So...whats for dinner?

Happy Birthday Bedo.

I found a lawyer that will take the work and their rate is $275 per hour. We may also have to engage an accountant, so that will be extra. But it's money well spent. I don't want to have any ugly surprises.

Chi, the ink paella result sounds like some of the kids taking a black marker and coloring a few of their teeth! I'd look up in the mirror on the bus, do a "double take" and get lots of giggles... I hope the new stuff helps clear out the lungs. I hate being like that.

Special, a cake pop pan?

Oh so fun Special. DH works for a sports retailer and he gave DD a Yeti cup. They got 100 in and were sold out in I think 2-3 hours. I love my Yeti cooler but then you know - wink, wink - it was a raffle reward item at his work.

Happy Birthday Bedo.

Dinner last night was a use it up kind of night. A box of Zatarains wild rice mix with the leftover turkey with some frozen soup seasoning vegies and a little turkey gravy over it for good measure. Plenty of it left for tonight and then more freezer diving tomorrow. Have a bunch 'o gold potatoes I need to use up. Just had one nuked for lunch. I bought a bottle of tzatziki seasoning a while back and put that over it with some butter. I think dill is just about my favorite flavor.

Bought a bag of frozen black eyed peas to cook/send some home with DD. She bravely answered when I asked her that she had never eaten any I had sent home with her. So - did not bother to cook them. I guess I will do that for New Years Day. The do have "fresh" ones in the produce section but they are actually rehydrated dry ones. Umm - why bother and pay the added price. The farmers' market in the county seat might have frozen fresh ones but not going that far. Will just make it into town tomorrow which means Brookshires. I didn't even get to Central Market or TJs this Christmas. But January starts my doc visits again which means excuse to shop. I may go shopping on NYD since DH is off and can dog sit. One of these days I will have to get to that new Fresh Market. Whole Paycheck is coming along though much more slowly than I would have anticipated. And just looked - Susan's Surly Table will be in the same center. They just opened out in Southlake out near the airport - 1st in Tarrant County.

Carole and Carrie - I've made a mac 'n cheese with egg in it and it turned out weird. Probably more recipe related than the egg in it.

http://www.food.com/recipe/ultimate-macaroni-and-c...

I made this not long ago. Deli was clearing out "Dutch Garden" processed cheese with pimiento. It made great mac 'n cheese. Doubt I used the quart of whole milk, probably used a bit a heavy cream and some evap. milk. I am really bad about making something and then wondering what I did differently that I liked. I'm usually doing good if I bookmark the internet site.

Moving is a problem. After living in the country for 17 years I'm not sure DH will tolerate close neighbors. We have traffic sure. We live on a road that leads further out from the high school and is a main road into town. So yes we have that and esp. since we live on the corner. But we moved from a house that was the 2nd one on the access road from the major loop around Ft Worth. So traffic noise is relative. At least we don't have police helicopters at all hours. And this house is paid for. We got a terrific deal on it but then put more money into adding on. Would be very hard pressed in town to get anything decent in decent neighborhood for what we would get for this plus the added real estate fees. Neighbor down the street just moved into next bigger town going into Ft Worth but their son lives there. Husband was becoming incapable physically of caring for bigger acreage - much more than we have. Building something I understand from a mutual friend but then again it is not country. The goats - dilemma. I have 13, 2 are much older and in 2 years probably won't be with me. The youngest 2 now will be 3 in March. So many years left for them. I made a pact with myself/DH (mostly myself) to not sell any does because I don't want them bred. I have 9 of them. All males except Mr. Bucky (one of the old ones) are neutered which is good. Breeding bucks smell. But I can take steps to clean this house out.

Anyone have any ideas for turning a very small bedroom into a sitting room? (When DD lived in the dorm she thought it was funny everyone complaining about the small rooms. It was a bit smaller than hers at home but not by much) It will still have to have a single bed/daybed since it is where DD sleeps when she comes out. It has a very basic single bed with an old mattress. No headboard/footboard. The frame is the same one from when she moved from toddler bed (she is 28 1/2 haha). We let her paint the room electric blue. Hmm lots of things need to happen there. Stuffed in the back of the closet are all my scrubs. DH said "send them to Goodwill". I guess he's accepting of the fact I'll not be working again. License renews in Sept - I'll probably make it inactive. Not sure what that means other than I don't have to do continuing education which is a joke. Read a workbook/answer questions. Does not require "class" attendance.

Sandy - I dread navigating the Medicare waters. Since DH is still working and has really good insurance for a retail co, he is only on Part A starting in January. I made him be a big boy and call the ins. co himself to find out how that worked rather than delegating it to me. I have recycled so much junk from ins. companies. They could certainly reduce their rates with curtailing some of that. I too hope your neb treatments do the trick.

Waiting and waiting on UPS delivery. I love Amazon Prime but geesh. Split his order in 2, one delivered yesterday and one today. I was pleased it was going to be delivered Wednesday. It was nothing urgent, well maybe kinda. We have had a roof turbine ventilator ice up a couple of years ago and nearly ripped it out of the roofing it was sooo out of balance. Mr. Not Plan Ahead - how are your vent covers? "Shot" Maybe you should check for some. Nope none locally, maybe in Ft Worth but none at Lowes/Home Depot. Yup Amazon has them.

Funny Nancy - bits of latex. Hear the National Guard has been called out in MO. Not good. We are thawing but the side yard is still covered over.

Susan - I hope you are continuing to do relatively well with your self administered chemo.

Luv gave my sportsfan children yeti cups for Christmas, they were pricey but I think worth it. the best concept being that your beverage stays cold to the last drop, no warm stuff wasted.

So apparently Ina Garten was reading our minds and was answering questions about pasta (mac n cheese) in a nutshell, she said a good white sauce and good cheeses (not stabilized cheese) whatever that means. Take the white sauce off the heat before adding the cheese...no mention if it stays creamy or not.

Happy Birthday Bedo I hope u did something fun and adventurous to celebrate.

eric - here is a link to the site by the person whose cake pop cookbook she gave me, and it shows them.  Little round bites of cake on a stick with a frosting coating of some kind.  Like a cake lollipop!  I am not sure if I will make fancy ones or not!

http://www.bakerella.com/pops-bites/other-pops/

Lacey - is it you who has sort of followed Laurie on FaceBook? If so, will you please tell her Happy New Year from the dinner thread - or the kitchen table as we're sometimes called.

Nancy, sounds like you’re doing choucroute garnie--swap out the mashed spuds for home-fries or warm potato salad and you’ll be all the way there! (I like to throw in some juniper berries and caraway seeds and rinse the kraut first for a milder taste). And I treasure my kevlar/steel mesh glove ever since I took 6 stitches in each of my L ring & middle fingers last spring while trying to slice a very desiccated lime. (I paid more out of pocket for that at the doc-in-the-box around the block than DH paid for 4 hospitalizations & 2 surgeries this summer. He’s been on Medicare since Oct. 2014, I still have conventional insurance for two more days. Under Part D, drugs will cost us more--especially since mfrs.’ co-pay discount cards won’t be available, but with my supplement everything else will be cheaper than my current premium/deductible/co-pays. And many more providers take Medicare than my PPO).

luvmygoats, the NY TImes had an article today on Southern field peas--they’re much more flavorful than the usual run of black-eyed peas. Might be worth searching for them if you have a particularly large and ethnically diverse produce section at your grocery.

Chi, I would much prefer a different potato dish, but my mother in law raised her children with sausages and mashed potatoes so that's the way dh must have it. I do rinse the kraut and add some sauteed onions. Haven't tried juniper berries, although I have some on hand. I'll have to give them a try.

Cute story Luv. Black eyed peas are much better as hoppin' john imho. That's what we will have NYD with the ham I got today.

Hey, I've seen Lou Reed AND Jimi in concert. Among many others. Does this make me a wild woman lol?

Bedo - well my jazz education started with Dave Brubeck & Erroll Garner. Moved to Lou Reed & Wilson Picket & Aretha Frankin & the original Ramsey Lewis, and then the flower children, oh, oh, oh. In the mean time, I did listen to the Kingston Trio & the Beach Boys - and I never gave up my love for classical music - particularly baroque. Guess I'm just weird.

Nance - I guess we're branded!!!

Luv - we crossed the country in opposite paths. Tho I was born in Evanston, IL, I was raised in Northern CA. Moved to SLC, Moved to Albuquerque. Moved to Houston. I've thought about moving back to New Mexico to retire.

Luv - left the San Francisco Peninsula in 1962. SLC from 1962 - 1966. Albuquerque 1966 - 1973. You were in AQ when my favorite aunt lived there. Funny, when I was getting ready to move there everyone asked me if I had my passport & visa. 'New' Mexico - LOL. Then I moved to Houston in 1973. That's where the jobs were.

Friends from AQ who have moved back said nothing's the same. They eventually moved further north to Santa Fe. I hate thinking about where I might "retire" and the sorting & tossing & getting rid of, etc.

Oh drat! Yet another lost long post!! Should have kept a copy....oh well.

HB, Bedo!

Hi to all who were erased

Another eclectic here. Besides being a folkie (my dad raised me on Weavers, Tarriers, Marais & Miranda, Burl Ives, and Theo Bikel records), I’ve also loved classical since toddlerhood. (My dad’s collection was truly diverse: I remember being soothed to sleep with not just the “Sleeping Beauty” waltz but also the vocal version of the Nutcracker Suite, recorded by Fred Waring & his Pennsylvanians). Loved show tunes too--I used to listen to “Curtain Time” on WOR on the weekends--it played songs from all the B’way shows, whether classic, current hits, or obscure washouts. Wasn’t really enthused about rock until the trifecta of the Beach Boys, British Invasion and Motown hit all at once when I was in jr. high. I became a rock radio geek--listening at night to distant AM stations on my transistor radio with a single earphone. In Brooklyn, because of the ion layer thinning at night, we could get signal from Boston, Detroit, Buffalo, Cleveland, Philly, DC, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and on a very clear night, Chicago. (Of course, there was Del Rio, TX--that signal was so strong you could get it in Canada).The night of the Blackout of ’65, I listened as station after station, going westward, fell like dominoes, until all I could get was WLS in Chicago!

I didn’t go to Woodstock (I was 18, not driving yet, still living at home and commuting to college, and my parents said no--so that was that). But I did get to see Hendrix, the Who, Jefferson Airplane, CSNY, Santana, CCR, John Sebastian (solo & with the Lovin’ Spoonful)...and I even got to meet Janis Joplin. Dylan, Donovan, Melanie (took a master class from her a couple of years ago), Richie Havens, Steve Goodman, Tom Paxton, Judy Collins & Joni Mitchell several times over 30 years. Arlo Guthrie (during the “Alice’s Restaurant” era, with Pete Seeger in the ‘80s, at Farm Aid 2005, and a couple of years ago). Much more recently, Springsteen (lost count of how many times), Warren Zevon (RIP), Pearl Jam, Lou Reed, Blondie, U2, REM, Wilco, Neil Young, Foo Fighters, Steve Earle (took a songwriting course from him too)....

Oh Sandy - how much fun it would be to discuss each performer & add some more. We used to dance around the living room to Hall of the Mountain King and pretend we were trolls as very young children. After classical, folk music was my first love too. Joan Baez went to my hi school & once upon a time I was very good at 'Silver Dagger'. Did anyone else listen to Wolf Man Jack on the skip in the middle of the night?

Sorry to miss your post Lacey. They are always so much fun.

Going out to meet a friend for New Mexico green chili enchiladas for lunch. AND a margarita. Or maybe two if I get my errands run first.

The commencement speakers at DS’ 2008 graduation from Columbia College Chicago (Performing Arts Div.) were Maurice White and Earth, Wind & Fire--the most fun commencement I’ve ever attended!

Hubby went crabbing today and decided to fish a little as well, so I've spent the day sewing (mostly), and browsing a little. I decided that I've had too much trouble with Edge, so have reverted back to Chrome. Used to like Firefox, but haven't used it for quite awhile now. If Chrome misbehaves, then I might give it another go. We had so many things we needed, that we overspent a bit the last couple weeks, but now have a new mattress and hubby has a new chair. Our backs have been giving us fits, so we also indulged in a massage table and heating pad and a handheld vibrator thing along with it. I might have to break down a get a chair as well, but it's going to have to hold off for at least six months while we recover a bit.

For lunch yesterday we finished off the vegetable soup I made from the remains of the Christmas prime rib, so today I boiled a chicken and will soon make chicken leek soup. I used to make noodle soup, but had to wean myself from wheat, as I found that it gives me asthma soooo, haven't had any wheat for three months now and my lungs are ever so much happier. On occasion I'll make noodle soup with rice noodles, but I have to admit that they simply aren't as satisfying (probably cuz I'm not allergic to rice....

Love your story Luv, AND you must have greens (for money) AND have your first visitor to step over your doorstep be a man on New Years Day. We did this once and our neighbor was so proud, we barely knew him but he made such a production out of it. It was cute. We will be making black eyed peas Our rosemary bush always died in the winter but came back

Auntie You are only a wild woman if you have walked on the wild side

Ha Minus, you're funny, used to hang out at the Brubeck house, as his son was "cute" and also a musician

OK Chi you are officially a wild woman lol and you too Carol and you too Special

And yes Carberry, I used to hitch hike. I once went from Ma to Saratoga NY by myself to see the horse races and meet friends (I was a very classy hitchhiker) and was fingerprinted and arrested for "disturbing the peace" The only person I was disturbing was the officer who arrested me. My Mom bailed me out. I still have to explain it whenever I am fingerprinted for a job.

Anyway now that I've embarrassed myself...

For Dinner mushroom and barley soup and crusty bread.

Susan I hope your tummy is holding up and your hands and feet too.