So...whats for dinner?

Dinner was a pork loin rubbed with sage & roasted with hunks of onion. Served with another selection of the Kroger Petite Potatoes pre-packaged for the microwave with Artisan seasoning to add & toss with butter when done. This time Herbs de Provence. I think of the three I've tried I like the Hatch Chile/Ranch best so far.

Thanks for sharing some details of your CA visit, Lacey. DH is a fan of most sports and we will tune in the Super Bowl despite some bitter emotions. There's a big "don't watch" movement in New Orleans.

Dinner last night was chicken enchiladas, such a simple dish to assemble and so tasty. I used the Hatch red enchilada sauce. I have used the green but like the red better. We also had a lettuce salad with additions.

Tonight will be pork roast and potato salad, the latter a rare treat. It will be the mashed potato salad my mother made and served warm or room temperature.

I have made good progress on my 1000 word jigsaw puzzle but only the considerable amount of blue sky remains.

Lacey, SoCA's weather is a lot like Vegas': yesterday it was pouring, chilly and windy. Today, no rain (till tonight) but still chilly (50s daytime, 40s night) and nearly as windy. We're watching the game from our timeshare, eating Chinese leftovers, chips, popcorn & a couple of wraps from the resort's sales center. Last night the kids went to Rao's and loved it, but couldn't bring back leftovers because they went to see Van Morrison afterwards and you can't bring food (even packed) into the theater.

We went to Mott 32 in the Palazzo. The name comes from an address on NYC Chinatown's main drag. We started with Shanghai soup dumplings; then shredded “42-day duck" salad; hot & sour soup; lobster Cantonese (in the shell); beef & broccoli stir-fry; and Shanghai shrimp lo mein. Dessert was mango-coconut rice roll.

Going to see Lady Gaga after the game. We will eat where we eat, wherever & whenever that may be.

Making stuffed peppers with taco seasoning

Chicken fajitas tonight. Cooked the package of seasoned chicken breasts, covered with green salsa, in the Instant Pot -- tasty!

Hi all! I’m back! Trip to Hawaii was great, came home and had to deal with a hidden fuel spill from a gas powered leaf blower in the garage, then my two SILs came, then Super Bowl guests! Dinner tonight was leftover SB snacks, lol!

Our country's climate truly feels upside down when I wake up in So Cal to a rainy 40 degree (feels in mid-thirties) day...and DH streams the Patriot Duckboat parade in Boston to see a warm, 64 degree sunny day. Craziness!

Carole, I empathize with the Saints fans....so frustrating! And I sure hope your congestion clears. I love your RD reference

Welcome back, Special, and I hope the fuel spill gets cleaned up without your assistance! I'm feeling lucky that it seems we won't be returning home to the aftermath of any snowstorms, which would be typical this time of year.

After seeing DB for brunch yesterday, he had doc appts, so DH and I ended up going to see the Pompeii exhibit and the Reagan Museum. For dinner we just dodged raindrops and walked to a nearby pizza spot, sharing an arugula/fig salad and veggie pizza.

Today SIL is out and we are not invited to be with DB and his caretaker, so we will instead visit with some good friends from our hometown who moved out here several years ago. Will have dinner out with them. They are lamenting the fact that the weather will literally put a damper on their showing us some of their new favorite haunts. Will dine out with them tonight.

Tomorrow we have a lunch date with DB, SIL, and my best friend (courtesy sister since she lived with my family for a year) who is also eager to see DB. Her daughter lives in LA so she treks out here from DC a couple of times a year. DB really lit up when I said she would be joining us. He works so very hard to make memory connections, but had no trouble remembering who she was. I think her lively presence will be good for all of us! I just keep hoping that DB doesn't fall down when he is out of the house. It certainly seems these will be some of his last ventures out. He is working soooo hard. But is motivated by tasty food, and our vidit, and seems very mellow for someone with his diagnosis.

Beave, you've given me another reason to unpack my Intant Pot when I get home.

Writing this from our suite in Vegas, where we're stuck overnight due to everything flying into MDW and ORD being cancelled due to Ice Storm Julian. Gordy had to reschedule his in-person job interview for tomorrow, but he can do his phone interviews and comedy show table-read via Skype. Now a situation like this would have thrown Bob into a tizzy decades ago (when we were stuck in St. Paul overnight in 1984 because all planes were snowbound, he ranted “I'm a doctor—I HAVE to get home!" and ended up taking an overnight Greyhound) but he's matured enough to be fine with it now: his office will be closed anyway tomorrow because all his patients heeded weather warnings and cancelled. Even his phone focus group was cancelled, because the market research firm's offices will be closed. Besides, this means an extra day at the casinos. We got the extra night for just HHonors points, w/o having to dip into our timeshare points balance.

We were able to book the same flights for tomorrow. Lazy day today, since we're already mostly packed. May hit the spa later. Bob's off to Circus Circus next door to see if he can supplement his Super Bowl winnings. Might do Mabel's BBQ (Michael Symon) off-Strip tonight if my appetite returns (I just had my leftover dinner entree for breakfast). Or if the wait is too long (they don't do reservations), either Giada (de Laurentis), or Jose Andres' meat palace in the SLS (close enough to walk).

Dinner at Top of the World in the Stratosphere was excellent. Clear weather (albeit windy, which didn't stop one foolhardy idiot from bungee-jumping off the top of the tower), great views. Food was top-quality and executed impeccably despite being simpler than at most other restaurants of that caliber around here (tourist tastes, alas). We did the prix fixe with wine pairings. Started with an intensely reduced lobster bisque with chopped lobster (rather than the “medallions" mentioned on the menu); then housemade cavatelli pasta with Wagyu beef Bolognese. Entree was Ora (NZ) king salmon (farmed wild-type) with three ginormous prawns scampi and spinach sauté; and dessert was spumoni coated in dark chocolate. For the latter, I'd expected a small (somewhere between golf & handball-sized) tartufo; but it was somewhere between a baseball and softball. Quite delicious, better than any spumoni I ate growing up in Brooklyn: pistachio studded with nuts, strawberry with bits of fraises des bois, and deep, dark intense chocolate. Sadly, there was simply too darn much of it for me to finish (and ice cream doesn't travel well, not even for the quarter-hour it took to get a Lyft back to our resort). Did pack most of my salmon and two of the three prawns, which were lusciously decadent as breakfast (the salmon was still lush & silky despite my having nuked it).

In the 18 years since we started visiting Vegas, it's become glitzier (except Circus Circus—aging, down at the heels, tacky, rugrat-friendly) but the odds have gotten drastically poorer, especially for machines (slots & video) Used to be Bob would come home up a couple of thousand just playing roulette, baccarat and video poker; but over the years, minimum bets for roulette, blackjack & baccarat have skyrocketed and slots/video poker machines have had much “tighter" payouts. I don't gamble—I just spend.

Oh Sandy, yum! And how I love spumoni - I was in heaven just reading about it. I would have cried to leave any behind.

Carole, I hope your congestion clears soon. I concluded that I have had a sinus infection instead of a cold and it's had a negative effect on my appetite. Poor DH has had to fend for himself more than once. While my head is very much improved, my appetite is marginally better. Enough anyway that the thought of food doesn't turn my stomach. So, I'm going to brave the cold to grill a flatiron steak that we'll have with a baked potato and wedge salad with homemade thousand island dressing.

Welcome back SK! Hope CA warms up for you Lacey!

Oh wow Eric. Hope you booked the VIP NASA tour. I've been wanting to go. And the new WWII airplane museum is at Ellington field.

Are you on the way to somewhere? Or around for a couple of days? With our grey, drizzly weather, I hope you're not tenting. I live up in the NW part of Houston (almost on the way to Austin) but would love to drive down & meet you for a meal or coffee or whatever if your schedule permits.

Welcome or welcome back to the Houston area. DH has the tour years ago and really enjoyed it. I hope you two and minus can meet up, sounds fun.

I had various leftovers of Asparagus, Quinoa and a medley of sautéed Squash, Zucchini and Leeks. Followed by Pomegranate Green Tea and a couple squares of sea salt dark chocolate.

Last night was chef salads with blue cheese dressing to which I added extra Gorgonzola. Naughty. I had endovenous laser to my lower right leg today so before I left for the doc I made chili in the crock pot since I can’t stand for any length of time until tomorrow. This should be my last one of these procedures - I have now had two to each leg, one upper and one lower. I do have some sclero work next week after my post-op ultrasound and I am hoping it will be the last one. I won’t have the legs of my youth, but they look a lot better than they did before I started this process - yay! I even wore shorts in Hawaii! And nobody ran screaming after seeing my legs, ha

Dinner last night was two catfish fillets breaded with fish fry breading and cooked in the air fryer until well browned. Cauliflower mash and tossed salad with lettuce, tomato, and avocado. DH said the meal was good. I couldn't taste it.

Perfectly miserable day here - ice, snow and 30 mph winds. In spite of that calling for something hot and hearty, dinner tonight is steak salad with the leftover flatiron steak sliced very thinly. Additions will be whatever tasty bits are in the fridge - egg, avocado, feta cheese (I may forego the feta if we opt for the remains of the thousand island), olives, red onion and several campari tomatoes. There are even some golden beets leftovers that I may throw in. This will clear out the refrigerator nicely prior to a trip to the grocery store tomorrow.

Special, I will wear shorts till the day I die, no matter what my legs look like. When I retired, I bought seven t shirts and seven pairs of shorts and that has been the basis of my at home attire no matter the season. I will wear shorts out if the temp is 50° or warmer. (I do have a couple of pairs of yoga pants that I wear at home when the weather gets to single digits.) I'm fortunate enough not to have many varicose veins, but even if I did, I doubt it would stop me lol. Hope yiurs heal quickly.

Carole, I'm sorry you're suffering with a head cold after all you've just been through. Please take care.

Beaver, the casserole looks yum!

Leftover salad for dinner and early bedtime.

Like Eric, we are off to Florida too but on an early morning flight. Once the cruise ends, I’ll travel on the bus for a couple of days before flying home, DH will drive the band and return when the tour ends in about a month.

Have a goodnight all 🙂