Day 4 of the green goddess dressing and I have 2 research findings to report: to my palate it tasted no different than day 1, and it works really well with bacon in the salad. :) And it is all gone. :(

That should probably be illegal. :)

Such a yummy-sounding meal!

looks finger-lickin' good to me!

happy anniversary and have fun rox!

Wow, that place looks great, enjoy your birthday burger!

wow, great-sounding party JM!

it is super-nonchowish blah Indian food, but convenient and the people are very nice. veggie samosas and a chicken-spinach thing.

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He has never minded thunder before but this was directly overhead, it might have been the loudest thing I have ever heard. I fear he will now hate all thunder. He is already terrified of house flies, they make him hide behind the toilet or more often under the bed.

rox, I am glad Dixie led a care-free existence! and BBL how sweet that your dog chose you!

Tonight's plan was messed up when I pulled the pork out of the fridge and it positively reeked. What is up with that, I just bought it Saturday?!?!? Since I had nothing else to go with my salad I ordered Indian from a nearby spot (a rarity). The dog wanted to go along for the ride so I took him but while I was inside picking up we suddenly got this horrendous thunderstorm directly overhead -- awful for a few minutes -- and when I got back out to the car it seemed to be empty. Huh?? But I found the poor little guy in the rear footwell under the reusable grocery bags. Phew. Indian was OK, would rather have had my planned dinner. So it goes some days.

So glad to hear and yum on the dinner!

Wow Allie, lucky grampa and lucky you! How fabulous!

you go girl, it's only a week and there is always wine... ;) Your small celebratory meal sounds perfect...

oh man does that ever sound good allie!

too funny allie! I love AJ's when I visit my sister in Tucson, what an amazing store. Of course I can justify whatever I spend then because I am -- what -- ON VACATION. :)

How amazingly exciting!!

Yay! It will have to be somewhere fabulous considering what you all cook up at home!!

oh dear, so sorry for Mrs H and family, hope the MiL recovers swiftly! Your bachelor dinner sounds quite tasty...

great point about disposable containers, I always try to do that too

Last night was round 2 of the Green Goddess salad. I added some radicchio to my romaine, radish and asparagus -- that played very nicely. And a lovely piece of salmon which did indeed go very well although the salad was the star of the show -- an approximately Mt Everest-sized heap of it was hoovered right down. Round 3 tonight with some grilled pork (if it is not pouring that is).

Sympathies and best wishes to all who are affected by the terrible tornadoes in Oklahoma, warm thoughts are going your way.

Congratulations, Berheenia, such exciting news!!!

Some things that have worked well for me in a similar situation (although shorter transport distance):

coq au vin (minus the onion, it is just onion or all members of the allium family? could you use shallots?), french bread, salad

roast chicken (could be a rotisserie one you pick up near their house), mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans

baked ziti with or without sausage, garlic bread, salad

a nice small ham with picnic-type sides: potato salad, cole slaw, bean salad, rolls (this is really nice for leftovers)

quiche and soup and fruit salad

And of course I tend to forget dessert because I don't like it but when I cared for a friend undergoing chemo sometimes that is all she wanted. My approach with her was any calorie is pretty much a good calorie, just take a vitamin pill. She survived both my dubious nursing care and the cancer -- 17 years and counting, thankfully.

In general, comforting foods, nothing spicy, best if all it takes is reheating and if the leftovers will work for lunches. You are a good friend to do this!

Duck terrine from James Peterson's Glorious French Food. Amazing stuff but a full day's work, starting with making rich duck stock.

Stuffed cabbage rolls. I always think they can't possibly take as long as they did the last time...

Spanakopita with fresh full-sized (eg needing to be washed and picked over and de-stemmed) spinach.

Probably never again: the full on coq au vin with a large boiling fowl from Glorious French Food. I made this side by side with the Cooks Illustrated weekday coq au vin, and it was so much better but a ton more work and the CI one is still very good....

oh man, that sounds like it was truly a lousy day, i'm so sorry!

oh dear, I hate when that happens. anything else that might defrost fast? makings of a snacky meal? (like my triscuits and cream cheese and various different toppings last week?)

early happy birthday allie, even if I am a bit envious of the youth and figure!! :)

Have a great birthday, glad you have lots of yummy plans!!

what mc said....

I would call Russell's or Mahoney's, they tend to have a ton of veggie plants of the slightly non-standard variety. Great idea to grow them!