So...whats for dinner?

Susan is right, zucchini doesn't freeze that well. At the end of the summer when I have bigger zukes, I usually chop and freeze some for zucchini bread. Even after draining and wringing the life out of them, they tend to be a pile of mush. It's ok for zucchini bread, but not much else.

Eric - normally CHF wouldn't be that big of a deal to manage, except in my dad's case, his pulse has been dropping drastically after exertion (e.g. physical therapy) so the diuretic has to be used judiciously to keep everything from dropping too much. He seems to be very fragile right now and can't walk at all. I haven't been able to get an explanation for that and we can't get into the cardiologist until next week at the earliest. He will not be able to go to supportive living if he can't walk at all so it's kind of a mess.

I made a large batch of chicken stock in the pressure cooker today. Smells wonderful. I was horrified to find that I was all out a couple of days ago so that has now been remedied. Easy meal tonight -- grilled smoked sausage and leftover sides from yesterday's bbq. Including pie!

Today's Wildlife Report - we were very thrilled to see that another pair of orioles were building a nest in a tree right next to the house. Sadly, one of the recent storms broke the branch it was on and it came crashing to the ground. When I picked it up I saw that it had 4 eggs in it. I hope they try again on a sturdier branch! On a happier note the house wrens have nested in the wren house on the porch and have been very busy. The damned squirrels have eaten my parsley plants for the second time and this time got the cilantro too! There has been a doe wandering around the property for the past few days. I'm wondering if she has a fawn in the woods since she never gets too far from them, but so far we haven't spied one. As usual, she's been enjoying the grass under the apple trees (is it sweeter?) as well as the lower branches of the trees. I suspect she's been eating the small apples too, since the trees are loaded this year. Maybe we'll actually get one or two (ha!) A suspiciously large raccoon (preggers no doubt) has been coming daily to eat the bird seed on the ground. It may have to be trapped soon if it decides to expand it's horizons. DH saw the fox yesterday heading toward where we think her den is. It's been a busy week in the Briarpatch* (*the name of our subdivision is Briarwood Estates -- so pretentious. It's always been Briarpatch to me.)

Friday is DS's birthday, so DS, DDIL and the new granddog Olivia are coming on Saturday. I've been busy with menu planning and shopping lists today. I think I've got it all figured out but Friday will be a BUSY day.

Minus, I always hate to be the bearer of bad news.

Dinner tonight was leftover grilled chicken, more mac/cheese, and a vinegar slaw. Clearly, I am in a rut here. Same foods over and over. I just don't have the energy lately to spend hours designed, shopping for, and making creative dinners. Can't wait for local produce to start coming in. Plates of locally grown vegetables is sounding so very appetizing about now. Tomorrow's dinner will be pretty much the same thing again. I have arranged to have some women come to clean the house. I think to pull off this AirBNB thing, I will need to have some of the spaces cleaned professionally, and it will all be tax-deductible!

*susan*

Eric - I'm saddened to hear that your Mom's memory has continued to decline. You are a wonderful son for taking care of everything. I sure do understand cooking for one - AND especially not turning on the oven to heat up the house, although we haven't hit 100 yet. Luckily I like leftovers so I'll cook my protein in large batches & freeze it already cooked in portions for one - pork loin, chicken breasts, meatballs. All I have to do is defrost and add sauce or a final sear.

Nance - sorry to hear about you Dad's additional troubles.

Susan - don't worry about a meal rut. You deserve some time w/o worrying about inventive dinners while the chemo works it's miraculous but nasty wonders. As a matter of fact, you've made me hungry for mac & cheese.

Eric, so sorry you have to watch both your parents in decline. Mine died 20 yrs apart--Dad suddenly at 72 of a massive MI, Mom at almost 86 after a 4-year bout with CHF and COPD (and probably lung cancer--she knew about a 6cm nodule but refused a biopsy), Dad had such deep depression that it was misdiagnosed for awhile as Alzheimer’s. Mom was reasonably mobile (Rollator walker) and fully cognizant to the end. (She died suddenly at home one morning, a month after being discharged from hospice for not dying within 6 months--the night before she died she called to for help with a NYTimes crossword clue). I was living in Chicago both times--Dad died when my folks were still in Brooklyn, Mom 13 years after moving to FL. (I had visited her a week earlier).

It’s warm here but not really hot--we’re in a storm cycle for the next few days. I grill outside whenever I can--haven’t used my oven, except to bake a low-carb pizza--in a couple of years! I do everything on the stove, with a reversible flattop grill.

dinner is going to be another clean out the fridge night here

To night we are having pork loin, truck stop tators and a small salad. Truck stop tators are left over cooked potatoes that I cut into small cubes, sauté them in butter and paprika, sometimes I add a little green onion.

I also did chicken on the grill.....usually just do chicken breast but I was craving a good crispy skin on thigh,so did a bunch of both and will use all week. Trying to plan stuffed peppers for tomorrow,we will see what happens.

Taking my dad for his oncology appt tomorrow. Mom says he is in too much pain to drive (his ribcage and back) got to find some source of relief for him somehow. He is too stubborn to let us help with his lawn and driving. Got to find out where we go from here as he still doesn't tolerate the meds and has stopped taking them. I may just make him a big casserole of Mac n cheese..his favorite.

Hauled a load of potting mix (6-25 qt. bags), planters & stakes home from the garden center. I was starving. Almost went through the drive-through at Panda Express, but thought “naaah...let me get that grill going while it’s still light out and not raining.” Got the grill lit, the duck breast thawed and seasoned with kosher salt & a few grinds of black pepper (scored the skin too). Washed, trimmed and nuked some Brussels sprouts for 30 sec. While the duck was on the grill, I sauteed the sprouts in olive oil, then finished them with a few drops of supermarket balsamic and a dash of truffle salt. Brought the duck breast back inside and tented it in foil for a few minutes. But when I took its temp, it was only 135F, which is not hot enough for poultry. So I poured its juices into the pan and seared it till it hit 165F; while it rested, I deglazed the pan with blueberry balsamic vinegar and made a reduction, which I poured over the slices. Sat out on the deck under the stars (and incoming planes in the O’Hare flight path) and ate it (perfectly mid-rare) along with a glass of Handley 2012 Pinot Noir. Afterward, I sopped up the sauce with a small piece of low-carb bread and kicked back out there with a decaf cappuccino.

Wow Eric, awesome!

Last night, Lacey and her husband B. drove to my house, parked their car in our driveway [Somerville requires a permit to park on the street] and walked down to Sarma, our local Turkish-inspired restaurant. We were seated immediately and began to review the menu. There are lots of things on this menu. The font is rather small. There are a lot of foreign words. B. suggested that I just order for the group. Mr. 02143 couldn't agree fast enough, and so it was left to me to make our choices.

At Sarma, they do passed dishes in addition to the items on the menu. Almost immediately, we were presented with pickled peaches with basil. I think we were all hungry. The group said "yes." The peaches were from Georgia, and were a tad underripe even for pickling, but there was a lot of pickle flavor, some tumeric, hot peppers, possibly some Sumac. There were four peach halves in the dish, so we each had something to get us started. We ordered a bottle of a Lebanese wine for the other three, while I had their roasted lemon vodka cocktail. [I am rather fond of that cocktail, and my current drug doesn't like wine very much.]

And now it was time to order. We had the same waiter as our last visit, and clearly he remembered me. It feels nice to be in the regular category, and it served us well later.

The first item to arrive at the table was some homemade pita with zatar. For some reason, the olive oil quantity in the cute little pitcher was minimal, but I found the bread had enough oil already so it wasn't a real issue for me. I have no idea how others felt.

Our next dish that arrived was the Seven Layer Hummus with Falafel Crackers. The portion size has gotten a little smaller, but I love the hummus variations on this plate. My favorite was the fava bean hummus. What a treat! And the falafel crackers are a new thing, and I thought they were marvelous. I have no idea how they made them, but I would LOVE to reproduce those at home. They were a great hummus to mouth delivery system, with just enough sesame seeds to enhance the tahini in the hummus.

The cauliflower fatte arrived next. The menu says "cauliflower fatte- black garlic tahini, green chickpea stew, pinenuts." I just love this dish, and I am not even a huge lover of cauliflower [and when did it get so expensive? All those no gluten people are messing with my food budget.] To be honest, I have no idea what black garlic tahini is but it is delicious, and the pine nuts were both delicious and added a nice texture to the dish.

The Morrocan friend shimp with charred cabbage slaw, pickled carrots, and pistachio arrived next. Due to my allergy, I don't know how this tasted. Mr. 02143 loved it, especially the slaw. I will let Lacey chime in with her reaction.

Our next dish was actually a double order of the Harissa BBQ Duck with a carrot purée. The duck was a perfect rare. Neither the duck nor the purée had as much harissa as it can, and has. In fact it was a fairly tame dish overall, but I still enjoyed it. We each had one skewer of duck, and whatever carrot we could slurp up off the bottom of the plate.

We then had a double order of lamb kofte sliders, so one slider per person. It is served on cute little buns which Lacey said she liked a lot. Though the menu stated tomato, brown butter and pickles, what we actually had on the burgers was a tzaikis like topping which I much prefer. The yogurt had herbs, pickles, and some spices and the lamb kofta had harissa worked into the meat. They were really delicious. Rather like a merguez sausage in patty form.

The "asparagus- avogolemono, egg katayif, black truffles, dill" arrived next. The egg is slowly soft boiled just until the white is firm, peeled, rolled in shredded phyllo and then deep fried. The idea is that you break open the egg which sits jauntily on top of the asparagus with lemon sauce, and the yolk runs out to create a complex sauce. Unfortuantely, the egg was just a bit over cooked so we had a almost-medium egg which didn't run much at all. I can assure you, this did not stop us from eating every bit of this item. Oh fresh asparagus. how I love thee! I didn't really taste the truffle with so much lemon in the sauce. Maybe Lacey did?

We were pretty full at this point. They took away our dinner dishes, at which time I did let our waiter know that I was disappointed that the friend chicken with sesame had not made an appearance. We had refused the passed deviled eggs and fried soft-shell crab always hoping that the chicken might appear. Our waiter apologized as the dishes went away. And then-- it happened. The chicken starting going around the room. But the young lady wasn't looking at our table. We didn't have plates! It went by once, then twice, then three times, and it was gone. Or so we thought. Our waiter had spotted the fried chicken and grabbed that last one for us! Clean plates and silverware were brought to the table, and we all indulged in that lovely chicken goodness. Since it had been passed for some time, it was a bit less crunchy than usual, but it was great.

Lacey ordered some ricotta donuts with a warm cherry ouzo and black pepper topping to go.

We walked back up the hill at a pace that allowed my feet to not go on strike, and they headed off to their own home with their dessert. I will let Lacey fill you in on her thoughts about fruit and black pepper!

It was a fun evening! Never any lull in the conversation at all. Mr. 02143 and B. spent the much of the evening discussing basketball games from the 1970's through the present.

And just because the picture made me actually laugh out loud, I present Olivia. She is ready for her first Red Sox game on Sunday!

Is that the funniest thing you have ever seen? My daughter wants to protect Olivia's ears both at the game, and on her first plane ride at the end of the month.

*susan*

What a cutie Olivia is! I love it!

I agree with you Sandy, eat what works for you. My DH and I tried the Altshift diet which is good fats for 5 days then good carbs for 3 days. We were on it for about 2 months and we both gained weight. We went back to the Cut the Crap diet and we are both losing weight now. Thank goodness:-)

For dinner tonight is baked raccoon and muskrat over a bed of carrots and sweet potatoes. My DH's buddy is here for a visit and that's what he wanted. I'll probably have left overs from dinner last night! We ate out at a Mexican restaurant, veggie fajitas... yummy!

Wench - I thought you were kidding about the racoon & muskrat, but I've decided maybe you're serious. Eeek. I eat snake & alligator & snails & feral hogs & deer, but racoon? So.... do they taste like chicken? It sounds like you were cooking to make other people pleased but weren't eating it yourself.

I thought you were kidding too. I've heard my mom talk of eating muskrat, but I've never tried it, nor the raccoon. So, the raccoon tastes 'beefy'. What does the muskrat taste like?

The freezer repair turned into a freezer clean, which turned into a refrigerator clean, which became a kitchen cabinet clean. I'm even going to move the refrigerator out (!) and get under it as part of the general floor sweep/mop. Actually Sharon just got the vacuum cleaner out. She said she'd take care of the sweeping/mopping since I've been "going at it most of the day".

I fed the sourdough starter--maybe tomorrow morning I'll make some sourdough pancakes. I'm still not hungry for dinner.

Oh, it's starting to cool off. It's almost 7:30pm and it's down to 110F.

Yes, the dinner at Sarma was delightful...as was Susan's review of it. Thank you for that! And no, I barely detected truffle oil in that otherwise tasty asparagus long named dish. Such interesting and delicious food, and good company! Susan, I've seen other babies decked out in ear protection at sports games. Olivia looks particularly adorable in it!

Yesterday, after a haircut, I shopped at three stores in that town for produce, spices and nuts. So I am all produced up, and barely have space in the fridge for anything from tomorrow's farmer's market. So, I will limit myself to my favorite oak leaf lettuce (they call it salad bowl lettuce) which seems to be an early lettuce and is so sweetly tender. Hope they have it!

Tonight DG grilled chicken I'd marinated in a evoo/garlic/rosemary/balsamic blend. For sides, ratatouille, a big romaine salad, and a sweet potato for DH.

I have never eaten muskrat or racoon, but since my brother used to trap muskrats in the winter on our lake, we often had them in our garage before taking them to the fur guy. I doubt that my mother felt an urge to cook any...tho I think, as an Italian, she had prepared rabbit.

And my brother had a pet raccoon! DH just unearthed an old pic of "Rackie". Obviously we did not eat him either....but he met his demise one winter day when he escaped from his cage and approached some kids in their yard (probably looking to be fed!). The local police thought he might have rabies and shot him. Not a great pet choice, but it was the 50's.

Speaking of wildlife, we have an overabundance of chipmunks this spring...cute, but intrusive. In my gardening shoes in a locker in the garage, I found a whole stash of seeds and other hoarded items. Ick! I would have guessed that the many neighborhood cats that regularly patrol our yard, might have reduced the population. But instead we found a mauled dead robin...so sad. We have enjoyed watching Mr. And Mrs. Robin frolicking in our birdbaths, with careful turn taking. Felt like a family death!

I have noticed, though that we have more birds this past week. I think our population of feathered friends has increased due to the sudden lack of huge trees across the street, and in addition, some new homeowners behind us just cut down a long row of 50 year old hemlocks. Not sure what is going on here, but we are upset for the wildlife....especially since it is still nesting time. DH went to town hall yesterday to learn about the house that will be built across street, and learned that no permits have been pulled. So the ravaged lot will just stay that way indefinitely, we guess. Oy! End of "destruction for progress"rant!

I fill the bird bath and within a minute or two of going inside, the birds are noisily jostling for position.

DD saw the starter out on the counter and must have been reading my mind because last night she asked if I would make waffles for breakfast. She even had picked out a recipe; King Arthur's "Classic Sourdough Waffles or Pancakes".

It was easy to say yes, so last night the buttermilk/sourdough sponge mixture was in the microwave oven--didn't want to tempt the dogs or cat by leaving it out on the counter... :-)

So, this morning, she made the coffee and I cooked up the waffles. The Coleman white gas stove and the old Griswold waffle iron "strutted their stuff" yet again.