So...whats for dinner?

Have not been cooking much - DH ate mostly leftovers at mid-week, and then left to go to S. Carolina to see his folks - was supposed to run in a race with his sisters this morning but the weather was no bueno, so they skipped it. He had gone into Charleston to pick up their race packets yesterday as the girls were en route, and by the time he got to the folks's house it had been about 12 hours since he had left here - he was tired. They have to get up at about 3;30 or 4 am to get to the race, so I think he was relieved not to go. He and his dad went out recliner shopping this afternoon - the one my FIL had been enjoying has a broken reclining mechanism, so off they went. One of his chores this weekend (after a phone call from his brother the doc) is to try to get them to stop driving, and use the next door neighbor's household helper to drive them to the grocery store, doc appts., haircuts, etc. I think they go out only a few times a week, and she is willing to help them and could use the money. Hope he has success - they need to not be operating a vehicle, too risky. My MIL has a long-standing vascular issue in one ankle and scraped the skin about a week ago when taking off her cute trendy pants (that had an ankle zipper) on the white carpet in her walk in closet. Starting bleeding like crazy and she stood there yelling for my FIL - who is mostly deaf and was probably napping, and continuing to bleed on the carpet even though the tiled bathroom floor was a couple of steps away. FIL finally showed up but they couldn't remember where the first aid kit was and it took a while to get things figured out - even though, he is a doctor and she is a nurse! MIL had a ER visit where they got her properly bandaged. The whole thing was enough for my BIL to become alarmed about them driving because of their level of confusion about how to handle this situation. So, my DH (and I) are joining the "worried about Mom and Dad" club.

bedo - glad the knee is doing ok, yay for the summer job!

susan - glad the cat sitting went well and I like your mustard fridge! Now that we have the new outdoor kitchen my DH keeps referring to the fridge out there as the "beer locker" he is funny! The beer used to be in the garage fridge, which has turned into the sparkling water fridge lately. Hope your tummy and hands calm down asap.

auntie - I want pie.

moon - yay for more baby pix!

minus - that is one regret I have from clearing out my mom's house - I bypassed her old hand-crank meat grinder. I had to ship everything from California to Virginia and it was so heavy I had to skip it - but it was a classic that she used my whole childhood. I did manage to bring a few other kitchen things - very importantly her magic gravy spoon. She used it every time she made pan gravy, and now so have I - the gravy always tastes exceptionally good, thus the name.

lacey - you are busy!!

carole - we have Verizon Fios internet and they merged with Aol and for some reason I am having difficulty emailing myself a photo taken on my phone of the spoon! If you google vintage Robinson slotted spoon with wooden handle you will see the magic gravy spoon. I have the set - one slotted and one not.

susan - yay, and I am glad the satisfaction and happiness the party brought hopefully overrides hand/foot issues - you deserve a rest! Everything sounds yummy!

Lacey, how spectacular that you were at the World Skating championship. That's on a par with seeing an event at the olympics. I have a friend who was a competitive figure skater back in the day, and she said ice dancing is more difficult than pair skating.

Last night, Dinner was a slow, slow cooked pot roast. 8 hours at 225 degrees. Sides were sautéed shallots, crimini and button mushrooms, with a touch of heavy cream and mashed potatoes. Tonight will be leftovers

Nance quiche sounds good. I picked up a nice Gruyere and will make a leek and potato quiche.

Susan wonderful party food and happy you can sit today. Monica such a little doll. Prayers for all the older parents may you gain strength working with physical therapy. Lacey fun to share the family basketball excitement.

A week and a half in NC without internet and I survived but had a lot of reading to do when I got back. We also returned to SNOW! Geesh, I have everything from shorts and flipflops to warm cozy sweaters all vying for space in the bedroom...not to mention all types of coats everywhere. NC was warm and everything was in bloom...azaleas, dogwoods, daffodils, tulips and stuff I don't even know what they are.

We completed all our house projects in the southern house as planned and in response to that my back is out of whack and I am eating ibuprofen like candy! I, personally did the tear up of the carpet in the bathroom (not bad) but then had to get up all the tack strips and staples they used...pretty sure the contractor that put that carpet down thought that some great force was coming and the carpet may move an inch. UHHHHGG who puts carpet in a bathroom anyway? Then I did the mudding to lay the cement backerboard....now...a bum back!! Husband and friend did the tiling.

Lots of bad eating while away...meaning good tasting food...but bad for the waistline. Had mussaka for the first time ever, and cant really say I am a fan, or will attempt to make. We did easter at a neighbors house down there and it was just ok...is that bad to say? I have eaten there several times and have come to the conclusion that they are not very good cooks, but the company and friends are always amazing and we always have a great time....and I KNOW that's what counts, but since this is a food thread just thought I would give my review.

Susan I like your fridge for the "extras" I swear I have more condiments in my fridge than anything else.

Carrie, you are funny.....your hurting back is not!! I am also puzzled about why anyone would carpet a bathroom. Such potential for grossness! Hope you can get the back better soon. Once all those muscles start screaming up and down your spine, it can really be debilitating. DH recently had a massage therapist treatment for lower back pain that included some kind of exercises/postures and it has helped him.

We are also dealing with a spring snowstorm...and had an interesting time before and during the start of it...

Last night (more accurately this morning), just as I was falling asleep, DH awoke sweating and feeling "odd". He knew it might be a cardiac vasospasm, but has not experienced one in several years as he takes meds for this condition. Well, since he recently signed on to be a concierge patient with his doc, after monitoring his vascillating heart rhythm, and getting more anxious by the minute, he decided to call him (3AM!). Doc answered immediately, and after listening to his symptoms (he knows his Prinzmetals angina history) thought it best to head to ER for an EKG and bloodwork...just in case it was more serious. So I drove him to our preferred hospital (911 takes us to the one in our town which is on a different system, making coordination of record info with our docs challenging). I made record time to the ER (NO ONE ON ROADS, and I boldly defied a red light that was determined not to change) and even got a parking spot right in front of it.

It was less than an ideal night to be there....the computer system was just then being changed to a new one. The nurse and the tech were just learning it. Yikes! No history available. But, Apple to the rescue for current symptom tracking!! DH had been monitoring his heartbeat with his Apple watch, and our adorable ER doc knew how to access all of that info on DH's IPhone, rather than expect DH and me to remember those exact details. So retrieve it he did! He was able to determine that it was not a concerning AFIB vascillation range (in my layperson terms). His EKG looked fine as did the first enzyme test. After about an hour, his rhythm and BP returned to normal. DH was elated that he did not need to be admitted for further bloodwork...and was becoming impatient man who was determined to leave. Meanwhile, I was busy directing a maintenance man to clean up a spatter of dried blood that was on the floor and wall near my chair! Ick!

Anyway...... all of this was amazingly handled in two hours, and when we walked out of the ER door we entered a raging snowstorm. Wow!! Thankfully, it was a Sunday 5:30AM time, with very few cars on the snowy, slushy roads, but also no plows had started. There was one huge tractor trailer carrying a large piece of construction equipment that zoomed past us on the highway, blinding me in the process with his slush spray. Suffice it to say, I did not make record time getting home, but was happy to get there safely. Fortunately, I am an intrepid driver....but oh my!! I got to sleep around 7 and up at noon.....really dragging today. But DH is not having anymore vasospasms, and his doc has been in touch for a follow up tomorrow AM, since he is good today. DH now wants me to join this concierge practice, but I do like my own doc, too. We'll see....it is helpful to have your own doc helping you manage a middle of the night crisis.

Thanks for allowing me to chronicle my night....now I will put it aside

I knew DH was back to his normal when he went downstairs to make himself an omelet to have with matza.

Tonight I plan to make a chicken dish with marsala or with lemon. Also have a bunch of asparagus in fridge which is saying "pick me". As usual lots of salad greens, and since we are tomatoless, I will add some jarred roasted tomatoes to our salad. No interest in driving to the store just to buy tomatoes.

More snow forecasted for tomorrow.....hopefully, no more vasospasms. ;/

Oh Lacey, I am glad that your husband is OK

Today ( I have 3 more days off work for my knee) I read 2 books, ate an entire red barron cheese pizza, took a nap and talked on the phone. The cats are ecstatic We had snow. I think that this was an eye opener for retirement. I definatly could not do this every day.

Susan, glad your cycle is coming to a close for this time. Remember when "cycles" were accompanied purely by annoying cramps!!

DH has a great doc, who he would not even consider leaving....so fortunately his concierge practice is not at all retirement account depleting like some are. Actually, after DH awakened him directly with his phone call in the middle of the night, he spent a long time going over things on the phone, (I kept thinking WTH....get on with it!), and once they decided he'd go for the EKG, doc called the receiving doc with his history and the possible concerns. It shortcut a lot on that end...which was an especially big help given the computer changeover status. I have never spent "just" two hours in an ER before. While we were there, DH's doc was communicating with the ER guy, so we felt he was well taken care of ...and was able to avoid that cardiac enzyme overnite "incarceration" which usually happens when such cardiac concerns are presented to the ER staff. Whew! First thing this AM (when we were zonked out), his doc contacted him to check in and to set up a Monday appt for follow up if he was feeling fine. He was. In my case, I would deal with whomever was on call, be sent to ER without detailed history, and care would basically be transferred to there....I would need to call my doc on Monday to tell the tale to her nurse and hope to get a quick follow up appt.......definitely less personalized and efficient despite the fact that I really like my doc.

We did have chicken marsala tonight with baked potato for DH, other sides of asparagus and a nice big salad.....and some amputated chocolate bunny ears for dessert.

Carole, I agree that it is annoying to waste calories on less than delicious food! But starving isn't too appealing either. Good company certainly counts for a lot in the circumstance of less than tasty food. :

I'm glad your dh is ok and that you both survived the night safely, Lacey. It sounds like you may need to subscribe to an ambulance service that will take you to the preferred hospital. My mother has been paying for an alarm service for years. The night she had her stroke, my sister pressed the alarm button and there was no response. So much for the safety factor.

The chicken was delicious. I used the recipe Susan once recommended for braised chicken with preserved lemon and olives. The side was whole wheat orzo with artichoke hearts and pecorino romano. I dumped a can of quartered artichoke hearts into the pot of cooking orzo during the last minute. Added a splash of olive oil and grated cheese to the drained orzo and artichoke. Served the chicken and spoonfuls of the sauce over the orzo. Yum. Anyone who doesn't like olives could substitute capers.

Today I will thaw lima beans and brown rice for dinner tonight. No use freezing food if you don't eat it!

Special K, The stew sounds delicious. I found a beef stew recipe in the NYT which includes cognac that I've been wanting to try.

Lacey, thank God your DH is fine. How wonderful that he can contact his dr. at home. You just don't see that anymore. Only old school physicians have that kind of patient relationship.

Moon, I put the majority of the roast in the freezer. I probably have a good 2 lbs out of a 3 1/2 pound roast left over.

I'm going to broil salmon for dinner. I'll make a simple orange ginger glaze that I'll put on the fish for the last 3 minutes of cooking.The glaze consists of no sugar added orange marmalade (I use St. Dalfour, because there are pieces of orange peel in it), Dijon mustard and ground ginger. The usual mashed potatoes will be my dad's side. He's really partial to mashed potatoes and rarely wants any other kind of starch

Today was rough. I won't outline the GI issues, but I spent most of the day sleeping. My internet was down for most of the day, so I couldn't even amuse myself by reading the NYTimes. Since I felt so crappy, I made a turkey-noodle soup for lunch with some magic freezer turkey stock and the rest of the turkey breast. Oh. It was perfect! Dinner was some leftover brisket from the party, a large green salad, and more of the leftover potato salad and mushrooms. The rest of the day was spent dealing with finding a new Master Insurance policy for the condo association and dealing with my Endocrinologist's RX errors. Fun fun day!

I am finding these stories of Lifeline-type buttons getting no response horrifying. Is this a common issue? Isn't there a fee for this service?

Just had a lovely phone call with a friend who has turned into a MA-Fl snowbird. Now that they are not camping during their FL time, they plan to stay down there until May. I had really planned to make a trip to FL to visit them this winter, but the house renovations and my drug changes derailed that plan. Will have to wait until they are home to get together.

Last of the cabinets should arrive tomorrow AM. The truck couldn't make it through the snow this morning, so the delivery was delayed.

*susan*

I just received this photo via text!

She is nesting now....

*susan*

So sweet.....:) Nice way to finish up today

Tuesday diner special is meatloaf and green beans with potatoes! Highly imaginative. LOL.