McLean, Virginia: After so much excitement yesterday, today was just a bummer of hunkering-down (after exercising) and trying to get through yet another day. Probably the same as your day - minus the 103-degree temperatures?
I planned menus, trying to ration-out the items in the fridge that will go off earliest. This is always a gamble. I’m pretty-much over arugula now, and need to rely on romaine heads/hearts and good old iceberg. These lettuces seem to last the longest in our fridge. When I was a kid, iceberg was basically lettuce. Not many other options except romaine or spinach. Granted, I was a kid a very, very, long time ago, but we all need to revisit iceberg. It is sweet. It is crunchy. It lasts a very long time in the veggie drawer. It is inexpensive, and widely available in organic form. I can get four or five salads from one head. Win-Win.
Dave had arranged for our bus to be washed today. It was too hot to have the motorhome waxed, but he did book an appointment for mid-May - very early in the morning. Hopefully, I will be able to sleep through this procedure.
Ha. Ha.
While the crew were here, they also washed our car. So nice that our car is clean... even if it leaves the resort every ten days or so. Gasoline is basically free ($2.14 today in Indio) and we can’t go anywhere. I mean, I guess we could go for a ride and never leave our car. But, why?

Truth is, I am getting a bit repetitive on our nightly appetizer plate. Something crunchy, something pickled, something sweet, something savory, something salty. I can’t acquire everything I want to use for our appetizer trays during my rare visits out. The cheese section at our grocer is lacking, and no longer staffed (insert sad face here)... but I have not been to our local Ralph’s (Kroger) for several weeks. Maybe when I go - in 5-8 days? - things will be different?
Since I made tortilla soup for tonight’s dinner on Saturday - using ingredients remaining from the Southwest BBQ Chicken Salad, I had a relatively light “cooking” schedule today. Though not photographed last night, I used another of the mini-cans of smoked albacore to make a spread for our appetizer before the Birthday Zoom Party. Insanely easy: one can of smoked albacore, cream cheese, lemon juice. (I will wait here while you gather a pen and paper.) This mixture was scooped on endive leaves for My Driver before his Birthday Zoom party last night. (Didn’t want him fainting during the festivities!) The remainder of the spread was the topper with our salad tonight. I slivered the rest of the endive, added red onion, kalamata olives, cherry tomatoes, and a sliced avocado, as a nice base for the remainder of the smoked tuna spread (blobbed on top), with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Wonderful!

The tortilla soup was really good. Enough left-over for lunch tomorrow! We have to make-do with what we have during our confinement.

Mexican Tuesday was switched-out tonight (making-due!), so we are going back to Italy tomorrow... the asparagus in the fridge is looking a little limp. Fettuccini with asparagus and lemon?
After eight seasons of watching Homeland on Showtime, we watched the final-final episode this evening. Carrie still can’t smile, but apparently smiling is not required to be a spy.
What are your feeling on the conclusion of Homeland? Confess in the comment section below.
Until my next update, I remain, your “I am not a spy” correspondent.
Why not just go for a drive? We do that once or twice a week just to break the monotony. Never get out, just drive someplace new (or not) and back home.
Well thanks for the heads up on Homeland! I’m in the market for another long series. I have seen 63 episodes of Braking Bad, El Camino and up to date with Better Get Saul. I’m now 60% through the Wire, 60 episodes and will need 30 more days of entertainment. Our Governor has yet to provide a date, but we are thinking May30 or longer for parole.
Thanks for the food updates. While we are not in the coach, we still have the same issues at home with meal prep and choices. By the time we are done here in Las Vegas we will have prepared over 250 meals at home. 🙄.
We got our coach washed and waxed, ready for our first road trip of the year just before COVID-19. At least it’s undercover and ready to go once we get the green light.
Stay cool in you high heat. We enjoy that weather!
I am liking your takes on your menus for making do with what you have. And so true about iceberg. My mother was a good basic cook – awesome stew and pot roast, but salad was a wedge of iceberg with a blob of mayo. However, something I love to this day was her special occasion salad, chopped iceberg with a bit of onion, mayonnaise, and a small CAN of shrimp.
I was glad it ended the way it did. Scared at times the way it turned in Saul’s direction but surprised really at how they wrote the ending. There are possibilities for an update in the future and I’m glad they didn’t drag her daughter into the story. How do you feel about it? I cried…
We’ve discovered several binge-worthy series on Netflix.
Impostor – 2 Seasons, amazing plotline and a great cast. A great “who done it” with a “through the looking glass” aspect.
Unbelievable – 2 Seasons, like above – based on true story, but really hard to imagine how poorly rape victims were treated by the police. Not graphic, just short flashes of violence but great acting.
Formula 1/Drive to Survive – 2 Seasons. Stunning photography, a peek into a world that seems surreal – money, talent, risk. Not only is the racing aspect covered richly, but the teams and individual drivers become a lot more than just names.