Deanna, sweats and slippers are approved apparel for tonight. They go with lobster. Linda, hop in the car and come over, I have the room. You too Deanna. After a good nights sleep, the menu now is: Herring in cream Lobster with butter Roast tenderloin Rolls, breads, etc.(Rolls are rising already) Roasted truffeled asparagus with parmesan topping. Mushroom Ragout, posted by Catlover on the tenderloin thread a few weeks ago. Beer, wine, etc. Sweets are still being considered. Is chocolate mousse light? And not one thing needs to be bought. All from the pantry or freezer. Now all Dad needs to do is get some more beer. What a hardship. Thanks ladies! Happy New Year!

I know of one person who sued his health care provider and won. However- the error made was egregious. The man presented at urgent care with slurred speech, unable to write properly (he tried to write a note for a neighbor and his writing looked like a child's.) He was sent away being told that his symptoms were stress related (the man was a C-level employee at a Fortune 100 company and his newborn daughter was in ICU.) He went home, resumed normal life, went on a hike the next day, came home and collapsed from a major stroke. It took about a year of intense speech therapy for our friend to get his speech back- but his career- he was the likely next CEO of his company- ended ahead of schedule. With respect to secrecy, one of my dearest friends is a cardiologist in this system. One day I told her about the situation and her eyes bugged out of her head- because she told me she sits on the committee that reviews such cases and she had never heard of this incident. The case settled to my friend's financial satisfaction- a cold comfort. My friend finally heard about the case from her employer when the settlement was reached. I am very sorry to hear of your mother's suffering. I wish you all the best in seeking an improvement in her care. ETA As mentioned in previous posts- cases like this are not litigated, they go into arbitration.

LindaC, my daughter Amanda is lactose intolerant too, as well as being celiac, so there's real whipped cream for the rest of us, but "non dairy topping" for her. My brother, the heathen, likes Cool Whip better anyway, so she shares. There will be 11 people here today and they are all family. I ask them if there is anything special they want, and everyone asks "are you going to make XXXXX?" Well, of course I am now, LOL. Since Amanda was just diagnosed as being celiac a couple of years ago, I'm still experimenting with the gluten free thing. I handed her a gluten free cookbook and told her to pick out dessert. She chose a sweet potato "torte", which seems more like a sweet potato pie with a sugar cookie type crust, baked in a springform pan. We'll see how that is. I've made the green bean casserole thing, although I detest it. I tried one of the "homemade without canned soup" versions one year and if it's possible, it was worse than the original. Ugh. Annie

Sheila, AnnT has a wonderful recipe for a buttery apple cake. Torta Di Mele Al Burro (Buttery Apple Cake) Source: Savoring Italy by Michele Scicolone 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 3 Apples (Golden Delicious) peeled, cored, and cut into slices 1/4 inch thick 2/3 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 whole eggs, plus 1 egg yolk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest confectioners sugar Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously butter a 9-inch round cake pan. In a large frying pan over low heat, melt the butter. Pour 6 tablespoons of it into a small bowl or cup and set aside. Add the apple slices to the butter remaining in the frying pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat. In a small bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl beat the whole eggs and egg yolk until blended. Add the 6 tablespoons melted butter, the vanilla, the granulated sugar, and the lemon zest. Stir in the flour mixture and the apples. Spoon into the prepared pan, smoothing the top. Bake until the cake is browned, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Invert the cake onto a plate and lift off the pan, then invert the cake again onto the rack and let cool completely. Just before serving place confectioners sugar in a small sieve and dust the top of the cake.