Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Three Beautiful Things 05-15-2023: Driving Christy to Surgery and Back Home, Nostalgic Dinner, All-Class Reunion Shaping Up

1. First thing this morning, at 6:30, Christy and I blasted in her Sube to Spokane Valley and Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute for the first of her two cataract surgeries.  Christy spent the morning being examined and prepared and then operated on. 

I rocketed up to a Starbucks on North Sullivan, ordered a grande double latte extra hot, a blueberry scone (unheated), connected my laptop to the internet, and solved Quordle and Waffle and then composed a blog post. 

I didn't know how long Christy would be tied up in surgery and after I was done writing, I decided to return to the eye clinic and wait for Christy in one of the luxurious chairs in the lobby.

I'm not sure when Christy appeared, wearing big sunglasses, but she took my arm and we piled back into her Sube and returned to Kellogg.

By all appearances, Christy came through the morning's procedures really well.

2. Our HelloFresh box arrived today and when Debbie arrived home from school after Science Project Day, I decided to transport us back in memory to days we loved in Beltsville, MD at the Old Line Bistro (no longer in business). 

When we first visited Old Line, upon moving into our apartment home in Greenbelt, we were introduced to their menu of flatbreads topped with a variety of vegetables and cheeses. We enjoyed those flatbreads a lot and Old Line became a spot we visited regularly, not only for food, but in order to enjoy the superb array of beers they served. 

In other words, it was with warm nostalgic feelings that I thinly sliced a red onion, pickled some of it in vinegar and pineapple juice, and cooked up the rest of it along with pineapple chunks. I drizzled olive oil on the two rectangles of flatbread, covered each with BBQ sauce, spread the caramelized onion and pineapple on them along with thin strips of green pepper. Next I added diced pieces of mozzarella cheese and grated Monterey Jack cheese. I baked the topped flatbreads for about 10-12 minutes, removed them from the oven, and added the pickled onions and chopped cilantro to the oven warmed flatbreads.

The combination of BBQ sauce, pineapple, green pepper, pickled onion, cilantro, and melted cheeses blended together beautifully and not only did Debbie and I enjoy this meal in the present moment, we enjoyed thinking back to the Old Line Bistro and the fascinating people we met and yakked with there, including servers with whom we developed a mutual fondness. 

My romantic soul loves it when I can wed delicious food with superb memories and that's exactly what I experienced this evening.

3. The all-class reunion committee met this evening and, at this point, preparations look solid. Lori, who is organizing the weekend's events, was calm and confident, giving me the sense the reunion will be a lot of fun and proceed smoothly. 

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