So...whats for dinner?

Carole - I love to toss leftover veggies in my salads but somehow never thought of steaming them ahead of time. Duh!!! Thanks for the tip

Scorcher today, worse tomorrow. Going down to an overnight low of 82! Had a double-yolked egg and a Lithuanian sausage roll for breakfast (plus a coffee & an espresso) before heading down to Lafayette to play the festival. (Also had a couple bottles of water beforehand, one onstage and one after). Got there and loaded-in an hour before we had to, and 1-1/2 hr. before our set. But as my breath support suffers if I sing too soon after eating, I didn't go around to the booths & sample. It was 95F at peak and still >90F at showtime (at least we were in partial shade). My wrist and thumb made it very difficult to play the higher frets on borh guitar & dulcimer, and I was sweating a LOT--plus, first a gnat and then my sunscreen got into my eyes (ouch). Wrapped up, began to tear down & pack up--and then I got dizzy and tachycardic (though not as rapid as when we were first setting up. And when I get the "twinklies" (usually in hot weather after a physical stress is over and the adrenaline weara off) I also get queasy--so I was in no shape to consider sampling the various food booths (never mind the beer & wine)! My singing partner and one of our local fans helped by carrying my stuff to the car 3 blocks away (instead of my driving the car to behind the stage and load out). So I got in and cranked the A/C as cold as I could get it. 5 min. and a bottle of water later I was good to go.

I'd seen billboards advertising Fair Oaks Dairy's sit-down restaurant, The Farmhouse--especially their fried chicken. It's about midway in the trip. (On the way down, I bought gas at Fair Oaks), So I was jonesing for fried chicken...till I saw that tonight's special was prime rib...with 15 min. to go. So I ordered it...and waited...and waited...and waited. I couldn't figure out why it would take >20 min, especially since the dining room was almost empty and the kitchen appeared fully staffed and churning out burgers--all they had to do was cut a slice of beef and plate it. Well, it turns out they had to make several tries to find a medium-rare piece by that late in dinner service. So though I ordered the 12-oz. "queen" cut they gave me the "king," apologizing that medium was as rare as they could find. Came with cornbread, sauteed summer squash, au jus, horseradish & garlic mashed potatoes...and two boxes. I ate about a third of everything except the potatoes, which I sampled. The food was delicious, though.

Got home, had a piece of cornbread and an Aperol spritz. Tomorrow night Bob will try to get home in time to make at least part of Father's Day dinner (Gordy, Leslie, & her parents--in from Houston--will be joining us at Cellars).

We are having high heat as well - upper 90S with 75% humidity. Ugh. Worked outdoors much of the day yesterday cleaning out gutters. Double ugh. Will try to stay in today.

DH has requested homemade pizza for father's day so in spite of the heat, I will fire up the oven this evening for 15 minutes. (I may decide to bake it on the grill but he prefers the oven.) Crust is in the fridge for its overnight rise.

Happy fathers day Eric!

Brunch was strawberries & cream and a lovely pear with a side of pistachio nuts. Dinner was a spinach salad with almonds & cranberries and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Oh - and of course I added a garden tomato - Cherokee Purple variety.

Well, hopefully you Midwesterners will have some temp and humidity relief by tomorrow when that mini heat wave is gracing the East Coast. I am scheduled to teach my last three elementary classes in the upper floor of the school that heats up like a greenhouse at 80 degrees. Supposed to be nearing 100 tomorrow. Am hoping that the teachers don’t cancel since we are heading out of town in a couple of days and won’t return until school is out. I do love the lesson I prepared for the kids that helps them demonstrate mastery of some of the strategies they learned for self-regulation. And I made them cool bookmarks. I’ll probably be more disappointed than they are if we have to cancel it. I’m game to muddle through....and yell over the whirring fans.

We had a low key Father’s Day, with DH watching three different sports events on TV, and me trying to get summer outfits out for our trip to NJ.....including bathing suits....eeeek!

For dinner I decided to go low cal and easy. Bought already cooked shrimp since I wanted no fuss (never did that before and was asking the fish counter guy where it gets cooked, how long they had it, etc., etc., when the man next to me said, “Why don’t you let her try one?”. It was perfectly fine! ) So I got some of them and an ear of corn for each of us and called it a day! All I did was “de-tail” the shrimp, make a big bed of romaine lettuce and some fresh cocktail sauce and cook up the corn. DH had a big chunk of our leftover Eataly bread loaf too.

Nance, you get the sainted wife award for the way you took care of your DH. Glad mine doesn’t read these posts!

Minus, that salad sounds right up my alley!

And yes, I hope you had a Happy Father’s Day, Eric.

Dinner visual:

We had the layered eggplant dish from the freezer last night. I heated/cooked it using the convection oven function of the microwave/convection oven. Convenient and delicious. Side was a tossed salad.

It's in the low 60's this morning. We'll go to the gym, have breakfast in town and do some grocery shopping. Tonight we'll have dinner at a restaurant as yet not selected in Bemidji following my WW meeting at 5:30.

Fajitas with homemade pico, salsa and sour cream. Using leftover grilled steak and shrimp.

Grilled ham steak with fresh grilled pineapple slices, corn on the cob and broccoli. It's hawt.

Thank you, everyone, for the father's day wishes. It was a quiet day.

The two of us have been exercising a lot (and losing weight) and I've been doing training for my government job.

eric - happy belated Father's Day! Can't seem to get organized and wish people happy stuff on the right day, lol!

minus - I am with you on the not being as hungry when it is hot - I like the fruit and cheese plan! I make a lot of main dish salads during the summer - plus they are fast. When DH goes to the gym after work on the weekdays we don't end up eating until 8:30 or 9, so something light seems better. He is having some vascular work done early next week so will not be at the gym for a couple of weeks and we can have more regular meal times, at least for a bit.

Okay....have to vent this again....I REALLY HATE TO PACK!! /// Just not good at it!

Have spent today organizing clothes to pack that might manage the NJ anticipated heat and humidity, and then all the books, gifts, and other items I am bringing to the kids. Am about to make the vegan version of the carrot/zucchini/apple muffins I want to bring to the crew. I am so happy they still eat eggs in baked goods!

Tonight we had grilled chicken breasts that had been marinated in World Harbors Sweet Chili sauce. I had added fresh minced garlic and soy sauce to the marinade. They were tasty! Made a big salad with horseradish dressing to accompany as well as a sweet potato for DH.

Part of the reason for the grilled chicken was to bring the (many) leftovers to the docvegan household, where it is easier for us to bring our meat protein, than for me to try to make that and a whole vegan meal for the docvegans. On the way down tomorrow, we plan to stop in Tarrytown to eat to avoid the food culture differences altogether!

Looking forward to seeing the grands, and I have packed waaay to many items for us to use for arts and crafts! Am also bringing some herb plant kits to plant with the grands in memory of their beloved maternal grandfather who was a true steward of the earth, and always had a lovely herb garden.

Meanwhile...I STILL HATE PACKING!!

Have a wonderful camping excursion, Eric. And Happy Retirement to you and Sharon

Off to bake...

I love packing! I packed the following for a 6 day trip to Florida last month.

In my backpack, 1 pair of flip flops, 1 summer dress, 1 Bermuda shorts, 2 jeans, 2 t-shirts, 3 cami/tank tops, pajamas, underwear/bra, bathroom bag and medications.

In my carry-on bag (which was a beach tote), I had my purse, iPad, 2 additional beach bags (got 3 for me, BFF and BFF’s mom), a portable speaker, beach hat and lunch.

Tonight was fish tacos using cod, DH will eat cod but not many others.

Well - I'm a fan of packing light. I'm over 70, but the older I get - the less I pack. I don't take much more than Illimae. I do have short hair now since chemo, but even when it was long I always had a 'wash & go' cut. I never wore much make-up - only a bit on my eyes. For a full week, I take two pair of jeans in case I spill spaghetti sauce on one - lol. Depending on the trip, I might add a pair of dress pants but you can wear nice black jeans almost anywhere. I don't bother with dresses, but I have a long skirt that I can wad up & toss in. One pair of shorts in the summer - cuddle-duds in the winter. 3-5 tops. Thanks to neuropathy, I don't own heels anymore. (One positive point.) I wear one pair of bulky (ortho) tennis shoes so i don't have to fit them in the suitcase & take one pair of something like loafers or mules or flats and yes, a pair of flip flops. Most of the time I color coordinate so everything will mix & match with black & white. But of course, everything goes with levis. Even my bathing suit is black - more slimming, or at least I feel thinner.

Add a folding canvas bag/small duffel for my Kindle & sweater & purse & a snack the plane (and my sleeves & gauntlets). Not to mention that with the LE I can no longer lift a heavy case into the overhead compartment anymore.

Frankly I'm past worrying about what other people think. I'm clean & neat & appropriately dressed and I'm off on a wonderful adventure.

Lol, ChiSandy, dainty or slim, I am not. However, growing up at the beach and living in a place so hot in the summer, dressing light is a must. Btw, I forgot, I also had my swim dress and full length coverup in the backpack too.

Illi - I got to thinking maybe clothes & make-up choices are partly based on where we grew up & what our Mother's did. I grew up in CA and never wore shoes unless it was unavoidable (like school). I was much more interested in being outside every available minute than fooling with clothes & make-up. When I went to college, I still can't believe that a number of my sorority sisters got up at 4-5am to get ready for a 9-10am class. Me...I'd rather sleep in any day. I moved to Texas from New Mexico after the "big hair" era was over, and the rest of the world was finally wearing levis. Woo Hoo.

My Mother didn't put on make-up every day. She did carry a powder compact (to keep her nose from shining I guess?), but only added mascara or rouge when they were going to the opera or ballet or their 'gay 90's' dinner/dance group.

Our junior high did not allow lipstick at school until ninth grade, and by then I usually found it more trouble than it was worth. The boys I ran around with were much more interested in boating & baseball than feminine wiles. Also remember, we're talking the 60's so lots of natural flower power influence. I'm sure other parts of the country had different customs.

Eric - this subject must be extremely boring for you, or a bundle of laughs.