Thursday 5-8-14

This will be a little discombobulated. That is how my day is going. OK I am home.

Yesterday I thought I would unpack, do some laundry, take stuff to the cleaners and pick up my mail. Lazy day-recoup- right ? Well you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men. I wonder where that saying comes from ?? Anyway a friend called. We see each other once a month at least, go to lunch or dinner. She has had some very serious health issues and has been on the mend this last year and we have been making the best of it. Getting her out more and more. A little over a year ago she was really down, mentally and physically.  I was talking to her on the phone about her childhood on a sheep farm. "Oh how I would love some lamb chops." Well get some, you have a house full of people there. I know most of her family very well. "No one will cook lamb>" I will. "Really ?" So I cooked beautiful lamb chops with little bones, asparagus, and red potatoes. We had cheese cake with straw berry syrup for desert. A teen age grandchild came by and just tasted a chop and ended up eating one. Her Mother lives with her and was so happy to have lamb, she ate two ! Her Mother told stories about the sheep farm out by Bridger, Wyoming. They had some wild winters ! My friend came to Salt Lake and worked at The Auto Auction and is a car guy like me.

This year we will have almost the same menu. Fruit and Ice cream for desert. I am trying to work with Greek Yogurt instead of ice  cream, but I cannot get it to taste good,.....maybe if I put ice cream in the yogurt ......

The prep went well. I cooked the chops 3 minutes on one side and 2 on the other on high heat. This got them nice and brown. Salt and pepper on one side when I turned them. I never season meat when it is raw. The asparagus I fried in a pan with a  olive oil and a little Garlic powder, about 5-6 minutes. The red potatoes until just tender.
I gave up on the yogurt. We had Ice cream and fruit.

My friend, her husband, her Mother, her grandson and I had a great meal and I left them with enough for another meal. We enjoyed great conversation and are glad we are in each others lives.

An old friends daughter dropped by. She is living across the street, renting a room. She mentioned a few people, but I did not know any of them. Her Mom is doing OK but not really well. We lost touch when I quit drinking. Lori is the same age as my daughter Kalena. She was a reminder to me how hard friendships can be. Her Mom and I could be friends tomorrow if I would have a drink with her. There was a time when we saw each other every day, and played with each other two or three times a week. I have saved her life and she has saved mine. But when my husband and I quit drinking she could not get past that. "But you don't have to quit just because he does." "IF we go out you can have a drink with me." She is one of those people who cannot be around you if you are not drinking. So I accepted that. I missed her for a long while, but life goes on, that was 12+ years ago.

So all in all a full day. I will write about Talladega soon.