Three Beautiful Things 10-30-2023: Rehab Around the Corner, Recycling, Penne and Ground Beef

1. I got a call I was expecting from the Pulmonary Rehab clinic at Kootenai Health and I will blast over there next Tuesday for an initial consultation and intake appointment. I'm looking forward to the exercise and the instruction.

2. I admit it, I get more satisfaction out of getting cans, plastic bottles, and cardboard out of our garage and recycled than a sane person ought to, but it's true. Loading up the Sube with recyclables, keeping the garage tidy, and dropping off those items had me feeling stoked today.

3. Customarily, we order vegetarian dinners to prepare from HelloFresh, but Debbie changed it up this week and tonight I made a penne dish with ground beef that featured a delicious cream sauce, onion, peas, and truffle zest. It was simple and delicious. Debbie had had dental work done today and, for her, especially, this meal was comforting.  

Three Beautiful Things 10-29-2023: Quiet, Beer Tasting, Family Dinner

 1. Quiet. Debbie went to school to get some work done. I relaxed with The NY Times Sunday crossword puzzle. I made one quick trip to Yoke's. I would have welcomed another outing, another fun day with Debbie, but the quiet inactivity today was enjoyable.

2. Debbie returned. She'd volunteered to make the salad for tonight's family dinner. I wanted to try the fresh hopped Fluffy Puffy Sunshine I'd purchased at Ya Ya Brewing on Saturday, so I popped open a can to split with Debbie. I enjoyed this beer, but it didn't work as well for Debbie. I understand why. The fresh hopped version of this beer isn't as soft as the original Fluffy Puffy Sunshine. We have six cans of the fresh hopped Fluffy Puffy Sunshine left and it looks like it'll be up to me to drink them on my own. I'd love to pop open any one or all of these cans and split them with someone, but the fact of the matter is that I don't know anyone well here in Kellogg who enjoys IPAs (West Coast or New England). 

It's no problem -- but, I do enjoy beer sharing sessions and would love to share this beer. 

3. For family dinner tonight, Carol made a robust and deeply flavorful Minestrone soup and Debbie assembled an awesome green salad. Molly brought dinner rolls. To start we ate Carol's appetizer,  ambitious and delicious slices of roasted sourdough bread topped with pear slices and pecorino cheese accented with a balsamic glaze and drank the Aperol Spritz that Paul mixed. Christy baked an Italian Apple Cake, gracing our meal with a light and tasty dessert. 

We also had a guest tonight. Kellogg High School student Sofi Broaddus joined us. Her mother was visiting other daughters back east and Molly has been helping keep her company and brought her to dinner tonight. Sofi is lively -- bubbling really -- and has a lot on her mind. She added spirited monologues and good natured excitement to our dinner. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-28-2023: Brief Trip to Kendall Yards, Trader Joe's and Great Harvest, Ya Ya Brewing and More

1. Debbie and I often say to each other, "One of these days, we ought to just go to Spokane" -- do some shopping, visit a brewery, maybe have a meal, but just bounce around and have some fun. 

But, we never do it.

Until today! 

Debbie wanted to buy better shoes to teach in and so we went to this place in Kendall Yards, but once we got into the store, we realized it wasn't the right place. Neither of us wanted to be served by an outfitter, have our feet scanned, or be a part of the upscale vibe of this place. The store had a coffee shop, though, and I bought a Cafe Mocha and we left the store and departed from Kendall Yard.

2. Our next move was up in the air. We decided to buzz up on the South Hill and go to Trader Joe's and to buy some bread products at Great Harvest. For me, it's fun going to Trader Joe's with Debbie -- not only does it bring back some fun memories of visiting the Eugene store, but Debbie thinks of buying products that don't cross my mind. So I bought dried fruit and some cookies and Debbie loaded up on sauces and other products that we will use to make rice and pasta dinners with. 

At Great Harvest (another place I enjoyed in Eugene), we were happy to see that today the store sold cinnamon bread as well as Dakota bread so we bought a loaf of each and a couple other items. 

3. I wanted to take Debbie to Ya Ya Brewing in Spokane Valley.  Back in September, I had brought home a couple of cans of their Fluffy Puffy Sunshine, a New England style IPA we both enjoyed. Today, Fluffy Puffy Sunshine was on tap, but it was not the same beer we had drunk at home. As breweries will do, Ya Ya brewed an experimental Fluffy Puffy Sunshine as more of a West Coast IPA, more hop forward, less, well, fluffy. 

We agreed that as we got deeper into our 13 oz pour, we enjoyed the experimental Fluffy Puffy Sunshine more and more. Ya Ya also had another variation of Fluffy Puffy Sunshine in cans: a fresh hop Fluffy Puffy Sunshine. I bought a couple of four packs and I hope we enjoy this variation. 

Sometime, though, I want to return to Spokane and whether it's at Huckleberries or a bottle shop or back at the Ya Ya tasting room, I'd like to buy cans of the original Fluffy Puffy Sunshine we enjoyed back in September.

Not far from Ya Ya sits Homestead Birkenstock and we stopped in at this shop so Debbie could continue her search for better shoes to wear at work.

Success! Debbie found a couple of pairs she liked and we rode this wave of success on into Coeur d'Alene and made a quick stop at Costco for fuel and Debbie bought a box of popcorn packets to give her students on Halloween.

We decided to have dinner at home, so we blasted back to Kellogg and Debbie fixed a pot of jasmine rice, cooked us each a salmon patty, opened a Trader Joe's bag of salad, and opened a jar of Trader Joe's Aioli Garlic Mustard Sauce, a sauce with a unique blend of potent flavors that perfectly enhanced the rice and fish.

I don't remember the last time Debbie and I spent an afternoon just bouncing around like this, going wherever we decided on the spot to go, and it made for a fun day of shopping, drinking a beer, and getting in some superb yakkin'.  

Three Beautiful Things 10-27-2023: No Appointments!, All Steve Miller All Afternoon, Delicious Pasta Dinner

1. I was happier, maybe happier than a sane person should be, not to have any appointments today. I stayed home, relaxed with puzzles and blogging, and exercised on the floor for about ninety minutes, trying to further strengthen muscles in my legs, stretch them, and strengthen my core, gradually. 

2. Until today, I've exercised in silence. It just seemed right to do go through my routine in a quiet house. That changed today. When I was driving to CdA or Spokane the other day, I was listening to 70s on 7 and Lisa Evans played the Steve Miller Band's 1977 hit, "Jungle Love". It got to me, in a good way, and so, this afternoon, I played all Steve Miller Band music while I exercised, including the only Steve Miller Band album I bought in high school: Steve Miller Band Number 5. I don't think that album had any hits on it (please correct me if I'm wrong), but it works for me with its variety and originality. I might even like it a bit more than his later hits -- hard to say -- but I do know that I enjoyed exercising to the sounds of the Steve Miller Band. It was a good session.

3. I've prepared HelloFresh's Silky Sicilian Penne tossed with Zucchini, Mushrooms, and Tomatoes before and was kind of stoked that our last bag of the week meant a return to this dish. It was an easy one pan, one pot meal, with sauce enriched by crema and mushroom stock concentrate. Debbie and I were very happy diners tonight. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-26-2023: Seeing the Pulmonary Doctor, Breakfast at the Nook, Back to Cooking Dinner Again

1. I pulled the Camry out of the garage around 9:20, thinking I had my wandering mind focused. I didn't knock any mirror casings off. I knew where my keys were. I knew where I was going. I got about half way to Smelterville and realized, however, that I drove off without my phone. I decided I wanted to have it for a handful of reasons, so I exited I 90 at Smelterville, blasted back to Kellogg, found my phone on the kitchen table right where I left it so I'd remember to bring it, and resumed my trip to CdA.

I'm under the supervision of Dr. Forest Jespersen at the Kootenai Lung and Asthma Clinic. We had a solid chat. All signs point to my pulmonary function being stable and, fortunately, Dr. Jespersen's assessment is that fifty years later, the impact of my having inhaled all that sulfur dioxide inside the roaster at the Zinc Plant is mild. 

He is confident that my pulmonary function should not stand in the way of a kidney transplant.

As we talked about the difficulties I had this summer with sunlight and heat and my resultant lack of regular exercise, he thought it would be a good idea for me to start a program of pulmonary rehab at the hospital, to learn different exercises intended to strengthen my lungs and heart. 

I liked that idea. The doctor referred me to the Cardio and Pulmonary Rehab Center and before long I ought to hear from them and move forward with this aspect of my medical care. 

2. I left this satisfying appointment with Dr. Jespersen and beelined straight for The Breakfast Nook. I was not only hungry, but I was Jonesin' pretty seriously for The Nook's hash browns. I ordered a sausage patty, two eggs, hash browns, and sourdough toast and it was all I knew it would be: delicious and satisfying. 

3. These medical appointments (it's the same with dental) wipe me out. Even if the appointments go well, they drain me. I arrived home and before long I stretched out on the sofa and took a refreshing coma nap.

The nap revived me and I was ready to get back to cooking again after taking two nights off.

I cut open one of our HelloFresh bags. Tonight's meal was awesome: Middle Eastern Chickpea Bowls with Spicy Basmati Rice and Garlicky White Sauce. 

I roasted a sheet of onion wedges, grape tomatoes, and drained chickpeas seasoned with HelloFresh's Shawarma Spice Blend, a combination of turmeric, cumin, coriander, garlic powder, paprika, allspice, and pepper. 

The spice blend made the dish. Some of the Shawarma went into the rice along with onion while it cooked and the rest went over the roasted ingredients. It was potent (no heat), full of the flavors of the Middle East I love.

I also loved the cilantro, the white sauce I made of sour cream and minced garlic with a little water, and the hot sauce that topped each bowl.

Three Beautiful Things 10-25-2023: Gibbs at the Spa, Lost Keys and a Trip to the Body Shop, Relief and Comfort Food

1.  Gibbs went to the spa today for a shampoo and trim. Debbie doesn't have his fur shaved close to his skin, but has a minimal amount of fur taken off and has the groomer cut the strands that grow in front of Gibbs' eyes. Clean and spiffed up, Gibbs jumped up and down on his invisible pogo stick when I arrived to pick him up, happy in equal parts that he felt clean and that it was time to come home. 

2. Pulling into the garage with Gibbs on my lap, I misgauged where I was, got too close to the east side of the garage door frame, and knocked the casing off of the Camry's rearview mirror on the passenger side.  I took Gibbs inside and returned to the garage to see if I could get the casing back on. When I failed, I called Hickey's Body Shop and asked Bob if he could look at it sometime after four o'clock. (I had a phone appointment at 3:45). Bob said bring it over. I completed the phone appointment and then I  couldn't find my keys anywhere on my person or in the house. 

I was bewildered. 

I called Debbie who told me she'd be home around 4:30 and, when she arrived, I used her Camry fob to rev up the Camry and I blasted over to the body shop. Bob got the casing back on. When I returned home, I parked in the driveway, not the garage. As I made my way to the front porch, to my shock and delight, I found my keys lying on the front lawn. When I'd gone back to the garage after bringing Gibbs in, the keys had fallen out of the pocket of my sweatshirt. When I had earlier looked for my lost keys, I'd forgotten that I went back to the garage and entered from the front, not from the back like I usually do. Therefore, I didn't look for my keys in front yard. 

So, in the end, Gibbs was happy. The mirror is fixed. I found my keys. And my phone appointment was a success. 

Yes, I was stressed out and bewildered for a while, but, looking back, I realized that once again my wandering mind, yet another lapse in concentration, preceded the mirror mishap and kept me from remembering that I'd gone back to the garage via the front yard. 

3. With my keys in hand, the mirror repaired, and my phone appointment completed, I was in the mood for comfort food for dinner and so was Debbie. I boiled spaghetti and made myself one last bowl of Cincinnati chili and Debbie did the same. 

Man.

I'm happy to say: 

All's well that ends well.

Three Beautiful Things 10-24-2023: Meagan and Patrick Hit the Road, Grazing in the Fridge, Bob Dylan and "El Paso" and More

1. In contrast to Monday, today was a much slower day. Meagan and Patrick got their things gathered and hit the road around 10 a.m. and arrived safely in Portland at the end of a rainy drive. 

We had a terrific time together -- Patrick and Meagan are comfortable here spending time doing what they enjoy, whether Meagan is reading or Patrick is working on a tech related project. Debbie and I enjoy turning the playing of music over to Meagan and Patrick and we get to hear stuff we would never listen to otherwise. Meagan and Patrick appreciate the food we prepare or order out for and they had a great time with everyone at family dinner on Sunday. I really enjoyed our conversations, too. We covered a lot of ground over the weekend whether talking about family news and history (not about Woolum things), Patrick and Meagan's hopes for their life in the years to come, Debbie's work, my medical situation, and other topics. 

2. When Debbie arrived home, pretty happy with how her day went, I told her that I wanted to take a break from cooking. Preparing family dinner had been a blast, but between the food preparation and the clean up, it was a big task. Likewise, I loved cooking hot wings on Monday, but I didn't want to cook more tonight. Luckily, we had plenty of leftovers from family dinner -- crackers, cheese, salami, Cincinnati chili sauce, and the fixings for Cincinnati chili itself. 

So Debbie and I grazed. 

I enjoyed another bowl of Cincinnati chili. The sauce continues to age well. I thought it tasted even better tonight than on Sunday. 

In addition, I was grateful that we didn't use many dishes tonight. I think by Wednesday morning, I can be all caught up on cleaning up and putting things away after our Sunday and Monday blowouts! 

3. One of the songs Meagan played on Sunday evening was Marty Robbins' "El Paso". We listened to both Robbins and the Grateful Dead perform it. 

I knew that Bob Dylan wrote about "El Paso" in his recent book, The Philosophy of Modern Song.

I have the book downloaded on Audible. 

Dylan's commentary on this song is a wide ranging riff on the history of cowboy songs, mythical traditions of death and darkness, and an illuminating biography of Marty Robbins, his grandfather, songs, stories, and truth. 

I've listened to this chapter of Dylan's book about five or six times now and if I'm ever going to even approach fully grasping what he has to say about "El Paso", I will need to listen to the song several more times, read and reread the lyrics, and listen to Dylan's dense reflections on the song another five or six times.

Debbie and I listened to this chapter this evening. It inspired Debbie to talk about how and why the musical qualities of this song will sometimes live in her mind for two or three days at a time -- for reasons Dylan didn't touch upon. 

Because I later mentioned Dylan's mighty chapter in his book on John Turrell, Debbie and I talked about the movies Incident at Oglala and Thunderheart. 

I jokingly quipped that if we weren't careful, we'd be watching All the President's Men again.

Debbie said, "Let's do it!"

We knew we wouldn't get very far into the movie before we needed to turn in, but we wrapped up our evening of leftovers, Marty Robbins, Bob Dylan, "El Paso", and movies about Oglala nicely by watching a chunk of All the President's Men. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-23-2023: Early Morning at Sacred Heart in Spokane, Beach Bum Bakery Bagels, Monday Night Party!

1. Today turned out to be overflowing with fun and good things. 

This came as somewhat of a surprise to me. 

I felt low levels of anxiety and grumpiness as the day began.

When Debbie and I met with transplant nephrologist Dr. Nassir Kahn back on Oct. 5th, he told me he wanted me to have a CT Heart Coronary Calcium scan and a pulmonary function test involving a six minute walk. 

I could have gone to Kootenai Health to have these done, but billing the transplant program and the communication of the test results goes much more smoothly if I have them done in Spokane.

So, why was I anxious? I thought I was facing a 90 minute pulmonary test (not a six minute one!) and I had it in my lively imagination that the CT scan would involve spending time in a claustrophobic tube. 

Why was I grumpy?

EASY -- for the scan I couldn't drink coffee within four hours of the procedure.

So, I was up at 5:30, took care of a few things before I left, and on the road about an hour later without coffee. 

I survived.

Everything at Sacred Heart was easy and the people I worked with were personable and kind. 

Yes, my 8:30 scan was delayed over an hour because of unforeseen emergencies for patients in the hospital. Their situations took precedence over mine. 

No problem.  

I patiently waited and, in time, got scanned -- it was a simple and easy procedure.

Then I got right into the pulmonary lab and before long I was walking up and down the hallway for six minutes hooked up to and carrying a small machine as if it were a shoulder purse.

And I was done.

To my relief, I walked straight to the Camry in the parking garage -- I didn't lose the car! 

I drove straight to Hogan's Diner for COFFEE and a sausage, egg, hash browns, and toast breakfast.

I shopped at Trader Joe's for a while. I had asked Christy and Carol if they wanted me to pick them up any items. They did. I found those items, picked up some dried fruit and almonds for Debbie and me, and then I was off to Kellogg.

2. Back in Kellogg, I delivered the Trader Joe's items to Christy and Carol and then buzzed up to Silverton.

To Silverton? Why?

Beach Bum Bakery moved its operations to the Silverton Mountain Manor. The bakery's mobile shack is now parked in Coeur d'Alene. I ordered a dozen bagels, six raisin cinnamon for Debbie and me and six everything for Patrick and Meagan and drove to the Manor to pick them up. 

3. Back home (again), I heated up butter and Frank's RedHot sauce and fried a batch of chicken wings in butter and prepared a hot wings dinner. I also cut celery sticks and got out a jar of chunky blue cheese dressing. Patrick and Meagan had traveled to the Cataldo Mission and then to CdA where they ate sushi. Patrick made sure to eat a moderate amount of sushi because he wanted to also feast on hot wings -- and that's exactly what he did!

While we ate, we had superb conversations accompanied by Meagan putting Fleetwood Mac's Rumors on the Bose. When the album ended, Patrick cast pictures and videos he'd taken during his and Meagan's cruise to Alaska onto our television screen and we got to see the splendor of the places they visited and learn more about the cruise itself.

It was getting late, but we were undeterred. 

I took over the music selections and our conversations continued -- I'd say deepened -- and with the help of wine leftover from family dinner, spirits from Stein distillery, and, for Patrick, a few cans of Rippin' Pale Ale from Sunriver brewing, we enjoyed a relaxing and stimulating evening, saddened only by the reality that Patrick and Meagan are heading back to Portland on Tuesday morning. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-22-2023: The Sauce Simmers, Stein Distillery Cocktail and Dessert, Wide-Ranging Yakkin'

1. I brought the slow cooker upstairs and poured the Cincinnati chili sauce I made on Saturday in it and slowly heated it up, allowing it to simmer and the flavors to continue to blossom. 

It worked! 

All of us, Carol, Molly, Christy, Paul, Meagan, Debbie, Patrick, Brian, and I enjoyed the sauce poured over spaghetti and with some combination of onion, grated cheddar cheese, black beans, and oyster crackers over it. Some of us also enhanced our meal with dashes of Frank's RedHot Sauce.

2. It had been a while since we had a Bourbon Renewal as a cocktail, so tonight I cracked open the new bottle of Stein 5 year rye whiskey, combined it with creme de cassis, fresh lemon juice, and a dash of Angostura bitters. 

The Stein distillery was also the source of our dessert: I served everyone a small pour of rhubarb cordial.

3. With Patrick and Meagan in the house, we had a larger than usual gathering and conversation was even more far ranging than usual as topics as unlike each other as how Kellogg people are decorating their houses for Halloween and Patrick and Meagan's fun time on their cruise to Alaska bouncing around the living room. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-21-2023: Preparing the Chili Sauce, Yakkin' at The Lounge, A Surprise Wah Hing Banquet and More!

1. Debbie and I are hosting Sunday's family dinner and had decided a week ago that with Patrick and Megan visiting us, it would be fun to have Skyline Cincinnati Chili for dinner. Debbie and I agree that the Cincinnati Chili sauce tastes better the second day, so I assembled water, tomato paste, unsweetened chocolate, apple cider vinegar, chili powder, garlic powder, cinnamon, allspice, cumin, ground cloves, pepper flakes, sugar, salt, and pepper. First, I put the chocolate and tomato paste in the water, heated it up to medium, and when the chocolate had melted and the paste was broken down and it was all combined, I added all the seasonings. Then I hand crumbled the ground beef into the seasoned liquid, brought it to a boil, reduced the heat to a low temp, and let it all simmer much of the afternoon. 

When it was done simmering and had thickened, I let the sauce cool and eventually loaded it up in containers to be reheated and served tomorrow over spaghetti with beans, grated cheddar cheese, chopped onion, and oyster crackers.  Some at the table might add some Frank's RedHot sauce to their Cincinnati chili.

2. Shortly after four o'clock, Debbie, Patrick, Megan, and I rocketed up to The Lounge, seated ourselves at  the table in the corner near the door, ordered drinks, and engaged in some serious discussion of family history and matters that are current. It was, to me, an awesome discussion. It brought up memories we enjoyed looking back on and opened up talk about some thorny family matters. Adrienne and Ellie got to join our table via FaceTime at one point and that was a blast. 

3. Our yakkin was running overtime, though. We had a food order in at Garrenteed BBQ to be picked up at 5:15 and Megan volunteered to go get it. It was a great day at the food truck, though, and by the time our order came up to be prepared, they were sold out of product! Megan returned with the news. We were of one mind and one voice as we joined each other in a group shrug, said together, "NO PROBLEM!", and almost immediately went to work ordering heaping plates of Chinese food from Wah Hing. 

We hadn't planned on dining at The Lounge, but that's exactly what we did! We moved into the roomier back room and, as a bonus, Brian strolled in, joined our table, and he got to meet Patrick and Megan, and join in our yak-a-thon, which was no longer focused on family history and family matters. Debbie invited Diane to join us and she did and soon we were enjoying a Wah Hing banquet. We all seemed to find common ground in yakking about music and live concerts, among other things, and we had a blast.

(By the way, Garren, the proprietor of Garrenteed BBQ, knew, from talking to Megan, that we were at The Lounge. He made a special trip up to find us, apologize for not being able to fill our order, and to thank us for our jolly understanding. We were all very impressed that he made this effort to talk with us and to make sure our evening was progressing all right.) 

We filled up our leftover containers, returned home, and Patrick and Megan became our evening music selectors, playing a wide range of music over the wireless Bose ranging from The Rolling Stones to Led Zeppelin to Lucinda Williams to Gillian Welch to Guy Clark with a few Highwaymen songs peppered in. Patrick was at his laptop puzzling out a personal project he was working out. Eventually he succeeded! It was a moment of triumph we got to share in!

It was a smashing evening. More great yakking. Superb music, including several artists who were new to me. I also enjoyed a few pours of Stein Rattle Creek rum. 

I eventually hit the hay, happy that we'd had so much fun with Patrick and Megan today, that everything unexpected that happened was positive, and that we have more family time to look forward to on Sunday. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-20-2023: A Housecleaning Zephyr, Patrick and Megan Arrive, Yakkin' the Night Away

1. I wan't exactly a housecleaning hurricane. I was more of an intermittent zephyr. Slowly, surely, with several periods of sitting down to rest my back, I spiffed up the living room, bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom. I wanted things to be cleaner than usual -- things I clean never seem to sparkle -- for Patrick and Megan's arrival early this evening.

2. Megan and Patrick arrived and after hugs and some "how was the drive from Portland?" yakkin', we decided that Debbie and Megan would go over to The Beanery and bring home a couple of pizzas and some garlic knots. I prepared for dinner by enjoying some Stein distillery's Snake Creek Rum and shooting the breeze with Patrick.

3. As we enjoyed our takeout food and afterward, the four of us had a great session of more yakkin'. Patrick and Megan talked about their cruise to Alaska. We somehow found ourselves strolling down memory lane, remembering, among other things, when Patrick taught himself how to play Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, mostly at an electric piano with headphones on, and how we heard him perform it at a South Eugene High School talent show. We also discussed Debbie's work at Pinehurst Elementary School, the challenges she faces, and how much she cares about and for her students. 

What a great evening -- and to think Patrick and Meagan will be staying here until Tuesday morning. 

That works! 

Three Beautiful Things 10-19-2023: Laundry, Margarita Project, Improving Last Night's Stir Fry

1. Exciting? Not really. Part of my retirement plans? Sure to be featured in the AARP magazine? Naw. I got caught up on my laundry today.

2. For family dinner nearly two weeks ago, I made margaritas following a recipe that came with our blender. The drink disappointed me. Tonight, with just about one cocktail worth of tequila in the house, I decided to put some effort into figuring out how to make a margarita that is just the way I like it -- I decided to do this unsure of exactly what "just the way I like it" even is. 

So I emptied the tequila bottle, added the juice of a fresh squeezed orange, the juice of a fresh squeezed lime, and some Cointreau. I put ice cubes in the blender and turned on the machine. I tasted my frozen concoction and realized I prefer less lime (I had already decided not to use lemon juice). So I added more Cointreau to my drink and that improved the balance. My guess is that "just the way I like it" is a more orange-y margarita. Next time I blend one, I'll be sure to have some 7Up or Sprite on hand. I know I really like a margarita topped off with a splash of one of these lemon lime sodas. 

3. I didn't realize when I retired that I would become so involved with cooking. 

For the last ten years, however, that's what I've done.

Tonight Debbie and I ate more of last night's Thai peanut sauce stir fry. 

Before I warmed up what I cooked last night, I cooked the frozen green beans I forgot on Wednesday and I added the juice of another lime to the peanut sauce I'd made. 

Debbie and I agreed.

Tonight's dinner worked -- in fact, it worked even better the second night than the first. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-18-2023: Memory Lapse at Supercuts, Relaxing and Thinking Ahead at Costco, Peanut Sauce Returns

1. I got the Sube revved up and rocketed to Coeur d'Alene to take care of a couple of things. I got a quick hair trim at Supercuts and kicked myself for not remembering to tell the woman who cut my hair that her mother had helped my mother many years ago by reading/translating a  document (a will?) written in Spanish that my grandfather, who abandoned his family and moved to Mexico about ninety years ago, had drawn up in preparation for his death. I hope she'll be the one who cuts my hair one of the next times I go to Supercuts. I'd like to tell her that story. 

2. I blasted next over to Costco, intending to pick up a few items for Carol and Paul and a couple of things for Debbie and me. But as I leisurely strolled the aisles, I got to thinking about Patrick and Megan coming to visit this coming weekend and about us hosting family dinner on Sunday and I bought more than I'd planned on. So now we have at the ready baguettes, cheeses, a variety of salamis, and a variety of crackers ready to serve whenever we decide to over the weekend. 

3. It struck me as I sauntered up and down the aisles at Costco that when Debbie and I lived in Maryland, I often made meals accompanied by peanut sauce. From time to time, I cooked dinner for us and the Diaz family and Molly, especially, was always happy when I fixed peanut sauce. For some reason, I thought, I haven't made peanut sauce since we moved to Kellogg -- at least I don't remember doing so.

So, this afternoon, I combined peanut butter, coconut milk, yellow curry paste, soy sauce, ginger powder, lime juice, Frank's RedHot Sauce, maple syrup, and rice vinegar in the blender, fired it up, and PRESTO! peanut sauce was back. 

I made a batch of basmati rice. While it cooked, Debbie cut up some boneless chicken thighs and cooked the pieces.

I then made a vegetable stir fry of onion, carrots, red pepper, zucchini, and yellow squash (I forgot the green beans). 

I put rice in two bowls, covered Debbie's with chicken and the stir fried vegetables, mine with vegetables only, topped this with peanut sauce and garnished both bowls with peanuts and cilantro. 

Let me tell you:

It worked! 

And, as a bonus, I cooked enough of this dinner that we can have the same thing again on Thursday! 

Three Beautiful Things 10-17-2023: Blood Draw Uptown, Blood Draw at the Medical Center, Cooking an Awesome Dinner

1. I was most appreciative of the woman who helped me at Heritage Health in uptown Kellogg today. I strolled in to have my every three months bloodwork done for Dr. Bieber. I'd called Dr. Bieber's office on Monday, trying to make sure the order either was in or that they would fax it over to Kellogg. Neither of those things happened, BUT here's what did: the woman at the counter, after looking in two different places for the order, hopped right on the horn, called Bieber's office, reached a live person (which I didn't do -- I left two messages), and secured the order. 

Yes, I had to wait a little while for the fax to fly in, but no problem.

The fax came.

The superb phlebotomist from Labcorp led me out of the waiting room to her lab and, before long, I got to go home, having left blood in vials and urine in a cup. 

2. Today was blood draw Tuesday. I also needed to have the monthly sample I have drawn for the kidney transplant program sent to Spokane to the Vitalant lab.  Now, for whatever reason, Labcorp and Vitalant do not have a working agreement, so I blasted over to the Shoshone Medical Center, kit in hand. I fervently hoped that the standing order for this blood draw was on file -- and it was! 

Whew! 

Once checked in, a superb phlebotomist escorted me out of the waiting room to her lab and she drew the blood, filled out the label, packed the vial and my paperwork into the kit box, and mailed it to Spokane. 

3. Oddly, these blood draws left me feeling spent and I joined Copper and Luna on my bed and I took a refreshing cat nap.

Once I woke up, I went to work slicing an onion, mincing a clove of garlic, dicing a zucchini, halving a lemon, chopping a jalapeño pepper, and removing stems from cilantro in preparation to make HelloFresh's very tasty Apricot and Almond Chickpea Tagine with Zucchini, Basmati Rice, and Chermoula. 

This meal required some juggling. 

I managed. 

First, I put about a quarter of the onion I'd cut up into a pot with olive oil, cooked it for a couple minutes, and then added vegetable stock concentrate, rice, and water, brought to it a boil, put a lid on, and let it simmer until the rice was cooked.

In two separate bowls I made, first, the chermoula by combining cilantro, jalapeños, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. I set it aside and then, in another bowl, combined sour cream, lemon juice, and some water to make lemon crema. 

In a large pan, I heated some olive oil and then cooked the zucchini and onion. When they were softened, I added garlic, salt, and a packet of Tunisian spice. 

Once the zucchini and onion were heated up and fragrant, I added water and vegetable stock concentrate, stirred it, and then added chickpeas and simmered it all for a couple of minutes or so.

I plopped a chunk of butter into this tagine along with more salt and pepper and let the butter melt.

I then added a chunk of butter to the basmati rice, let it melt, stirred and fluffed the rice, and divided the rice between two bowls. 

I topped the rice with the tagine and then added the chermoula, lemon crema, apricot pieces, and sliced almonds. Last of all, I boosted the dish's flavor with some hot sauce.

This meal really worked! 

Its multiple flavors and textures combined to give Debbie and me great pleasure as we relished this splendid dish. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-16-2023: Vaxxed Up the Wazoo, Ravioli Dinner, Debbie's Giving Nature

1. One of the last times I was in Eugene, I visited Sparky. She wanted to assure me that things were as safe at her house as could be. She told me she and Joe were "vaxxed up the wazoo". I went to Yoke's today for a Covid booster and immediately thought that, I, too, am now vaxxed up the wazoo. 

2. The vaccine left me mildly fatigued, but I rallied once Debbie arrived home and fixed us a delicious HelloFresh creamy lemon spinach and ricotta ravioli dinner. 

It worked.

3. I can't go into detail, but I can say that once again, this evening, as Debbie told me about her students and her imaginative and often fun work with them, I thought two things: Debbie is doing great work with these children and Debbie's students need her kindness, generosity, and how she loves being their teacher.

Three Beautiful Things 10-15-2023: Back to the Mat, Making Loaded Sweet Potato Bites, Christy Hosts an Awesome Family Dinner

1. I didn't take my exercise mat to the Wildhorse Resort, but still did some shorter exercise routines on the carpeted floor of my room. Today, though, while Debbie went out to school to get a few things done, I rolled out the mat and went through my entire routine, doing stretches and lifts intended to stretch and strengthen muscles in my legs and hips and strengthen my core. 

Some of my routine involves using a chair, but much of it involves the mat I purchased and I'm thinking that simple mat was one of my smartest buys in a long time. 

2. Christy hosted tonight's family dinner and assigned me to make Loaded Sweet Potato Bites as an appetizer. All I had to do was peel the sweet potatoes, cut them into rounds, put them in a bowl, and toss them in olive oil, chili powder, and garlic powder. 

I'd preheated the oven at 450 degrees. I put the rounds on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and baked the rounds for 10 minutes, flipped them over, and baked them another 10 minutes. Once baked, I put a few drops of Frank's Red Hot Sauce on each, then sprinkled grated cheese on each round, and, when the cheese melted, garnished each round with thinly sliced green onion and a dollop of sour cream.

It was easy to prepare and, I must say, they were really delicious -- the combination of spice and hot sauce was pleasingly balanced by the sour cream and cheese and the potatoes' sweetness, making it a tasty appetizer that worked for every one. 

3. Christy planned out an exquisite dinner focused on fall flavors. She bravely decided to cook pork roulade which involved slicing pork tenderloins so that they become tri-folds, lying flat on a cutting board. Then she covered the pork with fresh sage, figs, gorgonzola cheese, and garlic. The next step was to roll up the pork pieces and tie them. Lastly, Christy rolled these tenderloin rolls in herbs and brown sugar -- it's called Brown Sugar Roasted Pork Tenderloin. 

Why did I say "bravely"?

Christy had never tried this way of cooking meat before and it took courage to try it out for all of us at family dinner -- and the same time, let me say that one of the things I find most fun about family dinner is that we often try out ways of preparing food we've never done before. The new, for her, cooking idea Christy tried out tonight involved careful cutting of the tenderloin and cooking the meat just the right amount of time. 

On all fronts, Christy succeeded! 

It was an awesome centerpiece to our meal.

Christy also made a bowl of Trader Joe's Autumn Blend, a potpourri of different grains. Carol assembled a fresh and delicious green salad with apples. 

We started the evening with the appetizer I made accompanied by a Cranberry Kiss, an autumn themed cocktail that Christy mixed. 

We ended the night with a piece of Christy's Bourbon Applesauce Cake topped with fresh whipped cream. Christy also set out an array of liquors to drink with the cake: Crown Royal Apple, Makers Mark, Brown Sugar Bourbon, and Amaretto. 

Our family dinners are always delicious. 

Sometimes, we have a dinner that is simply more creative, ambitious, daring, and delicious than usual.

Tonight's dinner was one of those! 

I didn't want it to end! 

By the way, our conversations were scintillating, too. 

Wedding talk. Talk about monotheism. Discussion of a talent show, of sushi, and even some talk about scary movies! 

Three Beautiful Things 10-14-2023: Shunning Chaos, RIP Jay Gorham, Debbie Roasts a Perfect Dinner

1. Any more, in response to the chaotic awfulness happening in the USA and around the world, I want to try to keep the little world of our home, of family, and of friends as orderly -- or at least as unchaotic -- as possible. Today I was reclusive. Yes, I made a quick trip to Yoke's, but mostly I worked word puzzles. I enjoyed one can of Hammerhead Pale Ale. We left the television off. I read some news stories online,  enjoyed Debbie's company, spent time with Copper and Luna, and promised Gibbs I wouldn't take his new bone (new bones make him anxious that some one will snatch it).

2. I also spent a lot to time remembering Jay Gorham. Jay was a student of mine forty-one years ago at Whitworth, in the Shakespeare class I gave, and about twelve years ago we became friends on Facebook. Today, Colette texted me with the news that Jay died in August. The news shocked me. I immediately jumped over to Jay's Facebook account and read the warm and loving tributes many of his friends wrote and enjoyed having sweet memories of my own flood my mind. 

On Facebook, Jay put up posts all the time of pictures, stories, and concert schedules of the musicians he loved in the worlds of punk, New Wave, underground, and alternative rock music. I loved these posts and loved how Jay shared his passion for a world of music I had a lot to learn about. 

All of our back and forth on Facebook about music, movies, occasionally sports, and other things moved me to want to see Jay in person.

A year ago, I drove to West Seattle to hear Bill Davie perform and I invited Jay to also come to the C&P Coffee House, but, as I remember, he was hosting guests at home and couldn't make it. 

3. Debbie fixed a delicious bean salad and it was the perfect compliment to the roasted potatoes, carrots, and chicken drumsticks she prepared for dinner. I capped off this delicious meal with a small pour of Cointreau and it worked its magic on me. Not only did it taste wonderful, it also made my tummy feel content, feel relaxed, just like a good after dinner drink ought to! 

Three Beautiful Things 10-13-2023: Easy Drive Home, A Delicious Pasta Dinner, Yakkin' with Debbie and Sippin' Whiskey Barrel Aged Rum

1.  After a relaxed morning of casino house coffee, puzzle solving online, blogging, and getting cleaned up, I checked out of the Wildhorse Resort hotel.  Ed and I piled into the Camry and zoomed back to the Silver Valley. It was an uneventful and easy drive from Pendleton to Kingston/Kellogg, bringing our three night fun trip to a satisfying conclusion.

2. Back home, I unpacked, got Copper and Luna squared away -- they expressed, in their own well-disguised and subtle ways, happiness that I returned --, and broke open a HelloFresh bag and fixed dinner for Debbie and me. 

HelloFresh favors the pasta called cavatappi. Tonight's dinner featured cavatappi cooked with kale and butternut squash in a creamy Parmesan sauce, topped with toasted panko.

It was easy to make -- and Debbie and I wholeheartedly agreed:

It worked! 

3. Debbie and I then settled into an evening that was at once relaxing and invigorating. We yakked for at least a couple of hours. We talked about Debbie's pretty good week at work and what she's learning about her students and what she's doing in class to engage their attention, get them excited (at times), and to let them know she cares about them. 

We also talked about aging and our mortality, which might seem depressing, but it wasn't at all. 

While we freely yakked and jumped from one topic to another, I enjoyed a small pour of Cointreau followed by two or three small pours of the Rattle Creek Rum I purchased at the Stein distillery in Joseph. It's a terrific spirit, aged in whiskey barrels for four years. It is, to my taste, a light rum, flavorful, and perfect for sipping. I wouldn't want to mix it with cola or use it in a daiquiri. I enjoyed it straight over a small cube of ice. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-12-2023: Breakfast at/on The Oregon Trail, Solitude and Relaxation, Beers and a Little Whiskey

1. All six of us piled into rigs and drove east on I-84, took the Meacham exit, and wound our way to the Oregon Trail Store and Deli. Every time we come to the Wildhorse Resort, we blast up to this place either for breakfast or lunch. This joint is run by a couple -- he works the floor, she cooks, (she's a superb cook) and we were all very happy with our food -- we had a great time together and Terry and Lars took off after we ate, ending their time on our twice a year outing.

2. I relaxed in my room for several hours after breakfast. I blogged. I had some catching up to do on New York Times crossword puzzles. I napped some. I enjoyed slowing things down, doing some of my normal routines, and having some time to myself.

3. Jake, Mike, Ed, and I met later in the afternoon for beers in the sports bar and then the hotel lobby bar. Later, I grabbed a delicious Cuban sandwich at the deli on the casino floor and, not long after that, Ed and Mike came to my room for a taste or two of Pendleton 1910 Rye Whiskey. We'd all had a good day, each in our own way, and it was fun just to yak for a while to end the day.  

Three Beautiful Things 10-11-2023: Driving to Joseph, Completing the Loop, Steak Dinner at The Plateau

 1. Ed and I piled into the Camry and blasted down to La Grande, OR and then headed north and east and then,  just beyond Minam, turned south and went further east to Joseph. As the crow flies between La Grande and Joseph, it's about 43 miles, but as the Camry drives on Highway 82, it's about 71 miles. 

It's a fascinating drive with mountains overlooking cattle grazing land and rivers and scattered small towns. Ed and I, at one point, sat still for about twenty minutes on Rt. 82 as a large herd of cattle crossed the highway. 

We eased into Joseph and went directly to the great Stein Distillery, were greeted at the door by the warm home made bread smell of spirits being distilled. The distillery's owner welcomed us to the tasting counter and after tasting rum, bourbon, rye whiskey, and cordials, Ed bought a couple bottles of cordials and I purchased a bottle of rum, bourbon, a rhubarb cordial, rye whiskey, and a couple of cocktail glasses. 

2. Ed and I left Highway 82 at Elgin and drove north and west on Highway 204 over the Blue Mountain Summit and through Tollgate on our way back to the Wildhorse Resort. Last April when we made this drive, we traveled through a snow storm, but today we only had to contend with intermittent rain and some fog. 

It's a beautiful loop from Wildhorse to Joseph via La Grande and from Joseph back to Wildhorse via Tollgate and Weston. 

Ed and I immensely enjoyed this outing. 

3. So, for our October trip to Wildhorse this year, Terry T., Ed, Jake, Lars, Mike S. and I converged on the resort and, as we do every time we get together at Wildhorse (usually in April and October) tonight we had dinner at the resort's Plateau Steakhouse. 

It was, as always, an exquisite dinner. I started with a dry martini. Soon my garden salad arrived and then I dug into a 16 oz New York Striploin with sides of roasted Brussels sprouts and sautéed mushrooms. I went all out and ordered a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon with my dinner and, then, I enjoyed a pour of Cointreau to finish my meal -- along with a complimentary chocolate truffle.

It's a very special occasion for me to eat at a fine dining establishment like The Plateau and I cherished every sip of my cocktail, dinner wine, and after dinner drink as well as every bite of food. 

I spent a little bit of time on the gaming floor after dinner, but I was much more interested in returning to my room and hitting the hay early after a full and fulfilling day of travel, superb dining, and a great time with my lifelong friends. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-10-2023: Driving to Pendleton, Thai Dinner with Colette, A Nightcap in My Room

1. I blasted off from Kellogg around 7 this morning, picked up Ed, and we embarked on our trip to the Wildhorse Casino and Resort near Pendleton, OR.

We stopped at the Breakfast Nook and, man, did I ever enjoy my uncomplicated breakfast of eggs, hash browns, a sausage patty, and sourdough toast. Everything hit the spot and I felt well fueled for the drive to Pendleton.

Moreover, we stopped to stretch at the Ritzville Starbucks. I ordered a mocha and it, too, hit the spot. 

2. Colette and I met at Thai Crystal for dinner and fell immediately into easy conversation about a wide range of topics. Some of our conversation was cathartic as we discussed some Whitworth College history and reflected on some things that happened while we were there, but we also talked about family, writing, Colette's work, and more. 

My tofu and vegetables swimming in peanut sauce with rice was exquisite. Once again, I ordered just the right thing for the third time today. 

3. After dinner, it wasn't long before Mike, Ed, Jake, Terry, and Lars all piled into my room for a cocktail and some solid yakkin'. The centerpiece of our time together was the fifth of Pendleton 1910 Rye Whiskey I brought and our conversations covered our current health, the golfers day on the course, and a range of other topics.  

Three Beautiful Things 10-09-2023: Nails Clipped, Lists, Leftovers

1. Luna and Copper protested mildly when I put them in their carriers, but their visit to the vet was short: they got their nails trimmed, a move that helps me give Luna her medicine and that saves wear and especially tear on the bedsheets.

2. I'll be driving Ed to Pendleton on Tuesday for a three night stay. I got organized today, even resorting to making a list of what to remember to pack. I didn't used to make lists often, but as my mind and memory become gradually less sharp and less reliable, lists help me.

3. We had leftover chicken enchilada casserole and risotto from family dinner and I thought both offerings tasted even better for dinner tonight than they did on Sunday.  

Three Beautiful Things 10-08-2023: Discussing the Divine on ZOOM, Patiently Making Risotto, A Cozy Family Dinner

1. All of our ZOOM conversations in the Westminster Basement are stimulating and most enjoyable. I especially enjoy when our discussions turn to our reflections upon the Divine, upon transcendence, upon our similar and different views and experiences with holiness. This morning, we had a superb and ever broadening discussion of prayer, spiritual reality, the world of nature, connections between humans, between humans and the natural world, and between members of the natural world. I cherish these discussions because we entertain all kinds of possibilities, discuss the Divine in relation to mythologies and spiritual practices from around the world (including at Whitworth and Pacific Lutheran), and, best of all, we don't even try to arrive at anything definitive. 

Diane, Bill, Bridgit, and I all have in common the fact that we have experiences that transcend the material world, experiences that we agree are best communicated through metaphor and symbols. Our experiences are different from one another, adding even more vitality to these discussions. 

2. Debbie and I hosted family dinner tonight. Debbie assembled a most delicious chicken enchilada casserole and made shredded iceberg lettuce salad with a cilantro lime dressing. Debbie asked me to cook a batch of risotto. I had only made risotto once before, a couple of weeks ago, as part of a HelloFresh meal.

I had a box of arborio rice on hand as well as a stockpile of boxes of chicken stock. 

I put two quart boxes of stock in a pot and warmed it up until it steamed. 

I also melted a slab of butter, which I salted and peppered,  in our largest Dutch oven and then added two cups of arborio rice. I cooked and stirred the rice in the melted butter for a couple of minutes and then I began the slow process of making the risotto.

Risotto requires ladling the steaming broth over the rice about a quarter of a cup at a time. With each addition of the broth, I stirred the rice and broth with a wooden spoon until the rice absorbed the liquid and then added another quarter of a cup. I had eight cups of broth -- I used most, but not all of it -- so I added a quarter cup of stock to this rice and stirred it about, oh, twenty-eight times! 

Gradually, the rice absorbs the stock. Gradually the rice becomes creamy. I cooked ours, on purpose, a little beyond a dente so that our risotto was very soft and deliciously savory.

Mentally (and spiritually, maybe) I got absorbed in this process and lost track of time. Was I ladling and stirring for half an hour? A little more? Not quite that long? 

I'm not sure.

All I know is that I finished making the risotto before Christy and Paul arrived for dinner.

3. Just before Christy and Paul arrived I followed a recipe that came with our Ninja blender and made blended margaritas. I was about 75% pleased with the recipe and the drink. If I do it again, I'll work to do a better job of peeling the lemons and limes before putting them in the blender. 

We had chips and salsa with our margaritas and then thoroughly enjoyed the casserole, salad, and risotto. We capped off dinner with a delicious tapioca pudding out of a container that Debbie enjoys -- and so did we. 

We had a lot to talk about -- Paul has worked as a sub for Debbie and we discussed her current class of students. Debbie and I reported back to Paul and Christy what we learned at Sacred Heart on Thursday about kidney transplant surgery. We ended the night talking about history, about Heather Cox Richardson's broad and deep understanding of U. S. History and the number of things she sees that are baked into American politics and how much, if not all, of what we see happen in the present echoes similar things that happened in the past. 

One crucial difference exists, though: the influence and impact of social media and the World Wide Web. 

P.S. I exercised today for at least 90 minutes. The discomfort I had been feeling in my left hip is gone today. Very encouraging. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-07-2023: Home Gym, HelloFresh Without the Bag, Luna Helps Me Exercise

1. Debbie and Gibbs joined Diane and Sue on Diane's front porch and watch runners dash down Main Street as they completed today's Jackass Half Marathon.

I brought out Copper and Luna, put down my exercise mat, and worked on stretching muscles and building strength in my legs and strengthening my core with about 90 minutes of different exercises.

I have low level pain in my upper left leg. Maybe I should call it hip discomfort. 

These exercises help relieve that discomfort. Soon I'll be adding more exercises that target the hip area itself  -- I'm already doing some of them.

2. I got to thinking about what food we have on hand and wondered if I might be able to make a HelloFresh pasta meal for dinner without the convenience of the HelloFresh bag.

The HelloFresh menus are posted on the World Wide Web. I remembered having made a zucchini spaghetti dish sometime in the past, so with a minimum of effort, I found the HelloFresh recipe I vaguely remembered. 

It calls for mushrooms. We didn't have fresh mushrooms on hand, but I knew we had a half a jar of dehydrated mushrooms. They need to sit in warm water for thirty minutes, so I got the mushrooms hydrating. 

I chopped an onion. I chopped a zucchini. I made a pot of salty water to eventually bring to a boil to cook the spaghetti in.

I didn't have fresh tomatoes on hand, but opened a can of delicious fire roasted diced tomatoes.

I dilly dallied a bit, waiting for the mushrooms to be ready, and then I heated up a large pan, added olive oil to it, and started cooking the salt and peppered onions.

After a while, I added the chopped zucchini and I drained the mushrooms and added them to the pan.

I put the pasta in the water and cooked it. When I drained it, I saved the pasta water. 

After the zucchini, mushrooms, and onion cooked for another, oh, seven minutes, I added in the tomatoes, some tomato paste, dried basil and oregano, a healthy sprinkle of fennel seeds, some smoked chili flakes, and garlic powder. 

After this all cooked for a couple of minutes, I added a plug of vegetable Better than Bullion and about a cup and a half of pasta water, stirred it, and simmered the sauce for 7-8 minutes or so.

I liked how this sauce had cooked up. 

I added a small chunk of butter to it, let it melt, and then worked in the cooked spaghetti.

I grated Debbie and me some Parmigiana Reggiano cheese, served us each a bowl of zucchini mushroom spaghetti topped with the cheese and let me tell you, we began eating this combination of savory mushrooms, licorice-y fennel seeds, some heat and smoke from the chili flakes, and the fire roasted goodness of the tomatoes and believe me:

It worked. (Really well.)

3. Since Gibbs went with Debbie to watch runners, Copper and Luna strolled out into the living room to be with me.

I think today was the first time I've ever had a cat -- Luna -- resting and purring on my chest while I did leg lifts. 

Luna's slight weight on my chest was reassuring and motivating at the same time.  

Three Beautiful Things 10-06-2023: Tasks Completed, Yakkin' with the Youth, Yakkin' with the Young at Heart!

1.  Today got off to a roaring start! A quick trip to Yoke's to pick up medicine for Christy, a stop in at the vet to make a Monday appt for Luna and Copper to get their nails clipped, and a minute or two at the dump to recycle Christy's and our cardboard. 

2. Around 3:30 I booked it up to The Lounge. Debbie would be joining me around 4:00 or so. I got to yak a bit with Cas and was enjoying an ice cold mountain fresh Rainier when Molly and Brian busted in, having put in a to go order for burgers at the Elks. They were hoping to find either me or Debbie at The Lounge and soon Debbie breezed in and so they got their wish and more! 

The four of us settled into a table and yakked away until Brian collected their burger order and they bolted out to eat their dinner elsewhere. 

3. One of Debbie's fellow teachers was in the house as was a former Pinehurst teacher and Debbie had a great talk with the former teacher. When they wrapped up their conference, Debbie decided it was time to head home, but I had a nearly full beer left to drink. I was going to finish it at the bar, but Harley summoned me to the table he and Candy and Julie C. occupied and I joined them. 

Harley told me how much he and Kim enjoyed drinking the Heidelberg I gave him when Harley and Candy drove to Helena to see Kim and Marty.

Before long, Denny and Cindy joined our table and we all joined in the yak fest. 

I finished my last beer and knew it was time to go home and figure out something to eat.

I'd had a superb four hour session at The Lounge.

Back home, I thawed a Beach Bum Bakery sesame seed bagel and then made a perfect ham and cheese sandwich and ended a relaxing afternoon and evening by continuing to chill out and relax some more.  

Three Beautiful Things 10-05-2023: Talking Transplant at Sacred Heart, More Tests to Come, Enjoy Every Sandwich

1. As I mentioned earlier, this was a kidney week for me. I had two telephone interviews on Tuesday. Today, at noon, at Pinehurst Elementary School, Debbie and I piled into the Camry, blasted off, and landed at Providence Sacred Heart where we had two appointments at the Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Clinic. 

A tiny bit of background. I have been listed for a transplant for eight years and six months. I've accrued time, but have been inactive on the list since August of 2020 when I turned down the offer of an organ. Starting October 15th, I'll be on the active list again and it's very likely I'll be offered another organ sooner than later. 

So, a while back, I received a call from the program telling me that since I'm essentially 70 years old, I need to check in at the clinic at least once every six months instead of once a year. 

That's why I had an appointment today.

Debbie will be my primary support person should I be transplanted and we arranged for the two of us to meet with one of the transplant coordinators, Tara Wolf,  and have her explain the entire transplant process, starting with me getting a phone call with an offer, continuing with what happens when I go to the hospital, and then discussing Debbie's role in my post-surgery care.

She guided us through it all, patiently and clearly. 

We understand, now, with a clarity we didn't have before, that the telephone offer is just a first step and that a number of things have to happen before the transplant gets a green light: the organ has to be removed from the donor, it has to be analyzed for its viability, tests need to be run to make sure it's a good match for me, and the organ has to be transported to Spokane. 

Meanwhile, once I arrive at the hospital, I am evaluated -- EKG, bloodwork, Covid test, and other examinations to make sure I'm healthy enough for the surgery.

When I go into surgery and as I recover, Debbie goes through an intensive education process. She's given a notebook to keep records in, with instructions on giving me medicine (photos of the pills included), and she learns what her many other responsibilities are post-transplant. 

After the transplant, we would stay in Spokane for about 7-10 days. I'd be in the hospital for about three days and would return about three times in the week after being discharged for bloodwork, medicine management, and overall evaluation.

As my primary support person, Debbie's responsibilities are numerous, and she'll have the support of the transplant clinic every day, with ongoing instruction and help with questions and problems, if any arise. 

Learning all of this in one concentrated and focused conversation was exactly what we wanted going into today's appointment and we were both satisfied with all that we learned and feel much better prepared for moving through this transplant and recovery process. 

2. Our discussion with Dr. Nassir Khan, Medical Director of the Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program was shorter and very helpful. He explained aspects of Chronic Kidney Disease that I didn't know much about, nor did Debbie, and he told me that he wants to take a deeper look at my lungs and heart and ordered two tests, a CT scan and a walking test. 

His concerns about my lungs and heart are directly connected to when I got hurt in 1973 at the Zinc Plant. 

As I've said a million times, the Zinc Plant always lives in me. 

3.  Warren Zevon was terminally ill and, in 2004,  made his last appearance on The David Letterman Show. Letterman asked him if he any advice for the rest of us as he neared death. 

Warren Zevon did have advice: Enjoy every sandwich. 

Debbie and I left Spokane and rocketed straight to Fred Meyer in Coeur d'Alene. I'd eaten a couple of slices of toast in the morning and nothing since, so I hotfooted it straight to the deli and ordered a delicious honey ham and cheese sandwich on a croissant that also included cranberry sauce. It was perfect. I followed Warren Zevon's advice. I also enjoyed a small bag of chips and a Coca Cola.

We didn't purchase much at Fred Meyer, but it was a good stop.

We returned to Kellogg, relaxed (I napped), yakked some about our conversations at Sacred Heart, but mostly we just rested. 

It had been an intense afternoon. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-04-2023: Exercises at Home, Clearing Out the Garage, Debbie Fixes a Superb Dinner

1. With the help of Terry Turner and some exploring online of exercises for 70 years olds, I'm developing an in home exercise routine that already feels like it's a big help -- which is very motivating. I have an exercise mat, some resistance bands, and a chair and, so far, that's all the equipment I need to stretch and work some muscles.

2. I faced the fact today that I probably won't be transporting my bicycle anywhere again until next spring so I took the bike rack off the Sube. With the hatchback available again, I cleared the aluminum cans, plastic bottles, newspapers, and cardboard out of the garage, made a quick trip to the recycle station on Jacobs Gulch Road and will take the cardboard to the transfer station on Friday.

3. I was poised late this afternoon to fix a use what we have on hand kind of dinner when Debbie texted me and said she had dinner covered. Wow! Did she ever! She brought home salmon, cooked it up perfectly, grilled Romaine lettuce and dressed it with the Asian vinaigrette I like to make, and fixed a delicious side of rice. 

I love cooking for Debbie and me. At the same time, when Debbie swoops in and takes over the kitchen, her dinners are always superb. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-03-2023: Kidney Transplant Telephone Appointments, The Mystery of the Missing Keys, Hazy IPAs and a Delicious Soup

 1. This week I turn even more attention than usual to kidney disease and a possible (inevitable?) transplant. Today I had two telephone appointments. The first was with the transplant program's dietician. He strongly emphasized that because the transplant requires that the patient be immunosuppressed, to keep the body from rejecting the kidney, in the weeks and months following a transplant, cleanliness is vitally important. Wash produce. Make sure meats are cooked through. No more raw fish -- so no more sushi, no more ceviche, post-transplant. Medium rare steaks are cooked enough. Be careful about being around people who are ill. And so on. 

My second telephone appointment was with the financial person and because I'm in good shape with insurance, we didn't need to talk for long, but she'll have some information for me to pick up on Thursday when Debbie and I go for appointments at Sacred Heart -- the information is mostly about the medicines I'll take after the transplant, how long I'll take them, and their cost. 

2. As I age, I'm becoming a bit more forgetful. I am always checking myself to make sure I know where my cell phone is, that I've taken my daily medicine, remembered to medicate Luna, and other everyday things. 

Today, I needed to go try to find boxes of the cat litter Copper and Luna are accustomed to. I have read about 20,000 times that cats do better when their litter pans are not only scooped out regularly, but when they can count on the type of litter remaining the same.

One problem, though, as I prepared to go litter hunting.

I couldn't find my set of keys.

I tend to leave my keys out in plain sight on one of our tables either in the kitchen or the living room. If I put them away, I have a lot of trouble remembering where I put them, so out in plain sight works really well for me.

Well, my keys were not out in plain sight. They weren't hanging up on the wall above the basement stairs. They weren't in any of my pockets.

They were flat gone.

I sat, cleared my head, and tried to reason out where they could be.

Accidentally dropped in the trash? 

No.

Gibbs doesn't play with keys.

In the car? 

Shouldn't be. I had to have my keys in hand the last time I exited the car in order to unlock the front door.

I checked. 

Not in the car.  

Wait.

Did Debbie grab my set of keys by accident when she left for work this morning?

Debbie's students leave school around 2:40. I texted Debbie and emailed her, wondering if she had my keys.

Around 3:00, she answered. 

No. 

Crap.

Then another text flew in. 

Debbie wrote: "Oh shit. Yes I do."

Profound relief.

3. I used spare keys and drove to Yoke's. They were out of the cat litter I wanted. Then I drove to WalMart. Same story. 

I continued west to Pinehurst. (The litter pan in the bedroom was very low. I HAD to find cat litter!) 

I went to Barney's.

Success! 

To celebrate the lost keys being found and Barney's having boxes of the litter I wanted (needed?), Debbie and I split two delicious beers. 

First, Stone's Double Hazy IPA called 

Fear.

Movie.

Lions.

Then we split a Hazy IPA brewed by Untitled Art in Waunakee, WI called Juice Drops (Prickly Pear Strata).

Both beers were delicious. 

Mine put me in the mood to cook our other HelloFresh meal for this week: Vegan Coconut Ginger Noodle Soup with Sweet Potatoes, Snow Peas, & Crispy Onions.

The soup was much simpler than its long complicated title might suggest! 

All I had to do was, first of all, remove the snow pea strings and cut the peas in half, peel and chop a sweet potato, and peel and finely chop a plug of ginger and a couple cloves of garlic. 

I heated up some oil and cooked the sweet potato, garlic, and ginger together with a packet of fry seasoning for a couple of minutes. To this mixture, I added three cups of water, brought it to a boil, and then let it simmer for about ten minutes. 

I had already put a pot of salty water on to boil and in it I cooked the ramen noodles.

I drained the noodles, bathed them in cold water, and divided the noodles between two bowls. 

When the sweet potato mixture had finished simmering, I added coconut milk and the juice of a lime to it and ladled this soup over the noodles, topping it all with cilantro and crispy fried onions. 

On a cool fall evening after splitting two very tasty beers, let me tell you:

This soup worked! 

Three Beautiful Things 10-02-2023: In the Money, I Like That Exercise Mat, Delicious Pasta Salad

1. The 2023 season of the two fantasy baseball leagues I'm a part of ended on Sunday. My fantasy teams have never performed well in League 1, a rotisserie league, and finished in sixth place (out of eight teams) this season; but, in League 2, which features a series of weekly head to head matches with league opponents, I finished in third place -- that means I won some money. This is just the second time in my five years playing in these leagues that I've finished in the money. It won't be a lot (last time it was 50 dollars), but it was fun to have a team that was relevant and won a prize. 

2. Today the exercise mat I ordered arrived and it made doing floor exercises much more comfortable and enjoyable. The second box of resistance straps also arrived and I have some work to do to figure out how to best use them -- I made some progress today. So, right now, using a chair,  the mat, and the straps, I'm doing exercises to stretch and strengthen my legs, the muscles around my knees, and my core. I've been wearing out search terms online for exercises for 70 year olds, and I found a set of upper body stretches I'll also start doing. I've also been looking at chair yoga exercises. 

3. For dinner tonight, I dove into the HelloFresh box and pulled out the ingredients for a pasta salad. All I had to do was chop a carrot, shallot, red pepper, and tomato. I opened two packets of Italian salad dressing and put the dressing in the bottom of.a bowl with some olive oil and salt and pepper. I put the chopped vegetables and some chili flakes in the bowl on top of the dressing and tossed it all.At the same time, I boiled cavatappi and fried a packet of bacon. When the bacon was crisp, I roughly chopped it. I drained the pasta, cooled it off with a rinse of cold water, and combined it with the vegetables and dressing. 

I would have added the fresh dill I had roughly chopped, but I knocked my little bowl of dill onto the floor and settled for dry dill weed out of a jar. 

I added the bacon and a packet of feta cheese to the salad, mixed everything up again and Debbie and I agreed about this salad.

It worked! 

Three Beautiful Things 10-01-2023: 6201!, Napping with Copper and Luna, A Beer Sampling Session, Fall Harvest Family Dinner

Yesterday, I posted my 6200th entry on this blog. 

Here comes number 6201!

1. For no good reason, I slept in this morning and then, early in the afternoon, I decided to spend some time on the bed with Luna and Copper. Their contentment made me content -- so much so that I fell asleep and enjoyed a surprise nap.

2. Before heading over to Carol and Paul's house for family dinner, Debbie and had some sit, split, sip, and yak time. First we split a Hazy IPA from Boss Rambler Brewing in Bend, OR called Hang Juice. We both enjoyed it a lot. The brewery did not present this beer as a 2IPA, but its ABV is 7.2% and if sure worked on me as a Double IPA -- both in its assertive flavors and the mild euphoria it gave me. 

We then spilt a Double IPA from Dekker Brewing in Fargo, ND called Neon Phenom. The hazy juicy beer we drank first had very little bitterness, but the Neon Phenom finished with bite of bitterness I found refreshing.

3. Debbie baked a pan of beer bread and she assembled chunks of Romaine lettuce to be grilled and dressed at Carol and Paul's house, creating a grilled Caesar salad.

Tonight's family dinner was cozy. Christy joined a boat cruise from Coeur d'Alene to the St. Joe River and back and Molly put in a shift this evening at Radio Brewing, so Paul, Carol, Debbie, and I got to spend time together. 

Carol and Paul greeted us with Evan Williams Spiced Cider, a perfect cocktail for the beginning of fall, and Carol warmed a delicious creamy and spicy chunk of brie cheese topped with raspberry jam, jalapeños, and walnuts and served it with crackers for our appetizer.

Our main course was Carol's Coconut Pumpkin Red Curry soup featuring pumpkin puree Carol made after roasting a couple of pumpkins from her garden.

The puree and coconut milk in the soup balanced the spiciness of the soup's red curry. Therefore, the soup had a mild bite of heat, not overpowering, and it was a splendid contrast to the mildness of the pumpkin and coconut milk. 

Our dinner ended with a slice of Carol's delicious Brown Butter Pear Cake made from pears a friend gave to Carol and Paul.

Fresh homemade raspberry jam. Soup made from roasted garden fresh pumpkins. Cake made from garden fresh pears. 

Ours was a meal that emerged from the bounty of early fall. 

It worked!  

Three Beautiful Things 09-30-2023: Idaho/EWU and College Football Memories, Baking Muffins, A New Method for Cooking Curry

1. I realized (once again?) today that I have not fully lost interest in college football! Stu and his two sons and his brother traveled to Cheney this afternoon to watch EWU host Idaho, and I cared! Not only that, Christy drove back to Kellogg today from her mountain cabin retreat in northeast Oregon and she listened to the game on the radio, making her drive go by much more swiftly. I was also aware of several Facebook friends in attendance at Roos Field. 

Stu sent me a couple of pictures from the stadium. I kept an eye on the score -- Idaho prevailed 44-36 -- and I enjoyed feeling some of the excitement I used to experience going to the Kibbie Dome or Joe Albi Stadium with Dad to watch the Vandals and also remembered the great fun I had over forty years ago watching the Oregon Ducks play in the pre-expanded Autzen Stadium.

On Saturday afternoons, Dad used to watch national college football broadcasts on tv with a radio nearby and listen to Bob Curtis doing the play by play for Idaho. I watched and listened, too, and welcomed memories of those Saturdays today -- I went so far as imagining Bob Curtis (RIP) back on the mic today, broadcasting this afternoon's game from Cheney! 

2. I might have mentioned this before, but here I go again. Debbie's mornings, as she readies herself to go to work, go much easier and smoother if she can grab a muffin or two to eat before or as she leaves.

She asked me to bake a batch of Morning Glory muffins.

I most happily did that today.

These muffins have a lot of ingredients ranging from grated zucchini to coconut flakes to applesauce to a can of crushed pineapple -- and more.

So I simultaneously put everything I needed on a kitchen counter and took inventory, knowing I'd need to go to Yoke's and purchase what we didn't have.

I had a great time combining all the ingredients, dropping batter into paper muffin wrappers, and baking about twenty muffins.

Debbie and I each ate one and, glory be to muffins,

THEY WORKED! 

3. I cleared off the counter of muffin baking stuff and shifted gears.

I had decided yesterday that for our Saturday dinner I wanted to cook chicken drumsticks in a yellow Thai curry sauce; I would be fixing a curry dish using a method that was new to me.

I started by browning the drumsticks, about four minutes to a side, in Mom's seventy year old cast iron Dutch oven.

I set the chicken on a plate and poured the garlic and ginger I'd minced and the red pepper slices and white onion pieces I'd cut into the chicken fat.

I cooked all this for a couple minutes or so and then stirred in about a tablespoon and a half of yellow Thai curry paste. 

While the curry paste cooked with the other ingredients, I mixed coconut milk, soy sauce, fish sauce, and brown sugar in a bowl and before long slowly added it to the paste and vegetables.

I stirred it, let it cook a short while, and then put the chicken drumsticks back in the Dutch oven where they swam in the curry sauce.

The oven was pre-heated and I put the chicken and sauce in the oven for about 25 minutes and while the chicken cooked I made a batch of jasmine rice. 

I'd never put curry sauce with meat in the oven before and to my relief and, then, to Debbie's and my great pleasure, the chicken was fully cooked, the sauce was rich and complex, just spicy enough, and delicious, and we agreed.

It worked!