So...whats for dinner?

Pork loin - my favorite is plain, old-fashioned sage; or apricot-chipotle sauce.

I met my friend Pat for lunch at Cafe Express today when she came to town to run errands. She also met her son to get his dog to keep for a week while they go skiing, so we had to find someplace we could see the car & with a green space close by to walk the dog before she headed back North. I had a mushroom & swiss burger, and she had a plate w/3 different salads. Nothing spectacular, but fun to see her & visit.

Worked on taxes all afternoon & I'm still full from lunch so maybe dinner will be chocolate ice cream.

I figure that as long as I still have hair and it looks good long, I’m keeping it long. Bob & Gordy don’t take well to change--so if I cut my hair for any reason other than chemo it’d really shake them up. (28 years ago when I went from strawberry to ash blonde it took Bob awhile to accept it). Longer hair balances me out too--it’s the length & the volume. I don’t believe that it’s not age-appropriate. (Although there are certain things a 65-yr-old would be wise not to wear, such as miniskirts, stilettos, and “smoky eye” makeup).

Bummed out tonight. For the second time in a row, our house concert was postponed--this time due to a nasty bug going around that decimated our audience and caused a raft of RSVP cancellations. (Bob himself was up half the night hacking). Getting really antsy to perform--next gig isn’t till May (the weekend before my benefit concert for Vital Touch in Hickory, NC). The weather is gorgeous this weekend--but Tues. through Thurs. winter’s coming back, with snow. Might make it difficult for me to attend the BCO Michigan meetup Sat. morning in Jackson).

So because we had tonight suddenly free, I grilled outdoors for the first time since Nov. Got some really nice Black Angus grass-fed strip steaks, seasoned with cracked pepper and espresso-infused sea salt. Accompanied it with oven-roasted Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, and baby rainbow carrots in curry-honey sauce. Wine was a 2011 Etna Rosso we brought back with us from Sicily.

good afternoon! Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Special K, your dinner sounds delicious. Good to hear you didn't have traffic on your way home from Orlando.

Minus, ugh, my hubby and I need to do our taxes, which we plan on doing this coming weekend via Skype or phone. Never fun.

Carberry, Sounds like a fun day with your mom, and it sounds like there were fun purchases for both your folks. I hope your dad is well enough to go to the event at the senior center. Which med is giving bad SEs?I lost my mom over ten years ago to breast cancer, and miss her everyday, but I'm so grateful to have my dad. I've been in Cleveland with him since August, and have plans to go back to CA in April, but it's so hard to leave him.

Went out for a lovely dinner with my dad last night. I had Caesar salad (no croutons), hangar steak, cooked to a perfect mid rare with sautéed spinach and grilled asparagus. My dad had short ribs, which were sous vide for 12 hours, and it was phenomenal. I've been wanting a sous vide machine for a while, but now I'm obsessed. They're expensive, so I'm going to let DH know that this is what I would like for my birthday, which is in April. Oh yeah, was rear ended today. Nobody was hurt, and it wasn't a big deal, but what a pain!

Tonight is leftovers from dinner out last night

chisandy, that sounds like a fun night!

Hsant, glad you enjoyed dinner with your Dad. Hope he wasn't with you when you got rearended!

Specialk traffic us always bad diwn there isn't it? It I'm glad you enjoyed dinner.

Lacey, i hope your friend can enjoy her time with you and relax. When you're in the middle If crisis after crisis it's hard to relax. And, roasted radishes? I've never had those. Sounds intriguing.

Minus glad you had fun either your friend. I hope your port works again for you. I still have mine and get it flushed every 4 weeks. It's my umbrella defense you know. If I have an umbrella, it doesn't rain. Hey, it's worked so far. LOL.

Going to post this and continue in another before I lose it. LOL

<boring house update> Yea. So much progress, but the minute I left on Saturday, the whole crew must have left. Not a thing was done besides a shower head installation. So, no painting the baby's room today. I am now officially irritated. We had a whole group of people ready to wash, clean, and paint the second floor. The Great Sergio will see a less-than-happy-Susan tomorrow morning. I have a punch list, and I want it done by the end of the day Thursday. Tomorrow morning I meet with the shower glass person and the closet person. My husband and I are having a lunch date in between. <end irritated boring house update>

I seem to have less work than normal which means I have the energy to focus on some other crap, like cleaning the "renovation desk." It is now cleaned up and the computer that lives over there is loaded with tax software. That is next. For Sunday "brunch" Mr 02143 wanted pancakes, so I made the some buttermilk pancakes, fried eggs, and bacon. Dinner was leftovers of the pork tenderloin, potatoes, and the german cabbage salad which had lost its "specialness." This morning, I dumped some chickpeas into water. After the kids were done in the kitchen, I cooked them in the pressure cooker, and then made some of them into hummus. I divided the rye starter [did I mention that Mr. 02143 cleaned the fridge and THREW OUT MY STARTER?????] that I started on Thursday and made some rye crackers with the discard. I had hoped to start some marmalade, but somehow, that just didn't happen. The crackers aren't bad, but not great. They need some herbs, spices, salt, something to make them fully enjoyable. Doesn't mean they won't get eaten, however.

*susan*

Lacey, your ML meal sounds very appetizing. It would be nice to walk to a store and buy fresh haddock. We're having two catfish fillets for dinner. They were frozen (by me) in water and are thawing--in a container of water. I went back to WW this morning so I'm in Smart Points mode. Instead of pan frying the fish, I will brush the fillets lightly with EVOO, season and bake at a high temperature. Side will be a couple of veggies. Asparagus and a second veggie from those on hand: turnips, cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes, carrots, butternut squash.

I do enjoy WW meetings. The Monday morning meeting is quite large and attended by women of all ages and sizes. There is such a sense of camaraderie. I'm not thrilled with the re-done web site, though. I liked the previous one better. Wish me luck as I drool over the meals described by some of you.

Tonight's dinner will feature some lovely little lamb loin chops that dh will grill. He has some of his baked beans left over from Sunday. He may want a helping of those as one side. I will have steamed broccoli with fresh lemon juice. Our salad will be either fresh spinach or romaine with slices of pear, crumbles of blue cheese and some walnut pieces. Dressing will be home-made vinaigrette. Dessert will be a couple of Hershey's dark chocolate kisses.

Hope the dads are ok and everybody else is ok, too.

Susan - definitely not to late to pass on your greetings to Pat. We generally talk every week even though we only see each other every couple of months due to the 1-1/2 distance. The distance is made longer because neither of us care to drive after dark, so we see each other more in the summer. What a lovely story about the painters. Looking good!!! Glad you got to delay the onslaught of the next tx.

Lacey - a neighbor went to La Madelaine restaurant & brought us all some lemon Madelaines last week. They were melt in your mouth good but I'm sure wouldn't stand up to yours.

Carole - I so admire your dedication to weight watchers when needed. I just seek to keep gaining even eating only one meal a day w/no sweets. Hopefully I'll get back to walking this spring.

Moon - I don't care for eggplant either. Any plan from your doc yet about the implant leak? It will be fun to hear about your dinners. Cooking for one is problematic.

Hsant - sorry you were rear ended. Glad to hear everyone is OK but it's such a mess.

Dinner today was at noon on the way home from the doc's office after getting a cortisone shot for my trigger thumb. Rainbow trout, French green lentils, lightly sauteed spinach with pecans, homemade rosemary bread - and a lovely glass of Hahn Meritage. I could only eat half so tomorrow's meal is ready to warm. If there's any supper tonight, it might be popcorn & apples.

Usually I can just wipe the skillet out with a dry paper towel. If it's kind of "nasty', I'll put some water in it and rub with a paper towel. If it's *REALLY* nasty, I put some water in the skillet and use one of the nylon scrubbers. Maybe once per month I'll need to use the last option. No matter what, I'll put it back on the stove on low for a few minutes.

Sometimes I wish i had more time for hobbies, but that's OK. What I do saves quite a bit of money and will hopefully allow us to retire sooner than "normal" and then I can get back to my hobbies.

My mom is on antibiotics and despite the Imodium, she's needing lots of showers...sigh... The antibiotics and D train are causing the usual wild changes in effectiveness of Warfarin, so she's needing weekly "finger stick" INR measurements.

Moon, I've never tried the pre-planned / pre=packaged meals unless one wants to count MREs. Meals Ready to Eat.....

Hsant, that sucks about the collision. I'm glad no one was hurt. That's the most important. Next is the hope they have insurance and the insurance company will not be difficult.

For what it's worth, spring is here in Phoenix. I think it was 89F degrees today and is likely to be 90F tomorrow. It's actually very comfortable in the shade and not too bad in the sun. It's not anything like 90F in the Carolinas. Still, it's a busy time for the EMTs and paramedics. Baseball spring training season is here and lots of folks from elsewhere are here. While 90F is comfortable, one must drink water and eat a bit to not get dehydrated/electrolyte imbalanced. When folks don't, or drink too much beer instead, they get the attention of the medics.

Susan, I don't blame you for not launching an investigation. :-) That is neat about the painting, I like the colors. It sounds like things are starting to come together and will be in time for the new baby. Installing the electrical outlets, switches and the cover plates will go pretty quickly. Ceiling lights may take a bit longer, mostly because of moving a ladder around, but even that is still not too time consuming. Ceiling fans, depending on circumstances, can be OK or can cause an electrician to use words not heard around Sunday School.

Dinner tonight was a chicken that I cooked last night in a dutch oven. DD made it into a rice dish, and she prefers chicken for this to have a non crispy skin, so I just splash the chicken with Alder Smoked Salt, put it all in the dutch oven, cover it up and cook it at about 275F until it's done.

UhOh...MIL just called asking if we know about emergency vet hospitals. She has a cat and that's not a good question to be asking.

Had about half (mostly white meat) a roast chicken to finish or freeze, so I took the meat off and froze the carcass for eventually making stock. Decided to make a sort of chicken Cacciatore. Spiralized half a zucchini and half a yellow summer squash, nuked the “zoodles” 30 sec. and tossed them with salt and EVOO in a skillet I held over the pot in which my son’s spaghetti was boiling. In a large pan, sauteed a Cubanelle pepper cut into strips along with some minced garlic and EVOO. Added a sliced mushroom and a little red wine (about a Tbs. of a Bota Box blend), then the chicken, 3 sprigs of fresh oregano (stripped & chopped) and 1/2 c. Trader Giotto’s Marinara. Added a Tbs. of the pasta cooking water. Served half of it over my “zoodles” and stirred the spaghetti into the rest for my son. Served with 2 oz. of Etna Rosso brought back from Sicily (I love that Coravin--I have 3 bottles of really good red wines ready to sample whenever I want).

Oh, Sandy, you have reminded me that I need to try out the veggie spiralizer I bought some time ago.

Oh Susan, what a nice story after all the aggravation. Pretty green and I love the shower tile. It's exciting all the things that are coming together!

Just got back from the retina doc -- twice yearly check on the weird eye disease -- all is well with no changes. (I hate getting my eyes dilated. They will stay dilated through most of the evening. Ugh.) Now tomorrow if I can get through the cancer doc with the same report I'll be a happy camper.

Happily, my dad is doing great! The stent has done wonders. The foot ulcers have healed, he is walking more and more each day, he no longer needs oxygen and he is much more his old self. I'm very hopeful he can be released soon. The Senior Services caseworker visited dad yesterday and said he would qualify for extra help when he is discharged, at least for the first few weeks he is home. That's great news for me (and him.) We had a bit of a scare when, like Eric's mom, dad developed pretty severe diarrhea. They tested him for C diff, a potential side effect of all the antibiotics he's been taking, but thankfully, it came back negative. He seems to be over it now. I hope your mom gets over hers soon too Eric. I worry so much about dehydration with them. Red, how is your dad doing with assisted living?

I admire everyone's food discipline. I'm all over the place with eating, grabbing way too much fast food and snacks instead of real meals. Monica, I too am interested in your delivered food report. It sounds like it might be a good thing for one or two.

Oh Lacey, Meyer lemon madeleines. I can just taste them!

I love Thai food although I can't convince DH that he would. I keep telling him that it's spicy but he remains unconvinced. Although all of the Pad Thai I've had has been too sweet for my taste, so has not been a favorite of mine. But I probably need to try it somewhere a little more upscale than the corner carryout places I've gotten it from. I love noodles so much, it pains me to give up on it.

DH has strict instructions to wash the cast iron only with water and paper towels. Don't tell him, but I have been known to use a tiny bit of soap on really stubborn stuff with no ill effects. My cast iron is pretty well seasoned.

I killed my sourdough starter finally through neglect. I felt guilty for several days but happy not to have it's care hanging over my head. Rye starter is a different matter. Susan - at least Mr. 02143 cleans out the fridge. I am constantly looking at jelly or pickle jars with 1/4 tsp or half of a lone pickle in them. It makes me crazy! I don't remember the last time DH threw out something that was unrecognizable. On the other hand, he disposes of the birds that kill themselves flying into the windows, even though it makes him very sad, so maybe it's a fair trade.

I am actually sort of cooking tonight -- grilled ham steak, sauteed asparagus with lemon and parm, applesauce and some scalloped potatoes.

Small starter update. Yesterday's bake was not a complete success. Today, I pulled the other half of the dough from the fridge this morning and nothing happened for hours. I was shocked after 8 hrs that the dough was still really cold! I fired up the bread proofer and let the dough hang out in the sauna, and it rose! It doubled! So it was alive! A second rise and bake. It might actually be edible bread! I will find out in the AM. With Mr. 02143's Costco run, we now have smoked salmon, so that will be breakfast.

After my last post, I received confirmation that the floors were done today, so tomorrow I will paint the closets. The electrician will finish the second floor outlets, lights, and switches. And between 1-5 we are expecting the washer/dryer. This is Mr. 02143 and my housewarming gift to the kids. Now the kids have to start packing! Inch by inch....

*susan*

Bob had a focus group in Oakbrook tonight, so we met for dinner at Mon Ami Gabi. I’d been primed for steak frites, but he’d been eating on and off all day and wanted something light. So we had house salads and shared a chilled seafood platter (lobster, oysters, shrimp and salmon-avocado tartare). Unfortunately, I was ambushed by a wonderful freshly-baked crusty-chewy baguette.

OH my Carole those sound delightful. I found the chicken recipe on the net. Don't know why my DH doesn't care for orzo but he does love his rice. I even have some whole wheat orzo.

Made another stir fry the smoked sausage one and we ate on it for a couple of days. Tuesday night I took a friend to vote and then left her there for her Bible study. We were in line almost an hour, amazing for a small town. Thank goodness the assoc. pastor had left the wheelchair for her to get in and out. I'm not up to getting hers in/out of the car. So I think we snacked around Tues night. Last night was totally unhealthy hot dogs. I must find something better tonight. It might be the chicken fajita salad which not great is better than hot dogs.

Oh Susan I am loving the totally boring house updates. Sounds like real progress. When is peanut due to arrive? Agree with Carole kitchen pictures or anything else you want to send.

Minus I missed your leaving time. Hope you have a fantastic trip and get all the seafood you can handle. And yummy sourdough.

DD's "boyfriend" in Boston uses a meal service. She could not remember the name - I said "Blue Plate" because that's the one I was seeing advertised at the time. She said yes but I think it could have been any of them. I'm sure it works out for him being single though I do think he can cook OK for a guy. I think they might have had one of the meals when she was there.

Carrie - I identify with the mailbox dilemma. We've had ours knocked down once I'm quite certain by the teen down the street. Not flattened but enough DH had to temp. reset it while I shopped for a new one. I have the kind with the flag on it to let you know mail has been delivered. Not that far out to it but when it's nasty outside it is very helpful. I also have a PO Box in town. We got that a month b4 we closed on the house so we had something to start getting stuff sent to. I prefer anything that is important go there. Do not trust being out here even though we are not on the main road. I've expressed to DH whether they will try to lump us into a community mailbox when the new houses just to our N get finished. He says no but I'm not certain of that. Will just wait to see. I know some routes that do not have indiv. delivery and they are certainly not new houses by any stretch - much older than ours.

Sandy - haha. Ambushed by bread. Thats the stuff that happens to me.