Pentagenarians & Beyond: W/B 2/19

[fox2star]

Hi,

Just getting this week's thread started. Lots of HouseMax to do, some cooking for the week etc.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend, too short for me!

[garance]

Hi Deb and any later posters--

This morning I did Turbo Barre (74 min.).

Housemax yesterday. DH and I went to see Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. We both really liked it. I'm not sure if you haven't read the book by LeCarre whether it might be too hard to follow. It's about finding a mole in British intelligence. I loved the book and the PBS series, and the film is equally impressive. Great actors--Gary Oldman, Colin Firth. I also watched Ides of March on Friday night. Was not very impressed. Seemed pretty old news--politicians are corrupt. Yes, I think I knew that.

Busy day today. Deb, we are having a pork loin roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, and then this really interesting salad I found at epicurious.com that had so many rave reviews I had to try it. Kale sliced very thin, center ribs removed, brussel sprouts chopped fine in a food processor, toasted almonds and pecorino romano cheese. Dressing is lemon juice, Dijon mustard, olive oil, minced garlic and minced shallots with salt and pepper to taste. I made the dressing and the chopped greens in advance, so I just put it together when we serve our guests. For dessert, a blackberry cobbler from my Southern Plate cookbook that is incredibly simple, but dh says it's the best cobbler he's ever had. The batter is layered on melted butter, and then you plop the berries in sugar and a bit of butter on top, and the batter just rises up around the berries. Serve that with vanilla ice cream. Wine with some cheese and crackers before the meal.

Gosh, where is winter? It's in the 40s again.

[Traildoggie]

Rained all day yesterday so did Housemax instead of yardmax. then did GS Back Biceps. I am a bit sore today so I have not been doing enough upper body work. this morning we wanted to ski but drove up to the mts and ended up doing "road crew" work to get up the road. lots of trees and branches down, and the chain saw kept stalling out. by the time we got where we planned to go weather had deteriorated , it was snowing hard and very slippery so we bagged it and came home to wait for a better day.

DH is tilling in the cover crop right now. will need to be done at least once more but it keeps growing and gets so tall it's hard to till. we are going to be gone 5 days next week and need to figure out what to do. we have two main options but if the weather stays wet and messy, neither sounds good.

bummer on the "Ides" movie. was hoping for a better prognosis than that. I love political movies so I'll still give it a try when it gets up the queue. Tinker worries me .... I'm not good at hard-to-follow movies though subtitles help. I never read the book but I don't do well with complex plots. DH follows things WAY better than I do, but I hate to keep asking him what the heck just happened.

Oh yes... dinner sounds good. that salad sounds especially interesting. I've struggled with brussels sprouts a dozen ways but never found anything I really liked. I don't think I've had them raw in a salad. I love kale. I love that kind of dressing. I will go take a look at epicurious. cobbler sounds lovely too. I love berry desserts.

[fox2star]

Good morning,

Taking Keegan in for a Urine draw this morning. Keep your fingers crossed that the last sample was contaminated in some way and this one comes out ok.

Garance, how was dinner? I went over to the site and looked at the salad recipe. Sounds good. I don't think I have ever eaten kale.

Valerie, what plans do you have for the 5 days if the weather doesn't cooperate? Will you stick around your house? My favorite vacations are when I get to stay home.

Hi to Joan, Josie, & Cathy,

Take care,

[Traildoggie]

I will try that salad. I love kale and brussels sprouts. Definitely rave reviews. Linda did you just happen upon it? did someone recommend it to you? there's so much on epicurious it's hard to figure out where to start. I don't have romano, will sub parmesan. I've never been able to tell the difference between the two.

Dressing sounds great, I only like vinaigrette type dressings. Deb, Kale is a bit like spinach except the texture holds up. It gets "limp-er" when cooked but still holds its shape. I like it a lot. I don't knwo how to describe the taste but pleasant. I use it plain, sauteed in a bit of olive oil. I use it in soup, especially potato soup and minestrone. a bunch of different kinds, some have flat leaves others frilly and curled. It grows all year here, slowly in winter. I have some now that can be harvested. I've used it in curry dishes. it gets softer but does not go to mush.

weather is looking crummy. not sure what we will do. we've been stuck home way too much so want to do 'something".

Deb, hope keegan's urine turns out OK.

[garance]

Hi Deb, Josie, and Valerie--

This morning I did After Burn (54 min.).

The salad was a big hit, even with my niece and nephew, who had two giant helpings. Two suggestions: Use a scissors on the kale rather than trying to slice it. It goes a lot faster. And forget the grating of brussels sprouts. Just throw them in the food processor and let her rip until they are fine. I was surprised how quick that was--no more than a minute in my cuisinart. I'm not a big fan of cooked brussels sprouts, either, but they are lovely, crunchy in this salad. And, the best thing of all is what some of the reviewers said--the salad tastes even better today--still crunchy, even with the dressing. I'm having it for lunch. Valerie, when I visit epicurious.com just for a look-see, I go to the buzz box and see the 3 pages there. That's where I found this recipe with all of the positive reviews.

Deb, good luck on Keegan. Does he seem okay otherwise?

Valerie, I really don't think you would be able to follow Tinker, Tailor because the major character is also struggling to put things together, and there are so many characters that are much more clearly delineated in the book, but in the film, you can tell that the casting director was relying on instant recognition of the prissy one, the dandy, etc. based on their looks and clothes.

The weather here is spring-like. Lovely.

[Traildoggie]

thanks for that...the buzz box. I'll start watching it.

another way with kale or any big leafed green.... I trim out the stem by holding the leaves vertically by the stem and slicing down each side of the stem. I set all the leaves in a big pile facing the same way. then roll it up from the narrow end tightly in a tube, like a big cigar. then slice thinly with a knife. works like a charm. this is way easier and gives more uniform slices. you could probably use a scissors at that point instead of a knife. I usually grow the frilly kind but got some tuscan kale seeds to try this year.

I probably won't read the book. I think at one time I tried but didn't get into it. I may do e research ahead. I'd rather have an idea of what is happening, then I'll follow better. If it's a surprise or if it's confusing, I'll give up and go to bed.

[fox2star]

Good news on the "P-Front!! Perfect analysis, no rods, no crystals, no infection, no bacteria and a PH of 6.5 which is perfect!

I know, I'm a nut...but he's my baby!!

[fox2star]

Morning all,

very tired today, went to an 8:30 class last night and did not get back until 10:00. Not sure if I will be able to do this every Monday, but it was fun and good for John and Keegan to get back into something. John has been very leery about anything that has him walking without watching 100% where he is going, due to the balance issue. When you train your dog, you are watching them most of the time and not where you are walking. He did fine, got a little dizzy on the "figure 8's" but so did I!

It's supposed to warm up to mid 40's starting tomorrow. I think I like global warming!

Take care,

[Traildoggie]

I did some yardmax yesterday and then did the cyclemax premix, 41 minutes. also the TB ab workout. I'll get this eventually. I did better, went a little faster. have increased the tension quite a bit. I played with the seat height, the seat forward / back business.

Linda, cathe's current newsletter talks about getting adapted to spin. she talks a lot about crotch soreness. no trouble with that, she has us standing much of the workout. street riding for hours on a bike seat is hard to get used to. I can't handle over 2.5 hours. I wore padded shorts yesterday but for spin that doesn't seem necessary.

Deb, what happened differently this time to improve keegan's outcome? whatever it is, keep doing it.

I would be dead meat if I got home at 10. I'm used to sleeping from 8 to 4:30. if I got home at 10 it would take me another 2 hours to decompress and I'd never get enough sleep. just get too revved up and can't unwind fast to go to sleep.

I will have a daffodil blooming this week... also lenten roses. one of the minature ones. lots of weeds flowering...they are well adapted. this is normal for here. we transplanted a bunch of plants yesterday, dividing and relocating.