Eat With Pills

Yes I'm talking about my bedroom. There's nothing more pleasant, when you can hardly sleep because of the snake in your side, than the patter of combat boots overhead, well past midnight, from under a sheet, two comforters, a wool blanket, pajama pants and a long-sleeve thermal. I absolutely love that their kitchen is over my bedroom.

I had to get up and add a hooded sweatshirt to my sleepware. And I don't even get that cold. This is illegal, right?

It's that most wonderful time of the year when all my toiletries come out from the bathroom and get to spend the winter in my living room and bedroom. And my toothbrush sojourns by the kitchen sink as the bathroom sink doesn't run warm water again until April. Thankfully I don't spend more than half my income on this living situation...

So what's a good non-sitting activity when it's 10-below the average late-November temperature? Checking out the 14 balloons for the Parade. I think B can be convinced.

Best News of the Day: No more Last Call. In order to combat the problem of too-many-too-quick last call drinks, some pubs in Great Britain will now stay open round-the-clock.

Last year I was sick for Thanksgiving. No big deal since I don't eat turkey. This year it's my goal to sit through the meal. Lofty, I know, but something I have to try to do as I am back to work next week. That should be interesting.

Went to see my doctor a few days ahead of schedule today as I wasn’t sleeping well and was concerned about the allegedly torn tendon. He said it wasn’t a torn tendon, though maybe a bit of a strain. He thinks it’s 95% certain that I’ve strained my quadratus lumborum (the equilateral triangle muscle previously discussed). This is why it’s uncomfortable to be on my left side now (because it stretches my right side, where the pain/problem lies).

The other 5%, by the way, is the off-chance that my pain has something to do with my appendix. This information is hard for me to process but my doctor is concerned that “at rest” does not make the pain subside. He thinks I may want to see a general surgeon but he’s not pushing me to one quite yet. If I was a caveman, I’m pretty sure no one would mate with me; even if I could figure out how to make berry sauce for the grilled game.

B and I went down to Chinatown for Vietnamese soup noodles at, of course, Pho Viet Huong, where I made a disturbing discovery – the spring rolls are now made with chicken instead of pork “because of all the Malaysians and Indonesians” who, presumably, are both Muslim and regular customers. What about me? I am a somewhat regular customer and I despise chicken. The manageresque person told me they could make pork spring rolls by special request, in advance. We’ll see. B ate all four (less my one bite) rolls. I had to get summer rolls (and B doesn’t eat shrimp so it was quite a lonely experience).

FLEXERIL is indicated as an adjunct to rest and physical therapy for relief of muscle spasm associated with acute, painful musculoskeletal conditions. Improvement is manifested by relief of muscle spasm and its associated signs and symptoms, namely, pain, tenderness, limitation of motion, and restriction in activities of daily living.

Cyclobenzaprine HCl (that’s what flexeril is) relieves skeletal muscle spasm of local origin without interfering with muscle function

So I made a big pasta dish to take my first dose, an adaptation of a recipe created by my mom’s friend. I used a pot and a pan to make the sauce. If you use jar sauce you can eliminate some of the steps (no onion, garlic, tomatoes – the red part of the sauce) and clean-up. It’s up to you.

Sausage and Arugula Farfalle

Olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, smashed and halved

1 28 ox can crushed tomatoes

1 hot sausage

1 fennel (or sweet) sausage

1 big bunch arugula (or 2 smaller ones), rinsed, large stems off, roughly chopped

1 lb farfalle, cooked according to package directions, drained

black pepper, to taste

freshly grated parmesean, to taste

Over medium-high heat, coat with the bottom of a heavy pot with olive oil, be somewhat generous. When olive oil is hot, add onion and garlic, stirring until ingredients are well combined. Cover. Lower heat to medium. Stir infrequently. When the onion and garlic are starting to color (not quite brown), add tomatoes. Combine well. Lower heat to just above a simmer. Let this go for 15-20 minutes.

In a large skillet, break the sausages (with your hands) into ½-inch crumbles and brown. The “hot” of the sausage should be apparent here. When all the meat is mostly brown, add about 1/3 the red sauce. Remove from heat. Add arugula. Cover with remaining sauce. Combine. This will wilt the arugula. Add farfalle. Combine well. Divide between four bowls (or two with leftovers). Pepper and parmesean to taste.

Alt: use escarole instead of arugula

Worst News of the Day: Pat Morita, whose portrayal of the wise and dry-witted Mr. Miyagi in "The Karate Kid" earned him an Oscar nomination, has died.