Until my next post is ready, here's some food from this weekend

I hope everyone (who celebrates it) had a nice Easter.  I wasn't going to post these pics of my Easter weekend dinners, I am actually close to finishing up a new blog-post about my neighbors.  But I couldn't resist.

Forgive my boasting, but this was a delicious meal.  Just because you live alone doesn't mean you have to go without!  These were the best scalloped potatoes I've ever made (the secret is to drop a quartered onion into the pot and let them slow cook forever) and also the creamiest devilled eggs I've ever made.  I always get the mayo-mustard ratio wrong.  They'll never be this good again.

Finally--I'm in serious love with this ham.  It used to be sold only twice a year for Christmas & Easter, but you can now get it year-round at Kuhn's.  It's a spiral cut, roasted red pepper pineapple juiced ham.  I love it on a buttered roll with a little bit of ketchup.  

Oh darn it, nothing for dessert but some chocolate cookies but I'm stuffed anyway.

As long as I'm here, I wanted to show you what I had for dinner Saturday night while watching The Ten Commandments.

Last week my friend and former classmate Pen (we grew up on neighboring farms) told me she was making sloppy joes to take to a church dinner but had to make them from scratch as she had no Del Grosso sauce in her cupboard.  

She also made them with deer meat instead of ground beef, which she assured me were quite tasty.  Well, we both grew up with venison in our diets, so this wasn't surprising.  I told her I was glad her sloppy deer joes were a big hit.

It did inspire me to make them this weekend (but beef for me, not deer).  I think Gia Russa makes the BEST Sloppy Joe sauce.  I add a tablespoon of brown sugar and a tablespoon of minced green pepper.  Perfect, every time.

This is what real friendship is--I sent Pen this pic of my Sloppy Cow Joe, and said "What's wrong with this picture?"   She answered "Well, that isn't Squirt soda in that glass, but that doesn't make this wrong."

She was absolutely right--Kuhn's was out and I had to settle for cranberry ginger ale instead. 😊

Okay, that's it!  A new post is coming in a couple days, thanks for letting me share.  Happy Easter everybody.

Thinking out Loud: The storm before the calm (well, I hope it's what it is)

Before I say anything else, can I offer a couple small apologies... my first is for another blog post with my big head at the top.  I just don't have much of an outside life at the moment.

The second is for the content that follows, which I'm sure is going to be more of the same old / same old.  I feel the need to write, but I don't really have anything to write about.

Ever since my long covid relapse last September (why) I've been dealing with "swollen face mornings", then inflammation in the eyes & mouth that subside a bit around sundown.  

A couple of ice packs or cold washcloths get me thru the night until bedtime at 11:30.

Last Friday (the same day I posted my movie blog) things went off course and there's been a lot of flare-up in both of my temples.  I'm trying to remain optimistic and hoping it's a looney last push of sorts before dying out completely.  

Would love to see it gone by summer, keeping my fingers & toes crossed.  I'd appreciate it if you could do the same. 😉

Y'know, it just occurred to me that I'm now the same age as my Grandma Morris was in this photo.  (Around 64 1/2 years old.)   

This was the night of my high school graduation in June 1979.  That's my Grandpap Morris in front, Grandma, myself, my beautiful Mom & my very dark Dad in the rear.  

Gosh this seems like a hundred years ago.  

Here's a strange little story.  For years my grandpap carried a little leather coin purse in his front pocket.  He passed away 3 years after this photo was taken, in October 1982.  (He was 71.)  

At the viewing the night before the funeral, I asked Grandma if I might have his coin purse after all was said & done and she said "Of course McDougall, Ace would love for you to have it."  

We parted company, and went off to talk to other friends and relatives.  A bit later, Grandma came over and took my hand, and pressed something into it.  I look down, it's Grandpap's coin purse.  I said "Aw, thanks Grandma!  I didn't know you had it with you."  She just smiled but didn't say anything.  She walked back over to Grandpap's open casket to talk to Uncle Kenneth (Grandpap's brother) and it hit me.  He always carried it with him.  

To this day I wonder if Grandma fished it out of Grandpap's pants pocket when no one was looking.  I'm pretty sure she did.

FYI, after I finished school and moved to the city, I carried it every day in my own pants pocket.  I'm retired now, and don't have much use for coins, but it still sits on my dresser next to my billfold.

Right now I'm waiting for someone from Maintenance to come to my apartment.  This past weekend, I had my kitchen window open and the wind was gusting in, and I had my window blind stretched out as I was trying to clean it when SNAP!  The string broke.

I reported it on Steiner's website, and was told to expect someone on Tuesday.  They said "You may be charged if a replacement blind is necessary."  

Charge me, charge me!  This blind has too many layers of grease & grime!

Well, I was just informed my guy is running a couple hours behind schedule and I'm starving, so I went ahead and prepared my Early Bird dinner.  

Pasta with dried herbs (basil & parsley) with ground turkey meatballs, steamed broccoli and chopped cocktail tomatoes.  Shaved parmesan cheese over everything.  It's pretty tasty stuff.

Finally, here's my new window blind--the timing couldn't have been more perfect, I'd just finished washing up my dinner dishes.  I thought I'd have to beg for a new blind, but Manley brought a new one with him.  I like this one, there's no drawstring--it's very sturdy and you just push it up, pull it down.

That's it for now--thanks for letting me share my day, everyone.