So...whats for dinner?

That shouldn't take that much strength.... cookies aren't heavy! :-)

Iced in here today too---I started to take stuff out this a.m. and had one foot on the sidewalk and the other one still inside the door and started to slip. Came back in, then realized I couldn't hear any traffic or anything. I am 5 houses down a side street from a major street here. I don't hear much traffic, but some. I have only had one car go down the street since 7a.m. and it was a big truck with a snow blade and it was creeping along. I had wanted to go out for a Mexican breakfast but quickly changed my mind. Made myself and egg on toast and had a glass of orange juice.

I have not even tried to get to the mail box either. Baked one batch of "cool whip cookies" I used Lemon cake mix. Would definitely boost the flavor a little with some extract if I did it again, but not a bad cookie for the amount of effort involved. Have supplies to do more baking, but was planning on hitting the dollar store for some containers....NOT HAPPENING.

Called the nursing home, talked to my dad---he wasn't hearing me real well, but he understood I wouldn't be coming out today or tonight. He was ok with it. Said he would read his devotional book to get caught up. Said he had two eyes and a white chest watching him--I thought he had a therapy dog visiting but it was the framed picture of his beloved (deceased) Kitty Cat Parker...Said he'd manage without me. and not to risk breaking my wrist again. I swear, when I start to fall and put that right arm up in the air I probably look like a 60 year old overweight wannabe ballerina auditioning for something....

I did get a jar and try to toss some ice melt the length of the back sidewalk to the edge of the garage---but it is going to stay below freezing here today and then get below zero after dark and into tomorrow.

Tomorrow I will be making deviled eggs for our bowling party on Monday. That is always a good time. Everyone has their "special " item for the food table.

I meant it wouldn't take much strength to lift a cookie.. :-)

Eric, I knew what you meant. You can see I didn't have any trouble lifting it :-)

Lacey, it's a cooks illustrated recipe. Here's an adaptation using quick oats. I will tell you that the original CI recipe specifically says not to use quick, only old fashioned rolled, which I do. I use Maldon on half the batch, the other half unsalted. They're delicious both ways. Excellent with a cup of tea or coffee. I also make the cookies smaller. They spread a lot.

http://bakingbites.com/2013/01/thin-crispy-salted-oatmeal-cookies/

Where is Carole?

Lacey hope you feel better

Minus Great news!

Black bean vegetarian crockpot soup for dinner.

It is really cold here

I am retiring on Friday

Well, by that I mean only PRN, or Locums jobs,and only when I want. Or not. lol

Sorry for those I've missed, there is so much to catch up on

Can you believe we have more freezing rain now-----Honestly---I am goint to take a hot shower, eat and snuggle up on the sofa till bedtime.

The cookie recipe with the cool whip so easy===

1 softened container of cool whip

One egg

1 18.5 oz box of cake mix--your choice of flavor. Watch the size, as all cake mixes are not the same size if you can't find that size of cake mix, you will need to add some flour to make it right.

Stir it all together well ( it is quite sticky). Put powdered sugar on a plate and form balls by rolling dough in the powdered sugar. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. I got 28 cookies. Depends on size you make them. I have heard that the funfetti cake mix with the French vanilla coolwhip is good. I think I would have added a little lemon extract to the lemon ones.

If I get out to grab more cool whip I have a Banana spice cake mix and an orange cake mix to try. Will bake for the nursing home staff that works on Christmas Eve and Christmas.

Red - thanks for the recipe. I think I'll try the lemon first and add extra lemon zest.

I should be in bed, but I baked some candy cane kisses cookies--and White Christmas is on the late movie tonight........

Lacey, how I envy you! It was -2 when I got up and has climbed to a whopping 0 degrees. Everything is ice, covered by a half inch of snow. At least the sun is shining.

Hey Bedo, nice to "see" you!

Sandy - so sorry about your back. Hope you can get a handle on it before your planned trip.

ChiSandy: yes. Yes, it is Fate's way of taking your mind off your back!

Well, it was indeed God’s (or Fate’s) way of making myself think about something other than my back. Came down later this aft. to get some seltzer……and there the truffle was, right where I originally left it Thurs. (I really DID tear the fridge apart looking for it earlier)!

I will indeed take the trip no matter what (except, of course, if flights get cancelled and we have to take the train instead). The more I walk, even in The Airport From Hell (aka LGA), the better I feel, even in cold weather. In years past (before I had my knees replaced and whenever I was rehabbing one leg injury or another) I used to complain about long hikes through airport corridors or down Manhattan streets when cabs were scarce. But this time, I don’t mind walking, or standing. (It’s gonna take a lot of explaining to the gate agents to explain that yes, I do want to preboard, but no—I’m not carrying a guitar and I don’t want a wheelchair). Hoping we don’t get too much turbulence, as I’d like to be able to get up for a stroll down the aisle every 15 min. or so (whether or not I need the loo).

Tonight will be NY strip, sweet potato mini-latkes (from the freezer), broccolini and asparagus (the latter two from purging the veggie crisper). Trying to figure out how to use the truffle—maybe even with honey on toast with cheese for dessert. Tomorrow, definitely scrambled eggs again. If I can get to B’way Cellars again on the night Tom or his wife Geri are there, I’ll give them a big chunk of the truffle. (Unless the gremlins make it go missing again).

Costco hot dog tonight. Yum...not...

The laptop wouldn't charge anymore and the case is glued together so I wasn't sure I'd be able to fix it without breaking it physically. So, I went to Costco to buy a new laptop. After moving everything over to the new laptop, I "attacked" the old laptop with a hot Exacto knife and managed to get it apart enough to fix the problem. So, now I have two laptops.

I'm not sure if the glue is to save a few cents on screws or to encourage the "just throw it away" idea.

I spent this afternoon cleaning at my mom's house. Right now I'm in the middle of old bank paperwork. It's amazing how much of one's life can be discerned from reading bills and bank statements. Sine the bank account numbers are still valid, the shredder is busy. I am so glad I had bought mom an "industrial strength" cross cut shredder that can do 25 sheets of paper at a time.

Nancy, the truffle (though I'd ordered an ounce) is almost two ounces, about the size of a large walnut. They only charged me for an ounce. Sure goes a long way! If you store it in the fridge wrapped in a paper towel and then in a paper bag, and change the towel every day, it'll taste good for about a week. Tonight I made some steak (pasture-raised NY strip from WF and the last of my small Wagyu steaks from Snake River Farms in Idaho—hauled out the cast iron “plancha" griddle, ribbed side up, put it over my center burner and turned it up to high. (The vent on high too). Sauteed broccolini in olive oil, dressed with lemon white balsamic, sea salt and a little bit of red pepper flakes. Dipped some asparagus in first balsamic (the cheap stuff) and orange flavored olive oil and grilled them on the same plancha as the steaks (which were pre-salted & peppered, cooked to medium-rare & allowed to rest covered in foil). Just before slicing the steaks (for three of us), I poured the juices into a small skillet, in which I'd melted 2 T. butter. Swirled the pan to blend it, then poured it over the sliced steaks once they were plated. I'd reheated some sweet potato mini-latkes from Jewel's kosher section, and plated them with the steaks & veggies. Just before serving, I shaved some truffle over the steaks (the warmth and the butter helped the flavor “bloom").

Funny how the taste of a real truffle is subtler than truffle oil & truffle salt. Watching “The Taste," at first I didn't understand Anthony Bourdain's disdain for "truffle products," and his rejecting prospective team members for using them (he claimed that if the dish smelled too strongly of truffles, the less likely it was to have any truffles). Though most truffle salts have tiny bits of dried black truffle, almost all truffle oils are made with “truffle essence," which does not come from actual truffles: food chemists analyzed the esters responsible for truffles' aroma and then synthesize the “essence" in a lab. You almost needn't read the label to tell if a “truffle oil" ever even saw a truffle (black or white)—the bigger the bottle or can (and the cheaper it is), the likelier it is to be fake. Those cans from La Tourangielle—6 oz. for $18—are made with synthesized truffle essence. The only real ones I've seen come from either Da Rosario or Urbani—they are only an ounce, two at most, for about $15-20. Even so, read the labels. They may also contain lab-created "truffle essence;” if it appears on the ingredients list ahead of “extracts" of white or black truffles, that’s a red flag. It takes much less “essence” than “extract” to produce the aroma. If you find real truffle oil, buy the smallest size bottle you can find. Aromas fade over time. This is one instance in which buying in bulk is a bad idea.

If I can get to B’way Cellars before we leave for NY, and Tom is there, I’ll bring him half of what’s left (for his personal use—I don’t think city laws allow using foods from customers’ homes). If not, I will whip up a log of truffle butter and several little bottles of black truffle salt to give as gifts for friends who like truffles—not everyone does. “Supertasters” (who have more taste buds in the area of the tongue that senses bitter and therefore can’t abide stuff like broccoli, rapini, radishes, unsweetened black coffee or asparagus) tend to think truffles smell and taste like (as one such friend put it) “used gym socks full of potting soil.”

Speaking of NYC, we have early Christmas Eve reservations at Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli’s restaurant Butter, and for lunch the next day at Tavern on the Green (which got mediocre reviews after reopening, but has a new chef and better word-of-mouth). We snagged the only table left at Tavern—for 11 am. We wanted something more “Hanukkah-esque” for Christmas Eve (first candle of Hanukkah) but the better Jewish restaurants are closed because it’s Shabbat during the day, so there’s not enough time for them to prep for dinner. We were thinking of kickin’ it old-school—Chinese and a movie—but I’m sure all the best Chinese places are either all booked up or, like the Cantonese ones down in Chinatown, they don’t take reservations. (Briefly thought of someplace Italian for the “Feast of the Seven Fishes,” but nothing can match what our Sicilian landlady used to make us before I’d go out caroling when I was in college). Dunno where we’ll eat the 22nd & 23d—there is a restaurant right next door to the resort (HGV) on 57th bet. 5th & 6th. We will have to sit through a sales pitch (we’ve done that twice before), but in exchange we get the first two nights free (and barely used points for the next two), plus a $200 “Night on Us” entertainment package and 1500 HHonors points. If the package is anything like what they give in Vegas (where we currently own), it’s for middling restaurants and a show that’s already on twofers.