So...whats for dinner?

susan_02143

In the past three days, I have spent my time with [counting fingers] 18 relatives.... first cousins, first cousins once removed, and a few second cousins twice removed. Sunday Kim and I went to brunch.... haven't seen her since 1995! It was like we never stopped hanging out. And then, all the other ones were in one place, and it was wonderful. For dinner last night I brought a roasted beet salad with blue cheese and walnuts, some pickled radishes, and a cucumber and poppy seed salad. Nick, one of my favorites, made the rest of the meal, and way over did. His Mom thinks he was competing with me! How funny!

Tomorrow I see a long-lost friend who has reappeared thanks to the internets. And then on Friday, a big family dinner with more cousins. Yes, they are coming out of the woodwork this week.

Tonight I made BLT's for the two of us. The tomatoes were not perfect which marred an otherwise lovely sandwich. We did arrive home from NH to our own tomato plants with TURNING fruit. Only a matter of days now.

*susan*

SpecialK

susan - cousinpalooza!  Enjoy!

Lacey12

Carole, hope the vertigo passes soon.

Susan, sounds like a fun week! No wonder your cousin way overdid! Anyone even trying to compete with you would have to....but, alas, would still not measure up.

Today we were drawn to the sea again...went to Westport, where the atmosphere stayed foggy for a long time, the beach was crowded, but the waves were high yet perfectly gentle with subtle undertow. So we enjoyed swimming. Looked for a fish store we used to know there, but it was gone. Fortunately we ran into a local who steered us to another fish spot. We bought lovely sole and some shrimp. On the ride home, (I drove), I assigned DH with the task of googling options for dinner using those ingredients.

We settled on sole provincal, which we had with red russian kale sauteed with garlic, onions and baby bella mushrooms, and a baby spinach salad with pear and red onion and dijon vinaigrette. Decided to cook up the shrimp and save it for tomorrow night. The sole was delicious.....hee hee....even tho I accidentally dropped it on the kitchen rug before cooking it and had to rinse it off really, really well since I was so skeeved. Thankfully, we didn't taste the rug, and the fish tasted so fresh!

Tomato report from here...I may have one tomato that matures.....so pathetic. I hope the chipmonks don't leave their signature bites on it, like they have done in years past. Am guessing the feral cat who hangs out near our deck might take care of them. Ah....the pecking order of nature......

carolehalston

No motivation to cook tonight.  Dinner will be a sandwich and or salad.  Today I bought some parmesan garlic buns from the Bread Lady.  I'm thinking we'll use them for sandwich bread.  

Tomorrow I plan to try roasting a chicken in the convection oven.  It's a combination microwave/convection.  I'll also cook some rice with intentions of making Eric's chicken and rice salad, which I REALLY like. 

For lunch today (after biking 26 miles!) dh and I split a chicken salad sandwich with chips and then each of us had an ice cream sundae.  Mine was French Silk Pie ice cream with hot fudge!  Yum, yum, yum!  DH had moose tracks ice cream with hot fudge. 

MinusTwo

Wow Carole - 26 miles on the bike.  Sounds like your dizziness has receded.  Glad to hear that.  I always feel like such a slug when I hear your activities.

susan_02143

Had lunch today with a friend I haven't seen in over 20 years near the Boston Aquarium. Lovely salad and two pizettes [silly word eh?] Brought home half of the little pizzas which were actually quite good. Tonight I wanted something lighter so made a leek and potato soup with the stock I made from the last grilled carcass. Perfect supper for the two of us.

Lacey, I am so pleased for DS2 that he has found a girl that makes him happy, but I share your concern that he might move to Chicago. At least Chicago has a great food scene. Quick plane ride and you could spend time with him. Not the same though, is it?

Friday more cousins arrive and this time I am making the whole meal. Husband has talked me out of one course. I suspect he is planning to talk me out of another too. These two are just about to move to the UK, so I do want this meal to be special. I hate that they will now be over an ocean.

*susan*

SpecialK

susan - I vote for a change from pizettes, which to me sounds like female pizzas, to pizzalings.  And yay for more cousinpalooza!  I am sure whatever you make, or how many courses you include/exclude, it will be a memorable meal!

Moonflwr912

Susan that's a lot to plan for! Hope it all turns out perfectly. 

Lacey you have so many fun weekends. That's so cool. 

Minus, don't worry, no one keeps up with Carole! I'm a slug too. But, I just graduated to a cane so maybe soon! LOL plus I was told swimming is ok again!  Can't wait!

Carole I had the vertigo. No no no. It sucks! Bad when you lay down and still spin. There wasn't any reason for mine they said and it went away after about 2 weeks. Hope yours goes away and doesn't come back. 

Nance I like beets too. Do you bake them first? 

Specialk, too bad the Dr pepper icing was a bust. It's dissappointing when it doesn't taste as good as it should. 

Eric, what kind of plumbs? My grandmother had the little oval ones that looked like giant olives but purple. They were so good. I am almost always dissapointed with the plums I find at the store. Some seem so blah. 

Hope I didn't miss too many people. LOL

Much love. 

Lacey12

Susan, I agree with Special that however many  or few courses you prepare, the meal will be memorable. Glad you enjoyed your luncheon with long time friend. Such renewed relationships can be so nourishing!

Carole, I'm also impressed with your 26 mile bike ride! I toy with the idea of getting back into biking, but need a new bike with wider tires than my old racing style one....and I really hate wearing helmets, but would if for no other reason than I'd feel like a hippocrite for criticizing the many NH motorcyclists who wear none.

Today after upping my work out regimen at the gym, I decided to head to Volantes to get some garlic and dates ( they carry very fresh ones from a Cali farm). Was chatting with another customer about the slow   tomato season, and somehow we related it to BLTs. She told me what great BLT's she gets from Volante's deli......so, I marched over there and ordered one! In the process, I ran into the owner/farmer, a good friend of DS2, who chatted with me about DS2's girlfriend, and how much everyone likes her. Apparently, in January they are traveling with his good buddies who are all married now and vacation together. This poor gal has really had to meet a zillion people here, and she has more than passed muster. And you are right, Susan, Chicago is a great city with a fabulous food scene, but it does require some air travel....or a long flat car trip after PA. . I keep remembering DS2 telling me a few years ago that Chicago was the only other city he could imagine living in. Oh dear......time will tell......

Anyway, the BLT was great! I took it home and had it for a 4PM dinner since DH was off golfing and dining with those friends.

Tonight I wrapped all of DGD 's birthday gifts, and tomorrow will pack for this next car trip. Apparently the birthday girl is starting to show her age in spades.....major oppositionality. This will be a riot! She is so verbal, she must have no trouble asserting herself in clever ways with the many adults in her life. LOL

By the way, has anyone seen the Huffington Post article about Trader's "two (or is it three now?) buck chuck" wine. Yikes! Pretty scathing and creepy production description! I can post the link if anyone is interested.

gardengumby

spent today canning.  Made some number (forgot to county) pints and 1/2 pints of dill relish and salsa.  tomorrow is a busy day with acupuncture, DEXA scan and lunch out with friends, but I'm going to attempt to finish my canning session afterwards by making and canning tomato sauce with the last of the tomatoes.  I got tired.

Didn't see the two buck chuck product description, but I tasted it once, and it was definitely a not to be repeated experience.  Yuck!!

Lacey12

Garden, if you see what this author contends goes into the wine, you might be tempted to pump your stomach! Lest I tease, here's the link.....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/quora/so-thats-why-trader-joes_b_5648730.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063

You must have quite the garden, Garden, given all that canning.....feeling some envy here.

MinusTwo

Lacey - thanks for posting the TJ link.  I bought some of the wine when they first opened here but didn't care for it.  Looks like there's a good reason. 

carolehalston

I think all of you could bike with us on these nice paved bike paths.  And we started off the summer biking shorter distances between villages.  It's 6 miles from Park Rapids to Dorset, so 12 mi. total.  We also have nice bikes with tires that are a little bigger than the skinny tires on the "serious" bikes.  Our posture on our bikes is more upright, not leaning over the handlebars.  We wear bike pants with the padding but my pants look like shorts. 

Most of the time it's fairly social on the bike paths with other recreational bikers who smile and greet us.  There are also some of the "lean and mean" variety of biker who whiz past us.  Yesterday we spoke to a couple who were riding a double bike.  They went pretty fast with two sets of legs pedaling away.  There are families with children.  We see a few of the low recumbent bikes. 

Susan, count me among those who are certain that the cousins are in for a wonderful meal.

Lacey, it sounds like you've met your future DIL. 

Celery blue cheese soup is the soup of the day at the White House!

susan_02143

Today, 32 years ago, I married Mr. 02143. Back them I would have been susan_75209. We were married in my parent's front yard; reception was in the side yard. The music was provided by a brass quartet, and the food was delicious. I was such a baby back then! I haven't aged that well, I am afraid. This dreary disease made sure of that!

SpecialK

susan - look at you!  I love your dress, it looks very current!  Congrats - I am right behind you, we are 31 years this year, but I didn't look as cute as you on my wedding day! We got married in Guam, no family, the weather was hot and steamy and made my hair ridiculous, and our reception was in our apartment with a bunch of people I had only met a few times - but, hey - it seems to have worked, right? I love the way your DH is looking at you.

MinusTwo

Susan - gorgeous.  Thanks for sharing.  Happy Anniversary!!

Lacey12

Carole, your bike excursions sound absolutely delightful! I may ask for a consultation before making the move to  get a new bike.

Susan, what joy in that lovely wedding photo! You both look so adorably sweet, young and innocent.  Were you twelve?? .

Our small wedding was truly  "our own"....the ceremony in Cambridge with immediate family and close friends, with a reception at DH's apt in Back Bay. Very little planning involved, except for a back up clergy person in case our original person (close prof of DH's from NJ college) didn't make it. The back up refused to honor our plan for an ecumenical service, so we gritted our teeth when learning there was a cargo crash at Logan (Boston airport) that morning, but number one person got there, which I learned when I reached the altar, and he said, "I'm glad we both made it!"      "It's always something....."

Special, I guess our weddings suggest it's not size of celebration that determines marital longevity. We are heading to 41 years in Nov. 

No formal photos of ours, but if I can sometime rustle up one of the few snaps (and make my way to my real computer), I'll share.

Happy Anniversary Susan and Mr. 02143!!

Leftovers and corn today....probably early or late since we are scheduled to join some church folk for a social justice march in town around rush hour. Hoping the forecasted thunder storms bypass....

SpecialK

lacey - I like to think that the focus was on the marriage rather than the wedding for us - not a lot of distractions or fuss.  I have to say it was a tad awkward to meet my in-laws, and same for DH, when we were already married.  I have warned my children that I will kill them if they do that!

Not sure about dinner tonight - may be healthy road snacks - we are driving to the east coast to clear out our friend's condo and clean.  We are bringing a good friend of DD with us, DD will drive up and spend the night, then take her friend back down to the Keys.  So, we will have a fun car trip!

eric95us

Happy Anniversary Susan and Mr 02143.

Eric

carolehalston

Susan, that picture is so sweet and lovely that it brought tears to my eyes. 

I don't think dh's mother ever forgave him for getting married to me without even telling them he was getting married.  We had the ceremony in my parents' living room.  My school friend Carol Arnold officiated free of charge because I had helped her get elected justice of the peace!  Only my immediate family and a few friends attended. 

The reception food was long-necked Dixie beer (brewed and bottled in New Orleans and now out of business) and boiled shrimp.  Our only pictures were slides that I can't seem to locate.  Years ago I had a few of the slides made into photos but these are fading. 

We decided to get married because my parents and his parents would have been embarrassed if we'd taken off travelling together without being married.  Living together back in those days was called "shacking up" and nice people didn't do that.  Our private agreement was that we'd get divorced when we no longer wanted to stay together.  So far we haven't gotten that divorce! 

I re-read Eric's recipe and was reminded of pine nuts as an ingredient.  Alas, no pine nuts!  So I'm substituting roasted slivered almonds.

Lacey12

Love all the wedding memories....so reflective of the times...although I did attend lots of very traditional big event weddings back then too. 

DH and I wonder what our son will do if he and Chi girl tie the knot. He has spent the last ten of his 33 years going to his wide swath of friends' bachelor parties and weddings, yet I'm not sure how they would swing having all those people, unless they do a destination wedding which would help people self-select attending, thus bring the numbers down. He is waaaaay too socially connected, both socially and through work. I understand Chi girl is less so, but in either case, they will have a lot of deciding to do about how and where. Wonder what her parents are wondering......tho she never returned home after college, so I suspect she will be in charge of whatever she does....like I was. We'll see.....

Our wedding photos were supposed to be taken by a guy with whom I worked. He showed at the chapel a bit high (early 70's mind you)...so fortunately, an older more responsible co-worker had his camera with him, so we got a few photos. It was like being given gold when he brought them to work that week. Talk about different times......;) Now the photographers have to fight off the people with their phones.

susan_02143

Our photographer was wonderful. This was his first non-Jewish wedding gig. He was thrilled to be asked to do this totally WASP wedding. He didn't do even one posed shot. He just took these amazing pictures and no one ever noticed that he was there. And then, for the cost of his time, we owned the negatives to have reproduced anywhere we wanted. Fabulous!

The dress was $75.00. The minister was $50. The brass quartet was $250. The food and cake added up to about a thousand total, and then there was wine. But we picked it up and bought from a place that bought any unopened bottles back with no stocking fee. The total, including the cost of paint for the windows you see in the background was just about $2,500. I was frugal then, and am frugal now!

I should scan my favorite wedding picture of all and post. You will all love it.

*susan*

auntienance

Lovely pic Susan, congratulations!

susan_02143

Nostalgia... here is my favorite wedding picture of all. This was my Grandmother. She was always carried herself with dignity and always had the right outfit. Her bags and shoes always complimented each other, but were never matched. She found my fashion sense appalling and was shocked that any man would have me.  :-)

*susan*

SpecialK

OMG - I love her hat! Her expression is priceless!

Lacey12

What a hot, if not accepting, ticket! Love the posed hand with the handbag!

gardengumby

hahaha ours was our 2nd for both of us. We wanted as little as possible anything for our wedding. We flew to Vegas and got married by a JP.  We didn't even take our children along.  We'd been together for 12 years at that point. 24 more since then.  It's been a good time. I love him more every day. He's my rock.

Lacey12

That's lovely, Garden!

Visiting the grands, and prepping for DGD's birthday party. There is already a houseful of guests staying from out of town, so the open space resonates with a zillion voices to go with DGD's intermittent high-pitched glass-cracking shrieks!

DDIL's mother (who lives here with her husband) made dinner last evening. It was a Persian dish I cannot name.....with beef, chickpeas, and vegetables, over rice with a lovely arugula salad with her balsamic dressing.

This morning, DDIL's father made a huge veggie omelet for the large crew who assembled in the kitchen. When we were here in March, DGD, upon seeing a similar huge omelet, happily exclaimed, "It's an egg pizza!" She is a riot, and keeps us all busy, amused and exhausted!  No doubt there will be Facebook entries of the birthday girl and her party....

Weather here is beautiful, and so atypical for NJ in August.....usually very hot and humid. Our hilly walk this AM was delightful in the 60's temp.

Moonflwr912

Susan that's a fantastic pic. And you have such wonderful memories.  

Garden looks like your memories are great too. 

Lacy you are one busy lady. I love the egg pizza comment.  

One Hollywood couple was asked how the managed to stay married so long (over 27 years) said "be willing to have a few bad YEARS" that is true for me! LOL sometimes a few months aren't enough to fix things. LOL.  

Much love to all. 

carolehalston

Wonderful pic of your grandmother, Susan. 

Lacey, glad the weather is so nice for your visit.  I wouldn't mind having those in-laws living with me, preparing food.

Not a lot of cooking around here lately.  Yesterday there were finally tomatoes at the jewelry store--I mean farmers' mkt!  I paid $13.50 for 6 med. sized tomatoes and a qt. of plum tomatoes, mixed red and purple.  They are lovely tomatoes.  One woman paid $3.50 for a single large tomato.  You've been sitting on a gold mine, Nance!

DH and I bicycled out of a small town called LaPorte.  We had a delicious burger there for lunch when we returned to LaPorte.  There's a little café/market called Smokehouse where you can buy the smoked bacon, summer sausage, brats of many types, etc. made on the premises.  We bought smoked bacon, summer sausage and kielbasa brats.  We had slices of the summer sausage on sandwiches today for lunch and it is very good.  I also had slices of tomato on my half sandwich.  I'm trying to keep the lbs off, Lacey! 

For dinner tonight we'll have the brats.  I have a purple cabbage in the refrigerator that I need to use.  I bought it at a farmers' mkt a couple of weeks ago.  I also have green beans and yellow beans and new potatoes.  The tomatoes and good cucumbers.  The riches of choice!