I am never happier than when I get word that I get to spend time with one of my “brothers”. Mark and Dan Russell are that, and more, to me. This time Dan was going to be in Providence on business but unfortunately sans vehicle, or he would have spent his nights with us here in Fairhaven. I’ll take what I can get, so we had what turned into a five-hour dinner last night.
Somehow we made the dangerous decision to put Steve in charge of desserts.
When we were e-mailing and texting plans Dan asked that we go someplace where he could make healthy choices, as he, too was trying to lose a little weight. That was certainly good with us, and we chose 10 Prime Steak and Sushi where they will even go so far as to make the sushi with brown rice.
More pictures. Click on image to view full size
Steve and I had attended our WW meeting in the morning and I’d had a good week; down 3.2 lbs., even after the stiff drink I had the night the trial ended. It’s amazing what we’ll do to see a weight loss, even just a tenth of a pound. Week to week I try to wear the same outfit, or close enough so there isn’t enough of a difference to matter. I stand there with a pair of yoga pants in each hand trying to decide which is lighter. And I wore a short-sleeved tee instead of a long sleeved one this week, thinking that would save me a scootch on the scale. Now I’m destined for short sleeves, probably right through the winter. And nix the jewelry. The actual ritual of weigh-in day is the same, at least for me: a sip of water with my morning thyroid pill, and no sustenance of any kind until after the scale. And don’t forget to pee; it could mean an ounce… I haven’t gone as far as laxatives but you never know what the future holds. Once weigh-in is over my Dunkin Donuts latte awaits me, for sipping through the meeting. Maggie had us list all of the summer functions and temptations that we’d struggle with this year. Vacations, graduations, clambakes, clam shacks, ice cream stands, and cookouts to name but a few. She suggested we bring a healthy snack wherever we go, so that even if we succumb to the temptation of these less than healthy treats we won’t go hog wild on the jumbo eight scoop hot fudge banana split but instead get the kiddie cone. I agree with this attitude. What’s summer without ice cream?
Since we were going out for dinner I was being very judicious about my point use. My strategy was to use as few points as possible and save them for sushi and a martini or two. I had noticed something interesting the last time Steve and I got a sub from our local sandwich shop. My usual is roast beef with everything, including hot peppers. Kitchen sink? Yup, throw that in there. So the add-ins are typically lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, peppers, and hot peppers. While I was enjoying the sub I realized what I was really enjoying was the taste of the lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, peppers, and hot peppers. So why was I wasting calories on the meat? Once in a while, OK, but for daily consumption I think I can lighten this up. Start with a whole-wheat hamburger bun (which we happened to have left over from Memorial Day), 3 points. Add Dijon mustard, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, peppers, and hot peppers, 0 points. Add 2 slices of Sargento ultra thin Swiss cheese, 2 points. Devour. This is a really tasty and satisfying sandwich for 5 points.
We picked Dan up at his hotel at 6 and after long hugs made our way to 10 Prime. The valet took the car and we were led to a table by the window where we would reside until very late. A martini for me with a whole lemon’s worth of twist, a Maker’s Mark Manhattan for Dan with a splash of St. Germaine elderflower liqueur (something I’d not heard of before, and interesting in judicious amounts), and Steve asked the bartender to surprise him. Brave man. He was given a Maker’s Mark with simple syrup and muddled lemon, garnished with a twist; beautiful and quite tasty. Steve asked if we had simple syrup at home and I told him it was in the fridge labeled “hummingbird food”. We wanted sushi but were too busy talking to take the time to figure out what, so we ordered a “dinghy”; thirty pieces of assorted sushi rolls, sashimi and nigiri. Unfortunately we dug in before I remembered to take a picture.
Dan threw in another soft-shell crab roll, and we continued to talk. And drink. The wonder of dear friends that have been in your life forever is the ability to take right up again where you left off last time. And we did.
When the dinghy arrived we were fooled by an interesting cut of one of the rolls. The slant made the roll into triangles but they tricked us by putting them back together, and half of Dan’s bite took an unexpected detour… into his water glass.
He deemed it quite moist.
Somehow we made the dangerous decision to put Steve in charge of desserts. And we were so busy talking that we didn’t even realize that it took a long time for them to come out. The reason? Chocolate soufflé. Can’t keep these puppies backed up in the kitchen, they hafta make ‘em from scratch. It was served with a vanilla bean creme anglais. He’d also ordered and an apple oatmeal crisp with maple ice cream. I was judicious with my bites, and did have an after dinner drink. And we continued to talk. Since my baby brother will be fifty in August of 2015 I’m on a campaign to convince he and his partner Ken to come with us to Cabo in March, as I think milestone birthdays should be celebrated all year. So Ken, who is gifted in languages received my first Spanish missive today, complete with photos and web links.
We discussed my blogs, and Dan asked that I share some of my lighter cooking techniques, which I am happy to do. I’ll add a couple into each blog and I hope they help.
I do not like to feel deprived, so I make things to eat that make me happy. There are a gazillion diet salad dressings on the shelf that are probably tasty but the ingredient panel turns me off. I like to be able to pronounce what I eat. My recipe for salad dressing when I want vinaigrette is the following, to taste: Balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, chopped garlic, reduced fat parmesan, salt and pepper. Use enough mustard so the dressing isn’t dark like the balsamic, but lighter like the mustard. That is the base you can keep in the fridge. When time to use it take out the amount you want and add to it a tablespoon of olive oil. That way you can control the amount of oil you’re using. And when I need creamy dressing I mix low fat mayonnaise with low fat or fat-free sour cream, and add some chopped dill. It’s my go-to comfort food salad dressing, and 1-½ tablespoons each of mayo and sour cream goes a long way. I toss it into a salad of vegetables, defrosted or fresh peas, tuna and a chopped hard-boiled egg. Very satisfying.
There were more long hugs as we dropped Dan off around 11. Poor Dan was being picked up by his client at 6:45 this morning and driven to Hartford for a meeting. I hope he knows her well enough to nap on the way. I was especially happy today to be retired.
Four weeks, total weight loss 9 lbs. That is the equivalent of two Perdue oven stuffer roasters.
