Chrysalis

Great blog, Marti! I can feel your strength and your confidence on so many levels. And it's wonderful to think that you are passing those traits on to your daughters. How cool is that??!! I'm proud to be sharing this journey with you.

I have had a hankering for finnan haddie for several years now. When we lived in Chicago, our local Irish pub served it all the time and our local fish monger stocked it (frozen) so I could make it at home. Since we moved to Atlanta-- zero, zip, nada. :(. Nobody every heard of finnan haddie (it's actually smoked haddock). Yesterday, I thought to check online suppliers. I was trilled to discover a couple of places here in the States! So I splurged and ordered $50 worth (that ought to last us a while, right?). Then I got to the last page of the order form and discovered that the shipping would be an additional $60 for shipping in styrofoam and ice. No, that's just too expensive for me. I canceled the order. Does anybody know where I can get frozen finnan haddie either in Atlanta or where the shipping doesn't cost so much? Really, any place in the southeast-- we could always take a weekend getaway to Savannah or Charleston or someplace and get some finnan haddie while we're there. :)

FAIR WARING-- if you are drunk, do NOT watch this video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP3w-oJjH8I

Such a gorgeous princess dress for such a gorgeous princess! Your "Frozen Party" was obviously a big hit! Keep those photos to show your grandchildren. :)

Such a gorgeous princess dress for such a gorgeous princess! Keep those photos to show your grandchildren. :)

Thanks, Scott. That sounds really good! I'm going to try it.

We're with ya, Bakon! Every truckin one of us!

She just posted an update. It is here: http://www.quittrain.com/topic/4332-sazarac-update/

Love the cod idea, Scott! Do I see some kind of sauce on it? Or maybe butter? Whatever it is it looks wonderful!

I really hate it when my evil voice pops up out of nowhere! When I saw Sharon's mention of "Donner Kebabs" my mind immediately said, "E-e-e-w-w! The Donner Party!" (that's a reference that only Americans would know, and not very many of them, either). Sorry, Sharon. Your LAMB Kabob recipe looks delicious! :)

Fantastic success, Rob! You're through both hell week and heck week and you are starting to really feel the benefits of not smoking. Good for you. I"m especially impressed that you can hear Old Nicodemons seductions (like "just one more pack and then I'll quit") and recognize them for the lies they are. That's SO important! You and your flatmate have a wonderful celebratory dinner-- it's important to give yourself credit for this achievement. Keep the quit, Baby!

Doreen, thank you for sharing your good news. I'm so happy to hear that it's not cancer! However, I still find it very scary that poor Tony has severe COPD and pneumonia. Oh, my! I will continue to pray for him to get rid of that miserable infection.

Well, if you're very flexible about the make and the features, it could be fun to spend several Saturday afternoons test driving different cars. Then when you have 2 or 3 likely candidates, try to rent each one for a weekend (weekend rates are cheaper) and really test them out. I will say that we are very happy with our Hyundais, especially the reasonable price and 10 year warranty, but they don't have the "zip" you seem to require. You might want to look into 6 cylinder cars. I think that they have faster acceleration. Have fun!

Thanks, everybody. You really gave me a boost today! I couldn't have done it without you, I really couldn't. And for the "tweeners" among you, I hit a very difficult patch during months 5 to 6. I was hanging on by my fingernails for 2 or 3 weeks there. But it finally eased and I have not had another such tough time again. Sure, I've had a day here or there when I thought about smoking a lot, but nothing nearly as hard to handle. So don't be surprised if you're going along smoothly and suddenly want to throw in the towel and go back to smoking. It's temporary. I promise. Just keep your quit one day at a time and you WILL get through it! Thanks again to all you lovely people! :)

Wow! It's so exciting to look up at the lido deck and see all the great people up there cheering the rest of us on. And now Stu is there cheering and helping, too! Congratulations, EB! You've done great and you've been a real help and inspiration for me. Celebrate your accomplishment!

Our flu vaccines cost $30 per person. Unless that is a real hardship on one's family, I don't understand why one would not rather be safe than sorry. So, yes, we got the vaccine and are happy that we did.

Pippa, I remember that when I was living in Chicago I was giving some visitors from Kenya a tour of the area. It was February; there was no snow on the ground but the grass was all brown. One of the visitors noticed the brown grass and asked me if we were having a drought. I said no, the grass is brown because the ground is frozen. They really had a hard time comprehending that. It's funny the things you take for granted because you live with them. You don't even realize that other people might find it strange.

What a shame! Upstairs Downstairs was on Netflix just recently. But now I see that it's gone to Amazon streaming and you have to pay per episode. That stinks! Actually, most of the PBS series have gone to Amazon. Double stink! I liked Bletchley Circle a lot, too. Also check out Call the Midwife--that's good.

Oh, I didn't realize that you were in Oz. That makes me feel better-- I couldn't figure out how mangoes could be in season in the middle of winter but if you said it was so, you must be correct. (LOL! :) )

Welcome back, Beth! I'm so glad that you're getting up and around a bit. Have you started PT yet?

You know what I like about this thread? These are real meals designed and created by real people. Not chefs. Not magazine writers. Not boring skinny-minny dinners consisting only of broiled meat and steamed vegetables, either. We're just normal people who enjoy making good, healthful food to share with our families. Enough variety and spices and textures to make it interesting but not things that take a whole day in the kitchen to prepare. Some days we feel like getting complicated and creative and other days we want to keep it quick and simple-- just like real life. It's nice to meet like-minded cooks!

Pippa, your mango salad looks wonderful! I didn't even know that this was "mango season". I'll have to watch for mangoes on sale. Speaking of mango salads, one of my favorites is Buffalo Shrimp Mango Avocado Salad (although you could use chicken instead of shrimp). Check it out here: http://www.publix.com/recipes-planning/aprons-simple-meals/buffalo-shrimp-salad-and-raspberry-blue-cheese-crostini

Tracey, the toenails on the small toes are a major component of human sexual attractiveness. O-o-o-p-s! Am I being ignorant and insensitive again?! :blush:

Sharon, your cottage pie looks scrumptious! Such an elegant-looking dish from simple ground beef and potatoes. It looks a lot like my shepherd's pie, which I haven't made in a while. I think I'll make one of those soon. Thanks for the idea.

Tried something different tonight. I couldn't decide what to do with the chicken breasts I had thawed. Looked in the cupboard and found a jar of Louisiana Cajun Seasoning and a box of panko bread crumbs. So I sprinkled the seasoning on the chicken, rolled them in the bread crumbs and baked. After 15 minutes I spooned on some TGI Friday's frozen spinach artichoke dip and finished baking for 10 more minutes. Served with stir-fried julienned carrots and zucchini and some spaghetti with butter and parmesan (not shown here). The cajun seasoning went surprisingly well with the spinach artichoke flavors. Hubby loved it all, even the veggies!