Hello to everyone from the Twin Cities of MN where spring is finally here. Things are starting to green up including the rhubarb is emerging, my eyes are starting to itch, and we just got home from the first feeding of the neighbor’s chickens of the year. It’s officially spring here when the chickie feeder goes up. I should be working on the volunteer sign up genius for the competition but I need a break. Also very “all done” with this cold. Except the cold is not all done with me. So Actuals and plans for 2 adults and 2 growing girls.
Fri 18: Big kiddo over at a friends to make Wicked cupcakes and watch the movie. Little kiddo wanted Punch pizza (big kiddo not a fan of this due to braces) and a bubble bath
Sat 19: Grilled hot dogs, random odds and ends for sides
Sun 20: My lack of energy was pretty bad. Freezer meatballs with pasta, side salads. Also we are missing 2 eggs (plastic with chocolate inside) The EB might have been under the influence of some wine when hiding the eggs the previous evening
Mon 21: Big kiddo skated. Leftover monday continues. Only problem with this is the dishwasher can’t handle all the containers/lids sometimes
Tues 22: Tonight! Grilled shrimp, caesar salads and I’m hoping the polenta log is still hiding in the back of the fridge. Grilled asparagus if it is still ok
Weds 23: Both kiddos skate. Networking for the sign up on my agenda. I need to do a big grocery run so grab something for the grill
Thurs: 24 Freezer dive. I’m starting to make some progress
Fri 25: I have a full day of work. I’m guessing I will be exhausted. Takeout
Sat/Sun: Not sure yet. Big kiddo has a skate clinic with one of her favorite skaters who will be in town for a show. Also have our club’s banquet on Sunday so will worry about that one later.
This week’s menu plan is contingent on us not going camping this next week. We’re currently waiting for a nice weather window (excluding weekends, when it is too crowded at the camp ground) and when we see one, all plans will be dropped as we’ll be going out to the coast for a few days.
Cooking for two adults in the PNW:
FRI: Spinach calzone. Green salad.
SAT: Chicken and Caesar salad.
SUN: A new-to-me recipe I’m particularly looking forward to: spicy Minorcan clam chowder (NYT gift link here). Corn bread.
MON: Steak and Caesar salad.
TUE: Cleaning out the freezer with penne, kale, and sausage – the recipe (an old favorite) from Saveur Magazine.
Soft food diet yesterday, so I made a tuna casserole with milk, butter, Callipo tuna from a jar, tubetti, topped with buttered breadcrumbs and grated parm. I didn’t add onions which I usually would. The only seasonings I added were a couple shakes of Worcestershire and some sherry. For a minimalist, black pepper-free tuna casserole, it turned out better than I expected.
Instead of lurking I decided to post a weeks list. I am relearning the value of writing things down and not over shopping.
Thursday I roasted an acorn squash, my favorite winter vegetable, so now I have two meals to plan using it. The first was half a squash stuffed with an American chop suey Mac and cheese concoction and roasted with breadcrumbs and Parmesan.
Friday will always be cheese burger and bagged caesar night plus a couple of corn fritters because I couldn’t wait for summer and bought several ears of corn that probably was flown in from South America … my squash was from Guatemala
Saturday Oven fried chicken tenders, broccoli and the second half of the acorn.
Sunday More corn fritters and salad and a mini enchilada with beef
Monday leftover chicken, broccoli and a baked sweet potato
Tuesday shaved steak sandwich on ciabatta roll and coleslaw
Wednesday fried fish and coleslaw. The fish is tbd at the fish counter and I’m always curious to see where it is from
I am definitely looking forward to farmers markets and stands reopening for the season in Western Mass.
Nice to see you here, Ginny! I love the idea of combining American Chop Suey with roasted winter squash…I’ll do that for me the next time we make chop suey for our son.
The Union Square farmers market opens May 10 in Somerville! I can’t wait…if it’s like last year, it won’t be long before local asparagus comes in, and there should be garlic scapes and sorrel and other greens and herb plants on opening day.
Hi Ginny nice to hear from you! I am also looking to the farmers markets reopening. I get my first CSA share in three weeks and I can’t wait to get some locally grown produce.
Hello friends. It is overcast today but finally warming up enough so that I can wear my spring jacket when I go out nowadays and I don’t have to wear boots anymore! The buds are starting to come out on the trees and the croci are starting to come up. No flowers yet but the leaves are starting to make an appearance. There was no sketching class this week since Monday was a statutory holiday but I am persisting with yoga and discovering muscles that I didn’t know I had Now that I have been to a couple of classes, I am getting the hang of it and realize that we are doing mostly stretches. I don’t think I will ever be able to keep up with the youngsters in class but I keep telling myself the exercise is good for me. Onto my menus for a busy week coming up:
Today: I am having a brown bag lunch today, specifically a Greek salad, since I will be going to the movies with one of my meetup groups. We usually make our own way to the movie theatre then meet up after the show to go for drinks and to discuss the movie. I will pop in somewhere on my way to the movie theatre although there is a Chinese restaurant nearby that I like so that’s where I will probably end up going So dinner will probably be Chinese food.
Saturday: I’m going to have my income tax done in the morning then I have the afternoon off. I have the afternoon free so I am hoping to tie in an art gallery visit. There are lots of new exhibitions starting this month so I have lots to pick from. I will have a tilapia fillet and a salad for dinner.
Sunday: This is the last day the downtown location of The Bay (Canadian department store) will be open so I will go looking for sales and I will take a box of kleenex with me since this is the end of an era. The Bay has been in existence since the 1600s and started out as a series of trading posts and eventually opened brick and mortar stores somewhere along the line. It is Canada’s oldest store and they will be shutting down most of their stores over the next few months since it is going bankrupt and only six stores in Canada will remain open. I will have a shrimp salad for dinner.
Monday: Back to sketching class. We sketched outdoors two weeks ago and I am hoping it will be warm enough and not raining so we can do it again. It is also election day and the polls close at 9:00 which will coincide with my return home from class. I will have ratatouille for dinner when I get home and watch the election results come in. We probably won’t know the results until after my bedtime so I might be waking up to a new Prime Minister on Tuesday,
Tuesday: Chicken in mushroom sauce, egg noodles, green beans.
Wednesday: Yoga day although I may skip class today since there is a jazz band playing tonight that I really want to see. I have five days to decide which I want to do more: yoga or jazz. If I go to yoga class I will have a pork chop, squash and green beans when I get home. If I decide to go to the jazz concert, I may go out for dinner first since one of my meetup groups will be going out for an early meal at a nearby restaurant.
Thursday: My second-to-last screening with the Ottawa Film Society for the season. I will have a bite to eat on my way to the movie theatre.
I hope everyone has a nice week and that spring is arriving where you live.
I can’t believe it’s the last day the Bay will be open, already. Good luck with any deals!
I had visited the Bay in downtown Toronto about a month ago. They hadn’t discounted things too much at that point, less than what discounts would have been on a a Bay Day.
I might squeeze in another visit before the Toronto store on Queen closes.
Yeah me too. I think the stores in Fairview and on Ste. Catherine in Montreal will remain open and I’m pretty sure the one on Queen in Toronto will stay open.
Oh no! Doesn’t the Queen Street store have that fabulous Christmas display every year? I used to go to Toronto once a year and seeing the Christmas display was one of the highlights of my trip
I understand the Bay historic items may end up at auction.
They had also accumulated the old Simpson’s Xmas displays. Not just in Toronto. They have the Simpsons displays from London and other Simpsons, as well.
Thanks for sharing the links. I think the fact that the charter is going up for auction is the most disturbing to me mostly since I have a background in the library/archives field. I hope some wealthy benefactor will buy it and donate it to the Library and Archives of Canada.
It will be interesting to see what happens to all this vacant retail space. Department stores have gone the way of the dodo bird so one store taking over all that space will never happen. Nordstrom ended up moving into our old Eaton’s store in downtown Ottawa but then Nordstrom closed a couple of years ago and has been boarded up ever since. The subject comes up on reddit periodically what Ottawans would like to see at that location and people have come up with all sorts of creative ideas - everything from a skate park to a food hall. Now we have the Bay store to add to it. The retail landscape sure is changing.
Maybe some cities will be able to convert some of the old Bay spaces into housing or shelters. Depends on the landlord situation, of course.
The old Sears space in north LondonOnt, in a suburban mall, was carved up. About a third of the Sears top floor space is now a large Keg (chain steakhouse). Another third is a Atmosphere part of a SportChek. The lower space includes a Turkish Café, Thai restaurant and a regular SportChek.
One 1960s office building in London had been converted into affordable housing. Some units of the units have rent that is set to take the renter’s pay checks into consideration, and some units are subsidized housing.
Now that I have been to a couple of classes, I am getting the hang of it and realize that we are doing mostly stretches. I don’t think I will ever be able to keep up with the youngsters in class but I keep telling myself the exercise is good for me. Onto my menus for a busy week coming up:
So dinner will probably be Chinese food.
