Category: Food & Drink

Dining during demolition

Remodeling continues, but they are making excellent progress and should finish up by the end of the week. Between interactions with the contractors, we talk about food. When we’re not talking about food, we watch cooking shows.

We’ve had full use of our microwave and oven throughout the project. But no cooktop, no sink, no countertops. Our freezer was pre-stocked with leftovers, which we’ve mostly burned through. Lasagna, Chicken Pot Pie, Chicken Divan, Chicken Enchiladas, Lamb Rigatoni, Chicken Curry and Chicken Tetrazzini. Salads. Burgers on the grill.

It’s not like we’ve been starving!

Additionally, there are certain homemade foods we keep around at all times, and they are gone. Pizza, tacos and scones from the freezer and granola in the pantry. We will have fun replenishing the supplies. There’s one piece of coconut cake left, and it has my name on it.

When I retired, I got a few Starbucks gift cards, which I’ve hardly used. I’ve been driving over there in my jammies to get us each a large dark roast. Drive-thru, of course. At about $6 for the two, I’ve mostly drained those cards. The Starbucks employees I’ve encountered are quite cheerful and personable.

I had my first bite of fast food in more than 10 years. One morning I got us each a sausage biscuit from McDonalds. It was OK, but I’m good for another 10 years. We had sandwiches from Jersey Mike’s, which we like a lot. And takeout from a local Asian bistro. It was expensive and not very good.

As of Friday, our countertops and backsplash were in, and the cooktop, sink and dishwasher were functional. The kitchen is still not business as usual because they haven’t finished with the cabinet fronts, but the sink was a game-changer.

Contractors don’t come on Sundays, so it really is a day of rest. I wanted to play golf since I haven’t been able to play during the week, but instead I opted for a relaxing breakfast with Dale. At the beginning of the remodel, we had a couple of big-ass arguments, but we broke each other’s will worked through it and emerged closer than ever.

Maybe this was what we needed to get back to the basics of love. Our own little Luckenbach, Texas. I’m glad we got our issues resolved early in my retirement, as it bodes well for enjoying the rest of our time together. Counseling might have been cheaper but probably more painful.

Breakfast was bacon and toast, and it was bliss.

We are getting excited about Thanksgiving. Dale ordered a fresh Diestel turkey. He stuffs the bird with a seasoned potato, bread and onion mixture he grew up eating in Maine. Mashed potatoes and gravy, some sort of green vegetable. Pinot Noir.

Usually I make cranberry sauce, but we are doing something different this year. At Christmas, I often make a cranberry walnut pie. However, this year Dale has requested plum pudding with hard sauce. But we still want the pie, so I’m making it for Thanksgiving.  I thought it would be overkill to have the pie and cranberry sauce.

I’m still going to load up on cranberries for the freezer, as I love them in scones. Or scons, as Paul Hollywood says.

I hope the kitchen stories haven’t been too self-absorbed. But I guess it is what it is. The whole project has been an interesting retirement experience I wanted to share. However, if you are bored senseless, I expect to emerge from The Remodeling Zone later this week and return to our regular programming.

Something fun! We are ready.

Move over, tuna

A sample of premium tinned fish.

Ever since I wrote a post about sardines and decided they don’t scare me anymore, I’ve been on a quest to sample what’s available. They’re super-good for you, they’re sustainable and I was surprised to discover I like them!

We love anchovies, especially Ortiz, and we’ve always had a can or two of Beach Cliff sardines in the pantry. Those were my starter sardines. Don, a reader, commented that he liked King Oscar. I hunted those down – found them at Safeway – and they were indeed delicious.

Then I bought a cookbook, The Magic of Tinned Fish by Chris McDade. What a fantastic book! Many of us view tinned fish as snack food, but Chris makes the case for using premium products mostly from Spain and Portugal in a wide variety of dishes home cooks will appreciate.

The book includes a page with recommended brands, as well as websites where you can purchase these specialty items, but I wanted to see what I could find at my neighborhood grocery stores. I had to shop around, but I found Matiz wild-caught sardines in olive oil, as well at Cole’s wild mackerel in olive oil.

The Matiz sardines are absolutely fantastic. My new favorite brand. Sometimes the other brands look almost beat up, but these are plump and pristine. The taste is perfect. I ate them plain, right out of the can, but I can’t wait to try some of his pasta recipes.

Next, I wanted to try the mackerel. The author makes the case for abandoning tuna, which is over-fished and not sustainable. Dale, who grew up in Maine, was skeptical. He said mackerel is oily and fishy, and I was not going to like it.

Chris, the author, says you can use mackerel interchangeably with tuna fish, and he also features it in recipes, including pasta, salads and soups. I made simple mackerel salad today. Just some mayo and diced pickle, and it was delicious. It tasted pretty much like tuna. Dale was shocked at how good it was.

Prices vary, but the better stuff costs more. At my store, a 5-ounce can of Bumble Bee solid white albacore in water was about $2.99, while a 4.4-ounce can of Cole’s mackerel in olive oil was $3.99. A 3.75-ounce can of King Oscar sardines was $2.59, while the 4.2 ounce can of Matiz sardines was $3.95.  

I’m not banning tuna from our household, but I can see myself substituting with mackerel on a regular basis. I would definitely buy the King Oscar sardines again, but those Matiz sardines are quite special.

The cost seemed reasonable to me, but some tinned fish can get pricey. Fresh, in some cases, is cheaper. Still, I like the idea of having fish in the pantry, and over time, I would like to try the premium brands of smoked trout, smoked oysters, squid, mussels, whole clams and octopus.

In other snobby food news, this article from the Washington Post says there’s a champagne shortage. If you have a favorite for the holidays, start looking for it now.

We’re from the government, and we’re here to help

Ralph, my indoor cannabis plant, complete with cat-proof fencing.

I turned 66 in September, and my Full Retirement Age for Social Security is 66 and two months. After much great discussion right here on this very blog, I decided to file for benefits.

It was easy to do online, however, I wasn’t sure how they calculated the month of November. I didn’t want to mess this up, so I adjusted the timing to be sure I was absolutely positively Full Retirement Age and opted to receive my first payment in January.

Imagine my surprise when the phone rang, and it was a most pleasant woman from the Social Security Administration. She asked why I chose January. I explained my paranoia and said I figured January would ensure I didn’t have money deducted because I filed too soon.

She laughed and said this happens all the time, and that’s why she was calling. If I reach Full Retirement Age anytime in November, I could get my first check in December. Deal! She made the adjustment, and now I’m good to go.

I have to admit, I was reminded of my working days when suited-up people arrived in the hinterlands and said, “Hi, we’re from Corporate, and we’re here to help.”

But this time it was the government, and it appears to be true.

Thanksgiving

I’m not sure what Thanksgiving is going to look like this year. We’re getting new cabinet faces in the kitchen and a new countertop, and then all new flooring downstairs. Our contractor was supposed to start in September, but now he’s scheduled to start next week. I figure this could run into November or even later.

Oh, well. We can always celebrate on a different day. Even with just the two of us, celebration means cooking. We do a big turkey and eventually eat every last bite of it. Some gets made into delicious leftovers and a whole breast goes into the freezer.

Dessert is the big question. Last year I made a command decision and went with pumpkin cheesecake. We both loved it, but Dale likes apple pie, and I figure it’s his turn to choose. I could probably tell the story of my life through apple pie – moderate success, excruciating failures. Bad crust, ill temper.

All my recipes have notes about what worked, what didn’t. It would seem I could get this right. This year, I’m going to gather my recipes and create a new one. Danger, danger, Will Robinson.

You may recall I bought a steel pie pan recently. One might trot that out for apple pie, however, the pan sucked. I thought the corrugated bottom would increase crispiness, but I found it did quite the opposite. Some parts didn’t connect with the steel, and they remained soggy.

One pie made me so mad, I just threw the whole thing away, pan and all. Now, it’s just me and my Pyrex. As it was meant to be.

The year of the osis

For me, this has been the year of the osis. Osteoporosis, spinal stenosis. While I do have some lower back pain, it’s not really in my back, more like in my buttocks. And it’s actually quite manageable. I still swim, walk, play golf and do weights. Sitting is the worst.

I did visit a pain management specialist upon the recommendation of my primary care physician, and it was pretty much a waste of time. She showed me the MRI results and basically guessed spinal stenosis is causing my pain. Because there has to be some explanation, right?

Steroid injections are an option, but I declined. It’s just not that bad, and she said it might not work and even if it does, the benefits don’t last all that long. A little short of sales skills. She was amazed I do all I do with the degree of stenosis she saw on the MRI. Which tells me maybe that’s not the cause.

Presumably, the human back hasn’t changed much in at least 500 years. And we didn’t always have MRIs to point the finger. People didn’t know what they didn’t know, and somehow, they managed to plod on, osis notwithstanding.

Cat-proofing cannabis

Finally, in the continuing adventures of a gentlewoman cannabis farmer, our cat, Riley, discovered the joys of destruction and killed my last seedling. There’s no THC in it at that point, so it’s not like he’s a kitty stoner. He just liked digging up the young plant and chomping on it.

Many thanks to Dale, who built me a cat-proof fence. Now, Riley sits there and stares at it. Weeping, one kitty tear at a time. How. Could. This. Happen.

We actually have two plants. Our outdoor plant, Steve, didn’t get enough sun and barely grew. However, there are a couple of nice buds, which are about ready for harvest. Next year, I will grow my outdoor plant in a container and put it where there’s lots of sun.

My indoor plant, Ralph, is coming along nicely with his new protective barrier. His power comes from a south-facing window and a 450-watt LED grow light.

I actually don’t use much cannabis, except for my homemade balm, but I enjoy the challenge of growing it. It’s a harmless (and in many places legal) retirement hobby for those of us who aren’t much into travel. You can always stay home with your plant and your Pyrex.

If you’re at all interested, I got started with a kit from A Pot for Pot. Easy and cost-effective. My best indoor plant yielded 30 grams, which is a nice little stash of weed, if one is so inclined.

I coulda been somebody!

While I don’t miss work, I confess early into my retirement I missed feeling important. Being a director for a large corporation was demanding. Once you got to that level, the company wanted everything you had but taunted us with money and perks to keep people like me crawling back for more.

After a while, you start to think you’re somebody.

Then you join the long list of retirees who used to have big jobs, and you realize no one cares about your glory days. I needed a new mindset, and as I was looking for answers, I stumbled upon this quote in an online forum:    

“We were never the somebody we thought. And we are never the nobody we fear.”

For me, that kind of says it all.

Double shot

Yesterday, I got my flu shot and COVID booster at the same time – one in each arm. I didn’t have any problems with the COVID vaccines first time around, but I have a history of fever and chills after getting the flu shot. I used to pre-medicate with Tylenol several days in advance, and that put an end to the chilly willies.

However, I’ve since read you’re not supposed to do that, since they don’t really know how it affects the vaccines. So, I toughed it out, and sure enough, I got fever and chills. Quite the miserable night, but it passed pretty quickly. Both arms are still sore, but I managed to play a little golf today.

COVID has completely stressed me out. I know – take a number, but I believe I’ve been unnecessarily paranoid. Now that I’m boosted and the case rates are going down here in California, I’m going to try hard to lighten up. We still haven’t been to a restaurant, even for outside dining.

Part of the problem is we’re kind of spoiled by our own home cooking, and most restaurants just aren’t that good. Still, a diversion would be nice. The weather is lovely, so maybe we can get our butts out the door and try someone else’s food.

Great British Baking Show

Speaking of food, I am finally getting into the Great British Baking Show. I can’t imagine what took me so long, but I love it. The baking is fantastic, of course, but as a Britophile, I also like the cast of characters.

I’m still watching the first season, so I have lots of shows in the queue. One of the first things I want to try is Mary Berry’s treacle tart.

A fluted tart pan with a removable bottom has been on my wish list for quite some time, and mine arrived today. Don’t you love it when a plan comes together? However, I don’t want to get in the trap of making sweets all the time, so I want to try a savory tart first. Or even a quiche. I’ve always made quiche in a regular pie pan, but the tart version just looks so inviting.

Cucko for coconut

We are still raving about the coconut layer cake I made for my birthday. Individual pieces are stowed safely in the freezer, but it seems someone has been eating them.

Dale said it is the best cake he’s ever had, and I have to agree. I called it the Thrilla in Manila. I mean, I know that’s a famous boxing match, but I just think it’s fun to say. And it could describe cake, right?

He said, no. It’s the Thrilla with Vanilla!

Sometimes it takes very little to amuse us.

Cooking with pumpkin

There’s a hint of fall in the air, and my thoughts turn to pumpkin. I’m not into pumpkin-flavored coffee or candles that smell like pumpkin pie, but I like both sweet and savory dishes made with this versatile winter squash.

I bought a magazine with pumpkin recipes at the grocery store and found another pumpkin cookbook at the library. So many tasty dishes to choose from! Some of the recipes call for canned pumpkin and some for fresh. I really hadn’t thought about using canned pumpkin for savory dishes, but it’s used commonly in soup, stew and pasta.

After careful study, I narrowed my list to the following:

  • Pumpkin and Italian Sausage Soup
  • Pumpkin and Beef Stew
  • Kale and Pumpkin Soup
  • Lentil Pumpkin Soup with Spinach and Smoked Sausage

I bought a cooking pumpkin at the farmer’s market, so that was sort of my turning point. I wanted to make something with big chunks of fresh pumpkin and went with Pumpkin and Beef Stew.

The recipe is also an opportunity to use the Instant Pot as a slow cooker, something I’ve been eager to try.

Anyway, the stew is cooking now. I started it early so if the slow cooker doesn’t work to my satisfaction, I have time to finish it on the cooktop. I made a fresh loaf of sourdough to go with.

I had some leftover beef but not enough to save for anything special, so I decided to cut it in chunks, brown it and then freeze it for stock later. It’s in the pan cooling now, and Dale walked upstairs and said he’ll just have that. I asked if he had a bite and he said, “Oh yes. Several.”

Nothing like little nibbles of hard-seared meat.

I like the recipes in the cookbook from the library, but I refuse to buy another cookbook! I think I’ll photocopy those that appeal to me the most.

Other recipes I want to try include Pumpkin Fudge, Wild Mushroom Pumpkin Risotto, Cheddar-Pumpkin Tart and White Bean, Chicken and Pumpkin Chili. I suppose we run the risk of getting pumpkined-out, but I’m willing to take a chance.  

Yesterday, I was talking with my golf buddies about what we’ve been cooking. It seems like a happy and politically neutral topic to me. They’re both men who don’t cook, so I probably need to find new material. One guy said, “I can’t believe you’re not as big as a house.”

I said, well, some of it is genetics, I guess, but a lot of it boils down to the choices we make. We both exercise and are careful with portion control. We haven’t eaten fast food in 15 years or so. Haven’t had a soda for at least that long. We eat almost exclusively at home and make most things from scratch. I can’t remember the last time I had a store-bought cookie.

They both looked at me like I was nuts. And so it goes. Another feeble attempt at being social. I believe I’ll go back to, “Nice putt.”

Doomscrolling to foodscrolling

My birthday came and went. In my continuing efforts to stay sane during these unprecedented times, I’ve successfully transitioned from doomscrolling horrible news to foodscrolling delicious recipes.

The cake was/is absolutely incredible. My husband started calling me Cake Boss.

Dale and I each had a piece, and I froze the rest, but I’ve already pulled one out to thaw. As they say when you go winetasting, I’d like to revisit that one, please.

The cake was a wee bit dense. Next time, I would be sure to beat the batter a little longer at a higher speed. Oh, about the buttercream roses. I couldn’t quite pull it off. They look more like tiny piles of fettuccine, which is fine with me. It’s a new thing. Fettuccini flowers. They are delicious.

I have a thing for coconut in all its forms, especially spicy food made with unsweetened coconut milk. Dale likes them well enough, but I’ve improvised a couple of dishes that turned out great, and I believe he is converted.

Yesterday, I started with this basic recipe for Coconut Shrimp Curry with Mushrooms. I got the recipe from the NY Times cooking section, which is behind a firewall. But the link above is the same recipe at a site that didn’t have restrictions.  

As I browsed the recipe, it seemed to me I could make it more Thai or more Indian, depending on seasonings and vegetables. I went with Thai and added chopped spinach, fish sauce and lime. Served it in a bowl with white rice and cilantro and toasted peanuts on top.

The broth was thick but reminiscent of Tom Kha Gai. You could add more coconut milk and/or stock to achieve a more soup-like consistency.

If I had gone Indian, I would have added garam masala and maybe some cauliflower.

My passion for cooking surprises me. Sometimes I wish I had gone to culinary school, but I grew up thinking cooking was a girly thing, and I wanted to break free from stereotypes. I suppose that’s why I joined the Army. Then 50 years later, you don’t care if it’s girly or manly or gender-neutral. You know what you like, and if you’re lucky, you get to do it.

While I might take a class here and there, my achy breaky parts are not likely to withstand the demands of culinary school. So, I’ll continue to poke around in the kitchen in my primitive fashion.

I’ve mentioned before we have years and years of Gourmet magazines. Some time ago, we ordered special binders to keep the years together with an annual index. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but the heavy bulky binders are unwieldly, and the individual issues don’t exactly stay put.

I didn’t mind all that until my back started bothering me. Sitting for long periods is about the only thing that makes my pain worse, so much of my foodscrolling has gone low-tech. I still spend plenty of time at the computer, but I try to take little breaks throughout the day and lay flat for at least 15 minutes or so.

What a perfect opportunity to browse real cookbooks or actual Gourmet magazines! I remember back in the day when we subscribed, way before computers, I’d save the new issue to read in the bathtub. That, and National Lampoon. I miss that one.

The thing about Gourmet is that I’m eager to try some ambitious cooking projects, and it seems like a good place to start. But you can’t really rest comfortably with a 5-inch binder full of magazines.

We finally decided the binders were worthless at this point, possibly from having been moved across the country multiple times. On a bad air quality day with nothing better to do, I pulled all the magazines out of the binders and tossed the binders.

Then I lined up the issues on a bookshelf from oldest to newest, left to right. I had annual indexes for some but not all. If there was no annual index, I photocopied the index page of each magazine. Then I put all the indexes together in a magazine holder like you see at the library.

The idea is you grab the pile of indexes and browse those until something piques your interest. Then you go pull an individual magazine, lying upon the 43-year-old corduroy comfy couch to squander the afternoon daydreaming about food and what you’ll try next.

Just another way to scoll …

Wishful thinking

Full Retirement Age

My birthday is this month, and I will be 66. My full retirement age for Social Security is 66 and two months. I had been planning to start receiving my monthly payments as soon as I reached full retirement age and was excited about the prospect of a paycheck, but now I’m having second thoughts.

Some financial experts suggest it’s smarter to start withdrawing from your IRA and hold off on Social Security until you reach age 70. According to this NY Times article, living on retirement savings in the early years and holding off on collecting benefits is likely to increase monthly income over a lifetime.

There’s also a discussion about marginal tax rates and provisional income if math is your jam, but I’m a journalism major. No can do.

If I wait until I’m 70, my monthly checks would go up by about $800. It sounds nice, but I’m not sure it’s worth waiting for. With my husband’s military pension and our savings, we are not dependent on Social Security, so I’m inclined to skip all the analysis and just go with what feels right.

I suppose I’ll chat with our financial planner before making my final decision. What variables have you considered as you make this choice?

Sugarfest 2021

In other news, I’ve decided to bake my own birthday cake. I’m going to make the three-layer coconut cake from Sally’s Baking Addiction. Everything about it is totally decadent. Even the buttercream roses on the top are insanely me. The more frosting the better.

However, I watched the video for how to make the roses, and I don’t think I can pull it off. I have some Russian piping tips my sister gave me, and those look easier. I will be watching lots of YouTube videos to build my confidence. Here’s a sample.

While we’re on the subject of baking, I spent a lot of time indoors last week due to the air quality, so I decided to make cookies decorated with royal icing. I have quite the collection of cookie cutters and other paraphernalia.

I haven’t made them in a couple of years, mostly because my wrists were sore the last time I made them, and I wondered if I would even try again. However, my wrists have improved, so I went for it. My lack of practice shows. The icing on the chili pepper is too thick and lumped up in places, and the icing was a little sloppy at the bottom of the ladybug.

Imperfect but cute and delicious. Not a bad thing to be. By the way, I made chocolate dough and added a teaspoon of espresso powder. Next time I’d use a little more. You can’t taste the coffee, but somehow it makes the chocolate taste better. We keep them in the freezer, which helps with portion control!

Golf Giveth and Golf Taketh Away

Yesterday I played golf in what is called an alternate shot tournament. I had a partner, and we took turns teeing off. One of us on odd-numbered holes, and the other on even-numbered holes. Then we took alternate shots until the ball was holed.

On number six, my partner teed off. The shot was plenty long enough but in the left rough. We were still 140 yards out, and it was my turn.

I hit a 7-wood, and we watched it fly toward the green. She thought it got stuck in some thick grass in front of the green, and I thought it hit the green and rolled past the hole. When we got up there, she went one way, and I went the other, and we didn’t see it. I jokingly said, maybe it’s in the hole.

And it was!! So, we had an eagle 2 on a par 4. We would go on to completely fall apart on the back nine, but I will remember that shot for a long time.

Wishful Thinking

I’m feeling hopeful that maybe we are turning the corner on COVID. I mean, not everywhere, but maybe some places? I read today 80 percent of eligible Californians are at least partially vaccinated. In my zip code, about 80 percent are fully vaccinated and another 10 percent have one shot.

That said, our numbers are still terrible. Cases per 10,000 people approaching 40 percent in our county. Yet, there are some case rates in the hundreds, so I guess it’s all comparative. I am shocked by how many people go out and about as though the virus doesn’t exist.

I do wonder if the virus will run out of people to infect. Or maybe Delta will run its course and the virus will subside, transitioning to something more like the seasonal flu. I have no basis for these comments. Perhaps nothing more than wishful thinking.

But you know what? There’s something to be said for wishful thinking. I have been on both sides of the attitude spectrum, and nothing good ever happened when I thought the glass was half-empty.

That 70s chicken

I’m trying to pay less attention to the news for all the reasons you might suspect and decided to browse our vintage cookbooks instead. What could go wrong, other than a few arteries snapping shut?

The first cookbook I grabbed was The Galloping Gourmet featuring 1970s celebrity TV chef Graham Kerr. I remember watching the show with my sister, who learned to make Chicken Kiev. The recipe was in Volume 1.

Basically, you make a compound butter with cayenne pepper, lemon, parsley and garlic. Roll it into a log and wrap it in plastic. Freeze.

Then you pound out a chicken breast fairly thin and stuff it with slices of the frozen butter. Roll it up and use toothpicks if necessary to keep it secure. Dip in flour, beaten egg and then breadcrumbs. Deep fry until golden brown.

It was DELICIOUS, but it made a huge mess, and we don’t really eat that way anymore. I read Mr. Kerr also doesn’t eat that way anymore. I do love me some fried food occasionally, but we mostly use chicken breasts for soup, salad, stir-fry – that sort of thing. And by the way, chicken breasts are ginormous these days. We should have split one.

I guess I’ll keep poking through the stacks, but I can’t imagine making that again. I’m not even sure why we’d keep the books. We have the whole series! Looks like the set sells on eBay for less than $20, and I can’t be bothered. I suppose I’ll donate them.

In other critically important food news, our second refrigerator crapped out after only eight years. Same as our washing machine, so maybe that’s all you get out of them these days. The repairman came three times and couldn’t fix it.

For a replacement, we went to Lowe’s. Why? We’ve always had great luck with Best Buy, but for some reason we picked Lowe’s. The salesman was great, but the delivery system sucks.

Our refrigerator was supposed to arrive Monday. They were supposed to call Sunday to give us the window of time for delivery, but they never did. After Dale called them, they said 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., which is bullshit. Then they called at 4 p.m. or so to tell us the truck broke down, and now we’d have to wait until Wednesday.

Today is Wednesday, and we still don’t have the refrigerator. Again, they didn’t call. Dale had to hunt them down, and they said there were still issues with the truck. I guess they only have one? Now they have promised it tomorrow, stating they’d call with the delivery time. Yeah, right. So, we’ll be hanging around all day waiting for the appliance delivery man or someone like him.

I realize whining about a second refrigerator is a first-world problem, but still.

Just to keep things simple, Dale is making paninis tonight – tomatoes, basil and whole milk mozzarella cheese sandwiches drizzled with a balsamic vinegar glaze. Yum.

I’ve been wanting a metal pie pan for ages and finally caved. I deserve a metal pie pan, or at least that’s what I told myself.

I saw one in the King Arthur catalog. I like the corrugated bottom and am eager to try it out. I didn’t buy it from King Arthur, because they charge for shipping, and I found the same one on Amazon Prime.

The pan was $19.99, while the King Arthur version is $16.95, so the difference is probably a matter of cents. I do like King Arthur and purchase from them frequently, but I try to be selective. For example, these measuring cups were not cheap, but they are fantastic. And, of course, flour, cocoa — the usual suspects.

Bouncing back from injury

Although I don’t bounce like I used to, I am recovered from whatever I did to myself when I fell in the bathroom. Now I’m back to whatever I’ve had for the past 10 years or so. In the absence of fractures or other potential mishaps, chronic pain never felt so good.

That means I’m back on the golf tour this week. I also want to get back to swimming and light weights. I visit the physical therapist Monday and will see what she thinks. For the most part, golf has not made my lower back pain worse, but I’m not so sure about the other two. Still, I refuse to lay flat on my back if I have a choice, so that’s that. Onward and upward.

I’m more conscious about calcium since the osteoporosis business. I do eat dairy and lots of other calcium-rich foods, but I decided to add canned sardines to my rotation. Dale has been eating them for years. I like them, especially on a Triscuit!

Do you eat sardines? I would love to hear more ideas – how to enjoy them best, any particular brands or seasonings you like. I’m not afraid to throw some money at a premium product. Although Dale is even more of a food snob than I am, sardines are sort of his bachelor food, and he just buys whatever he sees first.  

I do believe back pain is sometimes connected to our emotions, so I’ve been trying to deal with my anger about the pandemic. I tell myself, yes, I am angry it was politicized. It did not have to go down this way. I’m angry with the people who won’t get vaccinated. I’m angry we’re going back to masks again. I’m angry that it looks like this thing will drag on forever.

But that anger does not make my back hurt! My back is strong. I can do anything I want.

At least that’s what I’m telling myself.

I finally read Victim 2117, the latest in Jussi Adler-Olsen’s Department Q series featuring Carl Mørck. I started it a couple of times but didn’t get too far. Sometimes it takes me a while to get into his books, but when I do, I love them. This one was excellent – quite the dramatic backstory of Carl’s sidekick, Assad.

As I was Googling the book so I could copy and paste the slashed o in Mørck, I discovered there are Department Q movies! Has anyone seen them? Looks like some are available on Amazon. I’ve been re-watching Outlander. I had already burned through the final season of Bosch and needed a complete distraction.

We had to cancel our trip to Lassen Volcanic National Park due to fires in the area. If it’s not one thing, it’s two. Or three. Or four.

For a little while, it felt like we had turned a corner on the virus and life was becoming whatever passes for normal these days. But it looks bad out there. In our zip code, 77 percent have been fully vaccinated, and 84 percent have at least one dose. Yet our positivity and case rates are higher than you’d expect.

Most of those testing positive in our area are between the ages of 18-49. While we’ve all been reading about breakthrough cases, I would assume most aren’t vaccinated. I can’t fix that, so I tell myself to just roll with whatever I have to roll with.

And so, we turn to happy thoughts. Dinner. We have leftover grilled tri-tip and fresh corn and tomatoes from the farmer’s market. I’m making a loaf of sourdough bread, so we’ll cobble together a meal out of that. Dale is making happy hour nachos with fresh jalapeños from his garden. Cheese is medicinal.

We have a nice stash of limes, so I might make a margarita. Have you heard of ranch water? It’s a drink. I have not had one, but I was reading about them. It sounds like a fizzy margarita. Same basic ingredients topped with seltzer water. I guess the fizz of choice is Topo Chico, which I’ve also never had.

I might have to go back to the happy hour laboratory and return to you with a complete report. It’s all about sacrifice.

Simple foods, simple pleasures

Oil-packed anchovy on a Triscuit with a little freshly grated Parmesan.
Heirloom tomatoes from the farmer’s market.

The news out there is depressing, and I get that it’s someone’s job to report it, and someone else’s livelihood to put their unique spin on it, but I find myself skimming the big headlines and calling it a day.

I’ve never been one to watch the news on TV, but I’ve had a lifelong habit of reading it all – from multiple news outlets – every article, every opinion piece, and I took pride in being well-informed. I don’t know if it’s age, retirement or just a sign of the times, but it turns out such immersion is not uplifting in any way and not good for my mental health.

At this point in my life, being informed makes me weary. I’d rather make food, which often starts with one or two simple ingredients.

Like anchovies. I had some leftover from when I made Caesar salad, so I thought why not put one on a Triscuit and sprinkle it with a little fresh Parmesan? There is only one in this picture because I ate the first one and Dale stole the second one. Holy crap that is good. We like Ortiz anchovies in the jar.

We have been feasting on fresh heirloom tomatoes from the farmer’s market. We’ve already indulged in tomato, basil and mozzarella paninis lightly glazed with balsamic vinegar and pizza with chopped tomatoes as the base instead of tomato sauce. And then there are Greek salads made in the style we enjoyed in Crete many years ago.

For the salads, I coarsely chop cucumbers, onions and tomatoes and arrange them on a plate. I sprinkle the top with oregano, add a couple of slabs of feta cheese and then sprinkle more oregano. Then I put Kalamata olives around the edge of the plate.

Each of us dresses our own salad at the table with good olive oil and red wine vinegar. A key component is crusty homemade bread for dunking and perhaps a glass bottle of cheap red wine.  

Tonight is tomato pie. I start with a homemade biscuit crust and add well-drained sliced tomatoes, grated cheddar cheese, fresh basil, chopped chives and a sauce made from mayonnaise thinned with a little lemon juice. Top with more crust, slash and bake. Heaven. Absolute heaven.

The recipe is from the August 1992 issue of Gourmet Magazine. We subscribed for years and have a pile of them. It wasn’t even written as a recipe but shared in narrative form. I didn’t feel like typing it up, so I did what any lazy retiree would do – I found it on the Internet. I peel the tomatoes and add a teaspoon of table salt to the crust.

For more food pleasure, check out the What’s on Your Plate challenge at The Widow Badass and Retirement Reflections.

It seems to me simple pleasures really are the foundation of a happy retirement, no matter what’s going on in the world. I especially like to play golf, walk, swim, cook, read, write, watch TV, listen to music, make art and grow cannabis. It’s like a variety pack of amusements to keep me entertained for years to come. If one falls out of rotation for one reason or another, I’ve got backups.