g’evening pups — how’s everyone doing tonight?

the ballad of bonnie and clyde

Hi Suz.

Awfully lonely here tonight.

How were you holidayz?

hey tuez — tis a quiet night for sure… my holidayz were good. how was your day?

i spent christmas eve with jen but otherwise stayed home for the rest of them. got about an inch of snow on nye and it’s still sorta here — hardly any left except on the driveway.

tonight is the time time in several days that i’ve been above freezing when lln posted

It got cold here tonight too, relatively speaking.

I’m not sure you are safe anywhere near snow yet.

To add to my holiday cheer, the fridge/freezer died. Fortunately, I have a spare in the garage.

thank goodness you had a spare. is it fixable?

i’ve been very very careful whenever i go out – which hasn’t been often for sure. the good news is that we didn’t get any freezing rain – that would have been bad. the down side is we didn’t get any rain to wash away the snow. my driveway and front of the house don’t get much sun due to being east facing and having lotsa trees around me.

It’s weird, feels like Saturday…because of the mid-week holidays, my perception is all fucked up. Of course I’m comfortably numb, which is a good thing because a chosen sister of mine was just diagnosed with lung cancer.

It’s a preliminary diagnosis, based on a CAT scan but between the radiation she was exposed to living in the USSR one the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea (uranium ore shipped through the town she lived in) and her smoking, it’s not looking good. A lot of tears tonight. So the numbness is good for me right now.

Suz, is there such a thing as a cane with a foot at the bottom for snow? With little spikes that would give you some sure-footing? Or even better, is there a church or meals on wheels type organization you could call to get through the snowy/icy times?

hey that guy — i’m so sorry to hear this news about your friend. i’ll be sure to include her in my prayers and send her warm positive healing thoughts.

OMG, ThatGuy, so sorry.

Hey, Tuez!

hey loohoo — how’s socal tonight? its not so much the cane as i’m worried about a foot slipping out from under me. i’ve got great neighbors who, if push came to shove, would help me out. our little street isn’t on a snow plow route so we have to look out for each other.

I don’t know if it’s fixable or not. I’ll let the rental company deal with it. At first I thought the issue was that the setting for the freezer had inadvertently gotten moved to the warmest position. So, I spent a day waiting for it to freeze again. And the freezer froze but the fridge just got warmer. Then I cleaned it out and put a fan on it to help it dry out, in case any water had melted from the freezer into any vents leading to the fridge. The freezer had been working, until tonight, but the fridge hadn’t been getting cold. Then I failed to keep an eye on the cooler I had put the stuff from the freezer in, and everything thawed. Fortunately, I don’t keep much in the freezer in the house except for pasta, rice and other stuff I don’t want to get buggy, so I didn’t lose too much.

The thought of you trying to walk on ice/snow scares me.

Sorry to hear about your friend. That’s sad.

Hey Loo!!!

oh yuck! thank goodness you have the rental company to deal with it.

the thought of me trying to walk on ice is very scary. the snow’s actually not so bad to walk on. that first day it wasn’t too bad. now that temps are still above freezing, i figure the majority of it will be gone tomorrow. i salted my steps yesterday and today they only have a few small bits of ice on them today.

the good news is that i still have my walker in case i am forced to go out when it is icy. it has greater stability compared to the cane

Just stock up on wine and cigs, no need to go out then.

Hey Suz, who do I contact to change the account my monthly membership is deducted from?

when i realized it was starting to snow, i went a few blocks away and got smokes and then a latte (as my reward for being brave and going out and driving while it was gently snowing). yesterday i picked up a few things and am good to go for several days when i will need to get fresh items like milk eggs and bread.

send me an email at suzanne at firedoglake dot come and i’ll make sure it goes to the right person. not exactly sure who that is but i do know who to ask :) i’ll ask that they get ahold of you directly.

Some people come up with the lamest excuses to get a coffee :)

if it wasn’t for lattes, i’d go out even less. i can seriously do hermit for long stretches as long as i’m well stocked up so i bribed myself at one point with a latte a week if i went out.

it makes having to do grocery shopping tolerable knowing that i’ll get a latte on my way home. of course, it does add one extra trip carrying stuff into the house since my cane is in the other hand.

You have an incoming. Thanks.

tis my pleasure….. let me know if you don’t hear back but i’m sure you will …

She’s in the UK, so I can’t go see her. I’m going to try to set up a skype video call tomorrow, I can show her the kitties. I spoke with my cousins and they have agreed to let my chosen little sis stay at the cabin if she’s terminal.

Skype is a lifesaver for low-income people like me.

I’d go out more if it didn’t cost so much. I used to joke it cost me $100 every time I left the house, between grocery shopping and errands, when I went out. Now it’s more like $200+. I just can’t afford to go out.

skype is wonderful! please let her know she’s got folks pulling for her

i try to do my grocery shopping for all but fresh items only once a month. i usually end up making a small trip around the middle of the month for small stuff. it always pisses me off when my bag to money ratio is forked up. i used to be able to fill the back of a station wagon for $50. now i’m lucky if i get 4 bags worth of stuff for that same $50.

Aloha, Suz and lln pups…! Just got home from our weekly GA…! ;-)

aloha tut — how was the ga this week?

I feel ya. I usually only go to the store twice a month and that includes fresh stuff. We just do without. My husband would put back a gallon of milk a day if it were in the house.

That said, I also do a biannual trip to Costco to buy in bulk. Okay, tis true, I also find myself in there in between, but as long as I avoid the cheese department, I’m good.

$50 bucks barely fills two bags here in Hilo, these daze…! 8-(

i don’t do costco altho i love their prices. i’m a solo and i takes me a year to go through a pack of 12 papertowels, if not longer.

that sucks dood. i heard ya’ll have horrible prices and a very high cost of living.

Lively tonite, a lot on our plate coming up…! ;-)

Funnies:

tis time for token to save a tree. thanks for letting me hang out with ya tonight. hope to see ya tomorrow night for muppets

g’nite all

Sweet dreams, Suz…! My eggplant parmesan is almost about to come outta the oven…! ;-)

Nite all.

Eggplant Parmesan? Thanks for putting that little “I haz to have” in my head.

Oh, my. I’ve only had it once, and it was soooo good! recipe?

I don’t make it but every couple of years, for some reason, so don’t have a reliable recipe to share. If you google it, you’ll find many, I’m sure. Purple eggplants are the most bitter, so if you can find another color, like white, go for it. But you may only be able to find a different color at a farmers market or in your own garden. Otherwise, peel the eggplant (the purple ones) to make it less bitter.

Thanks. I didn’t even know that eggplant came in white!

It’s easy-peasy, Loo Hoo…! 4-5 eggplant sliced in 1/4 inch slices, be it oval or elongated eggplant…! Dip in an egg wash, then, an italian breadcrumb/parmesan cheese mixture… Fry for several minutes in EVOO, layer in a baking dish, add tomato sauce and cheese in between layers, and then top with a healthy amount of italian cheeses, toss it in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes, then enjoy…! ;-)

Why peel’em…? It still tastes great, tuez…! ;-)

I usually put the skin sides down on the the first layer to ensure they don’t stick to the bottom…!

What’s evoo? Olive oil? And THANKS!

So no lasagna noodles?

Yep, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Loo Hoo…! The Better Half just went back for seconds…! ;-)

Why would you need noodles, the eggplant is all ya really need…! ;-)

Okay, sounds great. I guess I was thinking of eggplant lasagna where the eggplant replaced the noodles… I do have a great spinach lasagna recipe, but it does involve noodles.

I could visualize eggplant lasagna, but, that’s not eggplant parmesan…! If I would ever deviate, I’d add some crumbled italian sausage, or proscuitti to the mixture, but, that would be it…! ;-)

Yes. My lasagna recipe does have mild italian sausage. I’ll try your recipe, sounds awesome.