So...whats for dinner?

Read, read, read... Just caught up with a couple of days of posts. Thanks for translation of COM. I guessed it was some expensive organic brand! Also don't have a clue what sort of event Lacey and dh attended. Unlike Minus, I didn't stop and google it. Susan, it seems a crime to make that bread and then make it stale for dressing. Glad your new mixer is a great addition to your kitchen. HOPING the higher numbers aren't significant.

Mental responses to everyone's posts. No noteworthy cooking here. Minus, I envy you the freedom to cook a pork roast on Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for family in my life but I hate these big obligatory Norman Rockwell holidays. We're headed to IL to a nephew's new house for the Big Bird meal. Now the Pig Pickup Somewhere in Texas has been shifted to the weekend after Thanksgiving so I'm wishing I had never committed to buying the pig. The transaction has become a logistical headache.

Grumble, grumble, mutiny, mutiny.

It's another beautiful day in south Louisiana.

I'm sorry not to have explained The Moth more thoughtfully. Since I don't have time now, either, below is a good explanation...from the producers of it. Carole, I would think that you would really appreciate listening to some of the selected stories on NPR. DH and I particularly enjoy listening to them all summer long while having our late dinner on the lakehouse porch. He streams them somehow from his Ipad....I am so computer incompetent, I don't know how....just get to enjoy them.

http://themoth.org/about

Trying to get some things done around here today...the overnight stock is rich and wonderful looking....soup making is next.

I thought I'd spend the whole weekend getting some sewing done, and cleaning the dining (sewing) room out for next week....but....DH decided that we should try to get tickets to the ND/BC game tomorrow night at Fenway Park (for those of you in other parts of the country, that is the classic old baseball stadium for the Red Sox). This is a rare and special event....and DH has been so enamored of ND football(my familiy's school) since we trekked out there last month. So, much as I worry about the high 30's forecast, I agreed, and we just spent a chunk of our kids' inheritance to get seats for it. Of course DS2 was totally happy for us to be so pleasure oriented. Gotta love it!

Real Estate update....DS2 also told us that the P and S for his condo is all set, and he closes it on Dec 22nd. They don't move into the new one until Jan 5th. Sure hope the contractors are finished on time! They will be "addressless" between those dates, and will be here for a bit, (more him than her as she is heading to her family for the holidays), and with friends in Southie. Hoping that all works out.

So, I'd better get down to some sewing and soup making as the afternoon moves along.....if the soup is done, it will be supper.

Curve Ball!!!! Contractor called today [the Great Sergio] and his schedule has changed. Instead of starting in 10-13 weeks, he wants to start tomorrow morning! He then gave me his labor/sub contractor quote, and it is beyond reasonable. I said "yes." Demo starts tomorrow! So, to explain what this means.... I, the procurer of all things kitchen & bath, will have to have materials ready to go about 13 weeks before I expected. Finding cabinets for the kitchen and tile for the baths, ordering, and have them delivered is now going to be a crash course!

My son in laws grandfather died this morning. He has been getting chemo for a recurrent cancer, but was doing well [we all thought.] Had some trouble last night, went to the hospital, and died. Needless to say, we have some very sad room-mates today.

Lacey, I suspected you would find your way to Fenway for that game. I might have been disappointed if you hadn't been in the stands. That is a very ambitious schedule for your kids.... when has a Boston area contractor EVER been on schedule? That time of year they might be able to secure a sublet from someone who goes "away" for the holidays.

*susan*

Had 15th out of 16 rad treatments today. Stopped into Pastoral in Andersonville to load up on Beaujolais Nouveau (Domaine Dupeuble), cheeses and charcuterie to bring to a friend’s annual Sunday-before-Thanksgiving brunch, plus a few little cheese-ends for myself as well as a whole-grain seed baguette. Then visited my friend in NW Memorial--she’s feeling better, but will still go into the hospice unit at the Clare assisted living center in Streeterville. Uber’ed it down there; briefly considered stopping at Au Bon Pain in the lobby for onion soup but decided to Uber it back home before the snow hit (because of surge pricing it was almost as pricey as a cab, but the cars are always new and clean and the drivers good to talk to and you don’t have to pull out a credit card or cash--you even set your tip in advance when you set up your account). Made it to my front door just as the first flakes began to fall--we’ve got over an inch of heavy wet stuff already and even here by the lakefront they’re now predicting 5-6” (plus perhaps later on tomorrow some of the dreaded “lake enhancement” that in their charming fashion they can’t estimate how much). Good thing we have a neighbor with a snowblower to keep us from getting fined for not clearing our sidewalk--but it’s up to us to clear off our stairs, deck and a path to the garage.

In lazy-chef mode again tonight: nuked Buffalo wings, made some blue cheese dressing and hacked up some celery to dip. Afterwards, a slice of that baguette with a ripe Minnesota (!) camembert. Not gonna crack any of that Beaujolais till DH makes it safely home from the SW Side. Gonna have a cup of herb tea before I go out there and sweep the steps & sprinkle pet-safe ice melt--don’t want the bunny rabbits, neighborhood coyote and people’s pooches to get burned paws. Tomorrow will be a nest-and-burrow day....sleeping in!

Lacey - I use one of these when I go to Buc's games.

http://www.amazon.com/Clear-Tote-Bag-Stadium-Appro...

Thanks for the link explaining the Moth storytelling, Lacey. We listen to NPR but have not heard any mention of Moth programming.

We're headed to suburban Chicago on Tues. Sure hope there's no snow during our travel. One year we were travelling to Decatur, IL, and had to stop at a hotel in St. Louis area, just three hours from our destination. The snow was falling and the highway was icy. In those days we made the 13 hour trip in one day.

Yesterday afternoon I was wracking my brain trying to answer the What's For Dinner? question when I remembered the remaining eggplant parmesan dish in the freezer. It was easy and delicious with a romaine salad.

Tonight is the Abita Opry so a dinner meal will have to be early.

Today is election day in Louisiana. Now the phone can stop ringing and the countless tv ads will disappear. This has been an ugly battle for governor with attack ads by both of the run-off candidates.

Susan, good luck with putting the condo re-do on Full Speed Ahead.

red - I am so excited you are making the stew!  It warms my heart that my late mother's recipe is cooking away in your kitchen - you made my day, and I actually just got a little teary-eyed!  I really hope you like it and can rely on it in the future as an easy go-to recipe for those busy days!  Stay safe and warm today.

Need to look up that stew recipe from you, Special! So happy that Red made your day!

Thanks for the see thru bag idea.Now if the mayor had given us more notice about see thru bags for this game I could have ordered one quickly! I may just take my chances with my handbag.....

Off we go.....

Carole - surely you jest about the damn phone calls. I'm already getting calls for the NEXT election, which as we know is a year away. I think this two year "run time" & hourly coverage is ridiculous. I know we don't discuss politics, but this is non-partisan - both parties and all positions. Ugh.

BTW Carole, I'm having new windows installed one of the days during the 1st week of December. Don't know which day yet, but I'm trying to keep the rest of my week relatively open so I can meet you when you come for the "pig". Are you just going to detour by Houston on the way home from Chicago? Let me know when you get a schedule.

A friend took me to a new bakery in my quadrant of town this morning. They have been catering for some time but just opened a storefront 2 months ago. Each week as more people discover them, they add more items. I got lemon-blueberry scones and a loaf of Rosemary sourdough. I tasted the salt milk biscuits, which were excellent, but both look & taste more like really tiny, baby, dense yeast rolls instead of biscuits. I'll ask more questions next time.

Queen, the Andersonville branch of Pastoral is pretty good. Only shopped there, haven't dined there. But the bar (called “Appelation") looks nice--the menu seemed to be mostly sandwiches & small plates; and if you want to try wine without drinking too much, they also have half-pours as well as full glasses. (Of course, the cheapskates on Yelp are complaining they can't get wasted without shelling out the bucks). The retail counters are not inexpensive, but ultra-high-quality and heavy on American producers, especially Midwestern. Parking is a little better at the Andersonville location than in the Loop at Lake & Wabash, or the original on B'way in Boys' Town. Still street parking, though, and the now-privatized rates are mind-boggling. Bought duck prosciutto, country paté, jamon serrano, black truffle and wild boar mini-salamis and some cheeses.

Carole, no more snow in the forecast after today, and by Tues. we should be in the mid-40s north to 50s in the south ‘burbs.

I'm sitting here happily listening to my freshly baked baguettes "sing" (crackle). Ahhh, successful bread baking . . .

Bedo, I'm guessing Whole foods or a similar high end store would sell them. They come already roasted. I've seen them in stores in St. Louis. A gourmet food shop is a likely source.

Queen, I forgot about Pastoral’s French Market location. When I played there back in June, I was disappointed after I tore down and packed the car that they (and most of the other stalls) had closed up for the day. I had especially been looking forward to hitting Da Lobsta--had to settle for some fresh soft-shells from the fish & meat market to grill when I got home.

Minus, it was about 8 years ago. I was working in the Arctic in Barrow, Alaska and was walking to my friend's house, the last one before the tundra and a Rottweiler came out of no where and knocked me down and tried to kill me by dragging me under a house. (they're all about 3 feet off the ground so they don't heat the permafrost and make the foundation crack) So I managed to get up three times and he knocked me down three times and out of no where (again) came an Eskimo on a snowmobile who knocked him off me and put me on the back of the snowmobile and took me to the hospital where they sewed me up and later flew me back to Georgia for surgery and casts and PT. After they sewed me up I asked the nurse where the man was because I wanted to thank him. She said "We've never seen him before" This in a town of 3,000 people where everyone knows each other buy their parkas and you have to fly in. His green with wolf trim. I never saw his face because the hood was extended to protect from the wind. No one ever found out who he was. To this day the police report says "saved by unknown person" You can't make this stuff up haha. My hand moves and looks fine, but is weak for gripping hard,, stuff like that.

No ideas at all about dinner. What are you all having?

Carole, what was Sunday dinner?