So...whats for dinner?

Hello all! Like SK, I've been reading daily but have been a bit busy to write. I'm taking this weekend to chill and catch up. I've really been enjoying the pictures and food reports. Living vicariously through others, I am.

Last week, my friend and I went to my dad's apartment and spent two days, packing and ridding it of non-essentials, The man has never thrown a piece of paper away! I have a huge box in my dining room of assorted documents that need to be sorted and purged. Then on Saturday, the hottest day of the year -- a blazing hot and humid 99 degrees (I know, I'm a wimp to you southwest folks) -- six of us, friends and family, rented a truck and moved dad's apartment to my dining room (small apartment, largish dining room.) It's not totally in my dining room, we stored his bed, couch and electric wheelchair in another friend's storage building. I will have to get it out before winter just so the mice don't make a cozy winter home in the stuff. Then we went back two days later and cleaned the apartment and turned in his keys. He should get most of his security deposit back -- the place was cleaner than my own house when we left.

Dad is doing astonishing well in the nursing home, even though he hates it. He is able to stand by himself and has been walking with his walker a lot. When we visited him on Tuesday, after taking him out to lunch, I took him on a little shopping trip to Aldi for snacks to keep in his room. (He constantly complains that he's not getting enough to eat and that the food is terrible.) He pushed his own cart completely through the store! I was shocked at how much progress he's made in two weeks time. That same day, the placement lady from the supportive living facility came to see him while we were there. Based on his progress she thinks he might be ready to come there in mid to late July when she'll have a one bedroom apartment available. This was a great mental boost for him, as he's been very down and pessimistic about ever leaving the nursing home. He does want to wait until he sees his cardiologist in July to see if he needs a pacemaker before moving. I'm glad he's willing to wait a bit because the last time, he left the nursing home way to soon and that didn't end well. The last thing we want is to have to move him in and out of places. I think he realizes that if he ends up in a nursing home again, he will not leave. All in all, a very good and positive day!

The first of the local corn is in, and we had some for dinner last night, along with a couple of mini meatloaves from the freezer. So good! We'll be having more this weekend. Our town has a new local produce stand that I've been frequenting. They have freshly picked corn every day and lots of other good stuff. Since a portion of my garden is at a standstill, I've picked up some squash and zucchinis there as well. I did pick two small ripe tomatoes from my garden, as well as haricots verts, which we've had a couple of times. I need to dig the potatoes before they get huge.

I rained yesterday -- 3.10 inches! You could almost hear the trees breathing a sigh of relief. We are also due for a very wet weekend with a potential rainfall total of 6 inches! That will be a mess, but a big relief too. The wildlife report - we have two momma does, one with twins and the other with a singleton. The doe with the singleton was feeding yesterday and the little guy was running and jumping as fast and high as he could -- literally kicking up his heels. So cute! We also have a lone doe who comes to eat apples every day. The squirrels join her of course. In fact, they helpfully knock a lot on the ground to make it easy for her. It remains to be seen if we get any apples or not. Right now there are lots of apples, but it's astonishing how fast the squirrels can eat them when they start. All of the birds, including the orioles and rose breasted grosbeaks, are bringing their young to the feeders. I have gone through 22 jars of grape jelly! The hummer feedings have picked up two and I'm now having to fill feeders twice a day some days.

I have a large ribeye steak aging which will be tonight's dinner along with some more corn and a cucumber/tomato/onion salad. I hope Costco still has the wild salmon next week. I would like to cure some. Sandy - where do you find the low-carb bagels? Are they decent?

I plan to make ribs for the 4th and a blackberry pie. Other stuff to be determined.

Susan - yay on the markers! Minus - boo on the markers! Hopefully they signify nothing as you say they are in the normal range.

I too, want to stay at your house Susan and taste that rye bread. I need to make bread, but it's been so hot here, that I've been loathe to heat the kitchen any more. I'm willing to sacrifice for a blackberry pie though lol! Actually, the high Saturday is supposed to be in the 60s, so that will be the time to make it. Eric - hope you're enjoying the happiest place on earth! Wow Lacey - you have been busy. I'm ready to hear about your culinary adventures. Have a great time!

Hey Luv and Joyce! Nice to hear from you. I'm missing Carole too.

Nancy, the bagels are from Sami’s Bakery in Tampa. They’re shipped frozen to a health food store in neighboring Evanston. They taste surprisingly good--so much so that my guys often finish them before I can get to them. (And I buy them fresh regular bagels). The plain whole-grain ones have 4 gm. net carb (28 minus 24 gm. fiber), the cinnamon raisin 5 gm. You can probably order them directly from Sami’s (they make low-carb breads too: 7-grain 2 gm, cinnamon-raisin 3 gm/slice). But for bread, I can get Today’s Temptations fresh at Whole Foods & Mariano’s--the large round loaf with rolled-oat crust has 4 gm. net per slice (I use 1 slice for a sandwich) and the regular 100% whole-wheat is 2 g./ slice--plainer than Sami’s but cheaper, needn’t be frozen and is always on the shelves. Tastes like the usual Pepperidge Farm or Brownberry whole wheat. The Sami’s stuff is denser and chewier than its normal white-flour counterparts. If you are jonesing for an authentic NY bagel, keep looking.

I should set up a service to mail bagels from Sami's to everyone on this thread who wants them, lol! It is 11 miles from my house. Seriously, I would do it.

minus - the candlelight vigil was organized by this young man's friends and held at the high school. The memorial service was not just the neighborhood - it was the official one set up with his family - there were hundreds of people there, all of them crying. The neighborhood has helped with meals and support - I am pretty sure the immediate neighbors have also offered beds to family members who needed places to stay.

susan - yay for a new washer and your nice airbnb person!

auntie - yay for dad! It is a job moving the stuff - it took me a long time to clear out my parents house - I sold it the first day I listed it and had 30 days to get it done - they had lived there since 1959 and like your dad, had not thrown away a single scrap of paper - not had them organized them in any fashion.

Just got done making the naughty meatloaf but we have not eaten it yet. We were Skyping my in-laws - my MIL's 85th b-day was yesterday. She is amazing!

Apple eaters:

I broke down & made homemade potato salad - for one. Well, for one for 3 meals. What a treat. So dinner was 4 pieces of California Roll with Lemon/Wasabi and a serving of potato salad. I had intended to cook a piece of salmon, but this was enough.

Nothing here, thankfully. It is very dark and ominous looking outside and for the past few hours. Off in the distance the clouds have a greenish hue in them. I've been around areas that had that cloud color--twice here and several times at Tinker AFB--and each time the weather was "interesting".

I still don't know what magic some folks see at Disneyland. :-) It's loud and crowded, both being things I don't enjoy, and the engineer in me has ruined the roller coaster type rides. I see the design and safety features of the rides, know they are probably 20 times more than could reasonably be needed, and the rides go from scary to bumpy and twisty.

Those are some close pictures of the deer. It's obviously not hunting season...they get a bit more "shy" then. I am also glad your dad is doing better. That is always so relieving.

Chi, I didn't know you played the dulcimer. When I would spend a few weeks in Kentucky with my dad's folks, we would go to a dulcimer (bluegrass and mountain music) festival. I could listen for hours.

Susan, that stinks on the washer failure and the "Re-failure". I wish I were there. Most of the time, washers aren't that terribly mystifying. I can usually keep them running until the point where even used parts aren't available. Has your stomach quit bothering you? I hope so.

That lemonade pie sounds similar to the one I make for DD..in fact I may make one tonight as needs no oven time and it always brings a smile to DD's face when she sees the ingredients.

I spent most of the day doing bank stuff. As I get mail, I see that the number of places to visit exceeds my progress. I did spend 3 hours hunting down an account that had gone off to the state unclaimed property fund. I can get it back, but it's the paperwork..sigh.

The power just failed and the laptop is on it's battery and I'm being called.

more later

Aw, SpecialK, I'm disappointed. By “naughty," I misinterpreted you to mean, uh, “erotic" meatloaf. (My imagination ran rampant). You see, years ago, when I was growing up in NYC, there was a chain of ice cream parlors called Jahn's. (Think Farrell's without the hokey music and public embarrassment for birthday celebrants, and Schrafft's with more variety but without the refinement). Its menu had dozens of, uh, “creatively named" sundaes and other “fountain creations." One night, I was on a triple date. It was one of the guys' birthdays, and he looked at the menu. “What's a 'Who Killed Cock Robin'?," he mused. The menu description was rather vague. So he ordered it. The other two guys were desperately trying to suppress giggles, because apparently they knew. We three girls had no idea what was so funny. It arrived (“came" would be a rather unfortunate choice of words): two scoops of vanilla ice cream lying on a bed of chocolate flakes, nuts and syrup; a banana placed vertically between them; at the tip of the banana, extending downward to the plate, a squiggle of whipped cream, topped with a cherry. We lost it, collapsing in hysterical laughter; the birthday boy was staring at it wondering where (and how) to begin. It began to melt, and the banana did what vertical bananas lacking a solid foundation tend to do.....with a “plop,” splattering nuts and chocolate syrup everywhere. He called over the waitress and asked for a root beer float. (These days, I wonder if after the, uh, “downfall” a waitperson would come by with a little pale blue Pez).

They would also need to make it in a bathtub shaped bowl. :-)

Hi Wild. Welcome!

Minus, I saw a branch in the same strip mall as the Ulta store I visited the other day. Since I have to avoid sugar and starch (except for special occasion desserts at restaurants), it never even occurred to me to go in. We have an award-winning frozen custard shop/patisserie on our corner, but I dare never go in except when they have the sugar-free dark chocolate salt caramels I like. Back when I was recovering from knee replacement surgery, I could eat a small cone of custard without it triggering carb cravings, because the opioid I was on occupied most of the endorphin receptors in my brain and it took only a little bit of sweets to satisfy me. (My PT warned me it wouldn’t last forever, and once I weaned off the painkillers I found to my chagrin he was right). I’m not a cake person, though--I never did get the whole cupcake craze. My taste in sweet no-nos runs to gelato, sorbet, mousse, cannoli and cream pies. (And Bakers’ Square’s pies never did really float my boat--except for raisin sour cream and Candy Cane; the former’s been discontinued at most location, the latter is seasonal). Hoosier Mama Pie Shop was my undoing when I was doing rads--it was en route home and I would console myself with their Smores, Passionfruit Meringue or Espresso Cream after each session. I wasn’t on letrozole yet and figured that since I wasn’t gaining weight I’d be fine. Then came our Mediterranean cruise, and the rest of my restraint disappeared. In retrospect, I should have gotten as thin as I could before starting letrozole or even setting sail, but I guess I was “The Thing That Wouldn’t Leave” the pity-party I attended once the diagnosis process began.

luvmygoats, there's a "what about drinking" thread (maybe it's "how about drinking").

Last night I pan-seared sockeye salmon filets in grape seed oil spray, seasoned only with Salish alder-smoked sea salt and a fresh grind of black pepper. Sautéed Brussels sprouts in olive oil and a bit of garlic, then finished with supermarket balsamic and black truffle salt. Also an insulate Caprese with heirloom tomatoes, basil from my garden, mozzarella di bufala and a drizzle each of EVOO and aged balsamic. Poured a 2013 Bouchaine Pinot Noir (Carneros). Dessert was Greek yogurt with chopped fresh pineapple, mango, and apricot.

Minus, Nothing Bundt Cakes sound amazing! Unfortunately I just looked them up and there is one about 3 miles from me!

My kids left this AM to go to their dad's, so I had a late lunch of a bean burrito and then cheese and crackers for dinner.

ChiSandy, your dessert sounds yummy and has inspired me. I'm going to go have some plain greek yogurt and fresh kiwi.

Dinner tonight was a casserole made by my mother in law. She bought a new TV, DVD/Blue Ray player, and sound system after her old stuff finally quit working...... and for putting it all together, plus getting all the setup correct, she fed Sharon and I.

I was kind of busy today and that is all I ate...

Sandy - happy anniversary. Sounds like a good dinner.

I remember in college eating a "Pigs Dinner" at an ice cream place in SLC. Special's extravaganza sounds similar. Can't remember the name for the life of me, but from the web I think it was Snelgroves. I know that I have the pin/badge that I was placed on my jacket if I want to climb up to get the 'memory box' in the top of the closet. Hmmm - my HS graduation tassle, the signet ring of a boy I went steady with at 15 - don't think I'll go there today. But 15.....Oh my word.

Congrats Sandy!

Off to P-town with typically waaaaay too many clothes. I am so "packing"challenged!! Getting worse as I get older......

Lazy day today after a late night yesterday--slept in. Decided to have leftover spinach and about an ounce chunk of last night’s pork chop along with a fried jumbo egg.....you guessed, another double-yolker! Bob was jonesing for a smoked BBQ turkey leg at the Taste of Chicago....but it doesn’t start till Wed. and he’s off only this weekend and tomorrow. So I dialed around and found a BBQ in Evanston that was about to bring them out of the smoker. Sauce on the side, of course. Bob had his with the traditional white bread, sauce & fries that came with it. I put my bread in the fridge and fries in the freezer, and had mine plain, with greens and a little bit of black-eyed peas. Didn’t feel like wine tonight, so I had a nonalcoholic Clausthaler Amber.