A Food Day

This has been a food day, which is appropriate for this blog since it's as much about cooking as writing--and grandchildren, though the latter tend to take over. Jordan is on the South Beach diet, and they are coming for an early Sunday supper so that she and Christian can get down my Christmas wrappings and decorations--I do not go in my attic if I can avoid it and do not go at all when I'm home alone. I have visions of falling, breaking a leg, and lying unfound for days. So it's a pain for Jordan and Christian, but they've been doing it for several years now. I mentioned that I had a pork tenderloin in the freezer (I'm trying to eat from the freezer and clean it out) and I'd do Southwestern twice-baked potatoes to go with it. Jordan was a bit put out--she can't eat the potatoes. They're not on the diet.
Today since Christian was going to be at work this evening I told Jord I was going to get myself a splurge of a lamb chop, and if she wanted I'd get one for her too. They are those wonderful thick (and not cheap) loin chops from Central Market. I bought three, and when she arrived I explained that I was really trying to support her diet so I had a variety of fresh vegetables for her to choose from. Baby beets with greens (as I suspected she doesn't eat beets), carrots I could steam (carrots are not on the diet nor is corn which I had planned to cook tomorrow), green beans, peas (not on the diet and she doesn't like them), and broccoli. She chose broccoli, which I steamed. But she didn't eat it all, and I said no problem I'd save it for Christian tomorrow night. She looked at me in horror, "He won't eat broccoli!" I swear--meal planning is a lot harder than it should be. But she'll saute it with red wine and mushrooms tomorrow night for herself and me (South Beach has some pretty good stuff on it!). Christian will have to do with potatoes and salad. Jordan was jealous tonight that I went ahead and heated one of the stuffed potatoes for myself (they're medium red potatoes so not huge) but I did. "Jacob will eat potato," she said, and I replied, "It has green chiles in it." Turns out he loved it and kept pointing for more.
After dinner, because it's dark, Jacob thinks it's time to go to bed. Jordan emphatically does NOT want him to do that, because he's been getting up at 5 a.m. So she took him home for bath and play--"I'll try to keep him awake until at least 8," she said. So they've gone, the kitchen is cleaned, and I've settled down with a cat at my elbow who desperately wants affection.
A while back I bought three Scottish mysteries, sort of in anticipation of the trip next spring. The first one was okay; I gave up on the second, though it is by an author lauded as the master of Scottish PI fiction. Now I'm trying to read the third--a police procedural set in Aberdeen, where we plan to go. Rough going, and I am not drawn in. I guess I like cozies too well. I have two books squirreled away to take to Frisco this week when I go to have Thanksgiving dinner with Jamie and his family. I had offered to make Jamie a sweet potatoe/pecan pie because he loves sweet potato pie, but I specified I would NOT bring it on the train. So maybe the pie goes by the wayside--I am going on the train, and he wants mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallows, like his grandmother used to make. I told him she always put bourbon in them, but he wasn't interested in the bourbon or cloves--wants butter and cinnamon.
Tonight seems to me a good night to relax and watch the food channel. Right now I'm watching some guy try to be funny while brining a turkey.