Hubby sounds like a keeper. 
Pixel feels that the weather gods are treating him unfairly. He’s a desert dog through and through. Fortunately, he’s a first class burrower and snuggler, and he’s tucked in tight under the blankets next to me. He’s decided that he’s tired of bread now, so we’re trying potatoes for awhile.
My sweet potato recipe: Pierce the skin of the sweet potatoes, slather the potatoes in butter, and wrap them individually in foil. Bake until done. Then you split them open and put some butter inside and eat them that way, because sweetened sweet potatoes with marshmallows are disgusting.
There’s a recipe on Velveeta boxes. It’s probably on their website. Basically you just make a roux, melt the ‘cheese’, and add some milk.
As for cheese sauce, Velveeta makes a cheese sauce that comes in envelopes.
Good grief - are you sure that’s not dessert?? That’s crazy!
Babish has a sweet potato casserole. He even goes as far as making his own whiskey marshmallow.
Binging with Babish: Sweet Potato Casserole from Friends - YouTube
flyboy - I agree about baking sweet potatoes, but apparently no one else in the family wants that. I’ll make a small casserole and I may just bake one sweet spud for me.
I think I once used the Velveeta cheese sauce. Must check Food Lion. Frankly, broccoli just needs a bit of butter and salt.
The techs are here checking the furnace. So far, no CO. I wonder what the other tech did. Maybe his meter was our of spec? We shall see.
Went in this morning for my periodic vampire draw to check A1C levels. The Ms goes in in a couple of hours for her echocardiogram to try to find out what these palpitations, etc. are about.
I found what looks like a really good recipe for pumpkin pie. It doesn’t use pumpkin mix, but rather roasted butternut squash, which we happen to have a ton of in the freezer. It’s a Melissa Clark (NYT) recipe. I find a lot of her recipes to be too precious, but this one sounds like a winner; no dove tongues or other obscure ingredients.
Furnace techs have been here for about an hour. The house feels like an oven - since it’s warm today, I had to run the thermostat up to 82 to keep it running. The furnace is leaking CO, but very small amounts. They’re trying to pinpoint where the problem is. With luck, it can be repaired without replacing the entire unit.
I have 2 types of the sweet potato casserole:
Option 1:
cook the potatoes I boil them, skins off. You can also microwave or roast.
Mash them. Add a little milk or cream and some butter to get them creamy. I also add salt and pepper to taste,
Put mashed potatoes into a casserole dish
Cover with marshmallows. Put in hot oven to melt marshmallows.
Note: you can use canned sweet potatoes if you want to skip the “cooking the potatoes” steps.
Option 2 involves no marshmallows, but does use brown sugar for a glaze. No mashing involved. More details available if desired.
Wow. I was asked this morning if I’d like to be a manager here.
Response was the most polite version of “Aww, hellllzzz to the no!” that I could muster on the spot.
Still, it meant something to be asked, I guess.
It’s a very good thing! They think highly of you, and that’s never bad from an employer. Congrats!
In addition to but separate from the itching, I’ve developed another health issue that’s concerning. I won’t go into specifics because the menfolk might get the vapors, but I definitely need to see a doc. I don’t have one in this particular specialty, as the last one was so horrible, I never went back. (Online reviews say I’m not alone.) This means I’ll probably have to do the old call-and-wait-a-week-to-set-up-an-appointment rigamarole. Dang it.
I also have to try to call the pharmacy again. When I was there last week, I asked about one of the glaucoma eye drops, as I’m past due for an auto-refill. They said they were waiting for authorization from my eye doc and suggested I call the clinic. I did. Clinic said, “What?! The Rx doesn’t expire until February!” I tried calling the pharmacy, but a recording said go away, they’re busy.
How does anyone survive in this place?
OK, one last rant, then I’m done. I keep trying to find a cheap airfare to my sister’s place in Louisiana in January, when she needs me to help her after knee replacement. The cheapest so far is $700. I’m sure it’s because she lives in the boonies, but day-um. Remember the good ol’ days when nobody was flying due to the Plague, and you could fly to Bali for $4.37?
OK, enough of that. The avocado is growing fast again. The new branch is parallel and adjacent to the stalk I cut down. It seems to think it’s a flag pole. I may fly a little paper flag from the top and salute when I walk by.
And–last bit–I got my daughter the coolest Christmas ornament for her upcoming birthday: it’s a golden cannoli. Doesn’t that sound like an award? “And the Golden Cannoli goes to…” 
I agree that marshmallows have no place on yams or any other side dish. Ick. Who came up with that idea? Maybe the same person who thought grated cabbage goes in Jello.
FCM, what’s up with FCD and his penchant for B&E today? Does he still have a grump on from yesterday? Maybe run him a bath and give him a little boat to play with?
wordy, hope overlygirl’s jab happens AND she gets to do the soccer stuff. And your husband is a sweetie. Here, hand him this Golden Cannoli.
Personally, I prefer white sweet potatoes to the orange ones.
Oishii yaki imo! We called him the ‘eesheeyakeemo man’. He pedaled his cart along, yelling ‘Delicious roasted sweet potatos!’ in Japanese. They cost 5 yen, and were just the thing for cold Winter nights.
He’s impatient. He wants his boat and he wants it NOW! We’re going to drive across the Bay Bridge to the yard where the boat will spend the winter, assuming the deal goes as we want. And while over there. we’ll drive around, have lunch, then come home. Just getting him out of the house.
Furnace techs are wrapping up - after the furnace ran a while, it was showing 4PPM of CO, which is waaaaay below what a CO alarm will detect. I think it’s too low to fret about, but they insist we need to replace the furnace. Well, yeah, it’s about that age. But I think we can safely wait till next year, or the summer, when maybe we can get a deal. The pellet stove keeps the house quite comfy, and we have sweaters. So we shall see.
Meanwhile, I don’t feel like cooking, so we’re going out for supper. Gotta decide where.
Have you tried the “fly to someplace bigger and rent a car for the rest of the way” trick? I used to do that with debate teams. Flying from SoCal into Lexington, KY was pricey as hell, but flights to Cincinnati were dirt-cheap, as were rental vans.
I would’ve but I can’t drive due to vision issues. I’m hoping they can fit me with contacts that’d help, but I can’t count on that. Maybe I should wait before booking, though?
Thanks, though!
Evening all. Weather finally got nice and I got the car washed, and more importantly, took the vacuums they have there to the inside, which I hadn’t touched due to all the soccer stuff crammed in the car. It’s still not pristine, but at least it won’t be considered a public hazard anytime soon. Also picked up my dry cleaning from last week, since I had forgotten all about it until I put the receipt from the car wash in my billfold and found the dry cleaning stub. So that is done. Dinner has been prepared and consumed, so the night can be given to internettin’, tackleball, and readin’.
nellie, not sure waiting is a good idea, either. As it gets closer to the travel date, the price could drop, but airfares are all based on computers and change at a moment’s notice, and it might go up. I’d keep checking it on a regular basis and see if a cheaper one shows up. Might also you move your depart/arrive date by a day, you’d be surprised what 24 hours can do to an airfare.
shoe, I never wanted to be a supervisor at work, either, although I held the highest non-management position for almost 15 years. If it ain’t your thing, best you can do is what you did.
I don’t care for sweet potatoes at all (hey, I yam what I yam, y’all), but best wishes to all in trying your recipes.
talky, that’s pretty darn sweet of husband-unit. And bring in whatever you damn well please; it’s Your Day!!!
OK, onward to the internet. All y’all take care.
After several phone calls (pharmacy: Nope, clinic is confused. Clinic: No. pharmacy is! Repeat.), I finally got notified the eyedrops are ready. Only now it’s dark and pouring, so it’ll have to be tomorrow. Couldn’t get in to any docs, so Plan B is to go to Urgent Care tomorrow.
But I’ve wrapped daughter’s B-Day gifts. Now I just need a box…
MetalMouse, thanks for the insight. I’d better book now rather than later. The day before I’m leaving is a Sunday and pricier. The day after is problematic because I’ll get in late, and her surgery will be early, with a 2-hour drive to get there. Niece will drive that day and the next. She texted me to thank me for coming. She’s very relieved, as she has a hectic schedule and a little one.
flyboy, it’s raining buckets here again. We’re supposed to get 1" overnight. I’m hoping it’s not doing so up where you are. The last thing you folks need is more water.
Texas Roadhouse fed us, then we stopped by to drop off the onesies for Toby and the piggy bank for Roxy. I got to hold my grandson for a bit, then Roxy dragged me to her room to read her a bedtime story. Then she asked me to rub her back “ten times” and she went to sleep. We’re home for chillage before sleep. Thus endeth the day.