Groupon Shopping

We went Groupon shopping today. First to Preferred Plants where we took home these Hydrangeas and are having an arrangement made.

Then we went to lunch at the Plum House.

Larry had the Sushi and Sashimi Combination

I had the Sashimi Lunch

We finished the afternoon at Beers of the World.

September comes to an end

I can't believe that tomorrow is the last day of September.  Not only did the summer come and go but now September is gone too.

Yesterday was a doctor day.  In the morning I went to the dermatologist and didn't have any problems and just had some liquid nitrogen applied to some of those harmless ugly spots.  I probably won't post a photo of them :)  In the afternoon I went to an orthopedic surgeon for my right shoulder.  Larry went with me since he used to play tennis with the doctor and wanted to see him again.  On the way home we stopped at a PT place but found out that they're not associated with our insurance.  After this year we won't be associated with our insurance either.  We have Essence, it's been in the area for two years and obviously didn't make it to a third.  Back to those Insurance Open Houses again.

At night we went to the Back Nine for dinner with Penny & Chris, only a year later than we planned.  Andy works there so we got to see him too.  I took the picture below with my iPhone but it seemed like all my flash pictures would come out really cloudy so I did this without flash and then enhanced it - quality isn't too good.

However, this morning I looked up the phone problem online and realized it was caused by my case.  After cutting away some of the case around the flash it works fine.

Apple Kielbasa Bake

This recipe was in our local newspaper today and it looks good enough to eat.  If we didn't have plans for dinner for the next two nights I would make it today, but I may just buy the ingredients and be prepared for Thursday.
The picture is from the D&C but when I make it I'll add or replace it with my own. (added picture 9/30/11 - see bottom)

A mixture of apples, potatoes,
Brussels sprouts and kielbasa
makes a hearty autumn meal.
MATTHEW MEAD
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

APPLE KIELBASA BAKE

Start to finish: 1 hour (15 minutes active)
Servings: 6

4 cups Brussels sprouts, halved
1 large red onion, cut into chunks
16-ounce kielbasa, sliced in 1/2-inch-thick rounds
2 large Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into chunks
2 baking apples, such as Cortland, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
6 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons dried sage
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper


Heat the oven to 400 F.

In a large bowl, toss together the Brussels sprouts, onion, kielbasa, potatoes, apples and carrots. Drizzle the oil over the mixture, then toss again. Sprinkle in the sage, salt and pepper. Transfer the mixture to a large, rimmed baking sheet, arranging it in an even layer. Bake for 45 minutes, or until everything starts to caramelize and brown at the edges.
Source:  http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011109270310

This is my picture and it tasted as good as it looks!!

Tilapia Tacos

Weight Watchers certainly got a lot of free advertising on the Dr. Oz show today.
This is my favorite of the transformated recipes:

Tilapia Tacos

Ingredients
4 tilapia filets
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp ground cumin
Freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
8 small (6 inch) corn tortillas
2 cups pico de gallo sauce (onions, tomatoes, jalapenos)
1/4 cup cilantro
2 limes
4 tbsp low-fat sour cream

Directions 
Rub the fish with chili and cumin powder, sprinkle with pepper and salt.

In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil and cook the fish for 5 minutes, then flip it and cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes.

Remove the fish from the pan and cut into strips. Divide the strips among the 8 tortillas, top with the pico de gallo sauce, sprinkle with some cilantro, and give each a squeeze of lime and a dollop of low-fat sour cream, if desired.

Bar Harbor

Just walking around Bar Harbor until we go on our Whale Watch


- Posted from my iPhone

Departure

There was a beautiful sunset as we departed from Boston. And even though I said I wasn't going to buy any pictures I couldn't resist the one that was tsken when we boarded.

Hydrangea Luncheon

We couldn't have asked for a better day.  It was sunny and warm, at least it was outside.  Inside, the barn was very breezy and cool until they shut the door by our table, then it was perfect.  But that didn't happen until after the opening talk.

First there was the standard introduction with some history of Hurd Orchards and then we learned  about the growing of Hydrangeas, how they were started at Hurd Orchards and the importance of water for them.

 We had three vases of flowers on our long table.

We started with a fruit salad of fresh peaches, nectarines, plums, and red raspberries with a peach buttermilk dressing.

We were served honey oatmeal bread, peach muffins with peach and pear jam.

The main course was ham with a spicy plum jam, applesauce made with Macintosh apples and a sprig of mint on top and an absolutely delicious tomato stuffed with cream cheese mixed with tarragon vinegar, chopped purple onion and fresh herbs and topped with basil.

For dessert there was a peaches and red raspberry crisp with a dollop of whipped cream.

The entire meal was accompanied by a Jersey Mac apple cider.

Lila and Anna seemed to be paying a lot of attention

Mary Beth, Lynn, Joan, Sandy & Jane

 Anna, Helen, Georgeanna, Kathy & Cecilia

 Barb & Sherry

After the huge vase of hydrangeas was removed, there was Annette.  

Thanks Annette for arranging our outing.

Getting Ready to Cruise

I better get going and pack my stuff because we leave on Thursday and I have to work about 5 hours today, do some last minute shopping and tomorrow is lunch at Hurd Orchards.
Below is our itinerary.

Busy Weekend

Friday started with my lunch and then at night we went to a Cocktail Party at St John Fisher College for the "pioneer group" reunion.  It was the 55th reunion for the class of 1956 which was the 2nd class to graduate from the school after it opened.  They included the first four graduating classes in the "pioneer group" and Larry was the only one there from his class of 1958 which made him the youngest man in attendance.  That doesn't happen too often.
Saturday we went to a bike ride and picnic at Ann and John's.

And then we came back home to go to our neighborhood pig roast

Poor little piggy

It was a beautiful day but as soon as that sun went down boy did it get cold.

This morning we went to mass and a brunch at Fisher.  College kids sure get better meals than I did when I was in school.  It was like an elegant breakfast buffet.
In the afternoon we played golf.  Ran into Kim and Tim who were on the 6th but came back to where we were on the 3rd so we could play the front 9 together.  I hadn't played since July 30 and was happy my shoulder held out for the duration.
Back at home I order tickets for Nadine and I to go to the 9/11 Memorial when we meet in the city next month.

Lunch with the Ladies

Seven of us had a spur of the moment lunch at Simply Crepes on Friday.  It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed a delicious lunch even though most of the meals were off the breakfast menu.

These are the crepes we had.

We talked and laughed and ate and then shared two dessert crepes. They were so good they got eaten before I had a chance to take a picture of them, but one was a Chocolate Mousse and the other a Caramel Apple whose remains are here.

New Purse

I finally finished the purse I started a year and a half ago.  Now that I know how to make it  I also know I can do it better the next time.  So whenever I get the chance, I'm going to make another one.  I will quilt it in an easier way than I did this one when I didn't know what I was doing.  I'll also make it wider and have the pockets inside be more functional.
But all in all, I'm happy with the way it came out.  It's light weight and doesn't hurt my shoulder as long as I don't over load it.

Parting Message

Here's another example of knowing that you're getting older.  Well, yesterday was my birthday, so I'm definitely getting older and very glad about it after losing two friends (to death not just out on the street) the past few weeks.  Larry was leaving for golf and I am going to Yoga later this morning.  As we kissed goodby I said to him "Don't hurt your elbow" and he said to me "Don't hurt your shoulder."

These are our current painful places.

Happy Birthday to me

A Mandarin Cosmo at Jasmine's Asian Fusion



Larry had the Crispy Chicken with Sesame and Garlic (Hot & Sour Sauce) with Sticky Rice. You eat the rice with your fingers and dip it in the sauce, which makes the meal so much more fun.

The rice is served in a little basket

I had the Stir Fried Vegetables with Black Pepper Sauce.  A little blurry but very good (the food).

- Posted from my iPhone

How-tos for Kindle, DRM and Overdrive

This is mainly so I don't forget how to do what I just figured out how to do.  How did I ever live before Google?  Anything I want to know I can find.  And these are my findings for today.

Don't ask me what got me started looking on Overdrive for an ebook for Larry.  I should have been finishing the purse I started 1 1/2 years ago and finally got back to this morning.  Somehow I diverted to the computer and did some research on a salon that was offering a Keratin hair straightening on Groupon and the next thing I knew I found an app that could convert all types of ebooks to a Kindle.  Larry has a Kindle and I always listen to my books.  I've used Overdrive to download audio books and I knew that they also had ebooks but they were not compatible with the Kindle.
I've been using Overdrive since it first came out, or since our library first made it available.  At first it was mainly audio books but then they started adding ebooks.  Now the ebooks are so popular that all the books that I looked for had waiting list status only.

But I wanted to test the app that could convert to kindle, yes, now I remember, it was the software that got me started looking on Overdrive but I don't remember what led me to the software.  I downloaded some ebooks from Overdrive and from there I realized that it was a many step process, involving many downloads and installations to get what I wanted but IT WORKED!!

Here it goes:
The software to convert any type of ebook to any type of other format is called calibre and you can get it here:  http://calibre-ebook.com/  A wonderful app.

Calibre would be all that is needed except that the books that are downloaded from Overdrive need to be converted to epub format since they are downloaded as acsm files.  That means that Adobe Digital editions is needed to convert the book into an epub file.  That can be gotten here: http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/
Next, most of the books are DRE protected, which means they can't be used in any other way other than as intended.  A lot of people buy ebooks that have DRE and find they can't use them on the device they wanted.  Next comes the app that will remove the protection.  That is described here along with other helpful apps all rolled into one zip file:  http://apprenticealf.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/hello-world/
and that page will take you to here for the download:  http://www.datafilehost.com/download-542af277.html
and here are some instructions: http://apprenticealf.wordpress.com/2010/11/18/dedrm-applescript-for-mac-os-x-10-5-10-6/

Now that I've documented all the places to get what is needed here is what needs to be done when there is a book that needs conversion:
1)  Get book from wherever you like and if it does not automatically work on a kindle, continue
2)  If it's from overdrive, right click on the acsm file and bring it into Adobe where it gets converted to an epub.  Adobe put my book
3)  Try to load it to the device.  If it says it is DRM protected, just drag and drop the file into the DeDRM 2.9.app and it will immediately convert it and put it in the folder you requested at setup.

Kapoosh Cutlery Block

Let the buyer beware!!

Just a word of advice.  If you buy a Kapoosh cutlery block, which I thought was the greatest thing when I bought it, don't try to clean it.

The thing that makes this so great is that there are moveable fibers vs slots that will hold any size knife you put in there.  However, after a time the rods get bent and the knives don't go in all the way which makes it dangerous with the blades sticking out.  They advertise that you can take out the rods which are attached to a base and put them in the dishwasher to clean.  Well, I didn't put them in the dishwasher, but I did wash them.


The bad news is that trying to put it back into the wooden frame just split it.

The good news is, the knives fit great now, even though it doesn't look that great.

Catching Up with Friends

This has been my week to finally get out and see some friends.  Tuesday Betty and Mary came over for lunch.

Last night I got together with Barb.  I saw her new deck, new landscaping and met Ernie.  I didn't take any pictures of how great everything looks but I did get some pictures of Ernie.  It was so much fun spending all that time together after way too long.  When I was working I used to see Barb every day because we sat next to each other.

Today Nancy and I went to lunch at Pier 45.  That has become my favorite summertime outdoor restaurant for lunch.  It was a beautiful day to sit outside along the Genesee River and catch up also after way too many months.  Nancy and I go back to when our girls were in nursery school together.

After lunch we drove past Irondequoit High School where all our children went, many years ago, although to us it seems like only yesterday.  They were the first school in the area to start today.  Rochester City schools start tomorrow and the others don't start until after Labor Day.  Looked like a Fire Drill for the first day as we drove by.

Pleasant Dreams Sweet Katie

I first met Katie Walker when she was Katie McBride and lived down the street from me on Thornton Rd.  She was on my babysitting list when Laura and Greta were babies.  When she couldn't babysit her younger sister Patsy came to babysit for me.

Fast forward about 14 years to 1985 and I went to work at Xerox and who was in my group, but Patsy.   We became fast friends and remain so.  She is even my godmother (another story).  Greta then babysat for Katie's son Nathan.  Over the years I saw Katie every now and then, she was at Xerox too, but always kept up with her life through Patsy.  Katie had three sons, Nathan, Chris and Kyle.

In March she was diagnosed with lung cancer, yesterday morning she passed away.

Katie, be happy and pain free now.  You will be missed by family and friends but never forgotten. 

Christmas 2006

Patsy & Katie planting for me, 2010 - my best flowers ever!!

Post chemo - May 2011

This is my second obit for a friend in a week.  When I said to Greta that I hope the superstition about bad things coming in threes doesn't mean there's going to be another death, she said "Well, let's hope the third is a dying plant."  Let's only hope.

====================================================================
And here is Katie's official obit: