's really cold and then heat pump just can't keep up. It was on a lot in January. Even out ac I don't think was this bad a bill. But I do not recall what it was in the summer of 2011 when we had record 100s.

It sure is quiet on here. 

I took a cousin out to lunch today.  We ate at Crabby Shack, a locally owned and operated restaurant, and had a fish special, Baby Drum.  It was delicious.  Pan-fried with a creamy shrimp sauce which I had served on the side.  I had not heard of this type of drum fish.  This cousin lives next door to my mother and mows my mother's lawn all summer so I wanted to do something nice for her. 

For dinner we'll have skirt steak prepared in some way.  Maybe fajitas with home-made tortillas, black beans, coleslaw, and guacamole.  I also have fresh broccoli so thought I would look up beef and broccoli recipes, just out of curiosity.  It might be better to cook something I wouldn't particularly like since I had a nice lunch.  I would definitely like fajitas with those ingredients mentioned. 

Seems I'm into flat breads.  Pitas.  Tortillas. 

Up early this morning and off to Quest Diagnostics to have bloodwork.  There were no orders in the computer for the bloodwork so it was a wasted trip.  I don't see any point in going to my PCP prior to bloodwork but it seems that's the way she wants it these days.  All we can do is look at each other and talk. 

Hope everybody is ok and that Lacey's dh is doing well. 

At the request of Mr. 02143, we are having a baked pasta again. Who knew it made him so happy? With another 12" of snow predicted, he will need his stamina. Wish that we had a note from Lacey about how Mr. Lacey is progressing, and when he will be coming home. Can only hope it is either before or after this blizzard. Really, they are saying another bloody blizzard!

Joyce, that is a lot of golf! So glad they enjoyed the dinner you provided, and of course, that they are enjoying each other's company so very much.

Bedo, I use green beans in minestrone soup. Some veggie stock warmed with parmesan rinds would make a great base, and then throw in your veggies. Would give you a new flavor to enjoy.

I have never eaten a Rolo, much less a Rolo with pretzels. Sometimes I am amazed by all the things I have never tried. Heck, that I never even knew about!

Felt pretty punky after treatment yesterday. But there was [yup] snow coming out of the sky so I had to make our dinner. So sick of this snow!

*susan*

Susan, my dh would always be happy with baked pasta.  I would, too, for that matter if I could eat all those carbs without becoming obese. 

Nance, thank you for recommending soba noodles.  I got around to cooking half of the package I bought a few weeks ago.  First I did some research, of course, and learned the importance of rinsing the noodles well in cold water after cooking.  I liked them plain but they were very tasty in the sauce of the beef and broccoli dish I made, following a recipe on Epicurious.  I even ate a little dish of it while dh consumed two generous servings on a dinner plate.  To be honest this was the first time I ever actually used a recipe for a stir fry dish.   I was surprised that one of the ingredients was medium dry sherry. 

I spotted another recipe in Epicurious for soba noodles and beef that looked good so I printed it out.

I will have to google rolo so I'm not so uninformed.

Nance, I can empathize with your worry about your dad.  At least I am close to my mother and can drive to her house in about 15 min.  That was actually one reason we bought this house.  Eric, I hope your mom is doing better. 

My computer quit and it's hard to type on the phone..but I am reading....

Eric

Hi all, I will try to give an update before cleaning up my dinner mess and hitting the sack. I am pretty tired in a very different way than DH feels. He just called and sounded and claimed to be totally exhausted...could barely finish the call. Post bodily trauma....And He has finally noticed the un ignorable (word?)snoring of the man in his room. Guess DH has gotten back in touch with reality. Today has been one of decisions, and fortunately the upshot is that he will come home tomorrow just as the storm is starting. Hopefully no one will be heading into town, so I can pick him up on time, and he can try to readjust to his routine here, with many modifications for a few weeks. We have all sorts of equipment to support him. Fortunately, it seems that since many men close to his age that we know have had hip surgeries, (what's with that....always thought it was the 80 something women!)so lots of people are offering us equipment. He will probably just need things like that for less than two weeks so we are happy to borrow.

It was a confusing day for him since there were varying opinions about his going to rehab for a few days vs. home. In reality, given the storm forecast, he'd be sitting in rehab with no PT able to get to work....not good for his hip! So I will be his PT and keep him moving. ))))

Speaking of "moving", I have been shoveling like a crazy person....partially because I just could not let my generous neighbor do it all for us. He will be doing plenty in the next few days after the storm, with his snowblower. So yesterday I spent two hours extracting DH's car from two snowbanks in our driveway. Boy was that snow heavy! Made me very happy that I have been in decent shape to even try it! Three years ago, I would be in traction after what I shoveled yesterday. I took two ibuprofen and rubbed in some Arnicare (my trainer uses that and recommended it for sore muscles) and I was great this AM!

And of course, the mounds in my driveway are way over my head, so it is hard to throw the snow over them. I resorted to walking each shoveled pile down the street to where the berm pile was a bit flat. There is a part of me that feels very hardy doing this job in the freezing cold! However, I was annoyed at the many teenagers walking past who saw this old gal carrying big shovels of snow, and not only never asked if I needed help, but never even looked at me or said hello. Twenty five years ago, my boys walked the neighborhood with shovels looking for folks who needed help. You just do not see that anymore here, which is sad. Are these kids so totally entitled that they see no need to help or even work for a fee?! Kind of sad. Don't get me wrong, I was doing fine...but was surprised that when I even tried to say "hi" to these guys, they never even acknowledged that they saw me.

Today after doing some inside work (laundry mainly so everything would be crisp and nice for the return of DH), I spent a long time trying to chip into some ice dams from a second floor window with a squeeze mop, then with one of those heavy ice choppers. Must have been a funny sight from outside. Susan hope you have no leaks so far. We have only one that seems to be encapsulated within a window frame and going no place important (fingers crossed!!)tho it is disconcerting to hear the dripping! I keep looking for puddles on the floor.

Then, I decided to make DH very happy and shovel a path to the grill.....Oy! It involved going through four feet of packed snow, and there were two pathways....one which lead to our back door. Yay....we can get out now...at least until Sunday. I just could not let the new snow form on top of all that which was already there.

This is really an amazing winter. On the plus side....I am so enjoying inspecting the many animal tracks that are atop our mounds of snow on the property. Really interesting! I take photos of them and send them to DGS to see if he can identify what animals they are.

Food report: So after eating cheese and crackers one night, then yogurt and walnuts last night. I was dying for some real food after all that shoveling. So tonight, I made something I was eager to try...a broccoli rabe/chicken/bacon/winter squash medley with oriecchiette pasta. It was very nice and I have plenty leftover for DH to enjoy!

However, tomorrow night (when we are skipping the chili night at church), our DDIL is ordering us dinner from one of our favorite local restaurants. We asked for Greek Salad, Braised Lamb with roasted vegetables, and paella. How is that for a blended Valentine's Dinner? DDIL and DS1 had wanted to come here to see DH, but I convinced that that the storm was going to be so bad that they would not want to risk the trip. I managed to avoid mentioning that DH would not have a very fun visit with our very active grands who would inevitably be crashing into his hip. Ah...nope! So, sad as we are to not see them this is a better plan. I hope they can get here sometime in later weeks. We are thankful that DS1 did get DH a wonderful surgeon to perform his procedure. Seems to be going well. There have been some low blood pressure concerns, but I think DH has been dehydrated and his BP has gone up nicely since he has paid better attention to that.

So, tomorrow morning before I leave for the hospital, the roof shovelers are supposed to arrive. Please do!! I just am so nervous about accommodating another foot of snow on our slightly pitched family room roof with what is already there. Once the temp rises, all of Boston is in real trouble, for sure, but I will feel better if we can get rid of at least some of it.

Okay, I do need to get some shut eye...which means cleaning up the kitchen first...ugh! I am posting a pic of the little creation I enjoyed tonight.

Carole, I know my DH is dying to take a trip....maybe we will head to NOL...that food just sounds so darn good

Thinking of making beef stir fry for dinner.

Moon Ahahahaha! Love that twinkle in the baby's eye.

Lacey, you really are in good shape!!!

Goats How are the goats?? Love your idea of grilled cheese, I think I'll make it with

Susan's great idea for minestrone soup. I think I'll put in great northern as I'm not crazy about navy beans'

Have to pick up a friend who doesn't have a car and go to Farmer's market and the supermarket before the next "storm". All the bread and milk will be gone as usual. I always wonder what's up with that- are they making milk sandwiches?

Happy Valentines Day!

or Singles Awareness Day! / Love Yourself/Cat/Family/Friends Day as the case may be.

Carole, take pictures, please!!

Oh Red, how awful. But you sound quite resourceful lol! Hope you heal completely and quickly.

Susan, I keep meaning to ask, how did the English muffin bread turn out?

The guy at my fave Asian market pronounces it Sh-ow Sheeng. I wasn't looking at the bottle so I probably spelled it wrong lol!

I usually tear out the pages of the magazines, that way I can throw what I don't want away. Right now the only ones I subscribe to have kindle copies that are accessible, so I don't have to worry about throwing away something I might want later.

Ha ha Eric

Moon, your DGD looks like such a happy little one, and I am also so happy that you and she get to enjoy each other a few times each week. Lucky both of you! Good timing!

Of course the snow is falling as I write this....ahhhhhh! I basically like snow too, Bedo, ...otherwise I'd be in a warm climate in winter with all of my other (smarter?) retired friends. But this latest month here has been a bit much in many ways. I feel so badly for the retailers in Boston. Commerce has been badly affected for sure. And the stress level of people who have not been able to get to work on the T. Yikes! Today our new governor asked people to consider next week, Valentine's week, (given that so much would be cancelled tonight and tomorrow) and to please go out to eat, buy flowers,etc. etc. We'll see how that works out.....guess it can instill hope in folks who are still waiting for the Valentine's treat that didn't happen!

Red, you sound like you have a good plan for recovery already and yes, are you resourceful with all your new one handed strategies!

Today I awoke early...tho was really tired after being up waaaaay late getting the house in order for the return of DH in debilitated form. I was eager to see the roof guy show up and he did in late AM, suggesting that he thought the roof would be fine until Monday and he would shovel it then. I shared my worry (based on nothing but the huge mountains of snow that no roof should bear!) about trying that route, and he ended up sending a guy out an hour later. That poor guy worked his tail off without stopping for four hours, and cleared the whole roof while not refilling the driveway, and only partially filling the back path that I worked so hard on yesterday. I didn't even care. I was so happy it was getting done. It was tricky because this shovel man had a really severe hearing and speech impairment, so it was hard to communicate with him about being mindful of where the skylight was 'hiding' under four feet of snow! But we finally got it. Then at one point the poor guy dropped his shovel and when I returned home with DH, he was "swimming" on top of the snow drifts to reach it in the back heard where he was trying to throw all the shoveled snow. It is a crazy situation on our property. We paid a small fortune to have this done, but you can bet that this man saw very little of that sum. We gave him a generous tip for his hard work in the freezing temps and driving snow. I am so thankful, especially since tonight DH is sleeping in the family room as he is not yet ready to handle our tall staircase.

So the trip to and from the hospital today was pretty uneventful, and the most challenging part was getting DH in and out of the car. He is in pain a lot and sooo protective of his hip! Poor guy. But boy, if I were ever to be a home health aide (won't happen!), I would need to be partnered with a cook, cleaner and laundry person. It is so consuming....but I think probably because it's the first day home....and being dependent and "fragile" is out of character for DH. So I have to adjust to that. We are definitely moving into a big role reversal to get through this healing/recovery phase. Hope I make it! Tho I may just be tired after all the home maintenance this week. Fortunately, DS2 already communicated from Chicago (last visit before Chicago girl moves here next week)that he'll stop in on Monday when he returns to help out. Yes!!

Tonight's dinner was, as expected, delicious and plentiful, so we will have Sweet Basil leftovers....yay! And I have all the leftovers from the broccoli rabe/chicken meal I made last evening. So I can ignore the cooking for a bit....and will need to...until DH can feel a bit more independent. He is usually a fast healer. Hoping for that!

I hope you all had a nice Heart Day.

Carole, yes, please take pix of your parade experience. It will remind me of Treme. Loved that show and all of the colorful cultural presentations by the actors

Nite all...and please excuse all my typos...this crazy IPad will not cooperate with letting me go back and make corrections....very annoying. Changed my browser, but no change