Thursday, September 16, 2010

Fall is here. Put on my first turtleneck of the season!

I have no idea where my camera is, so all of today's photos were taken with my phone. Not bad for phone photos.

Before I was really awake, we were out the door to see Dr. Burstein. Hoping I'd get my stitches out. I didn't. But I CAN drive! Hooray! Took a cup of decaf in the car. I like the way the picture came out: all jiggly.

We stopped at Dunkin on the way home, and I had one of their egg-white flatbread thingies, and another cup of decaf. I wonder if I could call decaf JO instead of JOE since the E (for energy) isn't in it? A cup o' jo sounds better than always saying decaf.

Had a cup o' soup for lunch. One of those Telma mushroom soup cubes. I really like them.

I even washed my studio mug for the occasion.


Late afternoon tea. Today's was some herbal thing that bills itself as Relax. I put a touch of homey in it, but despire the plastic lemon being in the picture, I didn't add any lemon. This tea is citrusy enough.

Cocktail hour and scrabble. Pam B. and Carol came over for scrabble and dinner. My cocktail was made-up and not measured. It needs a little less liqueur, but it's good enough to name.

How about the GOATE? My letters in the game... I was going to play GOATEE, but Pam played on the open E!! With a Q no less!

The GOATE:

2 oz. bourbon
1/2 oz. orange liqueur (Gran Oranj, Grand Marnier, etc. I used Le Belle Orange)
about 1/2 oz. orange juice
dash of grenadine

Carol brought a bag of blue corn chips, so I had a handful. I also had a handful of honey-roasted peanuts, and I did NOT take a picture on purpose because I've bad-mouthed them twice now. I guess I keep thinking maybe the next handful won't be as sweet.

The beginning of an extended dinner, as Morrow, Pam, and I talked for a long time after Carol had to leave.

Asian salmon cakes, from Wisdom House:

Chopped salmon, ginger and garlic, a whole bunch of scallions chopped, tamari sauce, a splash of orange juice, and shredded nori leaf. There were no measurements given in the recipe, so I'm guessing everything was OK. I personally would have like more ginger and more tamari.



I served the salmon with rice, and a salad.

And I had a little glass of red wine.

Not photographed was a second helping of salad and a little more wine in my glass.

And another small bite of salmon cake. Carol didn't eat much of hers. I'll take the rest for lunch tomorrow.


As we sat and talked, I grabbed some red grapes which I think Carol also brought. They were good!

As if I didn't eat enough tonight, I saw Morrow eating a cookie and just had to have one. That was the red wine whispering "cookie" in my ear.

And a cup o' jo

That's a stop 'n' shop M&M cookie, by the way.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Woke up way too early this morning and started trying to clean up the kitchen because Carol and Carolyn D. were coming to play Scrabble.

Eventually slowed down and had a good breakfast. I melted some white New York Cheddar on the corn tortilla as it toasted, then added a sliced hard boiled egg and three slices of local tomato.

And a cup of decaf.

When the scrabble game finally got underway, it was nearly 11 am. We played outside, and it was quite chilly (but sunny) today, so I had a cup of chai, just milk and tea and spices, but no honey.

Carolyn is trying a new nutrition regimen, one which wants her to eat lots of raw carrots, so she came with a pound of carrots. I peeled them and quartered them so we had them as snacks during the game.

Carolyn said they were awful -- bitter. I had to see for myself. She was right. Not good!

Carolyn also brought some tuna fish salad for our lunches, another thing she is being encouraged to eat more of (tuna).

I had some romaine, and had another several slices of tomato. And because it was so chilly, I heated up a quart of butternut squash soup, another of the Stop 'n' Shop Nature's Promise organic line. They aren't bad for packaged soup, but how hard would it be to make some from a real butternut squash? It would probably be a little less bland.

I put a handful of sesame sticks in the soup. They weren't crunchy -- I should've left them out. But the tuna was very nice.

By mid-afternoon, I was hungry again and feeling crappy. I've been feeling crappy all day -- headache, ankle hurting because I'm not keeping it up.

Lipton orange herbal tea and the last of the sesame sticks, along with a little packet of almonds.

As I started to fall asleep, I decided I'd better do something, so I tackled Martha and Micah's quilt, which has a date with the big sewing machine in Simebury on Friday. It's so HUGE!!


I worked on the quilt until after 6, and when I heard Morrow putting ice in a glass, I turned off the iron.

Tonight's drink is something already invented, I'm sure, but I like it. Raspberry vodka, Chambord, and fresh lime juice.

And I had some ancient "baby" carrots (dried up but still crisp) and some even more anceint red pepper hummus I found lurking in the very back of the fridge. Not moldy or anything, but it was getting pretty dried up.

I left no time to think about dinner, so I thawed some thin-sliced chicken breast, cut up half an onion, one small zucchini and one broccoli crown and threw them in the electric skillet with some olive oil.

Then I threw in some of the larger-sized couscous and browned that. For eassoning, I found a half envelope of Thai spices and threw that in, along with a couple of cups of chicken broth, put the lid on and let the couscous cook.

Then I got a phone call I couldn't get out of, and things were cooking too hot, most of the broth boiled away, and the couscous wasn't done. I added some water, but I knew I couldn't turn this into something really good. I added a couple of tablespoons of cream cheese to try to thicken the sauce and make it creamier, but it didn't really help. It was boring and overcooked, but thank God for the Thai spices. Without those, it would have been deadly.

A disappointing dinner was following by a disappointing bowl of plain yogurt with a touch of apricot preserves in it. I really wanted something chocolate and decadent, like the last of the Cherry Garcia ice cream, but it was already gone. No chocolate in the house! The yogurt tasted fine, and I think for the first time all day, I don't feel like eating!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Everything normal today -- I slept until after 8. What a treat.

Breakfast of a toasted corn tortilla, a wedge of laughing cow light swiss, some leftover green beans and a dribble of Annie's All-Natural Asiago salad dressing. I think I identified this incorrectly in a previous day's report as Amy's Lite. It's not "lite" and it's not Amy's. Amy's makes the pot pies, Annie's makes the mac and cheese with the cute bunny on the box.

And a cup of decaf.

Lunch: "Friends"-sized cup of Stop 'n' Shop broccoli soup, this time not diluted with the water anything cooked in, but with the last of last night's green beans cut up in it. And a handful of sesame sticks.

I was still a little hungry, so I had a light mozzarella stick. They aren't as good as the cheddar ones.



Had to eat an early supper because of SONE, but I tarried too long in the sewing room, so I left myself little time for anything creative for dinner. And I really didn't feel like playing with cocktails either, but I wanted something, so I had a dirty martini. Haven't had one is ages. Now I remember why I like them: the olives!

After saying what I said about the honey-roasted peanuts yesterday, I'm embarrassed to have taken a few more. But I did. And I didn't like them much better this time. They were on the kitchen counter, calling my name.


So the uncreative dinner was a couple of breaded chicken tenders, over which I put some peach salsa I found in the fridge. Morrow had catsup on his. GAG.

And some asparagus, which I overcooked horribly. It was mushy!

Along with uncreative, and mediocre, I ate it before taking a picture. So what, you ask, is the photo below? It's the miracle of Photoshop, after the fact!!


I hate to admit to cheating on the picture, but surely SOMEONE would notice it looks a little fake. The chicken are two uncooked, frozen pieces from my freezer. The plate is, of course, mine. The asparagus came from a Google image search. Notice the nice drop shadow it has, trying to match the real drop shadow of the chicken.

The salsa was more of a challenge, and because it wasn't as easy as the asparagus, it's also worse-looking. Looks like red throw-up! Just a blob of salsa taken from a Google image of salsa. The peach salsa was actually more of a cooked-peach color, not this red.

I know I also said last night that I was going to stop having desserts. Well, I had to have this one. When I bought figs on Sunday, I bought eight. I ate four. I was going to have the others for breakfast tomorrow. Well, three of them were moldy tonight. One so bad I had to throw it away, and the other two not so bad that I couldn't just cut off the outside. The fourth was perfect. I cut them up, put a few spoonfuls of yogurt on it and a cut-up piece of crystallized ginger.

And a small glass of red wine.

A good SONE rehearsal. A nice ending to a nice day.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Sleepy day, stomach in full-blown rebellion!

Red grapes and decaf for breakfast.

For lunch, I mixed some packaged cream of broccoli soup (Stop 'n' Shop's Nature's Promise line) with the leftover broccoli from last night, water and all. So it was thinner than what was in the package, but was quite OK for an upset stomach.

I added a few sesame sticks to it.







I was so sleepy that I actually went to bed and took a real nap, not just nodding off on the couch.

Later on, my stomach started feeling a little better. I had a small tomato as a snack. RIsky behavior -- acid!

Carol came over so we could watch the second half of a BBC drama I had rented on Netflix called "North and South." So we were fixing dinner and cocktails while watching the movie. Both of us had to leave for 7 pm engagements.







Cocktail tonight fast, not exotic. The Cheech, named for Cheech Marin of Cheech and Chong and invented (?) by Green Day: Tequila and tonic, with a wedge of lemon.

For dinner, I threw together not-quite-fish tacos. I used frozen breaded haddock, the last of the fresh salsa I didn't like, a little grated jack cheese and shredded lettuce instead of cabbage, no cilantro and no sauce. The ingredients are all good, but overall effect is not what I was hoping for.

I went to the Monday night knitting-sewing-quilting group at Border's again, and again it was someone's birthday, so there was a homemade lemon cake. I almost finished my piece before remembering to take its picture. And I forgot to take a picture of the cup of coffee I bought to go with the cake.

This dessert thing could be habit forming. No more for a while.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Wow, it's so easy to forget a day just two days ago!

Breakfast was yogurt and two plums cut up on it. And my decaf. I've had an upset digestive tract since the surgery. I think it's from not moving much. Anyway, I thought this would feel good.

Went to church for almost the first time since Easter. St. John's Pine Meadow. Want to like it there because it's close by and I could walk or bike.

Carol came over after church and took me to the supermarket. I needed catfood and vegetables and fruit.

I bought some figs and had to have two of them right at Stop 'n' Shop.

I had two more when I got home.

And then I tried one of those Asian noodle cups, one that didn't have as many calories as they usually do.

It was so sweet, I had to check the ingredients. The second ingredient was dried cane juice. They would have been a lot better without the sweetness.

Scrabble, of course, and then went to sew but started looking at the patterns I had bought the other day at Wal-Mart. I want to make some winter skirts, went crazy at Goodwill, but still didn't find exactly what I was looking for. So on the spur of the moment, we jumped in the car and drove to Joann's in Waterbury. I bought fabric for two skirts and spent more than all the clothes I bought at Goodwill. And I still have to make the skirts!!



The cocktail at the right is NOT the one I made and drank, but it looks just like it, so I used the photo from a couple of nights ago.



This one is called Eldersour:

1 1/2 oz. rose-hip infused vodka (homemade)
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
1/2 oz. St. Germain elderflower liqueur
1 egg white
Shake vigorously in a shaker, and garnish with several drops of Peychaud's bitters.

And a few honey-roasted peanuts. Didn't like them either. Too sweet. Not that I don't like things sweet -- look at the cocktail! But nuts and Asian noodles should be salty.

Really good dinner. Turkey cutlets, which are 1/4" thick slices of organic turkey breast (obviously sliced when the turkey was frozen, because the slices are so perfect), dredged in packaged breadcrumbs and sauteed in part margarine, part vegetable oil, salt and petter. And steamed broccoli.

The wine is foamy because I poured it into the same glass I had my foamy cocktail in.

Couldn't resist finished the little bit of New York Chocolate Ben and Jerry's. There wasn't much.

LOVE CHOCOLATE!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

The ninth anniversary of the World Trade Center attack. It seems both far away and like yesterday. It's going to be one of those events that everybody can tell you exactly where they were, like the Kennedy assassination. So many people alive now were not even born by 1963. Or Neil Armstrong landing on the moon. I woke Andrew up to see it, even though I knew he wouldn't remember it. He was 14 months old.

Anyway, food.

I actually thought about making all of my pictures today include repeated circles, but I didn't feel like having a tortilla this morning, so I made tubular rolls of ham around cheddar cheese sticks (Sargento low-fat -- they really aren't bad at all, not like other low-fat cheese. And for Weight Watchers, they are only one point each! 60 calories.)

I worked all day at the computer, starting and finishing the fall issue of the Sweet Adelines newsletter. 19 pages! But I drank a lot of tea and coffee (decaf, I know).

This one right after breakfast. Mid-morning, it was time for tea, and the only tea I have downstairs is either chai or peach. I had the peach first.




Notice the circle design on that cup.

I wanted to add some soy milk, and I had some buried deep in the fridge. But it has gone bad. I don't think I've ever tasted much worse that sour soy milk. I just took a sip, and I did not take a picture of it.

Lunch: too busy to do much about it, so I grabbed a spoon and the tupperware bowl and finished the tabbouleh.

Anyway, it's a large circle. You can see it was a beautiful day outside. Too bad I was stuck inside!


By mid afternoon, it was time for the chai. Boiled the milk, brewed a heap of tea and chai spices, and added just a little honey. It was too strong!


Still chugging on the newsletter!

Before I knew it, it was time for a real drink!

I should have named something for the twin towers, but I made this one up instead. It will go into my Cum Spiritu Tuo book:

The Confessional

2 oz. silver tequila
3/4 oz. fresh lime juice
1/2 oz. X-rated
1/4 oz. real Grenadine
1 small-medium (1 1/4 oz. liquid) egg white
Peychaud's bitters
Maraschino cherry

Shake really well in a cocktail shaker and drain into a stemmed cocktail glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry and a few shakes of Peychaud's bitters into the foamy head so it looks interesting. What am I confessing? Murder? Adultery? Loss of virginity? Or just "what happens in Mexico stays in Mexico"?

Still with circles. Dinner was marinated, grilled flank steak and grilled zucchini and a glass of red wine. The end of the cabernet sauvignon with a splash of jug pinot noir.

I marinated the flank steak in bourbon, soy sauce and Worcestershire with sea salt and mixed pepper. Pretty much all day. It was so good!

Ending the day right now with a cup of decaf. Newsletter finished, at least until someone sends me something last minute. And I'm sure they will.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Another day of inactivity.

Breakfast was late -- I actually stayed in bed until 9 this morning!!

This picture reminds me of how much fun I had taking a picture a day, and when I had themes. This would have been amazing for Circles. The plate, the coffee cup, the egg, and the shadows -- all circles. Cool!

Lunch: Thank God I made that big bowl of tabbouleh the other day. I'm just not in the mood to do anything difficult. I almost hit the peanut butter until I remembered I had this. Makes a really nice lunch.

Spent the entire day working on the bottle database on the computer. It's frustrating because it takes so long to find the pictures, and I have to take a bunch of them over again that were on my computer, not backed up, when it was stolen last year. But it's pretty brainless work.

Putting the leftover stuffed shells in the oven, I made up a new cocktail. Sweet, but the lemon brightened it up. I'll call it, temporarily anyway, the

Better Than Vicodin

2 oz. bourbon
almost a full ounce fresh lemon juice -- it could be less
1/4 oz. Amaretto
1/4 oz. La Belle Orange (could be Grand Marnier, but Orange Curaçao would be too cloying)
3 dashes of orange bitters.

I stirred it with ice instead of shaking and straining into a cocktail glass, just because I didn't want to walk to get the shaker or the glass.

Dinner: stuffed shells, a little applesauce, and a piece of rosemary bread.

And a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon. In the same glass as I had my cocktail in -- the bits of lemon are what makes the glass look dirty.


And tonight's splurge was a little of the New York Chocolate Whatever ice cream and a little Cherry Garcia.

I had a cup of decaf and forgot to take its picture. Oops!