So...whats for dinner?
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Hi all, been catching up on posts since mid april...whew--to much going on to comment.
Weather sucks---been pretty scary down south.
Susan can't wait for the news that the p'nut has come out of the shell!
Bedo, PEI mussels are the best anywhere. Our Sam's club occasionally has them and I adore them.
Nance---too bad your Dad and my Dad aren't in the same facility. Your dad is just like mine and we are both only kids.......so, as I say, no rest for the wicked or the ones that take care of them...... Mine is doing a little better. He still tells me he is going to be able to go hunting again and he is in a wheelchair or being walked with a gate belt most of the time.....
I think he is realizing that he is one of the few who has family come almost every day. think I have only missed about a week since the first of January spread out---when I was sick and a couple of times this past month.
Carole, my dad complains when I want him to go to activities, but then when we had the Care plan meeting, the activities director told me he comes to a bunch of it if she goes and asks him to come and that unlike many, he actively engages in the activity.... So you just never know.
I have an apt to see a GI doc on the 16th. I have been having some gut issues that would suggest I should not wait until my colonoscopy is due in 2 years according to my ONC. He told me to see Primary Care, she wasn't concerned but said she knew that I was a worrier, so she referred me. So I am praying I haven't got something new going on. I wanted to blame it on stress, but some other things have happened that tells me it isn't stress related.
My garden is now showing about three years of neglect and I am too tired to do much about it. First the Cancer, then the wrist fracture, now the exhaustion for trying to take care of two properties and two people's affairs and needs.....Thank God for the kitty love I get at home.
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Went with a girl friend to an excellent concert tonight - Mozart's Requiem Mass. Since we left early both to get good seats & be there for the pre-concert lecture, and my friend looked at the clock wrong & picked me up even 30 minutes earlier, I didn't eat dinner. So after the concert while I dried the load of clothes that was in the washer & started another load, I made some Clam Dip. I couldn't stand to let it meld for 2 hours & had to raid the fridge after only an hour. That excellent dip on sturdy crackers was dinner and will probably be lunch tomorrow too. I've been planning to make it for several weeks but had to buy some cream cheese first, which I finally got yesterday.
Brunch today was oven roasted chicken breast on a flour tortilla with green chili salsa & grated cheese. Oh, and two red velvet mini cupcakes w/real cream cheese icing from HEB.
Happy Mother's day to everyone. I hope all women will celebrate whether they are Mother's or not.
Oops, the image didn't come through so...
"Here's to strong women. May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them."
I may get to talk to my son on the phone if our schedules coincide. But he sent a cute card. Outside says: "A good Mom lets you lick the mixer." The picture is a bowl of something like chocolate cake w/dripping beaters. Inside says: "A great Mom turns it off first."
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Happy Mother’s Day (it’s after midnight here)! Mozart’s Requiem is one of my favorite choral pieces to sing, with Handel’s Saul, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass. (I like listening to Handel’s Messiah and Judas Maccabeus, but I’ve only sung excerpts of both in concert. I’ve sung the entirety of Handel’s Hercules....and lived to tell. Some of my fellow choristers died of boredom before the last couple of movements).
Tonight, Bob, Gordy & I went to see the Lyric Opera’s production of The King & I. Gordy politely endured it (his taste in musicals is much more modern). The secondary leads (Tuptim and her secret lover) had by far the best voices. We ate at the Florian Bistro in the Civic Opera House--their menu for the run of the show was (except for drinks & desserts) Thai-themed, and it wasn’t bad (albeit blander than we’re used to in Thai food). We had beef & chicken lettuce cups & shrimp spring rolls as appetizers, and my entree was a prawn salad with cucumber, cilantro, edamame, and greens.
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Carole, what a lovely mothers day gift to your mom! I'm sure the dinner will make her so happy.
Lol, cute card Minus! Clams are on my menu tonight too. With homemade pasta.
Red, yes it seems we are sisters. I admire your dedication to visit your dad daily. I've cut back to weekly which is much more manageable to me, but we talk on the phone every other day or so.
My guy came yesterday and brought mulch with him and we spread it on the beds and walkways in the garden. My hands and back ache like the dickens today. After it was done, it rained with perfect timing. So now, the garden is done! (Now if only, the weeds will believe that.) As if in congratulations, the irises have begun to bloom. I'll try to get a picture when they all open up.
Right now I'm sitting here drinking coffee watching and listening to the most beautiful oriole eating grape jelly between bites of an orange half. Life is good.
Enjoy your Sunday whether you're a mom or not, no matter how many legs your kids have!
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Happy Mothers Day everyone. Hoping everyone gets a great meal today...preferably made by someone else! We are going to brunch with friends at my friends request...her wish for mothers day. Yesterday I bought flowers, weeded my moms garden and planted them for her. Bigger job than I anticipated, but her and dad were so grateful that the front of the house will look nice and they don't have to do it. they both came outside and watched me plant and I was thankful they were getting some sunshine
Had our first boat cruise last night, lots of laughs, dinner was appetizers....and a few cocktails!
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Sandy - funny coincidence. Somehow "I Have Dreamed" started running around my brain last night and I couldn't pull out the source. How did I get that from Mozart? Finally turned the computer back on and ta-da...Tuptim from The King & I. My parents took us into San Francisco to see most of those good old musicals in the 50's and 60's. They made it a special night by taking us somewhere 'different' for dinner. Of course in those old fashioned "meat & potato" days, almost anything was 'different'. Nice memories.
As a side note, the scheduled tenor soloist had a family emergency so there was a last minute replacement. His voice & delivery were up to the task, but he chewed gum through the entire performance. Most distracting. We never could figure out where in his mouth the gum rested while he was singing because he never took it out & started chewing again the minute his last note died.
Carrie - I am so jealous of your first boat outing. "...there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."
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The King and I... what memories. I was in the orchestra for Yul Brenner's final tour of that show. We were the practice orchestra and then the orchestra for the first five weeks of the run. Then the company moved on leaving us behind to do our next show. [The Dallas Summer Musicals had a full season back then, and provided a nice income while I lived there.]
Yul was a very polite man. Enthusiastic about working with our orchestra [which was damn good, if small], but fairly aloof. His dressing room has to be painted dog-poop brown regardless of where we were performing. I never hardened to this story and it teared me up every single time. One of my big solos was pretty difficult while my eyes were watery. I simply had to memorize that entire song.
I am a curmudgeon and strongly believe that Mother's Day is a Hallmark holiday so do not doing anything special at all. It is also my grandkid's due date, but her midwife appointment Friday indicates that P'nut is in no great hurry vacate the current residence. Yesterday, Leslie and I ventured to the far Western suburbs to look at two cars. The first one was to be put on hold until we came to see it, but somehow that did not happen, and the car was being sold as we walked into the showroom. Too bad. It only have 10,000 miles on it. On to the next car, even farther West. We did the test drive. We noted the few scratches and the clear evidence of interior dog beautification [a few mars in the hard plastic pieces] and eventually landed on a price. We confirmed that some of the original warranty remained. So the P'nut now has some new-to-us wheels! This solves a problem. My Mini is hard to get a baby into a baby seat since it only has two doors and my driveway doesn't allow the doors to open fully. The ancient Legacy is one of my least-favorite cars to drive. Hurts my back. So neither vehicle was going to be good for me. The 2001 Legacy will be donated and we are downsizing into a 2014 Impreza.
We will return to Shrewsbury on Tuesday to finish up the paperwork and make it ours.
*susan*
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Happy Mothers' Day to all. I agree that it, like just about every other holiday, has been co-opted into a "spend fest". DD got some flowers for Sharon and I did a bunch of work around the house--to include some work for her physics class materials.
Susan, that's a nice looking car. That's neat you got to work with Yul Brenner. I like the King and I and it's my MIL's absolute favorite. I love Thai food. There is a very active Thai community here in Phoenix. My favorite restaurant lost their lease (after 25 years) and they closed up, so I need to find a new favorite.
Gum...hmm...in grade school, I used to hide it between my left side bottom teeth and my cheek and it could sit there for hours until I "needed" it again. In cross country, I don't know how I didn't choke to death as I did that even when running a race. :-)
Off to mom's where I need to build a new door frame and install a new door. When the fire safety codes changed to require a sold core door between the attached garage and the living space, the builders simply swapped the exterior side door and the interior door...so the outside door to the garage is basically a bedroom door which is falling apart. The door is an odd size, and no pre-hung outside doors are available.....It looks like it's going to rain, so maybe I'll get a pass this week. It's not hard work...just "fussy"...and I have a four Advil headache..... All the contractors wanted to bust out the (load bearing) wall and install a pre-hung door and I just can't see having mom spend that much money for a door.
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Love, love, love the King and I. I have the soundtrack from the movie - it was among my parent's things and I kept it when I closed their house and sold it. Seeing dancers in Thailand was a highlight of my life so far - so beautiful! I am a latecomer to Thai food, but I enjoy it a lot.
susan - yay for a new used car! It is super cute! I agree on the Hallmark holiday, and I apply that to Valentine's Day as well - I don't really want a fuss for Mother's Day for myself, but do for others. My mom always cleaned up because her b-day was May 5th, then Mother's Day followed closely. We Skyped my MIL this morning and chatted for an hour. My FIL is looking like he might have leukemia or multiple myeloma, so we wanted to touch base also after his oncology appt. on Friday. They did a bone marrow but won't have the results for another 10-12 days. His hemoglobin is at 8 but he won't transfuse yet. He is stubborn, and a doctor himself, and 91. Eeesh. I volunteered my son, same blood type, for a directed apheresis donation (and then told him later, lol! He wouldn't hesitate, he is a first responder and this is his Papa) so that two units with the same blood type could be available within 72 hours and if he didn't want them yet they could also be frozen for him.
eric - you are an awesome son, and a stellar person. Just wanted you to know!
Had my PET on Saturday - it went smoothly other than the lack of coffee and diet the day before. Just in case I didn't already know, I really, really need coffee. Every day. Lol!
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Eric, I concur. You are a great son! I hope that your mother is having a good day today.
Special, 10-12 days will feel like a lifetime won't it?
Who knew that The King and I had such a following? So funny, I didn't know any of that literature until I won the Summer Musical audition. Then my ability to play many different styles became a requirement.
Dinner tonight is a cop out. Some carnitas, avocado, black beans, fresh salsa and some green lettuce. Mr. 02143 just returned from an emergency run for cilantro and limes, so I should get to work on that salsa.
*susan*
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susan - it will for all of his children, their spouses, his adult grands, and my MIL, but he doesn't seem worried. He has had cardiac issues since his early 60's and both his parents died early deaths from heart disease, so I think he feels like he has been living on borrowed time, and has been quite happy about it. He has had a spectacular life and is very appreciative of that and is pretty peaceful about all of this.
Are we officially on "p'nut watch 2016?"
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Special.... we are on "official watch" now. Today was the due date, but no indication that the P'nut is interested in leaving Amniotic Hotel anytime soon. My daughter is moving slowly. She was over for an hour or so today, and I didn't suggest she visit the third floor to view all the baby things that I found.
*susan*
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susan - excellent - we will be waiting with you! I remember those last days before I went into labor with my son, another that was content in the Amniotic Hotel! He was big and I am small, it was uncomfortable in that last month!
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Minus, I had a good laugh over that card...appeals to my dark humor side! And clam dip for dinner?! My very favorite!! But it hasn't happened for years.....maybe one of these nights when DH has a dinner meeting. Hmmmm......
I will add my concurring opinion about your "good son" status Eric. Lucky mom you have! I can only hope that DS2 continues to follow that path as we age. There is such caring security in knowing that a loving son or daughter will support us as we age...and one with engineering skills always helps! Maybe I'll send him out to intern with you for a bit.
Special, I'm sorry to learn about your father-in-law's health, but it sounds like he is at peace with it given his feeling of living on borrowed time. Seems he has had a good long productive life!
Susan, what an exciting time as you all await the arrival of lil p'nut.
Red, good to hear from you!
Carrie....what a wonderful gift to give your parents! Hope you are not aching tomorrow. Those first garden outings can mess with our muscles!
Nance, you are so impressive with your garden productivity. And all the more impressive given your most recent life challenges. And how nice that your Dad sounds like he is becoming more acclimated to needing to accept a less than comfortable (but safe!) plan for himself. Hope that continues....
My Ipad juice is about to run out, so quickly I will say that DH and I spent the weekend with visiting DS1 and family from NJ, and DS2 and DGF. I labored way too much trying to make foods amenable to a vegan diet, then our DDIL told me that they do eat eggs....Oy! I had all sorts of faux egg options for my vegan banana breads. Ha! Anyway, I actually introduced them to some new vegan products! Fun trip to Museum of Science with the kiddies, and a nice evening at DS2's watching youngest grand turn into a pooch to be in concert with their Scottie. Brunch out today with lots of kiddie spilled water, but nice family pix, afterwards. I feel thankful....:)
Later....for breakfast yesterday, I made a huge fruit salad, vegan banana bread, almond cream cheese for the bread, and DH made whole wheat pancakes. Everyone also had some of my rasberry red smoothie.
The kids had lunch of chicken fingers (horrors!) at the Museum, and we had assorted pizzas and salad at DS2's for dinner last night.
Today's brunch was tasty. I enjoyed a three way Eggs Benedict, one with tenderloin of beef, one with lobster, and one with a crabcake. It was delicious and too large to finish. It came with cut up roasted potatoes, which I didn't eat, especially after DGD, with lightening speed, impulsively poured salt on them!
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We went to the Signature Room on the 95th & 96th fl. of the John Hancock Center for brunch. It was lovely--except it never occurred to me I might need to wear compression. The elevator rocketed up to the top; within half an hour I began to get a mild flare of my LE. And I wasn’t able to eat as much as at buffets on ground level--I felt sort of bloated. I did get to eat some king crab, an oyster, a shrimp, lox, a mini lobster roll and salad; then some grilled eggplant & zucchini and a slice of prime rib. They let me take my entree home, though, because they took a long time getting our entrees served. I also had perhaps 2-3 hrs. of sleep last night, so that may have contributed to it. The weather was perfect. The entree I took home and reheated for dinner was grilled sea bass atop a potato-crab cake with asparagus.
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For all you Meyer lemon fans, this recipe arrived in my inbox this morning.
http://us10.campaign-archive2.com/?u=fc462c1bad8d56aba131d6ed3&id=ad575b03c9&e=bbcea1cdb4
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Yumm on the meyer lemon and new potatoes
with dill!
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Susan: Look delicious AND easy. Thanks for forwarding.
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We'll feast on the last ribeye in the freezer, baked potatoes and steamed yellow squash.
No buying anything extra for the freezer.
I bought a spiralizer off Ebay and got around to washing it in soapy water today. Now to find a place to put it.
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My FIL was diagnosed with acute leukemia today, so DH and I will again be comrades with those of you on parent patrol. I don't believe he will seek anything beyond transfusions and palliative pain control as treatment, but he is going to see a hematological oncology specialist in Charleston on Thursday. My MIL (a nurse), and my SIL (also a nurse) will be going with him. He is a retired doc and the worst patient, so this will be a challenge!
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Prayers for your FIL, SpecialK--and for you and your DH as well.
Too drizzly to grill tonight, so I’ll probably either reheat a spinach-broccoli quiche from Whole Foods, or scrounge around the freezer to see what needs cooking. I could make a Caprese salad or stuff a tomato with tunafish, but that’s not going to fill me up. Maybe I’ll cook up some Dreamfields pasta and top it with sauteed veggies. Ordering out would be too carb-y. (Gordy has leftovers from last night & today’s lunch).
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Special - so sorry to hear about your FIL. I agree, difficult patient type. Glad your MIL & SIL are nurses so they can at least talk the language & he can't snow them.
Carole - I bought a little hand held spiralizer just before I broke my arm but had already decided for $9.99 I wasn't going to get along with it. I'll be interested to see how you do with yours. I've got the SurLaTable catalog sitting by my computer encouraging me to investigate the Oxo Tabletop hand crank one. My only problem is the one you mentioned - where to put the darn thing.
Bedo - when do you go off on your summer adventure? Will you have a computer?
Eric - I agree with voting you "son of the year". My son does all those handy things but unfortunately he lives 1700+ miles away in CA.
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Special, I am sorry that you are joining the "attentive to parents" group. I am glad that he has a supportive group to accompany him to his appointment tomorrow. There is nothing wrong with just doing Palliative care. We all should be allowed to choose our own approaches to a terminal illness.
Carole, nice meal plan indeed! My spiralizer is the KitchenAid attachment. I found a place to keep it, but sometimes I forget that it is tucked away in that cabinet. I only wish that it could handle potatoes.
Today I bought an entire Prime Beef top loin, i.e.. NY Strip at Costco. I have broken it down into two roasts and a bunch of steaks. The uneven ends are bundled separately for an amazing stir-fry. The roast for dinner Thursday night on the Cape is dry brining in the fridge. The rest I will vacuum seal and place into the magic freezer. Tonight, Mr. 02143 ordered a pizza. My stomach didn't think it wanted tomato sauce, so I used some leftover Jasmine rice to make a mediocre fried rice. Only ate a few bites before I had had enough. Tomorrow, a guy arrives at the Condo at 8am to appraise the condo for their mortgage. Then we make the long trek to Shrewsbury to buy a car with what little cash is left. Tomorrow night the kids and Mr. 02143 head to a Red Sox game leaving me alone. They will grab ballpark food, so I am on my own. Wednesday, assuming there is still no baby, we will head to the Cape to spend two nights with our friends. Trying to slip in a visit before P'nut arrives. At some point, I need to get some serious work done.
*susan*
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Thanks all - it is no surprise to anyone that he would choose palliative care, he is not particularly interested in anything interventional with his own health over the last few years and grudgingly agreed to a couple of stents and a few other odds and ends, but he has taken very good care of himself. He feels like he has had an awesome life, and he really has. He wants to be comfortable and have the best QOL possible for as long as he can, but he won't do any systemic treatment. I think transfusions and pain relief are all he will consent to, and all of the family is ok with that. He is 91, so it has been a good ride for him. My dad did chemo palliatively as he was stage IV from the get go and less tumor burden meant less pain as he had spinal mets from lung CA. My brother, also stage IV, did only IV feeding and pain relief. Those were the right choices for them also. Having been down this road it is easier to accept, and I have been pleased to see that the family is rallying appropriately - supporting and communicating with each other (there are five children, five spouses, six adult grandchildren, one young grand, and two young great grands) No hysteria or argument about the choices made so far, although my physician BIL did push for him to see the specialist just to outline the situation with the best handle on this disease process. They live in a relatively small town with no cancer center, so they are traveling to Charleston on Thurs for a consult.
Dinner was brats, home fries and sautéed yellow squash and the cutest round zucchini, with some red pepper flakes and lemon pepper.
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Special, the "supporting players" in your FIL's case sound about supportive as family can be. Respectful of his decisions and appreciative of his long, full life, wanting the best quality for him. And I'm sure that your BIL needs to have him go for the consult to assure himself, as a doc and loving son, that he has done what is professionally and personally the best he can for his dad. I wish you all well through this passage.
Tonight we had our last stretching class with Sarah, the trainer I (and more recently DH) have been working with for the past three years, individually and in classes. The stretching class will continue with another trainer, but we will really miss Sarah who has supported some significant physical health improvements in both of our lives. I am happy for her since the move represents some nice personal and professional growth for her (she's moved on to a Wellness Director position in a private company, and is working on a healthful snack food start up), and when I met her, she had just finished her own bc treatment as a 32 year old, and getting back to a fuller work schedule. So, a bittersweet goodbye tonight. I'm sure we will stay in touch with her, and I've already made a business contact for her to use for marketing her food products.
DH had a business school dinner/event, so I stopped and picked up some prepared citrus glazed salmon for my dinner. Unfortunately, it tasted like wild salmon to me (I have a hard time with that stronger fish taste), so DH will get to have it for tomorrow's lunch. I ended up eating baba ganoush on some fresh ciabatta bread and a baby kale salad with lots of interesting stuff in it. That is, of late, my favorite salad.
I discovered today that the almond cheese I got at WF tastes really good on the vegan banana bread I made. But boy, I just could never be a vegan!
I have yet to try my cheap spiralizer, but I ought to, so that, if it is dysfunctional, I can at least get it out of the cabinet. The KitchenAid one makes the most sense, but I have no more room for an attachmentin my cabinets!!
DS2's gf has twice offered to help me with our (slow) effort to clear out unnecessary clutter. Unfortunately so much of my "stuff" in files and old private practice folders has to be shredded....by me! But I am so pleased that she (and DS2) has offered, and when I can find areas that can use their good tossing help, I will employ them!
Decluttering to downsize is really a slow process after so many years being in one home!0 -
I really tore my knuckles on that hand-held spiralizer, and the “noodles” it made kept breaking, so out it went. I forget the name of the crank-operated one I got, but ATK top-rated it and it has three different size blade plates. I keep it atop my fridge. Only downside is you’re left with a central core that doesn’t get spiralized, but you can always dice it up to cook or just use it to eat with dips.
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ChiSandy, I bought the same spiralizer and will probably put it on top of the refrigerator, too.
Dinner will be pan-seared catfish filets, veggie and salad.
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Today was pretty rough.... I mean standard GI, but it lasted ALL day. Usually, I am done by 10am. This went on for hours. We did pick up our new car, ended up with new plates since someone filled out the paperwork with my name first, instead of Mr. 02143's name first, rendering our plates unusable unless someone went to the DMV and redid all the paperwork. The dealer paid the extra $35 out of their pocket since it was their error.
I turned down a ticket to go to the Red Sox with my daughter and husband tonight. Just don't trust being at a ballpark with sketchy bathrooms with long lines tonight. For dinner, I heated some roasted chicken broth and warmed one of my homemade rolls. Two slices of cheese finished the meal. Still feeling gurgley, so we shall see. In normal times, I would not have eaten, but I have to eat in order to take my drugs.
Tonight I will build our food shopping list. We stop at the Market Basket just into the Cape and buy whatever supplies I don't have in the pantry. Works well. There are clean bathrooms, cold drinks, and it is a huge and comprehensive market.
*susan*
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Susan - sorry to hear about your yucky day. I liked the picture of the new car. Hope the light supper stays down. Weird - when I saw your name come up I immediately thought - ah ha, the baby.
Carole & ChiSandy - I'm relatively sure that's exactly the spiralizer I bought today. By Oxo. Well I had a 20% off coupon so it if sits on my fridge, it won't be too exorbitant.
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Just made myself a starter of an insalata Caprese--baby heirloom tomatoes (red, yellow, orange) and fresh mozzarella pearls, topped with chiffonade of basil, aged Balsamic (literally, just 1 tsp., it’s so concentrated), orange olive oil, orange & caper Sicilian sea salts and a quick grind of black pepper. Going to defrost my bison strip steak and grill it, along with some asparagus if it doesn’t rain--if it does, then I’ll pan-sear it and the asparagus.
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