So...whats for dinner?

red - I could feel you there in the empty house making cookies - I am sure a host of memories. Glad you got some interesting cookies out of the time spent! Hope you are not sliding back into the depths of extended illness. Love tamales - am thinking of getting some from my local good Mexican restaurant for Christmas Eve - $16.95 for a dozen. A couple thoughts on how to use up your excess cream cheese - last year I made a new recipe with those filo cups you can get in the frozen section - it is a jalapeno popper filling - cream cheese, pickled jalapenos that are chopped, cheddar cheese, green onion that is mixed together. Put it in the cups, top with panko and parmesan cheese and bake for about 12-15 mins at 350 F. Alternatively you could just put it in a baking dish and use it as a dip with crackers. It is forgiving enough that if you didn't have jalapenos, you could use drained salsa or green chilies too. Also, if you have tortillas you can mix cream cheese, shredded chicken, green onions, hot sauce and spread it on tortillas and make Buffalo chicken roll ups, chill and then slice into pinwheels.

Went out to dinner last night for our 33rd anniversary - DH had a steak with baked Gorgonzola, a side of linguine with marinara, a Caesar salad, and a crazy big piece of chocolate cake. We had an inexpensive decent wine, B.R. Cohn Silver label cab, DH two glasses and one for me - but I also had a glass of prosecco. I had a dish called cremosa aragosta - fettucine in a cream sauce with spinach, artichoke, and lobster, a house salad, and a really good limoncello cake with lemon mascarpone frosting. Tonight we will be at the Buccaneer's game, so some average stadium food.

Happy 33 specialk!!!

You guys make me hungry. Dinner was pasta with turkey italian sausage and lots of veggies in a garlic oil sauce. Large salad with homemade balsamic dressing. Dessert was pound cake. Milk less.

Carole, the butter rich rolls seem to freeze best for me. I've tried letting them rise, then freezing, or freezing them raw, then rising and baking as needed, but I have the best result baking the rolls, then freezing them.Warmed in the oven, they taste freshly baked. Plus you don't have to let them rise for hours. But as I said, they need a lot of butter in the dough.

I'm out of many things, but managed to find a hambone in the freezer so it's ham and beans and cornbread tonight. Short work in the pressure cooker.

Special, happy 33rd!

I am getting severe cabin fever. Bad enough that I threw my back out last Monday (or more precisely, it went out—I was doing absolutely nothing when I felt that lightning bolt on the right side of my waist between my spine and upper spine, and my muscles immediately went into intractable spasm). Bad enough that the only time I got out of the house was to be driven (a block & a half) to the Immediate Care clinic Tues. afternoon and have used a wheelchair, shopping cart (at CVS to get my Rxs filled) and Rollator ever since. Now we're getting loads of sloppy, wet heavy snow, and even if I could get dressed (beyond changing between my nightie and my sweats) I can't do diddly-squat. I was able to hire a snow guy via my neighborhood blog, but he needs to wait till most of the snow has finished falling (they're predicting 10-11pm). We have about 5" thus far and may get as much as 8". Meanwhile, Bob is stuck down in Oak Lawn, at Christ Hospital. Last night, he feared he'd be unable to get out of our garage this morning, so he stayed at a hotel in Oak Lawn. But because that 'burb's snow removal is worse than Chicago's, he might have to spend tonight sleeping in the on-call room or on the couch in the doctors' lounge at Christ.

I had to postpone my nail appt (they're getting really raggedy and in no shape to play guitar) to tomorrow—if I get there, it'll have to be by Uber, and just getting down the stairs to the sidewalk will be a chore (and I will need help putting on my boots). And the reason I need to repair my nails is that I'm scheduled to perform on-air Tues. night (with my singing partner coming down from Madison, WI) on WDCB's Holiday Hoot concert—but I will probably be unable to drive the 30 miles (or still be on a muscle relaxer that'd make it too dangerous for me to take the wheel), much less walk from a non-HC space in the parking lot (I haven't had a placard in 18 months) carrying a guitar. Asking my singing partner to pick me up would take him an hour out of his way at either end of the trip. If I have to back out of the radio concert as well, I hope there’s enough room in the Dec. 20 lineup for us—and that I’m in shape to get there. We leave for NYC & DC on the 22nd—though I will definitely use airport wheelchairs, having to use a Rollator for the entire trip will be a bummer (to put it mildly). I can sit and lie down and stand for short periods okay, but walking is rough and getting up from a chair is brutal and bending down past where my knees can do all the work is impossible.

This morning, I made slow-scrambled eggs (so wet & creamy I needed to eat them with a spoon) and a turkey-sausage-“biscuit” sandwich (cut two circles from a piece of sourdough toast, put a turkey sausage patty in between and nuked it for 30 sec.). Two cups of coffee thus far—and tonight I’ll probably switch to Oolong tea for the last of the Chinese leftovers.

I have a voice lesson (Skype) in a few minutes. We’ll see if I can sit up straight enough to get through it.

Nancy, I’ve gone through this with either my back or neck every 2-3 years or so since my late 20s. Osteoarthritis of the cervical & lumbar spine, and my scoliosis doesn’t help matters any. Always comes on suddenly, but till now it’s been as a result of twisting or stepping off a high curb or bending. This time I didn’t do anything to bring it on. I was on prednisone for laryngitis for 6 days before that so I could perform in the Bar Show, and the doc’s P.A. speculates I might have injured it during the run of the show and it didn’t manifest till the day after my last pill when the prednisone was out of my system.

The braised beef turned out excellent. I used this recipe. Recipe It was a bit sour, so I added honey to suit my taste buds. I think I added about 3 more tablespoons of honey.

I let it cook for about 8 hours in the dutch oven in the oven and the meat is tart, but not sour.

Adding....

The other thing I did today was to fix the rear brakes on my commute to work car. I didn't feel like doing the work, but it *HAD* to get done, so I got out the air tools and put in my ear plugs (I hate the noise that air tools make). Thirty one minutes from gathering the tools to having everything put away. The car now, as they say, "Stops on a dime and gives 9 cents change".

Bob decided to brave the slippery roads and drive home from Oak Lawn through Evergreen Park. He said as soon as he crossed Western Ave. into Chicago, the streets were magically clear. Guess there’s a reason for higher property taxes than in the S. suburbs…..

Anyway, he stopped off at Calo and brought home fettucine with spinach & prawns. Yum! (There’s enough left over for two more meals). Opened a bottle of Mumm Napa Deveaux Ranch Brut 2007 to celebrate his making it home in the snow, having been able to hire someone who shoveled, and my back slowly getting better.

This was a storm here in CT last winter. Guess this would shut down AZ for a month Eric! This was my back deck and the furniture had not yet been covered and put away. My grill took a hit too...LOL Since we grill all year when it is not snowing, we never put it away, just cover it.

Thanks for the anniversary wishes! Lacey - lol!

chisandy - eeesh on the sore back - hope it improves quickly! a sore back is tough - can't get into a comfy position, and forget bending over for shoes or the keys you dropped.

I am a crazy person and have a number of trees - a vintage pink and turquoise one with ornaments that were on my family trees in the 50's and 60's, a nautical one on the lanai woith starfish and sparkly turtles and palm trees, a big traditional one (I mean BIG - 10 feet!) with a lot of glass ornaments, a military/Americana one, and one that has all of the children's homemade ornaments, and ones given to them on top of packages from when they were little.

eric - Lol! Me too - that is why I have so many trees! I have also purchased many as souvenirs when we have traveled. My DH gave me a quiz the other night to see if I could tell him the origin of each one he pointed out - I batted 1000. I apparently can forget important stuff, but remember where the ornaments came from... haha!

We have enough ornaments for a 20 foot tree which is why we haven't gotten it out for a while. For 30 years, we gave each other ornaments at Christmas, plus we have some old glass ones from our own childhoods. They add up. Even after giving DS his and some of ours too, we have what seems like hundreds. It exhausts me just thinking about putting them away.

ChiSandy I hope you heal quickly. I have had back spasms, usually after lifting something I shouldn't by myself--they gave me Flexeril as well. And Vicodin. It is certainly a different kind of pain. I woke up and when I opened the door to get the newspaper, the world was WHITE....we were not predicted any snow until later this week. It is pretty when it is undisturbed.

Love all the Christmas tree stuff- I have not put mine up --worried about what Esmerelda would do to a tree.. I have tons of ornaments as well. We can't seem to have a Church Rummage Sale when I don't find another antique ornament to lug home with me. I could probably do a tree for several themes---Victorian, Russian, Swedish, German, Angels, Cats, Hunting/Fishing, etc. My favorite is the all Cat tree or the all Ethnic Heritage tree.

Yesterday was not a good day at the nursing home. When I arrived my Dad was in his room, sitting in his wheel chair staring at the calendar on the closet door and having a conversation with no one. I asked him who he was talking to and he said "myself". and I asked him what he was talking about and he was "gong to take his test " and then it was his "test to get his drivers license back"...I should know not to even try to reason with him, but then I got told how I had no Confidence in him, and I wasn't his boss....So I diverted him to his hearing aids and getting them working (changed the batteries) and then he picked up the newspaper, read one story out loud to me, read the headlines on another on the same page, then started to read the same story out loud again...so I redirected him to the new story......More and More when I am there he doesn't want to talk to me about anything---so I just sit with him and hold his arm or his hand.while he decides to read the paper, the Bible, or watch TV. The nurse did say he has fewer crackles in his lungs today and that he still has a few days of antibiotic left. We still have had no birds on the feeder outside his window. He did get a chuckle out of his Christmas gift to me----I found a bracelet made out of the bottom of Winchester shotgun shells- My dad was a big outdoorsman and he just loved that bracelet.....

Thanks Nance----today wasn't much better

Trying to get things done for Christmas gift exchanges and rushing around. Looking for a unique little demitasse cup for a friend who collects them--needed something else to put in her Xmas bag so I hit 4 of the antique shops in town but didn't see anything I liked--although I did buy myself a Infant of Prague flower vase ( I will use it as a pencil cup) an d a pair of Christmas Pillowcases-- I will use them on the bed with my Christmas quilt I made--I ran out of fabric so I couldn't do shams---these will be fine......they were ticketed 4.00 and everything Christmas was 1/2 off so I was happy happy....

Was going to treat myself to a steak and baked potato for supper but there was literally no parking place at Kroger----so I hit the McDonalds at the far end of the lot......no, it was not as good, but I had no dishes to clean up either.....

Well handled, Minus!

And Red, my caring thoughts go out to you as you devotedly care for your dad and his frustrations over clipped wings among other things. Poor guy....poor you! And Nance, I know you know what she is going through so well. Hugs to you both.

Special, so maybe it is a Florida thing to populate each room with a tree! I just learned from DS2' s fiancee's mother that she also decorates every room with a tree. Wow! Quite an effort!

Today I finally got around to making my kale soip which we had for dinner with a loaf of crusty bread and a leftover wedge of brie. Yum!

And I am about to bake some chocolate chip spelt cookies.

Nite all.....