Chef (not) on drugs.

My doctor says I have a Thoracic-Lumbar strain and that I should come up with a more exciting story about how it happened (something other than we were running around the mall looking for a lamp). He also suggested that I blame it on my husband.

I came home with a messy prescription with three things written on it. One was a refill of my allergy medicine, which I didn't need today, one was a mild muscle relaxant, and I'm pretty sure that the third one was for Tylenol with codeine. Well, I dropped it off on my way home with the intention of picking it up on our way to the celebratory dinner we were attending for one of R's projects. When we drove through the pick up window I asked why I was only getting one. Her response: "The other one was for over the counter Tylenol."

We didn't have time to argue, but I'll have to go back today. My doctor actually said "They're going to mess this up." The pharmacist wouldn't know this obviously, but why would he confirm that I am not allergic to codeine if he is not giving me any, and --the pharmacist should have questioned this--why did he write "20 [pills] 1 refill" next to a Rx for a bottle of Tylenol that I was supposed to buy. He prescribed this knowing that I had already tried Tylenol and Advil, and that neither had worked.

So grr. I wasn't exactly planning on taking the codeine during the day. I do have to drive, and generally function. He gave it to me because the back pain is making it hard for me to fall asleep.

For the time being I really need to figure out what I cooking for my client today. It's already almost 8:00.

Soup and a sandwich

Today was a very long day. I had two clients, so I was at the grocery store for about 8:40, at the first client's from 9:40-1:40, then at the other's from 2:00-6:10.

Dinner was extra Tomato Soup with Chickpeas & Pasta and a grilled turkey, smoked gouda & tomato sandwich on "sourdough", which R and I split. I had no intentions of doing more cooking by the time I got home at 6:30.

(blurry, bad lighting, taken on the coffee table just before eating it photo)


Tomorrow should be a full day as well. I'm supposed to cook one last time for my bad handwriting client (who, by the way, did not mail my check as she said she would). It better be on the counter when I get there; otherwise I'm taking my groceries home. After that I'm going to see my doctor about my bad back. I really only wanted to call and see if he thought I should come in, but I ended up with a 3:30 appointment. I'm not sure that he'll be able to do anything for me, but it's worth a shot.

Chefcats

"Meow meow meow meow."

"What?"

"Meow meow meow MEOW" (runs down stairs)

"I got it. Someone needs computer time. Here, you take her."



This one, on the other hand, doesn't do much for the camera:

Ginger-Chocolate Chip Cookies

I wanted to do something with the crystallized ginger I had, but I didn't feel like a molasses-y ginger snap. I found this recipe via GingerPeople.com.

I doubled the recipe and came out with 4 dozen cookies using my cookie scoop, baking half and freezing the other half on a baking sheet. I'll throw those in a ziplock bag and pull them out when we want a few fresh-baked cookies. I also used organic transfat-free shortening instead of butter as butter cookies get too flat for my liking.

They are a bit more cake-like than my favorite oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, but they're still good. I wish I'd gotten a picture of R's chocolate-covered lips after he bit into one that was still warm!

Plans for dinner

R and I are going to the theater tonight (a musical, but if I told you which one you might try to search and figure out where I live!). We live only a few minutes away so we have decided to do dinner at home and then head straight there.

As much as I knew I'd regret it, I decided to go to my favorite grocery store instead of the one near my house. I hate shopping there on the weekends because the suburbanites invade it, parking is crazy and people just stand in the produce department in amazement and block my path!

We had steak at our friends' house last night, and R was fed a hamburger at the Habitat site, so I decided to buy some wild coho salmon. I picked up some broccoli and was thinking I'd do something with the sweet potatoes I have (maybe some sort of souffle with jalapeños and shallots), but then I remembered we have leftover soup. I'm now thinking I may make some rice with the jalapeños and shallots, stuff the salmon with that and roast the fillets along with the broccoli. I can make the rice ahead of time and stuff them, and just throw them in the oven when we're ready to eat.

I also bought some crystallized ginger. If I don't eat it all as a snack, there is a gingersnap recipe floating around out there somewhere that I may try to make tomorrow. The freezer bag of chewy cherry oatmeal cookies I made two weekends ago is almost empty, and someone gets a little cranky when he's out of cookies...

Update:

We are back from the show. R is upstairs making white russians. I wanted to add a picture of dinner:

Coho Salmon stuffed with pineapple-jalapeño basmati rice



I sauteed a shallot and a jalapeño in a tsp each of butter and olive oil, then sauteed the rice (1/2 cup for 2 servings) in that for a bit. I didn't want to use just water, and we didn't have chicken broth in anything smaller than quart-sized packages, but I spotted several little cans of pineapple juice in the pantry. I figured that would work nicely with the jalapeno.

I made pockets in the fillets and stuffed them, baking them at 400 until the fish was done and roasting some broccoli on the side and finished it off with a bit of cilantro (it definitely need it for color).

Dinner!

mmm...soup

I made butternut squash soup today for my client, and it was such a nice recipe I decided to make it for dinner tonight, along with some crab cakes.

I did not make the crab cakes.

Yes, even I succumb to premade items. I'm just lucky that I have a store that makes good crab cakes.

I tried to take a picture of the soup, but the lighting was bad and I was hungry. All I could get was this embarrassingly blurry photograph:



The dark swirl is aged balsamic vinegar, which the recipe suggested using as a garnish/finish. You can find the recipe here.

In other, non food-related news, my back is still killing me. I didn't get home until almost 4:00 (I would have been home earlier but I had to buy some gold lame fabric), and immediately lay down on the wood floor with my feet up on a chair. Eventually R came home from the gym with some wal-cetominophen and a Thermocare heat wrap. Ibuprofen has done absolutely nothing for me, so I'm trying something new.

I like getting paid to cook.

Note the operative word: paid

I cannot get paid when the bank teller cannot read your handwriting. That's two checks worth of service you'll have to re-write and send to me ASAP.

My client who had a stroke and taught himself how to write with his left hand writes better than this: