Nov. 24
Breakfast: leftover coleslaw, dried gooseberries, pistachios, chocolate-covered almonds. 

My daughter's breakfast: brown rice crispies and milk, only half the bowl because she said she felt "a little queasy."  By 8:15 am she had called and left me a message to pick her up at school because she was throwing up.  The school nurse briefly lectured her that, when feeling queasy, one should avoid foods like milk and orange juice.  True, but not all that helpful after the fact.

Lunch: hard-boiled egg, little chunks of asiago and smoked provolone cheese, last slice of cornmeal toast with butter, handful of grape tomatoes.  The grape tomatoes were good.  I rediscover that I don't like smoked cheese.  My daughter likes it, so I'll save the rest for her.

Dinner: cooked for our last supper with Scarlet and Joseph.  White rice, tofu of the same easy kind I've been making lately, Madhur Jaffrey's Poached Eggplants with a Korean Hot Sauce.  Scarlet appreciated the Korean sauce, which had gochujang in it.  Joseph liked the tofu.  Althea ate nothing.  Joseph brought us an Oreo cake from Whole Foods.  It was disgusting-- horribly sweet, with frosting that had the consistency of shortening, and soggy whole Oreos on top.  Still, I appreciated the gesture, though it might have had a self-serving component:  he wanted to eat all the Oreos.  I picked the cake out from between the layers of frosting and ate that.  (Having done a bit of belated research just now, it is possible that this was a vegan cake, and that was why both the frosting and Oreos tasted so weird.  Probably Scarlet and Joseph would not have noticed this detail in purchasing.)

Snacks: 4 cups of coffee, 2 regular, 2 decaf, with half and half.  A "pretzel" roll from Safeway before bed.  Those rolls just call to me for some reason.  I am becoming bread-addicted again.

Breakfast: 1 banana, slice of cornmeal toast with natural ground peanut butter, slice of sour cream poundcake.  I didn't want peanut butter on my toast, I wanted regular butter.  But the peanut butter was literally the only protein-type food remaining in the house.  We are out of eggs.  We are out of cheese.  We are out of salami.  We are out of yogurt.  We are out of nuts.  Now we are also out of peanut butter.  At least I have the day off today and can shop.

Lunch: I have not shopped yet.  I thought of another protein food: sour cream.  Dip made of sour cream mixed with sambar powder (because, why not?), paired with carrot medallions.  Slice of cornmeal toast with butter and strawberry jam.  Slice of poundcake.  The poundcake is gone now.

Shopping!: At Safeway, where I proceeded to spend just as much money as I do at Whole Foods.  The assumption that these mainstream groceries are substantially cheaper seems to be inaccurate.  It would be interesting to do some analysis of this, and, knowing me, I will someday.  Anyway, shopping: mirin (sweet rice cooking wine), dried shiitake mushrooms, basmati rice, green lentils, regular long-grain rice, clover honey, flaky sea salt, brown cage-free eggs, 2% lactose-free milk, half and half, 6 Dannon Oikos greek yogurts (various flavors), quart of plain whole-milk Fage greek yogurt, 6 store-made assorted rolls, thin boneless pork chops, organic boneless chicken breasts, 12 lemons, scallions, 3 eggplant, ginger root, organic bananas, organic yellow onion, chocolate-covered almonds, bag of mandarin oranges, 2 packages organic extra-firm tofu, fresh chives, olive oil, grape tomatoes, "golden berries" aka dried gooseberries, asiago cheese, smoked provolone, pistachios.  Total $149.

​At the liquor store: bottle of sake, $13.

Dinner: roasted potatoes and farm sweet potatoes; farm cabbage slaw with a dressing made of mayonnaise, whole grain mustard, honey and cider vinegar, plus salt and lots of pepper: chicken breast tenders coated with cornstarch, salt and pepper, dipped in egg, then rolled in a mixture of panko bread crumbs, unsweetened coconut, and a little sugar (I used too much sugar) and baked.  This was an OK dinner, not great.  It sounded and looked better than it actually tasted.

Snacks: 4 cups of coffee with heavy cream, 2 regular, 2 decaf.  Safeway-made jalapeno-cheddar bread roll.  The latter beckoned to me irresistibly before dinnertime, and it was strangely delicious.  Recommend.

Nov. 21
Breakfast: farm carrot sticks, mandarin orange, salted almonds mixed with Craisins.

Snacks: 4 cups of coffee with half and half (2 regular, 2 decaf), glass of fresh carrot-orange juice (I started to feel faint behind the counter at work), several spoonfuls of white chocolate malt milkshake (for the same reason), which was just about the sweetest thing I've ever tasted in my life.  I mean that literally.  It's not particularly a positive thing.

Lunch: After work, from the restaurant.  Grilled swiss cheese with ham and tomato on rye.  Side of steamed spinach with sesame oil.  They didn't even bother to heat up the latter.  Doesn't anybody like me anymore?

Restaurant follies: there was already shouting between our two primary waitresses this morning by 9:30 am. (I was working the counter today, not waitressing.) That was extremely early; usually they don't start falling apart until later, around 1:30, when they get hungry.  It seemed like a bad sign.  But everybody pulled it together.

Shopping (at coop): brown rice crisp cereal, 3 rolls Seventh Generation toilet paper, a salami, coffee beans, bananas, $26.  (At bakery): loaf of cornmeal bread, small loaf of sour cream poundcake, $13.

More snacks: My stepson was stopping at our house prior to attending my daughter's high school play tonight, and none of us would have time for dinner beforehand.  So I laid out  chunks of cornmeal bread, salami, parmesan cheese,  and sour cream pound cake, and we snacked on that for a while.

Dinner (after the play, at Tastee Diner): Bacon and eggs, home fries with onions, and wheat toast with butter and jam.  Another cup of coffee, which was a mistake because it made me sleep badly.
 
Nov. 22
Breakfast (6:30 am, before work): one fried egg, piece of cornmeal toast with natural ground peanut butter, carrot sticks.

Lunch (at about 4:00, after a very long day and grueling Sunday at work): salami, parmesan cheese, carrot sticks, piece of corn toast with unnatural peanut butter and strawberry jam.

Snacks at work: None.  Nothing whatsoever except water and breath mints.

Other snacks: 4 cups of coffee with half and half and/or heavy cream, 2 regular, 2 decaf.
​
Dinner: Dominoes pizza with mushrooms and spinach, eaten while watching a 3-weeks-old episode of Downton Abbey with my husband and daughter.  I was too exhausted to cook.  My daughter ordered an individual pizza for herself which she called a "none pizza with left beef."  Apparently this is some sort of internet joke.  It was a plain crust with beef scattered on one half.  (Although, as she pointed out, how can you tell which is the left half and which is the right half?  It is round.)  We both took photos of her none pizza with left beef and she texted it to her friends.  I posted it on my blog.  She also ate it.

Note that I am now over one month behind on posting diary entries.  However, soon-- soon!-- there will be more time for catching up.  I can't wait.

Breakfast: mandarin orange, two pieces of ciabatta toast with butter and jam, salted almonds.

Lunch: There was really no meal here per se, but just a series of snacks drawn out over a several-hour period (some just before starting work at 11 am, and some during the work shift).  In aggregrate, though, lunch consisted of Craisins, two hard-boiled eggs, and a mini peanut-butter sandwich of ciabatta bread and natural ground peanuts.  I ate half the Craisins and the the tiny sandwich sitting on a street bench near the Bank of America.  I ate the rest of the Craisins and the two eggs standing up behind the counter at work, while my coworker refilled bottles of ketchup.  The 11-5 waitressing shift is very inconvenient for lunching.

Last CSA bag of the season-- a sad occasion.  Bag of mixed salad greens, bag of spinach, another absolutely gorgeous bok choy, one gigantic sweet potato and two tiny little ones, lots of fat carrots, a single beet (why?).

Dinner: mix of roasted vegetables ( farm carrots, potato and onion from the Giant); sauteed farm spinach; mandarin orange; slices of ciabatta bread with melted parmesan cheese on top. This was delicious and colorful, though simple.  It's been a while since I've done the mixed roasted vegetables, which used to be one of my staples. 

Snacks: 4 cups of coffee (2 regular, 2 decaf); 1 Red Hook IPA; a couple of pieces of parmesan cheese when I got home after work and was starving; small bowl of Heritage Os after dinner while watching John Oliver with my husband.