So...whats for dinner?

Minus, I saw a branch in the same strip mall as the Ulta store I visited the other day. Since I have to avoid sugar and starch (except for special occasion desserts at restaurants), it never even occurred to me to go in. We have an award-winning frozen custard shop/patisserie on our corner, but I dare never go in except when they have the sugar-free dark chocolate salt caramels I like. Back when I was recovering from knee replacement surgery, I could eat a small cone of custard without it triggering carb cravings, because the opioid I was on occupied most of the endorphin receptors in my brain and it took only a little bit of sweets to satisfy me. (My PT warned me it wouldn’t last forever, and once I weaned off the painkillers I found to my chagrin he was right). I’m not a cake person, though--I never did get the whole cupcake craze. My taste in sweet no-nos runs to gelato, sorbet, mousse, cannoli and cream pies. (And Bakers’ Square’s pies never did really float my boat--except for raisin sour cream and Candy Cane; the former’s been discontinued at most location, the latter is seasonal). Hoosier Mama Pie Shop was my undoing when I was doing rads--it was en route home and I would console myself with their Smores, Passionfruit Meringue or Espresso Cream after each session. I wasn’t on letrozole yet and figured that since I wasn’t gaining weight I’d be fine. Then came our Mediterranean cruise, and the rest of my restraint disappeared. In retrospect, I should have gotten as thin as I could before starting letrozole or even setting sail, but I guess I was “The Thing That Wouldn’t Leave” the pity-party I attended once the diagnosis process began.

luvmygoats, there's a "what about drinking" thread (maybe it's "how about drinking").

Last night I pan-seared sockeye salmon filets in grape seed oil spray, seasoned only with Salish alder-smoked sea salt and a fresh grind of black pepper. Sautéed Brussels sprouts in olive oil and a bit of garlic, then finished with supermarket balsamic and black truffle salt. Also an insulate Caprese with heirloom tomatoes, basil from my garden, mozzarella di bufala and a drizzle each of EVOO and aged balsamic. Poured a 2013 Bouchaine Pinot Noir (Carneros). Dessert was Greek yogurt with chopped fresh pineapple, mango, and apricot.

Minus, Nothing Bundt Cakes sound amazing! Unfortunately I just looked them up and there is one about 3 miles from me!

My kids left this AM to go to their dad's, so I had a late lunch of a bean burrito and then cheese and crackers for dinner.

ChiSandy, your dessert sounds yummy and has inspired me. I'm going to go have some plain greek yogurt and fresh kiwi.

Dinner tonight was a casserole made by my mother in law. She bought a new TV, DVD/Blue Ray player, and sound system after her old stuff finally quit working...... and for putting it all together, plus getting all the setup correct, she fed Sharon and I.

I was kind of busy today and that is all I ate...

Sandy - happy anniversary. Sounds like a good dinner.

I remember in college eating a "Pigs Dinner" at an ice cream place in SLC. Special's extravaganza sounds similar. Can't remember the name for the life of me, but from the web I think it was Snelgroves. I know that I have the pin/badge that I was placed on my jacket if I want to climb up to get the 'memory box' in the top of the closet. Hmmm - my HS graduation tassle, the signet ring of a boy I went steady with at 15 - don't think I'll go there today. But 15.....Oh my word.

Congrats Sandy!

Off to P-town with typically waaaaay too many clothes. I am so "packing"challenged!! Getting worse as I get older......

Lazy day today after a late night yesterday--slept in. Decided to have leftover spinach and about an ounce chunk of last night’s pork chop along with a fried jumbo egg.....you guessed, another double-yolker! Bob was jonesing for a smoked BBQ turkey leg at the Taste of Chicago....but it doesn’t start till Wed. and he’s off only this weekend and tomorrow. So I dialed around and found a BBQ in Evanston that was about to bring them out of the smoker. Sauce on the side, of course. Bob had his with the traditional white bread, sauce & fries that came with it. I put my bread in the fridge and fries in the freezer, and had mine plain, with greens and a little bit of black-eyed peas. Didn’t feel like wine tonight, so I had a nonalcoholic Clausthaler Amber.

Bob picked our first quart of black raspberries this afternoon, saying he didn’t want me to risk scratching my right arm & hand on the thorns. He gets dibs on as many as he wants to bring into his office (he promised them some).

I took advantage of the cooler temperatures this weekend to make spaghetti sauce and 4 lbs. of toasted sugar. A portion of the sauce became last night's dinner along with some Italian sausages and fresh thick spaghetti. There is enough left over for lunch today. The toasted sugar is destined for some baked good down the road no doubt. I may even make some ice cream with it. DS and DDIL are coming in this month to celebrate DDIL's and my birthdays. (Hers is today, mine later this month.) She and I have decided that we are cooking for our own birthdays -- lasagna, all from scratch. The toasted sugar should make for a caramel-ly flavored ice cream to go with some kind of cake. Should be fun.

Since Thursday, we have gotten 7 1/2 inches of rain. I am ever so grateful. It was a perfectly slow, steady rain, so no big washouts. In spite of the wet, I managed to dig enough lovely potatoes for a potato/green bean salad today. That will go with the ribs and a tangy coleslaw. The garden has perked up nicely and I even have some tiny peppers coming on. The cucumbers and squash are finally blooming. We're in for a spell of hot weather again this week, so that should help things catch up. The rain made for a 5 hour baseball game yesterday. Yike! A few die hards were still at the stadium. I love baseball, but not me, man! It was hard enough to stick with it on tv.

All of the deer have shown up to eat apples today. And all of the squirrels. Did I mention that one of our foxes was in the yard a week or so ago with a dead squirrel she caught (and partially ate)? I gleefully told her that apple stuffed squirrels were a great delicacy and that she should have all she wanted. The apples are one to two weeks from being ready. I still don't know if we'll get any. The critters have emptied one tree and are working feverishly on the other two.

Sadly, the rain has stopped so people will no doubt be shooting off fireworks in the subdivision tonight (and today too probably.) I wouldn't mind so much if they just did it for an hour or so, but They. Just. Won't. Quit.

Yesterday, our clothes dryer quit heating (hope this is not an epidemic). After some googling and you tubing, we determined that the problem is the thermal fuse -- an easy fix, so tomorrow it's off to the parts shop and trying to convince them not to charge us $30 for a $3 part. Thinking of you Eric!

Happy 4th all y'all!

I just caught up reading posts. I was 3 pages behind. Olivia is adorable. Goodness, she is growing and has already changed from being an infant. Joyce, your pool is lovely. No wonder you're staying home and enjoying the back yard. Luv, glad you're back. Nance, my mother is doing well in the nursing home, too. She just won a Blackout Bingo for the first time.

Love the deer pictures. Apparently we have a mother deer and two fawns making visits in the "back" area of the campground. They ate one of the weekender's blooms off all her potted plants and even grazed on the hostas.

I'll be flying to Louisiana on July 12th and staying 2 weeks to give my youngest sister a break from her daily visits to the nursing home. My sister is very pleased with the way my mother is making the transition to resident.

We participated in a 4th of July boat parade around the lake today at 11 am. All the boats had flags and decorations. There were about 22 boats. It was quite a procession.

DH and I have been going out on the lake fishing. He has learned to operate the trolling motor. It's lovely out on the lake with loons surfacing here and there and occasionally eagles soar overhead. Yesterday I caught a keeper size walleye. We put it in the live well in the boat and brought it back to the dock. But it was so pretty and energetic that I opted to release it back into the water rather than harvest the fillets.

Most of my cooking has been on the grill. I'm learning to do the aluminum foil packet technique. Last night I sliced up potatoes, sprinkled the slices with seasoning and added pats of butter and cooked in a foil packet. Put shredded cheese on at the last minute. Yum. Delicious with a ribeye.

Tonight I'm roasting skin on bone in chicken thighs in an iron skillet, using the grill as an oven. The side will be asparagus cooked in a foil packet.

Things are going well here at the resort. DH is enjoying being busy with various duties. His brother is arriving on Wed. for a brief visit.

So that's about it from Pine Hollow Resort in northern MN.

Glad to read that you are doing well, Carole....and that your mother is adapting nicely. She will no doubt be so happy to see you! I have loon envy, since we have just a few on our lake. They are so beautiful and love hearingtheir haunting calls in the evening.

Carole - thanks for checking in. I love foil "bag" cooking, but have done more on campfires than back yard grills. Hope you have a great time with your Mother.

Nance - the nursing baby deer are delightful.

Carol glad that you are doing well. I am at camp and am still waiting to cook foil dinners over the camp fire

Susan So much fun to meet new people!

Sandy, I love bluefish when I am home in Rhode Island. I'm missing the weekly farmer's market and my fish guy. I have tried everything from whitefish, wreck fish, skate,you name it. I'm hoping for some sea robins when I get back. We try to eat the fish who eat the endangered fish.

I love the deer pic

Here I am at camp. So as far as dinner, they don't serve fish for some reason, so there is a salad bar at lunch and dinner and I eat lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, beets, hard boiled eggs, sometimes tuna, tofu, pickles, olives, hummus mandarin oranges, croutons, cottage cheese, shredded cheese, apple sauce, crinkly Asian topping things from the 60s, and 10 other things which I can't remember right now.

Sometimes there is mac and cheese or spaghetti

For breakfast either yogurt or oatmeal with brown sugar cinnamon, or raisins

And lots of coffee in the am There are 600 campers here!

Tomorrow I take the swim test so that I can swim and do all the kayaking and water sports.

I bought red Keds, as our camp colors are red and white. Red Keds! How fun.

I got the University job for the Fall and will have a 10 day break after camp and before starting.

Gonzo cat is loving it here

It is very beautiful here

Thank you Internet Gods

I read all your posts and thought about each of them. It is hard to answer with the internet, and my hours are spread out so I sleep in between clinic.

The campers are so cute

Happy 4th everyone

That cracks me up Special I don't think I've ever lived in a state with legal fireworks except a lake house in Alabama. Right at the state line there was a huge billboard FIREWORKS!! And since our county was dry, right over the line of the county Wedowee was in, was a beer store, but you could only buy warm beer. Go figure.

Celery, chick peas, pinto beans, radishes, shredded carrots, six different kinds of dressing.....

Bedo, so good to hear from you, sounds like you're enjoying summer camp and it's a blast! Bet it's so much fun.

Yesterday was the quietest 4th we've ever experienced here. The only fireworks we heard were from the display in the neighboring town. Don't know why, but I hope it's a trend. When our dogs were alive they would be stuck to me like glue for the duration. We tried to keep the tv loud and to distract them as much as possible but it was hard on them.

We got the part for the dryer (for a whopping $20). We decided ahead of time that that was the most we were willing to pay locally for the convenience of getting it fixed today. They must have read our minds but the dryer is fixed. Yay! I love You Tube!

Got some more sweet corn today that's destined for the freezer. We didn't get any last year because of the poor crop due to weather. I'm trying to make up for it this year by eating as many ears as possible.

Dinner tonight is grilled ham and pineapple steaks with baby Yukon gold potatoes and green beans from the garden.