So...whats for dinner?

ChiSandy

awwwww.......

Went and pruned all the dead leaves and suckers off my tomato plants, which by now are pretty much spent but did give quite a yield. About three of the 22 'maters remaining on my windowsill are ripe enough to eat, and there are about five still on the vine and three new blossoms. Might make it to Labor Day before I have to buy a tomato to eat. Made my usual appetizer of insalata Caprese with the last of the mozzarella di bufala and a blood-orange vinaigrette. Grilled grass-fed top sirloin strip with salt (espresso and Breton grey sea salts) & pepper, and sauteed Brussels sprouts with olive oil, Balsamic and black truffle salt. Dined out on the deck, under the stars (the best part of summer). Gonna have some jackfruit as a late-night dessert.

Picked some basil, and will use it with some pine nuts, Parm-Reg and pecorino Romano and the last of the garlic scapes to make pesto before I hit the sack.

eric95us

She's a sweetheart, Susan. I can see why you want your Olivia "fix". :-)

I'm sitting on the bus waiting for the right time to head out on the route...first day of school.

MinusTwo

Oh Eric - seems hard to believe it's here already. Our kids have another week before they start.

What about your DD? Did she get moved to the college? What does she think so far?

eric95us

She moves into the dorm on Sunday.

Lacey12

Nothing like a sweet sleeping baby!

I am getting a real kick out of the chronicles on your b-school guests, Susan. And how lucky they are to have your cuisine when "home" from their adventures! Except for the in-between guests scut work involved, this seems to be a perfect activity for you! I'm eager to learn how you feel the Golfeados turned out.

I was totally dragging today after two days of constant driving, NH>Home>Falmouth>Home, then last night being out late at our "Trafficking" meeting....all with allergic coughing in full force. Saw the allergy (functional meds) doc early this morning, and was happy to learn that my lungs are not being impacted badly by all that is going on "in my head". So, I will stop my serum treatment to soften this major challenge to my immune system, and use flonase and some odd "pearl" named things that will enhance my breathing and help stop the constant coughing. Holding off on an inhaler until/if there is actual wheezing. Hoping not!

I did a major food shopping trip on the way back from doc, and picked up some ground lamb for burgers tonight. We had them with Volantes' corn on cob, and cuke and tomato salad. I loaded up on fruits and veggies to bring back up North, since I tend to get lazy and not shop much there.

Eric, good luck in the new school year. And enjoy the "launch" on Sunday! One of those really familial punctuated events! I thought of you today as I saw the sandstorm move over Phoenix on the news. I hope it skipped you!

We spoke with DDIL's dad today. He sounds awful, very labored breathing, and describing serious fatigue. I hope that they are right in choosing chemo for him. I really worry for him...and all of them. He has a scan tomorrow, so they will see if anything is changing....

Back to NH tomorrow....more tempting to stay here where our mini-splits keep a cool house unlike our "roughing it" home there, where the closest thing we have to air regulation are fans. And on the eve of several days of heat and high humidity. I am sure that many of you just experienced this weather!

Carol and Nance, hope you are both doing well.....

ChiSandy

Ah..Tessalon “Perles:” the cough suppressant that eased the constant coughing of my COPD-sufferer mom. (They’re available OTC now). Unlike opioid or dextromethorphan cough suppressants, they don’t act on the brain’s coughing reflex but somewhat numb the lungs & throat, making them less “touchy” and less likely to want to cough. They’re often used as an adjunct to steroid or combo inhalers when bringing asthma under control. If you have allergies, and allergy-triggered asthma, you need to discuss the use of inhalers (maintenance or rescue) or leukotriene inhibitors (e.g., montelukast, aka Singulair, pills) with your doctor. You don’t have to have actual wheezing or bronchospasm to have manifestations of asthma: constant coughing and even a “twitchy” sensation in your lungs or the base of your trachea are symptoms, and they need to be nipped in the bud. Don’t want to scare you, but asthma is a serious condition that can kill faster than the most advanced cancer, i.e., in a matter of minutes.

I was first diagnosed with asthma when Gordy was a baby and I had an attack when I caught a chest cold on a WI vacation that landed me in the ER. (Though in retrospect, I probably should have known years earlier when after taking a toke on a joint passed around I had a coughing fit and my lungs felt “twitchy” for hours). When a cold hit my lungs a few summers ago, I was prescribed Advair, a combination maintenance inhaler (steroid & long-acting beta-agonist, or LABA) to be used twice a day, symptoms or not. (Gordy uses Symbicort--same type of combo maintenance inhaler). My singing voice suddenly got weaker, and I found out that one of the side effects can be permanent thinning of the vocal folds. For the vast majority of people, that’s no big deal....unless your voice is your meal ticket. My PCP considers singers to be a type of athlete, and his goal for me is to maximize my lung power and O2 sats. To that end, since I can’t take a steroid inhaler that reaches my larynx, he has me taking montelukast nightly, using Nasacort (or any OTC or prescription nasal inhaler) BID--“ease the sneeze to ease the wheeze.” as my old allergist used to say, staying hydrated, and carrying around a rescue inhaler (albuterol--in Europe, “salbutamol,” brand name Ventolin HFA--there is no generic alternative now that CFC propellants have been banned from inhalers worldwide). We also have a home and portable (battery-op) nebulizer with separate tubes, inhalation-med cups and mouthpieces for Gordy & me, plus a supply of Duo-Neb ampules--for when our current regimen isn’t enough (e.g., when our O2 sats, per a finger-clip pulse oximeter, dip <95%). We also have a peak flow meter with our own mouthpieces--start on a good day, get a baseline reading of how forcefully you can exhale, and take daily readings. Often, allergies give these out free in “asthma management” kits. If I ever decide to stop performing, I will definitely start using a steroid maintenance inhaler.

This is nothing to dismiss, nor to self-treat with OTC meds until you’ve discussed it thoroughly with your allergist, PCP or pulmonologist. OTC drugstore inhalers like Bronkaid and Primatene are worse than useless. (BTW, if you or someone you know are going to Europe, be aware that Ventolin HFA inhalers are not only 1/4 their U.S. cost but also available OTC by asking the registered pharmacist for them--they’re not stocked on self-service shelves. Those are Gordy’s favorite souvenirs of our trips). If your asthma is mild and controllable, you’ll probably be prescribed a steroid-only maintenance inhaler and montelukast; rescue inhalers are for nipping an incipient attack in the bud, and combo inhalers are for asthma that’s more difficult to control. Maintenance inhalers need to be used whether or not you feel you need them. A home pulse oximeter costs about $15-20 and is as essential to have as a home BP monitor.

ChiSandy

OK, back on-topic:

I had some of that sliced jackfruit from Whole Foods today. Even though it came pre-sliced, eating it was pretty labor-intensive. The produce guy told me it was only the fleshy yellow part that's edible--so I had to trim away both the rind and the fibrous beige parts, that looked sort of like the “fins” of an A/C filter. I also tossed the large pits, which I later learned can be steamed, boiled, or roasted and taste sort of like a cross between Brazil nuts & chestnuts. The soft yellow part is insanely sweet & delicious (and I suspect loaded with sugar), sort of s cross between peaches, pineapple, mango & papaya.

Had half a tomato left over from last night's insalata Caprese, so I took it, some tuna salad, low-carb whole wheat bread, sweet onion and romaine and made a tuna sandwich. Yum. I prefer my tuna on rye bread, but if low-carb wheat's all I can have, I'll take it. Haven't decided yet if later I'll spiralize that other half a zucchini and saute it with some of the pesto I made last night, or treat myself to some Dreamfields or Bionature whole wheat spaghetti as my “pesto-vehicle." Or maybe call it a day for solid food, as I had two olive-oil-fried eggs for breakfast.

HappyHammer

That Olivia....ohmygoodness!  Pre.cious~

auntienance

Beautiful child, beautiful pie!

carolehalston

Ditto to Nance's post. Beautiful child, beautiful pie.

Sandy, I've been buying that same CA evoo for several years now. Once I learned that the US is a dumping ground for inferior olive oil, I decided to support the US olive oil market.

Susan, I find your guests fascinating. What an interesting experience you're having. Just hope the extra work isn't too much for you.

I'm noticing increased difficulty with pulling the right word out of my mental dictionary. Lots of inability to remember a place name or person's name. In a short matter of time, the name or word will pop into my mind, but it's very frustrating in conversation to hit these roadblocks. I don't have chemo to blame but I guess I do have aging. I call dh (who's older) my brain. His recall is admirable.

Nothing interesting to report on the cooking front. The tomatoes are finally ripening up here in northern MN. I bought two nice-sized slicing tomatoes and a small bowl of cherry variety at the farmers' market on Sat. and paid $8. They were delicious. Also paid $1 each for small Japanese eggplants, which we grilled. They were sweet and tasty but I didn't eat most of the skin. I compare farmers' markets here to jewelry stores. Each veggie is a gem to the grower.

ChiSandy

The farmers’ market in Milwaukee where I sang Sat. had loads of great stuff (especially tomatoes, which right now for me are sort of like “coals to Newcastle”) but I felt so awful afterwards from the sun & heat that I even declined the offer of a fresh ripe peach that was otherwise going to be discarded. The balance of sun and rain in just the right proportions here in the upper Midwest has been amazing for produce.

susan_02143

It.Is.Hot. We are over 90º and it won't cool down below 80º until about midnight. This simply doesn't happen here. We have pulled out some ribs that are already cooked, baking a potato in the tiny oven, and I have made a tomato salad and some cole slaw from the farm cabbage. I had tried to encourage a night out to somewhere with A/C, but Mr. 02143 thought up this plan. Oh, and he is steaming some green beans while I sit in my stifling office, away from the stove.

This isn't fun!

*susan*

MinusTwo

Susan - sorry you couldn't persuade the Mr to treat you to an outing. Hope you at least have a big fan. I remember going in my grandparent's basement when it was really stifling. Thanks for posting all the interesting tidbits & food involved with the B&B people. Sounds like work but also maybe some fun.

Lacey12

Wow, ChiSandy, you have your homework done on allergies/asthma! Fortunately, the doc who follows me for my allergies is great and we have a good plan going forward, unless my breathing needs more attention. So far so good....

Susan, I feel for you with this heat. We left to return to the lake mi-day today. I was stunned to feel the 96 degree humid heat as soon as I stepped out of the house. Almost the same here, except for a bit of a breeze, especially on the lake. A plus is that the house was air conditioned "au natural" when we arrived, so we kept it closed up until just a few minutes ago. It's about 70 here now.....heaven!

We visited friends from home who always rent a house across the lake. We drove our boat over and DH took many of my friend's 8 grands out for lake tours while we were there. We also got to enjoy her 8month old granddaughter. Such a sweetie pie!

We had planned to go out on the lake with friends tonight to check out the meteor showers, but DH's back is really painful, (he's having a therapeutic massage tomorrow) and I was tired, so we stayed home. For dinner, I sliced up leftover steak, put it on garlic bread with a topping of shredded mozzarella, and toasted it. Served it with terra chips, and a big plate of fresh fruit. Not bad for a last minute effort!

Here's hoping that things cool down a bit.....

Tomorrow evening I'll probably make or go out for BLTs before seeing a play at The Winni Playhouse. The BLTs were supposed to be tonight's menu.

ChiSandy

Soooo hot tonight! No desire to get outside, much less light a fire. So I took some chicken and veal bratwursts and made a choucroute garnie: diced and sauted a slice of bacon and a couple Tbs. of onion. Took a jar of “Stimulus Package” caraway raw kraut, rinsed it, put it in the pan with the browned onion & bacon, poured 1/4 c. of dry rose wine, laid the sausages atop it, put the lid on and simmered it for 20 min. Drank some of that rose with it. Dessert was some dark choc. & salt caramel gelato. (I use a 1/2 c. glass prep dish for portion control).

eric95us

It's actually "nice" here. I had a bunch of mom stuff to do with the accountant today, so after driving the school bus, I took the rest of the day off. On the way home, I stopped by my favorite meat market and got an apple wood smoked ham, some semi-wild chicken fryers and three USDA Prime Porterhouse steaks. DD is wanting some fruit salad, rice, beans, guacamole, and twice baked potatoes to go with the steaks.

DD will be moving into the dorm on Sunday, so tomorrow is her "last day" here. We are already "staging" things that she's going to take with her. I'm pleased to see that the "pile" is actually quite small.

Across the street from the meat market is a Starbucks that used to be a grilled chicken place. We ate there in the late afternoon...by the next morning we were a trio.

Sharon has started teaching at the new school and is loving it. Last night was the "meet the teacher" night and she knew many of the parents (and students) from when she was at the nearby elementary school. It was kind of amusing watching the parents' reactions when they realized they knew her, figured out she was the new science teacher, but didn't also realize she was more than "just" a bus driver. Some of the folks audibly gasped when she put up her qualifications on the screen....OK, I'll brag... :-) Bachelor of Science nuclear engineering, navy officer, maritime (shipboard) engineer, taught nuclear physics and radio-chemistry to navy and civilian reactor operators, nuclear fuels engineer, and six years of teaching high school physics..

Off to do more dorm shopping..

susan_02143

It is now 99º and we are getting occasional showers which just raises the humidity. The house is 92º on the first floor and 95º on the second. I am pretty miserable. I haven't been this hot since we lived in eastern North Carolina without air conditioning. I miss that baby pool!!!! Tonight's dinner is basically last night again. Instead of turning on the small oven for a potato, and I am going to pull out the last chunk of corn bread which has been sitting in the freezer. Oh, and I have tons of cucumbers, so some kind of cucumber salad will find itself onto the table, just for me.

Eric, your daughter must be so very excited! This is such a big step towards independence and playing in the big leagues. I delayed chemo so that I could take my daughter to college that first day. I sensed a mixture of apprehension and excitement. My husband and I drove all the way home, and received a call from her that afternoon. She had left her computer under the back seat of the car, so the admirable Mr. 02143 drove all the way back to deliver it to her. NOTE: Check even under the seat!!!! And your wife is, well, a rock-star!!!! Those kids are lucky to have her.

*susan*

MinusTwo

Sorry about the abnormally high temps you all of you in the east & mid-west. I've gotten used to them and I expect my blood is thinner. But our heat index values this week were 117. Eeek.

It's still too hot to turn on the oven. I've been eating watermelon, green salads, rotisserie pre-cooked chicken split up into stove top pasta dishes & meals like tortilla roll-ups where cheese is melted in the micro, take-out California Roll, spiralized zucchini w/garlic, and nuked corn on the cob. The best thing this week was a $15 strawberry cream pie from Flying Saucer Pies. My Mother used to make delicious strawberry pies so it's a once a year nostalgic purchase for me. They're a bit sweeter than hers, but similar. I took large sections of the pie to 3 other friends so you don't have to imagine me scarfing down the entire thing directly from the pie pan. But it was tempting. And this week raspberries are on sale for $0.98. WOW. I bought two boxes so will be dining on those.

Lacey & Carole - I'm so jealous of your lake places.

eric95us

It's hot like that here, but we're set up for it--everyone has air conditioning in their cars and homes--so the only thing to deal with is the high electric utility bills.

One time, around noon, 1/8 inch of snow fell in Phoenix. It didn't stick, but the town quit moving for the rest of the day! :-)

auntienance

We're enjoying a cool spell--mid 80S and 60% humidity (or what we call "a little humid".) Lucky us!

ChiSandy

Actually dipped below 80 today here along the lakefront--we’re planning to go out to B’way Cellars tonight and were going to drive so we can take the wines we ordered home, but maybe I’ll dredge the rolling wine carrier we bought on a Napa tour up from the basement so we can walk. Last night it was hot, sticky & stormy, and I was home alone till midnight, so it was clean-out-the-fridge night. Found some frozen pre-deveined shell-on prawns, so I deveined them and stir-fried them Taiwan-style (riffing on the nearby Mei Shung restaurant recipe) with red & green bell pepper, a garlic scape and a scallion, snow peas, soy sauce, fish sauce, ginger, garlic, mirin, a touch of agave nectar and a sprinkle of tasted sesame oil at the end, just before folding in fresh basil leaves on the plate). Had a couple ounces of Maryhill Sangiovese rose; and some “macchiato” gelato for dessert. (I make my gelato experience last a bit longer by putting it in a 1/2 c. glass prep dish and eating it with an espresso spoon--in Italy, the disposable plastic spoons they give with cups of gelato are that small).

Lacey12

Finally, a day of cooler temps.....albeit a very wet one. At least the heat did not accompany the rain. I cannot imagine how you are managing in that rainy, humid heat, Susan! I hope it breaks.

We are spending today trying to deal with DH's back pain. He is really struggling with muscle pain and finally called his doc who prescribed two treatments, one which needs "approval" from ins. Unfortunately, the office that approves these things is a Mon-Friday operation, so he jumped through lots of hoops to try to work it out. Fortunately, his healthcare career prepared him for this. I would not have a clue!

More importantly, while my DH is just dealing with a bad back, I just received an email from the sister of a good friend at home whose DH died suddenly while exercising Wednesday morning. I am heartbroken for her. They both retired this past year and had been spending a lot of time visiting their children and grands in Cali and in DC. The most distressing thing about this to me is that my friend, as a twenty something, also lost her first husband in an unexpected way, shortly after they were married. He died suddenly of cardiac failure while water skiing. I'm sorry to be learning this terrible news while away, but know that her whole (out of state) family is with her now, and she will need support a plenty when the "crowd thins". So sad....

I keep thinking that I will be making BLTs for dinner and plans keep changing. I will shortly get up and make exactly that before DH changes plans again. We are supposed to see "Footloose" at a local community theatre tonight. I suspect DH will be the one sleeping in the seat given the flexarill (sp) induced drowsines.

Today is DGD's 4th birthday! DDIL called to Facetime with us while she opened her BD gifts, which she did with gusto! Her birthday (pool) party is being delayed until she can return to swimming. Last weekend she and DGS jumped in the pool together, banged heads and she ended up with a lacerated cheek. Fortunately, DS's best friend is a plastics guy, so she is all stitched up, and knowing her family's focus on facial beauty, I'm sure she will be followed by him until the cheek shows no evidence at all of that mishap! I'm always amazed that those two active kids have not been injured before this.

Pre-mishap happy face after she got her "four year old ears"pierced.

Face with gash must still be in my text file.

Lacey12

Found the gash photo..... Poor baby....

Of course brother was unscathed. Ha!

MinusTwo

Lacey - Sorry about the gash. Honestly I've been fortunate to see & have great plastic surgeons and you really can't see any scars. She's certainly a charmer with those huge eyes & long eyelashes.

Supper was "homemade" (from the deli) rye bread, buttered & pan fried & served open face w/sliced avocados on top & dripping with melted, mixed cheeses. Enjoyed with a lovely glass of Malbec. Yum. In the spirit of the South (and since I need something cool tomorrow and the fresh fruit is almost gone) I just completed making cherry jello, slightly gelled and then whole, sweet, dark, pitted cherries folded in. I'm not from the South, but jello salads were a constant staple of my youth in CA. Maybe it's a comfort food thing?

auntienance

Pretty little girl but nasty gash!

Chicken picatta and cacio e pepe. Pasta was overcooked, shouldn't have used cappelini, but otherwise tasty.

ChiSandy

I made the mistake once of trying to make cacio e pepe with shiratake capellini--yikes, what a globby mess! (Worked well with spiralized zucchini, though--as well as with both Bionature whole wheat and Dreamfields spaghetti, though the Dreamfields cooked up to a better al dente texture).

This morning (actually, afternoon, since I didn’t fall asleep till 5 am), continuing my clean-out-the-fridge task, I discovered some low-carb bread about which I’d forgotten but was still not yet moldy after more than a month. I was all set to make an avocado BLT with the avocado from which I’d taken one small slice Thurs. and put in the front of the middle shelf; but it was nowhere to be found. I was going crazy, emptying out crispers, rearranging shelves, to no avail. Both my guys are late-night noshers, but a naked avocado just isn’t either of their styles, and neither would’ve discarded it. Before I decided to have myself committed (had I imagined that I’d even cut one?), I asked Gordy as he got ready to go to teach his improv class. “Yeah,” he replied, “It looked nice and fresh and I wanted guacamole, so I mashed it up and ate it with Doritos.” (Of course, not-quite guac: he hates tomatoes and didn’t know to squeeze lime juice into it). So I made a BLT, on which I used mayo rather than avocado. And I fried a jumbo organic egg in olive oil.

Bob got home at 5, so we walked to dinner at B’way Cellars. We had a rolling wine carrier (the 2-wheeled kind with a strap rather than a telescoping handle) for bringing home the 3 bottles each of Brouilly & Sancerre we’d ordered last month at the Bastille Day dinner. It was still humid out, a definite appetite-suppressant, so we each had an app-sized spinach/garbanzo/asparagus/lobster salad as our entrees. But because the lobster was only half a “slipper” sized tail, for “dessert” we shared a crabcake appetizer. We had quite a bit of difficulty lugging the wine carrier home without scraping the bottom on the sidewalk (when we’d bought it in Napa in 2013, we never had to drag it any further than a rented luggage cart--and that was the last time we’d used it). When we got home I went online searching for it, and discovered we were towing it the wrong way (it was supposed to be oriented horizontally, with the long strap nearly at the bottom for better leverage). I told Bob that’s what we’ll do the next time. He said, "nope, let’s just use a folding shopping cart.” I asked "what about when we travel to a wine region?” He replied it was worth paying shipping costs to avoid having to schlep the rolling carrier (or pay an extra bag fee if we’re not flying on Southwest or in business class).

auntienance

Sandy, this was half a package of cappelini, which was indeed a mistake to use.

ChiSandy

In Rome, they tend to make cacio e pepe with either dried spaghetti or a similar house-made extruded or hand-cut rougher-textured squarer shaped and thicker pasta called tonnarelli, which is like a slightly thinner version of bucatini but solid rather than hollow. It is thick enough not to stick to itself, but has enough surface area with just the right texture to “grip" the butter or oil, pepper grounds and cacio Romano Pecorino without it clumping together. Cappellini (no matter what it's made of--whether durum wheat, semolina or engineered tofu) is too fine and smooth, and the cheese, fat & sauce just slide off and clump up in the interstices.

Just like the “annellini” pasta rings (no doubt the inspiration for Spaghetti-Os) we had in Palermo last December, I’ve been unable to find tonnarelli here in the U.S.--probably because it isn’t commercially made in a dried and packaged version.

april485

https://www.amazon.com/Anelletti-No-Tomasello-16oz-1lb/dp/B000LRKPRA?tag=chowhound07-20 Sandy, Amazon sells the anelletti pasta rings and Dececco makes tonnarelli albeit an egg version.

http://www.dececco.it/us_us/the-specialities-eggs/tonnarelli-all-uovo-312.html

I normally lurk and steal ideas here but thought I would post this for you today. You are all such great cooks. I love to cook too so occasionally check this thread.

auntienance

Sandy and April, good to know - thanks! April, feel free to jump in anytime!

I normally use a thicker spaghetti but I had an opened package of cappelini I wanted to use up. The sauce didn't clump so much as the pasta was just a little mushy. Should have known better.