Archive for February 2018
1 Second a Day for February 2018
February 28, 2018Chicken Marsala
February 26, 2018
This is one of my favorite ways to cook chicken. Very easy to do. It takes about 5 minutes of prep and 20 minutes of cooking.
Here’s what you need:
- 3 or 4 chicken breast fillets
- 1/2 c flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 4 tbsp butter
- 4 tbsp cooking oil
- 8 oz fresh mushrooms (typically, mushrooms are sold in 8 oz. packages)
- 1 c Marsala cooking wine
Here are the directions:
- Mix the flour and spices in a large bowl and stir.
- Pound the chicken fillets with a chef’s mallet so that they are about 1/2″ thick.
- Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour mixture
- Heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan (pref non-stick)
- Saute the chicken pieces for 2-3 minutes per side (until chicken is nicely browned)
- Add the mushrooms to the pan
- Add the Marsala wine to the pan
- Cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
Serve with the mushroom gravy on top of each fillet. There, that was easy. Tastes great.
The Leisure Seekers: A Novel
February 25, 2018
One of the books that I am currently reading is “The Leisure Seeker: A Novel” by Michael Zadorian. This is a story of an aging couple (John and Ella) that go on one last road trip in their motor home. They are traveling along the old rte 66 from Michigan to Los Angeles.
I discovered this novel while watching the coming attractions a couple of weeks ago while seeing “The Darkest Hour”. The trailer was for a film of the same name. It stars Donald Sutherland and Hellen Mirren. So I saw that the film was based on a novel and I thought for once I would read the book before I saw the film. Besides, the film isn’t in theaters yet. We’ll probably get to see the film eventually.
So here’s the story line. John and Ella are in their 80’s. John is suffering from Alzheimer’s and Ella from cancer. They decide to take one last road trip in their motor home they call the “Leisure Seeker”. They load up and hit the road. They start in Michigan and head for California on the old Rte 66.
The book is in the voice of Ella. She speaks of the anguish of dealing with a loved on who is suffering from dementia/Alzheimer’s. I feel your pain.
They try and stay on rte 66 but sometimes that is not possible. So occasionally that are forced to use the insterstate. You miss so much on the interstate.
They have a cell phone but it was turned off. John and Ella’s grown children gave them the phone but they turned off and put in the glove box to be used only in an emergency.
So far I have read as far as Texas. I keep flipping back to the other books that I am reading (“Leonardo” and “Maestros and Their Music”). I’ll probably finish all three at the same time.
I’ve got to stop reading the NY Time Book Review. It just adds to my reading list.
Mary
February 23, 2018It’s time for another post about Mary. Every once in a while, the topic of nursing homes comes up between Paula and me, especially after we have had a frustrating few days at home. It all started at dinner on Monday. On the first and third Monday evenings we all go to our Eastern Star (OES) meetings in San Pedro.
On those nights, we usually have a pizza for dinner. So Mary asks us, “What’s this?” and “how do I eat it?” Once again, we patiently explain for the hundredth time what pizza is and how to eat it.
So she is sitting at the dining room table in her PJ’s. She had basically slept all day until 5:30 PM. We tried to get her to hurry up and finish so we could then get her to get dressed. “Why do I have to go?” she says. Because we don’t want to leave you alone.
So we eventually get her dressed and we get on our way to the lodge building. So, here’s the $64K question, do we give up on getting her out to meet with her friends? Or, do we look for a regular sitter for the evenings when we need (or want) to go out?
At this point, she usually doesn’t go to church or Senior Bible study. The only other events that she goes to are to get her hair done on Friday’s and the monthly luncheon at Assistance League in SP.
We are considering getting a sitter for the Mondays for OES meetings. Maybe for all Mondays, that way we can go to the movies (or something) when we are not going to OES meetings.
We’re not quite ready for a nursing home, but the time might be coming soon. Nursing homes cost big bucks. We can afford a lot of sitters before we get anywhere close to what nursing homes cost.
Here’s another issue we are facing. It seems that she is eating less and less. She rarely finishes the portions that we put on her plate. And we always put less on her plate than for Paula and me. We seem to think that maybe she is unconsciously starving her self. There is nothing that we are planning to do about it except encourage her to eat. We try to have meals that she likes and are easy for her to eat.
And one more thing, a couple of years ago the three of us went to an event put on by an elder lawyer by the name of Susan Geffen. She has run seminars that present various elder agencies and service companies to talk about their offerings. She is the author of a book called “Take That Nursing Home and Shove It“. It’s worth reading.
TTFN
Joe
Lent
February 16, 2018
As many of you know yesterday we observed Valentine’s Day, but also we observe Lent. Now the church that I belong to does not observe Lent (or Ash Wednesday). So I was at my weekly Bible study meeting on Wednesday and I asked our pastor, what gives? How come and why not?
Now I would expect our pastor to know this stuff but unfortunately he didn’t have a clue. At first, he said that he thought it was Catholic/Protestant thing. To which, I answered that I knew many Protestant churches that observed Lent. Anything else? Alas, he had nothing.
Sigh. So it seems that I would have to find out the answer myself. So, I asked my number one spiritual adviser, Google. It seems that Google had a ton of answers on the subject.
So Google tells me that most Protestant churches do indeed observe Lent and Ash Wednesday. The main exception is the Baptists. The Baptists come from a Calvinist/reformation background and as such got rid of all church holy days. The only exception that was kept was Easter and Christmas.
The only other (Christian) religious sects that do not observe Lent are the Amish and the Mennonites.
And while we’re on the subject of Lent, let’s talk about meatless Fridays. I grew up in a Roman Catholic family in the 1950’s .and 1960’s. We not only did we not eat meat on Fridays during Lent, we observed that practice the entire rest of the year. I got so used to fish on Fridays, I got to liking it. My Dad would cod-fish cakes on Friday for breakfast. They were so good.
Here is an interesting article that goes in depth about the issue of Lent and repentance.
The Post
February 9, 2018
Date night tonight. We went out to see “The Post“. This is a film about the Washington Post’s handling what became known as the “Pentagon Papers”. The movie stars Meryl Streep as Kay Graham and Tom Hanks as Ben Bradlee of the Washington Post.
Anytime I see Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks I expect that I will be seeing great performances. I was not disappointed this evening.
The movie is set in Washington in 1971. Daniel Ellsburg had stolen the pages that documented failures of the Vietnam war in a document that became known as the “Pentagon Papers“. I have provided a link to the Wiki pages on the Pentagon Papers. The Nixon White house tried to block the publication but the case was heard by the US Supreme Court. And the rest is history.
I loved the set decoration on the film. Where’d they get all of the dial telephones and the pay phones. I felt like I was going back in time. One really gets the feeling that you are in newspaper news room. Presses and Linotype machines too. Reminds me of a tour I took of the Boston Globe facility on Morrisey Blvd. in Dorchester when I was in high school. Only thing missing was the smell of machine oil and ink.
The film ends with the break-in of the Watergate offices of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington.
Stopped at KFC for some chicken take-out.
Good film. Go see it.
Joe
Pea Soup
February 6, 2018
One of my favorite soups is pea soup. It is so easy to make. I cook it in our crock pot that we received as a gift long, long time ago. This is one of the recipes that Mary will gobble down. Don’t have to nag at her to eat her dinner.
One other thing, related to crock pots. We found that Reynolds makes “crock pot liners”. Makes cleanup easy. You can find them in the food storage section in the super market.
I’ve heard of some new fangled thing called an “Insta-Pot”. Supposedly a combination of crock pot and pressure cooker. One of these days I might get one but Paula will most certainly ask me “Where are you going to put it?”. So for now, no insta-pot. My crock pot is the old fashioned kind. Indeed, I’ve had it for about 40 years.
Here’s what you need:
- 1 bag of dried split peas
- 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
- 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2-4 stalks of celery, chopped
- 1 carton of chicken broth (usually 32 oz.)
- 8 oz of chopped ham. (our supermarket sells chopped ham conveniently packaged all cut up ready to throw in the pot). Alternately, use a ham bone left over from cooking a ham shoulder.
Add all of the vegetables to the crock pot. Rinse the split peas in a colander. Add the peas to the pot. And then add the ham.
Add the chicken broth. Turn on the crock pot on high and cook for 4-5 hours. Stir occasionally.
If you go the ham bone route, remove the bone about 45 minutes before serving. Scrape all of the remaining ham meat off of the bone. It should scrape off quite easily.
Check the fluid level about a half hour before serving. If the soup seems a bit thick, you may want to add more water to the stew. I usually have to add about 8 oz. of water.
Mary
February 2, 2018Well, as you all know, we celebrated Mary’s 94th birthday last week. So, today was the time to pay the piper. It was time for Mary’s annual physical.
So a couple of weeks ago, Paula scheduled her physical with her primary care doc. Dr T. had put in all the orders for blood work and urine sample a few weeks ago. Paula took her up to his office a couple of weeks ago to have her bloods drawn. The appointment was for 10 am this morning.
So the good news is that Mary is doing just fine. All blood work was in normal ranges. Her cholesterol is low and without any statin drugs, either. She just hasn’t been sick. We made sure that she got her flu shot a couple of months ago. Have you had your flu shot? Not too late. If we can keep her from falling, she probably will live to be a 100.
So while Mary and Paula were at doctor’s office, I decided to go to Starbuck’s for an iced coffee. Picked it up at the store and found a nice table outside.
The sun was shining. The temp outside was about 70 with a nice light breeze. Not very crowded. A lot of times the place is loaded with people sitting in front of their laptops and coffee. Not today. The place was almost empty.
So I started working on the NY Times crossword puzzle. It was surprisingly easy for a Friday. Finished it in about 15 minutes. Then, I read some of the current book that I am reading (“Darkest Hour”) about Winston Churchill. So at 11 am it was time to head home.
We’ll all be going to lodge tonight for casual dinner with our lodge friends.
TTFN
Joe
1 Second Every Day – January 2018
February 1, 2018Okay, this past month I started using a new app call “1 Second Everyday“. Click here for the pointer in the Apple App Store. And here’s the Android version. I upload 1 or 2 pictures every day and it produces a mashup video displaying each picture for about second. It is sort of a video diary, kinda sorta.
So every day, I push myself to take one or two pictures every day. I took pictures of people we met and places that we went. I took pictures of the baristas at Starbucks. I took picture in the supermarket. I have family pictures including our very cute grand kids.
Sometimes, I have to push myself to take a picture. I try to answer the question, “What did I do today?”.
It feels like monthly is the right size for the video (both in time and file size. Maybe in December I will do a whopper of a lookback.
Here is the video for January 2018. So sit back and enjoy.
calherewecome 