Crab Cakes and French Fries

We tested positive for Covid on our anniversary; felt lousy on Persian new year; and started to feel a bit better on my husband’s birthday. We were so disappointed to catch this awful virus after being so careful for four years. We just got the last booster vaccine eight days before. This has not been a good year for us, and an even worse March. My husband has been having too many doctor appointments since January and this was the icing on the cake. But for his birthday we decided it was time to make French fries. Not having any taste or smell it hardly mattered to me what we ate. Luckily I am getting some of that back but things still taste quite bland. But my husband loves French fries. So he cut the potatoes up in the French fry blade and I seasoned the potatoes in a bowl, then put them in the air fryer. Then we made frozen crab cakes and broccoli to finish up the birthday meal. It felt good to begin eating “normal” again. We were using the air fryers all of the time before Covid and I was really enjoying cooking. But I lost interest when we were down and out. After dinner I got out the usual snacks - lady fingers, cookies and candy - and added a single birthday candle. My husband was happy. In the end that’s all we can ask for. 

Crab Cakes, Pierogi and Brussel Sprouts

We haven’t really gone anywhere since March. Being in the “high risk” age group keeps us away from just about everything - except a morning walk and an occasional drive to the city. We don’t leave the house without a mask and still have groceries delivered. Cooking every night for dinner can become a burden, so every once in a while we will order delivery. Primarily we use Giant for weekly groceries, but also Instacart for Harris Teeter and Fresh Market. I can’t get fresh crab cakes or angel food cake from Giant so it is a treat to get them at Fresh Market along with our favorite spinach pierogi from Harris Teeter. Since my husband is the cook, it’s usually his burden to figure out the menu. So he prepared the pierogi and the Brussel sprouts for dinner. He always adds onions or other items to make them even tastier. We rarely eat all of the pierogi so the next day we had crab cakes along with the leftovers - and some rice. Of course there is always bread and salad. If nothing else the meals always look good and by and large taste better than any restaurant delivery. Food from restaurants just don’t taste the same when it’s take out - unless it was take out all along - like Moby Dick kabobs. I don’t know when we will ever step foot back in to a restaurant again. Thank goodness we have options. 

Instacart and Physician Office Over Charges

It’s sort of like being a sleuth. Getting a bill for something unexpected or being overcharged for a product we didn’t order can be frustrating and time consuming to rectify. That was the case with insurance coverage for lab work and for crab cakes at Instacart. My blood work was sent to the hospital rather than Labcorps. I knew my insurance covered Labcorps and that the doctor office uses Labcorps. So when the $180 plus and another $90 bill came in I waited for the insurance claim and also notified the billing office about my concern. Luckily they said they would adjust the balance. Let’s see what happens. We also made sure my husband requested Labcorps when he went for blood work last week to avoid this situation again. Then we requested crab cakes at Harris Teeter through Instacart. We did get crab cakes, but for half the price for a different product. But we were charged double that for the original requested item. So I got on chat, described the issue - along with a photo of the product we received in error - and they finally realized that we were overcharged. We were promised a $10 plus credit for that along with another $5 for a wrong rice product. I’m just glad I noticed the discrepancies and didn’t just pay them off. It does take a lot of time but in a way I’m glad I challenged the inaccurate bills. I’m sure it’s not the last time it will happen. I prefer using chat and emails for documentation purposes and taking photos always helps. These things are bound to happen, but why so often? 

St. Pete Beach and Crabby Bills

Crabby Bill's is becoming a tradition. Every time we come to visit my parents in St. Petersburg we end up at the beach and Crabby Bill's. First we drive to Pass a grille beach, a place we spent a lot of time growing up and searching for shells and what not. Then we come back to have lunch. I always get a crab cake sandwich, then we take the little board walk to the white sand and take in the scenery. Although we didn't see the dolphins today, I'm always on the look out for them. There are some ships and platforms out in the distance collecting sand that will be used to support the beachfront from additional erosion. All the green plants help mitigate the wind and surf damage. We usually aren't here during the hottest months of the year but parental health emergencies dictated an unplanned road trip. There is something very slow and serene about this place. I'm beginning to appreciate it more and more with each visit. Then I think of hurricanes and can't decide what's worse - the inconveniences of living on Capitol Hill or a random hurricane.  (Dolphin photo courtesy of Richard Hoskins.)

Mamie's Cafe With Love in Aberdeen

We took a ride to Winterthur in Wilmington Delaware to see the Downton Abbey costume exhibit. On the way home we thought it would be a good idea to have an early dinner. So I looked on google maps to see what the options were outside the usual fare. I found Mamie's Cafe in Aberdeen. It had good reviews so we decided to try it. It was indeed a very unique experience. It was filled with fifties decor, music, and antiques, all packed in a space much bigger than it looked on the outside sitting in a strip mall. By the time we left the place was packed. We ate two bites of cream crab soup and were full and ended up taking everything home including the free dessert. Luckily we don't eat like this every day. It's definitely a change of pace - only to be taken on a road trip every once in a long while.