So...whats for dinner?

auntienance

Sk, I know, I have that reaction to ibuprofen.

SpecialK

auntie - it is so weird how similar drugs do such different things to us!  I was so uncomfortable I would have preferred the hip pain!

susan_02143

Today was Alhambra Day..... stupid SUSAN bought the wrong tickets, tickets without the Palace included. This meant being up at the site by 6:30 to stand in a long, long line to buy new tickets. We were amongst the lucky ones to get the daily allotment and spent the morning wandering about, and then doing the tour of the Palace. The gardens are in the Generalife area while the rest are in the Palace.

susan_02143

susan_02143

And then, this just cracked me up. What a great sign! And accurate to boot! As I took this picture, there was a small van backing down the road while motorbikes were trying to enter.

auntienance

Spectacular!

M0mmyof3

Had a Spanish professor who was originally from Grenada, Spain. She told us all about the sights there.

Lacey12

Minus, thanks for the complaint!;) This cool weather is just so pre-occupying to folks who are ready for real Spring in this area, that everyone I saw at appts today (who were indoors) asked me if the temps were getting warmer, since I just had a vest and three-quarter sleeve sweater on....which was fine when I was standing in the sun! The birds seem to be happy in this weather tho, and with hopes for warmth, I just made some hummingbird nectar. We usually see the hummers here briefly when they are traveling north to NH where they visit us all summer. I Was very happy to find that the feeder I needed to clean has removable parts, making it possible to actually get the whole thing clean.

We just enjoyed a lovely serenade from Mr. Cardinal. Took a photo of Mrs. Cardinal while at a birdbath in the midst of unblossomed flowering trees, and unmulched grounds. Only sign of Spring is the neighbor's greening grass. Actually, the other sign is the brutal allergies I (and many people in this area) have. More testing on Monday requires me to stay off the antihistamines until next Thursday. Ugh!

For Tonight, I picked up some chicken thighs and tenders, and have them enjoying a balsamic, garlic, rosemary marinade. I was just about to make corn bread until I realized that we are out of milk unless I can use the almond kind. I have yet to use that in my baking...but it saves me a trip to the store.

carolehalston

I tried tramadol and it made me itch, too, like the codeine painkillers.  But not as bad.  Yes, the incision to remove the neuroma is on top of the foot, the front part of the foot.  I won't be playing golf or working out in the gym for 4 or 5 weeks.  I'm surprised at the number of people I talk to who've had Morton's neuroma.  In some cases it goes away after a cortisone shot.  Today I played golf and it didn't bother me a lot.  On these days I think, "Maybe I can just put up with this."  But I would like to be able to walk 3 miles for exercise again.  And wear some other shoes on occasion besides athletic shoes and not end up limping.

We have leftover lamb and polenta but tonight we're going out to dinner at our club to take advantage of my free birthday dinner.  We didn't get around to doing that in March so the club manager sent me an April Free Birthday e-mail.  We'll meet another couple and have drinks in the bar, 2 for 1 from 5 pm to 7 pm.  Then dinner at 7 pm.  The dining room is a very inviting and comfortable place to eat and the food is quite good. 

Susan's pictures brought back memories of visiting the Alhambra.  I loved the sound of running water in the gardens and the carved plaster work in the structures around the pool was remarkable.  We stayed in a lovely state-owned establishment nearby that had formerly been a monastery. 

Lacey12

Oh...my blocked head missed saying this...loved your pix Susan! The street sign reminded me of the streets in Italy that are reserved for handicapped people to drive down, but are barely marked, and unsuspecting tourists driving on them get the expensive tickets later. We are still waiting for the relaxed Italian officials to send us the faux bill for which the rental car agent sent us a notice and surcharge. No idea what we did "wrong". Maybe I will just have to return to Tuscany to protest it.

M0mmyof3

cooked up some pasta and added it to the leftover chili from earlier this week.

 

eric95us

I'm assuming the sign is in Spain. It's interesting that the sign has English text.

I'm starting to see signs like that here. When I'm driving the bus on a field trip, I appreciate them. :-)

Off to the junkyard for more parts.

Lacey12

Eric, I hope the junkyard gives you a deep discount for being such a loyal customer! How hard is it to find what one is looking for in what I imagine to be a vast junkyard setting?

So we are either total masochists or fans to the end for this young Celtics team....got tickets for tomorrow's game which will definitely be the last home game of the season, but most likely their last game as this team overall. I'm sure LeBron has no intention of having to play a fifth game with our young 'ens. My intent is to honor the hard work and spirit of our young guys.

About to use some really ripe bananas to make some bread. The corn bread was good last night...used a recipe that was on the bag of the Indian Head Old Fashioned Yellow Corn Meal I bought. Pretty basic recipe.

I looked up the Welsh Cake recipe I was curious about. Always amazed at the availability of recipes on the internet!!! Definitely makeable...a bit labor intensive but that goes for most really good baked goods in my opinion. Nance or Carole, I bet you would have fun making them! I still cannot get over anyone spending $9 for a small bag of six! The cashier told me that they fly out of the place!

Not sure about tonight's dinner...not in the mood for leftover chicken. Picked up some potato gnocchi last week, so might make that with a sauce from a can of wonderfulNJ tomatoes we got when there last year. See how saving stuff works!

eric95us

It's not difficult to find junk yard donor cars. They have "European import", "Asian import" and "domestic" areas. And, within that, they try to group makes of cars together. The other thing that helps is that most car makers use the same parts across many different models and years of cars and the junk yards have books that give that information. When we're done, DD's car will be a white, brown, blue, tan 1993, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1995 Volvo 960 Sedan, 960 Wagon, 740 Sedan, S90 Sedan. :-)

DD hasn't helped this afternoon. She had to go to the nail and hair salons in preparation for tonight's prom.

In other news.....

Sharon is now 56.

I'm not sure what will happen for dinner tonight. She doesn't want to go out, so in a little while, I'll clean up, go to the market and hope inspiration hits :-) She mentioned London Broil and horseradish...so maybe that will be a start.

auntienance

Lacey, you'd be surprised how high tech junkyards can be with computers. The big ones can usually tell you right away if they have what you're looking for and where it's located. They also connect with other yards and can find what you want all over the country. It's a big business.

I have a couple of recipes for Welsh cakes, one from king Arthur flour, that I have yet to try. You've intrigued me enough that I may have to. They caught my eye some time ago.

We worked in the garden most of the day. Oh our aching backs! DH has rebuilt all but two of the beds, which are now waiting for new dirt and amendments. Hopefully we can get that done next week. As luck would have it the nights have been too cold to plant much, so I won't be too far behind. We worked in a steady but not too cold drizzle all day.

The orioles arrived today. Love seeing them and hearing them sing. They can join our solitary hummingbird and rose breasted grosbeak. Where are all the girlfriends?

We're too tired to cook so it's takeout pizza. I will make a salad though.

auntienance

Eric, we cross posted. Happy birthday to Sharon!

carolehalston

Happy birthday to Sharon! 

Our leftover lamb shanks and polenta were just as good tonight as two nights ago.  We also had steamed asparagus with butter and lemon.  Easy prep and cleanup. 

Day one of yard work.  Managed to get in 2 1/2 hours of pruning and weeding before my foot called a halt to walking and standing.  By then I didn't have a dry thread on my body.  Spent the afternoon cutting squares and strips for assembling to make placemats.  The next step will be stitching. 

Lacey12

First off, Happy Birthday to Sharon! A young'en from my perspective. Hope dinner worked out well. Just having someone else cook it would be a birthday gift!

Carole...oh the beauty of "jump ups"...tasty and easy, with minimal clean up! Didn't someone on this thread call leftovers that? Was it you, Minus?

Nance, I can hardly wait for you to make Welsh cakes! I'd be happy to send you pizzelles for a few of your cakes!

So tonight was to be gnocchi with quick sauce and salad. Well, I could not find the gnocchi in the freezer, which bothered me terribly since I recall last weekend opening the freezer door and finding a place for the package. Well, even with DH adding a flashlight to the effort (not so helpful!), we did not locate the potato delights...until much later in a cabinet. Turns out it did not need to be refirgerated, which I obviously noticed before leaving it in the freezer. So, plan B.....I made a sauce and then a penne casserole with mozzarella and parm on top, and meatballs on the side. I so rarely have pasta that it was absolutely delightful....but wait...there's more! I remembered that I wanted to try a new way to prepare cauliflower....roasted whole with yogurt and spices coating the top. I ended up deciding to use the Trader's North African spices (the Ras El Hanout we talked about recently) with garlic powder and fresh orange zest. Roastedit in the oven at 400 for about 45 minutes. It was delightful, if heated....but we like that. The presentation which requires one to cut slices of it was fun. I think this would be an interesting side for a dinner party with folks who like it spicy!

MinusTwo

Oh how I miss the days when i could start yard work at 8am & work until after dark, day after day. Even in the heat, and Lacey, it hit 90 today. Put in 2 hours yesterday and another 2-1/2 today digging up & weeding beds. Nasty bermuda grass with long roots and a truly horrible, invasive, creeping vine from the neighbor on the West that I thought was muscadine grape. Nope it's some kind of ivy w/berries that's taking over the trees & even coming up in my lawn. Gardening with LE sleeves and a compression bra is truly the pits but I'm almost ready to pull the plumaria out of the garage & pop them in the dirt - only two months late. Some of them are 10 ft tall & 6-7" in diameter so I'll find some help. I'm going to spend a long time in the shower so dinner may be nothing.

Lacey12

Carole, I admire your "get to it" style. I am so slow to get my sewing tasks completed. And they are sitting in our dining room with the machinemat the ready.

MinusTwo

Lacey - looks like we're cross posting. No, I wasn't the one who called left overs jump-ups, but I did always chuckle at the name. Maybe my chemo brain will recall who later.

Eric - adding my B-day wishes for Sharon.

Lacey12

Minus, enjoy your shower and have some popcorn! Then some well-earned rest!

I know the fatigue of such work, but can't even think about it given the extent of the allergy problem....which is crazy since I have the physical strength to do it these days. My neighbors must wonder what is happening since I wear a mask when I am doing any planting in the backyard.....and that effort is minimal. We have an invasive vine whose name I should probably know, but don't. Last weekend, I tried to pull some of it off of our 100 year old huge rhododendron " bush" that it is effectively killing, and managed to seed it further with the pods,that I missed seeing, breaking open and flying everywhere.

I hope that tomorrow you can enjoy the visuals of your efforts!

carolehalston

Nance, post a picture of the Welsh cakes when you make them.  This is another food item I had not heard about. 

Lacey12

Carole, I had not heard of Welsh Cakes either until I ran across them at Volante Farms. They sort of look like a small pancake. In case you have not seen them yet, (and to take some pressure off Nance...;), here is a link to their history, including some pictures. While they look sort of like pancakes, they are soooo much better!

http://www.welshbaker.com/-History-_ep_41.html

MinusTwo

Carole - I think you and I are on a parallel yard work schedule.

My dinner will probably shock even Bedo. Two large gin & tonics (maybe the first time I've had 2 drinks in 3 years) and two flour tortillas spread w/real butter, sprinkled with pre-grated Mexican cheese from a bag, microwaved and rolled.

eric95us

Change of plans.....BBQ chicken (on the BBQ) instead of London Broil.

The weather here is kind of cool and there's a storm moving through--low 70F degrees, 20-25mph wind, a chance of rain tonight.

DD is at her school's prom. She's 17 years old. It was about this time of year in 1997 when we found out Sharon was pregnant. A lot has changed since then. Today DD asked if she gave me grey hair....I told her no and that she makes me smile and I'm proud to be her dad.

Special, I've been reading your posts about your daughter. The world needs more like her. If DD follows in her footsteps, I'd be a happy dad.

Oh, I also got quite a bit more work done on DD's car. I'm just about done taking care of bent metal.

carolehalston

I googled Welsh pancakes and read about them.  They sound very tasty and easy to make.  One ingredient was a variety of sugar I did not recognize.  Maybe a Welsh name for powdered sugar?

susan_02143

I am running behind on pictures.... so much to do after all, and who can post pictures after drinking Spanish wines? Here is a late afternoon snack in the true Andalusian style. [No, we did NOT eat three a piece, the standard serving size in Granada. I had one, he had two. That was plenty.]

I read and love hearing about everyone's life, but can't seem to comment much. Enjoy!

*susan*

auntienance

Carole, neither of my recipes call for anything other than granulated sugar. I will post pics of the cakes after I make them this morning.

Susan, what is that snack you have? If that is coffee, it looks delicious.

susan_02143

Coffee with churros..... the kids get chocolate for dipping. The wiki article indicates that this is a breakfast thing, but I saw far more people enjoying them as a late afternoon snack. The coffee is an espresso, and then they bring a stainless carafe of steamed milk and add to the top of the glass. Very formal, and delicious. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churro

*susan*