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Showing posts from 2020

New Foodie projects for 2021

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Project Time!  ---------------- It's December, the day after Christmas, when I start looking forward to the end of the year and starting fresh next year.  I've decided that my "new years resolution" this year will be to do and to blog new projects. I'm thinking to blog on Sundays since I don't have too much going on on Sundays. And I like to make things on the weekends.  On a side note, I actually completed a goal today. I haven't counted the recipes but I created 30+ categories in word documents, such as "Pastries" loaded with all the Pastry recipes,  and put into a Cookbook Library. I now have a copy online and one on my hard drive so I can find all my recipes. Yay! I've been working on this for EVER. Now I feel like I can find what I need.  But I like to always have a goal. I'm unable to just sit still, knowing I accomplished something. I always strive for something else, something new. I like to think of it as part of my sparkling per

Bad baguettes make good croutons - 3 ways

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 Ok so having tried to make baguettes at home I learned two things.  1. you need to cut down the size of the dough or your artisan mixer will fling the bowl across the room. fun for entertainment value but not so good when making bread, causing me to hold the bowl for all 10 mins of mixing.  2. you need to bake them in the top rack only.  Because I did neither, I had baguettes that were burned on the bottom but okay on the top. So I cut them into croutons and then promptly forgot about them.  Today I realized I 'd better do something with them so I mixed them into three different recipes.  Butter + Caraway for fondue (cue all that extra gruyere cheese I bought) Garlic + Thyme  for soups or salads. Or maybe I will just eat them. I might put parmesan on them.  Rosemary for probably eating too. :) Or soup. I should make some soup.  The first one is happily baking now. It even prompted a visit from 14 year old boy asking if he can have some bread because it smells good. I dont think he

Chicken for Rice a Roni

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 In our house we have chicken and rice a roni often. When I was a kid, we had it at my Grandma Andrews house, with pine nuts,  and again at my Moms house without. Green beans were generally a side. ***Mom, look away now. *** I always liked the sides better than the chicken part, because chicken breasts always tasted dry to me. No matter what recipe we used, it was always dry inside.  Even in my house and I've been to culinary school. Until I used my thermometer. This lady, Ali, at https://www.gimmesomeoven.com  has come up with a great recipe for chicken that truly does come out really well.  She gives you a lot of options but this is how I did it tonight:  Here's the plan, she says.  Brine, Brush, Rub/sprinkle, Roast, Rest.  Following her plan/formula/recipe:  1. Fill a big bowl with water and add a claw of salt  (my word not hers. Make a claw with your hand like the game that grabs toys, and instead grab the salt. I use kosher salt. Table salt will slip through your fingers.

Thanksgiving 2020

 Well here we are, Turkey day week.  As per usual, 2020 brought its issues with the biggest cooking day of the year.  I tried Paul Hollywood's Pear Pastries and it was a semi-disaster. Like, he would admonish me on the GBBO and then maybe even kick me out of the tent. The texture of the pastry is all wrong.  The pear pastries were too wet after poaching, I didnt drain them enough and thus the puff pastry wrapped around it slid off, and looked undone in places. Still tasted pretty good. But couldve been so great if i did it right.  I ended up tossing out the pastry and just eating the poached pears.  Disaster struck again with the cranberries. The cranberry sauce was left unattended and burned itself to the pan. I scrubbed forever to get that pan clean. Luckily we were able to get our hands on another bag and this batch turned out fine.  The deviled eggs didnt come out of their shells without brute force, stuck in there really well, causing them to be all torn up. I hear its because

Field trips canceled for a bit

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 I think its probably fair to say I'm done with field trips to grocery stores for at least the next 3 weeks, or longer, if the Michigan "Pause" gets extended.  For those not in Michigan, our Governor has mandated a pause. And although it does not extend to grocery stores, in the spirit of the pause, I'm being extra safe and staying home.  The numbers are high and more and more family and friends are getting exposed, or worse actually catching the Corona virus. They spread it unknowingly and find out later. I can't imagine going to the little shop and accidently getting that little Nona that I saw in the store sick.  Meanwhile I'll do my shopping online, if I need anything for a recipe.  It is truly a time of hibernation now! I assure you I will still be reading and watching videos as I learn about Italy. If I find any really good ones, I'll share.  As always, stay safe and sane my friends.  Vicky

Food culture study - Italian food. Field trip day #2

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 With less sunshine came less motivation.  I'm knee deep in "fall cleaning" so I spent a good chunk of the morning rearranging the dining room counters.  So then I had less energy and motivation. But knowing I wanted to continue on my other quest - perfecting making breads - I had to get some rice flour.  So I first went to Gordons and looked around. They had the rice flour, albeit a smallish bag from Bobs Red Mill. Not even a big bag that I expected. So I took it and was thankful to get it to be honest.  I did check and found duck - $3.69 a pound, so a bit cheaper than Ninos. I' m going to have to bite the bullet and pay about $20 regardless for duck, which I'm nervous I'm gonna mess up. Someday Later.  I was amused to find giant hunks of turkey deli meat not yet sliced, and cheese, etc. I just wrinkled my nose and pronounced it gross, quietly, and moved on, chuckling to myself. I mean it looked like the shape of a turkey but ....wrong.  After that I did go t

Food culture study - Italian food. Field trip day #1.

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 So now that the year is coming to a close, I'm finding myself with a lot of vacation days left to burn. I took every Friday off from October 9 to the end of the year.  For the first 5 weeks, I took an Artisan Breads class. This put me half way to my goal of getting a Baking and Pastry certificate from OCC - Farmington Hills, MI.  (If you want to do something like this I highly recommend it. It's totally exhausting but at the same time worth it.) The next 8 Fridays plus today being Veterans Day, gave me some time to do something that makes me happy. Food, in general makes me happy. But I needed to be more specific. After introspection, I found myself lacking in knowledge of History, Geography, and Social studies. These are subjects I didnt love in school. And I didnt want to start doing them now.  But being a foodie, I wanted to study food. Not just the food, but in each region who eats what, and why. For example, why is Italy known for their pasta? (Durum wheat is a major crop

Breads class coming to a close

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 In case you are wondering where I've been lately, here is a picture of the last week of Artisan Breads class.  Across the top: Rustic Rye clockwise: Sourdough round, semolina batard, pretzel bread, Sourdough rye, New York Rye, Another sourdough round, multigrain. It's been great learning so much in such a short time. But it does cut into my blogging time. Think of it as me becoming more interesting while you wait.  If you are lucky enough to see me Saturdays, you get some free bread. Because this stuff lasts about a day.  It would go stale, not mold, because they are not enriched breads (little fat if any) Hope you are doing something fun, yourself.  Think of me as I approach my Practical and Written final exams A week from today.  --Vicky

Why I hate Fall and Winter

 Before you freak out, hear me out.  I don't mind some things about Fall and Winter. Leaves changing color is a sight to behold. I love it, watching them sparkle from my window, seated in my warm home.  I love pies baking in the oven and plans to see family.  It's the personal assault to my body that has me dreading these two seasons.  Starting with Fall, the first indication is that my nose stuffs up. I 've deduced that I am probably allergic to mold of some kind. As soon as I start to reach for my coat,  I also fill the pockets with Kleenex. And put a small packet of them in my purse.  I have a skin allergy, too, that creates these little itchy spots. Caused by mold? No idea. I have stuff for that but its prescription and I'm allergic to cortisone - so no cheap easy OTC remedy for me.  Then the weather turns cold and the furnace kicks on. Dry skin. Also allergic to fragrance, here, so I have to start putting stock in Fragrance free lotion, which can at times be hard t

Math and Diet, two four letter words.

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 For some reason it occurred to me to figure out the percentages. If this doesnt interest you, skip to the end where I give you my new and improved plan. :) I started with a goal weight and weighed myself this morning. The "loseit.com" site will tell you how many calories you can have per day to lose x amount per week to get to that goal.  The longer you do this, you can see your pattern. Yep that is generally going up slowly. Not the way I wanted it to go.  So then knowing the amount of calories I Need, what should I be eating? Like how much fruit? This will be up for debate depending on what diet plan you follow, but I got to the Choosemyplate.gov and generally followed those percentages.  What made sense to me comparing this to a higher protein content and lower fruit (in keeping with both the Less Carb idea and More Protein idea) I was able to come up with this: (See the percent of calories for each food group is multiplied by the number of calories allowed for the day pe

Ramblings on motivation

 I'm determined to do it this time. I'm going to shed the nearly 30 extra pounds on me.  What makes this time different? It has become more painful not to lose the weight. More painful to soothe with food than to just muscle through and not eat snacks / desserts until the weight is off.  Emotionally, I hate the way I look. I dont want hate any part of me anymore. Maybe it's turning 50.  The binge eating causes me to lie to myself about what I "can eat". I make excuses. This is not who I want to be.  Physically, I feel sick when I eat too much. Not just that day but for the whole next day. As time goes by,  it will be longer and longer. It's uncomfortable. I feel like a water balloon most of the time.  I have to learn how to live without the extras for the next six months or more. This may mean salad for Thanksgiving lunch. And only having one Christmas cookie each day.  But isn't that the way really, it should be? Living a life of excess has gotten me to a

PC dubbed Penelope after finishing her metamorphosis and other news

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 Broke out the birthday presents today.  While sitting at the office, mask on face, very distanced from everyone, I upgraded this beast of a 4 yr old PC to Windows 10. And she survived! To mark the occasion I named her Penelope.  Present #1 was the "My Life in France" book about Julia Child, written with her nephew, Alex. I read probably 1/3 of the book while waiting for Penelope the PC to finish her metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly.  Once her status was a most satisfying green screen, we did a checkup on her and dubbed her well. Off we went to go figure out what to make for dinners next week.  As part of that, I dug into the box and found a small recipe book in my new crockpot extraordinaire. After comparing recipes and what might fit in this week, we landed on French Onion Soup and added ingredients to the grocery list.  After reading so much French cuisine, of course I had to find a fish dish to make a la Julia. So I dug in and found a fish with Alexandre sauce.

Tangzhong Cat Buns

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 I have a breads class coming in a couple weeks. And with any skill its best to practice.  Since I got my new Kim Joy cookbook, I decided to try the Tanzhong method of bread making. This involves making a roux, sort of. Typically when I think of a roux I think of butter and flour. But in this case, it involves a water flour paste that you cook over the stove, and then add it to the dough mixture. This creates a fluffier softer texture that lasts longer, according to the author, Kim Joy.  And they are cute - cat buns! She did such adorable stuff in the Great British Baking Show that I really wanted to learn the methods.  So here we are, trying out the method on what is similar to a milk roll. If you've ever had those you will know they are delicious!   Here is the recipe. Even the cookbook is adorable with little drawn cats playing with the bread crumbs.  Page 2, showing the method for rolling the buns and making ears.  Here is my attempt at getting the ears on to the cats. They kep

Cheap Easy and Tasty

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This pandemic is causing people to lose jobs and giving financial stress to many. The thing we extroverted hugger/helper people do is try to bring food or give a hug or buy groceries for someone. Problem is, if they arent working there is no health care, and they cant take the chance on seeing you in person. It sucks.  But what I can do is a little research and give you the fruits of that labor. So here you go, try these on for your budget, my friends.  Recipe 1: Sticky Veggie Rice 2 cups rice Can or bag of vegetables Soy sauce Put in 2 cups of uncooked rice with 4 cups of water. Bring to a slow boil. Cook 10 mins with a lid on. Turn off the heat and let it sit for another 10. Mix in a can or a bag of frozen vegetables. Add soy sauce to taste. Enjoy! Recipe 2: Grilled cheese and tomato soup Loaf of bread Sliced cheese Box of creamy tomato soup Butter Butter four slices of bread. Lay two in the pan, butter down. Add cheese, top with last two pieces of bread butter up. Grill until the ed

Meat and Veg

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  Tuesday, September 22nd... I am not the worlds most disciplined person, by any stretch. It seems like every day is "start over day" for me and my weight loss saga.  I wake up with renewed enthusiasm only to watch the boys order pizza and I am left with (if you want to lose weight, you need to eat more) meat and veg. I've gotta make this something I look forward to.  I do have some leftover ribs, so at least with that it will be GOOD meat. I cut up a zucchini and sauteed it with olive oil and some dill mix (where are my fellow Pampered Chefs?) This is to simulate the flavor from spinach pie, which I'm not giving up but am WAITING on for when I lose weight, dammit. I have a surplus of peppers and tomatoes, so today I am roasting them. It makes them sweeter and smaller and they can easily be added to eggs in the morning (protein and veg!).  Amazingly I got through dinner without going overboard and had room for a small Popsicle. If I can convince myself that feeling le

Now its the COVID-25.

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  I'll get back to the motivational posters later. This one feels more appropriate today. Cake anyone? This is where I am today. Its looking like April 10th is my new goal to lose .... not 19 but 25.4 lbs. It sure isn't easy losing weight. It's much easier passing by the oreos 6 times a day and eating some each trip. Then having cheese and nuts, then having fruit... you get the idea. What I've learned so far:  I have to write down what I eat because I am a terrible judge of when to stop I have to plan 3 meals and 2 snacks, then stop I need to keep water next to me at all times, especially now that the furnace is on I have to plan and actually do an activity every day I need to do one chore a day, or the house gets out of control, adding to my stress, causing me to eat I have to let the independent streak both kids are in just BE, so I can exist here too and not grind my teeth to powder, and also not eat my feelings If I have a goal when baking, for who to give it away t

Losing the COVID-19+ ... 79 days to go... or more?

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  I keep coming back around to it. Even when I wake up motivated, I can't give up the carbs.  And two pounds/week may be too much for me. I need to slow it down to 1 / week.  Otherwise I'm not feeling satisfied.  It will take me actually until April this way. But I've been struggling.  Hopefully this is the key to my (slow) success.  Rome wasn't built in a day, right?

Losing the COVID-19+ ... 83 days to go

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  Motivational posters 13, 14, and 15  Trying to figure out the food part of losing weight is hard.  I'm always looking around for inspiration. I found this video on "What a model eats" during one day. Here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=search&v=158357248941436&external_log_id=1bf1e83c-caf7-4db0-9cc3-96d9c1a48ddd&q=what+model+eats  So I can see maybe this would be a structure I could follow.  Here is the basic idea: Breakfast oatmeal, bananas, strawberries, almond milk, choc chips (cinnamon, peanut butter) Looks like 1/2 cup of the oats, if that helps Snack 1 pop corn - looks like again 1/2 cup Lunch Soup, bread, blueberries, raspberries - small soup, 4 inch wedge of sourdough baguette Snack 2 chocolate bark thins Dinner meat, many vegs, cheese (She used 1 egg for the meat so it would not be a lot, maybe 2 oz?) Snack 3 light ice cream Hope this helps. I like the idea of eating that many times a day but portion control is difficult. Especiall

Losing the COVID-19+ ... 86 days to go

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  Today's tip - warm tea with honey on a cool night is a balm to my shivery soul! Also having a fruit at the end of the dinner meal helps me not feel deprived. Whatever works, right? Spent another hour gardening today. Sure is good exercise! Today's patch weeded                                                                                 Today's harvest Hope you're enjoying the fruits of your own labor on this labor day weekend!   --Vicky

Losing the COVID-19+ ... 87 days to go

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  So here is what I did.  I recalled from when I lost weight before I do pretty well with formulas. The formula I used is as follows:  Breakfast - Carb and Fruit, Coffee Lunch - Meat, Carb, and Veg Snack - Fruit Dinner - Meat, Carb, Veg, Fruit Snack2 - Fruit, Cheese, Nuts I felt full, not deprived, and happy about it. This could work.  Also, my exercise has been either the martial arts classes or gardening. But I'm talking knees in dirt, ripping out layers of vines, digging holes, filling bags of roots kind of gardening. I do it for an hour and I try to fill up one bag. I've done this twice.  The hardest part is the soreness later, including all the thorn holes!  Now I'm good and tired, full but not stuffed belly, and I'm going to get another full night's sleep. Ahhh. 

Losing the COVID-19+ ... 90 days to go

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  It's Monday and the results are in - 6/10 of a pound loss.  This isn't much, I know, but after all the really bad eating at night for a few nights this week, I'll take it. Here's to hoping this week is easier.  ...................................................................... Now it's Tuesday and I got so busy turning peaches into tarts and preserves that I didn't realize I dropped most everything else. oops.  ..................................................................... And now it's Wednesday.  Sigh.  I feel good today though because I slept well. I forget how much better I feel when I get a full 8 hours.  It makes a really big difference!

Losing the COVID-19+ ... 91 days to go

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  Motivational Poster #6 Got through the day with exactly as I planned meals.  It helps that I went right from small group to gardening to dinner/  Helps to keep busy! Great dinner, too. Pork aux Champignons. Yum! Have a good Monday tomorrow.  --Vicky

Losing the COVID-19+ ... 92 days to go

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  Motivational poster #6.  So lessons from today:  Everyone needs to see their friends now and then or they will start going crazy. Seeing them is very cathartic, even if you need to wear a mask.  Don't drink coca cola or pepsi   - it leads to desserts and late breakfasts. It's a gateway drink.  I'm now ordering the meals I ate as a child at McDonalds. I feel I've come full circle. The toys are crap.  That is all.  Enjoy your weekend! Vicky

Losing the COVID-19+ ... 93 days to go

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  Motivational Poster #5 I suppose this might be a good idea, if you need to lose say 26 pounds, you put 26 pennies in one jar label it "To Lose" then an empty jar saying "Lost!!" that you can move the pennies to as you lose.  I might try that. I don't weigh in until Monday.  I've been focusing more on what I eat after dinner and why.  It seems whenever I have a bad day, I tend to wait until I'm alone and dive into the cookies, candies, cheese, bagels. Anything full of calories.  It makes me feel better for a small time. I feel comforted, full.  But it comes with a price - feeling emotionally distraught at my lack of control, my inability to stop, and just plain angry at myself.  And then my body doesnt really like all those calories, making me feel bloated and crampy.  I had enough calories at my main meals today that I dont feel the need to snack, the urge isn't there. I havent gotten there yet, but I'm hoping to hit the sweet spot of knowing e

Losing the COVID-19+ ... 94 days to go

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  Motivational Poster #4 Not a bad day yesterday.  I just had no desire to eat this morning, but probably because I was tired.  A good workout does that to you.  I still ate, don't get me wrong, I just chose an egg over toast instead of sugary cereal, because if I'm not dying for Honey Nut Cheerios, I might as well eat something good for me.  I tried yesterday to remember Jared while working out. I've been so self conscious about my fat rolls as I move through the workouts that it's been distracting me. So instead, I kept him in mind, how he did it anyway, knowing that one day he wouldnt have the fat rolls to contend with if he kept moving. It helps.  Attitude is everything. Letting go of having to be already "done" before working out is not very helpful, it turns out. Who would have guessed? Between the two martial arts classes I have a lot of new material to practice so that will make it easier to find something to do for my workout.  When you talk about los

Losing the COVID-19+ ... 95 days to go

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  Motivational Poster #3 Ugh. Setback.  I was just plain HUNGRY last night.  Looking back, I didn't eat a lot at dinner then went to my Tai Chi class. But I'm sure I ate way more calories than I worked off. Once I got into that mode, I didnt want to stop eating.  I've banned cookies and popsicles from myself at this point. I will have to limit my cheese to 1 oz and my chocolate to 1 oz.  But after reading up on setbacks, I'm told not to beat myself up, just keep swimming. Maybe reduce my intake by 200 calories a day for the rest of the week (hence the no cookies policy). Maybe up my exercise intensity and/or length a bit (built in, Iaido is pretty intense).  I just have to ensure I keep exercising Thursday, Friday, and Monday. I have martial arts classes Tues, Weds and Sat so that takes care of those days. And Sunday is take it easy day, so maybe just a walk with the dog.  *checks weather, sees heat wave for thursday* Okay so a 7am walk planned for tomorrow. Sweeeet. Lu

Losing the COVID-19+ ... 96 days to go

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  Motivational Poster #2 Hello again, World.  I watched a video last night.  Jared, the man in the video was 500+ lbs. He had red fuzzy hair and glasses. It takes him so very long to make progress, but he does. He talks of all his difficulties, feeling low self worth, getting bullied.  He inspired me more than most other videos.  Because for me, one of the fantasies of "when I lose weight" is that it will fix everything; my relationships, my skin, my hair, I will suddenly become a fashionista, I will become popular and well liked by everyone, they will all be so proud of me and amazed by my accomplishments.  This guy plugged along, day after day, for 15 months.  And when he was done, his hair stayed fuzzy and he kept the glasses. He didn't become a fashion plate or suddenly get married or have lots of beautiful people around him as so many ads imply. He was the same guy, just thinner, healthier, and smiling. He was proud of himself. (This is all we know from the video). 

Losing the COVID-19+ in 97 days

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                                                                                      Motivational Poster #1 Hello World.  How's the pandemic treating you lately? Me? Sick of being overweight, I set a weight loss goal and plugged it into my weight loss app. It told me I would likely meet my goal by November 26th. Thanksgiving, essentially. That seems so far away. It's only August. (Sigh.) I counted weeks and it was 14. That seems far away too. 97 days. Ugh. This isn't helping. There aren't enough motivational posters. I mean. Are there?   97 is a lot, right? Except that there are. I found 97 posters. Can you believe it? Just how many people were trying to lose weight like me, anyway?   I looked it up. Turns out 49% of Americans are trying to lose weight right now.  Multiply that by 328 million Americans... that's 164 million people are trying to lose weight, give or take.  Jeez.  So... to keep myself on track,  I could post every day for the next 97 days and theore

The I dont have time to blog blog

 This is just a quick update for my non Facebook friends:  Had an onsite meeting with a lot of my team today, it had been 6 mos since I've seen any of them. We had the temp test in the parking garage, answered questions, got a fresh mask, had to drive through a line of cones to go where we could park, I was able to plug in my car, then went upstairs in the nearly empty building, only to find that the room we got - they turned off power to that part of the building. I thought...is this a joke? Am I being punked? Eventually found my team wandering around looking for a new room with power and lights and AC. It was a good meeting and we had a few laughs. See you all again in 2 more months... or more.... But for now, back to WFH. Im off to make a Grad party cake for my Daughter. Party's tomorrow! See you laters. V.

COVID-19 Shutdown, Day 153

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 Despite his annoying habit of trying to eat everything, and begging with sad eyes on a daily basis, Otis is a good boy. And he deserves to have treats, which he loves so much.  I kept meaning to buy them, even going to two different stores, but I ended up forgetting both times.  I had a sweet potato left from my veggie box, so I  decided to make the Sweet Potato Treats from my cookbook.  Otis very much approves and was ignoring his food bowl, staring at me expectantly waiting for another treat. I told him no, he has to eat his kibble first.  He sulked a bit.  But now he is eating the kibble. I'm sure I will get the expectant look again in a moment. And a growling "aarrooooo- fff." I have two other kinds of treats to make him. Little does he know he is a taste tester for the cookbook.  Dinner tonight for us humans was Meatloaf, Smashed potatoes with garlic, and buttered corn. Pretty good stuff except the family had other plans.  Well I liked it anyway. :) Hope you had a g

COVID-19 Shutdown, Day 152

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 I'm a bad daughter.  It's already 1030pm and I didnt call my mom. I meant to at 7.  I just got so engrossed in the cookbook project that I started last week, that I just could not stop tinkering with it. The project will be to create a cookbook that the modern working cook can use to answer the question, "What's for Dinner?" It's 539 pages. I know, I know. It's very long. It took two binders and a ream of paper, but I got it created, printed, and numbered so I can find my way around. That was Phase 1.  Phase 2 is the testing phase.  I started that tonight too. I plan to try every recipe at least once. If perfect the way it is, it is labeled with the date and we move on. If it needs help, it could be tested over and over and over until it's right. This could take a while. I'm trying not to think about that.  I also want to make sure that the combinations work, like the main plus sides. And desserts. And drinks. I'm excited because I really am t