So...whats for dinner?

Bedo - congrats on the university job.  What will you be doing?  Is it "permanent" (assuming you like each other) or just for one year?  Great schedule with the summer months free.  Wonderful "beast" story.

Lacey & Nancy & Susan - thanks as always for sharing your adventures & culinary highlights.  Carole - your post has made me hungry for a baked potato too. 

Went to lunch today with an long time acquaintance who is relatively new to the BC journey & chemo.  I hope I was able to answer some of her questions since we're both HER2+ & give her some tips.  Food was greasy Tex-Mex and not so good, but the margarita made up for it.

Nance, <<Susan -- what is pollenate?>> To be honest, I think it might be a bit of creative French. This was like Italian polenta, but much creamier, with corn kernels. I suspect that the amount of butter per serving is out the roof!

My professional life is out of control right now. Add to that a wedding, husband's new computer, a fussing mother, and a woman could reach the end of her rope. Out of rope, my husband volunteered to make dinner. He went to the Farmer's Market this morning and the chicken store. He grilled/smoked the chicken with our favorite mustard sauce, which we had left over from a previous dinner, steamed up some green beans and corn. And, of course, the required three tomatoes.

Back to work.... can not stop. can not stop.

*susan*

Bedo, congratulations on the job.  Judging from how easily you get jobs, I'm concluding that you're good at whatever it is that you do.

The pickled beets should be easy.  As Susan instructed, cut off the greens and leave the beets otherwise intact.  Either boil or roast until you can stick something sharp--like a knife or cooking fork--into the center.  Cool.  Peel by pushing the peeling off.  Slice and place in jar or other container.  Use vinegar and water combination and whatever other flavorings you like.  Garlic, small hot peppers, sliced onion.

We love fresh beets.  I boil mine and serve them sliced on a salad plate with vinegar sprinkled over the slices.  DH likes sliced sweet onions with his and he salts and peppers.  But I don't even need the salt.  Fresh beets have a delicious taste.

Last night's prime rib wasn't "prime," but I enjoyed the meal and ate all the baked potato.  The jus was too salty but I still consumed part of it and mixed some sour cream with the horseradish to make a sauce.  The meal also came with half a corn on the cob and a nice little bread bun.

Today we went to a bluegrass festival about an hour from here.  On the way home late this afternoon we stopped at an Italian restaurant in the village of Dorset, which has several restaurants.  It was hard to find a parking place.  The Italian restaurant is called La Pasta.  I was expecting American Italian (spaghetti, lasagna).  I thought it was early for dinner but we had to wait a while for a table.  The place is really cute with green checked tablecloths.  The salad was too much like Olive Garden and it came with bread sticks, also reminiscent of OG.  I ordered chicken Genovese and it was quite good.  Chicken breast pieces sautéed in olive oil and served over linguine with pesto, toasted walnuts and toasted pine nuts and sun dried tomatoes.  I have to admit I enjoyed the white flour linguine, which was cooked perfectly.   I brought half of it home.

On the way to the festival we stopped at a farm stand that had beautiful veggies at reasonable prices.  I bought gorgeous broccoli, a napa cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and corn.  I eyed a large bundle of swiss chard but I left it there.

Susan, every time I see a post from you, I feel glad all over again that you've rejoined us!  Good luck with all your work for clients.

The short answer to the work question is no. I am way behind my own schedule, much less the client schedules. I had one project that mushroomed, and one that became a volcano with a Sept 15th deadline. This one we have already moved to Plan B, and Plan C might need to be developed. Another company has auditors coming, and my work must be completed and auditable before they arrive. Can we all agree that Japanese auditors have no sense of humor? Oh, and then I accepted another project based on thinking these would all be done by now.

I did find some lovely champagne glasses for the wedding toast at the house on Friday at the Crate, and cheap too! They are only 7 oz which is perfect for how little this group will drink. Last piece is figuring out how to get all these city-phones from our house to the restaurant and then back to the house. Of course, this is a problem that money can solve. The question is how much!

Very cool here today. I am have on long pants and a sweater. Lacey is right. We never had a proper summer, though for the most part, I love that we didn't need air conditioning.

*susan* 

Carole, sounds like a yummy dinner and interesting itinerary! Is your "proper summer" the cooler Northern one?

Interesting sermon this morning at our summer service, by a young Harvard Divinity School student about "selfies". It was thought provoking and inspired me to be less judgemental about all the selfies the milennials (and others) post on social media.

On our walk home, we came across a sign being made by two women who were sponsoring/holding a hands on creative workshop (several different art media offerred) for cancer survivors. They will be doing weekly workshops with the various artists we met today.

Interestingly, last night we also met a man at our dinner table who runs an organization for male cancer survivors, "Reel Recovery",  that sponsors these men to have a fly fishing weekend together to share experiences and learn the relaxing skill of fly fishing. Apparently there is a group like this for women  cancer survivors, too. Both of these efforts are so worthwhile....and I hope the folks running them can garner financial support. There is so much focus on fundraising for research and treatment, which is important, but quality of life is also really essential, and often missed in the effort for medically based interventions.   Just saying.....it was interesting to come across both of these efforts in less than 24 hours in our own little town!

Special - fun to see the picts of your DD.  I'd love to go out with her once she has her license.

minus - she is pretty excited about being a captain - she is about 2/3 of the way through the program.  If you are ever in the area I am sure she would enjoy taking you - she can put you on the fish!  It was amazing when she was home recently to watch her and her dad with the charts spread out on the table and he was teaching her to plot.  He learned that many years ago when learning to fly so it was fun for both of them, and for me to watch them.

susan - thanks!  She is a continual wonder to me - very adventurous!  I am risk averse, but her dad is not, so I know where she got the trait from!  When we went to Austria last summer she went paragliding off an Alp, and I went shopping, lol!  She should be moving back by October 1st at the latest, and should be done with her license then - not sure when she starts the alligator job yet.  She is quite familiar with the waters of Tampa Bay and surrounding areas, and also a variety of locations in the Keys.  She has a 17' flats boat, and a very good friend with a larger offshore boat, who is also a working captain with years of experience, and can take people out anytime.  The commercial was shot in Key West, she had a blast.  They gave her the Bote paddleboard she is on in the Berkeley commercial, and they also shot a separate Bote commercial that she is in, but it has not been released yet.

Dinner tonight was a pork loin roast, red potato salad and steamed green beans.  Nothing very exciting but it was yummy just the same.  DH was craving something dessert-like, which we have none of - so he is using a free drink coupon at Starbucks for a mocha Frappuccino.  I caved and am getting a coffee flavored one.

Special.  That was a great video.  Thanks for posting the link.

Tonight I made a tarragon, curry powder, thyme, pepper, salt, lemon juice rub, put it onto and inside a salmon and cooked it, wrapped in aluminum foil, in the oven.  

The sauce (not sure what to call it) for it was a gravey like affair...butter, flour, tarragon, curry powder, thyme, chicken broth....cooked until thick and then a bit of white wine added at the end.  Steamed green beans, bread and a salad was "the rest of the story".

I'm driving the school bus tomorrow, so it's a 4am wakeup for me tomorrow.  

eric - glad you enjoyed the video.  When the Bote commercial goes up I will post the link to that one too.  Much of it was filmed with a drone, so it looks pretty cool.  That is an early morning for you!  Hope all your bus-riding kiddos behave!  Your salmon sounds delish - made the DH some mahi mahi the other night (I am not much of a fish eater) - I roasted it and topped it with pre-roasted combo of peppers, onions and chili sauce.

Special, thanks for sharing that fly fishing info....and the cool video with DD in it. In the brief face shot, I thought I saw a distinct mom resemblance....very cool!

Eric, have fun on your first drive of the new school year. I don't think anyone would want me driving their kids to school at 4AM.   We still have fond memories of "Bill the bus driver" who drove my kids for many years. I'm sure parents feel the same way about you!

Our Parisien friend's daughter came for dinner and to chat about her life direction last evening. She is a very accomplished 23 year old, with a responsible job, who is leaving a several year relationship, and trying to decide where to live. She has not had the easiest life, and lost her mother  just prior to starting college. Her dad and stepdad are both currently not physically thriving. The boyfriend and she have been together since mid college, so now she is about to fly solo which is understandably really scary. She presents in a very mature way, but clearly is very worried about whether she will successfully grab the next ring as she lets go of this one. Given the history we know, it was hard not to recommend that she connect with a nurturing therapist to help her sort out her inner and outer life issues, and maximize her strengths. But this was a first conversation, so I needed to hold back my eagerness for her to start such a journey. To be continued....

For dinner on our deck (yay warmer temps!) we enjoyed a nice cheese tray (we're stateside, afterall) with grapes and walnuts, and melon wrapped with prosciutto to start. Then, as planned, had citrus marinated grilled chicken breasts, balsamic marinated veggies (tons!), local corn on cob, (broken into thirds for ease of handling;), arugula/baby spinach salad with watermelon and feta, french bread, and purchased eclairs and fresh raspberries for dessert. Now if I were Susan, I would have made my own eclairs, but we were definitely better off that I didn't! LOL

Tonight....after gym and stretching class (so needed), we have dinner at a local restaurant with DS2.

carole - thanks!  She is a special daughter - I have missed her a lot since she moved away in January - I have been enjoying seeing her more these last few weeks with the job related trips home.  She comes home tonight for an orientation tomorrow, then again for a friend's wedding in mid-Sept, but I will be at my HS reunion in California, so will miss her.  Then she will be back to start the job a couple of weeks later.

lacey - your dinner sounds fabulous and glad you had some milder weather so you could eat on the deck.  Sounds like your young friend has some decisions to make - she is young enough that even if she stumbles a bit, she has time to recover.  I think that cutting loose the college boyfriend and leaving that time behind is not always a bad thing - I think it helps you figure out who you are, one's 20's are such a time of change it is hard sometimes to stay with the one you met at 19 or 20.  Neither of the two my DD dated - both long term, about 3 years each - were right for her.  The first one was too compliant so she steamrolled him, the second not compliant at all, so they butted heads over EVERYTHING.  She is 25 and not dating anyone, and seems unconcerned, but I think she will be glad to be back in Tampa, which has a much larger population than the Keys!

Carole, how brave of you! I'm so impressed that your self-cut worked out well. These days, I usually only dare to cut my bangs, especially since my hair is stick straight, thus unable to absorb my cut mistakes!

Love that your DH is so fond of veggies!

So we had a good old summer temp day here today with another expected tomorrow. DH is dying to get back to the lake so we can boat out to the middle of it and jump off the boat into the cool 200 feet deep water. If we get to do that, I'll feel like we experienced summer! Yay! Actually unlike many, I don't dread winter here at all. There is such a crisp beauty to it. Last winter DH and I enjoyed some great walks in single  digit  temps with snow abounding. Not sure I could live without the four seasons.

After our gym workout and stretching class, we had dinner at a local French style restaurant with DS2. I had a lovely leek/spinach cream soup and then duck breast with asparagus and (horrors!) mashed potatoes. DH had hake provencal, and DS2 had coquille St. Jacques. They both also had mussels menuire (sp?) and smoked salmon for apps. The sauvignon blanc flowed freely, which I'm not used to these days. Back on the food and wine wagon tomorrow....  Tho meeting a friend for lunch, and I know the BLT will be tempting. Susan, I have not forgotten about your sweet offer, so I hope your tomato bounty holds up until I am in town for a bit, and your work schedule calms down.

So we got precious little info from DS2 about his relationship status, other than learning that Chicago girl is coming here for this long weekend. He did fill us in on their trip down the coast to visit our relatives. Patience, parents!!   I laughed about the fact that when DH ran into one of DS2's best friends yesterday he offered his wife to be our informant since she is also watching this relationship closely. Yikes! Poor guy....fish bowl romance!

Special, I also do think that late college, early adulthood relationships often serve as a sort of transitional object, and that is what our friend's daughter truly needed during these past few years to support her ability to leave the structured support of college life. It was a pretty nurturing relationship that she needed to get through that time. Now she is sorting out in which direction she wants to spread her wings. I'm hoping the best for her.

Yes, your DD sounds like she will benefit from the expanded social opportunities in Tampa. Will she definitely take a job and settle there?

Leek/spinach cream soup, duck breast, coquilles St. Jacques, mussels meuneure...  I'm drooling all over the keyboard!  Lacey, please tell me you have gained weight!  It would only be fair to those of us more food deprived.

Here am I craving southern biscuits and wacking a can of Grand biscuits on the corner of the counter.  I had two biscuits for breakfast, with butter and a bit of rhubarb/cranberry jam purchased at the Farmers' Mkt.  Then for lunch I had two more (ok, I confess, I had three!) warmed up with my bowl of soup for lunch.  So I'll probably be the weight gainer eating canned biscuits while Lacey dines at the best restaurants and remains svelte. 

It was 52 degrees when we got up this morning and is 60 degrees outside now, at 2:45pm.  DH and I played our last round of golf for the summer at the pretty little course down the highway, Eagle View GC.  Next Tues. we plan to depart.

Tonight I'll cook the rest of the pkg of kraut brats and some more veggies.  Probably broccoli.   And a green salad.  The brats are delicious, the best I've ever tasted.  They're the ones we bought at Thielen Meats. 

luvmygoats - she went to the alligator job thing this morning - came home with adorable safari outfits and some tall rubber boots!  She no sooner got home than did the phone interview with the Navy marine mammal job - it appears as though they have at least narrowed the field to include her for the next level of scrutiny..  It is double the pay and a permanent full-time deal, so I think she will take it, if they offer it..  If she gets it she will live in N. Jacksonville, so only a 3 hour drive.  Where she is now is 6, so that is an improvement.  She is pretty excited.