Celebration Dinner at Ted's

Two days before New Year's Eve, my dad got some really great news about his health! We were all very excited to get the "official" word on something we thought was going to happen we just didn't know when. And because of these health concerns he had he was put on this ridiculously strict diet. My mom showed me the list they got from the dietitian. It was a full sheet of paper - a little bit larger than the standard 8 1/2 x 11 full of all the things he could not eat. That's right I said COULD NOT eat. It was absolutely crazy. I got done reading through the list and asked what was left that was okay to eat? Well, she found the things he could eat and their whole house began a very restricted diet. They lived on that for several months. One of the things I got to participate in was changing the way I prepared my sweet potato dish for Thanksgiving and Christmas. So, the day before, we peeled and cut the potatoes into little squares. Then placed them in a very large bowl and covered them with water. This was put in the refrigerator for a minimum of four hours. After the four+ hours was up, we drained the potatoes, washed them and put them in the bowl again to be once again covered with water and placed in the refrigerator for another four+ hours. We left them in the fridge over night. Then the next morning I drained them, rinsed them and completed the recipe as normal. Luckily there were no ingredients in that particular recipe that my dad was not able to have. After doing it the first time, it really wasn't that bad - and probably made the potatoes that much better for the rest of us to eat it. It just took some extra planning to allow for the time (and some extra room in the fridge).

Well after getting the news that his health issue was no longer - we went out to dinner to celebrate at Ted's Hot Dogs! Ryan was very happy to be able to go there with his grandpa again. They had been discussing that this would be one of the first places Grandpa would want to go to when he was able again & Ryan was anxiously waiting for that day. We met up there with two of my brothers, a nephew and my parents to enjoy our yummy treats!

My dad after his first bite:

He was so happy to get a taste of Ted's again that somehow he managed to get a streak of mustard on his glasses:

My brother's and my nephew enjoying their meals and talking about cars:

Doug, Ryan and I:

My mom & dad:

What a great looking hot dog: