Friday Food 12-10-21

Marbles for dinner?   Well, round things, anyway.  I hadn't thought of shapes when I prepared this dinner the other night.  I had fresh Brussel sprouts and a bag of fresh tiny potatoes.  Dipped into a bag of Trader Joe's cocktail meatballs (always a handy protein in the freezer)  and I ended up with a pie plate of "marbles".  I added a scoop of sour cream and a sprinkle of dried chives.  It was all delicious.  As the years roll by I find I eat simple meals and don't do much menu planning.  I buy veggies that look fresh and good at the market, sometimes eating just one thing for a meal.  Just broccoli or just green beans or rice with braised celery.  I have been eating more fruit lately, I suppose because fuyus are in season and there are still good pears to be found.  But my sweet tooth demands something sweet after a meal. Cookies are usually my favorite.  But that carrot cake from Katella Deli was fantastic.  Only a couple times a year though, it is very rich, rather expensive, and requires a 30 mile drive to Los Alamitos.  

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Food - Fuyus 12-09-21

I do love Fuyu persimmons and have several friends that share with me when their trees are loaded.   One of Carol's neighbors has a tree in their front yard and I don't think they eat them.  So, every year I knock and ask if I can pick some and they always say "help yourself" and I do!  The smallish trees are rather nondescript, but have nice shiny oval leaves.  Fuyus are best eaten when they are crisp and hard, like an apple, but you can also let them riipen until they are soft like the hachiya persimmons and scoop the flesh out with a spoon.  This can be used in cookies and puddings, however the hachiyas are a better choice for that.  

Hachiya  vs  Fuyu

Fuyu cut lengthwise and horizontal.

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Wordless Wednesday December 8, 2021

 

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Art Quilt group in SDiego 12-07-21

Saturday I drove to SDiego for the in-person meeting of the art quilt group I belong to down there.  Everyone was able to attend and we had a great meeting.  There was Show & Tell, including some work from the past, before the group was formed.  It is always interesting to see these earlier pieces and recognize the growth the artist has made.  I had nothing new or in progress, so I took a set of small works purchased at silent auction at the SAQA 2015 conference in Portland, OR.  Including these three.

"Bird"  Kristin Shields 2015  Machine pieced, hand applique and embroidery, machine quilted.

" New Zealand: Pukeko"  Martha Wolfe - Davis, CA  2015

Machine pieced and appliqued, hand embroidery , machine quilted.

"At the Market"  Terry Grant - Beaverton, OR  2015

  Machine Embroidery and applique.  This is done from the back. 

The meeting was at Judy Warren-Tippet's home and I supplied the refreshments.  We had a large fruit plate (which I failed to photograph) with Fuyus, green grapes, oranges, raspberries, dates, and honeyed pecans.  And for dessert after our bring-your-own-lunch we had a fabulous carrot cake from Katella Deli in Los Alamitos, CA.  It is very moist and coarse textured with all the fruits and nuts and not too heavy on the spices.  And then there is the yummy cream cheese frosting.  

It is an eight inch round cake with three layers and it is very rich, so one doesn't need a huge piece.  I brought home enough to share with my neighbor Mark-to-the-South, who takes care of putting out and bringing in my trashcans every week.  What a good neighbor who deserves a large slice of his most favorite cake. 

The traffic wasn't bad either direction and it was easy to drop off KoKo with Nancy Ota and to pick him up on my way home.  She wore him out and he slept almost all the way home.  

Altogether a really enjoyable, memorable day. 

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Pain free! KoKo & Froggy 12-02-21

Here is KoKo with Froggy in his arms.  Left paw underneath his body and right holding on to his head.  Froggy needs to have another surgery, but minor.  Maybe I can do it tomorrow.  This picture is from a couple days ago, but he had a bath and trim today so he isn't this shaggy. 

I had another epidural today and now I have no pain!  Hope I am not celebrating recklessly.  I anticipate it will come back, hopefully not soon.  I do have a headache and some nausea, but suspect that is from the anesthesia.  When we walked this evening I stepped up on the curbs without wincing.  I was very tired when I got home from the surgery center(driven by my friend Dick, Carol's husband), so KoKo and I had a nice nap.  Tonight I am still tired and anticipate a good night's sleep without pain. 

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Wordless Wednesday 12-01-21

 

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Christmas creeping up 11-30-21

Out of the fifty or so houses in my immediate neighborhood (what I call the Loop) only about eight have Christmas lights or decorations up.  

The giant skeleton has been dressed up with a santa suit.  No hat, so far.  I wonder what will they do after Christmas?   A beating heart for Valentines?  Bunny ears for Easter?The two blackbirds have flown away to be replaced by black gift boxes.  

I needed a Covid test within five days of my scheduled epidural, which is Thursday, and had to drive down to my doctor's office in Orange.  I couldn't find a pharmacy nearby with an open reservation.  I didn't think about making a reservation last week to have the test this week - duh!  Anyway it only took about an hour and 15 minutes to drive there, have the one minute swab and drive home.  The test was negative, as I expected.  I try to be masked and distanced when I am among people.   Even at the Starbuck's drive thru window.  One doesn't know these days.

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