Porthos

I awoke to a beautiful morning again. Yesterday's lunch was braunschwieger on Boudin's sourdough with Best Foods mayo and yellow mustard. My Sweetie also had a slice of Tillimook Swiss cheese. Dinner was smoked Nuremberger sausages from the Continental Delicatessen in La Habra and brown rice with butter and green onions. The sausages were cooked on our portable BBQ. It's a good size for 2-3 people, adequate for 4 people. When we have more than four up here then I use the charcoal BBQs the resort has at the cabins. ETA we normally see deer on the lawn in the evenings but we haven't seen any deer anywhere on this trip. Yesterday morning I went out to the chairs you see to have some coffee. I got to watch some grounds squirrels, and Stellar Jays and American Robins feeding on the lawn. Dessert was home-made brownies while watching Calendar Girls.

@Smithy The snow on the pavement most likely stuck for a few hours on Friday, but the pavement was clear on Saturday. In the higher elevations 7,500 - 8,000 feet) there was patchy snow on the ground and occasionally snow on the trees. When we stopped in Lee Vining for hot food, we sat outside. It would lightly snow for a few minutes, then stop, then start. It didn't stick at all.

In the last few years we've started buying a Costco Rotisserie Chicken, slicing off enough meat for a dinner, maybe 8-10 oz, and then picking the carcass clean, hand-shredding as we (Sweetie) picks. It freezes beautifully. At home we use two small glass baking dishes, splitting the ingredients, bake one and freeze the other. It freezes equally well before or after baking. Since all of the ingredients are already cooked, the baking is heating it through so everything melds together. I just assemble and bake. My Sweetie leaves off the top layer of cheese, covers and bakes, removing the cover and adding the cheese 10 minutes before it comes out.

My breakfast this morning was a piece of buttered and coffee to take the rest of my meds with. Since then I've been nibbling on snackage. I've been mostly out of the cabin this morning so I have no idea what my Sweetie has eaten. I've already mentioned her pain issues. They dictate when she is able to sleep. Right now she's sleeping so I can't ask her about her breakfast. The following pictures show why we doubt we're have a fresh trout dinner this year. California is experiencing the first severe drought year in a few years. The lake is at 7,200' elevation. This sawtooth ridge separates this valley from the northwest corner of Yosemite. In May there should be more snow than rock visible. e This is where we most typically fish. The rocks just below the ledge with the rod holder should be under water. The water should extend to the line of trees in the distance. I had to walk over to near the tree line to show where water from Upper Twin Lake is flowing into Lower Twin. I should be neck-deep in water where I stood to take this picture.

In town there is a small-town bar/restaurant called Rhino's. We'd never tried them and chose to eat there. They major on burgers but have steaks, sandwiches and other various offerings. Their on-tap and bottled beer selection is decent, but weighted toward domestic beer I choose not to drink*. I had an Alaskan Amber and my Sweetie had her Diet Coke to drink. She had a baked potato with cheddar cheese, sour cream, butter and chives. I opted for fried chicken and onion rings. The onion rings were very good. The chicken was exactly what I would expect at a place like this. What really stood out was the attentive service we received. There was one server on duty and she stayed on top of things, and with a very positive spirit. Yes, she got a very good tip. There are no food photos because we've all seen more than enough everyday chicken and baked potatoes. If we should go back in the future I think I'll stick to burgers. We do have a trip planned down to Mammoth Mountain for a nice lunchtime meal in a brew pub. We haven't selected which one yet. We're up here for a longer then usual trip and eating out more than is typical, but then again it's just the two of us this trip. * My older daughter and I agree that if Budweiser is the only beer available we'll drink soda. 😝

This trip has evolved over the years. Before I came into the picture my wonderful in-laws (D&D) had access to a summer residence cabin on the lake; it belonged to the parents of a sorority sister. The owners retired and started living at the cabin during the summer so D&D started renting a cabin at the resort. That was the “system” when we started coming up to the lake. We stayed in separate cabins and split who prepared dinners. We were on our own for breakfast and lunch. A few years later the husband of the owning couple passed away, and while his widow still wanted to summer up here, she liked the idea of renting her cabin to D&D (and by extension us) at the beginning of the season. That gave her easy income for utilities and whatever and we were like extended family who would care for the cabin. We still split dinner duty and left breakfast and lunch up to the individual. Somewhere in the 90s my MIL started bringing up a portable stereo to play cassettes on for some music. The timing we worked out for the trips was that D&D went up first, then we would join them a few days later for several days together, then they went home and that gave us a few days with just our children. I treasure those trips for many reasons, one significant one was our children vacationing with their grandparents. We lived within an hour’s drive from each other and frequently got together, but time at the lake was special. Then owner’s family squabbles led the private cabin no longer being available so we returned to staying at the resort, still splitting dinner duty. Duty is such the wrong word since my MIL loved to cook, was an excellent cook, and my Sweetie and I love to cook. My MIL passed away too soon in the early 2000s. We took it upon our selves to keep the lake tradition alive, making the trip with my FIL. We took care of all the food, and he brought the wine. As a long-time member of the Orange County Wine Society you can be assured that we had some outstanding wines on those trips. We bought a smallish TV and DVD player so we could watch movies in the evening. For one dinner we would drive into town and eat at what then was still a nice dinner house restaurant connected to an inn, as a treat from my FIL. Sadly, it has turned into a glorified café with poor service and mediocre food. We no longer care to eat there. We continued to take these trips with him until his health made it impossible for him to come up any more. He longed to return even though he was no capable of the trip. Just months before he passed, having not been out of his bed at all for over 2 years, he wanted us to book a trip and take him up. Dodging that subject was hard. Even though he has passed, we have continued to come up to our equivalent of Snowangel’s Little Bit Of Heaven. Since my Sweetie hardly drinks and I need to practice diabetic restraint in consumption, for this trip we opted for no wine, several choices of beer for me (a lot will come back home), some whiskies for me and couple of kinds of Hendricks gin for us. Last year we were able to have our younger daughter and our two incredibly adorable grandchildren come up with us. We’ll return in late summer with our 7 y/o grandson to give him another fishing trip and special time with us without his sister vying for attention. He’s a good eater so feeding him is easy. A nice thing about him being a good eater is that if he says he doesn't like something, it's a real dislike. My Sweetie’s napping so I’ll grab a cigar and a beer and go outside and enjoy heaven from a front row seat. Dinner tonight will be in town.

So far it looks like it will be a year of "The fishing was great. The catching not so much." We're going to rent a boat and try trolling.

Mayfair, Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cream, and for my Sweetie lots of Butterscotch Squares.

This past Friday my Sweetie and I left for our annual fishing vacation at Twin Lakes near Bridgeport, CA. We rent a cabin at Twin Lakes Resort, the cabins having been built in the 1920s. Fishing is the "excuse" to sit by the lakeside and soak in the beauty and the quiet. My Sweetie has been coming up here since she was six, and we've been coming up since our older daughter was 11 months old. We left about 9:30, about 2 hours later than we had planned. After stopping in Bishop for gas we continued north on US 395 and up Sherwin Grade. By the time we reached the summit it was snowing. In 39 years we've been coming up here we've never had snow. By the time we reached Crowley Lake, the snow was getting serious. We didn't have chains for our new vehicle so we were forced to turn around drive back down to Bishop and get a room. Since dinner on the road had not been planned we went to the restaurant at the local Casino. I opted for roasted tri-tip and a Guinness and was served a good meal, except for the from-a-packet gravy. My Sweetie went for a Reuben sandwich and (shudder) sweet potato fries. Saturday morning we went to a local auto parts store, bought chains, and hit the road again. The roads were clear and we made it to the lake easily around 1 p.m.. We drove through some light snowfall a couple of times, and stopped for some hot food in Lee Vining along the way. I began unpacking and my Sweetie, went in to get horizontal. She deals with chronic severe pain and was in major pain. We're waiting for COVID to abate enough so that ICU beds become generally available again, and then she'll have major back surgery to hopefully help her regain better mobility and have way less pain. Dinner Saturday night was our tried-and-true enchilada casserole. Back when, the first night dinner would be hamburgers, but that meant prepping all of the toppings and such. The casserole, made ahead, simply needs heating, and opening a tub of sour cream finishes the job. This year, we ran out of time and had to assemble it at the cabin; layers of corn tortillas, sauce, shredded chicken, sharp cheddar cheese and sliced olives. Since we ended up arriving at the cabin about 2 1/2 hours earlier than normal it was easy peasy. Because of the nature of pain meds my Sweetie uses, she drinks almost no alcohol. I finished the evening off with some Balcones Single Malt Whiskey from Texas. Breakfasts at the cabin are make what you want, the same as at home. Lunches are sandwiches made when you want them. When I unpacked all of the snackage I realized that I had brought at least 3 times as much as I should have packed. Sunday we drove up just over Nevada border and met up with my Sweetie's oldest friend to have lunch. No pictures, typical cafe food. Since this was to be the big meal of the day we just had cold sandwiches for dinner. When we returned to the cabin she was done for. I grabbed a cigar and a Belhaven Black Scottish Stout and went outside. I assembled our rods and reels while enjoying the cigar and beer, then a little while later drove off to do a little fishing. The lake level is way down; the last time it was this low was 2012. Last year I got a Keurig Coffee machine and was spoiled by it instantly. I bought a smaller machine so that I could be spoiled at the lake as well. The big surprise is the difference in noise level. My K-cup Supreme make almost no noise. This machine sounds like an old tea kettle warming up and the pump for the water is clearly heard - but - I have my spoiled-guy coffee.

Thank you, @lindag. I've transcribed the recipe and look forward to making it. It will have to wait until after our vacation since I do the shopping and packing.

Bought it immediately.

So true of road trips. As always, thank you so much for "bringing us along."

Our flooring will be delivered next Wednesday to start acclimating. This afternoon we're off for my Sweetie to select material for the valance over the kitchen window. Overall we're loving the new kitchen. Part of the cabinet refacing was all new doors and drawers. The style of the hinges on the new doors was not expected. I just never gave it any thought. The ole hinges allowed the doors to swings as far as you wanted. Old hinge style: The new hinges only swing out about 90 degrees: Our pantry is opposite of the end of our peninsula, and the peninsula is 4" longer than the original. With our old doors we were used to swinging the doors all the way open and pulling things out to use in our main prep area. How we have to open the pantry, retrieve what we want, put it on the end of the peninsula, close the doors and then move the stuff we got out to where we want it. Yes, this is a first-world problem, but it is a small annoyance.

Not a cartoon. but a thought. We go through a lot of Babybel cheese. As I was throwing away the red wax covering the evil thought occurred to me that it would be fun to collect a bunch of the wax, then dip the neck of some rotgut bourbon in the wax. It would be out to be seen by visitors to our home.

My Sweetie likes bits of potato lumps in mashed potatoes so it's the wavy style for us. Since I use unpeeled Yukon Gold or Red Skin potatoes it does make cleanup slightly harder. If I were making them for me they'd be whipped. Either way, potatoes, salt, butter, and sour cream: what's not to love.

Bought it. Sounds like my kind of baking.

Late last week I received a check (amount purposely omitted) from the store chain with whom we contracted our renovation. My guess was that is was compensation for the mess the countertop guys left, but I wasn't any form of curious to verify this. I want to remind people that when I sent my complaint email to the salesman for the subcontractor I made it clear that I wasn't seeking any compensation for the serious level of mess, but felt that they should know what their installation crew left behind. My Sweetie was very interested in why we got the check and so early this week made a lengthy call to the store. She was able to verify my suspicion that the check was indeed compensation. I figured that since I made it abundantly clear that I wasn't seeking compensation I would accept it without any qualms. With the flooring on back-order we're using the time for other necessary projects, the latest having been replacing our non-working furnace and AC, and now on to exterior stuff.

Our flooring is out of stock at Pergo so that won't happen until May. Since I have a working kitchen again it's an acceptable delay. In the meantime I've been busy installing a bunch of these: There will be a total of 8. They are a godsend to cranky old bodies.

Bought it. Maybe I'll use the Kindle version. The dead tree version was a bit unwieldy for me.

I purposely waited until the cabinet refacing/new cabinets task was done before contracting for the flooring. I just placed the order last Thursday.

Plumbing installed and the new pot rack hung: The crock pot has our corned beef dinner in it. The blinds for the window will be installed after we cleaned the 36 Y/O window the best we can. We can't do anything near the sink until dinnertime tonight when the sink-to-counter seal will be fully cured. Then most of the re-populating of the counters and lower cabinets will commence. Timing on the flooring installation is still up int the air. For us that will be a major prep task as we're having the kitchen and family room done. I''m still working on the logistics of where to put what since the entire floor has to be cleared. My biggest concern is the 400+ lb gun safe.

The Plumber is here. Imagine a fat old guy doing a harpy dance.

Something that surprised me about the flooring we've chosen, Pergo Outlast+, it that it has to sit in the house for 3 days for acclimation before they'll install it. It's not a problem, just something I never would have guessed.

The new countertops and backsplash: Plumbing reconnect was supposed to happen this morning, now this afternoon. I'm not holding my breath but the ladders would be in the way of the plumber. I really hope that they come today or tomorrow morning. My daughter is coming over tomorrow afternoon to help me hang the new pot rack. 🤞 Phone call just came in saying 5 p.m. ETA When I re-installed the stove my Sweetie said it looks old and we need a new one. I told her today that until we know if we're moving out of state I don't want to replace it. If we're staying the new stove will be a Blue Star, if we're moving it will be something from Lowe's.