Manly is Home

We are home and Manly is doing well. I have to say that the VA hospital staff did a fantastic job. They let me know every time they moved him from one step to the next and the surgeon explained the procedure to me without insulting my intelligence. This may be my first hospital experience where I actually want to write them a thank you note for awesome communication skills. We are very grateful that our country is taking care of our veterans - particularly the veteran I love and live with. Thank you all for your well wishes. Gotta go now, he is demanding my mom's soup.

Salad Interupted

I really really intended to post some salad construction instructions every single day. Then life got in the way again. Manly has been scheduled for knee surgery early Monday morning. The monkeys, all of the sudden, needed to go fishing and bike riding and geocaching and wanted to buy their girlfriends gifts (yes, there is now a girlfriend).

Anyway, I may not have posted the salad instructions, but I did build them and eat them. There was tuna salad, tabouli, pickled beats, awesome garden grown raw broccoli and a complete sauerkraut failure.

Tomorrow, I will try to provide some recipes.

Word Verification

I'm really sorry, but I had to do it. Word verification is up. The comment that broke the camel's back was a link to a cigarette website. I just have had enough.

Thanks Y'all.

Salads #s 5 &6

It is a beautiful day. We are going to have a really good meal this evening. The menu includes ribs, German potato salad, grilled asparagus and a cucumber/vadalia onion salad.

The cucumber salad could not be easier. Slice a cucumber thin and a Vadalia onion super thin. Poor a little white vinegar over the cucumber and onion. Add a pinch of salt and a couple of tablespoons of sugar. Mix it all up and refrigerate for an hour or so. Drizzle some good olive oil over it just before eatin it up.

German potato salad is a little bit harder but so worth it. Boil and cube 5 potatoes (or about one per person). I leave the skins on the potatoes, but do whatever floats your boat. Then brown a four slices pieces of bacon and resist the urge to eat them. Crumble them instead and lick your fingers if you have to. Chop up about half a cup of onion (Vidalia or Noon Day are the best)and saute those in the bacon grease. Let the bacon grease cool off a little and whisk in 1/2 cup cider vinegar, 1/4 cup sugar and two tablespoons mustard. Chop up about a quarter cup of dill pickles. Stir everything together. Be gentle - you do not want German mashed potatoes, which are yucky.

If the salad appears to dry, simply mix up some more vinegar, sugar, and mustard and add it. You may also add a boiled egg, but I don't like the way the yolks taste in this dish. I suppose you could omit the yolk.

I will try to post a picture of the meal later on today.

Salad #4 + Toddlers

I know it is late and this will most likely be a very disjointed post, but I have a very good excuse - TODDLERS. A few of my sisters are still making babies. As a matter of fact, a sister-in-law should present us with another one in June.

Today, I got up, delivered my Monkeys to school and went to watch E-man and Jack-Jack - the progeny of sisters #2&3. These are most excellent little people, however, little people take a whole different kind of concentration and I am major out of practice. We had a good day and my Mamala spent much of the morning with us. However, at the time of this post, I am completely wiped out.

Let's get to the salad. I did not make the salad today. I did show up with a grapefruit, but my most beautiful mother brought the salad.

She put together mixed greens (get them in a bag at the store) broccoli slaw, dried cranberries and sun flower seeds. We had to dig for dressing, but sister#2 had some decent Italian. Very good salad - savory and sweet.

Just a note about broccoli slaw: This stuff is awesome. It is the inside of a broccoli stalk shredded with some cabbage and carrots. You can put it in all sorts of stuff.

Salad #3

I didn't feel motivated this morning, so I just ate a grapefruit by itself. Still, fruit for breakfast is the point isn't it?

Manly made his chicken fajitas for us today. He slices chicken breasts very very thin and marinates them in Fiesta Chicken Fajita Seasoning mix and a little water for a few hours. He grills them or, if the weather is bad like today, cooks them on his griddle. They are served with warm tortillas, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, shredded Monterey Jack & cheddar cheeses, caramelized Vidalia onion, jalapeno peppers and sour cream. To make it a salad, just put a bunch of lettuce on a plate and stack the other ingredients.

I'm so full I can barely breath right now.

Salad #2

Salad #2 was romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, carrots, a handful of nuts with balsamic vinaigrette (balsamic vinegar, brown mustard, chopped garlic greens and olive oil)

Since I am so full of salad, I don't want dinner so salad #3 will be tomorrow.