From our Cooking Expert, TaMara:
I’m still in re-entry mode, but things are slowing down a bit. When I went to sleep last night, I swore I heard the bustle of Bourbon Street still in my head. To my delight when I returned from the Big Easy, the fall colors had popped – mountain foliage has been in full swing, but down here, it hadn’t quite hit its peak yet. Now we are getting just beautiful, vivid colors everywhere and the mountains are snow tipped. It really feels like fall now.
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I would have bet anything I’d already done a pot roast menu, but according to our archives, I have not. So here is a nice slow-cooker pot roast dinner to greet you after a day of raking leaves or making your way through a corn maze. You can substitute beef broth for the wine if you like. The frozen pie is the family favorite of a friend of mine, I’d never even heard of it before, but she said she grew up with it. It is easy enough to make and I love chocolate and mint together, so it was a no-brainer when she suggested it. Everything can be put together ahead of time and be a nice end to a busy fall weekend.
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On the board tonight:
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1) Slow-cooker Pot Roast
2) Tossed Salad
3) Ice Cream Delight
Recipes and shopping list, as always, at the link.
Violet
It’s so hot here I can’t even think about something cold-weather-ish like pot roast. Sounds yummy, though!
Just Some Fuckhead
Meh, salad doesn’t really go with pot roast.
gbear
@Violet: Frost due in MN tonight.
At chez gbear, a tossed salad is when the lettuce gets left in the refrigerator for too long.
lamh32
we have so few just plain nice stories, that this one really needed to be shared.
This diary on DKOS is from a young woman, who was at the rally in Washington state tonight with President Obama.
It’s a really nice story!
I got kissed by President Obama
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal
@gbear: I just want this fucking humidity to go away.
At Chez Accountancy, a tossed salad is something you can get at a restaurant, or so I’ve heard.
Violet
@gbear:
Oooh…so jealous! I just put in my fall garden and if lucky will have cauliflower and collards and lettuce in a few months. I’m harvesting fall tomatoes right now. They’re yummy. Have to keep killing the stinkbugs, though. Those things are determined.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal
A frost would be nice, since Eddie is particularly allergic to the grass, and I’m hoping that a frost will make him feel better. The bad news is that I don’t think he can retract the two claws he has left on his front paw (other than the thumb), and there is some bleeding around one of them. I’m afraid that the cancer wasn’t cinfined to what was amputated, and this will eventually be it.
TaMara (BHF)
@Just Some Fuckhead: I must admit, I love salad and include it in almost every meal here, even if I don’t include it into a menu. You may substitute a side of your choice. I won’t tell. xo
TaMara (BHF)
Nothing to see here…just seemed to have duplicated my comments.
What’s everyone doing this weekend?
Just Some Fuckhead
I’m going to suggest a replacement for the tossed salad of Brussel sprouts with toasted walnuts in a light vinaigrette dressing while I fantasize about being kissed by Obama and what that means for the end of our Republic.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal
Time for my nightly rant on what a pathetic song “God Bless America” is.
Cain
Well, it’s been about 10 days now and my cat has not returned. How long before I say it’s over? My wife was over at the shelter and started crying when seeing all the animals. :(
ugh, to lose such an extraordinary animal.. I’ll probably need to upload some pics for the BJ calendar, it would be awesome for KitKat to show up there.
cain
gbear
@Violet: I’ll update you in a few months. You won’t be jealous then.
General Stuck
@lamh32:
Shameless Obotry. :–)
freelancer
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal:
Heh. Indeed.
El Cid
Lawrence O’Donnell is again spewing bullshit about how recalcitrant Democrats don’t understand how they just have to be tough enough to cut Social Security, and so on and so forth, and Bill Bradley is complaining that the problem is that we’re dependent on foreign money, so we need to ‘address’ the defense budget and social security.
Man, these types won’t satisfy their hard-on until we peons have to work until 85 so they can feel like we’re properly suffering for their fake deficit concerns.
[The debt! The deficit! The debt! The deficit! The debt! The deficit! The debt! The deficit! The debt! The deficit! The debt! The deficit! The debt! The deficit! The debt! The deficit! The debt! The deficit! The debt! The deficit! The debt! The deficit! The debt! The deficit! The debt! The deficit! The debt! The deficit! The debt! The deficit! The debt! The deficit! The debt! The deficit! The debt! The deficit! The debt! The deficit! The debt! The deficit!]
Cain
@lamh32:
It’s always good for Obama to show up in the northwest. It is Obama country. We love us some Obama over here. That 70K crowd in 2008 I will always remember. Incredible.
cain
General Stuck
This photoshop of Harry Reid made me laugh.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal
@Cain: Sad to hear. My sympathies.
Mnemosyne
@Cain:
Man, that sucks. I’ve had cats die, but I’ve never had one go missing and have to wonder what happened. If he’s as awesome as you say (and I’m sure he is), there’s probably a family a few miles away who found him and is taking care of him. That’s equally likely (if not more likely) than something really bad happening to him.
My only other suggestion would be to go through the whole house and check every single nook and cranny to see if he somehow got into a cabinet you rarely open. Cats can go a surprisingly long time without food and water, so if he is locked away somewhere, he would probably be alive but really pissed off.
Corner Stone
Is there a category of
TaMara (BHF)
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal: I’m so sorry to hear about Eddie. He’s a wonderful soul.
@Cain: With cats it is hard to access. I’m so sorry, it’s so hard to not know.
stuckinred
@Cain: Only you two can know when to let go and, even when you do, the pain will come back without warning.
Well now, evrything dies, baby, that’s a fact
But maybe evrything that dies someday comes back
jeffreyw
Not a pot roast.
General Stuck
@Cain:
Don’t know if it’s a tom, but I had an old black tomcat that would disappear for sometimes weeks, and when I’d about given up on him returning, one day he would be meowing at the door. Otherwise, my sympathies, as a pet getting lost is a very bad and sad feeling.
Cain
@Mnemosyne:
He’s extremely awesome. So awesome that I’ve had people offer me money to take him. He’s _that_ awesome. My sister-in-law when she heard cried bitterly when she heard he was missing.
In our old neighborhood, people knew us through the cat. Everybody would comment on him because he was so fun to observe. He was no ordinary animal. I don’t think I’ll ever get over it. :(
He’s got a chip in him so if someone takes him to the vet or shelter it will come up on teh computer. I can hope that someone has taken him. I’d be pretty pissed though. I sent mail to our housing organization which surrounds us. If someone took him it would be despite that email message. The guy was a rockstar. I’ll never see his like again I think.
I still have flash backs when I walk around the house. It seems like he will show up at any moment.
cain
Tattoosydney
@Just Some Fuckhead:
It doesn’t count unless there are tongues.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Cain: I will send you my new kitten if you give me a shipping address. Do you have a dog? He likes to piss in the dog’s bowl.
Cain
@stuckinred:
I would have some closure if he died. But this constant wondering and hoping is driving me nuts.
cain
apikoros
TaMara,
You are inspiring! I am heading out in the AM to buy a pot roast to make this recipe! It sounds just about perfect.
May I suggest, for thickening your gravy, making an Einbrenn? Usually used for vegetables, but also good a a roux substitute. Toasting a one-to-one mix of the copious grease that most pot roasts produce with flour (only to golden or at most light brown) produces a cognate of roux that is perfectly fleschig and quite tasty :-)
What intervals do you use for adding your onions, potatoes and carrots?
Cain
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Aww.. thanks for the offer. I already have a lot of problem with one pet peeing inappropriately (which I believe I have finally resolved) without getting another one!
I’ll think I’ll wait till the horrible feeling goes away before looking for a replacement.
cain
Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther
I have a crock pot that was given to me like, four years ago, that I have literally used once.
Fingers crossed that this pot-roast recipe snaps the spell I appear to be under — I do love me some pot-roast!
Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther
@Cain: I am so sorry. What a sad thing to be dealing with. Many years ago, my mother’s dog escaped from the very kind-hearted, farm-setting kennel where she had boarded many times — an impossible thing to understand, it was such a lovely place — and the sorrow and fear were very painful.
I hope your cat does find the way home, and that if not, that you and your wife can help each other shoulder the grief.
soonergrunt
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39787426/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
And so it begins…
Just Some Fuckhead
@TaMara (BHF): I love salad too but I’m something of a wizard with the creative side dishes. Email me sometime if you get stuck.
Mrs. Fuckhead isn’t a 350 lb. tub of lovin’ solely because of the Ben & Jerrys and Snickers bars.
Ash Can
@Cain: Oh dear. Sending out best wishes to you and yours.
Mnemosyne
@Cain:
A guy I work with had a feral tom living in his backyard that adopted him and his wife that disappeared three months ago … and wandered back into their yard yesterday. So you really never know.
Wile E. Quixote
I just dropped $200 on the Balloon Juice Act Blue fund and donated another $50 to Suzan DelBene’s campaign. I think that I’m doing this backwards. The first two politicians I voted for were Dan Evans, who ran to fill Scoop Jackson’s seat after Jackson’s death in 1983 and Ronald Reagan for president in 1984.
In 2004 I donated money to John Kerry’s campaign in 2008 I caucused for Barack Obama and I’m donating money to Democrats this year. Aren’t you supposed to get more conservative as you get older?
Anne Laurie
@soonergrunt:
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… Aaaand the second comment on that story:
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It’s never the fReichtards’ fault, it’s always a double-secret-reverse-revenge plot by their enemies ! ! ! (or should that be ‘enermyies‘?)
Annie
I am exhausted. Followed political shit during the day, as well as advised 50 graduate students who have to register for spring term tomorrow, and then came home to take care of my kitty.
With her, I am caught in a loop that is breaking my heart.
The hyperthyroidism is controllable with daily medicine. Fortunately, not pills. Pills are hell. Great advice from a BJer about gel for thyroid that can be put in her ear. Thanks ever so much.
She has fluid in her lungs that has to be taken care of immediately. Figured out a way to not have to give her those pills — crush pills in water and give with thyroid liquid medicine. Awesome vet confirmed that this ok.
The problem is that she needs dental work. Can’t do dental work until fluid in her lungs is taken care of — approx. 2 weeks. Putting her under at this point could be fatal.
So in the short-term I have to get her to eat. Dental problems are causing her problems with food. Can’t address dental issues until other issues are taken care of.
Two hours later, after opening a million + cans of food, finally got her to eat a bit of a can that had lots of gravy. Gravy doesn’t hurt when she eats. Me sitting on the floor, food in the can (me pleading), food in my hand, food on the floor, food on my wine glass (ok, I admit I needed to calm down), and finally some success.
Either we will both survive the next week, or we both will just pack it in…
The Grand Panjandrum
Tonight I made fresh pasta and served it with Lamb, Beef and Bulgur Meatballs baked in an Orange Basil Tomato Sauce. Also sauteed some haricot vert, carrots, and scallion then finished them with sea salt a touch of balsamic vinegar. Serve with a decent Malbec and you have a pretty good meal. Cheers!
freelancer
@soonergrunt:
They’re getting ahead of themselves on those Second Amendment remedies and other solutions like that, huh?
To quote Fred Thompson from The Hunt for Red October:
General Stuck
@Annie:
Sorry you are having a tough time Annie. Sending a good vibe your way.:)
Anne Laurie
@Cain: I will be keeping you and your Awesome Guy in my positive thoughts. Sometimes all we can do is remind ourselves that we get to share the adventure with our dearest companions for a while, and then they move on to their next adventure… which may not involve us. Doesn’t mean you won’t miss him, badly.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Annie:
Damn, you were a camera short of an embarassing Hasselhoff video.
Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther
@The Grand Panjandrum: Hey! Look who it is! Hi!
/waves enthusiastically
Corner Stone
@Wile E. Quixote: Jeebus. You’re like a living, breathing Rorschach posting commenting person.
Anne Laurie
@Annie: Took the liberty of sending you an e-mail. Our “go-to” solution for cats (& little dogs) who don’t want to eat is baby-food chicken, the strained glop sold in little jars. Apparently it smells just fantastic to small carnivores (if you have other cats you’ll need to lock them out of the room before opening the jar) and it can be lapped up without chewing, so it’s easy on sore gums & tired digestive tracts. You can scoop up a dab on your fingertip, even pat a tiny dab on her nose so she’ll lick it off & discover it’s tasty. Hope this helps!
Yutsano
Fastidiously avoiding the Juan Williams mishegas…
@Tattoosydney:
Isn’t that more or less the summary of a gay man’s life?
Annie
@Anne Laurie:
Thanks. Words cannot express how much this means to me. The hardest thing with our little darlings is that we can’t explain to them what they need — we can only figure out what they need on our own. And, I am operating blind here.
thanks again :)
Wile E. Quixote
@lamh32:
That is a nice story, so much more wholesome than Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah’s “I got kissed by George W. Bush” story and definitely more wholesome and less creepy than German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s “I Went to the G-8 Summit and all I got was Groped by George W. Bush” (original title in German: Fasst mich nicht an! Ziegenficker!) story.
Corner Stone
Arsenio Hall…you’re doing “fast cash now” commercials?
WTF?
beltane
@Anne Laurie:
Sounds like another teabagger in need of spelling lessons. Whatever would these people do in an English-only country?
Annie
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Rather than a picture, we can go immediately to Youtube. Me sitting on the floor, wine bottle (at this point screw the wine glass), with 10 cans of cat food in front of me, while the little sick darling decides to clean herself, and me threatening her with an even earlier demise if she doesn’t choose one. All true. This is how one of my former students who is living with us found me when she came home.
John - A Motley Moose
Looks like a good recipe, although I don’t think a good sear is optional. I like to sprinkle liberally with some McCormick’s steak seasoning before giving it good sear in hot olive oil.
Yutsano
@John – A Motley Moose:
This. A sear on a roast will produce the Maillard reaction, which will create essentially a crust of proteins and sugars that produce complex flavors that can’t really be duplicated by any other cooking method.
(h/t Alton Brown)
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal
I took some photos of Eddie. And Ringling, since she came to investigate.
This one shows at least some of what a mess he’s become, with no fur on his tummy or front leg. It makes me sad that I’m never going to see him with a full, fluffy tail again.
Here he is on the chair he likes.
And here’s the handsome guy looking at me.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal
This is Ringling in the spot she takes when I go to bed. She doesn’t stay there very long, but it’s nice while it lasts.
Here are the two of them a few months ago, while Eddie still had almost all his fur.
Here’s Eddie tonight, from just about the only angle left that can be considered his good side. You can’t see his tummy, his leg, or the spots on his face where he’s lost his fur.
FlipYrWhig
@Cain: My older cat has been having some problems lately and I’m kind of in a dither about that, so my heart goes out to you today even more than any other day. Hoping for the best for you.
asiangrrlMN
MofAc, Cain, and Annie, I am so sorry to hear about all of your troubles with your babies. MofAc, Eddie is such a special guy. He has such a gentle look in his eyes. Cain, honestly, I have read of cats returning after a month. I don’t think there is an answer to your question, unfortunately. It would be awesome if you entered KitKat into the calendar thing. He seems like a very special cat. Annie, good luck with the tips from AL. It’s difficult because as you said, we can’t tell them why we are doing what we do.
Yutsy and TS, hey boys. How you be?
Who’s up? I’m in NC having a great time.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN:
Did you get laid? Verschnickered? Both?
FlipYrWhig
@Annie: Been there, totally. Last year, October and February. Not dental issues but respiratory stuff leading to absolute refusal to eat or drink. We kept taking her to the vet for subcutaneous fluids. I think in one stretch we were there 4 days out of 6.
suzanne
@Cain:
When my P.J. escaped a couple of years ago, I didn’t see her for almost a month. I went to the pound routinely, called animal shelters, posted signs, all that stuff. No luck. And at the time, only a five-foot high block wall separated my yard from a six-lane arterial road. So I slowly resigned myself to the fact that she wasn’t coming home. Then one day, I came home from work, and she was sitting right by the front door, dirty, skinny, and terrified. It took five hours of me sitting in my driveway in a Phoenix summer while she watched me from a distance before she would come near enough to me to let me take her inside. But she came home.
In other news, I am really bummed for Raul Grijalva and his staff. Something is rotten in the state of Arizona. I swear it ain’t me.
However, what isn’t rotten is the weather. For the second day in a row, the air conditioner is off and the windows are open. Bliss.
Mnemosyne
Cat people! G just drew my attention to this Ikea commercial from England.
(And there’s a Making Of video, too!)
John - A Motley Moose
@Yutsano: I also like to make a bunch of small slits with the tip of a knife and then insert slivers of garlic. I use red wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce instead of red wine. The roast sits on a layer of quartered onions to keep it off the bottom of the pot. I use a lot more liquid, but that’s because I cook mine on the stovetop. The oven would probably be better, at least for even heating, but the stovetop does a better job of perfuming the house.
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: Nope and nope. I’m visiting a friend, her hubby, and their three awesome teenagers. I watched the boy play soccer tonight (soccer aunt!), and the oldest daughter is dancing in an Irish dance competition Saturday. And, the middle daughter is gonna help me out with my fifties makeup!
@Mnemosyne: I loved this when I saw it. It’s pretty cool.
Yutsano
@suzanne: I will say when my good friend got married in Phoenix she was smart enough to schedule it for when the weather was perfect. It allowed her an outdoor wedding even.
suzanne
@soonergrunt: I am so bummed about this. Grijalva is such a great and hardworking and honest guy, and has been working for that community for decades. To potentially injure him and his innocent staff in such a cowardly way just makes me livid.
suzanne
@Yutsano: My Phoenix wedding was last December. Outside. In a sleeveless dress. We had a rainbow. I swear to God, the weather was so beautiful, I was half-expecting an angel choir.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal
@Mnemosyne: Thank you. That was fabulous, and I needed it.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: Fun shtuff. I’m ducking making a quick run to the store although I really need to. I’m just procrastinating for no real good reason. And tomorrow is Friday.
@suzanne: Hers was in April. Absolutely wonderful time of year, although it was of course still too warm for my blood.
TaMara (BHF)
I came home to 276 RSS feeds and I’ve been working my way through them. I just got to and read commenter Kirk Spencer’s dealing with BoA. I’m so disturbed I cannot go to bed. The world sucks lately.
Also, to everyone who is struggling in one way or another with their animals, you know my heart goes out to you and I’m so glad BJ is a place we can come and share. I’m sitting here with two of my cats lying next to me, all wrapped up in each other and it’s all I can do not to disturb them with a big snuggly hug.
EDIT: Oh, hell I did it anyway and the both gave me that cat look that says you’re such a human and that is not a good thing.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
At work – works sucks, even on a Friday afternoon.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Sorry to hear. Hopefully, it’s ending soon?
@Yutsano: I heard that. On both accounts.
WaterGirl
@Annie: I tried a million different cans of cat food last year when I was trying to get my sweet boy to eat. I even tried cans of salmon and tuna without success. I was completely frazzled that day and felt like it was hopeless.
I know all cats are different, but I had great success with 2 things. The best was freshly browned hamburger (ground round), without the fat drained off. I added a little salt but no other spices. The other was really thinly sliced honey maple ham from the deli, almost shaved. But I really believe it was the hamburger that kept him strong. It might be worth a try.
Edit: oh, I forgot to say that I hand fed him the bite size pieces of ham and the chunks of hamburger.
WaterGirl
@Cain: I haven’t responded to any of your posts about this because I cannot think of a single thing to say that might help. I am just so sorry you are going through this. Not knowing is just so hard.
TaMara (BHF)
@Annie: The things we do for love. I’ve hand fed steak to more sick dogs than I want to admit to. With the cats, at least to keep them hydrated, the liquid from tuna packed in water, mixed with water helped.
FlipYrWhig
@WaterGirl:
Ha, when our cat wasn’t eating anything (because she couldn’t smell anything) the first food that finally got her going was the rosemary ham slices from Trader Joe’s. But now she doesn’t like that anymore, go figure.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: Got off my tail, ran to store, now trying to type over kitteh and drink pomegranate-blueberry juice. Nom.
Mnemosyne
@FlipYrWhig:
When Boris was sick, we did the sub-q fluids at home by ourselves after the vet showed us how. It was surprisingly easy since there were two of us to hold him and he was willing to just hang out once he realized he got lots of petting and a wet food treat afterwards. That kept him going for almost 4 months after his kidneys started shutting down.
FlipYrWhig
@Mnemosyne: Thx, I’ll have to think about that. Our girl is eating and drinking but started having seizures.
Anne Laurie
@FlipYrWhig: I’ll second the ease of doing sub-q on your own cat at home… although it’s a LOT easier if there are two people, one to hold the cat & one to deal with the bag & the needle. I’m needle-phobic, but since you only have to punch a very fine needle under the skin, I can manage it without flinching. (It was much harder when, some years back, I had to give insulin injections to our elderly diabetic cat — even though Pooh was very very patient about being held & stuck.) It’s less trouble for all parties if you can do it yourselves, at home. Certainly less stressful for your cat than getting hauled into Medical Torture Gulag, and probably better for her failing kidneys if they’re getting ‘assisted’ on a regular schedule rather than waiting until she starts to crash.
(Pro tip for anyone doing sub-q: We’ve repurposed a ceiling plant hook as an ‘IV hanger’, which makes it much easier & quicker to pump up the cat. Doubt I could manage the job single-handed if I didn’t have an established gravity assist.)
FlipYrWhig
@Anne Laurie: Thx for the tips. So far her kidneys are going strong, actually. It’s respiratory and neuromuscular stuff that’s been plaguing her for the last year, off and on. And when she can’t smell anything she _will not_ eat. Which is where the fluids came in. Thx for listening…
Annie
@WaterGirl:
Thanks. I have ground beef on my list of things to try today. I thought maybe a little gravy with it as she seems to be responding to “wet” things — this morning she ate the sauce off of some canned cat food I had. That’s progress.