So...whats for dinner?

Lacey, if wood smoke irritates your lungs, ask your doctor about steroid and/or rescue inhalers. Asthma attacks from a uri that travels south are no joke. A pan of rocks with water on low heat can help humidify and soothe your nose & throat without the danger of mold (but you do have to make sure to keep the water level high enough so the pan doesn’t go dry).

All my FL relatives are safe—and my cousin the Cocoa Beach cop wasn’t called for rescue duty. Tonight I’m going down to Oak Lawn to stay over in the Hilton with Bob—yeah, he’s already driving and back at work, though not driving at night till Mon. So we’ll be going to Louie’s Chop House for steaks.

Eric I had a dog who would watch a forkful of food go from the plate to my mouth

I saw a great card recently based on Sting's song;

Every bite you take, every snack you make, every time you bake, I'll be watching you.

Lacey, my father in law is in St. Augustine Beach and they were hit hard. He is not calling us back yet today. He evacuated and went inland with his friend. I am thinking he is home by now (he was due there this morning) and is dealing with some serious damage unless he got lucky. He is right off of A1A across the street from the beach AND the river is behind his house.

Making traditional Bolognese sauce today...a lot of work but soooo worth it. I will even make home made pappardelle. It is rainy and icky out and tis the season. Plus my bestie and her hubby are coming for dinner and she asked if I could make it when I asked her what she wanted for dinner. She loves my Bolognese so I had no choice cause I love her to pieces and she is always there for me.

Enjoy your day!

Bedo, you gave me an earworm now and I will be hearing that Sting song in my head all day! HA! LOL

April...echoing Bedo's thoughts.

April, hope your father-in-law can cope with the damage from Matthew.

Lacey, the lobster fest causes great envy!

Went to brunch this morning at the Oak Lawn Hilton where I stayed with Bob (so he could work the weekend without having to drive at night till tomorrow). Meh. No salads or veggies, just berries. Smoked salmon, a so-so mini-croissant (took one bite), overdone eggs Benedict (left the English muffin and half the Canadian bacon). Waffle was doughy. Should’ve had an omelette, but didn’t. No roast beef at the carving station, just a bone-in ham, which I passed up. Biscuit was stale, gravy gloppy with too little sausage.

Had to get home to feed the cats. But Lake Shore Dr. was still a mess with the stragglers from the marathon coming in, and the on-ramp from I-55 to 94 N was under construction. So I had to take surface streets home all the way, and it took over an hour. Dinner was leftover goulash cut with peppers, mushroom, & onion.

Great news, my FIL escaped with minimal damage. One of his palm trees went down and his lanai (screened in porch) was flooded but it is two steps up to the house from the lanai so it did not get in the house. The garage had some water in it (inch or two he said) and other than that, he escaped. No power of course but he was smart and bought a generator so he is set with the freezer. Everything was still solid when he got home. The river came over the banks but not enough to affect him, just the houses that are right on the river bank were affected. A1A was a bit flooded in front of the gate (he lives in a gated community)from the storm surge (ocean) and the pond behind his house overcame its banks and went on the grass a little bit.

He does live in a gorgeous home in a gorgeous spot. The beach is a few hundred yards across the street and the river is maybe a hundred yards. I hope it all goes back together nicely without ruining the beauty of the community as it sits right next to a wildlife preserve.

Tonight is meatloaf, roasted red potatoes and string beans sautéed with parmesean and bread crumbs. Last day of my mini vacation. I had the extra ground beef from making the Bolognese so decided meatloaf (hubby LOVES this meal) was what I would do. Froze the rest of the Bolognese which came out fantastic. I would have been eating pasta every day if I didn't freeze it..LOL

Thanks for the well wishes. Glad you are all out of harms way too.

April, I'm glad to learn of your FIL's "good fortune"! He must be so relieved.

It was chilly here today but very sunny so we took a nice long walk and enjoyed the views. Tomorrow we will drive to western VT where my sister lives in the most bucolic setting. It should be stunning with the tree colors.

Tonight I combined my leftover lobster tail with some chicken to make a creamy pasta (penne)dish flavored with sauteed onion andtarragon. It was a good experiment in which I used a can of lobster bisque and some milk for the liquid. I made some extra to bring to my sister. Looking forward to our little excursion....

Sounds like leftover night all around. I had leftover black beans w/green chili & chicken

Last night was a grilled pork steak (80 degrees -- summer's last hurrah.) Cole slaw and summer corn from the freezer were sides. Tonight is spaghetti and meatballs for DH and linguine with clams for me. To make it a complete carb fest, we'll have garlic cheese bread. Maybe a salad, maybe not.

I've been meaning to write more for a while, but it's been hectic and I've been tired. I read all the posts faithfully though.

First there was the seven week bronchial thing that is finally abating. Then we got the call that an apartment came available for dad at the supportive living place, so we had to quickly throw a moving crew together to get that done. Two days before moving day, I came down with hand, foot and mouth disease. Not to be confused with a) hoof and mouth disease of cows; or 2) the hand and foot affliction that plagues Susan, caused by the chemo drugs. What I got is apparently a kid's disease -- a virus for which there is no treatment that resolves itself in seven to ten days. During that seven to ten days, my hands and feet broke out in little blisters (they looked and felt more like what happens when you get a splinter in your finger that you can't get out, only imagine dozens of them.) Not what I needed right before moving day. I had to wear gloves to cook because the fluid from the blisters can transmit the virus if they break. And me with a houseful of people to feed! But sure enough, it started going away in a week and now the skin is peeling all over my hands and feet where the blisters were. Fortunately, it appears to be completely dead skin and doesn't hurt at all. Where I contracted the little bugger is beyond me. Add it to the list of weird diseases that seem to find me.

Cooking has been happening, none of it terribly exciting. I picked up the last of the Amish chickens last week and fixed cacciatore last weekend when DS, DDIL and DGD (grand-dog) were here. The garlic cheese bread is leftover from that meal which I stuck in the freezer. Our crazy weather is going from hot cold hot cold and back again. It's hard to know what to fix.

Friday we are taking dad to the doctor to get his medication adjusted. He is having some issues with transitioning from nursing home to supportive living. He seems to be having doubt about what he is able to do because he hasn't had to do anything much until now. It's getting better and he did tell me yesterday that he definitely doesn't want to go back to the nursing home. Carole I'm glad your mother has made a good adjustment.

I'm glad everybody's peeps escaped Matthew safely. I'm so sorry for those affected by floods.

Welcome back Carole -- it's so good to hear from you. I'm guessing Susan has run out of spoons. Wish I could lend her some.

Before temple (Yom Kippur), leftover roast chicken over “zoodles" and mushrooms with a dollop of marinara. And the dregs of a pint of double dark chocolate gelato because I'm effectively fasting till sundown tonight. I say “effectively" because if you're ill—and my only Jewish doctor says that having bc and taking endocrine therapy counts—you are not supposed to endanger your life by abstaining from food and water. The commandment to preserve life outweighs the commandment to fast. But even the sick are supposed to eat & drink only enough to avoid endangering their health—not for pleasure or satisfaction. So I had some plain shreds of chicken at midnight, my morning black coffee to keep my lungs open, enough water to take my meds and stay hydrated, and an egg fried with just enough oil to keep it from sticking to the pan. That (and some more water) should hold me till sunset. It's about to storm, so I'm skipping services.

Tonight we are having a supermarket rotisserie chicken that hubby will pick up on his way home and some baked sweet potatoes and a salad. Simple and good enough. I am really busy at work and I am tired when I get home (which I suspect has a lot to do with the Femara/letrozole as well as my job) and easy is what I need. Last night I made hamburgers and a salad. Easy and yummy.

Hope all of you have a great day and Nance, stay healthy! I normally make stove top mac and cheese too if hubby is craving it but he really loves that Martha Stewart recipe so a few times a year I make that. Too much work and it is really expensive too. Good gruyere ain't cheap nor is really good extra sharp cheddar and that recipe calls for a lot of it.

Ok, back to work!

I love Shrimp Scampi! I think I will make some this weekend but unfortunately, I don't have beautiful fresh head-on shrimp, just frozen 16-20 to the pound bags in my freezer which I stocked up on a couple of weeks ago when they were on sale for 6.99 a lb. with a coupon for 2 dollars off and a limit of 4 lbs. I bought 8 lbs cause they freeze well for a decent amount of time. I make mine the same as you do Carole...exactly the same way.

It's cool today so I'm making vegetable beef soup. Stock is now cooking in the pressure cooker. I'll take some to dad tomorrow -- that will make him very happy. No time to make bread to go with it. I'll have to dig around in the freezer to see what I can find. Maybe some cheddar biscuits?

DH finally spoke directly to his parents in S. Carolina. They are still without power, sleeping and eating dinner at the next door neighbor who has a whole house built in generator. His dad is set up for another transfusion tomorrow - they are coming closer together, maintaining some semblance of blood counts is getting harder. They sounded exhausted and have not emptied out the three freezers (one an upright), and two full fridges, and they have a bunch of trees down in the yard - front and back, and have lost part of their dock. They are not slated to have power until Sunday night, I suspect they are waiting on a part because the neighbors have power across the street! He got a hotel in town and will stay until Monday and get them situated. His sister, who lives five hours away, just had surgery today to replace a ruptured silicone implant from 1984 - she fell and split it - the good news is that she is a nurse in a PS office - so, her doc did the surgery and she is home and doing fine. His older bro, the gastroenterologist, who also lives about 5 hours away, just had carpal tunnel surgery this week so he is out of commission too. Younger sis and bro - the veterinarian - both have to work and were both in the storm path themselves. DH was already on vacation this week and next, so - off he went. That is the long version of why I am not cooking dinner tonight, lol!