So...whats for dinner?

The last trailer load we brought up is evidence that Sharon and I have a similar "problem" with books in general and cookbooks in particular. In one trailer load we brought up nearly 7,500 pounds of books. That is the maximum cargo weight of the trailer.

We had to leave the rest of the books for the next load. :-)

135 boxes. Each box is 12 inches by 12 inches by 16 inches.

I'm roasting asparagus and serving with the last of the baked beans from yesterday plus scrambled eggs.

Cyathea - welcome back. Good to see you. Sorry to hear about the endoscopy and fingers crossed for the biopsy results. Yup - sounds like a new doc is in order.

Cowgirl - that's pretty much what I decided for $10.00.

Dinner was more of the cauliflower/spinach bacon salad. Still good but sooooo glad I only made 1/2. I've given bowls to two neighbors and eaten it twice and have at least two more meals. Tomorrow zucchini. Trying to decide whether to just saute it with fresh tomatoes, or add the pasta & spices that someone here suggested.

Eric - Yup - them's some books. Luckily AZ is usually pretty dry so you won't have to worry about mildew in storage.

The refrigerated air conditioning also helps keep things dry and mildew free. I'm still cataloging books and getting them organized. About 1/2 of the books are Sharon's, so I do have competition for "largest library". :-)

Cyathea...also keeping fingers crossed for "unremarkable" endo results. My wife and I have similar issues with my MIL's physician.

Goldie, did you make it home? We drove to Phoenix on Tuesday, loaded up the trailer and drove back yesterday...long drive and two of us were sharing the drive.

When I had access to TV reception, I would watch the ATK shows. I've never subscribed to the magazine. Instead I'd go to the bookstore and buy interesting issues.

carole - so sorry to hear your DH ended up with Covid, but glad you're good so far. I was absolutely shocked I did not get sick in May when my DH had it. I was very militant about masking, hand washing, and distancing - but I did have to take care of him to some extent. I am immuno-compromised - my WBC are trash - and I am at the 6 month point from my last booster, so I was quite surprised.

minus - I love stuffed zucchini, if you have things to use up it is a good way to go.

cyathea - sorry to hear about your stomach issues - I had a Nissen fundoplication surgery in '95 to deal with just what wally describes above - silent reflux, although I did have esophageal spasms rather than classic heartburn. Medication did not help so I did have the surgery and it solved the problem. I got a lot of mileage from the surgery - usually it is only helpful for a short number of years, but I only recently have had issues again - but I also know what to avoid that gives me trouble. A GERD diet helps some people, but agree that needing a doc who recognizes the GI tendencies of ILC is critical.

DH cooked a giant Boston Butt in the baby Traeger for the 4th - he ate that mostly until last night, we had salad instead - a chef's salad for him, a Greek village salad for me. Funny about the cauliflower salad discussion - I made one too, which was mostly for DD. We have the AC guy coming this afternoon - we have two units, with one currently turned off due to some leaking from the part of the unit that is on the garage ceiling. It has been hot in the house by the end of the day - the house is L-shaped with one unit for each side. The one side that has all the guest bedrooms is the one that is off, which is fine since they are empty, but the kitchen falls halfway into that side. It was 85 F. in there the other day...

I am thinking burgers and sweet potato fries, but that may depend on what the AC guy is doing - we are the last appt of the day, so that DH can be here. I am an air-conditioning idiot, other than I know I don't like it when it isn't on in July in Florida...

I'm taking a premade meal out of the freezer...penne with roa's sauce and sausage.

I'll be wearing my Costco glasses tomorrow. My former optometrist said that wearing new glasses first thing in the morning lets your brain adjust easier to new lenses (my rx is the same, but the lenses are slightly taller and narrower). Would be great if they worked out and saved me about $800.

minus - AC situation currently in limbo. The gentleman did some adjustments, we are now instructed to run it on fan only for 7-10 days to dry it out, then assess. May be fixed, or may need more extensive repair. These units are more than 10 years old, and are pretty much run continuously, thus shortening their useful lives. A decision point will come if this did not fix things - do we do an expensive repair that will buy a couple more years, or spring for new units? Bleh. On the cootie catcher question - definitely had the answers inside when we made them.

I have been donating my cookbooks slowly over time. I usually go through and photocopy the recipes I like/use, then donate the book. Since I enjoy cooking, I started receiving cookbooks as the go-to gift from many. I don't have the room to store them so this has been my solution. I have many of the books that belonged to my parents - I tried to weed out because I had to send them from California to Virginia when I closed down their home, but I still have a lot of classics and ones that were sentimental to me. At this point I have more of their books than my own! Except for the cookbooks, lol!

From what I recall, Kimball was becoming more and more of a control freak (saw himself as the franchise) and some of his "side hustles" were taking resources & attention from CI, ATK and Cook's Country (which launched its own magazine). There were inklings of a "me too" situation even before "me too" became a thing. (He had professional friction with Collin-Davison--hints of which were, in retrospect, apparent on-air; and there may have been some confusion about his "boundaries" with Lancaster). He was becoming increasingly pedantic on-air as well, which didn't sit well with focus groups. Milk Street is a good fit for him. I agree that ATK is getting further & further afield culinarily, which has been inevitable to keep itself from being redundant. But IMHO that's a good thing. I like the science segments with Dan Souza, too. What really brought the on-air personalities/editorial staff into their own were the pandemic-necessitated "At Home" segments. It's refreshing to see them in real kitchens using less than restaurant-caliber appliances. Cook's Country was originally spun off to be a more basic and less esoteric alternative, but it too is becoming more adventurous. I'm glad to see them back in the studio again, interacting with each other...and noticing that over time neither of the two hosts seem to be immune to "middle-aged spread." With Kimball no longer kibitzing over their shoulder, they make a marvelous team and play off each other very well.

Of course, as a rather restricted eater (when I follow my diet) I get very frustrated by so much starch and even sugar in most of the savory recipes. (I tune out the baking segments, as they only make me depressed).

Cyathea, PPIs (Prilosec was the first, and Rx-strength is basically just double the OTC dose) were first developed for treatment of erosive esophagitis (pre-cancerous Barrett's esophagus) & stomach ulcers. The discovery of H. pylori infection as the cause of ulcers (and some esophagitis) brought PPIs to the fore--if dx is confirmed by biopsy, a short course of them plus an antibiotic can actually heal an ulcer. They do make it more difficult to absorb calcium & iron (because absorption of both depends to a degree on sufficient stomach acid), so many doctors urge weaning off them onto the H2 blocker Pepcid (famotidine; Zantac switched its formula to famotidine after ranitidine was found to have been manufactured with a possible carcinogen as part of the process). I tried, but couldn't do it. The OTC dose of Pepcid is supposed to be 10-20mg (1 or 2 tabs) at most; but the therapeutic dose can be as high as 40mg every 4-6 hours. Taking one pill of a PPI (I use Dexilant, still Rx-only, but the only one that works for me because it is a two-stage-release) is much more convenient for me--I can't be popping pills all day long (as of yet, because some day my life may depend on doing just that with some drug or another, and I want to hold off that inevitability as long as I can).

Thursday night we went to Calo. Dinner was prosciutto-wrapped melon over arugula, followed by grilled seafood (shrimp, scallops, calamari, & baby octopus) over rapini & cannelini beans. We shared, so no leftovers. Last night, we walked to Regalia (it was cool enough to need a jacket!). Bob had a Mediterranean salad and I had the squash-blossom appetizer (stuffed with goat cheese, dipped in beaten egg whites and deep-fried like a chile relleno) over arugula. Bob's entree was rigatoni alla vodka with peas & sausage; mine was the special sauteed branzino with cherry tomatoes (I subbed out garlic spinach for the mashed potatoes; I still have a leftover fillet in the fridge). Brunch today was a French rolled omelette (2 eggs+1 yolk), with herbs from my garden, grated Gruyere and a dollop of Boursin--I grated some of the remaining black truffle over it. That truffle was much more flavorful than the smaller one. For dinner, Bob stopped off at Boston Mkt--he had a carb-fest of meatloaf & gravy, mashed spuds & mac & cheese; for me, a roast half chicken, steamed broccoli, & creamed spinach (theirs has no starch). I ate the dark quarter and half the veggies. Think brunch tomorrow will be branzino.

The only sweet/salty I like are 1) pb and chocolate and 2) dark chocolate dipped potato chips . Most of my savory foods, I prefer savory. I know the Asian cuisines focus on balance and add a pinch or so of sugar to almost all of their meals. I tend to omit that if I find a recipe I like.

Tuna melt (open face) with baked beans and slaw.

Tonight will be some kind of Indian dish with spinach...not sure what it will be or if it will be a hodge-podge of ingredients but DH is craving Indian and I have a pound of organic spinach to use up.

My new glasses are *meh*...they are gorgeous and the lenses are clean and great but I think the progressive is a tad off and my computer distance is difficult to see perfectly. I'm giving it a few more days to see if my brain adjusts. The problem is that they measure the distances with the frames on, but as I explained to them, once you put in a hefty rx, they tend to slide down a bit, especially when I am slathered with lotions and sunscreens. I should just beg for cataract surgery (possibly years away) and I'd get to wear readers or at most, a slight rx.

I miss Bedo & Moon & Lacey and all. And Nance - it's time for you to check in too.

A neighbor brought me two fresh peaches from a crate she's ordered from Georgia. Absolutely delicious. Served sliced with heavy cream. That may be it for today. Too hot to eat.

I am embarrassed to say that the 78 (currently) is kicking my ass. Those temps are rare here and most unwelcome. I hope all those in the swelter zone are doing OK.

Leftover Palak "paneer" for tonight.

Took our cat to the vet for thyroid labs. OY on the yowling. I think he'll need an increase in thyroid meds. poor guy hates the vet as much as I do my doc visits, LOL.

p.s. I do hate the site as it is now and I keep hoping they tweak it for better. May give up.

Editing to add, it is now in the 66 range; boy am I a wussy-girl.

Last night's dinner was a frozen pizza cooked in the outdoor grill in oven mode, using the pizza stone. Worked so well. The pizza was a MN brand. It had little Italian sausage meatballs. I was well satisfied but dh would have liked more toppings.

Today is our 53rd anniversary. We're planning to go to Good Life cafe in Park Rapids for dinner. It's not an elegant restaurant but we've always liked their food.

I do not have any problem logging on and posting.

Happy Anniversary, Carole. Our anniversary will be on Thursday. 29 years.

Special, good to hear your AC is holding up.

Brats with broccoli and corn for tonight. DH goes back for his second steroid back injection thing tomorrow, so no doubt a repeat/leftover. For Thursday, we'll do our favorite take-out pizza.

Carole, 53 years!!! Congratulations!

Same to you, wallycat!