So...whats for dinner?

Special, it sounds to me like your husband has earned that D you put in front of his H!

Hugs for you and your dh and his family, SpecialK. How wonderful for all of you to have had such a fine man in your lives. Now he lives on as a memory.

DH and I returned to Louisiana from our Thanksgiving journey on Tuesday. We stopped off in Hammond at the hospital where my mother (94 on Dec. 27) was in a room in Same Day Surgery, following a laser procedure to pulverize a kidney stone. She was in the midst of what was apparently a reaction to the anesthesia and gave us quite a scare. She ended up being moved to a hospital room and stayed the night. I spent much of the day with her yesterday and she was VERY glad to be sent back to the nursing home where she lives. She now considers it home.

We had Thanksgiving day dinner at a niece's home in Indiana. The house is not large and we had wondered how in the world she could seat 25 people. She had transformed their garage into a dining room. She strung wire around the top of the walls and hung a white plastic sheeting to conceal garage shelves, etc, borrowed tables from their church and set up a long table with more of the white draping for a table cloth. There were giant dispenser jars of water and other beverage on a side table, a big cooler of canned sodas and a side table buffet for serving the dinner. She had attractive sturdy paper platters as a substitute for china plates. Electric heaters provided heating to a comfortable temperature.

There were three turkeys--roasted, deep fried, and smoked and three dressings, including oyster dressing. Plus all the other typical foods. Apple pies for dessert and a delicious chocolate pie (my choice).

One of their daughters was home from the Navy Academy and this daughter's twin brother was home from his university, Butler. It was fun to catch up on their experiences as college freshmen.

From small town Indiana, we drove to the Chicago area and spent a couple of days with dh's nephew and his young family. We had dinner with him and some other relatives at an expensive restaurant that featured seafood. The nephew picked up the check, which must have been a big number.

On the drive north and the drive south, dh and I ate fast food lunches and hotel breakfasts. Nothing worth mentioning.

It's good to be home. Today we're going to the race track in New Orleans with a YMCA group. The cost includes lunch in the club house.

Last night after rehearsal, was going to pick up some wings at Wing Stop before getting on the L to go home, but a wonderful friend in the cast drove me all the way home. Bob finished all the food at his drug company dinner and wasn’t going to bring home leftovers, so I made myself a panino: low-carb whole-grain bread with slices of red onion, poblano chile, homegrown tomato & rosemary leaves, bresaola, prosciutto, salami, & provolone. Had a little Nectarouge Beaujolais Nouveau (abt. 2 oz.) to wash it down, then lots of herb tea & honey. Dinner tonight will probably be pizza & finger food at the opening night after-show cast party. Hoping my voice is on the upswing from laryngitis!

Red, where did you go to law school? Did you practice in IL, and if so, downstate or the Chicago area? Are you retired or still active?

But this isn't just an intramural law school “Bar Revue" (I went to law school in WA and we didn't have one—though I did co-write my husband’s “Boards Revue” when he was a resident at UIC Medical Center). It's the 93d annual production of the Chicago Bar Assn.'s annual musical satirical revue, and it’s open to the public. It used to be called “Christmas Spirits" but the only thing it had to do with the holidays was that it took place before Christmas (and we used to end it with “Jingle Bells" or the E Street Band arrangement of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town," along with a cast member as Santa throwing foam snowballs to the audience—but it made the show run too long, the theater complained about cleaning up the snowballs that didn't get caught, and we lost several Santas to both the "march of time" and schedule conflicts); and newer and younger audiences wanted it to be a bit more inclusive with more modern songs. So about three years ago it just became known as “the Bar Show," which was always its shorthand name anyway.

It runs for four performances at the Merle Reskin (formerly Blackstone) Theatre in the S. Loop just of Michigan Ave. Years ago, it ran for two weeks (!) in the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton & Towers across the street, with dinner and open bar included; not only the audience but the cast & band tended to get increasingly sloshed as the evening wore on. The stage was an improvised one, and things came to a head when one night one of the sets collapsed and several cast members were seriously injured (there was no shortage of lawyers in the audience willing to represent them, but “assumption of risk" put the kibosh on that). So it moved across the street to the theatre (with a pre-show dinner available at the Hilton), reduced to 10, then 6, then 5, and this year (due to budget constraints) 4 performances. Conversely, the talent level has skyrocketed. The show used to be all male lawyers, with the writing far outstripping the quality of the performers—which was mediocre at best but it was fun and it was for charity. It had been the social event of the year for the city's legal community—firms would buy several tables, important clients and even officials (at least the thick-skinned ones) were given tickets as holiday gifts and a good time was had by all. In 1972, a woman lawyer successfully sued to be admitted to the cast and suddenly there were men & women who could really sing & dance, with real choreography. Our choreographer (who is also our director) is a Jeff Award winner. When I first joined the cast, my voice was among the stronger ones. But nowadays about half the cast majored in drama, dance, music or musical theater as undergrads before law school—and we have operatically-trained sopranos, tenors & baritones in leading roles. Many of them do community or semi-pro theater the rest of the year. Several even became lawyers in order to be eligible for the Bar Show (the theater holds almost 1000, so for most of the cast it’s the biggest audience to whom they’d ever played). And the year the movie version of Chicago came out, Roger Ebert’s review contended that the movie’s dancing was the equal of that in the Chicago Bar Show. (Some may say that’s a slam at the movie, but…..)

Every year, the show is loosely based on a hit Broadway musical, movie, or TV show, with an appropriate parody title (this year is “This case is a (S)hamilton,” loosely based on and featuring parodies of songs from Hamilton; e.g., past shows have been Young, Frank, & Stein; Lawlawpalooza; Plea—a pun on Glee; Bar Wars II: Attack of the Clients; King Tort; I’m a Lawyer, Get Me Out of Here; Scamalot; Hearsay; and The Associate—a spoof of a familiar TV show helmed by a certain orange-skinned you-know-who). Parodying “Hamilton” had seemed to be a huge challenge, but we found talented cast members who were taught to rap, and we learned various hip-hop dance moves. Of course, there are numbers based on other songs—the one I’m featured in is “Food, Curious Food,” a parody of “Food, Glorious Food” from “Oliver.” (I play an exhausted, starving post-workout klutz dismayed to find that the health club’s cafe is healthier than it is palatable—and immediately after the number I get to show off my chops as a spectacularly inept gym rat).

Special.. so sorry to hear of your FIL's passing. Prayers are with you and your fsmily.

Tonight is chicken parm with some fresh linguini that I made and froze last time I made pasta. I took home made sauce out of the freezer and I bought some nice fresh mozzarella yesterday. Hubby is picking up a nice loaf of crusty bread (my downfall for sure) and will make a salad. Calorie heavy but hey, it is Friday, right? LOL

Crab cakes last night. Tapas tonight.

Chi Sandy I am not a lawyer, I am a retired Circuit Clerk.

Dinner was Liver and Onions. (out, I would never cook it.)

That said - I'm a transplant to the South even if I have been here 45 years. Everyone here eats greens (collard & mustard & turnip). I don't eat greens either. I sort of got in trouble at dominoes today since I expressed my distaste for greens. But I love spinach and I like turnips. And my Mom always made hamhock & beans (although if I remember correctly it was when my Dad was away since he wanted meat & potatoes). It was a different generation.

Love greens, especially Southern style! I miss my grandmother's. She had just the right combo of porkiness and seasoning. I've not been able to quite duplicate. I also like liver and onions occasionally, if it is sliced thin and cooked correctly, but dh gags at the mention of it, so I never eat it. There is a local restaurant that has it sometimes, but I'm so picky about it, I'm always reluctant to try theirs.

Carole, I envy your mom's adjustment and contentment with the nursing home. My dad has been doing nothing but complain the two weeks he's been there. Part of the reason is that because his arm is still in a sling he hasn't been able to do the rehab on it. Hopefully that will change when he sees the ortho doc next week. It's trying for both of us.

Yesterday I made French onion soup. I was late getting started on it but the pressure cooker cut down on the broth time significantly. I didn't, however, have enough time to chill it enough to easily remove all of the fat, so it tasted a little greasy to me. I'll be able to skim the leftovers today, although I'll lose a few onions in the process.

Tonight is turkey pot pies. I have some pie dough left from last weekend that must be used, not to mention turkey and gravy.

Sandy, you are still eating good in the neighborhood! Minus, i love your chicken foot group's adventures in eating. That's my kind of eating.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

I started out to make Beef Burgundy with mushrooms & wine, but decided to add carrots & new potatoes. So of course I had to add more liquid. I'm not sure what this will turn out to be but it sure smells good. One of the kitchen smells I really like - sauteed onions.

I love creative Red. We don't have a grocery store anywhere close so I have to plan ahead for a week. If I forget something, I do creative... (or Stauffer's Mac & Cheese) If the strawberry/banana cheescake salad works out, please post the recipe.

Nance - sorry your Dad isn't settling faster. Maybe it will help when he has the use of his arm back.

Lacey - I'm not sure when you're visiting Susan but please give her a hug for me and let her know we are ALL thinking about her.

Dinner was yummy. Sort of stewish even through the beef had been cut in stir fry sizes, but a thicker 'gravy'.

Eric - hope you are doing OK. Did your DD tell lots of stories about the first few months?

Carole - glad you are treating yourself to some down time. Your deserve it.

April - oh no - bread. My most serious downfall also. I can do w/o fried foods & even without sweets most of the time, but bread.... Kroger has a new Rosemary/Olive Oil round loaf by La Brea.

Tonight was finger food at the cast party--nothing special, but I was starving. We're staying over at the Hilton to avoid the Bears game parking crunch and 3" of snow, rain, or sleet predicted for tomorrow--our matinee is the last show of the run. Just as we are getting into the groove, it's over till next year

Had a big package of ground beef last night so I cooked it all up and made sloppy joes with half of it and saved the other half for tonight. Making spaghetti, salad and garlic bread tonight.