So...whats for dinner?

Celia - I can certainly make it to Kentucky after I hit St. Louis to see Nance - and on my way to see a dear friend in Pittsburgh. Hope that might not be too many years away, since my friend in Pittsburgh is in his mid 80s.

Edited to add - I really do like driving.

Glad you're feeling better, Lacey. That beach feast sounds so-o-o good. I'm reading a Lee Child novel set in NH with some evil characters. I'm impressed with the author's plot machinations.

Last night's dinner turned out to be tasty. I went to Sam's Club and a package of four pork tenderloins was one of the purchases. I used one of the tenderloins to make pork piccata. Actually I used only half of the medallions for the piccata and saved half for making pork enchiladas tonight.

One side was two small baked sweet potatoes. You can never tell in advance whether a sweet potato will be sweet but these were. Our salad was packaged kale crunchy salad from a kit, also purchased at Sam's for about $2.50. I added a perfectly ripe avocado.

I meant to buy rib eyes and lamb chops for the freezer at Sam's but there were none.

If there were any mercy or kindness in nature, Lake Charles would not be hit again so soon by a hurricane. Aerial views of the city show many blue tarps on the roofs, compliments of Sally.

I will vote in person since our polling place is within walking distance if we chose to walk. Our precinct is small so there's hardly ever a line. One blessing of being back home is the scarcity of political signs and flags. In northern rural MN, the fans of the Presidential candidate whom I oppose displayed an aggressive in-your-face fondness for yard signs and flags. One Saturday when we were set up at the farmers market, there was a loud parade of pickup trucks with horns blaring and flags flying.

Sadly my vote for President only adds to the popular vote since Louisiana's electoral college vote is always uncontested since Nixon's "southern strategy" worked so well for his party.

Tonight is a cheeseburger from a local place I haven’t tried yet. This is definitely a win, the cheeseburger is huge (nearly the size of my hand with fingers spread out!) and delicious. The onion rings are also awesome. Everything is made in house, even the buns. It’s easily two meals and the combo with rings instead of fries was only $12.95, what a deal

Pork tenderloin in onion orange sauce with carrots and brown rice.

Eating spaghetti in the camper while parked at Snowbowl, which is northwest of Flagstaff, AZ

We're at 8,000 feet elevation and its already in the low 50F degree range. This probably 35F degrees cooler than at home.

Eric - are you off on another adventure? Or just trying to get out of the heat of the valley for the weekend?

Illimae - I'll definitely put JLB on my short list. Christian's Tail Gate on Washington was my neighbor's favorite so we went a lot. And I was fortunate to pick up breakfast tacos at Cliffs before every one of my chemo infusions when Baylor was across the street instead of down by the VA. Did you ever eat at the Lankford Grocery & Market? If I remember correctly I really liked their onion rings.

I love good burgers.

Last night's pork enchiladas were good, not wonderful. The filling was black beans, mild diced chilis, grated bagged cheese, red enchilada sauce and sliced cooked pork medallions. DH made guacamole with a couple of avocados.

We have a siblings text message thread. One brother in OK was eating at a Mexican restaurant. One sister was eating at a local seafood place. The pictures of their food made me envious!

We had some wind last night but nothing threatening. Even my sister who was more in the path of the storm has electricity this morning and didn't have any serious damage. So a bullet dodged.

Tonight may be a "hot dish" with cabbage and potatoes.

pork roast, salad and steamed Veggies

Carole, so glad you missed the brunt of the storm!

Last night was a one skillet dinner: cubed potato, onion, and carrots cooked in a small amount of chicken stock, then added chunks of chicken and shredded cabbage. Seasoned with s&p. Not fancy but helped use what was on hand. Tonight may be shrimp fried rice unless some other inspiration strikes!

Brunch was cheerios with a sliced banana. Supper was a crudites - radishes, cucumber, deviled egg and wheat thins with spinach/artichoke cream cheese spread. Accompanied by a tall Gin & Tonic. It's still 95 here most days. Way too hot to switch to bourbon yet. Desert will be 1/2 cup shelled pistachios.

Carole - I like the sounds of your hot dish. I have to remember to buy some cabbage.

Beaver - you're doing just what I am. Concocting food inventions based on what has to be used. I have 1/2 of a baked potato for tomorrow along with one remaining slice of quiche and a cup of salad. Oh boy - along with Susan I really miss Bedo. Then I'll have to decide whether to defrost 'new' meat/fish/chicken or start on the one serving frozen left overs. I'm really hungry for spaghetti but I bought an acorn squash instead of a spaghetti squash last week. Guess I was thinking about fall, however that was clearly a mistake since it's hot as blazes again.

Well somehow after all these years, I got unsubscribed from this list. I’ve been worried about all y’all so I’m glad to hear that things are mostly ok. Carole, I’m very happy you escaped the latest devastation and Lacey, I’m glad you haven’t picked up any nasty bugs. I too enjoyed your travelogue Minus and so wish we could all travel again. When you do come through here I’ll be much closer to the city to meet. I don’t know when I’ll get to Houston again but we will as soon as we can safely do so

There has been food albeit simple - individual quiches, chicken enchiladas (btw Sandy - I’ve never seen Costco with no chickens!), beef stroganoff and too much delivery.

We may have found a house, a villa (condo) which are popular around here. The bones are very good but it needs some major redecorating and updating. But it’s where we want to be (just down the road from the apartment) with bedrooms on the first floor and no yard maintenance. It has two nice decks that face woods one of which is screened in. I will miss my garden but I think this will allow us to live in our own home longer and also allow us to travel whenever we can do that again. There will be enough to do inside the place to keep us busy for the entire winter.

Carole- I’m a big Lee Child fan and have never gotten over my outrage at Tom Cruise being cast as Jack Reacher.

I was aware that the last book was written by both of them but wasn’t aware that his brother was taking over the franchise. Interesting. I do know that the next film (or maybe it’sa series) will have a different actor who better fits Reacher’s description. It wouldn’t be so bad if he wasn’t so distinctive looking.

The Villa has three bedrooms and three full baths. One bed and bath is in a mostly finished basement. Two gas fireplaces and a deck on each level. It’s really a nice arrangement. There are lots of skylights so it’sa very bright place. Not a gated community but very close knit neighborhood with lots of folks our age and older. You know, the ones who are always home and looking out the windows lol. Lake St. Louis is a sort of resort community with two recreational lakes and lots of green space. As you might imagine there are lots of covenants and restrictions.

Tonight is grilled pork tenderloin and apples. There will be something green too but I don’t know what. I’ve been taking meloxicam for a flare up in my arthritis knee. Although it doesn’t usually bother me this round is giving me severe heartburn and some stomach pain. Not good for the appetite.

MinusTwo:

I made spaghetti squash just the othernight but it sat on the kitchen counter for a week until the weather cooled off. I just toss it in the oven at 450F and turn it halfway. For the sauce I use Prego but I bring it to a simmer and add chopped red bell peppers, mushrooms, olives and some pre cooked ground turkey I keep in the freezer.

WC3 - thanks for the tip. Sounds good.

My MIL asked Sharon and I to take her to the hospital. The imaging discovered she has 3 compression fractures of the lumbar spine. We don't know much else right now. MIL is 83 years old and she is worried if, when or even if she should go back to her home.