So...whats for dinner?

CeliaC

Have been catching up to all the yummy food descriptions. So cold and wet here yesterday that hubby doctored up organic butternut squash soup with petite peas, mushrooms and chunks of chicken breast with fresh ground pepper & some curry powder.

Eric - Your deployments have me intrigued. Are you part of an on call disaster team? Working at an Airport (CVG) and am the Finance Liaison for our Emergency Operations Center, so have had all sorts of disaster training. We are having a full scale drill in September, which is required by the FAA every two years.

Susan - I, too, want to be a guest at your AirBnB - looks like you are a very thoughtful host and wonderful cook. About Olivia - Please don't stress about what they are saying in re: communication. At one year old, my DD never "babytalked". Somewhere between 1 and 2, she just starting speaking in complete sentences.

Auntienance - Great bird photos! Thanks.

MinusTwo - Gewurtztraminer is one of my faves.

Well, gotta dash - back to work.

Bon Appetit!

eric95us

It's NDMS (National Disaster Medical System) and is "under" the US Dept of Health and Human Services. I do mostly communications (2way radio and such) and IT stuff.

I'm a paid federal employee, but I'm only paid by them when I'm actually doing work for them. So I have my regular engineering job at Verizon to pay the bills.

When I get sent out, even though I'm in a civilian position, I'm covered by the military leave laws, so there is no problem with me leaving Verizon for a few weeks or coming back when I'm done.

Verizon is quite good about this as they do far better than the military leave laws require.

ChiSandy

I like a good dry Alsatian gewurtztraminer—smells sweet but finishes dry, like all Alsatian wines except the late-harvest (“vendange tardive”) ones. A California gewurtz, with a bit of residual sugar, works with Indian or Thai food but a Kabinett-or-Spätlese riesling works better—especially with the hotter spice levels. The acidity cuts through the heat & fat, and it pairs really well with Cajun or Creole. Sometimes the spice in the bouquet of gewurtz clashes with the different types of spice in spicy foods. For some reason, the “petrolly” bouquet of a riesling (especially one with some age on it), tends to retreat when it comes to dishes with lots of cayenne or hotter chiles.

Cellars’ Taste of Italy (20 wines, Italian buffet) benefit for its Avon Breast Cancer Walk team is tonight. Blew me away to find out how much it costs upfront to do the walk—as opposed to other fundraisers where participants solicit “by-the-mile” (or for skyscraper climbs, “by-the-flight”) sponsors. Was gonna volunteer to help with registration or water stations, but will be in NY next week for Bob’s 50th HS reunion. No gourmet restaurant meals planned—we’ll be staying at the reunion hotel in Huntington, LI (Suffolk County), arriving next Thurs. evening; Fri. will be visits to Bob’s parents’ graves in Flushing, possibly followed by a Mets game (one of our friends is trying to wangle us an invitation to his company’s box). Sat. is the reunion; Sun. is visits to my parents’ and Bob’s best friend’s parents’ graves in neighboring cemeteries in Pinelawn…then touring the N. Fork wineries. (Bob’s buddy is more of a beer drinker, but unless he wants to take the train back to Queens, he’s stuck with us. I would love to go to Paumanok Winery’s restaurant for its Oyster Fest menu, or some place with good local duck, but he is a steak-or-burgers guy—to him a salad is “exotic,” and at our age he’s pretty set in his ways; he’s an IRS auditor so that sort of explains it). Mon. we fly home. Doubt we’ll even get into Manhattan. Wish we could have stayed at our midtown timeshare and go to LI for just the reunion, but we don’t want to drive after the party (and I don’t think the LIRR would run that late); and timeshare nights need to be consecutive.

eric95us

A missing man table was set up in another office's lunch room....and someone was sitting in the chair.. :-(

When I told them about the table, they got a horrified look on their face and quickly moved. So all was not lost.

MinusTwo

Eric - thanks for kindly telling someone who didn't know. Maybe he/she will spread the message.

Mommy - do your fries & onion rings get crispy in the oven?

Dunch was weird of course since I needed room in the fridge for new groceries. I had to eat the rest of the 'older' radishes, so 8 or 10 of those made up the appetizer. Main dish was wings & legs from a rotisserie chicken. I'm freezing the two breasts and there are still lots of pieces to use with my leftover "sauce" from Laurie's Mexican dish yesterday. I took most of the chicken from that dish down to the husband of my friend who died, but still have some good soupy sauce w/black beans that I hate to throw away. Dessert will be a couple of slices of a fresh Rosemary/Olive Oil round loaf of bread - of course slathered in butter. So much for the 5 lbs I've lost in the last few weeks between grocery excursions.

The sushi counter was giving tastes of Shaggy Dog roll. I really wanted one, but it's too much for one person to eat before it goes bad. I settled for a small package of California Roll slices. Those will likely be tomorrow's breakfast.

M0mmyof3

My fries and onion rings get crispy as I cook with a gas oven.

Eric, I am glad to hear that the person moved after being told the significance of the table.

ChiSandy

Tonight's wine tasting at Cellars was great—not just the wines but the food: green (mesclun, Caesar) salads, antipasti, insalata Caprese, cavatappi all'Amatriciana, 2 kinds of pizza, eggplant Parm, and tilapia piccata (I normally don't care for tilapia because it's so bland, but this was seasoned beautifully and perfectly done). Dessert was sfogliatelle & cannolli. (And limoncello). In the raffle, I won one bottle each of a Haut-Medoc (Bordeaux red) and Vernaccia di San Gimignano (white). The latter was ironic, because when we were in Tuscany, the concierge at our condo resort urged us to visit San Gimignano because it was the quintessential ancient Tuscan hill town: surrounded by walls, no cars except delivery vehicles and ambulances allowed inside. We were prepared to park outside & hike up the hill, but every garage & parking lot surrounding the town was full. So we never got to see the town (except from outside the walls, in the car) but at least we'll get to "drink it.”

And I was the high bidder in the silent auction for two Rick Bayless cookbooks and dinner for two at Frontera Grill (where we've never been able to get in—no reservations, long and sometimes fruitless waits—but we have eaten at his higher-end Topolobampo). But best of all? Geri & Josie got enough contributions to pay for their entry into next week's Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. (Geri's sister Barb is a 5-yr. survivor of tubular, and Josie gave a shout-out to me as a survivor of IDC and "special friend" of the restaurant).

queenmomcat

Sandy: my husband and I gave up on dinners at Frontera a while back--same reasons you give. We usually go for lunch/brunch, and show up right when they open.

susan_02143

Last night's dinner was a bit of a cluster. I knew that it was Harvard's Graduation since my current guests were paying a fortune to stay with me and attend. What I didn't think was that every single Chinese graduate with their family would eat at our neighborhood Chinese restaurant. Plus there were at least three banquet to-go orders being prepared. It went south when MY salt and pepper calamari was served to the next table over. Staff didn't notice until after that young woman had begun to attack the plate. I was out of luck. They came over to tell me that it would be a very long wait and handed me a menu to order something else. I wasn't buying what they were selling. I came for the calamari. I didn't want something different. I was willing to leave without, but I didn't want something different. In the meantime, our scallion pancakes arrived and were, perhaps, the best that they have ever been. Mr. SMT's spicy beef with oranges arrived and was proclaimed to be excellent. Just as we were going to ask for our check the squid arrived. I found it to not be that spicy or salty, but Mr. SMT who is not getting Taxol said it was fiery and very salty. My tastebuds are just not to be trusted right now. Reheating the leftovers tonight, I was sneezing as the pepper oil filled the kitchen, but still barely tasted the heat. Might be a good time to visit Thailand. Seems I can eat most anything spicy without issue right now!

Been raining for about three weeks and we are all wearing moss on our skin. The worst part is we can not take Olivia outside which she just loves. Today, she was a bit languid. I am guessing that she has a cold coming on, again. She has learned to hug and does it well. I am slowly teaching her to hug me on my non-port side. She loves rubbing my fuzzy head and then expects me to rub hers in exchange. Really is a bit of a scream!

*susan*

ChiSandy

I went through my freezers today—mostly fruit, bread, sausages & vegetables. Found a package of cod labeled “use or freeze by 8/15" and a couple of very freezer-burned coho and trout fillets. 3 steaks, but I have to cut back on red meat. Ice packs, ice packs and more ice packs. Downstairs freezer was full of fries, onion rings, hamburgers, PF Chang's dinners—all Gordy-stuff (and he's out tonight giving his penultimate performance before his troupe loses its theater after tomorrow night—every night this week he's been out late drowning his sorrows and eating pizza with his castmates). My housekeeper made him ribs & fries Wed., but he hasn't eaten them and I'm not going to. Didn't want a sardine or tuna salad, had eggs for breakfast, didn't feel like having just veggies. Logged on to GrubHub and realized everything I wanted was relatively expensive and no damn good for me (jonesing for fried chicken, Korean wings, oyster po'boy or chap chae). Gordy ate all the instant Indian food. So I chose the path of least resistance: a small plate of spaghetti Bolognese (I have a Fasta Pasta microwave pasta cooker, boxes and boxes of pasta, and a jar of sauce) with Parm-Regg. and basil. Carby, but I had only one other meal today (and a small snack of cherry tomatoes and mozzarella salad). Calorically, I'll be okay, as long as I don't give in to cereal-and-milk or matzo-and-cheese cravings late tonight. Drinking blood orange unsweetened seltzer. Probably will have some unsweetened applesauce and fresh cherries (or strawberries with mint leaves & balsamic) for dessert in a while. Major workout yesterday, have another scheduled for tomorrow.

MinusTwo

The temperature was only 97 today but the heat index was up to 105 degrees so it's really too hot to even eat after working outside.

Breakfast was 5 pieces of California Roll with Robert Rothchild's Lemon Wasabi sauce.

I bought two ears of Texas corn even though friends from Iowa have always said it's only good for the feed lot. Usually I wait for the Olathe corn from Colorado, which is so good you can almost eat it raw. Anyway, yes indeed, the one ear I cooked was hard & tough. Sigh. That's what happens when I get in the mood for fresh corn & try to jump the gun.

In addition to my ear of corn, dinner was a mix-up of leftover Ancient Grains 'rice' mixture, a bowl of small pieces from a rotisserie chicken, and the last of the left over good, soupy, salsa & bean 'juice' from Laurie's Mexican Chicken.

susan_02143

Hard to explain what happened, but my planned dinner just didn't happen. So at 5:30 I asked Mr. SMT if he was willing to eat some Mexican tonight. The answer was yes! So after tonight's guests checked in, we headed to our favorite spot. I got the same ole'... tortilla soup, but in a willingness to try to eat more, I also ordered one taco and some refried beans. WAY too much for me. I ate all of the soup, but those poor beans and taco were hardly enjoyed. I made a valiant attempt. Four bites of beans, and I ate about half of of the Al Pastor without the tortilla. Mr. SMT ordered a carnitas burrito, his favorite.

I will make the pork sirloin cutlets with baked sweet potato and lima beans for tomorrow night. The kid is coming for "breakfast." Then she will head off with Mr. SMT to attend a Red Sox game. This is her Christmas gift to him. They have a great time together.

*susan*

eric95us

The lack of humidity sure does make a difference. I think it was in the upper 90s here, but only a few per cent humidity and was actually quite comfortable out on the back porch.

DD came home, so I pulled out an extra steak from the magic freezer to grill.. I did the stereotypical man thing--grilling....

susan_02143

Eric, I bet your DD loved being home and having Dad cook her a steak. Grilling is the best way to manage a steak!

M0mmyof3

If the weather holds here I will probably have hubby use the grill for the first time this year.

SpecialK

Have been a bit AWOL, company from Nevada, then out of town with the company up to the panhandle for a military reunion - did some cooking as we got a condo through Airbnb - very nice, on the ocean - yay! I spent some time in the porch swing with a glass of wine - yay! DD has a rescued duck, some of her commercial fishing friends found it swimming out in the middle of the bay - could not have been more than a few days old. So she is hand-raising it and it has taken over the backyard and the pool. As soon as it is fully feathered she will attempt to teach it to fly and either find a suitable pond for it, or it will be our yard duck, lol! DH is not feeling super and so has just been eating soup for the last couple of nights.

My fellow skin cancer friends on this thread will feel me on this - had a biopsy on a recurrent site high up on my shoulder a couple of weeks ago - previously treated superficial basal cell from less than a year ago. This is the same side as the breast cancer and geographically this is pretty darn close to the axilla that had positive nodes, and is the arm that has lymphedema. I get a call from the derm that this is a different kind of basal cell - infiltrating. Doesn't grow on the surface, but rather toward the inside, and has to be removed with MOHS. If untreated for too long this can require systemic treatment, and the first available MOHS date is 7/29. I am 100% sure that the person making that appt. had no idea that I have previously been treated for breast cancer, not sure if it matters, but am a bit nervous. I made a quick appt. with my MO and he called them (he went to med school with the derm - yay!) to accelerate. Still waiting to hear on my new MOHS date. Working the system...

susan_02143

Oh Special!!! Work that system. I am so sorry to hear your news, well, the skin cancer news. The duck is pretty cute! Glad that you had a good AirBNB experience. I keep hearing horror stories from my own guests about previous experiences, so it is encouraging to hear a good story.

Working on a breakfast for five. Then that pork sirloin roast is next on the prep docket.

MinusTwo

Special: Good to see you. Here's a lesson in slowing down... I read Nevada and tried to figure out how you had a condo on the ocean. Then I read panhandle and of course thought of Texas - again no ocean. Once I read more carefully, your trip sounds wonderful. I'm jealous. The ocean is my sanity and I don't get to one often anymore.

I've had 5 MOHS surgeries for basal cells. I thought those all went down & in, instead of spreading out like squamous cells. The doc said my last one was about the size of the eraser on the end of a #2 pencil but went in a little deeper. Ugh. So glad you're got someone advocating for an earlier date. I've been on a schedule of 6 month full body scans for many years. It seems that freezing them early has helped but there's a place on my cheek the doc is suspicious about right now.

Susan - I'll be interested to hear if you decide to stick with cutlets for the pork.

I have 'little theater' tickets this afternoon. Most of the shows are world premieres or 'edgy' or Off Broadway items, but this is the last show of this subscription year - "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance". I honestly haven't seen it since the movie first came out in 1962 and don't remember much except the song, so it should be fun. Two friends & I will go out to eat afterwards.

HappyHammer

Special- so sorry about your skin cancer news...pardon my ignorance, but what is MOHS?  SO glad you have an advocate for getting in earlier!  Please keep us posted.  Your trip sounded wonderful- something so calming and healing about the sea!

Still working the Ketogenic eating plan.  Feel a lot better than prior to doing this- so much less inflammation in joints so much less pain AND sleeping waaaay better- so more energy and clearer thinking.  Have lost about 7 pounds which isn't as much as I had thought might happen but am betting Arimidex is playing into that along with age and such.  Started back at the Y last week and walked a 5k with my sister yesterday so am feeling pretty good about it all. 

Sister, cousin and I are training for the 30 Miles on 3 islands event in September at Hilton Head, SC.  It is a fund-raiser for area folks needing mammograms, etc . 

Hope you all enjoy the Memorial Day weekend...be well.

SpecialK

susan - our Airbnb experience was totally painless, and DD has stayed in a few - only one that was iffy and it was more about communication than anything else, their stay was fine. The duck is adorable but very messy. DH would usually complain about the mess, but I think he has a soft spot for the duck!

minus - Like you, I have had a bunch of basals, probably closing on 40 now - they have been removed by a number of means - scoop and freeze, scoop and burn, and MOHS - I have had three previous MOHS, and two wide excisions without immediate pathology. My previous basals did grow across the skin, and I guess the difference with this one is that it is more aggressive and will seek out lymph nodes - thus the potential need for chemo and rads if left untreated - not going down that road again if I can help it.

happy - MOHS surgery, named after the surgeon who thought it up, is removal of skin cancers by layers with immediate pathology following each layer - this assures clean margins. It can be a long process as it takes about an hour for each pathological look. It is usually me and a bunch of old guys in the waiting room - I don't see many women, lol! They all have bandages on their faces/ears/neck, and mine are usually hidden underneath clothes. They always look me over with suspicion, haha! I looked at that event in SC when you mentioned it a while ago since my MIL is so close, I hope you will have a memorable weekend. I started back to the Virgin diet yesterday - which is specifically an anti-inflammatory diet, I have been eating too many things I shouldn't be, and the scale reflects it, so I stand with you in solidarity, lol!

eric95us

I think I'm going to get a new air conditioner for the house. The professional repairman in 2004, said it was unfixable and wouldn't last another month or two. I've been doing the things needed to keep it running and even though it's still running,...it's time. The old unit is not large enough for the house (builder saving money) and the new ones are so much more efficient. My mom's air conditioner was the same age as this one and after it was replaced, her monthly summer electric bill was about $175 a month less. My guess is that a new one, suitably sized, will be about $6,000, so we will "break even" in about 6 years.

DD sent me a text message saying that if I made more twice baked potatoes...she'd come home to get them. I guess she likes them. Hopefully she will take my hint and let me show her how to make them..."it ain't rocket science". :-)

My mom had MOHS on her nose. I guess they have some sort of coordinate system for the tissue samples as the results would come back indicating where they did not yet have clear margins and they would dig more out, but only in the indicated area. It took most of the day and on her nose, they couldn't use the long lasting local anesthetics, so each time they'd numb her nose, her eyes would water a bit. The site started out about 3/4 inch across, but then by the time they were done, the (from the surgeon's point of view) lower right side of her nose had a 1/4 inch through and through hole. They patched it up with some other skin and it looked just fine when it healed.

Special, yes, work the system....

Sharon has been out hiking the past few mornings. I've been sleeping in. She's a bit annoyed at the (probably caused by Arimadex) weight gain, even on a 1400 calorie a day diet,. So now that school is out for the summer, she's adding some exercise to the mix to see if that will help. This morning she went 3 miles on a fairly difficult trail. I'm hoping it will help with the weight and ease her frustration.

susan_02143

Minus, yes. Cutlets were made and consumed. Funny cut. I didn't "buy" it directly, but it was part of my pork share. The poor pig deserves to be eaten. The flavor, like the rest of this animal was fabulous, but the texture of pork sirloin is oddly chewy. There is lots of connective [and well worked fat] but the actually pieces of meat are lean. Served with huge sweet potatoes and some lima beans. I overdid today. Processed the chicken stock, made banana bread, deboned the sirloin roast and then roasted the bones for more stock, and finished the gardening smock for Olivia [and then started on a sundress.]

It is reversible, but I haven't taken a picture of the other side. I am exhausted!!!

Eric, your DD doesn't want you to show her how to make twice baked potatoes. She wants a reason to come home and have you cook for you. That is what homesickness looks like at Level 1. It is really sweet, and you should be really pleased.

*susan*

HappyHammer

Eric- yep, I think Susan is right...DD wants to come home but needs an "excuse" to do it....enjoy!

ChiSandy

SpecialK, sorry about the skin cancer, and hope the Mohs surgery gets it all within the first few passes. Had my “pre-melanoma” ( a “highly atypical nevus” acc. to the path lab) last year, which was scraped off but because margins weren’t clear had to be punch-biopsied, been a melanoma (even in situ) I would have been facing Mohs surgery and another SNB at best.

The season’s first wild sockeye is in—from Russia, not Alaska, but we’re talking less than 100 mi. difference. Was going to cedar-plank it out on the gas grill, but it’s raining on & off so I will pan-sear it along with some stir-fried snowpeas and roast Romesco cauliflower. If Gordy wants a starch, probably some quick brown rice with quinoa.

eric95us

I, too, made banana bread. We sent a picture of it to DD and we instantly got a reply, "Can you save some for me? PLEASE!!!"

I guess we shouldn't torture our daughter. :-)

carolehalston

Susan, what a cute garment! I continue to be awed by your energy.

Eric, that's sweet that your DD makes excuses to come home and see mom and dad. I know you're always happy to have her pop in. I like twice baked potatoes, too, and never make them. I like once baked, too.

SpecialK, fingers crossed that your MOHS is effective and as quick as possible. DH is very familiar with the procedure. He's had it twice on his nose. One procedure was accompanied by plastic surgery since there's so little flesh on the nose.

We're settled in MN. Last night's dinner was a potluck for Memorial Day. The selection of foods was good and afterwards there was live music.

Today is a miserably cold and windy day. Our nearest neighbors are sitting under the awning on their deck huddled around heaters! We will probably venture out to a town with a large rv park in search of a heating element for the electric hot water heater. We're using the gas hot water heater, which uses pricey propane.

My first grocery shopping trip on arrival here cost me $300!

MinusTwo

Carole - glad to hear from you up in the North country. I assume your drive was uneventful. Did you get to visit your relatives on the way? Maybe Chicago if I remember? Sounds like your Mother is somewhat settled.

Nance - speaking of parents, how's your Dad doing?

Eric - love the B-Bread story. I think all's fair in luring kids home to enjoy their company. Part of the problem with raising strong, independent, resourceful children is that they don't run home to bring their wash or ask for money. I was always proud that my son could make it on his own very well and didn't keep bringing problems home, but that means we have to find ways to entice them. Food is always a good way. I also used big, home cooked meals for his friends at college who lived too far to go home often. I sure wish he didn't live so darn far away now.

eric95us

She doesn't come home as often as the 45 minute drive home would sort of suggest. But, food does seem to work to entice her home.

I don't want to be like the mom described in Pink Floyd's, The Wall -- "Mama's gonna keep you right here under her wing. She won't let you fly but she might let you sing."

M0mmyof3

Carole, enjoy your time in Minnesota.

PontiacPeggy

Oh my heavens. All that talk of popcorn made my mouth water. I'm not much into salt (never have been) but give me popcorn drowning in butter and I am beyond happy. Pair that with a cheap wine and I'm in heaven! I even buy low salt potato chips and pretzels.

HUGS!