So...whats for dinner?

Carole, so glad you're back!

Lacey, when I was suffering from sciatica pain, the recumbent bike was very therapeutic. Amazingly, it didn't hurt at all while I was exercising and it helped me get over it quickly. My mo is the one who told me how much exercising helps sciatica pain. I was skeptical, but he was right.

Last night I pulled frozen Hawaiian meatballs out (had prepared them prior to the trip to Cali, but DH never ate them!) and we had them over brown rice with steamed broccoli. DH is sick, spent the last two days in bed - he was running a fever after work on Mon when he picked me up at the airport. He went to work this morning to do a few things that were pressing time-wise, but will be home early. Everyone in his office will be at a conference so he felt better about not making people sick - this is an upper resp thing. He is never sick - threw him for a loop!

Gotta make something quick for dinner tonight. Have another wake to go to for a relative of a neighbor

Susan - we miss you. Hope you are OK. Looking forward to hearing about your vacation when you get a minute.

Had to go to Office Depot for a new printer cartridge, and Jewel-Osco was right next door. Since it was near a heavily Jewish neighborhood (border of Evanston/Skokie/Lincolnwood/West Rogers Park) I knew that (unlike Whole Foods, or the fresh-kosher section of Mariano’s which shuts down Friday night and doesn’t reopen till Sun. morning) it would have some culinary Rosh Hashonah supplies. Bought a round raisin challah and organic Gala apples (already have the honey), plus “taiglach,” a holiday dessert treat I always had as a kid in Brooklyn but haven’t encountered in years. It looks like a gâteau-St. Honoré, except the “building blocks” are smaller and made of a kind of cookie dough rather than choux pastry, dairy-free (pareve), “glued” together with honey and studded with nuts and candied cherries.

So while I was there, I went to the kosher takeout display case where, during Shabbat, stuff pre-packed on Friday is displayed for self-service sale until the counter reopens. Got a low carb/low-calorie spinach soufflé, baba ghannouj, hummus, chopped liver, Moroccan ratatouille, and Jerusalem salad. Then went to the takeout chicken counter and discovered they were selling not just fried but also broiled chicken by the piece—so I got 4 each legs & thighs (breasts are too dry for my taste) and had a reasonably healthy dinner (also picked up half a rack of St. Louis BBQ ribs to freeze until after the holidays; and some fresh apple fritters, which I haven’t had in 20 years). Tomorrow night I’ll probably see what Whole Foods has at the fish counter, or ready-to-eat (not pizza or pork, of course) for pre-temple dinner. We’ll walk off the calories, since temple’s less than half a mile away, the parking lot’s reserved for HC parking, and the “satellite” lots are nearly as far away as our house (and the wait for the shuttles is interminable).

The healthy meal—sans the fritters--went some distance towards my sins of the previous day: after my ophtho appt., I went to the Polish diner my doc recommended and had cherry crepes with sweet cheese sauce for brunch; for dinner, I indulged my semiannual Popeye’s craving. I go to Popeye’s so seldom (and White Castle even less often) that I keep forgetting one of the reasons why: the service, whether drive-through or counter, is slooooooowww. Unlike Culver’s—which makes everything to order—I can’t fathom why Popeye’s & White Castle are so maddeningly inefficient. Invariably, I spend twice as much time waiting as I do getting there & back. (Maybe White Castle’s slowness is to make up for how fast those “sliders” are, uh, assimilated)?

Mmmmm, send one or two of those pot pies my way! LOL

1/4 c. chopped liver before I left for temple; leftover collard greens (vegan) when I got back; followed by the traditional apples & honey (raw from Bob’s patient’s apiary) and raisin challah. A sweet year to all!

I finally decided I had to make meatloaf even if our daytime high was still 86 degrees. I had some leftover boiled potatoes that I smashed with heavy cream & butter & garlic and baked along with the meat. Served with English peas and a nice cab.

Texas is weird (as you all know) so we celebrate National Night Out the first Tuesday in October. I do understand that it's hot for the police to wear their body armor in August when the rest of the US celebrates, but we really don't have much of a turn out since they switched us to October. We only have 188 houses so we used to throw open the neighborhood pool & pay for lifeguards, have games for the kids and a band & volleyball & horseshoes, and full catered BBQ meals. Some years we had dessert bake off contests and prizes donated by Target & Blue Bell Ice Cream. But in October the kids are back in school & have football or soccer or band or scouts or teacher's meetings or whatever and it's getting dark and very few people come. This year in addition to several drawings for Home Depot gift cards, we are giving a prize to the newest homeowner in the neighborhood (who shows up). We're also trying to draw people by offering to 'install' Pet ID chips for only the cost of the national registration. But we're only serving cookies from Costco. I just don't have the spark to get anything else organized this year and then have 10 people show up.

So tomorrow, after spraying again for the tropical web worms that are destroying our lawns, I'm off to Costco. One benefit is there Mandarin Orange Chicken is on sale this month.

Bedo - glad you like your job. It makes every day fun. Special - I sure hope you don't get too much backlash from Matthew. Lacey - I never saw that remake of the Manchurian Candidate, but I agree about scary. April - so glad you've joined us. Carole - hope your return has been easy. Susan - where are you?

Going to rummage around and see if I have any cedar planks to soak, so I can cook a nice piece of wild Coho on one. If not, I’ll pan-sear it, with bourbon marinade (I don’t keep brown sugar around the house, so I can’t precisely replicate ATK’s recipe for the rub—and I do like the skin, which they remove. Maybe I’ll pan-sear the skin). Will also grill some asparagus with olive oil & balsamic, and just reheat some already pan-roasted cauliflower.

Had to go to the bank today (Gordy’s debit card got hacked with a massive charge for a dust-mite treatment company in Dubai, and because he’s leaving for Coachella in a couple of days couldn’t wait for a replacement card with a new number to be mailed to him), and next door is the Swedish Bakery—which I hadn’t been to in over a year. Picked up a loaf of limpa bread and some mini-Danish. Tried the taiglach last night, and the cookie dough from which it was made was bland and dang near broke my tooth. Feh. I figured there was a reason why I hadn’t tried it in over 50 years. I can wait another 50 again.

Those of you in the path of Matthew, stay safe and batten down the hatches.

Yup. The rock festival. He’s going because he actually got a hotel room nearby so he doesn’t have to camp. (He went to Bonnaroo once—a camping-only rock fest—and he was utterly miserable). Spending time with friends in L.A. before and after.

Quiche is easy.

bedo - I love to bake, but for bake sales, I recommend buying a brownie mix. My favorite is Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownie Mix (need only add water, oil, and egg). I was at Sam's Club once and saw a man in a chef's coat loading boxes of this stuff in his cart.

I grew up about an hour north of Coachella

Hi Serenity. Sourdough and oatmeal raisin cookies are my favorite baking things.

You could even offer some toasted & seasoned ones—chili, lime, sea salt, cinnamon, et.

I hate to say OMG ,but.....

I love these ideas!

I love the pumpkin seeds ideas and the quiche, I could do that ( I pictured onion, cherry tomato, and mushroom )

And the Ghirardelli, Serenity, you are dangerous

I told my co-workers the ideas and said that I asked my friends -you are after all this time-

And knowing my cooking ability they said chex mix is genius and to ask my friend to help me Haha special. Come to Rhode Island?

Thanks everyone,I will make it without nuts? for the allergic people and put it in cute little baggies with orange string

Thanks again