So...whats for dinner?

bedo - glad you liked that idea! And yes, I would come up and assist!

I had thought I was going out to dinner tonight with my DD and her BFF for my 60th birthday, but after being told we had to make a quick stop to see BFF's mom before going to the restaurant, it turned out to be a surprise party with a dozen neighbors for one of those canvas painting and wine parties! They brought a buffet dinner and a beautiful cake, and they decorated with flowers and balloons, and we all painted and had a good time! I have some very nice friends!

chisandy - thanks! I actually invoked that saying "60 is the new 30" before I blew out the candles, lol! When I was actually turning 30 we were stationed on the other side of the dateline and my DH tried to arrange our return from that assignment on my birthday so that I would turn 30, then cross the dateline and do it again - he is a funny man!

Happy Birthday, Special!!!! I like the dateline idea. :-)

Right now I'm not doing much with the sourdough, or cooking in general. DD is off to college and Sharon is losing about 1 to 1-1/2 pounds per week eating Jenny Craig's food. Before I'd make sourdough pancakes every few weeks and bake a couple of loaves of sourdough bread every other week..

I keep the starter in the refrigerator and feed it once per week. It seems to do OK on this system...I let it warm up, feed it, let it "explode", feed it a little more and put it back in the refrigerator.

For everyone dealing with the hurricane preparations.....be safe.

Gotta do a freezer dive to see what I feel like making.

Happy Birthday, Special! What a lovely surprise your friends/neighbors had for you! And, yes, the dateline crossing would have been a fun happening! I enjoyed the "almost happened" story about it.

Minus, you are great at recapturing themes with so many around our kitchen table! Impressive and thoughtful... .

Nance, HB to your DH!

So my DH just left for the dentist where he is starting a rather involved implant process. He is slated to be eating soft food for the next few weeks, so I'd better be googling "soft meals" to make for him. Good thing it's soup making weather! He was trying to talk himself into coping with such misfortune (my DH LIVES for food!) declaring that this is a great opportunity for him to shed some weight after our rather food-centric summer! I might need to remind him of this goal by tomorrow....this is going to be hard.....and he WILL lose a lot of weight, quickly! Poor guy/lucky guy! I covet his metabolism!

We're home and Bob's comfortable, but extremely bored. He can't fit his glasses over the eye shield, so he can't read or work on his computer; he took a stroll but there really wasn't anything close by to do; he napped but doesn't want to nap too much because we have to return to the S.W. Side early tomorrow for a followup appointment with his ophthalmologist tomorrow morning (not "farmer-early," thank goodness). He had a "Tennessee Benedict" (poached eggs over biscuits & gravy) and I had a spicy brisket hash so hot it brought me literally to tears—it was the jalapenos that did it, I think. No alcohol, since it was before noon and they can't sell booze before noon in Cook County. So he made a beeline for the box of Malbec when we got home. We'll probably walk back to Broadway Cellars for dinner if it doesn't rain—he'd rather do that than eat in. I think he's okay watching TV, though—and he does want to see "The Girl on the Train" so maybe we can go to the movies.

Unlike me, Bob didn’t need a stitch and did not get a subconjunctival hemorrhage or corneal blister. Since his left eye was already fixed and has near-perfect distance vision, he will probably be able to drive in a couple of days—we’ll see what the surgeon says tomorrow. Neither of us can be definitively refracted till we’re fully healed from our surgeries, so he might have to muddle through with the glasses he has—or none at all.

Bob's boredom will end when the dressing comes off tomorrow; and all my complications were gone in a week. Most people have no complications, and it definitely IS worth it!

Thanks for the birthday wishes - and Happy Birthday to auntie's DH! Yay for a fellow Libra! I have mixed feelings about turning 60 - horrified that I am this old, but thrilled to be alive - lol! Thankfully at the surprise party they only used one candle per decade so I only had to blow out 6 - lighting 60 would have taken forever, and my hair probably would have caught on fire blowing them out!

carole - yay! Good to have you back! Thanks for the birthday wishes. I started that no estrogen thing at 45 with a total hyst/ooph, and was diagnosed with breast cancer at 54 - so latter half of my 50's have not been that much fun what with the reconstruction issues I have experienced. I am hoping my 60's are an improvement, lol!

Glad to hear your mom is doing well in her new environs - so many parents struggle against the change. My in-laws are doing that now that my FIL has been dx'ed with leukemia. They are upset about what they can no longer do rather than accepting the changes and focusing on what they can still do. I feel bad for them because they don't seem to be able to understand how to do that.

Pork tenderloin, baked sweet potatoes and chopped kale salad (previously described). I found the bagged kale salad at Sam's Club today for $1.50 less than Winn Dixie. The tenderloin is marinating in the refrigerator. I made a paste of olive oil, s & p, garlic and onion powder, ground sage and ground thyme. Rubbed it on the tenderloin. Now the trick is not to overcook the pork. DH has a bias against pork tenderloin, thinks it's too lean and dry. I bought him a jar of apple sauce!

I violated my new grocery shopping rule to buy for just two or three meals but I did so only with meat purchases. At Sam's, the pork tenderloins come in a package with 4 of them. I also bought ribeyes and chicken breasts. But no pantry items!

I had a delicious chicken breast on our trip home, at Appleby's of all places. It was grilled with lemon and was very moist and flavorful. Convinced me that I CAN enjoy eating the breast!

Carole - so great to have you back. I love pork loin or tenderloin but I have to rein myself in every time not to cook it too much. I was raised by a mother who believed everything had to be cooked almost to the shoe leather state to be safe. We never had medium meat, let alone rare. Everything was well done - particularly pork. I've discovered the wonder of moist pork that still has it's juicyness and is not overcooked.

I feel the same about chicken breasts. I often poach them in the microwave w/just a bit of water or wine & lemon or whatever spices - but cook only until the pink is almost gone. They will continue to cook for a couple of minutes when you remove and they are so tender & moist.

I just took a couple of chicken breasts from the freezer - frozen from the last rotisserie chicken I bought. Tomorrow I will saute some mushrooms, maybe add some vodka & thicken then add the chicken at the last minute to warm. Hmmm - I have some left over peas I could throw in. The second breast will be the centerpiece for Laurie's Mexican Chicken. Although since it's already cooked I'll heat the black beans first with the salsa & probably shred the chicken for a stove top skillet dish.

I was such a bad girl and made a huge pan of "Crack and Cheese" which is what I call Martha Stewart's recipe for mac and cheese. It was cold, I have gotten some bad news (don't want to go into it) and I am on a mini vacation (took 5 a few vacation days) so I rationalized this to the nth degree.

OMG, it was so worth it! I froze half of the recipe (this freezes well btw) and we have been slowly scarfing the rest. So good. I only make this maybe once a year and usually for my daughter in law who loves it. I will give the rest to her when she next comes over with the kids. I need it to leave my house!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last night I put a pot roast into a dutch oven and poured a bottle of beer on it. Some garlic, onion, a Serrano pepper and into the oven it went. On warm, my oven stays at 150F degrees, so it's been "warm" all night. I didn't even bother browning the meat.

This morning the the dogs and cat were camped out by the oven, "He tried to open the oven door"...."No, She's lying. It was the cat." "No, I didn't. A cat would never do that" :-)

This morning, I tried a small sample. Much to the disappointment of the animals, I didn't drop it. It's tender, but not falling apart, every so slightly pink, and with a little bit of salt, tastes pretty good.

I now love pork tenderloin. I used to not like it when the "cook to" temperature was "charred leather". The new recommendations are a welcome relief.

It's drizzling rain right now and every now and again, there is the distant rumble of thunder. The dogs are busy barking--defending home, hearth and the rest of the pack against the evil forces of thunder and lightening.

As for going to Florida, Georgia or South Carolina.....I was reminded to make sure my bags are packed, but that is pretty much standard. I'm hoping the damage is light enough that there is no need for "us".

Eric, I figured your bags would be packed. Hope for your sake that you are not needed.

With acknowledgement of all the pain being inflicted on the people in the states "Matthew" is hitting, we have also been watching it closely for personal concerns. DS2 is planning his wedding on Amelia Island, Florida, in April, which is right in the hurricane's path. Not sure if the venue is still totally intact. DS2 is optimistic that whatever needs to be repaired will be, by 4/2017. I'm not so sure, given all the demand for reconstruction that will exist in that area after the storm.

We are in NH, despite my persistent uri, which is probably not being helped by using wood stove heat. I loved that I left the stove prepared to have the fire started easily, and it worked perfectly! The foliage colors are very pretty here, and I suspect that if we drive to VT on Tuesday, as planned, to see my sister, we will be bedazzled by the colors! Even without changing foliage colors, her locale is stunningly beautiful. So I hope I feel well enough to make the trip.

Last evening we ate leftover braised chicken (soft for DH!)in an interesting red sauce with cappellini. The sauce had more Middle East spices than Italian, so it was different than what we are used to, and quite tasty. We also finished up the ratatouille, and I had a simple salad. Fortunately, DH has had an amazingly fast recovery from the implant experience, so we'll be back to regular foods tonight, except things like crackers, etc. And tomorrow is the annual neighborhood Lobster Fest, followed by the Patriots', then the Red Sox...and, for those interested , the debate! Oy! A lot of eating and sitting!! I will be making brownies for dessert and cole slaw as a side.

We recently had a pork tenderloin after ignoring pork for quite a while....boy was it tasty! We keep thinking that we should stop eating mammals (like both our sons), but keep being pulled back.