Wednesday, October 30th "What's Cookin'?"

[annrms]

Good morning! Last day of coolish weather; heat will be building today and could reach 80°!!
We could smell smoke from the MA brush fire in Middleton, MA which picked up in intensity last afternoon. A warning was issued for folks here at Baldwin with asthma and other lung issues to stay indoors. Clouds moved in, and we got a little rain overnight.
When I went to Salem (MA) State College (Now Salem University), I would drive down Route 114 through Middleton to get to Salem. There are extensive bogs in Middleton so that's where the fires are burning. Salem is also experiencing fires. Both areas are less than 20 miles from Lawrence, MA where we used to live, but it's another 20 miles from Londonderry, NH. The distance does not stop the smoke!
Had a nice lunch with a former teaching partner. I had half a falafel wrap and she had a burger. We both had the chicken soup with veggies and couscous...yum!
Mac & Cheese with meatloaf and mixed veggies was good, too.
I'm going to order salmon to put in the freezer for chowder later and something else for dinner tonight. The race to use up points will crowd the restaurant tonight so I will use Baldwin order up for our meals.
Going to the Salem, NH senior center in a few so I need to get a move on! Waving!

[tasty]

Good morning Ann. And all who follow, on what is expected to be a summer-like day here.  For the same reason you are not going to eat in your dining room tonight, our 'breakfast' group is getting together for dinner with our friend who moved, back in July, into our local version of the Baldwin.  This is the same lady who had back surgery at the end of September.  She had been told she would be going home the following day but that didn't happen and it was mid-month before she got home.  Therefore tonight is our night to sample their dinners.  It will be a good test for our friend to see if she is ready to return to eating downstairs, rather than have supper delivered to her apartment.
As for the rest of today, I am taking myself off to the city.  There's a few things I would like to do and just have a day with no responsibilities!!
Have a wonderful Wednesday. 

[wilderness]

Webcam shot of lower main street.  Go up the over way about the same distance that you see here and you have all of main street.

Have a great day

Bet

[emr]

I'm enjoying our nice cool mornings, and then we're getting to the upper 70s by afternoon. 'Tis the season for light layers -- a cardigan in the morning that I can discard in the afternoon

Last night our women's study group from church had a get-together where everyone brought some kind of appetizer or sweet and it was so much fun. I picked up buffalo chicken dip from Publix to serve with carrot and celery sticks. We also had snack mix, cocktail weinies, pigs in blankets, ham sliders, chicken salad -- a good spread. One of the big hits of the evening was a pecan pie dip that apparently came from TikTok -- a sweet cream cheese layer topped with a brown sugar & pecan layer. So so good! It was very sweet, so of the dippers provided, I preferred the sliced Granny Smith apples.

Another meeting with the contractor yesterday, so after he has time to go through the insurance estimate as well as all our info, we're hoping to be in the position to get some work started before long. He said we should expect it to take 6 months, which was pretty much what we thought. 

Lori, good to hear you're doing so well! That's great news.

Ann, sounds like good meals ahead for you. 

Tasty, glad you are getting to visit with your friend and also have some "me" time -- enjoy!

Bet, hope it's a good day for you, whether it's on the road or at your homeplace.

Off for an early meeting at work ~

[nybirder]

Hi, all of you. Everyone is so busy. I enjoy reading about the cooking you are doing. A very creative group.

A county to the southeast of us has been put on emergency alert for brush fires. This is the location of Cooperstown, where the Hall of Fame is. It's dry and very windy but the big problem is that we haven't had a lot of soaking rain to fill the ponds that the rural fire departments use to fill their tankers. The good news is that we had some decent rain last night but it was not nearly enough to fill the sites where they get their water. We are used to seeing brush fires in the spring and fall around here but this has been a particularly bad one.

I got an email that my new glasses are in and ready. My neighbors will be driving me on Monday to pick them up and have them fit. I'm crossing my fingers that they will work out well.

Lori, it is good to hear that you are feeling better. Hope the new stockings are comfortable and help you get around.

As usual, Bet, you are a busy one. I'm glad that the Lions enjoy your cooking. I know I would!

Waving to all of you who post here even though I am not doing very well at commenting on everyone's activities. There sure seem to be a lot of them going on!

Have a good day.

Birdy

[cooktocook]

Hello and good morning, friends!
DH took me for a haircut this morning. It's been 3 1/2 months since I had my usual trim, so as you might guess, I was looking like a shaggy dog. Will be good to go now for 4-5 weeks.

Sorry, this has to be short and sweet---Going to shower and then need to head over to the hospital down the street for an MRI this afternoon. When we get back, we'll make some English Muffin pizzas for our dinner this evening.

Waving to all and wishing each of you a lovely day!
Lori

[mamma482]

Good morning
Yikes, it was a chilly 52º when we went out this morning. I was dressed warmly but my nose got cold. Bill and Molly were the only ones there again this morning. He loves to talk but you can't believe much if anything  he says. Not many people here like him but I try to be nice to him. He told me I'm the nicest person in the park. LOL That's probably because I'm the only one that will listen and chat with him. If it weren't for the pet area, I wouldn't see anyone in the park besides my neighbors. And I don't socialize with anyone. Too much gossip, smoking, and drinking. I've outgrown all that years ago.

One load of laundry today, lunch with Karen, I think we are going to AppleBees, I'll have the tomato bisque soup and half a sandwich if they still have that, and I hope to clean off the porch. Our high today could be 80º, the lows now are in the low to mid 50's. Last night I put a throw on the bed and boy am I glad that I did. Tonight it will be a heavier afghan, and larger than the throw. I didn't move all night, it was too cold on the other part of the bed. hehehe

I see my cup needs filling and I think I should have one more home made cookie. :)

[weebill]

Good morning.It was a brisk walk this morning. I have water going in the ice machine, We have been buying ice all summer and dh wants to continue that as it's easier. But, we don't have much room in the freezer so I decided to make a batch to get us through a couple of days.
Not sure what we will have for supper tonight. I am thinking of using up the dark meat turkey and make chili. My favorite is the dark meat but this butterball turkey just seems drier.

Tomorrow night is the Halloween party. I bought a frog one piece pj's that I'm going to wear. We are taking some smokies that have cheese in them. I better get the 2 packages out of the freezer.

A few more residents arrived last night. Plus, I heard a couple of homes sold and the people are moving in sometime this week.

Make it a great day. Elaine

[tamaralynn]

Hello from a damp Texas. We did not break a record for the driest October ever, and that's a good thing. I woke up to it raining. I headed over to the shop where it rained off and on. I discovered a huge pile of donations sitting behind the donation dumpster. I called Susan to come and help. Everything was wet, but luckily it can all be dried off and will be fine. A couple of the trash bags had sheets or clothing, but we draped those on racks to dry and will process them tomorrow. An elderly man passed away in the park and we think this stuff might have belonged to him because there were lots of household items.

I came home and baked a couple pot pies for us for lunch. No certain plans for the afternoon.

Carl and Marge bought a brand new rv yesterday, David tells me. If they can get it here around mid November, they may not stay out in the apartment after all.

I'm not sure about supper yet. I looked at my menu plan and I had beef roast on the menu, the trouble is I cannot find it! I put it in a freezer, we have several, and have not spotted it yet. I did find a large pork loin roast so I cooked it. I had pork kebabs on the menu for tonight but decided I don't want pork 2 nights in a row. I know...I'm picky. DH wouldn't care though.  I might do some baked potatoes and make some kind of topping, like broccoli and cheese.

Elaine, over at the resale shop we have a short cotton nightgown that is yellow with cute frogs on it. I like the sound of your costume!

Waving to all. Make it a grand day!

[annrms]

Afternoon! Lunch with friends is over. Bill joined us, and there was a new menu!! Some of the usual favorites are still on the menu, but crab cakes and pulled pork flatbread were two new additions. 2 of us had to pulled pork flatbread and 2 had the crab cake burger. Bill had his usual wedge salad. All delicious! We sat and chatted for two hours!
One of the friends is recovering from spinal surgery like Birdy had. She is looking good, but she still has 8 more months of healing. She was so glad to 'get out'! Thought of you, Birdy. Hugs!
One lady brought me some chopped kale from her garden that I'm going to sauté and have tonight. Will look for a recipe...thinking garlic oil, some golden raisins and slivered toasted almonds...!
Bet - Loving the pictures you have been posting. The picture from yesterday was, so far, my favorite with the fall trees!
Lori - Hooray! I am so glad to read that your legs are improving enough that you can get support compression stockings to wear. Do you have to order them from a specific company? I get mine from Bright Life Direct.
Tammy - You sure make my mouth water when I read about what you cook for yourself and others! I have a yearning for beef stroganoff!! Do you use reusable pans for your food deliveries? If you don't, I'd sure hate to have to wash reusable ones!! I'll post a recipe for Black Pepper Almonds that have a sweet 'brittle' coating that may last better in the heat. The almonds have a butter/brown sugar coating on them. They are not too spicy.
Helen - Glad you have hot water again. Oh, what we miss when we don't have it!!!
Waving to all I have not addressed. Time to make the kale!! Have a wonderful evening!!

[tamaralynn]

Ann, I buy throw away aluminum pans for the meals I deliver. The beef stroganoff was made with ground beef this time because I had so much of it. I did follow a recipe-kind of. I used some canned cream of mushroom soup and tossed in 2 cans of golden mushroom. I also added 2 packets of brown gravy mix. At the end I added my spin of french onion dip rather than plain sour cream.

I will look for that recipe Ann, thank you.

[emr]

Oct 30, 2024 10:21:24 GMT -5 weebill said:

Tomorrow night is the Halloween party. I bought a frog one piece pj's that I'm going to wear. 

Elaine, my favorite was the time you attached paint chips to a shirt and went as "Fifty Shades of Grey"!
I've never forgotten that one! 😄

[Jan in BC]

Good afternoon everyone.
      Sorry, I thought I’d posted here this morning. Posted on Midwest, then got sidetracked I guess.
     Ann, glad you had a nice visit with your teaching partner. Lunch sounds yummy, 
   Emr, at least you have a pretty good idea of when you’re home will be ready. Would be nice if it was sooner though. That’s my kind of get together. Snacks and ‘appys’, used to do that a lot. Now most of us are gone. Good memories though.
    Birdie, you’ve waited quite a while for your glasses. Here’s hoping they don’t need too much adjusting. 
    Lori, hope all goes well with your MRI.
    Mamma, did you ever get the chocolate chip cookies baked?I agree,homemade tastes a lot better than store bought.
   Elaine, I see your park is filling up fast. Is that’s good thing, or bad? More people would fill out your games requirements so they wouldn’t have to be postponed.
   Tammy, sure do hope you can salvage the donations. Household goods are always in demand.
     Didn’t do too much today. Did bake some muffins. That’s about it.  Perogies for supper, DH has that all under control.  Jan