So...whats for dinner?

Special, my kid did the illustration. She studied art quite seriously, and has a natural talent [coupled with LOTS of study.] What she is missing is the ability to self-deadline which made a career as an artist a no-go. Smart girl that one.

*susan*

Susan, what SpecialK said!

Susan - agree about the great illustration/announcement. May is a lovely birth month so your DD won't have to go through the hot summer at the peak of the pregnancy.

Special - I can hardly wait to see pictures of the new kitchen.

Carole - good luck at the dentist. I have to go next Monday. I hate dentists. Stupid I know, but I'd rather have my arm cut off then go to the dentist.

Dunch was sockeye salmon w/dill and jasmine rice. Supper will be bagged salad that's getting really close to end of life so I must eat. I swore I wasn't going to buy candy for trick-or-treat this year, but I caved. We don't usually have many kids but I expect there will be more volume since it's a Saturday. Only bought Milky Way and M&Ms, and not many of those.

Lacey - I really only care about the little one, and they usually come before dark. I plan to turn the light off as soon as the candy is gone!!! Maybe I'll give all the early groups 4 or 5. I have a pocket door leading into my kitchen. When that's closed, no one can see lights in the back part of the house. But I can still hear if there are any "tricks".

I think the crud must travel by internet express. I have been blowing my nose for the past 2 days and the throat is scratchy. Went to Sams club after my Dad's and got rotisserie chicken, pineapple, blueberries, chips (shhh)

bottle of wine. bread, cranberry sauce, and FORGOT THE COUGH DROPS..... Really debated the blueberries cuz they look like they were on steroids.....product of PERU, with a CA company name on it. They will be very thoroughly washed.......( I stir them into my oatmeal) They had boxes of SteelCut Oats with Chia that also had Flax and rye mixed in. I passed because at the Cancer Center Nutritional Workshops, we were told CHIA seeds need to be soaked overnight to release the good stuff in them...... (and I treated myself to a cast iron, enamel covered 6.5 quart dutch oven. Not the name brand at the top of the heap, but the price was 39.00 and I couldn't pass it by. Thought about buying a second one for a wedding present, but decided to see what the bride has registered first.

Special, don't work too hard.

Love the announcement,

the bread looks divine......

Lacy, I loved all the goodies you bought at Volante's. Couldn't we all get in major trouble shopping together in a food district? I was with a group of gals in Washington DC (9 of us) and we found this knock off purse vendor in Foggy Bottom, so on the way to the airport, we made the van driver stop and 9 women bought 55 handbags from him in about 20 minutes........I don't think he dreamed American's could haggle like that....Then we get to the airport and start opening up our luggage on the sidewalk trying to cram them all inside....but I ramble.....

Bedo, we missed you!

Tonight was semi homemade pizza. The crust was courtesy of Trader Joe's.

Carole, I think I'll try that eggplant grilling. It sounds very tasty.

I now have all the parts to make Merguez, which I will be experimenting with tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.

Special, I can not wait to see your kitchen!!!

Bedo, I hope your kids have an easy time getting pregnant as my "kids" did. I think they just thought pregnant and it happened. So different than my experience!

Tonight was more about lamb. We need to clear the 2014 lamb to make room for the lamb of 2015. We are headed North this weekend. We are staying at one of the "railroad" hotels. They were once grand, but this one is less formal and almost homey. Sunday morning we will head toward the Canadian border to pick up our lamb. Will have dinner with my Mother on Saturday at the fancy restaurant. Dinner Friday night will be at a place called "grandmas" and the name suits this stark restaurant. No kale salads, I can assure you. Will check back in on Monday after our house is measured by the CAD guy! I will not relay all the ups and downs, but I think we will actually close on the 6th.

*susan*

Carole - how is your brother doing?

I've noticed that Minus and I share a fondness for butter!

On my way home from golf today, I stopped in at a produce stand to see what was there. I ended up buying two large bundles of mustard greens. Then I had to backtrack to the Piggly Wiggly for some seasoning meat. I bought pickled pork and smoked ham hocks. When I was paying for my purchases, I commented to the cashier that I needed to decide which to cook with greens I'd just bought. "Ham hocks," she replied without hesitation. So I took her recommendation.

The greens have been triple washed, the veins stripped out and the leaves chopped and cooked with the hocks. At some point I'll removed the meat from the hocks and dice it up. I'm planning to save the greens for Sunday dinner to go with a boiled smoked picnic ham. A lot of "smokin'"
going on. My mother just told me she plans to make macaroni and cheese. That's a bit of work for someone in a wheelchair but I told her to make anything she wanted to make.

Dinner tonight will be at the nicer of the two restaurants at our club. We're meeting up with two other couples. One couple we know and like a lot and the other couple live at a nearby retirement complex. We don't know them yet. I will probably order the small beef filet with blue cheese and request that no potatoes be placed on my plate! Hope there's a good veggie.

Susan, your trip to get the new lamb sounds like fun.

Bedo, yes "Gorgeous" will do just fine! Good thinking!

Carole, I always cook turnip and mustard or collard greens with either a smoked hock or other smoked piece like neck bone. One place where I get hocks, slice them in thick slices. I like that so I don't have to use a whole one when I'm cooking just for two.

Mixed results on the Merguez. I don't think I used enough fat, so when I grilled them, they were a bit dry. The flavor was excellent although they could use a little more harissa heat. Next batch. It was a fun experience though, although it took most if the day for just the little bit I did. Susan, what you did was monumental!

Bedo - love the gnome hat, but don't know how to post pictures. Guess I'll just have to come visit you & wear it to hear the players. And the T-shirt is great. It's a big outline of the state of Texas and say "DON'T MESS WITH ...Rhode Island either." My Chickenfoot group thought it was great. All three ladies there today are native Texans.

Carole - my SIL went to Iceland last year and said they had the best butter in the entire world. She's gluten free so she just ate butter w/a spoon.

My bags are packed and I'm ready to go...except I'm sitting down at the table in the motel room. Tomorrow I'm heading home. I've said it before, 2 weeks seems long...it's hard to imagine 18 months

Red, a dutch oven....I'm guessing you've used them before. I love the things. but you can probably tell from my avatar. :-)

Special, I'll add my voice to the chorus about kitchen pictures.

Bedo, your cats made me laugh. Jessiecat will eat fish or chicken, but only if it's cooked. I discovered this when I put the giblets in his dish. He'll only eat them if they are cooked and there is no dry cat food available. The two dogs, have no such "dietary restrictions" and get all excited when I get out a chicken or turkey as they know they are getting the giblets.

And, you are right about not forgetting one's first love. Up until I met Mickey, girl friends were more of the "go out a few times and move on" types. Mickey was my first love and, no, I won't ever forget her.

Red, the crud sucks...wishes for you getting over it quickly. I'm hoping I don't get a 2nd dose of it tomorrow on my way home. It's a rare event for me to fly and not get a cold. I just took a Clariton to see if that will calm my newly found sneezes. I'm hoping it's allergies that will go away when I get home. I guess I'll know early next week. :-)

Susan, after the card goes out, you won't need to "keep the secret" any longer.

I'm about to head off to sleep. I got reading a book last night until almost 1am and had to get up at 6 this morning....

Eric, safe travels! Glad you're going home.

I think I could eat butter with a spoon. I think I have eaten butter with a spoon.

Minus, my dinner menu would also look like yours if I were prepping daily fare for myself.
We learned that DS's attempted real estate venture is "over" on this one. They decided to withdraw their offer and not continue to negotiate with the developer. We have to find out more details when we talk with him.

Speaking of babies, today is DS2's birthday.....a Halloween treat!! I thought it was unlikely that he would arrive on his exact due date....but he certainly did. I was starting early labor while trying to finish up sewing DS1's Winnie The Pooh costume. I was sure he wouldn't arrive so soon!! My DM arrived and finished the costume, I went to the hospital.....and the next day, a totally wild little Winnie came running down the hospital hallway (jacked up on sugar from his pre-school party!) to meet his new brother. Let the fun begin!!! Our Halloweens were always exceptionally busy times given that birthdate, and I learned very early to schedule his "party with playmates " weeks before Halloween candy was in their systems! In those days kid parties were at home, with games generated by parents. Actually I have always been thankful that my sons grew up before Chuck E Cheese party events arrived on the scene!

Good luck to your daughter and her DH, Bedo. Grandparenting is a special role.

Busy few days after returning home...
And big news(!), yesterday, while I was attending a Trauma conference, DH made pizza dough for us so I could make pan pizza for dinner. Even with some rookie mistakes, it was pretty forgiving, and turned out great! When I got home, we went for a walk and set it in the warmish microwave to rise more.....then I made two pizzas in my caste iron skillets. One was with onion/garlic/portobello mushrooms/mozzarella and parmesan. The smaller one was with onion/red pepper/black olives with feta cheese. And I ended up seasoning the skillets again last night since getting the pizzas out took some digging on the edges! That and the scale this morning will keep me from making these again anytime soon. But boy they were tasty! And DH learned that he could make pizza dough!

Today, after setting up the Halloween candy and carving the pumpkin, I am determined to get to finishing up some taggies for the auction that occurs in a couple weeks. I have been grossly neglectful about my sewing projects which are sitting on the dining room table. Being home for an extended time should help....

Have a good weekend everyone!

It is cold and dreary and rainy drizzle here in Central IL today. Went to church at 9:00 a.m for the anointing of the sick mass. As I was leaving I heard an old lady tell the priest that she was 5 years past her cancer diagnosis and he told her even so, the anointing couldn't hurt a thing... Amen to that.

Then checked on my Dad and picked up a sack of cat chow from the farm store. Then stopped again to pick up cough drops and kleenex. The cat is trying to entice me back into bed at 5 minutes after noon, and it is tempting. Think I will heat up some Tomato Soup from Panera with crackers for lunch. Good soup day. Finished off the last of the lamb and beans last night, so will resume the Rotisserie chicken this evening. Did I mention the squirrels ate the face off one of my jack o lanterns I carved on Thursday? I doubt I will have many trick or treaters if the weather continues like this.

Picked up an Israeli Cook book at the Library by Michael Solomonov called . Zahav. Some of you East Coast folks may be familiar with the restaurant. Looks to be a great read.

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