So...whats for dinner?

susan - surprisingly a liver biopsy is pretty easy - very similar to a breast biopsy. Hollow core gun, the only difference was some conscious sedation. Very short procedure - about 15 mins. We walked in at 9, out at 11.

minus - I'm in Sacramento - good memory!

chisandy - good luck tomorrow! Let us know how you are doing when you can

Sandy, sending positive vibes to you for good outcome....and expecting that your hiatus will be short-lived given the way you hopped back here post cataract surgery!

Soecial....ditto about what a great and caring friend you are! I am barely thinking at this late hour so will share my made up horseradish dressing recipe next time I pist. It really is light, zippy and delish

I didn't go through with the surgery after all.

The whole time from arising to arrival and admission, my gut was telling me "don't do this, don't do this..." Every time someone came in to see me (take vitals, sign consents, pre-anesthesia talk, etc.) it seemed I was in the bathroom. My thumb had stopped painfully triggering (except on arising) and pretty much stopped triggering at all two weeks ago; and something inside me said to leave well-enough alone--especially the ordeal of starting an I.V. and the ever-present worry of my stage 0 lymphedema raising the risks of cellulitis from the anesthesia shots and the surgical wounds & sutures (not an LE attack, since there's no tourniquet). If I was still hurting, that'd be one thing. The anesthesiologist and scrub nurse said not to do anything till I spoke to the surgeon, something I never got to do since scheduling the surgery--all my communications were phone and patient-portal messaging back-and-forth with his NP. Neither he nor she had seen my now-well-behaved thumb.

He came in (1/2 hr. late) and finally examined me, holding the base of the thumb while I flexed it. He said he didn't feel the nodule and said that either the cortisone had finally been absorbed & processed or that the triggering was self-limiting & may never come back. But he said he had no idea how long till the cortisone wears off. I asked him what happens, in his experience, in situations like this. He left the decision up to me, saying "It's a 'lifestyle' surgery, not just elective like your cataract surgery. I have patients I have to practically drag into the O.R. for a crucial operation, and you're not one of them." He said that any stiffness I'm feeling when not triggering is the mild-to-moderate arthritis he saw on the first X-ray, which this surgery wouldn't help; if it comes back to the extent I can no longer tolerate it, I could always reschedule or try another shot first and cut later. And he said I could refuse sedation, pop a Xanax first (if I wasn't driving) and just have a regional & local--the only downside, he said, was that I'd be awake for the 10 minutes the surgery took and would remember it (just like I remember the L thumb surgery 7 yrs. later). I apologized to him (and especially to my housekeeper--whom I'd paid a bonus for this) and he said no problem, he had a full schedule of patients who would be glad to have their surgeries start on time after all. He also said, "Now you can go have breakfast at Walker Bros. Pancake House down the road." Which is exactly what we did--sharing the giant baked cinnamon-apple pancake and bringing half of it home for Gordy.

Got home about 9:30. I told my housekeeper to take the rest of the day off and headed upstairs for a nap (having forgotten to take the rest of my morning meds). Woke up 3 hrs. later and...ouch--triggering, sore enough to feel in my palm! But by the time I'd gotten to the bathroom to put in my second eye drop, it was gone. Celebrex is keeping it at bay. Think I will ride this out and maybe revisit it when I get back from Iowa, after my second cataract surgery Nov. 2.

Late lunch was an insalata caprese using a little home-grown heirloom “tiger" tomato, basil and fresh mozzarella. Dinner was low-carb eggplant parmigiana. Sliced some eggplant, salted and drained between paper towels, then sprinkled with olive oil & a mixture of grated Parm-Reg and pecorino Romano. Browned in a nonstick skillet till translucent & the cheese golden. Layered in a foil-line toaster-oven pan with marinara sauce, basil, more grated cheese and fresh mozz. Baked at 350F till the mozz. melted and began to bubble & brown. Had to fight off the cats to be able to finish it. No dessert tonight--that apple pancake this morning front-loaded it! (So big that we each had only 1/4 of it).

Minus, how long did it take for each shot to kick in?

Wow. My left ones took effect in a day or two (back in 2006 & 2009) but the right one took 8 weeks.

I’m lucky enough to have LE only on the R, and stage 0 at that. If the pharmacy won’t give me my flu shot in the L arm, I'll have my primary do it in my hip (and I'll eat the extra cost). The combo of drugs in my steroid shot this time was the same as 10 yrs ago: triamcinolone + lidocaine.

I messaged my current surgeon’s office, and found that he used the same formulation as yours--but my surgeon from 10 yrs ago used triamcinilone/lidocaine.

Nance - glad to see that the trigger thumb issue was of some interest. I've been worrying that Sandy & I hijacked the thread.

I bought a Chicago Home Run Inn frozen pizza a couple of weeks ago - sausage, pepperoni & cheese. Cooked it last night and my opinion of frozen pizza stays the same - cardboard & worthless. Anyway I'm a fan of thick crust pizza so even if it might have been acceptable, it was awful.

Tonight was leftover Mandarin Orange Chicken bowl with Fried Rice from Panda Express. I added an appetizer plate of raw carrots, cauliflower and radishes with a ranch dip. So I'm full if not gourmet food.

Tomorrow I'm meeting my niece for an Italian lunch. Reports to follow.

Next week I hope to have lunch with another BCO member again - Sandra from San Antonio.

Carole, Carole - we miss you. Even if you aren't cooking "exciting" things, you are eating. Come back to the kitchen table - please!!!!

Bob's medical office is across the street from Home Run Inn--but when they order out for pizza (or the drug reps bring it in) it's from Giordano's--yup, even on the S. Side! That should tell you something.

The only frozen pizza I find the least bit palatable is DiGiorno Rising Crust. Whole Foods’ fresh take-&-bake pies are acceptable, but none of the frozen pies they sell. Their fresh pizza-by-the-slice is almost NY-style good.

Nance, feel better! You and Gordy are both hitting the Symbicort to beat the band these days. (Allergy season is extremely rough on his asthma, and it isn’t till late Nov. that we can relax and not have to worry about trips to the ER when the nebulizer doesn’t do the trick for him). As for fried chicken, I hardly ever eat it and definitely don’t attempt to deep-fry stuff. But the fried chicken at Big Jones (Carolina low-country-cooking restaurant one neighborhood to the south of us) is amazing--even the white meat is succulent. When Paul, the sous-chef at B’way Cellars, gets his pickle-brined fried drumsticks on to the “specials” menu, I am soooo there. And my other faves are from White Fence Farm down in the SW suburbs. Morrison’s Cafeterias in SE FL, and Stroud’s in KC. Never could warm up to Gus’ in Memphis.

Dinner tonight starred grilled duck breast, with a light fig balsamic glaze (barely a tsp. on either side). Took several attempts to get the gas grill lit--we may need to replace the igniter and have the venturis cleaned. Sides were raw sliced Vidalia onion, yams mashed with applesauce & ginger, and roast brussels sprouts. And the last 3 oz. of the Jean Farris Pinot Noir I started with the Coravin back in July.

I’m not a big fan of cornmeal-fried chicken, nor the kind where the spice overpowers the chicken flavor. That’s why I can’t get excited over going to Gus’ when in Memphis--I’d rather go cruising for BBQ. I prefer double-flour-and-buttermilk-dipped myself. I will say that I last tried Stroud’s in 2011, the Shawnee Mission branch.

Yay for your friend’s clear biopsy, Special K! And a dry cleaning bill is a small price to pay for a free cosmo....and one of those insanely wonderful Ruth’s Chris steaks (gotta love that sizzle from the butter they finish it with)!

Special, great news about your friend's biopsy results! No so great to wear ketchup from a lunch mishap! Ick!

Sandy, your grilled duck breast dinner sounded really good, maybe minus the raw onion. I know very little about tasty fried chicken since I just never eat it. Maybe some day....I'm impressed with your many tries!

Yesterday I walked our usual walk route sans DH (He is still nursing his sprained ankle from over a week ago) stopping at the food store to pick up something to grill for dinner. I was happily surprised that they have a new ground lamb supplier, so we had delicious lamb burgers, with a mix-in of rosemary powder, garlic, feta, and fresh ground pepper. I had forgotten how yummy those were! Sides were corn on cob and a boston lettuce salad with dried cranberries, walnuts, red onion and a maple dijon vinaigrette.

No idea about dinner tonight. Then tomorrow night I am solo since I'm not going with DH to Stockbridge. I'll miss a great dinner there, but have been home barely two weeks, so have no need to race off again. Instead I'll go meet the new kindergarten classes tomorrow and prep for my start up with them next Tuesday. I also need to get some promised "Red Sox babytaggies" made after dusting off the sewing machine! Hope I'm that productive! I seem to be able to waste time quite easily.....

I don't care for fried chicken that is any other type but buttermilk/flour either. I would not enjoy cornmeal crusted chicken (at least I don't think I would as I have never had it) so I would not likely go there. Living in the NE, there are very few chicken joints that are any good around here anyway. We had a place called Greer's but since the matriarch retired, it is no longer worth the trip. So, twice a year, my cast iron skillet fills with grease and chicken and spatters me and everything around the stove..LOL But, man oh man, was it worth it!

Special, that is fantastic news about your friend! Once in a while, things go right in terms of health scares and thankfully this time your friend had this outcome!

Tonight I am making baked stuffed flounder with stir fried veggies (snow peas, green and red peppers, onions and mushrooms) and baked sweet potatoes with butter. My stuffing is a bit of lump crab meat and my own seasoned saltine stuffing combined and it always comes out really good. It is pretty much the same one I use for baked stuffed shrimp or lobster (both of which I rarely make) I make a butter, lemon white wine sauce that I pour over the fish at the end of baking. So good. Have not made this in a long time but today is a bit cooler so why not. Only takes a short time in the oven anyway.

The only way I usually have raw onion is as a condiment: thinly sliced red onion on a burger, cream-cheese-& lox sandwich or tunafish with lettuce & tomato. Sweet onions, OTOH, are a different animal. They are no spicier (at least to me) than radishes, and do have a sweetness to them. (Vidalias are most famous, Texas 1015s the most readily available, Mauis the rarest; but I really prefer Walla Wallas—they make the best onion rings, dipped only in unseasoned flour before deep-frying). But because of their high water content, they don't keep as well as regular yellow onions (which are of course a root-cellar staple). You can't tell how fresh they are till you cut into them, because they rot from the inside out (toss the brown inner parts if you find them), not just soften from the outer layers in like yellow, white & red onions. Those conventional onions will sprout from the inside, but sweet onions just rot where you'd expect to see a sprout. (Red “candy onions" do sprout, however; and onion sprouts can be used like scallions).

On my way back from the kindergarten early this morning....yawn....I passed an estate sale a few streets down from our house. I have never gone to an estate sale, partially because I do not need anything more to stash in this house, but I could not resist seeing what it was like. Lots of kitchen and dining wear, some large expensive furniture items (tho I suspect that the really "good stuff" was already taken by the really early shoppers/dealers), and many knick knacks and books and records that were clearly brought in by the estate sale personnel. Anyway, I saw an interesting looking cookbook that I bought for two dollars. I'll be interested to see what my Lebanese next door neighbor thinks about it. Some of the recipes will be good to make for the docvegans in my family!

As long as I'm doing pix, here is one of the gazpacho we had recently.