So...whats for dinner?

Valstim52

SpecialK, when I lived in Boca Raton FL, snakes were common at certain times of year. We lived on the water and learned to be very cautious even though we had a screened in pool, they would occasionally slither under. Sheesh. I opened a cart and there he was, the biggest copperhead they say they've seen in a while. It could have been 3 inches and my rebel yell still would have been heard.

Dinner was coconut thai chicken stir fry. I call it a valerie concoction of coconut milk, thai chilis, cinnamon and lots of veggie. Jasmine rice was the side, but we had so many veggies, we barely touched the rice.

SpecialK

val - we get snakes all the time in our pool cage - and they often go for a swim for some reason, but I think they are thirsty. I have fished a number of them out of the pool with the skimmer. I was surprised the corn snake didn't startle me more - it would have if it was bigger probably! I can only imagine how surprised you were! The ones that worry me are the pygmy rattlers - tiny but dangerous with no known anti-venom available. We have had a couple of those in the pool cage and this one that DH discovered was about a foot from the side door. Not long after we moved here my DD borrowed my car (which was considerably larger than hers) to go run over a water moccasin on the walking path at the outside of our development - it was a really big snake, and even though she was reluctant to kill it the situation was too dangerous for people and pets. We live on the edge of the preserve and get a lot of big snakes and numerous poisonous ones each year. The mac daddy was an Eastern Diamondback DD and her then-boyfriend helped the police with - more than 6 feet long and as big around as DH's forearm, in the next door neighbor's pool cage. When it gets dry they seem to come up near the houses more and we are currently without rain, so they are appearing.

susan_02143

As much as I enjoyed dinner Sunday night, I woke sick on Monday. Didn't take long to know that I had food poisoning! Damn box lettuces. I don't usually buy those since they are notorious for various bacteria, but with the weather in CA, leaf lettuce is almost impossible to find. Let us say that the toilet and I became close friends. I vomited!!! Many times, something I never do. By 3pm, the cramps had stopped. I managed to get 1/2 cup of broth into my stomach at 7pm and kept it down. My blood work today showed the results. Really low potassium and sodium, however, my doctor decided to go ahead with the infusion without supplemental potassium. My job over the next week is to eat potassium-rich foods and get my balance back. So tonight, I will have a baked sweet potato. Who knew that it was high in potassium?

Infusion was fine though I was next to a chatty woman who just didn't shut up. Her husband did that husband thing of answering for her! My favorite was when the nurse asked if she had fatigue. He said "Fatigue!! She has gained FOUR whole pounds." in a loud and offended voice. Hello? That wasn't the question. The question was about fatigue. She was never able to answer the question. Anyhow, on my side of the curtain, we did the pepcid and then only 25 of the Benadryl. I did fall asleep [but I was up at 5am] but not as quickly. Didn't need a wake up to do the safety check since I was still awake. Everything was running way behind so we didn't get home until about 1:30 and I went back to sleep.

I do not wish to live anywhere with all of these snakes.

ChiSandy

Ouch, Susan—food poisoning from boxed lettuces? If you mean those little heads of “artisan lettuce” that come packaged four to a plastic clamshell box, uh-oh. I had some for lunch on my tuna sandwich. But I did wash them. Maybe it’s confined to one vendor or farm? I would imagine that even loose heads of various lettuces would be vulnerable. At any rate, I don’t take “triple washed” for granted. My salad spinner gets a workout almost daily.

Breakfast was a salmon Benedict: over-easy egg atop lox atop a small piece of low-carb toast. I sprinkled the lox with chopped fresh dill, then napped the egg with hollandaise sauce (shelf-stable packets by Christian Poitier, not that nasty Knorr powdered mix), which I then dusted with a little cayenne and sweet paprika and then some chopped fresh tarragon.

Anyone else here find culling packaged fresh herbs to be a PITA? If you don’t get rid of the rotting parts, they taint the whole package; but it’s often very hard to ditch the slimy stuff w/o sacrificing some good stuff on which it’s stuck. Dill is the worst in that regard. Thyme is also a PITA, either the leaves refuse to come off the stem when you strip them (you end up getting the stem too) or the dried-up blackened leaves are on the same “stem-let" as fresh green ones. I can hardly wait till planting season arrives here, so I can start my own annual herb garden—no waste at all. The only perennials that seem to be sprouting are my chives (robustly), a little oregano, and lemon mint (which doesn’t taste minty at all). I can’t grow lettuce, dill, cilantro or parsley—the rabbits get to them before I can. I don’t even bother with carrots.

Dinner was the path of least resistance. Figured Bob had office tonight, and I’m getting a manicure tomorrow, so I could freely stain those lovely French tips & cuticles. Besides, it’s half-price night for bone-in wings at Buffalo Wild Wings, so I got the “Asian Zing” version (very much like Korean BBQ) with celery & ranch dressing.

And I made a visit to the nearest Stan’s Donuts, 4 miles away down in Lakeview (reached via completely-torn-up Broadway). Before I go back on strict low-carb, I need to find what all the fuss over gourmet donuts is about; the other “cult” places (Donut Vault—which usually sells out by noon, Glazed & Infused and Do-Rite) are all either down in the Loop or in the heart of hipster-yuppie-land (Lincoln Park, Wicker Park or Bucktown) where parking is impossible. I will have one tonight with decaf (probably the chocolate buttercream Bismarck) and—if Gordy doesn’t get to it first—the maple-bacon Long John for breakfast in the morning. We don’t even have Krispy Kreme shops up here (some of the Jewel groceries have bags of the mini-crullers, but most grocers have gone back to baking their own or buying generic ones)—just Dunkin’ Donuts…meh. (Can’t believe that when I lived in Seattle decades ago and all we had was one Spudnuts shop in the U. District and Winchell’s everywhere else, I used to long for Dunkin’).

ChiSandy

Okay—Gordy took the first donut (I got him a double-chocolate-frosted chocolate cake) so I brewed myself up a decaf with the Aeropress and tucked into the “Buttercream Bismarck.” Sort of like a Krispy Kreme chocolate-iced cream-filled, but on steroids. Now I have been to the well. I may have half that maple bacon Long John tomorrow for breakfast. There is also the Rolling Stones donut: a raspberry jelly donut with vanilla icing top adorned with the famous logo tongue in red icing. (I am not a jelly-donut fan but both my guys are—let ‘em fight it out as to who gets it, or maybe split it between them). But if the rest of them were somehow to disappear (somewhere other than down my own gullet), I would not brave traffic and teeth-rattling street construction potholes to buy more. I have had my last fling (or maybe tomorrow morning, my last half-fling). Only wish my body would realize that, and somehow not metabolize the calories in it…

Ah, millennials. If only they knew how lucky they were to be able to enjoy these trendy things without consequence…for now.

eric95us

I've only had problems with the bagged lettuce and then only once have I not felt well. What usually happens is that there is a story of a lettuce recall and I go look in the refrigerator, find the magic bag and toss it in the trash.

I'm glad the episode didn't upset the infusion schedule.

I usually end up using the store bought herbs and unless I know for certain that I'm going to use more the next day, I just toss them in the trash so I don't end up with science experiments. I grow basil, rosemary, garlic scallions, cilantro (it's only a winter thing), mint and several kinds of hot peppers so I don't have to buy too many herbs.

Today I worked from home, but didn't get any cooking done. I went from work stuff to working on the car. The power brake booster failed and the shops wanted between $825 and $900. I think there is an invisible line on the repair invoices that is labeled "amount needed to bring the bill up to $800". The part was $172 and it took me just over an hour to do the work.

Sharon's birthday was this week, so we're going to go out to a Mexican food restaurant.

Moonflwr912

Susan, i think you look lovely! I used a hat mostly or scarves, but my favo0rite had bangs I bought from a catalog that velcroed onto the front of the scarves. I took them to my hair stylist to cut to fit my face and they were the most comfortable. Not to mention, when I took off my scarf at tbe MO office, he started and said he thought I still had hair. LOL. So I wore those a lot. If I wanted to wear a scarf without the velcro, it hooked to an elastic headband. Im pretty sure it was under 15$. And most of my scarves were silk.

Eric, no. Just no on the snake.

Carol, honey curry roasted carrots? Sounds delish.

Special, let us know how that LE tx works. Sounds interesting.

ChiSandy, I hate whe a restaurant is not as good as the first time you go there.

Val, I love coconut curry. Even though I dont like coconut. LOL

My Sister bought a lovely small condo in WI Dells. She graciously invited me up lazt weekend. We spent the time driving all over looking for things to do on future visits. Id forgotten hiw much to see there is, and that didnt include the tourist spots, although weve both been to many of those. Shes right on the river with a boat dock outside there. And only a couple of blocks from downtown. So we are listing all the places to eat we want to try. On Friday, we ate lunch at the Polish diner. I had meat pierogies, she had potato dumpling with meat filling. Having made these from scratch, I know good pierogies. We shared a borscht bowl. We both took home about half. They were very good! We'll try some less well known dishes next time. They have a home less than a hour from their condo, so will go up quite often. Found another restaurant similar to Cheeseburger in Paradise, but a bit cheaper.

Supper today was just a sandwich, but I was tired from bany sitting last nite and this morni g. DD2 got called in at 6 pm and came back after supper and bath, and Peppa Pig, and Dora the Explorer. So about 10:30. LOL. Tben DSIL had an MRI this morning so I stayed later. Cute kid, but wears one out! I have to look up some lyrics to songs shes got on her toy guitar, I forgot about half of them! But we had fun. Again. Again. And again.....LOL!

Much love to all at our table.

MinusTwo

Moon - so glad to see you. The trip to your sisters sounds fun. Sounds like you're keeping very busy.

ChiSandy

Made a choucroute tonight. Raw probiotic garlic-dill pickle sauerkraut, one diced slice of bacon, riesling, bison franks, chicken and heritage-breed pork bratwursts and a kosher beef kielbasa (for irony). Added juniper berries & caraway seeds and simmered for 1/2 hr.

ChiSandy

Dinner tonight was the buffet at Cellars' “Flavors of Latin America" wine tasting. Tomato-garbanzo salad, guacamole & exquisite house-made chips, chicken enchiladas verde, tortilla Español with romesco sauce, charcuterie (jamon Serrano, chorizo, duck sausage) & cheese (manchego & Drunken Goat), coffee-roasted pork tenderloin, paella, rice pudding and flan. The paella was delicious but inauthentic (too tomato-ey, not enough saffron, no crunchy “soccarat" layer—tough to achieve in a chafing dish, though). Everything was great and I gleefully ate everything (small portions, of course, pacing myself and tasting a couple of wines along with the foods—poured out the other wines after the first couple of sips lest I get drunk and exceed my alcohol “allowance”).

Cellars is really beginning to shine when it comes to Mexican-inspired dishes. They're giving the line cooks a much freer hand and it shows. Not that everything else isn't wonderful.

For the wine list, see the “How About Drinking?" thread.

MinusTwo

Sandy - glad you posted. I was wondering what happened to everyone.

I took a friend to the eye doc today since they were dilating her eyes. We stopped at a fairly new recommended burger place - Hub Cap Grill. Unlike our normal city temperatures, it was actually was pleasant (cold spell of only 80) so we ate on the patio. Burgers were hand made but only OK. Meat was good but a little too well done. Fries were not crispy - in fact soggy. Glad we tried it & glad we could eat outside, nice visit, but we won't add it to our list.

So dinner was two glasses of a nice Malbec while I caught up on everything I should have done today. Since it's now 10:30pm, I guess I'll call it a day. Oh....maybe popcorn?

ChiSandy

Minus, I hear that Houston has displaced Chicago as the Indian-culture-and-cuisine capital of America (or so Anthony Bourdain contends). Do you have any favorites?

MinusTwo

Hmmmm - I'm surprised to hear that. Indian food is not my favorite, but yes there seem to be good review of several Indian restaurants popping up. We certainly seem to have a bunch of restaurants with "name brand" chefs creating dishes w/exotic things - like humming bird wings or bison hooves. LOL. Maybe more like elk tongue & turtle eggs, but still... Considered going to Hugo Ortega's newest today, Oaxacan food with lots of edible insects on the menu, but we didn't want the fol-de-rol and just wanted a 'comfort burger'. Here's Xochi's version of a hamburger:

prime beef hamburger, chorizo Istmeño, chile de agua, avocado, watercress, housemade Oaxacan string cheese, pasilla pepper mayo, papas enchiladas

ChiSandy

Check out this month’s Bon Appetit—it has an article on Oaxacan food.

carolehalston

Last night was burger night. I gave Dh choice of beef, turkey, lamb or pork. He picked pork. 4 oz pattie for me, 5 oz for him. He made a delicious tossed salad while I cooked the patties using the cast iron grill. Home-made wheat buns heating in toaster oven.

Yum.

Today yard work, mostly pruning, then laundry and cooking. I have fresh okra and three nice eggplants to turn into meal components

auntienance

Lol Carole, we really are on the same food page - we had pork burgers last night too. Along with some some not-so-sweet corn on the cob, despite it's advertising.

Still not much appetite which I'm blaming in part on my current attempt at Effexor withdrawal. But to make it worse, It's combined with my dad's current situation which is that he's about to get kicked out of supportive living due to a decline in his physical abilities. His next stop is a nursing home, which will break his heart and mine, and also presents a lot of logistical hurdles.

We are having a cool rainy spell. I did get cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and squash planted. Still need to plant beans but I'll wait until it warms and dries out a bit. The tomatoes are not happy about the cool nights so I expect they'll pout a bit until the weather warms again. Fortunately the raised beds warm faster than the ground. The potatoes have started to sprout and the onions are happy about the rain. Still need to add compost top dressing and mulch. I have the herb bed to plant yet although i still have some growing in pots from this winter. Spring is moving along.

SpecialK

DH ate lunch at 4pm yesterday so he had a protein shake for dinner, which he made himself - chocolate with frozen banana slices and a spoonful of peanut butter. I had a hair appt and ran errands so also ate at 4pm so I wasn't hungry either. DD is rehabbing a baby duck found out in the bay by her commercial fisherman friend, and she got takeout on the way back from getting new tires - so no dinner making for me last night!

MinusTwo

Nance - so sorry to hear about your Dad. Yes, it will be a disappointment. Does he suspect it's coming? I'll keep you both in my thoughts.

auntienance

No Minus, I don't think he does which makes it especially hard.

SpecialK

auntie - so sorry you will be having to deal with more dad issues, hoping things go as smoothly as possible.

Dinner tonight will be small sirloins and kale Caesar salad

carolehalston

Kale Caesar salad sounds interesting and unusual.

I had leftover ground pork. I used it in an okra and tomato dish that is our main course tonight. The side will be a bag salad with kale. Plus additions.

I made two eggplant casseroles for the freezer today. A busy day.

Nance, the nursing home has worked out well for my mother. She has made friends and enjoys her popularity with the staff. Good luck with dealing with the issue with your dad

susan_02143

Yesterday I made a spicy chicken, rice and sausage one pot dish for our dinner. Then I made a pork and vegetable stew for Olivia's lunch today. Tonight we were supposed to have the chicken leftovers or the pork stew but neither of us is interesting in such a heavy meal. I have pulled out a ciabatta and we will nibble on bread, pesto, cheese, and in my case, a few olives.

Nance, oh your Dad is not going to be thrilled with this change, will he?

Need to make more granola in the morning. Turnover day so laundry and cleaning. Current guests are very pleasant. Young couple plus a sister, originally from Brisbane but two of them are now living in Ithaca while the other lives in Banff. Next group is a middle aged couple here to visit their daughter who lives close by. They do all start to blend together except for the ones I particularly like. After this, three weeks of graduation folks who paid a ton of money to stay here! Let us see if I can please them too.

*susan*

SpecialK

carole - I just sub the kale for romaine, or if I don't have enough of either, I mix them. Otherwise the rest is the same - croutons, dressing, and parm - also a lot of cracked black pepper.

susan - I am sure the grad folks will be happy to stay in your lovely home! I am doing my first stay in an airbnb the third week in May - a reunion for an old AF squadron up in Panama City Beach. Have not seen some of these folks for 30 years - eeeks!

Also, side note - the day brought another snake, different kind - ribbon snake. Glad the dog went out of the pool enclosure first and startled it.

susan_02143

Special, thank you for your vote of confidence! I have raised my prices by quite a bit, and these folks are paying $30 a night more than that! I am thinking I should have some cute bundt cakes or cookies for them when they arrive.

MinusTwo

susan - If you run out of time or energy, how about just mints on the pillows?

My friend who always hosted Chickenfoot is the one who died on March 27th, a month ago. There were 6 ladies who usually played two Friday afternoons a month. She and her husband had been together since she was 14, so 60 years. We've all been worried about him, but he seems to be doing OK. There are two sons & their wives who live fairly close. Anyway, he wanted us all to come over & play this afternoon. He actually sat & played for 3 hours, along with he wife's male cousin who was in town for a couple of days.

Snacks/lunch/dinner = a huge tray of deli sangys (ham, turkey, etc), a spinach/artichoke quiche, carrot/raisin salad w/crushed pineapple, green salad w/strawberries, chocolate doughnuts (more like crullers) and my last bottle of the Cote du Rhone Villages wine. Afterwards the husband wanted to go out for pizza. I would have been thrilled to just come home & sink into my chair w/a book, but I figure he asks when he wants company so 4 of us & one other husband went with him. The #1 special is two big pieces of pizza and a salad, which I ordered. I ate the salad & brought the pizza home for tomorrow.

ChiSandy

The gourmet donut experiment continued today, as I managed to find a (rare) parking space at the Armitage Ave. branch of Glazed & Infused, right next door to a branch of Chase that bought back my British pounds (which were doing me no good sitting in my wallet) for $1.22 each. Compared to Stan’s Donuts, Glazed & Infused has fewer varieties but they’re all one price (Stan’s has three price tiers). Glazed & Infused’s Boston Creme (custard-filled) is better than Dunkin’s (but can’t speak as to Stan’s, since Gordy relieved me of that one); it has only one cream-filled one, a powdered-sugar matcha-flavored whipped cream (with which, logically, I will drink green tea). Their maple bacon Long John is not only longer than Stan’s, but has one long strip of bacon and is yeast-raised instead of cake. (I’m a yeast-raised fan, which is why I prefer Krispy Kreme to Dunkin’). The two shops I’ve yet to try are Do-Rite (Loop & Navy Pier) and Donut Vault (just NW of the Loop, in a back alley, usually sold out before noon). Neither are particularly convenient to parking (double-digit garage price, not just parking meter); the Loop Do-Rite is accessible by CTA train…wrong line, though, requiring a change of trains. I think, therefore (especially since I have to get back on the diet-wagon), that my donut explorations have come to an end

For dinner tonight, Whole Foods had a sale on fresh sea scallops. So I tossed them in a little gojuchang (Korean chili) paste, garlic, ginger, salt. and coconut oil and pan-seared them. I also stir-fried some cauliflower “veggie fried rice” (carrots, ginger, onions, zucchini, orange, white and purple cauliflower) in garlic-ginger oil and added a little tamari and topped it off with a few drops of toasted sesame oil. Drank a WA riesling with it—perfect. Tomorrow night will be pan-seared salmon with asparagus (maybe some more of that cauliflower rice for me and real rice for the guys). Also have some really nice ramps—might saute them, or maybe make an omelette with them in the a.m.

My garden service got back to me today and apologized profusely—their supervisor was suddenly hospitalized before he could give his crew instructions as to what to do where. They’ll do the spring cleanup (rake, leaf-blow, seed, aerate) Tuesday; and they will replace any of my herbs and berries that don’t come back up w/in a reasonable time.

carolehalston

Dinner will be at the Oak Grill at our club tonight. I will be claiming a free entree for my birthday, which was in March. I didn't have a chance to take advantage of the complementary meal so will do so tonight. Another couple will be joining us.

Sandy, I have to skim your discussion of doughnuts!

MinusTwo

reflections about my friend - I've given some thought to all our feelings about playing the same games in the same place (her house) & going to one of her favorite places for dinner without her only one month later. I missed her. I don't know if it was "better" (healing? cathartic?) for her husband to have us all together doing the same thing, or if it was too painful & made him miss her more. Grief is universal, but timing and how we make it through the journey is such an individual thing.

susan_02143

Minus, hard hard hard... all the way around. Here is a little Olivia joy for you. She loves books!

MinusTwo

Thanks for posting Susan. It gave a lift to my day. Best thing in the world - a love of books. Oh my, she's growing up so fast.