I imagine the food will be amazing!

The menu will include:

• Shirin Polo aka Jeweled Rice with small lamb balls, candied orange peel, slivered carrots, and slivered almonds
  
• Dolma - Rice, lamb, and herbs stuffed grape leaves. Persian style is quite different from the Greek version most people are familiar with. They are cooked with a sweet sour mix of vinegar and sugar so they don't have the oil that the Greek version have.
  
• Fessenjoon with Persian Rice - Chicken, pomegranate syrup, ground walnut stew with rice that has been soaked before cooking and then steamed which creates very fluffy rice that doesn't stick together.
  
• Panir Sabzeh - Bread (pita and sangak (similar to lavash), basil, mint, tarragon, radish, sweet onion, and feta cheese
  
• Baklavah - Kelly will be making this using my mom's recipe which was handed down from my Persian grandma.
  
• I also bought some Persian chickpea and rice cookies along with some Gaz which is a nougat and pistachio confection.
  
• Persian black tea served in fancy silver tea glasses (need to get those polished today)

I think that covers it. Oh, wine, beer, iced tea, and water. The weather is supposed to be in the mid-70s, so we will be both inside and out back. I miss hanging out on the back porch.

ETA - I knew I forgot something.

• Maast-o Khiar - Yogurt with shredded/chopped cucumber, mint, dill, and yellow raisins.

We slept with the windows open last night, and I have done nothing but sneeze. I have spent more time sneezing than working today.

Maast-o Khiar - Yogurt with shredded/chopped cucumber, mint, dill, and yellow raisins.

Oh! I bet that was one of the dishes I was afraid to try at the wedding I went to last weekend. I should have had DH take some and let me know. If I couldn't tell for sure it was meatless I skipped it. Baklavah was consumed without hesitation.

Retirement Boehner is pretty entertaining. But that's a hard no on all of them. Death is always an option.

My bet is that Boehner drinks so heavily he is harmless. Also, he certainly must be in good spirits not to be in the House anymore.

Desserts and booze - almost always vegan, or at least vegetarian.

SuziQ, all of that sounds incredible! I don't think I've ever had any Persian food, but I would love to try it.

I went for a walk today wearing my newly delivered Nevertheless, She Persisted T-Shirt. I was at an intersection waiting for my Walk signal, and a guy in his car was scowling at me so hard that when he unbuckled his seatbelt for a moment to get something out of his glove compartment, I honestly thought for a second that he was about to shoot me.

zuisa, I have one on order! waiting impatiently for it to arrive.

I can't even with the insurance company, which does not really convey the depths of my loathing.

The $21,000 drug? It does actually say on the website that it's not covered. What it shows is: Drug name, COVERED PRICE, and then a note saying oh, by the way, this isn't covered.

Also the note looks exactly the same as the note that a drug requires pre-authorization, so I totally missed it.

I don't remember where we discuss Great British Bakeoff, but I have to put my reaction somewhere. The new Mel and Sue of GBBO are...Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding. NOEL FIELDING? This Noel Fielding?

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I do not like Sandi Toksvig. I can't wait to see where Mel and Sue and Mary end up.