food – Page 5 – today's worry

New Year’s. 1/1/21

We were, at some time in the recent past, hoping that 2021 would be free of Covid-19 but as the deaths in the U.S. mount up towards 500,000, things still are very grim. The ray of light is that two vaccines have been approved for emergency use. However, the lame duck administration of president 45 has no plan for getting them in the arms of the American people. Hopefully the Biden administration will do a much better job.

Our New Year’s celebration is mostly about food. We have a fancy dinner on New Year’s Eve while watching When Harry Met Sally and traditional, good luck black eyed peas over rice and collard greens for New Year’s Day.

Seared scallops, mashed potatoes with braised leeks an asparagus is a festive New Year’s Eve dinner.

New Year’s Day black eyed peas over rice with collard greens

Christmas Eve and Christmas, 2020

We celebrated Christmas as our own household unit due to the pandemic. We had hors d’oeuvres on Christmas Eve and watched Die Hard. There was no present opening or singing of carols which was sad.

We shared Christmas with Jon and family by texting photos and comments of their opening our presents.

Of course we had some present opening and festive eating to do at home.

We start off with our traditional breakfast of bagels and lox with Schneider’s Tap 7 Hefeweizen

Then it is on to present opening. Mary with Cali dish towel

Sarah makes us our traditional lasagna dinner. For dessert we have the panettone she spent days making. So good!!

Even though our Christmas was quieter and more isolated than usual we still managed to have a good time.

It’s my birthday! 12/8/21

Today is my birthday and usually we are sharing a celebration with Karen and George. This year, though, nothing is normal and George and I will not be together for “the birthdays.” It is sad. But John and Sarah are treating me with all sorts of great things to eat so I am feeling well-feted by the end of the day.

Documenting the passage of time – Mary, 72

Sarah made me her fabulous Swedish tea ring which is reminiscent of the Dugan’s coffee cake I used to eat as a kid

He followed the sushi up with a dinner of Chilean sea bass, rice, and broccoli

Even though my birthday was bereft of my birthday buddy, I had a nice day with a phone call from my sisters and my sweet family around me.

Thanksgiving, 2020. 11/26/20

Thanksgiving this year of the pandemic was a quiet affair with just John, Sarah, and me. Since we were just three people having a big turkey seemed like too much so we decided to have duck breasts instead. Certainly the Pilgrims had eaten duck! Our lonely dinner was still fun and the food was delicious!

Thanksgiving decorations – Our twisted paper Maccabee getting ready to finish off the turkey

Roasted creamed onions are always a must!

My plate contains a duck breast mashed butternut squash, creamed onions, a mashed potato casserole, Brussels sprouts, and Sarah’s homemade dinner rolls

Trip to St. George, UT 11/8/20

Braving the pandemic, John, Jonathan, and I took a trip to St. George and stayed at the villas at Entrada. We stayed here in August when we were escaping the smoke and felt confident that we could enjoy ourselves here without taking undue risks. The captioned pictures narrate our visit.

View out of our “villa” towards Snow Canyon

Going to the grocery store and cooking are a couple of our fun events. Here we make a fancy dinner of scallops.

We have managed to pick a very cold week to be in St. George which limits the amount of tennis playing we are doing. But we can go hiking and we have a great time exploring Gold Butte National Monument.

John and Jon on a hiking trail at Gold Butte

Devil’s Throat is kind of a sink hole and really not much of an interesting sight

This is a new fence that they have put up since we were here last. I guess the land has become more unstable.

One of the sections we had not been able to find in our last trip to Gold Butte was Little Finland, so named due to rock fins. Luckily Jonathan found it for us by climbing up a steep trail which we had not noticed. I could not see all of it because I was afraid of falling but Jon saw the whole thing which he said was quite amazing. This is a picture of John on the way up.

Going to Harmon’s almost everyday is a special Mom and Jon activity. Here are some meals we made while we were in St. George

Kenwood shrimp – in a Pernod cream sauce

Lamb chops, roasted potatoes, and Brussels sprouts

We did get to play some tennis too as it warmed up as the week progressed. Here is a shot of John.

Finally we had to take a look at our old house. We peeked in the windows this time since there seemed to be no one home. It looks exactly the same like the new people have done nothing in almost two years to personalize it. Here is a picture of Jon near the Indian sculpture by our old house.

We had such a good time! Hopefully we will make another trip with Jon in February or March. Maybe we will be vaccinated by then!!

Goal!!!!! 11/2/20

John and I have been on our healthy eating plan since the middle of September, 2019. John reached his goal around two weeks ago after losing 50+ pounds and today I reached mine! I am down 60 pounds and very proud of myself. Now the real goal is not to gain it back. I am very good at losing weight and I am super at gaining weight, maintaining weight has always been my biggest challenge.

Because I am feeling pretty good about myself, I took a bunch of selfies in the mirror.

Halloween celebration. 10/24/20

Today we travel over to Palo Alto to see Alex and Sam (and also Jon, Ryan, and Leigh.) We have come bearing sweet treats for Halloween. Jonathan has made a brunch and we all enjoy sitting around distanced outside while we catch up.

Left to right, Jonathan, Sam, Alex, and Ryan in family Halloween costumes

Sukkot. 10/5/20

Today we celebrate the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot. Traditionally it is celebrated outdoors in a rough enclosure called a succah much as ancient gatherers would have lived in the fields during the harvest. So we are eating on the patio tonight and have a vase full of “the four species” which are leaves from various plants and a citrus fruit. These are bundled together and waved to the four compass points plus up and down.

“Leviticus 23:40 And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.” Wikipedia

I prepare stuffed cabbage which is also somehow traditional and Sarah makes a challah with her sour dough starter. We have not celebrated this holiday for almost 40 years but in this time of pandemic it is fun to have a special occasion.

Rosh Hashannah celebration. 9/19/20

Tonight we celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Since we have been basically in lockdown for months now, we have decided to celebrate in some way all the holidays available to us. At least it means getting the three of us around the table together, some planning (which is always fun), and a different menu than usual. Here are pictures from the evening—

Now that we have lost all this weight, we like to show off a bit in some pictures.

We make and eat traditional foods. Sarah makes a round challah and I make autumn soup which is a bowlful of traditional foods – apple, pomegranate, squash. I also make a salad with another traditional food, golden beets. Part of our celebration is the rather odd tradition of making puns out of the traditional foods. It leads to many dad jokes and much hilarity.

48th wedding anniversary. July 17, 2020

Usually our anniversary entails dinner at a three Michelin starred restaurant or a trip to Europe, Wine Country, or Canada. This year is different. Due to the pandemic we must celebrate at home.

We make ourselves a fancy dinner, dine al fresco, and take selfies. We are still in love after all these years and our special day is worth celebrating anywhere!