1. I continue to have things to take care of related to possibly having a kidney transplant, but today I mostly took a break from it all with the exception of reading some more test results that came drifting into my Sacred Heart patient portal. I went to Yoke's and bought way more Halloween candy than it turned out I needed; but, on the other hand, I bought just the right ingredients for the dinner I would make.
To escape dealing with kidney transplant concerns, I turned on the Golf Channel and watched women from the USC and Stanford teams play matches in pursuit of the East Lake Cup. Until this week, I didn't know there was such a thing as the East Lake Cup and I very much enjoyed watching USC's Gabi Ruffels come from behind in her match with Stanford's Andrea Lee to win the match that clinched the cup for USC. Auburn defeated Alabama in a runaway in a match that had none of the excitement of the women's match.
2. Early in the day, I decided to used the other quart of crab stock that was thawed in the refrigerator. I found a recipe for a seafood chowder that was simple. First, I instructed Alexa to play a shuffle of Steely Dan tunes. Then, I cut up everything I'd need: onion, celery, carrots, and potatoes and crushed four gloves of garlic. In the Dutch oven, I sauteed the onion, celery, carrots until the onions were nearly soft, added in the garlic, cooked it all for another minute or so and then I covered it all with all-purpose flour. I turned up the heat and slowly added in the crab stock, brought the liquid to a boil and tossed in the peeled and chopped potatoes along with Old Bay Seasoning, cayenne pepper, and some salt. I had peppered the onions when I sauteed them. I brought this to boil and quickly turned down the heat so the potatoes could slowly cook until tender. I finished cooking this chowder by adding in 8 oz. of cooked shrimp and a half a cup of heavy cream and kept it all warm.
This creamy seafood chowder was very satisfying, especially toward the end of a chilly, dark, and rainy day. If you'd like to see the recipe I used, just click here.
3. I set up a candy stand near the front door, leashed Maggie and Charly in case they got excited and tried to dash outside to join the trick or treaters, turned on the porch light, and watched poker on PlutoTV on my tablet while I waited for kids to come knocking on the door. I didn't keep track, but my guess is that about twenty trick or treaters braved the rain and the cold. Their parents helped many of them by driving them from one section of houses to another to keep them from getting too wet and cold. By about 7:30, no one else came knocking and I relaxed and began to think about what I would need to do on Thursday to get back in the groove of pre-transplant business. Oh! Maggie and Charly behaved beautifully. Yes, two or three times the rap on the door got them barking, but neither tried to escape and they blissfully ignored most of the trick or treaters.
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