So...whats for dinner?

Monica, great to hear from you but not the kidney issues. Really hope you can get that fixed.

Love the food pics! Wish I was that motivated to make such pretty meals. Third day of 90+ temps. Had a trip to trader Joe's and fresh thyme today so dinner is fish sandwiches and TJ's hatch chili mac and cheese. Added a few tomato slices for contrast.

I made an IKEA run this morning and for some reason, we didn't eat there. Mostly, I didn't see that it was almost lunch time. So, instead we stopped at Rincon Mexicano for our main meal of the day. I ordered his appetizer flauta. Two slender fried bits which he cuts on the bias and serves on a bed of lettuce with tons of red and green salsa and crumbly cheese. And a side of black beans. He ordered a HUGE carnitas burrito. Massive! As you can imagine, dinner was of little interest. But around 7:45 tonight either we were having a meal or not, so I started some biscuits and fried three eggs. That was dinner, with the strawberry jam I made of course!

They came out well today.

*susan*

I had half a turkey & Havarti sandwich on seeded rye on the way home from the Medical Center after getting my 3rd Prolia shot. When I got home from Water Aerobics at 8:30pm - I had a gin & tonic and two deviled egg halves. Probably won't bother with anything else, although some of Susan's biscuits with the strawberry jam would be delicious. Obviously shrinking your stomach does work - as long as I continue to exercise for an hour at least 5 days a week. Wish I could pass the pounds on to Susan.

Nance - your garden pictures more than make up for the finished meal pictures. I know you say it's easy, but it's amazing.

Hooray - Bedo's back. Moon's back. And Joyce it's great that you're a regular again. Whoo hoo. Sorry if I forgot anyone.

Just back from the dermatologist who prescribed a steroid cream for the itchy rash around my waistline that has driven me crazy for going on three weeks. Apparently I caught something from the wild lilacs that I helped my neighbor cut away during the period that dh was in KC at the wood turners' symposium. I'm glad to know the rash isn't shingles although I suspected as much since the itching is so bad. I've always heard that shingles is painful, not itchy.

I bought bags of chopped kale salad while I was at Sam's Club picking up prescriptions. Otherwise, my freezer is stocked with frozen low-cal dinners and a couple of veggie/cheese pizzas. I won't be doing much cooking during these two weeks. My "middle" sister will be visiting for a couple of days. We will take my mother out for lunch at her favorite seafood restaurant on Friday. My younger sister will join us and my mother will be in heaven pigging out on shrimp and oysters with her three daughters.

Next week I hope to get back to the gym.

Frogmore stew with cornbread tonight. We have strawberry jam too compliments of my DSIL and her strawberry bed. I've been missing cornbread lately.

Carole, we're planning a trip to the gulf coast in late August when I plan to relish all the things your mom loves to eat and more.

In the meantime, DS and DDIL are coming Saturday to bring the grand-dog Olivia to stay with us for a couple of weeks while they're on a trip. Because they will miss my birthday (next Thursday) DSIL is bringing and fixing dinner Saturday right down to dessert. I don't have to do a thing. Sounds good to me.

It's hot and dry here and we need rain.

Bob brought home margherita pizza from Calo (a neighborhood Italian restaurant that has been the nerve center of Andersonville/Edgewater for two generations, and only gets better with age). I have long believed that a well-executed pizza is Nature’s Most Perfect Food—hitting three or even four food groups (grain, veggies, dairy, animal protein--if it has sausage, pepperoni or anchovies) in a single slice. We did crack that Paumanok Brut Blanc de Blancs—hoo boy, is it ever bone-dry! (100% Chardonnay). Doesn’t go with the pizza, but we don’t keep oysters or caviar on hand.

Vending machine fare for last night.

We made it to Watertown, NY last night.

We were going to camp last night.. but flash flood warnings were posted where we were going to camp. So we just drove on in.

eric - my DH spent much time at Fort Drum in Watertown, NY opening a bombing range for B-52's to drop live munitions. We were stationed at Griffiss AFB in Rome, NY at the time - 1986-1990.

I see some people like curry as does my wife. She just had her first round of chemo. Cytoxan / Taxotere Monday 7/10/2017 so still feeling the effects of the bone pain from the Neulasta given the day after chemo. However, my concern is eating curry. I read that curry can inhibit some types of chemotherapy for breast cancer, anyone else aware of this? Just like to know because she just enjoyed a little curry and rice before I read about the effect it can have on treatment.

Bob

I think the concern is the potential interference between turmeric and some chemotherapy drugs - MSK says Adriamycin and Cytoxan, specifically. It can also interfere with platelet production, which is already potentially already impacted by chemo. TKDBOB - best to check with your oncologist.

I tasted this at Central Market last week & it was delicious. Thought I'd share.

RASPBERRY SAUCE WITH SWEET RED WINE
12 oz fresh raspberries, washed
12 fl oz sweet red wine
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Put all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until raspberries cook down - approx 15-20 minutes.
After the raspberries break down, run sauce through a fine mesh strainer to catch all the seeds & discard those.
Return strained sauce to a clean saucepan & continue to simmer to reduce
to a semi-thick sauce that coats the back of a spoon - approx 10-15 minutes.
Serve with grilled fruit or over pound cake.

Thinking about the curry– I just can't imagine that a teaspoon of numeric in a dish that serves four is an issue. Taking those power packed pills would be.

The young women brought FOUR pies; small pies. Tonight we enjoyed a fruit tart unlike any tart I have had before. They didn't even try to do a French tart. Instead the crust was a shortbread, the filling was orange flavored whipped cream, and the fruit on top was strawberries, blueberries, mandarin oranges, and kiwi. It was actually pretty good! We put the other three in the fridge. This is worth eating.

*susan*

Too tired and sore from yesterday’s training to handle the long drive through traffic to see my friend’s band perform out in Downer’s Grove. Not going to the Woodstock (IL) Folk Festival Sunday either—flooding detours galore. So I will tune in to WFMT tomorrow night to hear them on “Folkstage.”

Bob is working late tonight, so I got my own dinner. (Had brunch about 1 pm: low-carb toast, bacon and a French gruyere-and-herb rolled omelette. I keep forgetting how labor-intensive it is, especially freezing & dicing the butter & stripping thyme leaves—not to mention culling the blackened ones--and then picking out the little bits of stem & twig that slip in.Tricky making sure it cooks enough without the butter browning the omelet. But it sure is good). I spiralized half a small zucchini and cooked an equal volume (the half-portion remaining in the bag) of whole wheat spaghetti (Bionature, the only brand that cooks up al dente instead of going from crunch directly to mush). Topped it with sauteed tomato, banana pepper, onion, mushrooms, garlic, olive oil, fresh basil and grated Parm-Reg. and pecorino Romano. Might have some more of that tomato & basil, or saute some snap peas, later.

For those that wanted my seafood pie recipe:

I cook and sautee spinach, chop and drain. I add it right after the seafood.