Outside the dugout: What's cooking?

We have all the fixings for meatloaf, but my wife called and said she wants to make it. So we are having take-out gyros instead.

And in the Tour sub-thread tomorrow and Wednesday will be hell on wheels. Jumbo Visma has to isolate TP on the final climb on one of those stages. UAE is down one rider and they have been working hard recently so it might happen, especially if Ineos is also putting pressure on. I think JV and I are stronger teams than UAE, but TP is the class rider in the field. Heck, Greg Lemond won his second TdF with a dreadful team. And won his first with half the team riding against him.

 

Tonight is spicy sesame noodles with Thai basil and peanuts.

In the TdF sub-thread Jumbo Visma put on a clinic of old school racing. They isolated the yellow jersey and attacked him over and over again until his legs were jello and he was out of energy. I was surprised it took that long to crack him. He is a special talent.

 

Grilling some inch thick pork chops, salad and roasted mini potatoes.

Added in edit: I forgot the daily TdF sub thread. I am shocked that Phil did not understand the Jumbo Visma plan. They took over the peloton on the penultimate climb and set a hard tempo not to win the stage, but to prevent attacks. They are a very strong team and can dictate what happens. You saw it today. It is much like Sky with Froome. Also like USPS and Discovery with Lance but they also had "Better living through chemistry".

 

Thunderstorms in Gainesville. We planned on eating dinner at home and then taking wine to a friend's house. But maybe we have two bottles of wine open and won't be going. I think that we can deal with this problem.

 

Serious rain held off so we had help with the wine last night.

Today I am making chicken tagine with cous-cous.

 

Tonight I am making carrot bisque and garlic shrimp to be served over rice.

In the TdF subthread it was WILD early on. Jumbo Visma had to work a lot harder than they wanted to today, but tomorrow should be an easier day for them and then the rest day on Monday.

Leaving Monday to go to Oregon and spending a few days in a cabin near/on Mt Hood with my SIL and her husband. I don't know if they have Direct TV or even Internet access so I might miss Stage 18.

Taking our mini Aussie dog with us. I have already trained her to get in her carrier on command. I call it her "suitcase" and it is supposed to fit under an airline seat.

 

I hope so as well.

I plan on meeting up with my PhD thesis advisor at a very good winery for a tasting and a vinyard tour. He was really tough on me as a grad student, but we have been great friends over many years. He now has a summer retreat near Eugene and has wanted me to visit in the summer for many years. It has never worked out and this is about as close as it might ever be.

My SIL that we are visiting has had some health issues and is on some immune system suppressants so my wife and I have been very careful. We took the CRP covid tests yesterday and were both negative. Yeah! Still we will wear masks and distance when we get there and in the airport and on the plane do as best we can with distancing. And we will take another CRP test once we get there. Odds are we are fine, but we want to be super careful. An ounce of prevention versus a pound of cure kind of thing.

 

BTW the first time I had carrot bisque was at the Island Hotel in Cedar Key and my son loved it. I told him exactly what was in it and reproduced it for him within the week. He was impressed.

At the same time I was always jealous of his pitch perfect ear. I would play something on my guitar and he would replicate it exactly on his Yamaha piano. Damn.