So...whats for dinner?

Lacey12

Wow! I’m definitely feeling like our mouse spottings pale in comparison to several of your stories...clearly a national explosion. Same with squirrels due to last year’s acorn glut.

The exterminator ended up doing an “inspection” AFTER we left, and he got so many details wrong about our house that it was clearly a boilerplated report. Then he listed about 27 pests they will protect us from! I am only concerned about the current mice situation which is new as we have a sonic noisemaker deterrent and always put a box of dcon (now apparently outlawed, but am sure the regulation destroyer will bring it back) in attic and except for an occasional whiff of a dead mouse in walls, we have gotten away with arriving in the Spring to an unmolested home. I’m not paying a thousand dollars for a problem that might be remedied more simply. Will figure it out when we head back there in a month.

And how have I lived for over 70 years and never before heard of mice (and orher rodents) making their way into people’s cars and doing damage. I guess folks just don’t mention it! Nance, the snake in garage possibility is definitely creepy! Our resident rabbits here have obviously been chowing down on our clover, and are quite robust.

Today it was so hot that despite our empty fridge, we never ventured out to the grocery store. So dinner was odd.....a delicious speciality linguini pasta my DIL1 gave me in a gift basket that was garli/lemon flavored. I sauteed some summer squash from my sister’s garden, a chopped vidalia onion, pressed garlic and a can of artichoke hearts, added a bit of chicken bouillon and added all that to the al dente cooked linguini. At the end I added some grated mozzarella and parmesan. I have not a “green” in the house, so on top of this “yellow creation, I added the last of my grape tomatoes and some kalamata olives. It was delicious! But a no salad meal was quite odd for us. Below is the “meal”.

Carole, I have also noticed that Rao’s has a consistently reduced price (below 7.00) now for which I am thankful.

Moon, glad things are calming down for you a bit.

While this certainly doesn’t look special, it was the best pasta I’ve ever eaten....and I am amused at the faux“salad” attempt atop the dish!

Tomorrow night we are meeting DS2 and wife at a local restaurant, called The Local to finish up celebrating DH’s birthday since they didn’t make it up to the lake to celebrate. Then Sat evening we are meeting our long time friends from here who moved to California a few years ago. We will dine at La Voile a fave French Bistro in Back Bay. And then I hope we can just eat at home for a while.

M0mmyof3

Lacey, mice can get into cars and do damage. Happened to my hubby and I in early last year.They got into the intake manifold and did a couple of thousand dollars in damage. We don't think they got into the car at the house, but rather where my hubby works. They even found a mouse in a paper tray of a copier at his job.

auntienance

Lacey, looks like primavera to me! Yum!

Between the snakes and the mice, the snakes are far better behaved guests (as much as I hate the surprise of them.) It's usually a black or milk snake, both harmless.

I accidentally left the car window open in the garage once, The next day I found an entire box of shredded Kleenex in the car and mouse poop EVERYWHERE. There must have been a mouse party goin on! Since we no longer have pets, we now keep ramix in the garage at all times. In the small shed where we keep the lawn tractor we get a lot of mice because it's open. They winter in the tractor and Jim had even had one run up his pant leg in the spring. Yike! It's not unusual to see a black snake in there either. They are more welcome there lol

Everything bagel for breakfast this morning with whipped cream cheese.

Lacey12

Ah yes, the mouse up the leg is how DH discovered he had them in his car. He is not terribly observant. I had noticed some droppings in my car the day before, (and promptly sprayed the inside with peppermint oil:) and told him to check his, but he “saw nothing”. He was driving back from an errand and fortunately did not drive off the road (like I would have!) when he went to scratch an itch on his leg and met a climbing mouse! The next day, he noticed an odor in his car, but saw nothing again, and newly installed traps were empty. As I walked thru the beach parking lot (he drives, I walk later), I decided to check for sure. Well, I saw a small curled up “something” that looked suspicious and upon closer look discovered that it was a mouse fetus, he’d missed seeing. Ick! Maybe we should rent some pet snakes to live in our cars when up country until this rodent glut is over. But, so far, we seem to be fine now that we are back in the Boston burbs.

Looking forward to our dinner with DS2 tonight.

Nance, yes it does look like pasta primavera, but the delicious factor comes from the actual hand made (not by me) linguini with lemon garlic flavor. Ooh la! Do you make flavored pasta with your machine? I am happy for you that the mammo went well, and hope the other results are also favorable!

Finally today, a break from our hot weather! What a relief....😊

auntienance

Lacey, I have made a lemon pepper pasta and a spinach flavored, which were quite pretty and I gave as gifts.

eric95us

Many car manufacturers are using wires with a soy based insulation instead of the older (and less environmentally friendly) petroleum based wire insulation. Supposedly the number of incidents of rodent damage to car wiring has gone way up.

auntienance

Eric, we were told something to that effect when the squirrels ate our car!

ChiSandy

If my back doesn't interfere (it spasmed again this a.m., only a month after the last episode--usually, I go 1-2 yrs. between backaches), we'll probably go to Eataly for dinner. Jonesing for arancini or suppli, spaghetti cacio e pepe or tagliatelle Bolognese, a Margherita "pizza gastronomica" or any combo thereof. Last night we shared shrimp & cod ceviche and pollo mole (with saffron rice, tamal "pancake" and tortillas, and coconut flan (it was that or the espresso tres leches cake) at Mas Alla Del Sol down the street from us.

illimae

Tonight was pan fried pork loin chops with Brussels sprouts and broccoli/cauliflower.

eric95us

There are two storms...Mangkhut, threatening Guam and Florence, threatening the eastern seaboard of the USA. Both are forecast to be strong.

"My" medical team has been put on alert. Since it's our on-call month, this doesn't mean much as we are expected to be ready to go with little to no warning. Most alerts end with nothing happening.......hopefully that will be true for this one.

MinusTwo

Eric - fingers crossed.

Played dominoes today with a group that used to meet twice a month. Now we play maybe twice a year. Long story - but the death of one lady two years ago has changed everything. She was the "glue" that held the neighborhood together.

Anyway - we play at 2:30 for a couple of hours & have good food 'snacks'. Today was several salads: carrot & raisin with pineapple, chicken salad w/avocado as a binder instead of mayo to hold it together, three bean w/green peppers & onions & tarragon, fresh garden vegetables w/quinoa & Italian dressing. One lady made a banana cream pie. Also a Lemon Greek Yogurt seed cake. Needless to say, no one needed dinner.

M0mmyof3

Watching Florence really closely. I have family and friends in the area where they think she may hit.

carolehalston

September is an active hurricane month. DH has been watching the weather channel to keep up with brewing storms.

Dinner last night at the Y restaurant (which will soon close until next summer) was enjoyable. Apps were half price. I ordered walleye bites, served with tartar sauce. DH and I shared. He had a burger and fries. I snitched a few fries and they were crispy and good. I had a chicken Caesar salad.

I think tonight will be a ribeye steak.

auntienance

Rain rain and more rain from leftover Gordon, but not quite as much as St. Louis is getting. Florence is looking worrisome. We are in the process of readying our house to put on the market this spring, hoping to finally realize our dream of moving south where winter is more tolerable. Hurricanes put a damper on my ambitions lol. I was just thinking of South Carolina as a possibility when here comes Florence. I'll keep thinking.

Chicken pot pies and a fruit salad tonight. Normally I use puff pastry dough but this time I'm trying Trader Joe's pie crusts, which I picked up on a whim. I never use store bought pie crust but this one is made with butter (as is their puff pastry) and DH wanted top and bottom crust both, so I'm giving it a try. Oh yes, and I'm lazy.

Minus, I was wondering why you hadn't mentioned your chicken foot group in a while. It's a shame it's languishing. You always had such interesting and delicious snacks 😋

Moonflwr912

Nance, Im glad your Mam came out good. Hope everything else does as well.

Thanks all. For putting up with my whining. I am in a better place at the moment as long as things stay halfway normal. LOL.

Here is a pic of one thing we managed to save. The cradle my kids used. This thing is huge. We didnt put it away til the last kid was 10 years old, because it was a space ship, pirate ship, book nook, bus, train, car, and plane! I could sit on it and it wouldnt even protest. LOL. It held at least 4 kids at one time, because they all clambered in to see if it would. LOL so I am glad we saved it. Its on the porch because i had to hose it down and wash it with vinegar and hydrogen peroxcide. It is still out there because it needs a 2nd go tomorrow. Then I have 2 people who offered to refinish it for us.

My alarm just beeped, supper is ready. Teriaki meatballs, rice, and pepper and onion stirfry. Yum. My DH can eat the soft meatballs and rice. Im the one who needed rhe peppers and onion! LOL

Much love to all.

PS, yes, that's Tibbles, our elder cat, in the door...

SpecialK

mommy - mouse in the paper tray - lol

lacey - rental snakes - lol! Although, I could hook you up, have seen three within the last week, including under my car. Florida...

eric - hoping Florence doesn't wreak havoc on my in-law’s home in coastal SC. We have a closing date of 9/17 - final piece in the estate, and my BIL only has a fire policy on the house, let the wind and flood lapse - ugh, don't even get me started on that nonsense. The new owner can't close unless his homeowner's insurance company can write a policy because he will have a mortgage, and they can't do it if a named storm is threatening landfall. There are a couple of additional storms right behind Florence too.

moon - sweet cradle, love all the things it was used for by your kids, lol! The photo-bombing cat ishilarious!

Tried an experiment with a pork shoulder. This was a big one - 8 lbs. and I cut it in half and put it in the crockpot yesterday all day with a "mop" type sauce - thinned BBQ sauce with quite a bit of vinegar, chicken broth, spices, onion, and mustard. Took it out last night and shredded it and put it in the fridge. Had it for dinner tonight, spread some out on a baking sheet and broiled it to make it a little crispy, then topped it with BBQ sauce and some creamy slaw made with napa cabbage. Made a potato salad with celery, onion, and bacon. It was yummy, but I have a ton of the pork - thinking I will freeze some in dinner portions.

MinusTwo

Moon - great cradle

Special - Oh my... fingers crossed that Florence doesn't interfere with the house sale.

Nance - let is know how the TJ's crust turns out. I like quite a few of their products but haven't tried that. Is it frozen?

auntienance

Minus, yes the crust was frozen and it was the most awful thing I've tried. It tasted ok but was the most difficult thing I've ever tried to work with. It fell completely apart and was impossible to do anything with it. I had to keep chilling it and re shaping it. Don't waste your money. It would have been less hassle to just make the damned thing myself.

ChiSandy

Cool cradle, cooler kitty!

Friends just moved to Charleston in June. Keeping fingers crossed that Florence misses the coastal Carolinas. But one model has it headed for the area ranging from the VA Tidewater to the Chesapeake to the Delmarva peninsula--in which case DC & its suburbs (including my sis in NoVA) could get slammed.

My back still hurts too much to go out or cook anything more complex than a couple of fried eggs and a toasted WholeFoods mini-croissant today. Ordered dinner out from Jimmy's NY Pizza Cafe--16" thin crust Neapolitan pizza with mushrooms, red peppers (they were out of green), sausage (L half) and anchovies (R half); Greek salad. (I had 2 slices and Bob had 3). For dessert, a small scoop each of Jeni's Splendid Deepest Darkest Chocolate and Graeter's Black Cherry Chocolate Chip.

M0mmyof3

Tonight's dinner I think with be chicken kabobs marinated in Italian dressing, rice and sautéed green beans

carolehalston

Tonight will be Nathan wieners and chili out of the freezer.

Nance, what fun to be moving to a new place. At this point in my life (and dh's life), I don't think we would have the courage to uproot. Just the thought of cleaning out the closets in our house makes me shudder! LOL.

SpecialK, fingers crossed that your inlaws' house isn't damaged before closing.

auntienance

Carole, it is a daunting task but I have been cleaning out closets one by one and today and tomorrow tackling our large walk in closet. I have gotten ruthless about throwing away things by asking myself "do I really want to move that?" Progress is being made!

Fish sandwiches, mac and cheese and some sauteed French green beans tonight. I'm tired.

auntienance

I counted no fewer than 8 pillows in our closet. This is not including the two on each of the beds. Why do we need so many damned pillows!?

SpecialK

auntie - it’s the Girl Acout mentality - always prepared! I also use it in regards to my purse - I was actually purse shamed by the physical therapist, she took it away from me and put it on the scale!

Tonight was pulled pork tacos, with avocado slices, lime, and a creamy chipotle sauce - alongside, corn on the cob, yum

ChiSandy

Nancy, only two pillows on each bed? Sounds pretty spartan (says she who sleeps on two--three when on my back--plus one for my L arm and one between my knees when on my side).

We will probably be dragged out of this house feet first--thinking of de-cluttering, staging, packing & moving makes us break out in hives & cold sweats. Even straightening out enough to paint sounds discouragingly arduous.

Bob just brought back falafel & shwarma from down the street. (We have leftover quiche and lots of salad). Forgot to ask him to buy an apple and a challah for Rosh Hashonah. (We have honey--will probably use raisin soda bread to stand in for the challah). I'm not going to temple--nowhere to park, Bob would have to teetotal in order to drop me off (he & Gordy are watching football) and I would have to walk all the way to the remote lots to catch a ride with a fellow congregant--with my back strain, too far for me to walk to temple from home and impossible for me to negotiate the steep stairs in the school buses used as parking shuttles.

Shanah Tovah to those who celebrate.

MinusTwo

Nance - and also the depression mentality that I learned from my parents & grandparents. Re-use, do with out, save it up, don't throw it away. I do wash zip lock bags unless they had something wet like spaghetti sauce, and I often re-use tin foil. I do not however save string. Always be prepared means having extra of everything. Mayo & mustard & vinegar in the top cabinet so you won't run out just as you're making dinner. Several books to read before the last one is finished. Besides the fact that just when I get really comfortable with something (be it a bra or socks or shoes or undies or specialty cookies) - that's the very time they discontinue that product, and I HATE shopping for something new.

So I must confess that I just ordered & received two more pair of Calvin Klein jeans from Costco - one black & one dark blue. Do I need them right now? Of course not. But most pants I buy look like I'm wearing riding jodhpurs and these do not balloon at the thighs. And they are low waist, which I like. Not to mention that I can never find pants long enough and I could order these on line in longs. I do feel guilty, but the darn pants were only $19.99 and the longs from someplace like Talbots that might possibly fit are $80. My Calvinist soul (not related to Calvin Klein but the Scottish one) will have to pay the piper by getting rid of two "somethings" from the closet, and hope I have time to wear these before I get hit by a truck (what would my son say about the plethora of jeans). Or before wide legs are so firmly back in fashion that I look goofy.

Dinner was ham hock & beans that I set to soak last night. Lots of celery & chopped onions. Dark clouds & pouring rain today. So simple. So delicious.

MinusTwo

Thought this Irish Bread recipe from the original Heloise sounded good & easy. I'll probably try it once I finish the Hatch Chili Scones and the San Francisco Sourdough in the freezer.

1 cup prepared biscuit mix; 1/4 cup raisins; 1 teaspoon caraway seeds, 1/4 cup plus two Tablespoons milk; Butter for serving.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix all ingredients together quickly & lightly (except butter) and put in a well greased 6 inch baking dish. Bake about 12 minutes. Cut into wedges & serve with lots of butter.

If someone tries this before I get there, let me know.

ChiSandy

Know how they say that cooking is art, but baking is chemistry--that baking recipes must be followed to the letter? Well, my BFF Kathy's Nova Scotia mom, aunts & Nana taught her how to bake "by the seat of her pants." She doesn't even have to measure--it always turns out great, most recently that soda bread which is as moist as my late Yiddishe grandma's (of blessed memory; she hated to be called "Bubbe") honey cake.

auntienance

I make Irish soda bread once a year, on St. Patrick's day. This looks like a pretty classic recipe and should be good. This year I made a rye version for the first time, which I loved. I'll probably make it again next year.

My great grandmother, an awesome southern cook, never used a recipe for anything, not did she measure. If I should go back in time, I would follow her around and write down everything. I cannot cook by the seat of my pants. I can't remember anything.

MinusTwo

And I remember less as time goes on. Sigh. Just finished re-reading "Still Alice". Hope I am blessed by a major heart attack as the end.

Nance - what did you add besides changing the biscuit mix for rye flour?