TRUTH IN BLOGGING

I keep putting off writing this - not sure exactly why, but it has been sort of a shadow over the k+b for a while, I have not been writing about the most import thing going on in our lives right now. I'll just start with Neil's own words from his Facebook page. I am sorry if this is coming to any of you as a shock -

" Friday March 13 I had an MRI guided prostate biopsy. Thursday March 19 the results came back positive. On the Gleason scale one was 6, the other 7. A bone scan Wednesday was clear. On Monday I will talk to my urologist about all the options.

I'm feeling at peace about this. One in 15 men 60 years old have prostate cancer and 100% of those that live to 80 do. So no biggie, glad I found out. "

I am sorry if this is coming to any of you as a shock - it's been out on Facebook and yes, I could have / should have called some folks - but , I am a big old social media moopah. I had a very good friend, younger than Neil who died from this ( his was a most extreme case ) and so I was FREAKED OUT.

This has been on our back burner for a while, only coming to the full front on my birthday, March 19th. Before Christmas Neil had an mri thing that showed a couple of spots on his prostate, and we are lucky enough to live near the University of Rochester that has this super high tech mri directed biopsy thing - only one of a hand full in the country, which he had on March 13th. 

We got the phone call early on the 19th that - yes , it was prostate cancer. Here is where things go a little bit off the rails. The specialist called, said flatly what it was AND that his office would call later in the day with more details. They did not call , at all, for two days! We are able to log into our health system and see our own records, and when Neil did this we saw that he was scheduled for a full body bone scan later in the week - that will set off some panic in you. So we are dealing with no information and an upcoming super body scan - Ive had better birthday weeks.

Finally Neil facebooked messaged our family doctor and we got some real time information - and that it was in no way as horrible as things were in our minds. Lots and lots of guys have prostate issues, and if it below a 5 on this scale, they dont even bother with doing anything , a six they monitor and a 7 they take action - the scale goes to 10. The super bone/body scan came back negative it has not spread at all and is contained . So, really as bad as having cancer is, we caught it pretty much as early as it could have been caught. 

We go in Monday to find out what our course of action will be , Ill keep you all posted on the results - and on both our fb accounts.

Again , I am sorry if this is the first you have heard about this in such an impersonal way. 

DInner

Potatoless Pot Roast

w/ non starchy veg

Golden Beets

Beet Greens

Daily Koda

King of the last snow mountain, with ominous sky.

AND!

Just in time for Easter with the BVM .

More James Corden

I HAVE GOT TO START WATCHING THIS SHOW !

( Not their first video )

Talking Koda

Dinner

TURKEY MEAT LOAF

PURPLE CABBAGE

ZUCCHINI 

w/ Mushrooms and Onions

Mashed potatoes out, veggies in - it was still very good

I'm sure I have posted this before, but it is a very good 

TURKEY MEAT LOAF recipe, from Ina Garten

The only thing that I change about this recipe is , I dont really ever use the full 5# of ground turkey just for us two, and I add celery, carrots and garlic ( what ever you have ) to the onions and probably use more than it calls for. We are still low carbing it, so I cut way back on the breadcrumbs - less than a cup...but it works well with the full amount for those not eating low carb.

FULLY INTO OUR 5th SEASON

MUD

 Unlike the rest of the country we dont go straight from Winter into Sprint, we take a little detour into full Mud season. All that snow, feet and feet of it melt into .. well, mud.

White and Brown dog.

Today at Wegmans

GOLDEN TROUT

( something I had never seen before )

It's going to be The Wiz !

From The Today Show : NBC's live musicals have become an annual tradition, kicking off with the "The Sound of Music" in 2013 and continuing with "Peter Pan" in 2014.

And we know what to look forward to next: NBC announced plans Monday to join forces with Cirque du Soleil for an updated version of "The Wiz," which will also be presented as a Broadway revival for the 2016-17 season.

"We love this yearly tradition and we’re more excited than ever to not only bring another Broadway musical to America’s living rooms, but also see it land on Broadway as well,” NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt said in a statement. "

Casting is blowing up the interwebs.

SURPRISE !

A surprise just for today gift from my mother today !

159 days till kick off !

THE FABULOUS FOX THEATER

Atlanta's FOX THEATER

A timeline from 1849 till present day

Dinner

Really Flavorful Black Beans

( tiny bit of rice ) 

Smoked Sausages.

NEVER ENDING STORY

 This is what we woke up to Saturday .

 for real.

It was mostly gone by the afternoon and it turned into a lovely day - but it is just the thought of it

We got long walks in both days.

I ❤️ BENDOR GROSVENOR

TV on in the back ground Saturday as I was tooling around, " A Chef's Life " making me happy - when a promo comes on for the BBC show FAKE OR FORTUNE.

" Hey! I love that show " , these great sounding Brits track the provenance of found paintings - seeing if they are master works or just a nice picture. Found a bunch of them on the YOU TUBES and have just been obsessed. I've watched all that there are and am jonesing for more.

Is it time to start being afraid ?

Turns out that California is rapidly running out of water.

☔️

Not sure why that would make you afraid  ? 

Look these maps.

This is just amazing.

and more on a post hydrated California

Dinner

The last of the vegan /meatless Fridays for this season of Lent , with a little something to celebrate we went all out for tonight .

Blue Fin Tuna

Line Caught Swordfish

w/ wild mushrooms

Spaghetti Squash

Snow Peas

55 YEARS

From the NYT :

“The Fantasticks,” the long-running Off-Broadway staple, will close (again) next month, succumbing to weak ticket sales in an increasingly competitive theater market.

The current production of the musical has been running since 2006, and had been a favorite for tourists; the original production ran from 1960 until 2002. The revival will close May 3 – the 55th anniversary of the show’s opening – after 3,510 performances at the Snapple Theater Center and 17,162 performances in the original run, at the Sullivan Street Playhouse.

“There just are not enough ticket sales to carry the show any more,” Daniel DeMello, a spokesman for the show, said. “We can’t keep taking the hit.”

The show, with music by Harvey Schmidt and a book and lyrics by Tom Jones, is a love story about two neighboring fathers who scheme to make their children fall for each other, and is based on “Les Romanesques,” a play by Edmond Rostand. It opened to tepid reviews – Brooks Atkinson, writing in The New York Times, said “two acts are one too many to sustain the delightful tone of the first.” 

But it was entertaining, with several songs that have become show-tune standards, and inexpensive to produce, and for years it was a highly profitable hit. It has been widely produced by schools and professional theaters. 

Koda rolling in late season snow .

OOTB in NYC

HEROS !

 From .. ( I dont know  ) Audra McDonald has won more Tony Awards than any other actor – six – and if there were a Tony for Twitter, the amazingly talented Broadway actress and singer would have just won one, too.

In response to Indiana Governor Mike Pence today signing a wide-sweeping anti-gay "religious freedom" – aka "license to discriminate" bill into law, McDonald went on a glorious Twitter rant and took down the conservative Republican governor.

Yes, she schooled him, and good.

Take a look:

It’s very difficult to keep the line between the past and the present - Little Edie Beale

DUNWOODY LAKES!

( the lost years  )

The ravishing woman in yellow never does the Facebook thing, where this photo came from  - posted by the lovely woman in the bath robe. So this is one way for her to see it. No idea the theme of this party, or even if I was there.

It's good - at last - to be the King.

530 years later KING RICHARD III is at peace at last

With 

SOPHIE , COUNTESS OF WESSEX

( her day to go to long dead royalty funerals )

AND !

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH!

WATCH him read a poem at the reburial.

LATE MARCH

LOOK WHAT WE GOT TODAY !

I hope y'all can see this. I post all my videos via YOUTUBE and they would not let me upload this with the song in it. It kept snowing all morning - the ground was mostly all white. But, it was gone by  the afternoon. CAN NOT get the video to load - Ill work on it.

LOOKING NO MORE.

HBO pulled the plug on the gay musketeers adventures in 2015 San Francisco : LOOKING.

We watched every episode of this show - but I never really got into it . ( Like I have said before our local PBS station has this very bad local call in show post DOWNTON ABBEY - and this was the time that LOOKING CAME ON , so it was easy to watch )

Neil liked the show more than me - I watch so little actual programed tv that I never think about the fact that there are not " well rounded " based in reality out and proud GLBT characters - so it did not seem all that special to me, maybe it was. ( youtube and netflix are full of them )

I could not get into it due to the complete lack of story arch, like none. It was a snippet show , just sort of drop in on the guys once a week and see whats going on. It is a very post SATC way of making this sort of tv . Maybe they knew they were not going to be picked up because the final show was a total Fonzie on skies - no spoilers .

I did not love the show but totally did not hate it - as a whole lot of the interwebs seemed to.

Dinner

Like I said on FB - you dont see most dinners that look like this, but I for one LOVE fish sticks!

And a classic not wanting to go shopping for dinner dinner!

FISH STICKS

CABBAGE AND CAULIFLOWER

FIELD PEAS

Every Tom Hanks Movie in 8 Minutes (with Tom Hanks and James Corden)

Super Duper Viral 

Long time readers will remember how much I do love James Corden - Gavin and Stacy being one of the funniest shows ever to be on television. He is on this side of the pond now taking over the late late show on CBS. It only stated on Monday, and I have yet to remember to watch.... string around finger tonight .

GOOD MORNING

 Had some things to do in Rochester this morning

 and then hit up an old time favorite JIM'S for breakfast

 an OLD SCHOOL diner -

 made us happy!

DINNER

BUTTER CHICKEN

Butter Chicken, Butter Chicken, Butter Chicken -

Just lately it seems that this dish has just been everywhere I looked. I have never had or made it before. I had most everything on hand, so it was time to dive in.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 ½ cups full-fat Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 ½ tablespoons ground turmeric
• 2 tablespoons garam masala
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 3 pounds chicken thighs, on the bone
• ¼ pound unsalted butter
• 4 teaspoons neutral oil, like vegetable or canola oil
• 2 medium-size yellow onions, peeled and diced
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 3 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated or finely diced
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 medium-size tomatoes, diced
• 2 red chiles, like Anaheim, or 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced
•  Kosher salt to taste
• ⅔ cup chicken stock, low-sodium or homemade
• 1 ½ cups cream
• 1 ½ teaspoons tomato paste
• 3 tablespoons ground almonds, or finely chopped almonds
• ½ bunch cilantro leaves, stems removed.

 Rare that I have the foresight or patience to get things ahead 24 hours in advance, but this was not all that hard.

PREPARATION

1. Whisk together the yogurt, lemon juice, turmeric, garam masala and cumin in a large bowl. Put the chicken in, and coat with the marinade. Cover, and refrigerate (for up to a day).
2. In a large pan over medium heat, melt the butter in the oil until it starts to foam. Add the onions, and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent. Add the garlic, ginger and cumin seeds, and cook until the onions start to brown.
3. Add the cinnamon stick, tomatoes, chiles and salt, and cook until the chiles are soft, about 10 minutes.
4. Add the chicken and marinade to the pan, and cook for 5 minutes, then add the chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for approximately 30 minutes.
5. Stir in the cream and tomato paste, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
6. Add the almonds, cook for an additional 5 minutes and remove from the heat. Garnish with the cilantro leaves.

 Cook your veggies and spices

 dump in chicken and yogurt

 Cream , Nuts, the kitchen sink ....

Not really my favorite!  Not all that Indian or " Curry-ie ". Was a lot of work ...

Taking Its Time

 A nice slow gradual thaw , meaning no or very little flooding , is happening this year. More and more green/brown each day , with the tiny setbacks of added inches that melt rapidly away.

 We can finally get into the park and across the bridge again!

MY HIGH TECH CHILDHOOD

( Check the Map )

This is from a Facebook group that posted a lot of these old Ch 17 , later to be TBS clips.

SEE MORE HERE

including some old cool Braves clips.

Diner

HAM

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER

SQUASH/MUSHROOMS

SUNDAY TV : BACK TO THE SOFA

 CALL THE MIDWIFE : MARCH 29th 8:00 pm

WOLF HALL : MARCH 29th 10:00 pm
( really looking forward to this one )

MAD MEN : APRIL 5th 10:00 
( right? - its been so long I can't remember )

GAME OF THRONES : APRIL 12th 

STUMBLE

The last non tv Sunday night , with things starting up again in a week, had me just driving up and down the dial looking ( something that makes Neil bonkers ) when BOOM! " Welcome to a two and a half hour documentary on R.E.M. . VH1 - who the heck new that in 2015 we had VH1 ? I do think I remember  when this came on on MTV - it was in the papers and folks on Facebook were talking about it, but I never could remember to watch it , or goodness knows find MTV.

The film is through MTV - which sort of grew up with REM, although I certainly do not remember any Wolves Lower competing  with the top 10 at the time. A very good film, really digging into the vaults and letting the boys tell their own story - sure a little more of the post Athens only years at the beginning , but they were not on MTV at the time.

Just sort of flooded me with memories. Music does that to me - puts me in an exact spot, triggers very specific place/setting memories. I guess it does that for everyone. I moved along chronologically with the band.

Want to feel old - for those of you who this will even matter to : Bill Berry left REM almost 20 years ago. Yeah - we are getting up there.

Unlike most , I stuck in there, enjoying the last five records very much. I have no idea when this will be replayed of if it will be, I honestly did just stumble on it. Maybe its online. But it is well worth the search.

Dinner

 BLT Salad

w / avocado and cucumbers

Boneless Pork Chop 

/ orange

Brussels Sprouts

Butternut Squash

Yeah, I know, we eat this a lot, but the MMM has a limited produce dept this time of year.

Winter will not give up ....

 I knew it was chilly last night , but then we woke up this morning to a surprise few inches of clean white snow!

 Hopefully for the last time, it is late March, even here in Canada.

 But at least things are melted enough for us easy access to most everything. This was the first time in months that we were able to walk out in the park/field behind out house.

 Creek is all thawed.

 But it warmed up this afternoon and most of the non icy stuff went away

 We went for a ride.