So...whats for dinner?

Susan,



Happy Anniversary! Sorry DH forgot. I swear, men sometimes.... sheesh! Hope he gave you a raincheck for dinner out. He's probably feeling really bad about forgetting so you should be able to finagle a really good dinner out of him...lol! Tostadas sound really good, though!



Debbie,



I am truly sorry that your Dad seems to be nearing the end. I know you are very, very close with him and I can only imagine your pain. It's really rough when you can't be there every day but you do what you can. Even though he is confused I believe he can sense your presence and feel how very much you love him! Wish I could be here to hold your hand... You are in my thoughts and prayers.



As for Downton Abbey, if you have an Amazon Prime membership, you can watch Seasons 1-3 totally free. The other thing you can do if you've never done a free trial of Amazon Prime you can try it free (at least last I knew) for 30-days. Just be sure to go into your settings and uncheck the box where it says automatically renew.

Dinner tonight was a "fresh" tomato sauce using some local romas over angel hair pasta served with some spicy Italian sausage. We made that sausage a while back and it is spicy. The texture is a little odd. It was one of my first attempts at sausage. Bagels are "retarding" in the fridge and we will have those for lunch with the salmon I smoked yesterday.

Good luck with the boys Laurie! You will do just fine with the boys.

*susan*

Laurie,



I believe you are right and Season 4 Episode 1 will air January 5, 2014... Geez I was hoping for something in the fall and truthfully that's why I was trying to get caught up so quickly... I only allow myself to watch while I'm on the treadmilll as it serves as motivation and reward..lol! May have to contact PBS and let them know they are totally derailing my attempt at exercise and weight loss.. lol! I have 3 more episodes and then I'm caught up!



I agree with Debbie where I never would have thought this to be something that I would like but it totally has drawn me in! I look forward to the next season!

Aaaaahhh Crap Carrie! I am so sorry to hear the bad news about your dog! It is never easy to make that decision! We went through that the year following my treatment year.



My dog went through major leg surgery due to a blown knee the year before I was diagnosed and I was with her every step of the way... from doing physical therapy exercises to making special foods to hide her pain meds in... She recovered and then I was diagnosed. I remember her laying next to me as I layed on the couch exhausted from rads and after that crying due to nicotene withdrawals when I quit smoking .... she was with me every step of my journey.



Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with an osteosarcoma during the summer after my treatment ended and we had to have her put down... It still breaks my heart to think about it but I try to console myself with the fact that she had a really good life and I am blessed to have had her in my life when I truly needed it!


Edited to add, that I am sending prayers and good thoughts your way for your dad!

Anyway.... enough of the sad thoughts and on to Dinner!

Deb, Debbie, Michelle, Carrie, prayers for all of you. So much going on.

Laurie, I am with you on Pink and blue jobs, but I can't push the lawnower anymore, I used to, also the snowblower. I just can't do it anymore. At least not all the time. Thank God for good neighbors.

Dinner wad out at a new modern Italian place. Yum. I had a chicken bruschetta pasta, topped with balsamic reduction. Bread was a loaf of a great bread with olive oil and parm. We started by sharing a small salad of arugula, pecans, raisens,and fried goat balls. They split the small salad for us on two dishes each with a piece of the fried cheese. The small salad was the size of a luncheon plate for both of us! If we had split a large, we couldn't have eaten the entree! LOL my DD ordered the shrimp and asparagus pasta, with dried cherries and a light sauce. It was really good food, and in a very small town in the middle of nowhere! I hope they make it, They've been open less than a year, but they were full on a Thursday night, so, probably! BTW, the bill was just over $40.00.

OMG Moon!



I am laughing so hard right now! I read where you wrote "We started by sharing a small salad of arugula, pecans, raisens,and fried goat balls." and stopped there and reread it a couple times to make sure I got it right... It wasn't until I went on to the next sentence that I discovered that it was CHEESE you were refering to!! LOL! That'll teach me to read before coffee! Still chuckling....

Oh but she was and thought the same thing. Imagine somewhere they might be a delicacy like smaller mountain oysters.

Nancy,



Was just seeing on the weather channel that you are getting some pretty severe flooding! Hope you are safe where you are!



Same goes for the New Englanders. Looks like some pretty significant rain expected! Stay safe!

Wow, there's a lot going on here!  

Debbie, I am so so sorry about your dad.  My dad will be 87 this month and I can't help but feel like we/re on borrowed time, although he's doing pretty well right now all things considered. I'm glad you can spend some time with yours and I know he is too.

Deb, it's good to know that things are better for you.  Hope every day gets a little easier.

Carrie, I'm so sorry for your loss too. Pets leave such a big hole in your heart.  Our dogs died 3 years ago and I still can't bring myself to bury their ashes. They are both in a wooden box that DH made for their toys. I think about them every day.

Seaside, thanks for thinking of me.  We're not anywhere near the immediate flooding (thankfully).  In fact, although the forecast called for it, we haven't even had much rain the past few days.

I definitely want to be in the audience (one of the select few who gets to taste the stuff) for Susan's cooking show, but what I really would like is to be a fly on her kitchen wall!

Here's a bright spot, my mamm yesterday was all clear.  Hip hip hooray!!  Next scanxiety is blood work and meeting with the new mo next week.

Boy, the tomato crop is really rolling in now, forcing me into action. But I have to decide what action.  Roasting is definitely in order and I probably should do it while temps are on the cooler side. There's always sauce, of course. Oh well, I'll think about that tomorrow.  The cucumbers are well behaved and produce only two a day for picking.  That's easily managed since they're not pickling cukes.  I eat one by myself daily.  The zucchini, not so much. It's time to start looking for unlocked cars on parking lots.  We picked a mountain of beans green beans, many of them bigger than I like. They'll probably end up as a good ole southern style cooked to death in in some kind of pork fat dish with some ham and cornbread. Awesome.

Tonight is grilled pork steaks, caprese salad and the last of the sweet corn. I scored a good deal on some baby back ribs at Costco yesterday so I'll get a chance to try the pressure cooker method again when my house guests are here.

I know I missed someone. I love reading about all the meals you all have prepared (yours too Bedo lol). I have a question for you Carol, how do you decide which of your cookbooks in your vast collection to take in your motorhome?  I know you don't have room for all of them 

To anybody I missed (((hugs)))

LOL on the goat balls guys.  I reread what I wrote and I see where you got that!  LOL Yes GOAT CHEESE, not small mountain oysters!  Besides, I live in Wisconsin- its Cheese all the time!  LOL

Auntie Nance, glad your not flooded and Hooray for the clear Mammo! 

SpecialK, so glad your DH got his phone back.  that was some excitement!  LOl  My sister is also recovering from knee surgery to correct a bad replacement.  Hmm, sounds fishy

So many many issues with all of us now, so still praying.  Please add my brother Mel, to your lists.  He just had a pacemaker placed to go with the valve he had replaced a year ago.  He lives in Catedral City.  He just got out of intensive care this morning. Thanks  

moon - wishing for the best for your bro!  My MIL's replacement is a DePuy, which is currently being sued for some of their devices, but her lot number is not among the ones in the current class action.  Of course, if they get enough complaints they will add more lot numbers.  Her replacement was only done a few years ago, and she has been having issues for about a year with it.  A piece of the part had broken off and was causing trouble.  She had an overnight stay and this surgery was done with sedation and a spinal, so not too bad, but she is 82!  We too are glad about the phone, although getting it back was a wacky series of events!  I was not sure what we were going to do - I guess he would have had to get a pay-as-you-go phone to take with him, since being on the road without a phone is not a great idea!  He was lucky!

Thank you, Moonflwr, for a good laugh!  Doesn't it feel good to laugh? 

Nance, I'm estranged from my cookbooks during the summer!  I bring a large notebook with print-outs of recipes and this year I brought the Fix It and Forget It Cookbook for the slow cooker.  I read through it and get some ideas.

Last summer I went to a 2nd hand store and found some cookbooks to read.  A couple of times lately I've watched a cook called Julie Taboulie on a pbs channel.  She cooks Lebanese food.  On the last show she made a couple of popular Arabic dessert foods that were completely different from anything I've ever eaten.  Given the opportunity, I would sample both. 

I, too, would watch Susan's cooking show.  I'm amazed that someone makes their own Italian sausage and smokes their own salmon, etc. etc.

Tomorrow morning is Farmers' Mkts. in Park Rapids.  I want to go early in hopes of finding tomatoes.  They should finally be coming in up here in MN.

Today we went to Logging Days and watched chain-saw scultors at work.  Tomorrow their benches and statues will be auctioned off.  Last year we were hoping to buy a bench with a carved horse design but it went for a high price, like everything else.  Eagles and bears are popular subject matter.  The artists use various kinds of saws and sanders and a variety of decoration techniques, too.  It's much more sophisticated than just picking up a chainsaw! 

Thinking of everyone dealing with health challenges.

Dill pickles don't take any time to make at all. Well, not active time. You just make the brine, let it cool, wash the pickles and set aside together. It is up to the cucumbers to do all the work. You just get to reap the rewards.

Dinner tonight is a pico de gallo and feta cheese omlette with some crusty French bread. The bagels came out well, and we each had one with some of the salmon for lunch. I tried a new brine for the salmon this time and it isn't perfect. It was a dry brine, and I think the sugar::salt ratio was just off. But I like the dry brine idea, so will continue to refine this ratio.

Farmer's market in the morning. Who knows what we will find!

*susan*

p.s. I couldn't possibly be on one of those amateur cooking competitions. They all have silly time restrictions. I make good food; not quick food.

I'm worred too, have not seen any posts from her daughter.

(((Debbie)))

I lost my Dad June 13, 2012 and my husband 5/29/2013.  My Dad was 84, husband 61.  It is heart breaking.

Susan- Happy Anniversary. Sorry your DH forgot but I was thinking how could he get anything better in a restaurant! Granted I never tried your food but have made some of your recipes that were delicious but not from scratch either! I agree with the others you should have your own cooking show!

Laurie- Maybe once your MIL gets used to the idea of what has happened to her she will come talk to you when she is ready. I remember when I was first DX I did not want to talk to anyone it took awhile before  I could tell the family.

Carrie- I meant to mention your dad on my last post, sorry I didn't I remember he had lung cancer I am so sorry, please keep us updated. Sad about your fur baby! They are just like family

Oh my gosh Moon  I thought the same thing, was wondering if there were 2 per plate ha  I am so sorry about your brother. I hope he pulls through this you are all in my prayers.

Lacey- I like the road control to, but I have to be more careful lately I have been using that middle finger a little to much, DH tells me stop it, I am the one who will have to fight these people not you ha!

Seaside- Had to giggle at your not being able to do the treadmill without the DA show on. Sad story on your fur baby too, glad he was there for you when you needed him. ;-(

Specialk- Thanks for reminding me, I had asked my dad a couple of weeks ago what his favorite song was, (he sang so many) he told me unchained melodies which I was surprised about, must of been his and my moms song when she was alive, but the next day when I called him he said he thought about it some more and said his favorite was Green Green grass of home. I meant to go get the CD of it and forgot so tomorrow I will go get it. Thanks!

Nancy- Yay on the clear mammo!!

Carole- I have been to those chain saw competetions a long time ago, they are very artistic, they also do a lot with the beautiful redwood trees here and make georgous stuff from that but very expensive.

Bedo-LOL on the candy crush you and deb are addicted to, I was addicted to bubbles mania- I had to quit playing it because that is all I would see when I closed my eyes was all these different colored bubbles.

Deb- I remember when you lost your dad, I was so heart broken for you, and now your Dear Husband You too have been through so much. I think about you a lot and just know your are always in my prayers.

((((Michelle)))