March 2017, What's cooking For Dinner?

California weather can be strange. Next week we are getting cool again with rain.

Charlie and I are going to be out of town tomorrow morning so i intended to cook the corned beef today and finish the meal tomorrow in the afternoon.  Then i decided to go ahead and have the dinner tonight. I cooked some yeast bread instead of soda bread.  I did not cook half or the brisket because I plan to smoke it on Sunday.

Now, isn't that a thing of beauty!

We had cheeseburger quesadillas for dinner.

Norm, I've got to say that each time you bake bread, it looks like an advertisement in a magazine! No lie. Those loaves of bread looked really, really pretty -- and yummy!

Uncle Jimmy wrote:I think that generator is one really smart investment.
I remember I had a small 2KW generator, and years back, we had a 3 day power outage. You would not believe, the neighbors calling, and some, actually knocking on my door, and saying,"How come you have power?".... "We see lights on in your house!"....

One neighbor from across the street came over, and exclaimed,"Oh, how nice and warm it is in your house!" ..... Tina felt bad, and said,"If you want to come over to warm up, you are welcome!".... He said, "No, we are ok for now!" .... Now I'm thinking! ...this is the same guy that said he was going to get a generator..... ( 10 years in a row ). Yet, they wouldn't think twice, about taking a cruise or extravagant vacations.

That's what we figured about an investment, too, Jimmy.  Brian and I spent our younger days spending lots of money on ourselves and took many, many extravagant vacations but once you reach a certain age, your priorities have to change and often do because of age, like ours due to bad backs and medical situations.  We often speak of how smart we were to do the things we wanted when we were younger and able to enjoy them though some people thought we were being irresponsible.  We bought a house late in life but this year, our 19th year here, I'm paying off the mortgage, something I'm real proud of considering I refinanced the remaining $130K in 2008 and managed to pay that off in 9 years even though I lost my pretty lucrative salary in early 2010 and Brian retired in June of 2013.  

in 2012 when Hurricane Isaac hit New Orleans, we had no power for 9 days! Our neighbor had a portable generator going and was nice enough to offer us a spot for an extension cord, so we were able to keep our refrigerator going -- thank God!  But it was in August which is truly our most miserable month heat-wise, and without our central air I thought I was going to lose my mind!  It's bad enough during the day (luckily, the living area of our house and the master bedroom above it is on the north side of the house) but at night the heat made sleeping unbearable.  Well, for me anyway, Brian could sleep on a bed of nails!  He was so ticked at me 'cause for the last couple of nights I was sleeping in the car parked in front of our house (old 'hood so very few driveways here).  I'd run the motor and AC for a bit, turn off the motor and sleep in the driver's seat.  I'd wake up when it got hot and would re-start the car and the AC and repeat the process.  Brian was worried for my safety but I told him since that car held the only working AC in my life, someone would have to kill me to take that car away from me.  Though there was no curfew, I would see a police car pass slowly by every hour or so with its blue light flashing.  I knew my running lights (parking lights?) came on when the motor was on so I figured they could see me in the car but they never stopped to inquire.  I had my driver's license on me just in case they stopped.  I felt pretty safe and to be honest, I couldn't have cared less as I was THAT miserable.  

On day eight, my friend Linda across Lake Pontchartrain in Mandeville got power so she told us to come over.  She's about 30 miles away, I guess, maybe a bit more.  We asked our neighbor's tenants (a cop for a different parish than ours) to give us a call when power went back on.  Of course, that night about midnight, our first night at Linda's, the call came that our power was back on.  Linda had left her AC on really low when we went to sleep and everyone woke up freezing -- everyone but me, that is.  I'd moved from the twin bed next to hotbox Brian to one of her theater seats in front of her large TV with only a sheet to cover me.  I was in heaven!  

After that, we kept thinking about that whole house generator.  Unlike you, we're not very handy and since we have no garage, storage of a gasoline-powered appliance is a challenge, not to mention storage of the gasoline to power it.  Plus we'd have to have someone show us how to hook it up and I'd be afraid the two of us would damage something -- we're that clueless about stuff like that.  The generator itself (we got a GENERAC after I did a ton of research on them) wasn't as costly as I expected but the installation was the big nut -- I'd have preferred to put it near the back fence but that would've added another 15 or so feet to the lines, which would've added another ton of money.  We had to have it five feet from a fence, or from a home.  Plus you had to be careful where the exhaust went as it would kill plants/trees.  The location is not ideal but the cat loves the shade it provides.  

I interviewed three salesmen re installation and didn't go with the cheapest.  But the one we went with gave us a $700 discount for paying cash and GENERAC threw in a 5-year extended warranty, normally $500, for free.  When I was thinking about things (the good salesman told me to sit on his bid for a bit and GENERAC would probably sweeten the deal), they did indeed offer us a 10-year total extended warranty, normally $1200, for nothing.  Plus that installation company offered not only service for the darn thing (only $99 the first year), but monitors it remotely as does GENERAC so they will call us if there's a problem with the unit so we don't have to go inspect the lights on it regularly (we're not lazy just mechanically stupid!).  Plus they gave me a big discount on installing some type of breaker, which would prevent damage to the unit if both of our central AC units kicked on at the exact same time.  This doesn't happen often but I know our luck.  

And the install company was the ONLY one of the three that didn't try to sell us a generator larger than we needed.  We have natural gas in our house and have a lot of gas appliances (stove, water heater, dryer, central heat) which, of course, won't draw if the power is out.  I'd already used a Q&A on the GENERAC site and knew what size would be appropriate but didn't say a word.  That was based on square footage as well as the amount of gas appliances.  Plus, the guy we went with noticed how much natural light our house had, as he commented on our being in the living room and then moving thru the kitchen, and he noticed we had no lights on whatsoever -- our house is that bright, as we have lots of windows.  So I liked him right away and he was a "preferred" company with GENERAC so he had a nifty GENERAC program on his computer that he used as I answered questions and he toured our property that he filled out for more info.  Plus he was the only one who noticed how old our two central AC units are (we're here 19 years in August and haven't replaced them) so he advised that the newer units we'd eventually get are so much more energy efficient that their draw on the power would decrease substantially.  He just made me comfortable with his knowledge, his remarks about the "neatnik" man they had who would install it (I never even notice the piping on the side of our house and along the base of our deck -- never!) and what his company offered in the way of follow up.  We were both really pleased with our choice in the end, too.  And this company was the only one who included in their price pouring a concrete base to install the steel stand on which the generator sits.  It weighs 500 lbs. so I just couldn't imagine a steel stand sitting on our backyard grass with Louisiana's high water table, you know?  And they did a very neat job on that, too.

And one of the best things that happened was this.  We took the money out of Brian's 401(k) as he needed to make a decent sized withdrawal prior to reaching 70-1/2 years of age (he hits 70 in June) or you face a 50% penalty (yikes!).  I'm a pretty good stock picker so we earned 22% on his 401(k) funds last year, so we already earned the money back that we spent on the generator.  Brian, of course, thinks I'm a genius, which is pretty nifty in itself.

Sorry to go on and on, but then I always do, don't I?  I guess you got a cup of coffee, Jimmy, prior to reading this.  (Confession:  I used to be a computer typesetter in my younger days so I type really fast -- not as fast as I used to [I often tested at 125 wpm] since I cut my arm in 2010 and have three fingers on my left hand that are no longer fully functional.  But I still type pretty fast.  This results in a "book" being written before I even think about it.  Sorry if I offend anyone with this...)

I guess you got a cup of coffee, Jimmy, prior to reading this.

Cup of coffee???.... NOOooooo! I sat and enjoyed my English muffin, and coffee.
I enjoyed the post, and seriously thought to start up my generator, and enjoy the reality, and take it up a few notches!.... L O L !

Thank you Crybaby

Norm, your corned beef dinner looks scrumptious! I can't wait for supper tonight to have ours!

Ana, our Brazilian neighbor, mentioned at Ladies' Lunch today that she was going to order the restaurant's corned beef & cabbage for luncheon because she loves it and she would take the leftovers for another meal. I asked her if she'd like to come for supper as I was making a homemade dinner.....she was quick to accept!

Ana is a hoot and a half ~ she's lived in the US for 20 years. Next Saturday she will be sworn in as a US Citizen in Orlando, a long process, as well as expensive, but she came to this country completely 'legal'. Jeanie, one of our other neighbors, and I are going to drive down to Orlando to be Ana's witnesses and then we'll take her out to supper with the rest of the Lunch Ladies to celebrate with her. She'll be surprised and pleased and we can hardly wait to see the look on her face when she walks into the restaurant and sees a group of ladies there to wish her well and congratulate her on becoming 'one of us!'

Michelle....I, too, got a drink before reading your story.......love it!

(mine, OF COURSE, was NOT coffee ~ but it's red and has a good deal of Lea & Perrins mixed in.....)

Most of the restaurants and delis that have corned beef don't have corned beef brisket and in my opinion, they are not as good as brisket and home made corned beef brisket is the very best.

Supper was a huge hit for Dane and our friend, Ana. Even though they don't serve (or have available) corned beef in Brazil, she fell in love with the taste when she moved to the United States. And since she's a widow and lives alone with her dog, Buddy, she rarely cooks a large meal. She really appreciated the invitation.



I took too much!

The very first thing we always do with leftover corned beef is make Rueben sandwiches

That's why I bought some of our local deli rye bread!

Dane asked me not to forget the Thousand Island Dressing.....I said, "That's just mayo, ketchup & pickle relish.....I'll make all you want". LOL

I love the look of marbled rye. I can't seem to find it very often. Somehow it just makes the sandwich taste better. No corned beef for us. Katie doesn't eat beef and Joe isn't crazy about it.

I have been trying to connect my laptop to my DVD recorder and HDTV. I have Googled for the directions but no one seems to have the info. I did find out that I would have to get an HDMI to VGA adapter. I have ordered and returned about 6 of them. They don't come with instructions and I couldn't get them to work. I ordered another one and praise be! it had instructions. I now realize that all of those other adapters didn't come with a necessary audio cable. I got this one to work so now I can record things directly off my laptop onto a DVD. I hate techie stuff!

NormM wrote:Thank you Crybaby

You're welcome, Norm. Though I do admit being a crybaby as well as being "Crybaby," and want you to know that it's perfectly fine for you to call me Crybaby, feel free to call me Michelle as well if you're so inclined. Just FYI.

UNCLE JIMMY wrote: I guess you got a cup of coffee, Jimmy, prior to reading this.

Cup of coffee???.... NOOooooo! I sat and enjoyed my English muffin, and coffee.
I enjoyed the post, and seriously thought to start up my generator, and enjoy the reality, and take it up a few notches!.... L O L !

You crack me up, Jimmy, and never fail to make me hoot with laughter.

BTW, thanks for the picture of the little one now holding his bottle by himself. Pretty nifty. Next thing you know, he'll be driving!

bethk wrote:Ana, our Brazilian neighbor, mentioned at Ladies' Lunch today that she was going to order the restaurant's corned beef & cabbage for luncheon because she loves it and she would take the leftovers for another meal.  I asked her if she'd like to come for supper as I was making a homemade dinner.....she was quick to accept!

Lucky lady. Bet she swooned over your dinner. Knowing you, you probably sent her home with leftovers, too.

bethk wrote:Ana is a hoot and a half ~ she's lived in the US for 20 years.  Next Saturday she will be sworn in as a US Citizen in Orlando, a long process, as well as expensive, but she came to this country completely 'legal'.  Jeanie, one of our other neighbors, and I are going to drive down to Orlando to be Ana's witnesses and then we'll take her out to supper with the rest of the Lunch Ladies to celebrate with her.  She'll be surprised and pleased and we can hardly wait to see the look on her face when she walks into the restaurant and sees a group of ladies there to wish her well and congratulate her on becoming 'one of us!'

That's so nice of all of you, Beth! She's going to be not only excited but so grateful for the thoughtfulness of all of you ladies.

It's funny you mentioned that, as Brian went to get his hair cut yesterday and I went along, too. We both use Natalia, who's originally from the Dominican Republic, but she's cut back her days and hours since having her first baby, Daven, in September. (He's the baby we got those cute little baby clothes for; I forgot to ask you how your niece liked the gifts from there that you got her so let me know when you have a chance). Brian asked me on Wednesday to make an appointment for Natalia to cut his hair no matter how long he had to wait and since she had something open on Thursday, I got another young lady, Mandi, to wash and blow dry my hair (a task I hate doing). Brian and I both fell in love with Natalia about a year ago; she goes to school and is always studying, and is the first young person (I think she's 24 and is sooo cute) we've seen in ages to really be serious about her studies. Every time we're in there and she's not busy, she's studying in a book. When she's dried my hair in the past, we always talk (surprise!) and she often asks if she said something correctly. When I respond, "I understood you perfectly, Natalie," she'll say, "I know, Michelle, but please tell me how YOU would have said it."

Well, yesterday, Brian and I met up at the checkout desk along with Natalia and Mandi and Brian said, "Guess what tomorrow is for Natalia, honey." I guessed her birthday, and then her wedding anniversary. Brian said, "Nope, she's becoming a citizen." She and Brian both were staring at me as I congratulated her and all of a sudden Brian said to Natalia, "You owe me a dollar!" He bet Natalia a dollar that my eyes would tear up when he told me that and sure enough, they had. Everyone laughed when I slid my sunglasses down off my head onto my eyes. We are both not only so proud of her, but Brian told her that she's exactly the type of person we need to become a citizen. And I reminded her that a week from Saturday, she'll be able to vote in a local election. Everyone laughed when I said, "You now know more about America than the average American," as those tests for citizenship are really hard.

I was curious so I asked her, "How do your parents (who still live in the D.R.) feel about your becoming an American citizen," to which she replied, "They are so happy for me and are so proud of me for doing it." I thought that was wonderful. She showed Brian pictures of her baby, including one with her husband. He sent her over to my chair and she said, "Brian wants me to show you a picture of my husband." I howled, as he was DROP DEAD good looking -- no lie, he looked like a movie star, a young actor whose name escapes me. She said, "Brian said you would think he was handsome -- he was giggling when he said it and MADE me come over here." She's the cutest little thing and has a lovely family now. She, too, was here legally, I should mention. She's only able to go home occasionally due to the expense. She went home last summer before she was pregnant so we gave her "Christmas present" ahead of time for her trip (cashola, the best present of all). She was so tickled and grateful, too.

Please tell us, Beth, about Ana's reaction to all of you getting together for a celebratory lunch. I'll bet she cries! How nice she asked you to be one of her witnesses -- what a compliment to you, which is no surprise to all of us, as you're an all American sweetie.

Bugster2 wrote:I have been trying to connect my laptop to my DVD recorder and HDTV. I have Googled for the directions but no one seems to have the info. I did find out that I would have to get an HDMI to VGA adapter. I have ordered and returned about 6 of them. They don't come with instructions and I couldn't get them to work. I ordered another one and praise be! it had instructions. I now realize that all of those other adapters didn't come with a necessary audio cable. I got this one to work so now I can record things directly off my laptop onto a DVD. I hate techie stuff!

Congrats, Debbie. on your success! I hate techie stuff too but you seem a lot more ahead of the game than me, that's for sure.

Beth, not only did your corned beef dinner look superb, but you have the cutest little butter dish!

Stupid me -- I ran into the store today to get a beef brisket (not corned beef) as they were on sale and Brian likes to make this recipe from a friend of mine's mom -- Madge's Damn Good Beef Brisket!  Stupid me --  I had just read about some of your corned beef dinners so I mistakenly stopped and got a super looking flat corn beef brisket by mistake!  I didn't even realize it until 10 minutes ago when I saw your dinner Beth.  I just looked at Brian, who I had showed the corned beef brisket to as it was so good looking, and said, "I just realized I got a corned beef brisket instead of a beef brisket!"  He laughed and told me he'd realized it but didn't want to hurt my feelings so he figured he would be grilling tomorrow (we like to grill our corned beef and then serve it with a quickie sauce made from butter and browned sugar).  

I don't have room in the freezer for the C.B. so I'm going to return it tomorrow and get the beef one we'd intended to have.  He was sooo looking forward to making Madge's in the oven beef brisket, which is simple to throw together and really, really good.  It's funny, as I had that recipe printed out by Stephanie for about 10 years before we tried it.  Brian had been looking thru a big stack of my printed recipes and decided he'd make it one day.  And we're glad he did.

I bought a really nice digital camera about six months ago and keep forgetting to get it out of the box, read the instructions and learn how to use it. I got it mostly so I could post pictures like the rest of you. We don't have smart phones and don't want to get one just to take pics, as we have no need for texting either.

This camera has Wi-Fi and it will automatically jump to your smart phone if you want without a cable. I'm hoping I can make it do the same thing to my laptop, which seems sensible. I'll get help online I'm sure, as I'll never be able to figure that out on my own.

Bought a wire stripper/crimper today at Home Depot, along with some gardening stuff we needed. The weather today (high of 72 and low humidty) and this weekend is going to be the same absolutely stunning weather so we're planning a couple days outside to get the garden and containers all going. I have some herbs I need to pot that I picked up today (our whole bag of herb and vegetable seeds got water in them somehow and were all stuck together which we found out recently when we went to plant them in the raised garden in the yard).

I'm also currently bigtime into succulents. Have a large bunch of new ones, both sedum, hens and chicks and other types of succulents that I need to plant so I needed some more cactus/succulent soil. Got some nifty moss-covered planter forms too -- a super high-heeled shoe and another one that's a purse that you plant inside. I figured out how to plant them on the outside of the forms as well, too, though they will have to be kept outside if I do that, as I'll have to take the lining out so they'll leak water when I water them. Can't wait to get going. I've got Brian all into the succulents as well, and I can't wait until fall and winter when the colors all come out and they look so vibrant.

I just need to pick up some aquarium charcoal and gravel that I didn't find at Home Depot -- I also want to pick up some big glass bowls to make some open style terrarium looking potted succulents. Brian will freak out, I know, when he sees the little fairy-size ladybugs, frogs and other tiny stuff I plan to get for those "terrariums." He has turned into quite the gardener, too, which makes it even more fun for me. I've got to make a little cactus garden pot for him, too, as he was ogling all the brightly colored tiny cactuses today at Home Depot. They had a large selection of reasonably priced succulents, too, which looked nice and healthy. I found a super place online that has a huge selection of echeveria and other kinds of harder to find succulents -- they're not badly priced either, and they shipped some to me today in just perfect condition and all nicely labeled, too, so I know which is which.

Happy gardening to anyone who indulges in it! I know Beth does and our climates are similar so we're off to the races a bit sooner than some of you.