What's cooking ~ JANUARY, 2020

hopefully we'll have the HVAC system cleaned in mid February. They're coming Feb. 3 to give an estimate ~ probably not necessary because I'll pay anything to have the vent system cleaned out.

My sister sent us an Omaha steak package for Christmas and we had the steaks last night. Steaks from Costco aren't the reason we don't think very highly of them. I have not liked them much since before then. We had corn with them. Charlie had mac and cheese, I had half a baked potato.

When I lived in Junction City, there was a dairy farm just a couple miles out of town and they had an outlet store there. They not only sold milk but also sold things made by other people. There was a cattle ranch across the road from them and they sold their meat. It was expensive but really good. For Christmas, I sent Linda some meat from Heritage Foods. I hope she takes the hint and stops sending my Omaha Steak stuff. We never liked it much. For that matter, I once sent Charlie some Kansas City Steaks when he live in Seattle and also had some sent to me - In JC. It was manually tenderized and I never tried to order from there either.

Dirt and dust seems to be my fate this week. There's no way I can cook for a few more days. Hopefully the kitchen tile will get installed tomorrow and then I just have to wait for it to be grouted ~ probably not until early next week.

So tonight we're going out for the $16.99 Outback steak & lobster special. We're tired of going out but at this point we haven't much choice.

Burgers tonight, or should I say this afternoon? Joe wants to eat at 2:30. He has to or else it comes back up. He needs to go in for an endoscopy and check and see if his duodenum is open all the way. Ten years ago it had really narrowed due to an ulcer and he had to have it stretched. maybe it has happened again.
Tomorrow I am going to be stranded at home without a car. Katie is going out of town to visit friends and Joe is going back to Newport to see his briother's finished car restoration project. He is also going to see his sister. She has metastatic breast cancer and it looks like the end is coming sooner than we thought. I would go with Joe but I am not welcome. When it comes to cars, he doesn't want me around to interrupt his car talk. He is really weird about that.
My sister and her family and my other sister are at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. I may have to go up to her house on Monday to house and pet sit if her son Max decides he wants to go to the festival. It will give me a chance to look at her new home and pick up a Honey Baked Ham on the way back home.

Outback came through again! Every once in a while we get a 'bummer' meal, but tonight the 6 oz. sirloin was cooked just right (medium rare) without too much seasoning and the lobster was small but flavorful. It comes with one side so I got a baked potato and Dane got the mixed veg so we could split/share. For $16.99 it's a deal. We both had a drink and our bill came to under $50 plus tip. No complaints from either of us.

UNCLE JIMMY wrote:The cubed steak and the baby rigatoni with onions and beans.
The beef was fork tender.....

Low & slow ~ the best way to go! Good to have the addition of extra protein with the beans.

Lots of cooking going on in my kitchen today. We're having a champagne brunch in the building. When we made the calculations for food we thought we'd get maybe 30 people. Well, we sold 50 tickets, so I'm making extra food today. Big potato salad, 4 quiches, was going to make deviled eggs, had them cooked and peeled and a neighbour came and asked what I'm doing, so she said she'd make the eggs! Now I am going to make a rice dish/salad. Lots of fun.

Lore, that sounds like such fun to have a great turn-out for a community event. At our last Social Club meeting (once a month during 'season') I was elected President. Now it's going to be my job to see if I can get more people interested in participating in events to keep the sense of community forward.

******************

Dane cooked supper tonight. We went out to breakfast because, again, the whole house is such a mess. I had 'Ladies' Luncheon' today at 11:15 and ended up having a glass of iced tea. We worked all day cleaning up the master bedroom ~ the sink/countertop from the guest bath has been placed on the new cabinet because the countertop from the cultured marble place won't come until they install the shower base for the guest bath. It's pretty gross looking but I washed it down to get the dust off and we'll be fine for a few days of 'roughing' it.

I just did a quick mop of the floors with vinegar water to get rid of the covering of dust that was over all the floors. They still have mortar to chip off the kitchen and guest bath so all the nastiness isn't done yet but at least we have a fairly clean area to sleep for now. We moved the furniture from the guest bedroom into the master ~ cleaned everything before we put it in place. I washed the bedding, including the blanket and spread and I'm looking forward to having clean sheets for tonight.

So, here was the supper Dane cooked for us:

That looks like something Joe would make. LOL.

I did some serious vacuuming and worked up a sweat and now I smell like an old goat. Got to get in the shower fast.

My younger sister called and said her son wants to get engaged but has no money for a ring because he is paying for his last year of med school. Robin called me and asked if I still had mom's rings. I do and she is welcome to them. They diamond isn't great and it needs a new setting, but heck, it is free. The kids can upgrade later. His girlfriend is also a med school student. They should be doing fine financially in a few years. She was born in the US but is Cuban with blonde hair and blue eyes. I guess it is from her Spanish ancestry. Her name is Ashley. She is very petite and my sister thinks she is adorable. I am so happy for them.

Having grandmom's engagement ring would be so special. Best of luck to them.

You definitely have to be proactive when it comes to medical care.

UNCLE JIMMY wrote:Tina just finished bandaging my elbow......right after I fell off the desk chair; laughing so hard after seeing Danes delicious meal that he cooked for supper.

   

Awww, I'm so sorry, Jimmy. I certainly didn't mean to cause you injury! LOL

You'll have to snap a pic of her and Liam for us.....