Friday's Dinner

They're home....and brought a little wine home with them!

Sounds like they had a great road trip too. Stopped at a fruit/veggie stand too. We've got tons of squash, tomatoes, peaches, a few apples and some other stuff I can't remember.

Today, off to return the rent-a-car and then to the grocery store. On Le Menu tonight: Baked Ziti w/thinly sliced squash and a mixed salad...oh, and a yummy wine to go with!

Bye bye!

Thursday's Dinner

Was NOM NOM Chicken, dry-fried green beans and parsley-buttered noodles. Sound familiar? Yeah, made dinner for Dad and Kathy. Speaking of...time for another segment of THE LIFE AND TIMES OF DAD. Yesterday was Dad's appointment at The Vista Low Vision Center. He'd been complaining for weeks that he didn't want to go cause he wasn't going to wear no helmet with a telescope on it just to read. He said he'd rather not read. Eeyore strikes again!

So I pick him up yesterday to take him to the appointment and he's got that look on his face that tells me he's in a very crappy mood. Tells me again that he thinks this is a waste of time. Like he's got anything better to do? So we make the 45 minute drive down to Palo Alto. Down 280 so it was very pretty and the sun was shining. We get there and walk in the door. They tell us to sit down and there we sit for like a half-hour. I'm afraid to look at Dad cause I know he's about to jump out of his skin. So I finally face the music and look at him. He says "I think we should go." I said "Nope." He tells me he's going to go use the restroom and then says he may not come back.

While I'm sitting there, I'm starting to feel like I'm either at the Goodwill Store or at a Notary Exam. Everyone there is old and has some degree of vision loss. Everything is also giant...giant clocks, giant calculators, giant watches; you name it. I'm starting to feel like a Lilliputian. Martha, the lady behind the counter is complaining about something in that old person way. "I can't help you now, I'm busy with this." Like the world is going to fall off it's axes if she doesn't finish what she's doing.



Now this guy comes over to give us some forms for Dad to sign. He's also visually impaired so this requires him to sit about three inches from us. He also has coffee/cigarette breath which is making me want to ralf. You can imagine at this point, Dad's about to blow. So he says to the guy "Are we ever going to get to the real reason I'm here." The guy says "Hey man, relax. I'm a child of the 60's. We all need to relax." I thought Dad was going to deck him.

About 10 minutes later, Dr. Chin comes out to get Dad. She's very nice. We go to the exam room and get all settled in. She asks Dad what he hopes to get out of this. Dad says "I don't know, I'm not even sure why I'm here." DOH! She says "Your here because you were referred by Dr. Kirshner." Dad replies "I've never seen Dr. Kirshner." Double DOH! I tell Dad it was the eye doctor we saw in June. Now I'm feeling much smaller than a Lilliputian, sweating profusely and would like to crawl in a hole somewhere. Dr. Chin is very patient with him. She pulls out all this stuff for him to try. Long story short, she gave him readers and a LED magnifier and now he can read. She also had him try some amber polarized sunglasses. This changed everything for him. All of a sudden he sees detail and contrast. Now life is good and he can't wait go do some reading.

I'm tired and looking forward to a relaxing weekend.

Tuesday's Dinner

Pretty NOM! I had some Chinese broccoli, mushrooms, onions, garlic and heirloom tomatoes so decided to make a stir-fry. Needed a sauce so I consulted my friend, The-World-Wide-Web. I had Miso paste so I wanted to use that for a sauce, here's what I came up with:

Miso Sauce

3 Tbsp. Miso paste
3 Tbsp. Sake (didn't have any so I substituted w/Tecate Beer)
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
few drops hot sesame oil
2 Tblp. sugar (didn't want to use sugar so I used seasoned rice vinegar)

I'll be having it for lunch too!

Check out the puddy in my lap:



Let's have a check in with KEEPING UP WITH THE KECKY'S! This morning, I'll go by the apartment and put the garbage cans back where they belong and then I'm off to the John Stewart Company (aka, Presidio Residences) to turn in the keys to the former Kasa Kecky. Except for the last year (house-hunting and all), Poppy and I have had a pretty good time here on the Post, but we're ready to close this chapter of our lives and move on to the new.

I'm so glad we had this time together,
Just to have a laugh, or sing a song.
Seems we just get started and before you Know it
Comes the time we have to say, “So long".

Good night everybody!

I'm Alive!...

Well I survived and will live another day. No scratches and I still have my eyeballs. Taking Poppy's advice, I taped up the flap on the doggie door. SUCCESS! Everyone is happy. Evidently, Roger likes "tough love" cause she never left my side last night.



Let's talk about the dinner. I've wondered that if ever, Cod forbid, I become single again, would I cook for myself? The answer is, yes! Okay, I didn't really cook, but I used my new-really-old oven for the first time to warm up my leftover beef stroganoff. I also had some heirloom tomatoes from the farmer's market. Put a little balsamic, olive oil, salt and pepper on them and served it all with a lovely Pinot Noir. NOM!

TTFN!

Another Exciting Episode Of Keeping Up With The Kecky's

So Poppy has deserted me to go play with MomJean in Oregon and Washington State areas. I've been left with a long list of chores to do before she comes back. All of which I completed yesterday!

One of my projects was to install the doggie door to the door that leads to the garage and then cut another hole in the door that goes to the backyard. Both were fraught with challenges but the job is done.

Now, most of you know our little sensitive Jax-The-Cheese-Connesewer. Since she's a rescue dog, she's got a few issues; strange things like noises or anything out of the ordinary causes her to go to her "special place." She pretty much checks out and will go find her bed.

After I installed the doggie door, it was time to show her how to use it. I'd already taught her "push-it, push-it real good" when I wanted her to push a door open. I figured this would be a good segue to the doogie door lesson. Well, she didn't want anything to do with it. She was okay if I held the flap up for her but if I shut it, she'd just sit there, wine and stomp her feet. So I had to get the big guns out. I got the cheese and sat on the other side of the door. She wanted that cheese so bad. Took a few minutes with lots of whining but she jumped through! When she came to get her cheese, I could see her eyes were all wet and teary. I made my baby cheese-connesewer cry. I felt horrible!! I'm a bad mommy!



So now came Roger's turn. Cats are smart, they get everything. I shoved her out the door. I figured she'd got the hang of it so I left her out in the garage. Hours went buy and she was still out there. I went down to find her sitting by the door. So I tried to show her how to get in. Now she's pissed and hissing at me. I left her there figuring she'd get it. She was still in the garage this morning and now I think she's going to scratch my eyeballs out. I emailed Poppy and she suggests I tape up the flap until they get used to it. So that's what I'm going to do...if I'm still alive.

Chow!

Saturday's Dinner

A very fun day of cooking with Seester Kathy! We hit the farmer's market at Serramonte. They've got some really good stuff with a emphasis on Asian veggies. Kept seeing folks with big green bush things. I asked what they were and was told okra leaves. The guy said he uses them in soup. Then we went to Foodtown! I love, love, love this store. The butcher was so helpful. I was going to make beef stroganoff so he recommended Flat Iron or Tri-Tip. I got a pound of each. He insisted on cutting it into strips for me. Any other butcher I go to you have to ask. I also asked if he had beef bones. He sure did. They carry them in the store's freezer. I got 4.5lbs for $14.

So, got back to Seester Kathy's and opened up the Cava and started to cook. Started with the beef stock. Roasted those bones and then put them to boil with all the other goodies for about 3 hours. Should have gone longer, but I ran out of time. I took about a cup of that and then reduced it by half to add to the stroganoff. I think I was a little disappointed with the stroganoff. It seemed a little too viscous.

I also made the Broccoli Chicken Cheese casserole. That was really NOM, even if it was laden with chemicals from the Campbell's soup. I had it this morning as a burrito. Really NOM!

Is it time for another segment of A Day In The Life Of Dad? Sister Missy picked up Dad on Friday afternoon and took him up to Minden to do a garage sale. I haven't called to see how it went cause I'm to freakin tired. I hope it went well.

Why am I tired you ask? I've had a very productive Sunday:

Put a doggie door in;
Cut a hole in the door that goes to the backyard (no doggie door required);
Beat the crap out of the living room run, then vacuumed it;
Made the spare room bed in anticipation of MomJean's arrival from her and Poppy's road-trip on Friday, I think;
Cleaned the bathroom;
Vacuumed the whole house;
Mopped all the floors;
Tried to teach Jax how to use the doggie door (she's so freakin sensitive); cheese finally did the trick, but I don't think she's there yet;
Relit the pilot light on the stove and now seeing how accurate the thermostat is; and
Made a banana bread in the convection oven (Friend Lauri wanted me to try baking in the convection oven. The recipe called for an hour but the bread was done in less than 45 minutes).

Time for a freakin cocktail!

Bye bye!

Thursday's Dinner

This is the kind of week it has been...

Dinner was a repeat of Wednesday's Dinner. Still NOM!

So today, another repair-guy is coming to look at the stove. I talked to this guy yesterday and asked if he'd worked on Wedgewood and he has so I'm feeling a wee bit more confident.

So check this out, Poppy is leaving tomorrow to go to Oregon to hook-up with MomJean. MomJean has rented a car and they will spend a week driving back down the coast. This means that I will have some serious "me" time. After Jax-The-Cheese-Connesewer and I drop our beloved Poppy at the airport, We'll head over to Seester Kathy's where we will cook and drink the Cava all day. We'll be staying the night there. Sounds like a perfect day to me. Seester Kathy has unearthed a very old recipe of mine called Broccoli Chicken Cheese Casserole. Here it is:

BROCCOLI CHICKEN CHEESE CASSEROLE


1 large onion, chopped
1 potato
1 package frozen veggies (use a broccoli mix), thawed
1 can sliced water chestnuts
3 cans Campbell’s Golden Mushroom Soup
4 boneless chicken boobs
1 16oz package shredded moozarella cheese
1 16oz package shredded sharp cheddar cheese


Preheat oven to 350. Boil chicken boobs for 20 minutes then cut into cubes. Slice potato into 1”
Cubes and put in boiling water for about 10 minutes. In a large bowl add veggies, water chestnuts, chicken, onion and potato and blend together.

In a large casserole dish put a little less than half of the chicken mixture then generously sprinkle some moozarella cheese on top and then add 1 can of soup. Repeat this step and then add the remainder of the soup on top so the whole casserole is covered. Cover with foil and bake for 50 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle shredded cheddar on top and bake for an additional 10 minutes at 400 until its bubbly. Serve over wide egg noodles.

I figure this recipe is from the early 90's so it can stand some revamping. The basic idea is good and it really does taste good but to look at it now, I'm having a little trouble with the Campbell's Soup ingredient. I'm thinking instead of all the soup chemicals, I'd probably make a mushroom gravy; made with bacon drippings, of course. Bacon, Bacon, Bacon. Might even add a little sour cream to that. Fat doesn't bother me as much as chemicals do. Chemicals bad; fat good, especially pig fat! bad. Besides, fat is a lubricant and we all need a little fat now and then. Another thing I was thinking of doing to the recipe is adding a few layers of lasagna noodles.

So we'll be making this recipe as is cause that's the way Seester Kathy remembers it and doesn't want to veer from the original recipe. We'll make that for her to have through the weekend. I also want to make beef stoganoff. But first for that recipe, I want to try my had at making a demi-glace.

This is gonna be fun. I'll try to remember to take pics.

Tonight, Poppy and I will head to the Parkside Tavern for happy hour $1 oysters! Then come home and have one of Poppy's famous turkey sandwiches. Multi-grain bread, turkey, avocado, sprouts and cheese. Served with a side of Kettle Chips. NOM!!!

Chow and have a swell weekend!

Wednesday's Dinner

Was Uber NOM! I always forget to take the picture right before presentation so I end up with the half-eaten meal. Anyhoo, we had some organic Heirloom tomatoes. Poppy went to the store and picked up some moozarella and basil. I assembled it, topped it with a little Kecky's Herb Salt, balsamic and olive oil. So very tasty. We also had some really sweet corn on the cob. Mmmm!

So the service guy from Sears showed up to fix our Wedgewood stove from the 1930's. He'd never seen one before. He wouldn't even touch it cause he couldn't find the serial number. Back to square one. I've called the home warranty people and as soon as the Sears-guy files his report, they'll send us someone else out who is familiar with the Wedgewood. I know someday it'll be really cool to cook in my old-new oven!

I will leave you with this pic of two little girls playing with a giant pizza Frisbee outside my window. Hysterical!



Later, gators!

Another Exciting Episode of Keeping Up With The Kecky's

Working from home today while I wait for the oven guy to come. I was able to bring the laptop from work and my little project home. Of course, I couldn't get on the internet so I had to call the I.T. Help Desk. Eric is the man and fixed me right up. Jax-The-Cheese-Connesewer is helping me with my project. She's such a hard worker!

The New Kasa Kecky is looking good and steadily coming along!

Okay, I need to get back to it!

Chow!

Sunday's Dinner

I made Carnitas. The trick to making them was our new-old Wedgewood oven doesn't seem to work, but we also have a new-used built-in convection oven/microwave. I looked up the user's manual online so I could figure out how to use it. It didn't do too bad a job. Timing is weird. Taste was good, but kind of tough. The tacos were made the Double-Decker way, ala Taco Bell, only way better and better for you. Corn tortilla with my homemade refried beans spread on the tortilla, then a crunchy taco gets nestled in the beanie corn tortilla, then you fill the crunchy taco shell w/meat, cheese, sour cream and Kecky's almost world famous Pico de Guillo. NOM-NOM!

So, the oven guy is coming on Wednesday. I'm a little frightened cause we're having it fixed by filing a claim with the home warranty company. They're sending a guy out from Sears to fix the Wedgewood from the 1930's. Hope he doesn't blow us up.

Poppy also approved us hiring a cleaning service to clean the former Kasa Kecky. I'm way excited about that. Who wants to spend a day cleaning? Not me, oh boy!

Today was my first day back to work, which was like a vacation compared to unpacking and moving really heavy furniture. Of course, my project from H.E. Double Hockey Sticks was waiting for me when I got in. I think I have to log something like 10,000 emails on an Excel spreadsheet by Thursday. Yeah, and then the court woke up! I hope you'll all consider visiting me at Club Fed!

Just thought I'd leave you to gaze upon my Shoes Glorious Shoes closet!



Chow!

Thursday's Dinner

We're still in unpacking mode and the oven of my stove doesn't work. A few days back, I made some refried beans so with those, I melted some cheddar cheese in them and at the end added a little sour cream and called it bean dip. Had that with some tortilla chips and left over pickled jalapenos and onions from the Mexican restaurant that Seester Kathy, et al. brought us last Sunday. Darn NOM!

So Poppy has this plant that she's been carrying around with her since the Depression. She said she hardly ever watered it and it just thrives. Well, I've been watering it once a week for the last 7 years and it definitely is thriving. I call it Poppy's Sampson plant because if it withers so will my Poppy. So anyhow, after we moved in, she had set it on my antique telephone table. I didn't like it there so I put it out on the deck. It's been there for a few days. Poppy noticed it yesterday and it didn't look good at all. She said it was sunburned or like a vampire who'd been exposed to the light. Like I'll ever hear the end of this one... I had her put it in the bathtub for a shower and now we're on a 24/7 death watch. Freakin thing better live or I'm toast!



Today, we're going to put the spare room together since Poppy's mom, Mom/Jean will be here in a couple of weeks. She's very excited to put her shoes in my Shoes Glorious Shoes closet!

Later on today we'll head over to the Parkside Tavern for happy hour...$1 oysters from 4-6 and then to the Korean BBQ for soup. NOM!!

Chow Bella's

I'm Baaaaack...

We're all moved in! It was a whirl-wind of fun. The very nice Irish boys showed up on Thursday to pack us. It was all going well, until Poppy showed Mark-The-Packer the garage. He said "Aw fook me!" Then throughout the day whenever one of them found another unpacked cupboard you'd hear more things like "shite" and another ever-popular "Fook".

So, we're not exactly unpacked but I just finished the last box of kitchen stuff. I'm afraid we didn't downsize enough.

Here's the most important room in the house:



Yep, that's right, Mama's shoes have their very own room. Every time I go to the Shoes Glorious Shoes Room (and I visit it a lot), a tear comes to my eye. There is even room for shelves so I can buy more Shoes Glorious Shoes!!!

Okay, but we know the real important room for me is the kitchen:



We had Jeanette and Jeff come over the other night to see The New Kasa Kecky. Jeff-The-Appliance-King took a look at the Wedgewood. His advice to us was to have someone come out and clean it and make sure all the safety-guards work and then put it on Craigslist. He thinks we can get about $5,000 for it. Jeanette thinks we should have it cleaned and not sell it. The burners and grill work, but oven and broiler are a wee bit of a health hazard right now. It really is a very nice piece!

Let's move onto the living room:



It too is in shambles, but Poppy is diligently working on it...well, right now, she's diligently working on some work stuff.

Steve-The-Comcast-Cable-Guy was out yesterday. He was here for almost 4 hours. He was quite the talker. At one point, I went out to water the front bark (there are some plants, but I think they're dead) and saw him standing by the telephone pole across the street. He asked if I had a ladder. I said I did, but it was at the other house. He said his ladder is a pain to get out of his truck. Next thing I see is him shimmying up the pole to get to the first rung. He got all the way up and then said that he didn't realize how high up it was and he hoped he could get down. I decided it was a good time to go water the backyard.

The service call window was 2-4. I can't remember what time he showed up. But our plan was after he left to hit happy hour at the Parkside Tavern cause they've got $1 oysters from 4-6, Mon-Fri. At 5:55 Steve-The-Comcast-Cable-Guy was still here. Poppy looked at me and said "Let's call the bar and have them hold two dozen for us." I didn't want to do that. We ended up having Korean BBQ and it was NOM!!

Moving on, let's take a look at what will be the formal dining room:



Oh, the closet in this room also houses my dresser.

If you're wondering what the bright light is in all the pics; it's the sun!!!!!

Most of the walls need some paint and the seller was nice enough to Spackle the holes. I think he started it and then his wife told him to stop cause she evidently hates us. Whatever!

I've also successfully hooked up and leveled the gas dryer and washer. We're using our washer and their dryer (cause it's gas). If I want to use my dryer, we'll have to have the house wired for 220 volt.

Tomorrow's goal is to find the box with the toilet paper in it.

I will leave you with this little picture of Sister-Mary-Jax-The-Cheese-Connesewer or is it Rocky-The-Cheese-Connesewer or how about Little-Old-Jax-The-Cheese-Connesewer-Lady?



Bye bye.

Moving Day Is Here...

I'll be checking back in once Poppy and I are back online. Chow!

Thursday's Dinner

Once again, it's all about the Pig...and a little bit of fish. Poppy and I got to talking about the time she wrapped a trout in sage and bacon. I had some bacon and some frozen fish fillets and a whole tub of sage that I'm growing so we decided to wrap the fillets with the sage and bacon. NOM-Fest!!!

Here they are cooking:



Now the reason I have bacon is that tonight is another Bourbon-n-Bacon happy hour at Koko's. You might recall we attended this happy hour last month. You might also recall they were a little stingy with the bacon so this time we're BYOB(acon). I made two and a half pounds of bacon last night. The soon-to-be former Kasa Kecky wreaks. I went to dry myself off from my shower this morning; the towel smells like fried bacon. Just the thought of bacon is kinda making me a little nauseous...

Hey, how about another extremely exciting episode of KEEPING UP WITH THE KECKY'S?? I heard from Kevin, owner of Corrib Moving. In case you're wondering, Corrib Moving is an Irish family-owned and operated company. They chose their name after "The Corrib," the fastest moving river in Ireland, which parallels their swift and flowing service. I got that paragraph from their website.

Anyhow, Kevin sent us an estimate for a Turn-Key move, meaning we don't do anything and they'll come in like a fast moving river, pack us up then come back the next day and move us. Now, for those of you who have had the pleasure of visiting the soon-to-be former Kasa Kecky know our place is what I like to call "museum quality"; that's my nice way of saying our house is chalked full of junk. Most people call it "busy". You can imagine this Turn-Key move ain't gonna be cheap and it's not. Kev quoted us $3,600-$3,800.

I consider this Turn-Key move quite a luxury...but then I also think, last month, Seester Kathy and I moved Dad twice, once with a uhaul and once with my truck; the thought of having to pack, rent a uhaul for the small stuff and move it just makes me want to cry. So maybe not a luxury after all.

So this morning I had Jax-The-Cheese-Connesewer out for her morning walk around the Native Plant Nursery. I went to look at the raised bed garden, slipped and fell on my Fatass while still holding my cup-o-joe.



I tried to wash it off. In addition to still smelling bacon, now I smell coffee. All I need is some eggs and toast to round off a complete breakfast!

Chow!

Wednesday's Dinner

Nothing to write home about...but check out lunch!



I had the Bahn Hoi with lemon grass beef. NOMMY-NOM-NOM!

Last night after work there was an event at Sports Basement. Our on-staff band, the Presidiots were playing. Free beer and eats. Poppy and I danced the night away. Been some time since Poppy and Fatass have tripped the light fantastic; there are parts of Fatass that were flopping around that she didn't know she had!



I walked home after the party while Poppy drove Renee-Mae home. Check out what's left of a section of one of the Doyle Drive approaches. This is pretty much across the street from us.



Bye bye.