So...whats for dinner?

eric95us

Minus I've been watching the TV coverage of the ugly weather there. I guess this is one of the few times that being left "high and dry" is a good thing....no fun.....

Susan, your walk down memory lane sent me down my own lane too and I'm sitting here with a nice smile and a contented feeling.

The wedding that didn't happen....Mickey and I were the ultimate penny pinchers. It got to the point where it was a game to see how much the living expenses could be cut. Neither of us wanted to get involved in student loans, so we were doing everything we could to save money for her med school. Since we were taking care of nearly all of our own wedding expenses, we opted for the cheapest thing possible...wedding, reception and a week long campout-honeymoon on the beach in Rocky Point, Mexico. I think the whole thing, including luxury transportation to and from Rocky Point (in my 1973 VW Super Beetle) was going to be around $100.

The wedding that did happen....If it had been left to Sharon and I, we probably would have had a $100 wedding. Sharon's mom, however, had certain "minimum standards", so I think the whole thing, including the dress and reception was around $2000. Our honeymoon was a "one night stand" at a hotel not too far from our house...someone had an unneeded room reservation but couldn't get a refund for that night, so they gave it to us. Our wedding was on a Saturday. Sunday afternoon was spent figuring out thank you cards and on Monday we were at the the bank and government offices getting all the official stuff (bank accounts, insurance, social security, driving license, car titles...and so forth) "fixed". The move in/house consolidation was already done. I guess I was "dad approved" as Sharon's dad helped me move in about a month before our wedding... -)

auntienance

Good evening all! I've been reading posts but haven't had a chance to post anything myself. Last night we spent the night in Columbia, MO so DH, DBIL and a friend of ours could go hear a group called the David Rawlings Machine, a group of musicians who were unknown to us but the guys indicated that they were incredibly talented and put on a great show. Before the show, we had dinner at a local brewhouse. DH and I had waygu beef burgers, which were quite good in spite of being overcooked. A shame really, because they would have been pretty awesome if they had been cooked better. Sides were unremarkable -- but the homemade potato chips with house made ketchup were tasty.

Tonight was barbecued chicken, pickleback coleslaw and some decent corn on the cob that I roasted on the grill.

I'm glad that you friends to the south and west are high and dry. Very scary stuff in Houston! Thank you for the Bedo report Minus.

Lacey, your "sparkly" tour sounds delightful -- that is my kind of wine tour. And a martini party! I LOVE do it yourself martini bars! I have to say that banana chocolate chip cookies sound very dangerous ;-) I have done little or no baking lately and I'm starting to get the itch - exacerbated by all of this donut talk!!

Carole - I'm glad your mom is comfortably in the nursing home and Red - I definitely feel your pain. I'm hoping the nursing home may be the best choice for your dad for his own safety (and for your peace of mind.) I wish I could say the same for my dad. He is very marginal and I really just don't know how this is going to end up. His mobility issues are definitely getting more complicated as well as other physical ailments like the ulcers. Assisted living would be a good choice form him, but I think he would have the same falling issues as your dad Red. To make matters worse, his lady friend of 4 1/2 years just "broke up" with him and he is very sad about that. My heart just sinks every time the phone rings, wondering what new problems it's about to announce. I suppose such is life. But enough about that.

Susan - your willingness to invest so much time and effort in advance meal prep just continues to awe me. Most of these days I don't know what's for dinner until late afternoon. And yes PLEASE to the blueberry muffin recipe!

I had an opportunity to buy golden beets yesterday but passed them by, which I now regret. Your fruit and vegetable score makes me jealous Carole.

Haha Carrie - you know me well. I am indeed involved in garden prep. I'm a bit put out because my heavy lifting guy didn't show up to do the heavy lifting on Sunday, so the beds are a bit behind. But I noticed yesterday that the potatoes are up as is the spinach, although it's been so warm I may not get much yield from that before it bolts. The tomatoes and peppers are sitting on the front porch and probably won't get into the ground for another week or so. The rest of the plan calls for Asian and "burpless" cucumbers, as well as a few pickling ones this year, French filet beans, one Gadzukes zucchini and a couple of butterstick yellow squash plants. The peppers are a mix of red, green, yellow, Italian and jalapeno peppers. Tomatoes are some beefsteaks, a few heirloom varieties, two San Marzano (which will be nothing like the real deal but are a nice paste tomato nonetheless), a few good all around variety and one cherry. I also planted a large container with bok choy. This will be my first attempt at this plant. All this will be enough to keep me chasing critters all summer. The peonies I planted in the garden last year are up and budding and this year I've added some asclepias (milkweed) and transplanted a clematis. There are three butterfly bushes already in this big garden so I'm hoping to attract many more pollinators. I'm encouraged by the number of honeybees that I've already seen in the blooming weed in the yard. We had very few last year. Pollinating the squash plants with a q-tip is not nearly as efficient as the winged critters!

The only menu item I'm sure about for the coming week is homemade pizza.

auntienance

Eric - we cross posted -- I've been to Puerto Penasco many times! Long before it was the big resort area it seems to be now.

ChiSandy

Lazy tonight--dinner was the beans-and-burnt-ends prefaced with tuna salad on matzo (what can I say, I’m a sucker for the Yehuda brand), Jerusalem salad and non-mayo cabbage-and-almond slaw, with fruit water.

Passover has always been a diet disaster for me. Last year I was in Madrid and went to a Sephardic Seder which Chabad found for me (I’m Reform, and the congregation Modern Orthodox, but religiously it didn’t feel too weird--though most of the Haggadah being recited in rapid-fire Ladino and the Hebrew transliterated using Spanish spelling was a challenge; and some of the foods quite different from the Ashkenazi I’m used to--though no rice or other grains, which are kosher-for-Passover in Sephardi tradition, in deference to we Ashkenazim attending).

This year (a Jewish leap year) it’s a month after Easter--this Fri, night. Bob’s working late, so unless I’m invited elsewhere I’ll just refrain from eating “chametz” (the starches not permitted). Sat. night, our temple is holding the annual communal Seder, to which we’re going. I hate to admit it, but while it ought to be easy to go low-carb on Passover, in reality there’s matzo or potato in darn near everything on the Seder table. And avoiding grains doesn’t mean eschewing matzo even during the rest of the week: it’s a halachic requirement to eat at least one piece of matzo a day. (It only has to be the size of an olive, but my taste tends to those huge Castelvetrano olives, not the tiny Niçoises). Passover for me is a minefield of matzos (egg, Yehuda, the pricey but delicious handmade round shmura ones, even chocolate-covered), matzo ball soup, gefilte fish, potato kugel, chocolates (jelly rings, marshmallow twists, etc.), flourless chocolate torte/terrine, egg kichels, and those macaroons! New flavors on the shelves are Rocky Road and Red Velvet. I bought myself a canister of sugar-free (sweetened with xylitol and high in fiber, they’re very low-carb). It’s tougher for me than Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas combined.

There’s the ritual “four cups of wine” at Seder, but I will substitute dry wine and use a cordial glass. Nobody said the “cup” has to be a full-sized wine glass.

I won’t be able to avoid carbs, so I’m going to have to cut the fats and calories in general--and walk like crazy. Last year, being without a car in a foreign country, I managed to get my exercise out of necessity--but this year it has to be out of self-discipline.

MinusTwo

Nancy - The picture of you pollinating squash with a Q-tip was a marvelous start for my day!!!

auntienance

Minus -- lol that picture probably doesn't compare to the one of me screaming like a banshee chasing a groundhog :-D

SpecialK

DD was rear ended this morning on her way to work, she had stopped behind a bus and the guy behind her was not paying attention. This happened right in front of the hospital, and a fire truck and ambulance were pulling out so they came over and handled things. Her vehicle is in pretty good shape, the other one not so much - it is totaled. She went across the street to the ER, where I joined her, and she had a head/neck CT and she is fine, although sore. The other driver is also OK, interestingly his air bag did not go off even though the entire front of his car is smushed. She went home and I went to the grocery store and to fill her prescriptions (one for pain and some muscle relaxers) and she is watching TV on the couch while I put away groceries. Not sure what is for dinner - maybe the sale steaks I picked up. It was nice to text her brother and ask questions while we were waiting in the hospital - he is both a paramedic and ER personnel, so I was quizzing him on the regular protocol. This is a doc-first ER so they triage you quickly and there is not endless waiting. The whole ER has been revamped since I worked there, so it was nice to see it all new and spiffy - they really dispatched things fast, and we were out and on our way once we knew there was nothing serious going on.

Redheaded1

Oh the single life ---I ate guacamole and chips for dinner one night, then last night was the bowling potluck. I too, had been to sams club and I scored the same raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, pineapple and melon that Carole did. I came home and made a simple syrup with mind and red pepper and honey that I strained after co minutes and everyone was happy and I brought a bit home that I have been nibbling on. Now I am off to pick up a pizza.

Today I am not visiting Dad---so we will see. Like Carole, I need to have some me time, but no sibs to take up the slack.

ChiSandy

SpecialK, have your daughter start a “symptom diary”--even a note pad on which she jots down her pain and other sensations she has experienced after the collision. Cervical sprains from a rear-ender often take a couple of days to fully manifest. Save every receipt from the ER, her prescriptions (and OTC pain meds) and equipment such as a C-collar or reacher. If she has to take off from work, document that too. Those expenses are called “specials.” She will need all that when she files a claim against the other driver’s insurance company. It’s up to her if she wants to hire a lawyer (and if she does, he or she will take the case on a contingency-fee basis). Should she decide not to hire a lawyer (or even file a claim on her own), she may still be contacted by the other insurer because their insured driver has a responsibility to inform them of any collision resulting in personal injury and/or property damage--or if a police report was filed, the other guy’s insurer would have been contacted. She’ll need to make an informed decision when a settlement is offered to her (even months later when insurers want to clear their cases by year’s end).

An attorney usually makes a demand for 5X the “specials” and usually settles for the smaller of 3X or policy limits--from which would come his or her fee, court costs (if not paid by the defendant) plus money to your daughter for pain & suffering, as well as to reimburse whatever your daughter’s health insurance paid at the ER minus an amount proportionate to the premiums she’d paid (“subrogation”). I was rear-ended once, and didn’t file suit--the other driver’s insurance directly paid the ER and tow/repair/rental car bills. Six months later, though, they called to offer me a modest settlement for pain & suffering--smaller than my lawyer, had I used one, would have accepted (and smaller than I accepted when I represented collision victims). But it was more than fair, so I took it. Of course, when I was hit crossing the street and suffered a shattered leg, I hired a colleague and filed suit--settling for policy limits, on top of which I “stacked” my own underinsured-motorist coverage in the equal amount.

carolehalston

SpecialK, so glad that DD is ok.

Red, hope the pizza is good.

I played golf the first half of the day. Went for a hair trim in the early afternoon. Got ambitious on my return home and washed my car and vacuumed it out. Now I'm all showered and not in any mood to cook, make a mess in the kitchen and have to clean it up. DH is voting for a burger from Chili's. Close and efficient for take-out.

I should have resisted the impulse to accomplish something. But I do have a clean little Prius.

Red, I have five siblings but only one of them shares the care giver duties. The others do call on a daily basis and one brother visits and brings food treats. Tomorrow and Thursday I will be going to the nursing home to spend time with my mother. I always take Saturday, too, so that my sister can spend weekend time with her dh. They're in their 50's and he still works.

susan_02143

Dinner tonight was [finally] bahn mi sandwiches. Here is a review of the recipes that I used, posted on another site.

I started with the pate. This is one of my few disappointments in the book-- the lack of attention paid to this "essential" ingredient. I made a riff on Julia Child's Pate de Campagne. I have been saving the liver from this year's pig just for a pate opportunity. The meat mince hung out with the spices and brandy for 24 hrs. Then I placed in a pan lined with saran wrap [no caul fat], vacuumed, and cooked it in the sous vide machine for 3.5 hrs. Into the fridge with bricks for 24 hrs.

Meanwhile some pork butt and chicken were placed in the BBQ marinade and into the fridge to do its thing.

Today I made the rolls. Unfortunately, I didn't remember the caution to use less vital wheat gluten when your flour is from King Arthur. The instructions for shaping were excellent. I make lots of breads, free shaped, so these steps were not difficult with such good instructions. I pickled some carrots and daikon. With the leftover brine, I pickled some cucumbers. For some reason, my mayo mojo was not happening today. Two batches never emulsified [has to be the eggs.] I haven't had such a failure in years. I ended up taking some commercial mayo and whisked one failed mayo attempt into the mixture to get something that was far less sweet.

After cooking up the pork and chicken, we were ready to assemble!

I made one pork sandwich and one chicken, cut them into two pieces and we each received one piece of each. Very excellent sandwich. I am not absolutely sure it was substantially better than any of my local bahn mi shops. But, I know that the ingredients were excellent and that my pate is far superior to anything in a shop.

In the future, I will not cut the carrots and daikons into 1/4" strips. These are just too chunky. Instead, like my local shop, I will use my Julienne Peeler to make more dainty strips of daikon and carrots. I will season the ingredients more aggressively right from the start. I will choose a more savory marinade for my meat. I found the Chinese BBQ to be a bit too sweet. I am looking at the lemongrass or the Hanoi Chicken. The options are exciting!

Sadly, this was such a filling sandwich, I only ate one third of one sandwich. My other piece of sandwich is waiting for me. I should have taken a picture, but it just wasn't that kind of day.

*susan*

susan_02143

Special, oh my goodness! I am so glad that your daughter wasn't hurt.....

Keeper of the parents. Sending you all my best thoughts.

The condo passed inspection today. Still have one small project to finish, but for most purposes, this renovation is in the rear view mirror.

*susan*

bedo

Ha ha weddings.

1st in 1971 when living together was not tolerated. We signed the lease, I was very young and became a "common law wife" because I took his name to get the apartment

2d All the frills in Boston fancy place, but my parents weren't living so my husband's family paid for it

3d Wore wedding jeans to the courthouse at the Justice of the Peace. pulled his daughter out of middle school to attend and went to an ice cream shop to cut the cake.

So funny

For dinner salmon marinated in garlic, soy sauce and brown sugar.

Have the summer job in Berkshires then asked to go back to Ketchikan then done.

I want to retire and only work if the travel job bug strikes.

I am sorry that I can't keep up with all the posts, things have been so busy and I've been helping a friend

SpecialK

Thanks all for the concern for DD - she is doing fine, has not even taken any meds other than Tylenol.

chisandy - Florida is a no-fault PIP state. Each driver that has an auto policy issued in FL is required to carry $10,000 of PIP coverage, so actually your own insurance covers your ER or medical bills, and lost wages up to that $10,000 limit. The other driver would be responsible for anything over and above that with their body injury liability coverage, and the repair to the vehicle (if there is any - there is no visible damage to her car, she drives a tank with a trailer hitch) would be covered by his property damage liability coverage. DD is unlikely to miss work, other than today - but even if she did it would still fall under her own PIP coverage, and she is so low-wage that it would take a while to accumulate any real dollars there, her pharmacy co-pay was less than $5. She is also salaried, so I am not sure if it even matters if she misses a day or two. We were in and out of the ER quickly, not sure what that bill will be, but I doubt that it, plus any lost wages, will exceed her PIP coverage. The other driver's insurance folks have already been in touch and they have accepted full responsibility, and our insurance has also been contacted. She has instructions to take her vehicle to an approved garage for inspection, so things are progressing along. I don't think it is a situation where the other insurance company will offer any type of settlement voluntarily due to the PIP, and it is unlikely, at least at this point, that she will have any need for a PI attorney. I appreciate your advice and will keep it under advisement.

carolehalston

Well, my mother was right about canned tuna. She always refused to eat/buy the packed in water variety, declaring it nasty. I would have to search the shelves for packed in oil, which was always on the bottom shelf. On Monday when I was in Fresh Market, I noticed a Cento brand canned tuna in olive oil. On impulse I bought it. It really tastes good. It's a little more costly in WW points than the "nasty" packed in water, but I just cut down the portion. I had a tuna salad with a boiled egg and light mayo and a small piece of whole grain naan for breakfast.

My Chili's sandwich last night was tasty: Bacon Chicken Avocado on wheat Texas toast. It was so large that I ate half of it and half a dozen (maybe a dozen) of the fries that came with it. The chicken breast on the sandwich was huge. I would have liked it halved and thinner. The remaining sandwich half and a packet of fries are in the refrigerator but leftover sandwiches seldom get eaten here. I wish restaurants in the Chili's category didn't serve such large portions. DH got the guacamole burger on the wheat Texas toast and it didn't look that good to me. I find Chili's overcooks their burger patties. But dinner was easy and not expensive.

I should cook the cod for dinner and probably will.

MinusTwo

Well - I'm fortunate to still have no water, but amazed at the macho men who had to drive right out to see what was happening. One lost his car to flooded roads & was lucky to get out before it was swept away. I'm perfectly happy sitting at home for a couple of days. We did loose power this morning, but it's restored now.

So I indulged in a totally worthless guilty pleasure from my past for lunch. Whipped up some Hidden Valley Ranch Dip w/my extra sour cream and pigged out with a bag of Ruffles. I'll try to be more reasonable for dinner with a chicken breast that is waiting.

Special - so glad your DD is OK. We too have required PIP insurance in Texas and I'm not a fan of calling the lawyers on top of that. My grandparents lived by a hospital. At age 88, my grandfather was knocked down crossing the street by a pregnant young woman in labor trying to make it to the emergency room on her own since her husband was in the military overseas. My extended family all agreed the girl would have enough punishment remembering the thud as her car hit his body and nothing could bring him back, so it was pointless to sue. Money was not going to change our memories.

Carole - so glad you're getting out and about some. I read in an obit today for a lady who just died at 91, who took an Old Fashioned to her MIL in the nursing home every afternoon. That's service.

Joyce - sounds like you've jumped right back into the routine. Was there snow or had it melted? I've driven all around the US and I'd have to vote that I thought Boston has the most challenging city for driving (with apologies to Lacey & Susan)

Bedo - so glad to 'see' you and hear that your summer job is set. Will you sell the Georgia house to fund your retirement?

Susan - hooray - inspection finished. Now can you slow down? The breads & buns sound delicious. I'm partly keeping my weight down by not having bread in the house. So since I can't drive & i can't really stir stuff in a bowl, I'm not eating any. But I think about it LOTS - pumpernickel, sourdough, cornbread, blueberry muffins, etc. Going out to lunch tomorrow (if the restaurant wasn't flooded) to a nice steak place with delicious sourdough bread. I expect to make up for the last two weeks w/no bread. Who cares about the steak.

Nance & Redhead - good thoughts for your Dads.

Lacey12

Special, so glad that your DD was not injured....and boy are you on top of the situation. Will you be my mommy?!

Minus, no need to apologize for your driving observation about Boston! Not sure when you observed that, but if it was some time ago, it is much worse now. I recall hating to drive in the Atlanta traffic, as well as LA, and sadly, Boston traffic often looks like that now ....too many cars on the road. To add to that, very little around here is parallel and perpendicular...so our winding streets, with changing names, midway down a street, can really be daunting for the uninitiated! I cut my adult driving teeth here so don't mind it a bit, except for the annoying increase in traffic. Glad you are safe down there in Texas! The news has horrible scenes....of course

So this morning, my friend/colleague and I drove up to a town close to NH to visit our former social work intern who just had baby number two. She is in a new home (in a town that is pretty country-ish) with a two year old and newborn, a husband who works long lawyer hours, and probably needed us for some company, since her request to see us came out of the blue. We thought we were going to have "eggs" there (her offer...it started out as a brunch invite), and we offered to bring bagels, a bowl of fruit (which I made with no melon included since my friend does not like to eat melon), and my banana cookies, along with a few gifts for baby and big brother. I made the baby a Red Sox Taggie since her momma loves the Sox, and I had given big brother one. I also brought her lots of parenting books that she'd asked about, and book lists of children's books that I used to recommend to my parent clients.

Well, her little boy is darling and generally very relational to us as "strangers" and well behaved for a two year old experiencing new baby rivalry and potty training all at once! As one can imagine, each of our short adult conversations were never finished but we had fun singing songs with him, and holding the precious little baby girl. My friend and I ended up making him some lunch, and then put out the food we brought. Ah yes, brunch with a newborn in the home....not gonna happen! So we were both hungry by the end of our long ride home. I just wolfed down some cheese and matzo. Now I will decide on a marinade for the chicken thighs for DH to use for his inaugural grill effort!

Lacey12

Joyce, I'm so glad that you are back as the pleasant weather has arrived. And yes, driving in NH is pretty much of a breeze!

DH took a quick trip up to the lake yesterday to pick up his stored convertible. He has this ritual where he takes the bus up, our neighbor who stores the car for him picks him up and they have lunch, then return to her house for him to get the car, he checks on our house, and home he comes. Meanwhile, our neighbor fills him in on all the neighborhood and town news that she learns at the local grocery store where she works. As you might imagine, not much news since so few people stay there over the winter. But he did notice at our house that there is a thin tree resting on our power lines to the house, so we have a call into Ever Source about that. Always something......

Nance, I am thrilled to hear that you are getting that garden going! I was worried that you would not have a moment's time to tend to any of it. Yay

susan_02143

Oh my! We need another electric inspection! It isn't over! Argh. Lunch was a bahn mi sandwich. Dinner was nachos with the carnitas and black beans.

The Xeloda is kicking my butt this cycle. I am just going to "thumbs up" all of Lacey's comments. And the vision of macho men heading to see the rising water, resonates. Minus, you are smart to stay put!

*susan*

Lacey12

Argh indeed Susan! I was looking up bahn mi....had you heard of it being called Vietnamese hoagies?? Being from Philly area, it caught my eye.

Tonight's chicken was marinated in evoo, balsamic vinegar, garlic and rosemary powder. Made a mixed green salad, and an orzo blend with mushrooms, garluc and onions. I had planned to avoud eating that little carb, then couldn't, after tasting it.

DH's maiden voyage with the new grill was disappointing in that the placement of the handle of the top is such that the instinct one has is to grab the steel right below it (looks grabable and is a closer reach). Unfortunately that piece is very hot and he burned his hand superficially. The handle is actually placed way too high (imo) and thus the design faulty. He had to keep reminding himself to grab higher to avoid being burned. Great! We had a heated (pun intended!) discussion about whether he should register a concern to the store and to Weber. He'd prefer to not make waves...I'd prefer to avoid a future trip to the ER! And you'd think Weber would want to avoid lawsuits.At least the chicken came out well.

ChiSandy

Did the teriyaki surf & turf (pan-seared sockeye salmon and chicken thigh) with stir-fried peppers & snow peas--shared with my son before he headed off to rehearsal. Then about 4 hrs. later, Bob came home from a drug co. dinner at Gibson’s, with the bone-in ribeye portion of a Porterhouse. (He ate the filet portion, which he prefers--and I prefer the ribeye so it worked perfectly). I cut off about 2 oz. and slowly reheated it, and drank 1-1/2 oz. good Pinot Noir (Williams-Selyem, from the bottle I Coravin-ed). Will have the rest for breakfast tomorrow with an olive-oil- fried egg.

carolehalston

A lb. of ground lamb is thawed and ready to be shaped into lamb burgers. I may slice up some cabbage for a slaw. I also have some frozen sweet potato fries. I think I'll cook half the bag in the toaster oven. They're supposed to cook at 425. Silly to run the a/c and heat up the kitchen with the big oven. I do like sweet potato fries.

Tonight is a vodka martini night after several nights of abstinence.

I persuaded my mother to go to the bingo game this afternoon at the nursing home. She has been resisting the idea, stating that she doesn't care for bingo. The cards are large and each number has a transparent "shade" that you pull down when that number is called. Really clever. No need for little extra disks to cover numbers. We got two cards. One card was a bingo winner the first game. My mother's prize was a crisp one dollar bill. Then the other card was a winner for the 2nd game! It was funny. I have no clue as to whether she enjoyed the experience or just indulged me. We sat next to a tiny little lady who has lived there for three years but in a private room. Most of the rooms for permanent residents have two occupants. I am very pleased with my mother's progress in the rehab program.

hsant

Good evening, ladies,

Dinner tonight was salmon teriyaki and mashed potatoes for my dad. Cooking and meals have been a little stressful for me the past week or so, because my dad hasn't really been eating. He has a fear of choking and all around lack of appetite. This has been going on for sometime, but it's been exacerbated for the past couple of weeks. He did ok. tonight.

For anyone interested, here's the recipe from Food and Wine Magazine for teriyaki sauce. Super easy.

1 cup low sodium chicken broth

1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce

1/3 cup of sugar

2 TBSP sake (Rice wine)

2 Tbsp mirin (japanese cooking wine)

Put all ingredients in a small pot. Heat on high while stirring until the sugar dissolves.

Bring to a boil, and reduce to medium heat. Simmer until reduced to 1/2 cup. About 45 minutes.

Special K, you and your family are gorgeous! The photo you posted reminds me of Town and Country magazine. Very classy. Thank God Your daughter wasn't injured (or anyone else), but I'm sure that must have been scary for her.

Carole, I'm a big vodka martini fan. Grey Goose, extra dry, straight up with a twist. The lamb burgers sound delicious. Have you ever mixed in feta cheese with the lamb? It's a great combination. Your mother sounds amazing, and it's great that she's happy in the rehab environment

Minus, Ruffles and ranch dip are proof to me that there is a God, and she is a woman. Throw a chick flick into the mix, and that's my perfect evening.

susan_02143

hsant, I think you have joined our little troupe of cookers after I posted my lamb burger recipe. I do put a chunk of feta in the center of the lamb burgers and that is good stuff! I buy two whole lambs every year, and treat myself to lamb burgers on an occasional basis. Here is a link to my recipe. And, obviously, riff away.

http://www.pepperplate.com/sharedrecipe.aspx?id=ac...

I find Mirin a real crap shoot. So much of it has nasty sweetners, so I often increase the sake and add a bit more sugar to compensate. But your recipe above has a ton of sugar already, so I probably wouldn't add more. I have a lovely teriyaki sauce recipe that is more Japanese than Japanese-American in one of my Japanese cookbooks. I should look it up to post so you can compare.

Dinner tonight was tandoori chicken wings, dal and rice from my local [and terrific] Indian shop.

*susan*

MinusTwo

So the big, brave, macho dude neighbor who wanted to go to lunch in the middle of the storms earlier this week decided we should cancel today with only 1" of rain predicted. So much for my steak & bread.

Lunch was sliced chicken breast on pumpernickel toast. Dinner was sauteed spinach, 5 Nancy's mini quiches, and a bowl of raw cauliflower & radishes & avocado.

I successfully drove to Office Depot today to pick up the Neighborhood newsletters - around 20 blocks. This was my maiden driving voyage since the broken arm 3/11. I timed it between rain showers according to the radar screens & took only back roads. Maybe tomorrow I'll try the grocery store. I desperately need salad stuff & milk.

ChiSandy

Bob & I walked to B’way Cellars for dinner (and to watch the Cubs’ & Jake Arrieta clobber the Reds with a 15-0 no-hitter). Shared an apple salad. He had linguine with duck sausage, I Gorgonzola meatloaf with green beans, gravy & mashed potatoes (took all the spuds & gravy and half the meatloaf & veg home). We split a dish of double chocolate/salted caramel gelato.

Lacey12

Carole, I enjoyed the account of your mother's Bingo games! Clever cards....we may be using them some day! I'm glad her rehab is going well.

Hsant, I feel for you and your father as he endures the swallowing worry and poor appetite.

Thanks for posting your lamburger recipe, Susan. It is way more elaborate than mine in terms of many more spices. I must try it. I basically just use minced garlic, rosemary powder, salt and pepper, and feta mixed in with the ground lamb. Served with lettuce, tomato and red onion on a bun (unfortunately not a homemade one in this house!). "Some of us" put extra feta on top!

Minus, I'm sorry to learn that you missed that lunch today. But I hope the roads have cleared well if you do try a trip to the store. Please be careful!!

We had leftover chicken and the orzo mix with a big red lettuce salad tonight before attending a very colorfully presented lecture on the elections and presidencies of Herbert Hoover and FDR. (Oops! I just awoke to the realization that I called FDR, Teddy, ....apologies to both! I shouldn't try to post and watch the end of an exciting basketball game,in the wee hours, simultaneously!)

After the lecture, DS2 and DGF came over to drop off Winston, the pooch. We are caring for him while his humans enjoy a trip to Grand Cayman with friends...hopefully with a lot of Deet! He is a very funny dog who loves to watch TV and respond as though the people were in the room with him. It's totally amusing!

carolehalston

The lamb burgers were delicious. I scanned Anne Burrell's recipe and took the scissors out to the patio to snip oregano, thyme, mint and dill. The dill was for the yogurt cucumber sauce. I chopped the other herbs very fine and put them into the ground lamb along with a slice of wheat bread soaked in milk, s & p, and granulated garlic. The mixture was a little soft. Divided into four burgers and cooked in cast iron grill. The cabbage slaw hit the spot, too. Sliced fine and dressed with light mayo and white balsamic, lots of fresh ground black pepper. The frozen sweet potato fries were overcooked a little and crisp. I enjoyed this meal a lot. Two left over burgers.

No thoughts yet on dinner tonight. I admire those like our founder Laurie who plan out a week's menu.

susan_02143

Carole,

I am a tad envious that you are already eating herbs from your own garden! My chives have come up, but nothing else yet. Still not warm enough here. But, I won't be jealous when I see the summer temperatures in Louisiana. Sounds like a wonderful dinner.

*susan*

carolehalston

Susan, the mint, oregano and dill all survived our mild winter. I recently planted the thyme, a rosemary plant and a chives plant.