Category: Food & Drink

Oh, to be oblivious

I’ll spare you the excruciating details, but my knees et al turned into quite the sciatic flare-up, and I’ve behaved badly … whining incessantly about the weather being gorgeous, and who is not playing golf? Dale is ready to throw me out the window, and even the cat hates me. I have been able to walk a little bit every day, so that’s good.

I’m on the mend, but I have long-term issues that need to be resolved. I’ve been reluctant to go on the meds such as Lyrica or Gabapentin, figuring I’m better off abusing Advil once or twice a year. But now I don’t know. I’ll see what my primary care physician has to say when I see her toward the end of next month – the soonest I could get in.

The thing about a flare-up is that it makes you appreciate any day you wake up and feel pretty good. Staying strong and healthy is important to me, but I tend to overdo everything and have a hard time leaving well enough alone. Perhaps I see more complacency in my future. Kinder, gentler, slower, easier – these are the words that are starting to resonate. Forgive me if I’ve said that before, but maybe you have to say it 10 times for it to stick.

On the food front, I made my annual kabocha squash red curry, which is absolutely utterly fantastic. It’s a great fall dish, especially since the pomegranates are in season. I cut the recipe in half, and it makes enough for two and a leftover. If you make it, the timing is off. The squash is done at about 20 minutes or less, definitely not 45.

I had some pomegranate seeds leftover and sprinkled showered some on top of yogurt and granola. If that isn’t already a thing, it should be.  

Dale, the neighborhood watch, just came into tell me there’s some kind of a mummies convention going on down the street. I thought, wow, they are taking Halloween to a new level around here. But he meant mummies as in mommies with strollers. I just hope they’re not the mad yoga moms with guns and stuff. I suspect that’s a demographic in our neighborhood.

I wonder about the mad moms, because there’s a local election, and I see a fair number of signs for a candidate emphasizing school choice, which would allow parents to use our tax dollars to send their kids to private schools. Even though I am a childless cat lady, I’m all about supporting public education!

The good news is I have not seen a single sign for the presidential candidates. It’s better this way. I was daydreaming about how great it will be when this election is over, except it’s probably not going to be over like it used to be over. I’m trying to let go and pay less attention to the whole business, but it seems I’m hard-wired to stay connected to the state of the union.

Perhaps I’ll be oblivious in my next life. Something to look forward to!

Pizza therapy

We had company for 10 days, and our guest just left this morning. It was a great visit, but it is weird sharing your space with someone different. Dale and I have lived together more than 46 years, so we have this rhythm that probably seems dysfunctional to everyone else. It’s like osmosis gone bad.

My sister-in-law, our guest, is kind of a picky eater. My sister is as well. That can be challenging for foodies. As a couple, our superpower is that we like virtually anything edible and pretty much eat on the same schedule. That’s good.

Friends used to call us the camels, because we can go all day without consuming much of anything and then make up for it later. That’s bad, because it’s probably not healthy and most people don’t live like that. We forget other people have to eat. Still, we managed and nobody starved.

The solution, like so many solutions, involved pizza – twice – and then separate pies to accommodate topping preferences. I’m not sure pizza as therapy is sustainable, but it works in the short-term.

The weather is betweenish. Cool some days and then back to heat. I’m ready for fall food, but it doesn’t seem quite right. I like it chilly before I start in on the soups and stews. But it’s good golf weather, and in the end, it’s all about golf. We’re currently playing best two out of three rounds for the women’s club championship, and after two rounds, I have a three-stroke lead.

I don’t know how that happened! I’m usually so terrible at competition, but I have worked on my mental game, which must be the key. I believe learning to lose has helped me enjoy the occasional win. That, and physical therapy, which has strengthened my core.

Anyway, the person in second place is a much better golfer, but she hasn’t played as well as she normally does. She will most likely blow me out of the water in the final round. And I’m surprised to find myself looking forward to seeing how I fare, warts and all. I think this is called evolving.

A brief political update:

As regular readers will know, I am a U.S. Army veteran, and my husband is a retired Army major. I was trained as a military journalist at the Defense Information School (DINFOS), which is the same place JD Vance went, except I turned out OK.

For years, I have followed Trump’s disrespect for the military and have been surprised people don’t know the extent of his disdain or do and would vote for him anyway. I thought maybe a little summary would help a few undecideds.

Although I didn’t write it from scratch, I went through all the news accounts, reorganized the information, changed the wording a bit and pieced together a one-pager you may share. Or you can use it as talking points for your political discussions with friends.

“A Shameful Pattern of Disrespect” is here on my downloads page.

Happy 4th of July

Well, July came screaming in like a mofo. The election, the Supremes, extreme heat, power outages and Bones reruns no longer on Freevee. Even the episodes I’ve already watched. Gone as of July 1 unless you pay. I’m starting to believe in conspiracy theories.

When the going gets tough, it’s time to finally buy a Vitamix and hunker down with smoothies. Mine arrives today. Just in time to save me from myself.

Dale, who is also in a funk, is thinking about an immersion circulator – sous vide. He hates the stress of getting a steak exactly the way we like it on the grill, and this method takes a lot of the guesswork out.  

Such bougie little solutions to world-class problems, but there you have it. To quote the Pet Shop Boys, happiness is an option. I can honestly say I stayed happy throughout my cancer treatment 25 years ago. I chose to be happy then, and I choose to be happy now.

Maybe it’s the heat, but I had a craving for watermelon. I’m usually disappointed in melons, so I rarely buy them. And then they’re so big. But Safeway had a smaller chunk of one cut and wrapped, and it looked really ripe. That was my breakfast this morning, and it was delicious.  

Dale is a recovered fireworks junkie. He loves all things that go boom. His dream is to be adopted by that family that implodes buildings. But he backed away after we got cats, and fireworks freaked them out. Fireworks are illegal in our county, but that never stopped him in the past. The stories I could tell. But I won’t. Not sure about the statute of limitations.

OK, sure, since you asked nicely. This one shouldn’t get him in trouble. We were living in Alabama, Huntsville to be exact, and he had a stockpile of the biggest baddest fireworks available on the open market. Maybe the black market, too. I’m still not sure.

It wasn’t even dark when he started firing off pyrotechnics in the front yard, and that escalated as the evening wore on when he and two brothers down the street we called The Darryls started trying to outdo each other. Beer was involved. The street looked like a war zone.

The police came, and as I recall, Dale stuffed wads of fireworks down his pants and politely told the cops he didn’t have any. Just enjoying the holiday with his family. In the front yard with piles of smoky debris and empty beer cans.

I think the policeman said something like, sure, buddy, but it’s over now, got it? And Dale said something he apparently rehearsed many times over, “Yes, officer.”

I’m not sure what happened to The Darryls, they’re probably still in jail, but the festivities came to a screeching halt. It wasn’t the first time we had to clean up the street in the morning, but it was the last.

We have no special celebration plans, but we will eat well and won’t be blowing things up.

For dinner, Dale is grilling what we call Hunk-O-Lamb. I’m making tabbouleh, which is a bulgar wheat salad mixed with spring onion, tomatoes, mint and parsley and then tossed with an olive oil and lemon juice vinegarette seasoned with some dried herbs. Oh, and fresh corn on the cob. Perhaps a Zinfandel.

It will be hot, but we still might eat outside. Once you get all that food in you and your body is heated up, it’s nice to cool off in the pool before bed. It’s all part of the live well no matter what strategy.

Happy 4th of July. Or happy Thursday if you’re not from these parts.

Dancing with protein powder

While I’ve known for some time older adults need more protein in their diets, I assumed I was getting enough. But when I finally sat down to figure it out, it seems I was woefully shortchanging myself.

My physical therapist recommended 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight. I weigh 135 pounds, which is 61.2 kilograms. In rough numbers, that means about 60 grams of protein per day. Other research says adults over 50 should average about 75 grams per day. 

I found it challenging to consume that much in my normal diet, so I decided to dance with protein powder. Ready-to-drink protein shakes are an option, but I avoid processed food. As for the powders, many are sweetened with Stevia, which gives me diarrhea. That’s why I went with the unflavored variety. 

There are different kinds of protein powder, and I choose whey isolate. From what I’ve read, whey protein isolate is considered the gold standard for muscle growth, as it’s a complete protein, and it’s quickly absorbed. I randomly picked this particular product, and I’ve been quite happy with it.

Although I love fruit, I didn’t want to fool around with traditional smoothies. The powder is pretty delicious just mixed with milk, vanilla extract and a little maple syrup. That’s about 25 grams of protein all by itself. I might have that if I’ve skipped lunch and need to eat something but don’t want a meal.

However, my favorite recipe is hardier and includes other ingredients that boost the protein count and add flavor and nutrients. I drink this maybe three times a week for breakfast. I’m still focusing on my complete diet because I love food and there are lots of tasty protein options out there. The powder is merely a supplement.

The two biggest variables in the drink are Greek yogurt and milk. I’m a big fan of whole milk dairy products and normally don’t worry about calories, but for something I’m going to consume frequently, I figured it was better to go with nonfat. Interestingly, nonfat Greek yogurt is slightly higher in protein than the 5 percent variety.

I include olive oil, because it’s good for you, and I like the taste. It adds calories, but I think it’s a worthy trade-off. You could easily omit it.

As for milk, all kinds work – dairy, soy, almond, oat. I’ve experimented with dairy and almond. I like them both. Dairy is higher in calories, but it’s also higher in protein. I’ve been defaulting to almond, but I might mix it up from time to time.

One of the things I love about the recipes without fruit is that I can mix them up quickly with an immersion blender and my favorite tall measuring cup. Seriously easy clean-up. I rinse the head off and let it dry on the rack. The cup goes in the dishwasher.

Here’s my go-to breakfast drink:

In a tall measuring cup add: 1 cup unflavored almond milk, 1 scoop unflavored protein powder, about 1/3 cup or 75 grams nonfat Greek yogurt, 1 tablespoon almond butter, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Whiz with an immersion blender and enjoy!

My calculations put this at 470 calories and 38 grams of protein. Using dairy milk pushes it up to 515 calories and 45 grams of protein. 

As I said, I’m no expert and certainly don’t want to come across as preachy, but I figure most of us want to stay healthy and age well, and we can all learn from each other. I’m doing a lot of core strengthening exercises in my physical therapy, so presumably more protein will help me build muscle, but that will take time. Same with building bone density.

It seems like nothing good happens overnight, so I’m in for the long haul.

The heat is on

We’re finally at the point where everyone starts complaining about the heat. That means the weather is just how I like it.

I’ve lived in famous hot spots, including Southern California, Texas, Alabama, South Carolina and Egypt. The Sacramento area can get pretty toasty, but comparatively, it’s minor league.

However, this is the point where I must modify some of my golf protocols. I experienced heat exhaustion once playing golf in Texas. Heat exhaustion is no joke, so this is my official warning to be smart about hot weather.

My number one tip is when it really gets beastly, do everything in the morning. I hate getting up early these days, but sometimes you’ve got to do it. The good news is you get done early and have time for a nap!

It’s not that bad yet. First thing is to dig the windshield sun shade out of the rubble in the garage and put it in the car. I forgot last Friday, the first real hot day, and wowser, that steering wheel was hot when I finished my round. Also, crack open the windows a tiny bit for air flow.

Cell phones are another issue. I don’t take mine with me when I play because I find phones very annoying on the golf course, but I need to turn it off if I leave it in the car. My phone started to overheat on Friday and went into that mode where it starts shutting down apps.

And then there’s my rig. I have a nice pushcart with a solar umbrella and a cup holder for a big bottle of water. I put a couple more bottles of water in a cooler that straps on. Included in this luxury set-up is a “cool towel” and a battery-operated fan. Oh, and a spray bottle with water. Spray some water on your face and stand in front of the fan — it’s like outdoor air conditioning.

Finally, I need to make sure I actually drink all the water and supplement it with an electrolyte drink. If I’m a little dehydrated, I can get leg cramps at night. A fellow golfer taught me a trick that is quite odd but very effective! Eat a spoonful of yellow mustard. It’s like a miracle.

Speaking of miracles, physical therapy is going exceptionally well. I’m there for my back, which is feeling great, but I have lots of creaky body parts. We’ve discussed my wrists, which I broke in 2010. Two visits to the hand doctor, and he says there’s nothing wrong with them, although I do have thumb arthritis.

Last week, the PT asked if anyone had ever done – something – and now I can’t remember what. But it involves manipulation, so I said no, no one has touched them. He said areas with past injuries can “lock up.” He did kind of a painful massage and then wrapped it in a thing that looked like a rubber Ace bandage. I flexed my wrist back and forth with that on, and then he took it off and said I was good to go.

I asked if I would need ice, because, dag, that little routine hurt. He said maybe but probably not. Anyway, it’s incredible how much better it is. Seriously unbelievable. I’m expecting him to do it again this week, and then I will have to learn about the long-term plan. I don’t suppose he can move in with us, so we’ll need to entertain some options.

Although I resisted physical therapy for a long time, and even after starting it, I thought about quitting, now I’m glad I stayed the course. Sometimes you need a little help.

While I do comment on politics from time to time, I try not to get crazy with it. There’s plenty of that to go around. But I hope you will allow one old lady retiree to say something about the latest NY Times report that Trump may owe the IRS $100 million in taxes.

First, I hate tax cheats. All of them. Because they steal from us. All of us. Dale and I dutifully pay our share without regret. It’s how our society functions.

We currently live on Dale’s military retirement and both our Social Security checks. We have not yet dipped into our investment accounts, which did very well under this so-called miserable economy. We had to pay the feds an extra $9,000.

Which we did without bitching about it, because those are the rules. Remember? Society functioning? It’s not just about you.

While I’m at it, there’s the issue with the Social Security trust fund running out of money in 2033. Congress is talking about future options, but I have not seen a discussion about raising or eliminating the cap.

You aren’t required to pay Social Security tax beyond the wage base limit, which is currently $168,600. That means all these people making the big bucks don’t pay anything after that. This whole problem could be solved by raising or eliminating that cap. Why isn’t anyone talking about this option??????

Full disclosure: I was one of those people who benefited from the cap, and it wouldn’t have killed me to pay a little more.

On the food front, I finished my last piece of birthday cake frozen from September! I needed to get that off the radar and make room for Dale’s birthday cake.

He turns 75 next week. I haven’t made cake for him in a few years, but the one he likes is called Chocolate Creole Cake, a recipe I received from my friend Beverly in Pennysvania. The recipe is in her handwriting, and it makes me nostalgic. Does that happen to anyone else?

Anyway, it’s a dense chocolate cake. Between the two layers is a filling of walnuts, pecans, raisins and dates made into a thick spread with sugar and evaporated milk. Then whipped cream goes on top of that. Add the other layer of cake and frost it with a spread made from melted semi-sweet chocolate and sour cream.

I love desserts, although I’m careful not to overdue it. However, I will say this. All the people who say, oh, it’s too sweet. Crazy talk! Savory food is different, but if it’s meant to be sweet, in my book there’s no such thing as too sweet. Nothing is too sweet for me. Nothing.

Esprit de core

I’m hanging in there on the physical therapy for my lumbar spine issues. I was close to quitting because everything hurt, but my massage therapist said she could feel a big difference in my flexibility, so I decided to stick with it.

And it has improved, so that’s all for the good. Some of the stretches are difficult. I told the PT I’ve modified the exercises a little, and he was OK with that. One of the exercises is called the dead bug. I said it makes me feel like I’m going to have a stroke, so I changed it up a bit and am now calling it the bug on life support.

At least he laughed. A key component of this program is to strengthen my core, which is non-existent. As we say around here, cores are for apples.

He said it’s about learning to isolate the stomach muscles, because that puts less stress on the back. I’m pretty sure most of the world walks around just fine without the ability to isolate the stomach muscles, but sure, I’ll give it a whirl.

Esprit de core. Spirit of the body? I know it’s really corps, but my version kind of fits, don’t you think?

I finally finished number 42. This one took me a long time. Some of that is because I work in the garage, and it gets cold out there. I do have a portable heater, but I’m reluctant to use it for some reason.

Although I like this piece, I keep thinking of the Progressive commercial about becoming your parents — the one where they make the woman get rid of her Live, Laugh, Love sign. So, this is mine, but I’m not getting rid of it.

I finally figured out how to see it enlarged. Just click on it! It takes a sec or two, but it will show up bigger.

My sister suggested I try an engraving tool to add a different element to my art, and I think I’m going to get one. That could be fun to play around with. If somebody had told me that my retirement hobby would be making art out of pallet scraps, I would have assumed they were smoking crack. Such a surprise to me, but I really enjoy it.

This is another busy golf week. And then we have a wine pick-up from one of the local wineries. That’s about a 30-40 minute drive one-way.

I never knew these clubs existed, but we have tons of wineries nearby. You join the ones you like for free, and you get free tastings. With most of them, you’re committed to buying a few bottles quarterly or something like that.

As of now, we’re in two clubs. It’s a struggle, but we manage (hee hee). This week’s pick-up is from Vino Noceto, which specializes in Sangiovese, one of my favorites.

Dinner tonight is what we call “Health Food.” Basically, a bean and cheese tostada with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cheddar cheese and guacamole. Dale makes the beans from scratch, and look at all those fresh toppings! Hence the name.

Oh, and if you like the idea of non-alcoholic beer but haven’t found one you like, I highly recommend Heineken 0.0. I seriously can’t tell the difference between this and the real thing. I still drink regular beer, but I like having options.

Spring … so cruel

Once again, the bitter disappointment of spring is upon us. I hate that you get these beautiful warm days only to have it foul up again with rain and cold. Yes, I know that is the nature of spring and weather in general, but I think fall does a better job as a season. Much more gradual and consistent.

Still, last year I made a conscious effort to fully embrace the diversity of weather, so welcome, rain and cold. You rotten bastards.

We’re doing dinner Triple O or OOO (On Our Own), For Dale, that always means my homemade tacos from the freezer. My tacos are fried crispy, and Dale does a fantastic job of resuscitating them. I won’t make new ones until the freezer stash is gone, so he’s motivated.

I mix it up, but tonight I decided to eat my last piece of birthday lasagna. That’s from September! While I was rooting around in the freezer, I saw two sad and lonely pieces of my birthday cake, so I pulled out one of those for good measure. A little rain and cold deserves coconut layer cake. For breakfast.

While we’re on the topic of food, Dale corned a beef brisket. The first night we ate it boiled with potatoes, carrots, onions and cabbage. The second night he made Reuben sandwiches on his homemade rye bread, which by the way, makes delicious toast in the morning.

Sometimes I like rye toast with just butter, and sometimes I add a little bitter orange marmalade. Dale thinks it’s weird that I use both butter and marmalade, but I think it’s a great combination! Peanut butter is also good on rye, but for some reason, I don’t like peanut butter on sourdough.

Since many bloggers report on Thankful Thursday, I will share that I’m grateful we’re both obsessed with food and cooking. Aside from eating exceptionally well, I also believe cooking at home most of the time makes for healthy aging. I rarely eat any kind of processed or packaged food, and it’s my contention eating reasonably “clean” helps with weight management. I know it’s different for everyone, but that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

I had my first-ever facial this week! I liked it very much and plan to go every six weeks or so to see if it makes a difference. I’m low-maintenance when it comes to beauty routines, and Tammy, the esthetician, totally got that. I said I’m not looking to get any younger, but I’d like to keep my skin looking reasonably good as I age.

She used very light microdermabrasion as part of the facial, and my skin tone definitely looks more even – lighter dark spots, less red. My skin also looks brighter and feels moisturized.

Tammy didn’t push products. She thought my CeraVe stuff from the drugstore was fine. The only thing I purchased was a bottle of Vitamin C serum. That goes under the sunscreen in the morning. She gave me a bag full of samples to try. One is a tinted sunscreen. I used that yesterday for golf, and aside from the sun protection, I liked how it made my skin look.

On the aches and pains front, I’ve decided to cut back on the rhetoric. As I was getting out of the car for golf yesterday, possibly grunting and groaning, one of the women who also deals with sciatica was getting out of her car. We’ve often compared notes. She said, “How are you?” And I said, “Hanging in there …” I’m not sure if I was going to elaborate or not, but she quickly said GREAT! and exited the scene at a high rate of speed.

I think that was a message to find something else to talk about.

On the entertainment front, I read March Violets, the first book in the Bernie Gunther series by Philip Kerr. Bernie is a detective in 1936 Berlin. The writing is quite sharp with that sassy hard-boiled dialogue we often associate with crime writers from that era – Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammet, etc.  

Anyway, I liked it a lot, but that Hitler stuff is pretty depressing. Not to go all political on you, but I do feel Fascism is a real threat these days, and not just in the U.S. So, I have to decide if I want to continue with the books. I also finally read All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Set during World War II, there’s also a fair amount of Nazi bullshit in there, but for some reason, it didn’t bother me as much in this novel.

Next on the reading docket are all the novels of Dashiell Hammet. Conveniently, they’re relatively short and all compiled into one book. I’ve probably read them all at some point, but I’m refreshing my memory before I watch Monsieur Spade.

When I first retired, I had a hard time reading during the day, but now I’m a pro. I still won’t watch TV during the day, though. I burned through all my favorite shows on PBS Masterpiece, and I’m currently back to Netflix with Resident Alien, a hilarious but kind of dark show about an alien who is sent to Earth to kill everyone, but it all goes terribly wrong.

A happy retirement Monday

Just another happy retirement Monday. It’s lovely outside now, but we should see rain later. I like it better when it rains at night. However, I also like when it gets dark and spooky during the middle of the day. Life is easier when we make peace with the weather, whatever it is.

My back and knees and other miscellaneous body parts are in harmony. I have a good book (The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles). I’m swimming and walking and will be playing golf this week. And today I’m cooking one of my favorite dishes. Moussaka. It is an all-day affair, which reinforces the joy of not working and having the time to make delicious food.

The recipe I use is from David Rosengarten. Some of you may remember him. He was on the Food Network when they first started up. He had a show with Donna Hanover, one of Giuliani’s exes. Kind of a shame, because she seemed better than that. Although he seemed better in those days, too, didn’t he?

Anyway, sometimes you see David these days as a judge on Iron Chef America. We have his cookbook, Taste. Among our other favorites from the book are Singapore Crab and Spaghetti Carbonara.

I love eggplant in all forms. In Egypt, we used to get these little skinny white ones, which were fantastic. This recipe makes a big-assed pan of Moussaka, so it calls for four eggplants. I’ve tried cutting the recipe in half, but it doesn’t work as well for me. Fortunately, it makes great freezer food.

While I’ve seen many variations of Moussaka, with this one you roast the eggplant first and then brown slices on the cooktop. You make tasty tomato sauce and brown ground lamb with onions and garlic. Then all that is mixed up and simmered for an hour.

A lot like lasagna, the dish is layered with fresh breadcrumbs, the lamb mixture, cheese and béchamel sauce. The recipe calls for a Greek cheese I can’t find, but I follow David’s recommendation and substitute Pecorino Romano.

I like to get everything going early and have it all done up and ready to go in the oven by happy hour. There’s some white wine in the lamb mixture, but I’m thinking this is more of a red wine thing. As the house Silmarillion, I’ll have to make a decision.

But such a decision is a pleasure. I didn’t have to put anyone on a Performance Improvement Plan. I didn’t have to fire anyone. I didn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn and drive to work. No crazy executive called to make unreasonable demands. Retirement is good.

Oh, and a pro tip for you female cooks out there. Wrap your apron tie around the back and then bring it to the front for a final knot. If you should so happen to leave the apron strings dangling down the back, it’s entirely possible you might forget they are there if you should have to pee, and it could get messy. Not that I have any personal experience in such matters, but I’ve heard things.

Return of the lost sock

After searching relentlessly throughout the entire house for my lost sock, I had pretty much concluded our sweet fluffy cat, Riley, had turned criminal and taken it for ransom. But then I made one more last-ditch effort to turn up this woolen treasure, and I’m pleased to report Riley has been falsely accused.

I found the sock in my husband’s pajama drawer. How it got there, why it got there – inquiring minds want to know, but Dale is keeping quiet. He was as surprised as anyone and probably liked it better when the cat was our most likely suspect.

In other news, I personally, am not thinking about Taylor Swift.

As far as food goes, it’s not like we’re eating chicken by-product meal. Dale made kimchi, and tonight is its debut. The kimchi has been fermenting in the refrigerator for three weeks. I’m surprised he didn’t bury it in the backyard, but these are modern times, after all.

I love kimchi, but I do have to be careful with all the cabbagy hot stuff. Gastrointestinally speaking, I will pay a price if I eat too much. Dale is making Korean-style barbequed beef ribs and white rice to go with. Beer will be involved.

Speaking of rice, I see Bobby Flay on TV making crispy rice all the time, and everyone absolutely loves it. Crispy on the outside, still creamy on the inside. I thought, how hard can it be? Dale made beef and broccoli earlier this week, and there was leftover rice, so I browsed recipes online and figured it was a slam dunk.

I put some oil in a nonstick pan and pressed the rice together to make sort of a cake. I read to let it brown on the bottom and then flip. I didn’t let it brown long enough, and by the time I was done, crispy and creamy exited the scene at a high rate of speed.

It was OK, but clearly, I won’t beat Bobby Flay. Dale thinks I should try again with another kind of rice – our leftovers were long grain, and I think a shorter grain might be stickier.

Dale and I both gained a couple of pounds at Christmas and have been more careful than usual. But here we are, almost to February, and we are both craving something fried with cheese oozing out of it. It’s primal.

We rarely see eye-to-eye on a movie, so we sort of gave up and agreed to watch a bad monster movie every Friday night with pizza. But some of them are so bad, we can’t watch the whole thing. I’m looking at you Invasion of the Bee Girls. Last night was Bride of the Monster with Bela Lugosi, and it was awful enough to be entertaining but good enough to watch through to the end.

One of my favorites was Eegah. Free on Amazon Prime! Dale wasn’t too keen on it. Here’s the promo:

On a trip through the desert, a teen girl discovers a prehistoric giant. An investigation to find the giant causes it to spread terror throughout Southern California.

But Eegah was actually kind of sweet, and I enjoyed seeing Richard Kiel in what I believe was his first movie. Over seven feet tall, he’s the guy who played Jaws in a couple of James Bond movies. He was also in Happy Gilmore.

I’m thinking tonight should be Oppenheimer. We both want to see it, and there’s a theme. You know, atomic bombs, kimchi. So much potential for disaster.

Juicing for lightweights

As advertised, I attended the golf league Christmas party and had a pretty good time … although I seriously need to work on my conversational skills. One of the women asked me if I was all done decorating for the holidays, and I said, “We don’t decorate.”

Definitely a little Wednesday Addams. A bit abrupt, at best. She actually looked kind of devastated. Like I poked a hole in her Christmas stocking. I’ve been practicing do-overs. Such as, “Almost! How about you?”

In hindsight, I can see that’s a better choice.

It looks like we’re headed for a week or two of rain, and it should start late this afternoon. We had the gutters cleaned yesterday, so that was good timing. No tall ladders for us anymore!

We’re happy to see wet weather. To celebrate, I’m making cabbage rolls tomorrow, and Dale is making rye bread to go with. Good rainy day food.

I played golf with a woman last week who doesn’t allow bread in her house. Jeez. Ours is like a bread factory.

My mother wasn’t much of a cook. I use her recipe for cabbage rolls, although I jazz it up some. For one thing, I use ground bison instead of ground beef. Way more flavor. As for spices, I don’t think she knew there was anything beyond salt and pepper. We had one tiny bottle of Tabasco sauce that lasted my entire childhood.

The recipe is on an old notecard in her handwriting. I love reading, “A half a small glass of vinegar.” For years I tried to calculate the exact measurement, but now guess what I do? I get out a small glass, and I fill it halfway with vinegar. Problem solved.

Last night was turkey soup from the freezer along with blue corn muffins. Last time, I forgot to put baking powder in the muffins. They were edible, but kids, don’t try this at home. The muffins came out great this time.

Dale’s making cashew chicken tonight. He likes this cookbook for Chinese take-out recipes.

Years ago I bought a juicer. I thought it would be a good way for me to poke down more fruits and vegetables. I figure real food ought to be better (and tastier) than those pills they advertise on TV.

The juices were delicious, but even with all the fiber removed, a big old hanging glass of that stuff was too much for my sensitive stomach.

I recently decided to try again. Fresh juice doesn’t stay fresh for long, so I froze 4-ounce portions and thawed one out every other day to drink and see how my stomach responded. To be safe, I stuck with non-cruciferous vegetables – mostly combinations of spinach, carrots, beets, celery, apples, grapes, and cucumbers.

I’ve had absolutely no problems and don’t always skip a day. I’m starting to branch out with 6-ounce portions and other fruits and vegetables. Green juice sounds like it would be awful, but it’s really delicious, and hopefully, a healthy addition to my diet. And depending on what you put in there, it’s not always green!

Once I knew I would stick with it, I bought a new juicer. The old one was a Breville Juice Fountain. They’re about $100. It’s a centrifugal juicer, which features a fast-spinning blade to chop up fruit and vegetables against a fine mesh filter to separate the juice from the pulp.

The Breville worked great, except it’s hard to clean that mesh filter, and it doesn’t quite get all the leafy greens, so there’s more waste. There’s also more froth, and the juice oxidizes faster.    

My new one is a NAMA J2 Cold Press Juicer. I had a discount code, and the total came in at right around $500. This type of juicer is also called a slow or masticating juicer. It uses a crushing, squeezing element known as an auger to extract the juice and separate the pulp and fibers. The result is less waste, less oxidation for slightly longer shelf life.

And the best part of all – it’s way easier to clean. I mean, you have to disassemble the whole thing and wash it all by hand, but all the leftover food is easily rinsed off, and you don’t have to scrub that mesh screen. I let it air dry on a towel. And because I make the juice in larger batches and freeze it, I don’t have to drag the machine out all that often.

The juice is perfect. With smaller servings, I can still enjoy the benefits of juicing without burning through tons of produce every week or becoming a slave to the machine.

Dale wants no part of it. I made him take a sip of my spinach-grape-apple-celery juice, and he said, “Well, it’s not poison.”