So...whats for dinner?

Susan, I am sending "focused" travel wishes for you mother. Yikes! I sure don't envy her this glitch, and you, the worry! But so nice that the house is coming together! I hope moving day goes smoothly! At least it is close-by so if some things need to be moved after the official "move-in date" it can be done!

Last night we attended an "annual bourbon tasting" at our next door neighbors. So, since I do not drink bourbon, I totally made the most of her wonderful food offerings. Just about every Middle Eastern appetizer one could imagine...and so expertly made. Then, for dessert, in addition to my meyer lemon glazed madeleines, and fudgy walnut brownies, she made a custardy pie with a bird's nest crusted topping, all of which was like a rich helping of the Greek dessert I love and can never pronounce let alone spell...starts with a "G" (apologies for not checking on that before posting). It was sooo delicious!

Tonight we saw a wonderful one man performance about the life and social class experiences of poet and playwrite, August Wilson. Truly an amazing and poignant play. Since it was an early show, DH and I ordered Chinese food once we returned home. I practically NEVER eat local old style Chinese food, but I did enjoy what DH ordered tonight, a "delights of three" (chicken, beef, and shrimp) dish with veggies in a brown sauce with a side of brown rice. Shades of our years ago family take out orders.

I have a busy week coming up... Tomorrow finishing up readying for my friend's visit. She arrives from FL on Tuesday and we have a very full two days before she heads back home. It is unfortunate indeed that we have a snowstorm tomorrow and colder temps than we've had for quite some time. Needless to say, her FL friends think she is nuts for coming here now. And the Celts have most recently had several strong player injuries and subsequent losses, so her 'dream getaway junket' is looking less than totally exciting. But we will enjoy the visit no matter what!

Given these recent circumstances, and that of Susan's mother, I am beginning to think that Mercury is retrograde!! But I don't actually want to know, so will ignore any ways to learn of that possibility. I always figure that when people know things are expected to go wrong they unconsciously help make it happen.... We'll go with 'ignorance is bliss' this week, thank you!

By the way, I like my madeleine tins, and the glazed cookies/cakes are nice...the plain ones, not too exciting. But then, I am not really a baker. I think it would be fun to make corn bread in these tins.

I hope you get some rest from 'Dad duty' tomorrow, Nance. I'm glad that today DH was able to contribute in the meal prep department! Hugs to you....

Thurs. night I went to B’way Cellars for St. Patrick’s Day dinner--silky and tender seared and then slow-braised corned beef with mustard sauce, grilled steamed cabbage wedges and sauteed green beans (instead of the included spuds). Wine wouldn’t have felt right, so I had an O’Doul’s instead. (Wish they’d had Kaliber). Picked up some Clausthaler Amber at WF--best non-alcoholic beer I’ve ever tasted--but why is it that the non-alcoholic beers are higher-carb than the 3.6% standard “light” beers?

Fri. night Bob & I went out late for seafood at an oyster bar one neighborhood south. Three Virginia and one NB oysters; big salad with avocado & radishes; and mussels in a spicy tomato-chorizo broth with a glass of Gruet Brut Sauvage from NM.

Last night, I was a couch potato. Made Dreamfields angel hair with some leftover tomato, garlic, olive oil, basil & Parm-Regg. Washed it down with seltzer.

Tonight, I was craving duck, so I ordered from a Cantonese place I’d never tried before. I’ve gotten tired of the pan-Asian joint around the corner because everything comes drowned in a gloppy brown sauce and the veggies are overcooked and pedestrian (no real Asian veggies other than peapods and baby corn, the latter probably frozen or canned). Had BBQ pork, sauteed choi sum, Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce, shrimp & peapods, wonton soup and Cantonese roast duck (hacked, on the bone, but still juicy--especially the skin). The choi sum wasn’t seasoned but the Chinese broccoli had a bit too much oyster sauce....so I combined them. Everything else was subtly and lightly seasoned. No beer or wine tonight either, though I did make myself an egg cream for dessert. Downside is that I now have a TON of white rice--which I never eat. I could make rice pudding, fried rice or Creole rice calas, none of which I ought to be eating either. No room in the freezer, alas.

Lacey - I would have loved the bourbon tasting. Susan - assuming your Mother finally got off? I know you're waiting to hear that she's arrived safely.

I see the doc after another week for another set of X-rays to see if this "immobilization" is working. I was trying to back off on pain meds, but that was a mistake. Now I'll just have lunch w/Pat instead of spending a longer part of the day.

Nance, Carrie, Eric - hope your parental units are getting settled.

Redhead - sorry I didn't mention you also with parent issues. Glad to hear you dad is sort of settled and at least eating meals. Hmmm a new Raos to look for.

Bedo, healing thoughts about your knee.

I think I cracked a tooth Saturday. I have an appointment tomorrow with the dentist tomorrow afternoon. I looked at it with some tiny mirrors and the engineer in me says the tooth is likely not fixable.......crack goes down to the gum and all the way through the tooth.

Grrrrr.

The two doctors have written the letters, so now it's in the attorney's court (pardon the pun).

ChiSandy - sorry about your fall. Glad that you know to take the LE precautions & it wasn't something worse.

Ouch Sandy -- no good! Heal fast and no LE!

Ouch to you too Eric - although It's surprising to me how much of a tooth a good dentist can save. I had a small piece of one that broke and they pasted/glued/soldered/Idon't knowhow a piece of something back on to save it. Still going strong -- knock on wood.

And ouch to you Bedo - had the same thing a number of years ago. It was a long time after the repair before it felt good again. I will say though, during the rehab process bike riding made it feel the best.

I'm craving red meat today so I went to the meat man and bought a very lovely ribeye for the grill. I'll make a couple of salt roasted potatoes and grilled asparagus for sides.

I had planned to plant potatoes today but errands sapped what little energy I started with so I will try again tomorrow.

Too many ouchies on this thread! Remain upright people!!! Hope all that are injured, or need surgery, heal peacefully! I also had torn meniscus surgery - of course, it was the year prior to being able to do it laparoscopically, so I have a big knee zipper. The good news, it has been good ever since and I had that surgery when I was 17 years old! It was a combo of sort of healed ski accident, compounded by a volleyball jump. It delayed me starting college as I was still on crutches at the start of the semester - too many hills at the campus. Even with Femara and Arimidex that knee doesn't bother me.

Dinner tonight will be burgers on the grill with King's Hawaiian rolls for the buns - love those! Also made some pasta salad last night, so we will have that too. Not too exciting but it will get the job done.

Susan - so glad the house is coming along. Somehow I didn't understand - are you and DH moving now too? I was thinking you were staying where you are for awhile yet.

Special - I have a friend thinking about renting a place in Seaside for a month or two. Have you been there?

Nance - your ribeye sounds good. Almost makes me want red meat - but since I have pork loins available, that's what I'll do.

Eric - be sure to fill us in on the dentist.

Carole - we're missing you. Please update everyone here when you get a chance.

Haha Special you are right! Too many Ouchies! I hope we all heal right away!

And Eric I hope the paperwork goes through with minimal stress.

For dinner- a pound of large shrimp from Whole Foods with Cocktail Sauce. I am cooking and peeling them hense the low price. OK I'm a pig, but my Ruby Cat is sharing one or two with me. Gonzo, because, he's Gonzo, will have nothing to do with it.

Clarification: Mr 02143 and I are staying put, for the moment. The condo is for the kids. The original plan was that when they moved out, we would move in to downsize, but she is not going to leave this kitchen anytime soon. So, they will live there. They will get a mortgage after they move in to establish 1/3 ownership. And then at some point, we will either ignore this asset, or ask them to buy us out. This will not be our downsize house which is why I keep reading the real estate listings daily. Mr 02143 is just not ready to stop working; and I am not either. We are at a point that we can discuss this upcoming issue openly without him denying that this is inevitable. He is looking at loosing his memory and his wife. I don't blame him for resisting these discussions.

So, here is an interesting story. My dear Aunt Kit was my favorite Aunt. My mother's oldest sister, she would take me to the city to visit the MET, take me to the opera, introduce me to Japanese cuisine, etc. I loved getting on the train to spend time in NYCity with her. She never married [and to be honest, I expect men were not her thing but who talked about that in the 60's?] and invested a bunch of energy into her nieces and nephews. She died of breast cancer quite young, no one seems to remember how old she was, but my best calculation is at about 46 after a 10 year battle. For the last 5 years of her life, she lived in my parent's house which they retrofitted to accommodate her wheelchair [no rods back then to keep mobility.] So, anyhow, my mother inherited a lot of her stuff including her fine china. When my mother moved to the small house, I claimed this china, and put it in a box for Lauren.

Then of course, my mother in law died, we helped clean out her house. I sent the girl child three pictures, one of each china pattern. She chose one and I packed it up. Tonight was the moment of truth.... which family's china would she pick? I pulled out one from each box and THEY ARE THE SAME PATTERN!!!! My Aunt's is the original version, while my MIL's is from the reissue when Spode and Copeland merged. But they are the same! The girl has about 24 plates, along with so many other items. For some reason, Mr 02143 and I are just tickled pink. He has no memory of ever eating off of this china. They ate from two other sets my MIL inherited. So, the SPODE must be the set that she bought but didn't use, saving it for "special" occasions. She loved blue and white Asian patterned china. Yes. This makes me really happy.

*susan*

Susan, how serendipitous!

Maybe you would enjoy seeing the pattern?

*susan*

susan - nice! Sunch a classic pattern - I love blue and white - some of my most treasured pieces are blue and white purchased in Japan on my honeymoon! Oddly, I mix them with heavy Mexican blue-rimmed glass tumblers, but it seems to work. I am nothing if not eclectic.