Met Former Colleague for Lunch

  On Wednesday (06/15/22) Tom and I did double duty: we met a former colleague for lunch and also delivered Jim Saylor his iPad which he had inadvertently left in the back seat of my car a week  before. Jim is cleaning  their Lebanon condo for sale (they have to vacate by 06/30) and neither of us had time to make the entire trip. But Middletown, our eating place for lunch, was perfectly situated to save us both many miles.

 I hadn't seen Shirly Belcher for many years. We both freelanced for the Dayton Daily News at the same time. I "retired" in 2011. We've exchanged a few e-mails over the years ... but not enough of them to really keep up with each other. And  I wanted her to meet Tom.

Bill and Shirley

Tom and Shirley

 We met at the Cracker Barrel near 122 and I-75. That's where Tom  and I first met in 2014 so it was a familiar place  and one we enjoy anyway.

 Shirley is a wonderful writer and I miss seeing her articles. She backed away from freelancing soon after I did. But she's currently exploring her options and I expect to soon see her in print again. Now that we're back in contact we'll plan get-together's now and  then and keep in much closer touch.

 What did I eat? I ordered my usual  vegetable plate:

 Tom calls it my "yellow plate": deep fried okra, hash brown casserole, macaroni and cheese and slaw. Often it's served in small bowls but this time they also used a beautiful blue and white plate. Cracker Barrel is certainly a good meeting place  and makes an  enjoyable meal. Only the acoustics are bad  (it's very hard to hear others at the table).

 So we had a successful day. We were able to return Jim's iPad (and somewhat thwart the high gas prices) and we had a leisurely meal with Shirly. Good food and good friends  all around.

Corn Casserole

  I was looking to make scalloped corn (Mom made a wonderful version that she made with crushed saltine crackers). But then I came across a recipe for "Awesome and Easy Creamy Corn Casserole". The recipe is here.

 I do believe this is one of my all-time favorites!

 It's described as "a cross between corn soufflé and a slightly sweet corn pudding". Whatever you call it, it's delicious.

 Its very simple and made in a single bowl. I melted the butter in the microwave, added the eggs and sugar and then the sour cream. I used canned creamed corn but I cooked frozen whole kernel corn for a fresh twist.

 The addition of a small box of Jiffy dry corn bread mix is the clincher. It adds the body and texture and probably adds some loft as it bakes.

 Here's the mixture ready to be poured into the greased baking dish. I don't have a 9x9" so I used an 8x8". Perfect.

 I baked for the full 45 minutes and then tested for doneness with a toothpick. I then added the broiler on high for a couple of minutes to brown the top.

 This is surely going to  be a standard dish at Pinehaven.

NBC Blooms Again

  Mom's Night Blooming Cereus is blooming again ... and not just one or two blooms but eight or nine (they're partially hidden among foliage and I'm not sure of the total number). Last night about half opened.

A partially open bud

 For a plant that Mom said was supposed to bloom once a decade, this plant has been cranking out flowers in recent year. The last time was 09-15-21 and it that was the second blooming cycle last year; it also bloomed on 07-19-21.

 This plant dates back to the 1920's at her parents home in Miamisburg. I doubt it's the same plant - though it could be.

I first noticed tiny buds sprouting on 05-17-22, There were, of course, too many for the leaves to support so many aborted. When  they are scheduled to abort the tiny bud grows redder and begins to shrink. I know then that it will soon fall off.

By 06-04-22 the buds looked like this. That's just 18 days growing time.

 And this is a day later - 06-05-22 (this is not the same bud however).

 So, more to go tonight. I'm surprised any of them waited even one additional day but we'll have another exciting evening when the sun sets.

Aftermath:

And a promise for tonight:

 And a wider view on 06-07-22 as the blooming cycle ends: