Three Beautiful Things 03-30-2023: Testing My Toe, Looking Over Photographs, HelloFresh Pasta Dinner with *Columbo* for Dessert

1. Having our snow tires swapped for the regular tires just down the street at Silver Valley Tires requires that I take the Sube to the shop with eight tires in the back, walk back home for the other car, drop it off, and walk back home again. I lucked out today, though, because Ed was also having tires swapped and after I dropped off the Sube, he gave me a lift back home just before his car went on the rack.  I walked home, though, after dropping off the Camry. 

When the cars were done, I walked down, picked up the Camry, drove home, walked back to SVTires, and picked up the Sube.

This is all to say that while I didn't walk immense distances today, I walked enough to give my toe a bit of a workout and it held up great. Yes, I feel tinges of discomfort, but, all in all, my mobility was strong and my foot gave me no problem when I unloaded the winter tires out of the back of the Sube and stacked them in the garage. 

2. This afternoon, I spent a couple or three hours looking at albums I have posted over at flickr. My plan is to print some photos and frame them to put on the walls in the Vizio room and bedroom. I have hundreds of nature photographs, but, for what I have in mind, I'm more drawn to portraits I took on the streets of Eugene, New York City, and Washington, DC, including pictures of people holding hands. Unless I have a major switch of moods, I think I'll be putting people on my walls, not flowers, leaves, or waterfowl. 

3. After dinner, Debbie and I watched Columbo crack a case involving Tyne Daily as the miserable, lonely, lusty, dipsomaniacal wife of a football team owner, a character straight out of Tennessee Williams. She's having an affair with her nephew, a gambling addict deep in financial debt to a mobster, and when she comes to realize that both her husband and nephew are using her, she takes matters into her own hands. She was crafty, but she got outwitted by Lt. Columbo with the help of a timely haircut.

Dinner emerged from a fun HelloFresh bag of delicious ingredients. First, I sliced a lemon into quarters and chopped a handful of Brussels sprouts and a couple of green onions. I put a pot of salty water on to boil and toasted panko bread crumbs with scallion whites in a tablespoon of butter. Once the salty water began to boil, I dropped a packet of spaghetti in it.

I turned off the heat under the now golden bread crumbs and transferred them into a small bowl.

I wiped the pan clean and cooked the chopped Brussels sprouts until tender and then added a small amount of red chili flakes. 

I moved the Brussels sprouts off the heat, drained the spaghetti, and in the now empty spaghetti pot, I put a cup of pasta water and a packet of cheese roux. I cooked this for a couple of minutes until it thickened a bit and added a packet of cream cheese and stirred this mixture until the cheese melted and combined.

Now it was time for the grand finale! Into the pot with the sauce I just made I added the cooked spaghetti, tender chopped Brussels sprouts, Parmesan cheese, garlic herb butter, the scallion greens, and the juice of half the lemon. 

Once this was all combined, the garlic herb butter melted, and it cooked briefly, I got out a couple of bowls. Debbie and I each served ourselves a helping of Lemony Spaghetti with Brussels Spouts and topped our pasta with the toasted panko and the white part of the scallions. If we wanted more lemon juice on our helping, that, too, was an option.

This dinner was a blast for me to cook up and we both loved eating it. 

Three Beautiful Things 03-29-2023: Getting My Toe Examined, Improved Mobility, Creepy *Columbo* Episode

1. I met with PA Mark Smyly today. My toe had improved so much that he mostly had to go by my description of what my toe has been like the last two weeks. As expected, he thought it was gout, but we agreed that whatever has been going on, it's getting a lot better and so I decided not to get a prescription for Prednisone, but will get back in touch with him if the inflammation flares up again, either now or in the future.

2. Because my toe felt much better and my mobility is improved, I was able to load up the Sube with stuff to take to the transfer station and recycle it. I was also able to load our two cars' summer tires into the back of the Sube so we can get the winter tires off on Thursday.

3. Debbie and I continued our Columbo viewing in the evening and, I have to admit, I was caught off guard by how different and creepy the episode we watched turned out to be. Columbo's nephew married a model and after the ceremony and reception, a man obsessed with the the bride kidnapped her. The nephew was a police officer, as were some of the wedding guests, and Columbo went right to work organizing them, recruiting help from downtown, and leading the investigation into who the kidnapper might have been. 

So, the creepiness of the kidnapping and the kidnapper was offset, for me, by watching Columbo snap right into the role of a leader, get the investigation organized, and spearhead some superb detective work. 

Three Beautiful Things 03-28-2023: Family Dinner on the Road, 1923 Irish Rawness, Columbo and the Chimpanzee

1. Today got off to a blazing start when Carol, Paul, Debbie, and I piled into the Camry and hightailed it over the 4th of July Pass and on into Coeur d'Alene. We met Christy at Taphouse Unchained for a family dinner on the road and redeemed the gift certificates Cosette and Taylor gave us for Christmas. 

I'm happy to say that I DID NOT hobble from the Camry to the restaurant and I felt no pain or discomfort the entire time we yakked and dined together. My toe is, at last, settling down. It's still red. There's still some swelling. But I can bend the toe and my left foot bore my weight better today than it has in nearly two weeks.

Because my toe worsened the last time I drank a cocktail and because all the literature on gout says stay away from beer, I didn't imbibe in a pre-dinner cocktail. When it came time to order, I knew that if the food I ordered were too heavy, I'd struggle staying awake on the drive home. Therefore, I ordered a house salad (and shared some with Debbie) and Debbie shared a couple of her Buffalo Drums with me. 

It was a fun change of pace to enjoy a family dinner out together and, even though we didn't do anything else, I enjoyed being in downtown CdA and imagined myself returning to try out some other places to grab a bite to eat some day. 

2. Out of nowhere, really, Debbie announced she had rented The Banshees of Inisherin and wondered if we could watch it on the Vizio.

We could. 

We did.

I found it to be at once a gorgeous movie and very unsettling. The movie's landscapes and seascapes are stunning, giving the movie frequent visual beauty. Its music soundtrack and the music played by characters within the movie is also beautiful. 

But, to my way of thinking, it was a movie about humans, for the most part, at their most elemental, at their rawest. So while the movie portrayed moments of kindness, humor, and sweetness, it also featured raw brutality and sickening violence. 

I don't want to give away even the most elemental plot details in this movie. If the movie is an allegorical story (parts of it seemed to me more allegorical than realistic), I'm not certain what its allegory is pointing to beyond itself. This actually left me asking myself as the credits rolled, "What did I just watch?"

This movie will stay with me. Not only will I not be able to shake its disturbing scenes for a while, I'll also want to remember and relish the marvelous acting in this movie, especially Barry Keoghan, Brendan Gleeson, Colin Farrell, and Kerry Condon's deeply affecting work. 

I loved the movie's animals, too. 

3. Debbie and I gave ourselves some time to decompress after Banshees of the Inisherin and then we returned to much more comfortable television viewing. 

We watched another episode of Columbo.

Columbo hung around and hung around and poked and observed and asked questions and, thanks to the help of a chimpanzee, was able to nail a greedy, desperate murderer played (to the hilt!) by Rip Torn. 

This episode was a blast, not only because Rip Torn was awesome, but also because it also featured former I've Got a Secret panelist, the fabulous Betsy Palmer. 

Three Beautiful Things 03-27-2023: Talking with Dr. Bieber's Nurse, HelloFresh Tacos, New York City Booms

1. Yoke's didn't have Voltaren, so I trudged out to WalMart and purchased a tube. Back home, I read the literature that came with the gel and called Dr. Bieber's nurse to discuss whether Voltaren gel is safe for me to take because of my kidney disease. As we talked more, she told me my description of my inflamed big toe sounded like gout. I almost went into my history with being told on three different occasions it's not gout, but didn't. I decided to follow her advice and make an appointment to see my PCG on Wednesday. Regarding Volaren, she told me if my problem is gout, that gel wouldn't do anything for it. 

Okay. I set the Voltaren aside. I'll talk with Mark Smyly on Wednesday and see what he thinks. 

In the meantime, as I write this, my toe is in the best shape it's been in since the redness and swelling began about ten days ago. I do, however, have other discomfort in my left foot, so I'll discuss all of this with the PA on Wednesday.

2. Back home, after working at my new desk on some bills and filling out (more) medical forms, I sprang into the kitchen and opened up a bag of ingredients from HelloFresh to make black bean tacos.

It was simple. I just cooked up some sliced green pepper and onion, added some stuff HelloFresh sent to make a thick sauce or filling, added black beans and two cheeses to the mix and, when the cheese melted, I put the filling onto warmed up flour tortillas and we folded the tortillas into tacos.

3. Debbie and I watched the last hour of the first episode of Ric Burns' documentary, New York. This second hour emphasized the rapid growth of New York City in the first half of the 1800s, both in population and as a center of finances and industry. We learned a lot about former New York governor and New York City Mayor, DeWitt Clinton, who envisioned the immense economic benefits of building the Erie Canal and was absolutely right. The canal opened access for goods to be transported much more easily out of and into New York City and into and out of the vast lands west of the mountains of the state of New York. 

Three Beautiful Things 03-26-2023: I'll Try Voltarin, Basketball Controversy and My Betting Failures, *New York: A Documentary Film*

1. Marcia and Christy agree that Voltarin is an effective anti-inflammatory topical ointment. It might be just what I need to get over the last bit of redness and swelling in my left big toe. I'll buy some on Monday. Right now, I'm walking about 90% comfortably and am not terribly inhibited by my inflamed toe. That's good. But I'd like to knock out this last bit of stubborn inflammation.

2. I follow several sports writers and commentators on Twitter and the foul call at the end of the Creighton/San Diego State game polarized them into two camps. One camp said the referee just shouldn't make that kind of call as the clock is winding down and the other camp says that referees are obliged to call fouls, even in last second situations. I don't come down hard and fast on either side of this ongoing argument about officiating. I read Seth Davis, Mike Greenberg, and others and mainly I thought about the end of the UVA/Auburn semi-final back in 2019 when, with about a second and a half left in the game and UVA down by two points, Kyle Guy hoisted and missed a trey, but the official on the spot called a shooting foul on Auburn's Samir Doughty. Guy sank the three free throws and UVA won by a point and advanced to the championship game. 

The same controversy erupted in 2019 that erupted today and I don't have enough Solomon in me to know what I think the right thing is for referees to do in these last second situations -- if there is a right thing to do. 

Later in the day, Miami surged from 13 points down to defeat Texas, 88-81. 

And with Texas' loss, all of my Sports Book wagers went kaput. I hung on to a slim hope that Texas might win the whole tournament and enable me to win back my betting investment and a little more, but, alas, like last year, I once again came up empty at the Sports Book and this year I will not finish anywhere near the money in the bracket pool I entered.

Like the long suffering fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1950s, all I can say is "Wait 'til next year!" 

3. Our Amazon Fire Stick's front page comes up when we fire up the Vizio and some form of artificial intelligence inside the stick makes recommendations of programming we might want to watch.

We were going to watch an episode of Columbo, but the first recommendation was a Ric Burns PBS documentary on the Donner Party.

Neither of us wanted to watch that, but when I saw Ric Burns' name, I mentioned to Debbie that Ric Burns created the multi-episode, about fifteen hour long documentary, New York: A Documentary Film.

Debbie said, "Let's watch that."

I was thrilled.

I watched this series a few years ago, loved it. and was eager to watch it again.

The first episode is about two hours long and we watched for an hour and were absolutely enthralled by the story of the Dutch settlement of New York, the transfer of New York to the British, the awful history of these countries' conquest of what we now call Manhattan, and of the history of New York City during the Revolutionary War. We'll finish this episode soon enough and I hope it will launch us into several evenings of watching this entire masterpiece of documentary film making. 

Three Beautiful Things 3-25-2023: Always a Toe Update, A Squeaker and a Beat Down, Wild *Columbo* Episode

 1. No, the redness, the inflammation in my left big toe has not disappeared, but it receded enough today that I could walk around, not a perfectly normal gait, but getting close. I continue icing it. At night, however, my toe becomes painful and keeps me awake. If, however, I take Tylenol (a kidney safe pain medication), the pain subsides and I sleep well.

2. I had read about Florida Atlantic during the season. Every Monday I try to remember to read Seth Davis' analysis of how he voted in the weekly AP Men's Basketball poll. It seemed like every week he was unsure just how to rank Florida Atlantic. He tried to assess the quality of their wins in the Conference USA, studied how the different metric systems (like KenPom) rated the Owls, and stacked this mid-major program against the major programs in the country.

Week after week, if I remember correctly, Florida Atlantic either didn't make his it into his Top 25 or he ranked them toward the bottom.

The way I look at things, Seth Davis is not an opinion voter. His approach is highly analytical and every week, in The Athletic, he spells out his reasoning, explains how he arrives at his rankings.

So, today, I watched Florida Atlantic play for the first time, going beyond just reading about them.

I don't mind saying that they stunned me today with their quickness, speed, strength, various ways of scoring, and their defensive adjustments. It was fun to watch Florida Atlantic and their up tempo opponent, Kansas State, fly up and down the court, play with passion and tenacity, and provide such great entertainment in Madison Square Garden.

And, wouldn't you know it, given what a wide open tournament this year's NCAA is, the obscure team from a conference few pay attention to, Florida Atlantic, outplayed their Big 12 opponent and scored a remarkable 76-79 win over Kansas State. 

It was a blast to see the underdog Owls prevail, but I hated to see the buoyant and joyful Kansas State Wildcats get ousted from the tournament. I'll sorely miss watching their mighty point guard Markquis Nowell make improbable passes, hit long shots, and execute electrifying drives to the hoop. 

The excitement and suspense that marked the FAU/Kansas State game stood in stark contrast to the UConn/Gonzaga tilt.

Gonzaga couldn't have had more things go wrong in their nightmare outing against UConn. The powerful, sharp-shooting, tenacious Huskies prevailed in a complete blow out, 82-54. The Zags suffered forty minutes of poor shooting, sketchy defense, foul trouble, and an opponent, UConn, who is peaking in March. 

3. Apres le deluge, c'est Columbo. 

Lt. Columbo had a much better night than Gonzaga!

The episode was outrageous. It jumped several sharks, all in a good way.

For starters, the episode featured Dabney Coleman as a wildly corrupt and homicidal defense attorney.

In the course of his investigation, Lt. Columbo presents himself in a dive bar as a low level mobster working for Johnny Few Hairs. He appears alongside a mermaid in this bar's aquarium -- I can't really explain this surreal scene. He goes to another dive bar where Little Richard* (yes LITTLE RICHARD!) is performing. Later, he pays a private investigator a visit. His name is Sam Marlowe and he works in an office with a film noir ceiling fan. 

It's all over the top, as is the means by which Columbo finally nabs the attorney.

We had a blast watching this wild ride! 

*Little Richard's character plays a song called "Boogie Woogie", a take off on "Tutti Frutti". Ha ha!

Three Beautiful Things 03-24-2023: I Walked Almost Normally, NCAA Upsets, I'm a George Hamilton Convert

1. By the time I soaked by foot in epsom salt and baking soda and iced my toe one last time around 10:30 p.m., I was able to almost walk normally. My toe is still red, but the swelling went down and my foot is bearing weight much better. I hope I don't jinx myself by saying that it looks like I'm getting closer to having a normal big toe and top of my foot again.

2. I mean, heck, I'm thousands of miles away watching a game on a small television set, so what can I really tell? That said, it looked to me like San Diego State's relentless commitment to defense rattled Alabama. Here's how I saw things as this game progressed: metrics and NET scores and other more objective measures of teams' performances cannot account for the psychological and emotional impact opposing teams have on each other. I thought San Diego State gained some kind of psychological advantage as they defeated Alabama. Was it surprise? Intimidation? Did Alabama underestimate San Diego State's muscular, physical style of play? I don't know, but by every objective measure in addition to the eye test, Alabama was the better team. But by some largely immeasurable means, San Diego State outplayed Alabama and pulled off a mighty upset.

So (and, hey, I might be all wet here, but that's the joy of blogging -- I can be all wet!), you might think that the Houston Cougars, a team built very much like the San Diego State Aztecs, would do to Miami something like what the Aztecs did to Alabama.

But, no. 

Miami engineered its upset with speed, superb shot making, and a free wheeling style of basketball. It was almost as if Miami (remember, I might be all wet) didn't permit Houston to assert its physical strength by scoring on fast breaks and three point bombs and by keeping the rock moving. Whereas San Diego State disrupted Alabama, Houston never did the same to Miami and for the second consecutive year these highly entertaining, boisterous Miami Hurricane players are back in the Elite Eight.

3. I confess: for years I have underestimated the talent of George Hamilton. I should have learned my lesson when he turned in a solid performance in Godfather III, but Columbo has convinced me once and for all that George Hamilton can bring it as an actor. 

I think I underestimated George Hamilton for one very simple and superficial reason: he was the subject of a long-running and hilarious parody in Doonesbury, having to do with Hamilton's devotion to sun tanning. 

George Hamilton twice appeared as a murderer in Columbo, first as a psychiatrist specializing in hypnosis and then, about fifteen years later, in the episode we watched tonight, as the host of a television crime show.

In tonight's episode, Hamilton's character moved seamlessly between unctuous televisions star, a man frightened by a blackmail threat, and a smooth, calculating cold-blooded murderer. Oh! And he played irritation and condescension most convincingly in his interactions with Lt. Columbo. 

If you watched today's Alabama/San Diego State game and, like me, thought the Aztecs got under the skin of the Crimson Tide, it was a gnat bite compared to the under his skin work Columbo performed on Hamilton's tv star. Not only that, Columbo nailed him! 

Three Beautiful Things 03-23-2023: Doc Watson's 100th Birthday, Intro to Psuedogout, Columbo Prevails Along with the Zags

 1.  I'm not sleeping well at night. Podcasts help me enjoy stretches of sleeplessness. As I lay in bed tonight, I once again turned to Fresh Air and listened to the March 3, 2023 broadcast commemorating Doc Watson's 100th birthday. Digging into their archives, Fresh Air replayed past interviews of Doc Watson and songs he had performed on the show in studio live. Doc Watson brought dignity to everything he did. He dignified the old tunes he played with his soulful singing and his virtuosity on his acoustic guitar. He dignified the memory of his son Merle, with whom he performed until Merle lost his life in a tractor accident in 1985, not only with his loving words about Merle, but by organizing, in 1988, the annual "traditional plus" April music festival called MerleFest. 

If you'd like to hear this broadcast, please be my guest. Just click here. 

2. I experienced stretches of time today, at home, when my left foot felt better than it has in the past week. It was bearing my weight pretty well and gave me confidence that I could safely stand in the shower. I took my improving foot for a test drive to Yoke's and while I shopped, walking up and down aisles, my foot didn't feel perfectly painless, but it felt pretty good. 

Back home, after my trip to the store, my foot regressed and was mildly painful. 

Debbie and I have done some reading online and we both wonder if I'm having an episode of Pseudogout, an arthritic malady that presents itself in ways similar to gout, but is different. Episodes can last a few or several days and is best treated with rest, icing, and anti-inflammatory medicine. I need to find out what kind of anti-inflammatory medicine I can take that is the least damaging to my kidneys. 

3. Wednesday and Thursday were intense days at work for Debbie. She met with many of her students' parents in conferences. Debbie arrived home tired -- in a good mood -- and welcomed the rye with orange juice and lemon juice cocktail I had ready for her when she walked in the door.

Debbie wound down with her drink while I watched the first half of the Gonzaga/UCLA Sweet 16 contest. At halftime, UCLA led the Zags by thirteen points and I was ready to see if Gonzaga could once again come back from a deficit and overtake their opponent. They've done this several time this season.

Unaware of what was happening with the Gonzaga game, Debbie wondered if I'd like to watch an episode of Columbo. Yes, I did want to. Watching Columbo together would help Debbie further wind down and I knew that I could keep tabs on the Zags game by checking in on the score online and by reading text messages Terry, Roger, Bruce, and Byrdman were exchanging. 

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Columbo zero in on the frat boys who killed their professor and do very nifty detective work that led to their arrest.

I also kept track of Gonzaga's collapse in the late stage of their game against UCLA, but just as Columbo had the frat boys handcuffed, Julian Strawther hit a 30+ foot bomb with about seven seconds left, helping lift the Zags to a 79-76 victory. 

The Zags won!

Columbo nailed the arrogant college students! 

What a night! 

Three Beautiful Things 03-22-2023: Epsom Salt Soak, Bagel Desire, Listening to a Holistic Veterinarian on *Fresh Air*

 1. It's difficult to tell what helps my toe, but I do know this: once I figured out that I could use a canning pot for foot soaking, it sure felt good to soak my foot for a while in warm water and Epsom salt.

2. If I could change anything in my immediate world, here's what it would be: Beach Bum Bakery would sell bagels daily rather than once or twice a week! This isn't a complaint, just a way of saying that on Tuesday I bought a bag of three sesame sourdough bagels and ate the last on today with cream cheese, salami, and tomatoes and wished I could go right back to Beach Bum's little trailer on Bunker Ave behind the Furniture Exchange and pick up some more. 

Oh, well.

I'll just wait until Monday (or Tuesday).

3. I lay in bed late this evening and listened to a Fresh Air broadcast. It featured Dave Davies interviewing Dr. Karen Fine, a holistic veterinarian who has just published a memoir entitled, The Other Family Doctor: A Veterinarian Explores What Animals Can Teach Us About Love, Life, and Mortality. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this interview, especially as Dr. Fine talked about why she devotes so much of her time to making house calls, how she treats animals with a combination of western and Chinese therapies, and what her views about euthanizing animals are. 

If you'd like to listen to this broadcast, it's easy to get to! Just click here. 

Three Beautiful Things 03-21-2023: I Left the House, Fun Ravioli Dinner, *Columbo* Gives Soap Opera a Whirl

1. I wear a Dr. Scholl's insert in my left shoe. By removing it, I was able to shoehorn my left foot with the inflamed toe into my shoe and go out into the world and get a few things done. I bought kidney care cat food at the vet's office. I went to Beach Bum Bakery and bought sesame bagels, a baguette, and an almond mini-scone. I hobbled into the Beanery for a latte. I returned home, enjoyed my scone and latte, and ventured back out for a quick purchase at the liquor store and to buy a couple of items at Yoke's. I concluded my first day out in the world for nearly a week by running the Camry through the Silver Valley Tire car wash.

2. It didn't take much to fix a mighty delicious meal from HelloFresh this evening. I started by cutting a yellow pepper in half and removing the core and the seeds and, along with a quartered tomato, roasting them in the oven for about 10-12 minutes. I drizzled olive oil over them and seasoned them with salt and pepper.

I put on a pot of salted water to boil. I dropped a package of spinach ricotta raviolis into the water. 

I cooked a thinly sliced clove of garlic in oil and then added vegetable stock concentrate, pasta water, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, fresh lemon juice, and butter to make a sauce. 

I drained the ravioli. I removed the pepper and tomato from the oven and thinly slice the pepper halves and added the tomato and pepper to the sauce. 

After I transferred the drained ravioli to the pot, I poured the sauce over the ravioli, and presto! Debbie and I enjoyed Creamy Lemon Spinach Ricotta Ravioli with Bell Pepper and Parmesan.

3. Lt. Columbo did some unusual detective work, including a close examination of women's panties, in order to nail a womanizing, lying, manipulative, nowhere man for murder. Of all the Columbo episodes I've ever seen, this one was among the most outrageous. It was as if Columbo met All My Children or Dallas and the Columbo writers decided to push this story deep into soap opera land. 

I enjoyed how its absurd turns and melodramatic acting made me laugh and was very happy that I'm not a Columbo purist. I'm not sure the purists would be able to laugh at this episode and surrender to its outrageous plot line and overdrawn characters. 

What a gas! 

Three Beautiful Things 03-20-2023: Keeping a Toe Record, Improvised BBQ Flatbreads, *Columbo* and *The Return of the Secaucus 7*

1. It's helpful for me to have a record via this blog whenever this big toe thing flares up. Today was the fifth day of swelling and redness. This might be the longest this inflammation has hung on, but I'm not positive. Today I iced it more aggressively. I decided to treat it as if it's gout and began drinking cherry juice. I almost never take painkillers because of my kidneys, but I took a couple Bufferin after I'd been in bed for an hour or so and slept through the night. 

There. That's the record I can refer back to. 

2. Our HelloFresh box arrived today and I decided to make BBQ Pineapple Flatbreads.

Ha! One minor problem. The employee who packed our box gave us two packages of Mozzarella cheese and no pineapple. (Debbie reported the error and HelloFresh credited her account six bucks.)

So, I improvised.

I decided to substitute apple for the pineapple and fresh squeezed tangerine juice for the pineapple juice.

The juice worked as an ingredient, along with vinegar, to pickle a quarter of a red onion sliced.

I cooked the chopped apple pieces with the rest of the onions as I caramelized them and that worked, too.

So, once the onion/apple mixture was ready, all I had to do was drizzle the flatbread rectangles with olive oil, divide the packet of BBQ sauce between them, top the sauce with the apple/onion mixture, and top that with sliced and seasoned green peppers, Mozzarella cheese, Jack cheese, cilantro, and the pickled onions, drained. 

I popped the flatbreads in the oven for about ten minutes until the cheese melted and the edges were brown, cut each flatbread into six pieces, and plated them. 

When we first moved to Greenbelt, the Old Line Bistro served flatbreads, thinner ones, prepared with a variety of toppings and I enjoyed this meal as it was both delicious and nostalgic. (I loved the Old Line Bistro, now closed, in Beltsville, MD.)

3. For dessert, we watched Lt. Columbo absolutely crush a sleazy, arrogant, hedonistic, amoral, gambling addicted dentist who tried to make it look like his wife poisoned her lover. 

The most fun (and awesome) part of this story was when Columbo arrived at the site of the dentist's regular poker game and the delight Columbo took in the fact that Ron Cey, Nancy Walker, and Dick Sargent were all at the table, all playing themselves. 

I experienced an added personal pleasure. 

The actor playing the dentist's brother-in-law, Mark Arnott, was the intellectually gifted, wood-chopping character in The Return of the Secaucus 7 who arrived at the reunion with Mara, who was breaking up (or had broken up) with him and, over the weekend, slept with JT, making it clearer than he wanted that she was done with Jeff.  

It's been many years since I last watched this movie, but for a stretch of time in the 1980s I had a tape of it at home and must have watched it at least two dozen times after seeing in three times in theaters in Eugene and Portland. 

The Return of the Secaucus 7 streams on IFC and AMC. 

Might be time to subscribe! 

Three Beautiful Things 03-19-2023: Fantasy Baseball Draft, Zags and TCU Entertain Me, Sleeping on the Couch

1. My left big toe continues to be inflamed and I continue to stay home to treat it. Today was draft day in our Fantasy Baseball leagues and I had planned on joining league members at The Lounge for the draft day party. Instead, I stayed home, jumped online, and joined the draft from home. Originally, I had planned on letting the ESPN computers draft for me, but once I got online, I made my own selections, for better or worse. I look forward to seeing how my teams perform.

2. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Gonzaga and TCU square off today, playing for a trip to the West Regional in Las Vegas on Thursday. I enjoyed TCU's aggression and toughness. I had not seen their best player, Mike Miles, Jr., in action before and I was very impressed with his game. After the first half, I wondered if Gonzaga could come back from being behind much of the opening stanza, wondered if they could overcome TCU's five point half time lead.

They did. I experienced their comeback and eventual win was a balanced team effort. While Drew Timme was the hub of Gonzaga's effort, especially on offense, scoring key baskets and dishing out assists at crucial times, I also admired Malachi Smith's play off the bench, the contributions Anton Watson made on defense and as a supportive scorer (how about that steal he made? how about his going the from TCU's backcourt to Gonzaga's goal and slamming his purloined booty home?), and way the Rashir Bolton heated up in the second half. The Zags had a couple of missteps -- missing free throws and turning the ball over trying to inbound it late in the game -- but, on the whole, I was impressed with how they've evolved as a team over the course of the season. 

The Zags' victory made me happy. So did Creighton's win over Baylor. I enjoyed how Creighton moved and shot the ball and how balanced and physical their effort was. I agree with Jay Wright's analysis. As Villanova's men's basketball coach for a long time, he faced Creighton at least twice every year. He says this year's Creighton team is like past teams offensively, but what impresses him is how the 2022-23 team is so much stronger defensively. It's been a great tournament so far for the Big East with Creighton, Xavier, and U Conn all advancing to the round of 16. I'm eager to see if any of these teams, or Gonzaga, can somehow win the whole championship. 

For me, that would be really fun. 

3. When my red and angry big toe couldn't stand having a sheet and blanket over it in bed tonight, I decided that rather than sit up on the edge of the bed with my feet on the floor, I'd try sleeping on the couch with a single blanket and the heat in the living room turned up. 

It worked! I was able to keep my toe from having contact with the blanket and I quickly established a comfortable sleeping position on the couch and, lo and behold, whatever angered my toe in the evening and early in the night settled down a bit. I was grateful for the comfort of our couch and for getting some pretty good sleep. 

Three Beautiful Things 03-18-2023: My Angry Toe Improves, Why I Enjoy Placing a Few Bets, Debbie Prepares Corned Beef

1. My memory tells me that one of my big toes gets inflamed, usually because of a shoe or shoe insert problem, about once every 18-24 months. In looking over the archives of this blog, I confirmed that my memory is correct. I also found my description of having seen one of the three doctors I've consulted.  She (like the others) was mystified by this occasional reoccurrence and advised me to do just what I've been doing since Thursday: ice my toe, elevate it, and drink plenty of fluids. It works! It requires some patience. 

I'm pretty sure, drawing upon my past experiences, that this latest episode is almost over. I'll stay home another day on Sunday, the fourth day of this go around with angry toe syndrome, and hope that on Monday I can get back out and enjoy some walking and run some errands in CdA.

2. Okay. Here's what's good about entering three brackets in Doug and Sharann's pool and making seven wagers at the Caesar Sports Book at the Spokane Tribe Casino: it's social. It's fun being in this pool with Mary Lynn, Roger, Terry, Ron Romine, and others and it's fun to see how our different brackets are working out. (By the way, none of my brackets is on the leader board Doug posted on Sunday morning.)

It was also a blast to go to the casino with Byrdman and sit in Caesar's luxury chairs (I feel asleep in one at Northern Quest's sports book a year ago!) and ponder the tournament, make a few bets, and yak over two buck glasses of Amber Ale.

Right now, out of my seven wagers, two are done: Purdue and Kansas both lost.

Debbie put it very well yesterday when she said to me, in a neutral, objective voice, without recrimination, "You're not very good a gambling, are you?"

I owned up to that! 

But, I admit, I enjoy having a little skin in the game and enjoy talking with my buddies about how we're all doing. If it weren't for the social fun of it all, I wouldn't do it. 

3. I stayed home today with ice packs and Debbie headed out to the store and, among other items, she brought home a chunk of corned beef. She slowly cooked it for a few hours and as a side dish she mashed potatoes with some Greek yogurt and put the spring cabbage I made Monday into the spuds. 

It was a simple and exquisitely delicious meal. 

She also bought a container of Simply Cranberry Cocktail Juice and mixed us each a couple of superb drinks: Cranberry Juice, gin, and Cointreau. I'm elated to have this cocktail in our rotation. 

Three Beautiful Things 03-17-2023: Another Day of Icing, Pressure and Purdue, Debbie Brings Home Lo Mein

1. Lots of icing of my left big toe again today. It hasn't quite calmed down just yet. In the past, these inflamed toe incidents have lasted 3-5 days. My toe started to fire up Wednesday evening, so my hope is that it will sign a peace accord with the rest of my body by about Sunday. As is always the case, my toe felt and looked better as the day and my icing of it progressed, but I lose a lot of that progress at night. 

2. I kept an eye on a lot of basketball action today. Gonzaga turned up the heat after a sluggish first half and cruised past Grand Canyon, 82-70 -- after leading by only two points at halftime, Gonzaga led by as many as 22 points in the second half. Gonzaga faces a strenuous test in Sunday's matchup against Texas Christian University -- if you heard Mark Few's postgame comments, he was quick to say that he regards TCU as one of the very best teams in this tournament.

I wrote yesterday about how I thought both Virginia and Arizona showed signs of panic in their upset losses to Furman and Princeton. Others might say they choked. 

Today, in the East Region, 16th seed Farleigh Dickinson (located just about five miles northwest of the George Washington Bridge in Teabridge, New Jersey) miraculously defeated the top-seeded Purdue Boilermakers, 63-58.

I didn't write down notes as I watched the finish of this game, but I'll say that with approximately five minutes left, I thought Purdue was in deep trouble. I saw it this way: Purdue has a recent history of losing first round games to inferior teams and today I thought their players showed clear signs of feeling the pressure of that history as Purdue failed to put Farleigh Dickinson, a physically far inferior team, away.

Gradually, Purdue's physical superiority gave way to their mental or emotional inferiority. Unlike Farleigh Dickinson who had nothing to lose in this game and were free, loose, and aggressive, Purdue looked scared to me, tentative, tight. I think anxiety (or panic) can slow down players and Purdue looked slow against Farleigh Dickinson's full court pressure and, to me, really looked tentative in loose ball situations. Repeatedly, Farleigh Dickinson out hustled Purdue, hounded Purdue on defense, and as the pressure built on Purdue, their guards became reluctant to shoot, made poor decisions, and failed to get ball inside to their powerhouse center, Zach Eden, despite Edey having a huge height advantage over the FDU, the smallest team in the whole tournament.

I enjoyed the excitement of this gargantuan upset taking place, but I didn't enjoy watching Purdue's players wilt under the pressure of trying not to lose to a team they could have defeated handily. 

Pressure can erode confidence and having nothing to lose and starting to succeed can boost it.

Today, Purdue's confidence disintegrated along with their performance right before out eyes in large part because of how Farleigh Dickinson's confidence grew and their performance blossomed.

3. Late this afternoon, I didn't really feel like dragging my inflamed big toe to The Lounge to join Debbie. I was elated, though, when Debbie came home with an order of Chicken Lo Mein and an order of potstickers. We enjoyed a great meal and some great conversation, especially about Debbie's work and what she's learning about teaching third graders at Pinehurst Elementary School. She and Christy are devoted to these children and giving them lots of fun things to learn about and multiple ways to enjoy being in school. 

Three Beautiful Things 03-16-2023: Icing my Left Big Toe, Two Powerhouse Teams Panic, Quesadillas for Dinner

1. The good news, I guess what you'd call the beautiful thing, is that I know how to treat it. Not so beautiful, however, is this occasional problem I have with either of my big toes becoming suddenly inflamed. I've written about this before, but it's been quite a while since this malady last occurred. 

In Eugene, I saw three different Urgent Care doctors when this problem flared up. All of them confirmed, independently of one another, that it's not gout. One of them did a blood test that confirmed that it's not gout.

The treatment?

Ice. If I ice my toe about five, six, seven times a day, in about two, three, or four days my toe calms down and I can walk freely and sleep well.

I made progress today. 

2. I watched a lot of basketball throughout the day. 

I thought both of the upsets were largely due to the favored teams losing their composure -- would I be exaggerating to say I thought they panicked?

In Virginia's loss, late in the game, the Cav's experienced and seasoned point guard, Kihei Clark, got trapped in the backcourt by at least two Furman defenders. Clark must have thought that if he launched a pass high into the air and downcourt that time would expire. Or, he didn't think. He panicked. 

Either way, as a result of his desperate heave, a Furman player intercepted the pass, quickly sent the ball up court to JP Pegues who hoisted a trey and buried it, wiping out UVA's two point lead and capping Furman's upset of the Cavs.

Arizona looked panicked to me late in their loss to Princeton. Whereas Princeton looked poised and self-assured, Arizona's guards dribbled around helter-skelter, made wild turnovers, took some very difficult shots, and, to me, looked like they lost their heads. It was contagious. With the guards playing nervous, the other Arizona players also seemed to be playing in a state of disbelief that these Ivy League fellas were not only taking the powerhouse Wildcats to the wire, but were beating them, mentally, physically, and on the scoreboard.

Alas! The inevitable madness of March! 

3. A day of off and on icing helped me gain enough mobility again that I could not only fix Debbie a cocktail when she returned home, but I also was able to fix dinner.

I followed the step by step instructions of HelloFresh and made Debbie and me delicious quesadillas.

All I had to do was thinly slice a red onion, chop up a couple of tomatoes, chop a green onion, and chop up cilantro. 

I made a quick salsa with some of the tomatoes and cilantro and onion, plus a splash of vinegar. 

I also made a very simple sauce with sour cream, a southwest spice blend, and water.

I cooked the thinly sliced onions and chopped green peppers. Once cooked, I added the rest of the chopped tomatoes and more of the spice blend with some water, cooked it until the tomatoes were tender, and then took the pan off the heat and added sour cream and cilantro.

I put out two flour tortillas. I covered each with grated Mexican blend cheese, put the onion/green pepper/tomato sauce over the cheese, and topped it all with grated pepper jack cheese. 

I folded both filled tortillas in half and cooked each side until the tortillas browned and the cheese melted.

I cut the folded and stuffed tortillas into wedges and covered the wedges with the salsa and sauce I'd made and with guacamole. 

Debbie and I then dug in and were once again impressed with this HelloFresh offering. 

Three Beautiful Things 03-15-2023: Haircut and Lots of Listening, Costco and Bob Dylan, Silky Penne for Dinner

Today's entry marks my 6000th post here at kelloggbloggin, a writing effort I began in October, 2006. 

1. The weather has warmed up. The freeway between Kellogg and Coeur d'Alene and Spokane is free of snow and ice (but not yet free of potholes!). 

For the second straight day, I took advantage of these favorable conditions and drove to CdA.

First, I returned to Great Clips (because it's close to Costco) and once again Britney cut my hair and told me about her evil twin Stephanie, explained how her parents decided not to name her Stephanie, told me why her father and grandfather, both employees of the Highway Department, were superheroes, informed me that elementary aged kids these days cuss a lot, bemoaned that couldn't find the cheese she wanted at Costco, and declared me a superhero because I had been a teacher for many years. 

I left Great Clips full of information! 

2. I stocked up on several staple food and paper products at Costco.

As I always do, I had a great time sauntering up and down the aisles, exchanging friendly looks and smiles with people, and checking out different areas of the store I enjoy poking around in. 

After shopping, I stopped in at Starbucks for a grande double latte and to use their wi-fi to download Bob Dylan's book, The Philosophy of Modern Song on to my phone. 

I listened to this book in its entirety back in November and returning to it today was scintillating, exhilarating, and, at times, troubling. 

Bob Dylan's mind at work in these essays is a wonder. He is, by turns, profoundly knowledgeable and insightful about 20th century music and hilariously irreverent at times, especially when he makes stuff up and acts like it's true. His searing honesty is sometimes inspiring, sometimes unsettling. I don't always know when Dylan is pulling my leg, but when he gets fired up, like when he writes about John Trudell, his prose burns with genuine emotion and outrage.

Listening to the early chapters of Dylan's book for a second time was especially satisfying, even as I know that that I will be tossed back and forth between admiration for his writing and unsettled, knocked off kilter, by some of the crazy things he writes. 

3. Back home, I got out one of the HelloFresh bags. I sliced mushrooms and a zucchini, halved grape tomatoes, quartered a lemon, chopped chives, put on a pot of water to boil, and got to work making Silky Penne with a tomato, zucchini, mushroom sauce.

It was a simple recipe. I cooked the zucchini, put it in a bowl, and then cooked the mushrooms and put them in the same bowl, By now, the water had come to a boil, and I dropped the penne in it to cook.

In the pan I'd cooked the zucchini and mushrooms, I now poured some olive oil and melted some butter and cooked the grape tomatoes with Italian seasoning sprinkled on them. Once they were cooked, I added pasta water, mushroom stock concentrate, chives, lemon juice, and creme fraiche to the pan and made a sauce.

Once I drained the penne and returned the pasta to the pot, I dumped the sauce over it and with the addition of some Parmesan cheese and a squeeze or two more of lemon juice, our dinner was ready and it was mighty delicious. 

Three Beautiful Things 03-14-2023: Camry is Healthy, Making Wagers, Yakkin' Over African Ambers BONUS: A Limerick by Stu

1. I was up and at 'em earlier than usual this morning. I savored a sesame bagel (from Beach Bum Bakery) with cream cheese, completed today's Wordle puzzle, and blasted out of Kellogg in the Camry and got the car serviced at Parker Toyota. Everything is in good shape.

2. I swung by Byrdman's house and he piled into the Camry and we rocketed over to the Spokane Tribe Casino in Airway Heights and spent time in the big luxurious chairs at the Caesar Sports Book figuring out what kind of wagers we'd make, trying to win a little money on the Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament. 

The Sports Books doesn't allow wagers on Washington teams, so Gonzaga was not a team we could pick.

I decided to bet on three teams to win their regions: Alabama, Purdue, and Houston. 

I bet on four teams to win the whole tournament: Alabama, Kansas, Texas, and Marquette. 

Next up: I've got to fill out a couple or three bracket sheets and send them to Sharann and Doug. I've never filled out multiple brackets before, but I'd like to submit a cautious bracket, a picking teams I root for bracket, and possibly a wildly upset oriented bracket -- I'm not wily. I just like to have fun and I think multiple brackets will be fun (and possibly funny).

3. Byrdman and I finished placing our bets and then we sat at a table in the casino's sports bar and enjoyed a few two dollar Mac n Jack African Amber beers. I hadn't sipped on a craft beer for a while and wanted a beer that was easy to drink, not very high in ABV, and that was a little sweet, not very bitter. This amber hit the spot and as we relaxed Byrdman and I had a top notch yakkin' session, talking about everything from college basketball to players we loved to watch in our conference in our high school days. Byrdman told me about a group of CdA guys he meets up with about once a month at lunch time -- some great names from the past surfaced -- and we talked about some of the indignities of aging that each of us is experiencing and what's going on with people we know as they get older. 

I'll just say no one escapes the different maladies of aging, whether it's joint pain, loss of memory, loss of stamina, problems with eyes and eyesight, or anything else. 

Even as we felt the mild euphoria of the African Ambers, this part of our yakkin' was sobering. 

A limerick by Stu:

The “Ides” of this month are today. 

“Beware” it was said in this play. 

Caesar chose to ignore, 

Ended up on the floor. 

And his best, so called, friends got their way. 

Ides of March.

Three Beautiful Things 03-13-2023: Preparing Potted Chicken, Preparing Spring Cabbage, Irish Family Dinner at Christy's

 1. My first assignment for tonight's St. Patrick's Day Eve Eve Eve Eve dinner was to make a container of potted meat. An older way of storing, say, leftover chicken or fish or ham was to pound it with an equal amount of butter, season it with nutmeg or mace along with salt and pepper, top it with clarified butter and store it. The recipe Christ gave me updated this approach. I melted a stick of unsalted butter in a Dutch oven and added the meat of a small rotisserie chicken from Yoke's, stirred up the chicken so the butter covered it, and put the buttered chicken in our food processor along with allspice (a sub for mace) and salt and pepper. 

I ran the food processor for just about 10-15 seconds, I'd say, so that the paste I made was rough.

I put it in a container, topped it with three tablespoons of melted butter, refrigerated it, and later I put crackers in a bowl. The idea was to spread the potted chicken on a cracker. 

2. Christy also assigned me to fix a mess of spring cabbage, which I couldn't really do properly because we don't have Savoy cabbage in our stores, but I made a head of cabbage work along with chopped kale. 

All I had to do was melt butter in the Dutch oven, combine the kale and the butter, add a cup of water, and bring the water to a boil. Then I turned down the heat, put the lid on the Dutch oven, and cooked the kale until tender, about 7 minutes or so. Then I added the chopped cabbage, put the lid back on, and cooked it until tender, not mushy, and added salt. I left it to each person to pepper their own cabbage. 

3. Carol, Paul, Debbie, and I piled into Christy's refurnished, roomier living room for our St. Patrick's Eve Eve Eve Eve family dinner. Paul was in charge of cocktails and brought each of us a bottle of Guiness. We could drink it straight from the bottle or mix it with Carol's cranberry liqueur or with Prosecco.  These cocktail ideas, as well as every course of our dinner, came from David Bower's Real Irish Food, a cookbook of Christy's. 

I love stouts blended with other beers or ciders and thoroughly enjoyed my two glasses of Guiness blended with cranberry liqueur.

Christy made a Cottage Pie for the main dish and explained to us that a Cottage Pie uses ground beef and a Shepherd's Pie features ground lamb. 

The Cottage Pie was superb and my spring cabbage side dish and Carol's wheat soda bread complimented the pie. 

Christy made a terrific dessert, called Everyday Fruitcake. It's nothing like holiday fruitcake, and she served it with either an Irish coffee or a shot or so of Jameson's over ice. I was euphoric that Christy made Jameson's available and enjoyed the whiskey and the way it paired with the fruit cake. 

We had a lot to talk about tonight, including the upcoming NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament and Christy told us all about the Celebration of Life she attended for Joan Dorendorf, a celebration in Post Falls attended by numerous people connected to Kellogg, Idaho. 

Three Beautiful Things 03-12-2023: Fun in the Kitchen with Ground Beef, ZOOM Time!, Awesome Evening Watching Classic TV Programs

 1. I wanted to cook dinner using ground beef today and I consulted my America's Test Kitchen Mediterranean cookbook and found an Egyptian recipe combining, among other ingredients, ground beef, spinach, and eggs.

I didn't want to serve an egg dish for dinner, so I looked elsewhere for a recipe combining ground beef and spinach and found one and modified it. 

The recipe called for a dish that included sour cream and mushrooms, but I went a slightly different direction. 

I decided to make a mushroom sauce and add sour cream to it.

So, I cooked diced potatoes, chopped onion, and sweet red pepper in the skillet and simultaneously cooked up some ground beef in a Dutch oven. When the meat was brown, I added spinach and garlic and cooked this until the spinach wilted. I then added the potatoes, onion, and sweet pepper to the Dutch oven. 

Before I made this dish, I made a mushroom sauce consisting of butter, sliced mushrooms, dry vermouth, chicken stock, heavy cream, garlic, sour cream, grated Parmigiana Reggiano cheese, and thyme. 

Debbie and I served ourselves the spinach and ground beef medley and poured mushroom sauce over it.

It worked! 

We enjoyed a delicious and comforting dinner.

2. Earlier in the day, Bill, Bridgit, Colette, and I jumped on ZOOM and talked for a couple of hours about internet scammers, Bill having avoided serious injury after a Saturday evening fall, different dynamics in different families, and what we've been reading lately. We also quickly surveyed television programming we either have enjoyed or are enjoying now -- I especially liked our discussions of A Touch of Frost and Vera. Bridgit has been enjoying an ABC program, Will Trent and I'm thinking one day I might like to catch up to that one.

3. After dinner, Debbie and I settled into a quiet and most entertaining evening. I multi-tasked during a gripping episode of Perry Mason by completing the Monday NYTimes Crossword Puzzle online, while watching Perry Mason get to the bottom of a murder tied into a scammy land deal. 

We then watched a 1990 episode of Columbo and, unlike the previous three episodes we watched, this episode did not feature philandering, women in bikinis, or any male characters living with three women. 

No, this episode returned to the more familiar, traditional Columbo plot. In it, an attorney, working as a campaign consultant for a Congressman preparing to run with the state's governor for president, tries to wipe out a dark story in his and the Congressman's past by murdering a racketeer and going to great lengths to make it look like a suicide.

Let me just say that in the series Columbo, these staged suicides never succeed.

And, indeed, with persistence, stubbornness, keen observation, and some help from the boys at the lab, Columbo nails the smooth, arrogant, ambitious, condescending attorney. 

So, the governor in the Columbo episode was played by Arthur Hill.

I suddenly remember that his series, starting in 1971, Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law, was one of Mom's favorite shows and I had a sudden surge of good nostalgic feelings and I wanted to watch an episode.

To my disappointment, a quick search of my SmartTV came up empty, but then I said to Debbie that maybe I'll have better luck with a search of YouTube.

SUCCESS! 

Someone, it looks like to me, recorded episodes of Owen Marshall off of TVLand, and although the quality of the image wasn't great, it more than sufficed.

We watched Owen Marshall defend, in a military court,  a soldier, sent to Vietnam, who had deserted the army while recovering from injury in a hospital in Honolulu.

Then I remembered what made Owen Marshall such a compelling show. 

This episode confronted the political, mental, and emotional tensions and conflicts of the Vietnam War and I remembered that Owen Marshall always told stories involving difficult and divisive questions we all were facing in the early 1970s.  

I didn't carefully check how many episodes of this show are available on YouTube, but I'm sure Debbie and I will be back to watch more. 

By the way, another popular program in our home from 1971-73 was Marcus Welby, MD. I would love to find the two episodes of Owen Marshall that crossed over with Marcus Welby. I've read about them, but I don't know if they are readily available. 

Three Beautiful Things 03-11-2023: Elks Spaghetti Feed, EveningCap at The Lounge, Crossword and a Unique Episode of *Columbo*

1.  Late this afternoon, the Elks opened its doors for a fund raising spaghetti feed to raise money for their building and its maintenance. Ed swung by and picked me up around 4:00. We arrived, snagged a table, each popped open a beer, and while we were yakkin', Jake, Carol Lee, Tim, and Cindy strolled in, joined us, and we had a great time together. Carol Lee and Cindy bid on some items in the silent auction. The spaghetti was exceptionally tasty, along with the garlic bread and salad. 

I sure enjoy feeds -- whether it's a crab feed, pork and apple feed, mostaccioli feed, or any other feed, I enjoy the food, company, and the nostalgia -- remembering chili feeds, oyster stew feeds, and others that were held in Kellogg when I was a kid.

2. It was mandatory that once we'd finished our dinner at the Elks, we crossed McKinley Ave and piled into The Lounge. Ed, Jake, Carol Lee, Tim, Shannon, and I seized a table by the fireplace and continued yakkin' about all kinds of things, including the beauty and fascinating history found on the East Coast, television programs we enjoy, our histories with different churches, and all kinds of other topics. 

As always, people were merry at The Lounge and was a splendid way to wrap up our evening and return to our respective homes early -- I was home shortly after 7.

3. Debbie and Gibbs spent the evening at Diane's and they were out when I arrived back home. I opened the bedroom door so Copper and Luna could come out into the living room and kitchen and wander around. Luna immediately leapt onto my chest and by my side and eventually they both curled up on our sofa and tried out other spots. The Sunday New York Times crossword was available online this evening and I started the relaxing process of working it out. 

When Debbie and Gibbs returned, Debbie and I yakked for a while about her visit with Diane and then we decided to watch another episode of *Columbo*. In this episode, Columbo really met his match when the co-publisher of a men's magazine goes missing. Columbo is certain she was a murder victim and a plot jam packed with surprising twists unfolds that I will not reveal. I'll just say that this episode was unlike any I'd ever watched before. 

Three Beautiful Things 03-10-2023: Delivery for GarrenTeed BBQ, Drinking Tip Money at The Lounge, Clam Chowder and *Columbo*

1. Every once in a while, Garren Taylor, the grillmaster and proprietor of Kellogg's premier eatery, the food truck GareenTeed BBQ at 110 N. Hill Street, asks Ed (Garren's father-in-law) and me to deliver a party order out of town. 

So, today, as a robust winter storm was just past its peak, Ed loaded a hotbox in his backseat, picked me up, and we were off, sporting our GarrenTeed BBQ caps,  to a residence perched above Hiway 95 back in the woods south of CdA on Meadow Creek Loop Rd. 

The roads were mostly wet with patches of slush on I-90. Likewise, Hiway 95 wasn't bad. Meadow Creek Loop Rd, however,  had several stretches of packed snow and the house we delivered to was at the end of a fairly long unplowed driveway.

Thanks to Ed's driving skills and long experience, we got to the house all right and delivered the food.

We weren't far from the CdA Casino and we'd toyed with the idea to go down and enjoy some recreational time on the machines and have a drink, maybe even some dinner -- but, the temperature was hovering right around freezing and if it dipped much lower, the roads were going to be icy.

So we did the smart thing.

We drove straight back to Kellogg.

2. We picked up some tip money for our efforts and went straight to The Lounge to turn the tips into beer. We had a fun time yakkin' with each other, with Bob and Tracy, and greeting other revelers at The Lounge. It was a great crowd of happy Kellogg people, enjoying each other and The Lounge's always reliable positive vibes.

3. Back home, I was surprised to learn that Debbie had not supped on last night's left over clam chowder and she gave me the green light to go ahead and heat it up for myself.

It was even better tonight than last night and helped fuel my arduous effort to complete last Saturday's NY Times crossword puzzle while watching Columbo hone in on a murdering, oversexed painter/artist. Sometimes Columbo has a soft spot for perpetrators he outwits, but not in this episode. The artist guy was everything Columbo isn't: arrogant, egotistical, demanding, controlling, promiscuous, and homicidal. Columbo seemed particularly happy to be done with this guy and very satisfied that he figured out the murderer's homicidal scheme. 

Three Beautiful Things 03-09-2023: Nuts About Hot Milk, Clam Chowder for Dinner, Lt. Columbo Crushes the Colonel

 1. I've been kind of nuts about hot milk lately. When I fix coffee in the morning, I heat milk on the stove in a saucepan (we don't have/don't want a microwave). I make pour over coffee and fill my mug about half way up and finish filling it with hot milk. I'm hooked. (I'm making myself Cafe au Lait.)

Today, I decided that rather than make my oatmeal with hot water, I'd try hot milk. 

It was awesome, especially when I added a little granola, a bunch of blueberries, and some peanut butter to my bowl. 

2. Today, I suddenly remembered that Debbie had ordered a package of tins of clams some time back. I had been pondering what to prepare for dinner this evening and it came to me: let's have clam chowder.

So, I chopped four slices of bacon, cooked them until crisp, removed the bits, and melted a slab of butter and cooked a chopped onion and a couple cloves of garlic. I seasoned the onion and garlic with ground thyme. 

While the onion and garlic cooked, I drained two cans of clams, keeping the juice. 

Once the onion was soft, I added flour and whisked it for a minute or two and then added clam juice, milk, a bay leaf, and chicken stock to the pot and stirred all this over heat until it began to thicken a bit. 

I had chopped up some potatoes and I added them to the pot, brought it all to a boil, and immediately turned the heat down low and let this bubble away until the potatoes were tender, not mushy.

Once the potatoes were about right, I added half and half and the clams. 

I finished this project about three hours before we'd be dining, so I poured the chowder and the bacon pieces into the slow cooker and kept it warm until dinner time.

I bought a couple really good artisan bread rolls at Yoke's and they were a perfect compliment to the chowder. 

Debbie enjoyed the chowder a lot. 

The only thing I enjoy more than cooking is when Debbie enjoys what I've fixed. 

3. I mixed myself a gin sidecar (two parts gin, one part Cointreau, a squeeze or two of juice from a lemon) and Debbie and I watched Columbo turn an arrogant colonel heading up a paramilitary think tank inside out. Columbo nailed him not only as a murderer, embezzler, and adulterer, but as a pompous ass who gravely underestimated Lt. Columbo's savvy, persistence, and intelligence. Admittedly, Lt. Columbo wears his shrewdness lightly, making it easy for smug and conceited egotistical characters like the colonel to think they've outwitted Columbo, but in the end, Columbo, tonight, prevailed. 

Three Beautiful Things 03-08-2023: Tim O'Reilly's Performance of "(The) Wild Rover" on YouTube, Ravioli Dinner, A Perfect Evening Hot Cocktail

1. Longtime friend, fellow KHS Class of 72er and IGA boxboy, and Irish enthusiast,Tim O'Reilly, just completed his production of a YouTube video/slideshow of the traditional Irish song "(The) Wild Rover". Tim asked me to help him out by snapping some exterior and interior pictures of The Inland Lounge. If you'd like to hear Tim perform and hear his arrangement of the song, see the slides he included, and see some photos of The Lounge, just click here. 

2. I heated a pot of water to boiling and dropped a package of mushroom ravioli in it. Then all I had to do was chop some kale, thinly slice a shallot, and mince a garlic clove. I cooked these ingredients and then browned chopped walnuts in melted butter. To this mix I added a half a cup of pasta water, a packet of creme de fraise, and a packet of concentrated vegetable stock. I drained the ravioli, poured the creamy vegetable sauce over it, sprinkled Parmesan cheese over the top, and Debbie and I enjoyed a simple and flavorful meal -- another HelloFresh meal. 

3. After watching Columbo figure out how a sex therapist made it look like someone else murdered her philandering lover, I wanted a drink to warm me up a little and wondered if Cointreau and hot water would taste good. Then I had a small inspiration: I bet some fresh squeezed lemon juice would enhance this drink. I was correct! It wasn't fancy, but this hot drink warmed me up and I felt a mild euphoria that elevated my already very good mood. 

Three Beautiful Things 03-07-2023: More Transplant Testing Soon, HelloFresh Paninis, Columbo Outfoxes a Movie Director

1. I have known, since 2015, when my transplant readiness was first tested, that, as a result of having been exposed to a significant blast of sulfur dioxide in a Zinc Plant flash roaster in 1973, I live with the presence of bronchiectasis in my lungs. Back in 2019, the doctors in the Sacred Heart program wanted to know more about this presence before approving me for a transplant and sent me to see Dr. Robert Scoggins, a pulmonary specialist in CdA. Four year ago, Scoggins determined that while the presence of bronchiectasis in my lungs might increase my chances of post-transplant infection, the risk wasn't enough to keep me from being transplanted.

On February 2nd, I went to Sacred Heart for bloodwork, X-rays, ultrasounds, EKG, and a scan. When the doctors read the result of the abdomen scan, they reported "slight progression extensive bronchiectasis and chronic bronchiolitis in the lung base".

Transplant nurse Tara called me on Monday telling me that the transplant program is sending me back to Dr. Scoggins so that he can read the Feb. 2nd scan, do some further testing, and submit his assessment of my readiness for a transplant.

So, Dr. Scoggins' people will contact me to make an appointment and we'll see where this goes. 

(By the way, I'm not experiencing symptoms related to broncheictasis in any pronounced way. I am not coughing chronically (just occasionally) nor am I experiencing the other problems associated with this ailment.)

2. Our next HelloFresh box arrived Monday. Debbie, with my full approval, switched our order to vegetarian, and tonight I fixed the first of two dinners packed in the box.

We enjoyed our grilled zucchini, mozzarella, sun-dried tomato, and creamy parsley sauce panini accompanied by roasted Italian-seasoned potato wedges. All I had to do was slice the potatoes, drizzle oil over them, season them, and put them in the oven for about 25 minutes.  While they roasted, I chopped up the parsley and the sun-dried tomatoes, sliced the zucchini into rounds. and halved the ciabatta rolls. I combined the parsley with sour cream, mayonnaise, and garlic powder in a bowl, and spread this sauce on one half of each of the rolls. On top of the sauce I piled the tomatoes, some mozzarella cheese, and, once cooked, the zucchini rounds. I then grilled these sandwiches until each side of the roll was golden and the cheese had melted. 

I took the potato wedges out of the oven, halved the sandwiches, plated this food, and Debbie and I enjoyed a delicious and filling dinner. 

3. I mixed Debbie a couple of rye whiskey sidecars when she arrived home and after dinner we watched Columbo outsmart a young, ambitious, egotistical, ruthless, amoral, homicidal movie director. It was exquisite watching Columbo turn this guy inside out and turning the director's movie making expertise against him. 

Three Beautiful Things 03-06-2023: Gibbs Portrait, Preparing Vegetable Dip, A Rousing Family Dinner

1. I worked more on editing pictures and if you scroll down, you'll see my favorite picture of Gibbs. 

2. Carol asked me to prepare appetizers for tonight's family dinner. I knew Carol was making beef barley soup/stew for dinner, so I wanted to bring something that was not beefy.  I decided it wouldn't be meat at all. 

So I prepared a plate of cut raw vegetables and I made a dip called Healthy Greek Bean Dip. 

I hope the dip was healthy! 

To make it I drained two cans of cannellini beans and put them in the food processor with a quarter cup of water. I spun the blade until the beans were smooth and transferred the beans into the slow cooker.

Next I added chopped green onion, chopped red pepper, two minced garlic cloves, olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice, salt, pepper, and snipped fresh dill to to beans and let all this cook for a couple of hours on low in the slow cooker.

Slow cooking this mixture tenderized the onion and red pepper. I transferred the contents into a bowl. The contents cooled off. Then I added a half a cup of plain Greek yogurt and some chopped cucumber, combined everything, and topped it off with more snippets of dill. 

I refrigerated the dip for the rest of the day. Later I chopped a variety of vegetables and the appetizer was ready.

3. We started family dinner with the vegetable tray and dip. Paul mixed us each a Bean and Barley, a cocktail combining Coffee Stout, whiskey, lemon juice, simple syrup, and bitters. I'd never heard of this drink and I'd never had a Coffee Stout cocktail before.

It was delicious! The flavors complimented each other really well and it got me thinking about other cocktails I might try mixing with stout ale.

Carol's beef and barley soup/stew was hearty, very tasty, and substantial. Christy made a gorgeous and very tasty salad with an orange vinaigrette and we had hard rolls to round out our meal.

Conversation before and during dinner was lively, with a lot of great discussion about teaching and public education. Debbie, Paul, Carol, and Christy all are involved in the local school district, Debbie full time, Carol and Paul part time, and Christy as a volunteer. Molly has recently worked in public elementary education. They have a lot to talk about and it's fascinating.

Here's Gibbs! 

 

Three Beautiful Things 03-05-2023: Quick Photo Shoot, The Kellogg Bakery World is Growing, My First Hours on Lightroom

 1. I sprang out of the house this morning and blasted uptown, hoping no vehicles would be parked in front of the Inland Lounge's outdoor sign. It was my lucky Sunday morning. I had a clear shot and grabbed a photo. I have a handful of photos of The Lounge and my next move is to edit them and send them off to Tim, hoping they will be what he wants.

2. Before I loaded up on groceries at Yoke's, I stopped in at The Beanery for a delicious blueberry scone and a pint sized double latte. I sat at table near a window and enjoyed how peaceful things were in The Beanery and how quiet they were in Kellogg. On my way out the door, I bought a baguette from The Beanery for the first time. I enjoyed chunks and slices of it later in the day and it's heartening to know that baguettes are available, maybe only on certain days, at both The Beanery and The Beach Bum Bakery in Kellogg and at The Goose and Tree in Pinehurst. Yoke's has baguettes that are baked off site and they are good, too, but I sure prefer the ones made by our local cooks and bakers. (Another bakery in Kellogg, Soul Essentials might have baguettes. I know she has Focaccia and that she, like Beach Bum, does a lot with sourdough.  This is a home-based bakery and on certain days she sells baked goods uptown at Positive Practice Store. One day I'll either pop up to her pop up store uptown or make an order by phone or electronically.) 

3. Today I subscribed to a month of Lightroom and I'll see over the next four weeks if it works for me as a way to edit photographs and store them. My first hours on Lightroom today wore me out! I figured out a few basic things and I edited a picture, but I have a lot more learning to do and I'm wondering if with more practice I might become more efficient. I'll keep practicing, reading, and watching tutorials and hope that the questions I have get answered, helping me decide whether to stick with it or look for another program. 

Three Beautiful Things 03-04-2023: Photographic Inspiration, Inside Pictures of The Lounge, Exterior Pictures of The Lounge

1. I admit it, readily. I have not found much inspiration for taking pictures since I moved to Kellogg. I hope I can break out of this funk, but, I readily admit that I miss having places like Eugene, the Univ. of Oregon, Washington, D.C., and other places to go to where I could blend into the environment and take street photographs, including my old holding hands series. I miss the ponds of Eugene and Maryland and Virginia. I miss the foliage of Eugene and the DC area. I miss walking with my camera in New York City. 

But, today, I began to get reacquainted with my camera. Tim O'Reilly asked me to take some pictures for him at The Lounge. I did that. I managed to snap a few pictures of Gibbs. If Copper and Luna could be out in the living room and kitchen during the day, I'd love to take pictures of them. I might get some late evening snaps in the near future, but I find the rooms where they spend most of their time lousy environments for photographs.

So, now I need to look at the pictures I took today, edit them, send the ones Tim requested to him, and, if all goes well, post some shots here on my blog.

2. I snapped the interior shots at The Lounge before it opened. Once I finished, I hung around for a couple of hours, drank some gin and orange juice, yakked with Bob, yakked with Nathan, and had a relaxing time. 

3. Once outside, I took a few pictures of the neon cocktail glass perched above The Lounge. Later, I returned after having some dinner and I tried to take a picture of the The Lounge's outside sign. I couldn't get it -- especially because I needed to stand in the street and it was busy enough uptown that I decided to wait until Sunday morning. My plan is to return, hoping that things are quieter, and snap an exterior shot or two. 

Three Beautiful Things 03-03-2023: Class of 72 at the Elks, Party at The Lounge, Leah Sottile on YouTube

1. A bunch of us from the Class of 72 decided to get together at 4:00 this afternoon during cocktail hour on Friday night burger night at the Elks and make some decisions about our plans for the upcoming KHS All-Class Reunion, July 21-23, 2023.

We were able to take care of business efficiently. We will have a decorated trailer in the parade. We'll decorate it at the corner of Mill and Main starting a couple or three hours before the 12:00 parade. 

We also decided to free up class funds to buy food and whatever else we need for the Friday night Class of 72 party at Cindy and Denny Carlson's on July 21st. 

Before long, I'll be sending out some details about that party and trying to get a sense of about how many people will attend. 

2. After we enjoyed our burgers and some great yakkin' at the Elks, a handful of us continued the party over at The Lounge where spirits were merry at the bar and at the tables. It was a great scene, people enjoying a taste or two and, more important, enjoying the company of friends -- in many cases, longtime friends, even ancient ones.

3. Earlier in the day, I stumbled upon a YouTube channel called Mormon Stories. It's a regular show hosted by John Dehlin, an excommunicated Mormon who brings guests on his show to intelligently discuss Mormon topics. The episode I found today featured a panel interviewing Leah Sottile, primarily about her book, When the Moon Turns to Blood, but inevitably also about her research and podcasting about the Clive Bundy family. The program was about three hours long and I didn't listen to the entire program, but I enjoyed listening to Sottile talk about her work on this book and her career as an independent, freelance journalist and I enjoyed how the members of the panel augmented her comments and reflections. 

Three Beautiful Things 03-02-2023:Cooking in Retirement, Perry Mason Untangles a Mess, The 1992 Clinton Campaign BONUS: A Limerick by Stu

1. For some reason, when people ask me what I enjoy or how I spend my time in retirement, I almost always say that I like to read and watch old TV shows and movies, travel locally when I can,  and other things, but I almost never include cooking in my answer.

But, in fact, whether doing it for myself, for Debbie and me, or for family dinners, I've spent quite a bit of time cooking since I retired. 

Back then, Debbie would arrive home from teaching worn out and I enjoyed preparing for her arrival by fixing food for us to enjoy.

I'm back into that groove again of having dinner ready for Debbie after school. Debbie is happy to be working, but working with over twenty-five third graders is demanding and I enjoy helping her relax in the evening by mixing her a cocktail and having dinner ready.

Now, some time ago, I bought a pretty good sized hunk of pork at Costco and cut it up into about half a dozen smaller hunks.

Today I thawed one of these hunks, figuring it was about the perfect size for our dinner with some pork left over for Debbie's lunch on Friday.

I prepared the pork by salt and peppering it. Next I grabbed two jars of spice blends Debbie had purchased at Trader Joe's: Umami, a blend of mushroom seeds and powders along with dried onions, crushed red peppers, black pepper, and thyme and Ajika, a blend of chili peppers, coriander,  fenugreek, garlic, and, yes, marigold. 

I generously covered the pork with Umami and more lightly seasoned it with Ajika. 

I seared both sides of the pork hunk for about five minutes and then covered both sides with fennel seeds and seared both sides another two minutes.

I poured off some of the fat from the Dutch oven and added a roughly chopped white onion and some water in with the pork, put the lid on, and began to braise the meat at about 300 degrees. 

I checked the meat periodically and when the meat temperature read about 160 degrees, I lowered the oven temperature to 170 degrees to keep the pork warm and nearly stop it from cooking any more.

I should add that this hunk of pork had quite a bit of fat in it, great for both moisture and flavor. 

I was really happy after I cooked a pot of rice and Debbie said she was ready to eat that the pork was juicy and tender. The fennel and the seasoning mixes worked beautifully together and the liquid at the bottom of the Dutch oven with the onion pieces cooked through made a terrific sauce to put on our rice and, if so desired, on our pieces of pork.

I got out the honey dijon salad dressing I made Monday and mixed greens supplemented with purple cabbage for a salad.

So, yeah, this is what makes retirement fun for me: cooking dinners. And having them work! 

2. After dinner, I mixed myself a sidecar (cognac, Cointreau, and fresh lemon juice) and Debbie and I settled into a complicated and fascinating episode of Perry Mason featuring a shady land deal and a murder that somehow Perry Mason figured out, succeeding in getting the murderer to confess in court. 

By the way, this episode featured a newspaper guy played by Adam West (Batman!) and a small town District Attorney played by Paul Fix, better known as Micah from The Rifleman! 

3. We had some time left before Debbie needed to turn in and she wondered if James Carville had anything on YouTube or elsewhere we might watch. We used to get a kick out of him during his appearances on Brian Williams' show The 11th Hour. I replied that I didn't know of any YouTube videos featuring him, but that he is a prominent figure in the 1993 documentary, The War Room, available on the Criterion Channel.

So we watched The War Room, a fascinating documentary, without voice over narration, featuring the behind the scenes workings of Bill Clinton's campaign staff as Clinton marched through the 1992 Democratic primaries and then ran for president. Spearheaded by James Carville and George Stephanapoulos, the young staff running Clinton's campaign were aggressive, agile, and creative and became practiced and adept at extinguishing fires that flared up, thanks to Clinton's behavior. 

 

Stu's limerick today celebrates March 3rd, National Anthem Day. 

Pride in your country is grand.

For this day, you strike up the band. 

Take your hat off and smile, 

Watch your flag all the while! 

And cover your heart with your hand! 

Three Beautiful Things 03-01-2023: Ed and Darren at The Kennel, More New Methods in the Kitchen, *Remington Steele* and Paul Lynde

 1. A while back, oh, a couple of weeks or so, Ed told me that he entered a drawing at the CdA Casino for two tickets to a Gonzaga men's basketball game and he won them! Tonight, he and his son Darren went to the game. I don't know all the details, but I know they were in a suite and that Darren reported on Facebook that "getting to watch from a suite with free food and drinks was legendary". 

Sounds epic to me. 

I look forward to getting the whole story from Ed as soon as possible.

2. Once again late this afternoon, I stretched my cooking abilities with the help of HelloFresh.

Tonight I prepared Cheddar Stuffed Meatloaves with Potato Wedges, Carrots, Crispy Shallots, and Special Sauce.

For starters, I got to cook meatloaf in a way I'd never thought of before. 

After combining the 10 oz package of ground beef with panko bread crumbs and a packet of beef stock and some water, I divided this mixture in half and made two half inch thick rounds. I then sprinkled grated cheddar cheese onto these rounds and folded the edges of the ground beef over the cheese, doubling the thickness and formed two small loaves. 

I had already cut potato wedges and I put them on the left hand side of a parchment paper covered ridged baking sheet and, after five minutes of roasting, I pulled out the baking sheet and put the two loaves on the right hand side of the sheet. For the next seventeen minutes, the two meatloaves and the potatoes cooked simultaneously. I removed the sheet, put more cheddar cheese on top of the meatloaves and they went back in the oven for about three more minutes.

This was all new to me: stuffing the meatloaves, baking them on the same sheet as the potato wedges, and topping the meatloaves with more grated cheddar cheese.

But, wait! There's more!

I cooked two carrots chopped into quarter inch thick rounds, put these pieces in a bowl, and then I added more oil to the cast iron pan.

I heated up the oil and soon dropped a chopped shallot covered with flour into the hot oil and let these pieces sizzle away until they were golden brown and crunchy. I'd never done this before.

I cut each meat loaf in half lengthwise, and drizzled some of the very simple sauce I had made by combining catsup and mayonnaise over the meatloaf halves and then topped the four halves with the crunchy shallot pieces. 

We used the remaining sauce to put over the potato wedges. (We could have dipped them.)

Our dinner was delicious and filling: cheddar stuffed meatloaf with sauce and crispy shallots, a side of carrots cooked in the cast iron pan, and potato wedges with sauce.

3. After we ate, Debbie said she was ready for some screen time, but wanted something different than Columbo. No problem. When we don't watch Columbo, I like to go back to roughly that same period of time and watch other shows, often ones I never viewed when they were new.

So, tonight, we watched the first episode of the first season of Remington Steele.  What a gas! I, for one, gave myself over to the somewhat ludicrous premise of the show, mainly because I enjoy watching Pierce Brosnan at work, and this romp involving the invention of new model of automobile combined with a jewel heist turned out to both deadly and fun. I don't know if we'll return for more episodes of Remington Steele, but I enjoyed finding out what I missed back in the 1980s when this show ran for several seasons. 

We ended the night in grand style. 

I went to YouTube and found a couple of videos that focused exclusively on Paul Lynde answering questions on Hollywood Squares. 

What a riot!

Three Beautiful Things 02-28-2023: Snow Falling Fast Oh Fast, Expansion in the Kitchen, Columbo Recites Limericks

 1. The snow fell hard and fast this morning in Kellogg. I was hoping I wouldn't have to shovel sidewalks more than once and it turned out I didn't. Shoveling gave me a good workout. The snow was on the wet and heavy side (not terribly heavy) and enough had piled up that when I finished, I was winded. That workout sure helped me sleep well. That was the silver lining! 

2. Our weekly HelloFresh box arrived on Monday. Late this afternoon, I fixed one of this week's meals: Garlic Butter Shrimp Scampi over Spaghetti with Roasted Broccoli. 

As with the other two HelloFresh meals I've prepared, this meal expanded my cooking imagination, introduced me to some new techniques, and, as a bonus, it was a straightforward undertaking. 

To begin, I put on a pot of salted water and began to heat it up for the spaghetti. I also turned the oven on to 450 degrees. 

I minced the garlic cloves and made sure the broccoli florets were the size I wanted. I quartered the lemon.

I dropped the broccoli florets in a bowl, drizzled them with olive, salted and peppered them, and put them on a parchment paper covered baking sheet to roast for about fifteen minutes, until fairly crunchy.

In the meantime, I combined about three tablespoons of slightly softened butter, one garlic minced, a good sprinkle of Parmesan, a pinch of chili flakes, and a about three squeezes of lemon in a bowl, mixed it up with a fork, and made garlic butter. This was a new technique for me. I'd never made garlic butter. 

I brought the pot of water to a boil and started cooking the spaghetti.

I opened the pack of shrimp, patted it down with paper towels, put the shrimp in a bowl with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper, tossed it all together, and cooked the seasoned shrimp in a pool of melted butter.

When the spaghetti was cooked, I drained it. I transferred the shrimp into the Dutch oven I'd used for the spaghetti. To the shrimp I added the spaghetti, the garlic butter, a quarter cup of pasta water, a packet of seafood stock concentrate, and the broccoli. I tossed it all together, squeezed more lemon juice into the mix, emptied the Parmesan cheese packet, and added another pinch of chili flakes. 

Not only was this meal delicious, but I am confident that I can make this dish again without its ingredients coming in a box. I'd never made a shrimp and spaghetti and broccoli dish before and enjoyed how making this meal increased my sense of possibilities for future dinners.

3. Satisfied with our dinner, Debbie and I watched another episode of Columbo and watched Lt. Columbo not only enter into an impromptu battle of limericks with an Irish poet, he also figured out how this poet was involved in running guns to Northern Ireland and guilty of the murder Columbo was investigating.