Food is Not Just Fuel
Jan. 10th, 2006 10:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
liralenI can finally tell that I'm back on a more even keel, as I actually went and made an apple pie this last weekend just for the fun of doing it.
I've discovered whole wheat pastry flour, and found it to be absolutely excellent for pie crusts, though a mildly different pie crust than the normal pie crust, in that the flour is nutty and chewy and does not do flaky very well, but does do tender excellently. So it was a great deal of fun to have Jet man the apple corer/peeler/slicer. So long as he kept his hands on the handle for turning the beast, he was completely safe from all the sharp bits. He was quite willing to let me stick the apples on the thing and take the cores off, and he ended up asking for one of John's Gala apples to do for himself.
Jet was great last Friday, cheerful, happy, and willing to help. I actually think that when I ask him to help he gets a double boost of 1) Wow, Mom needs me and 2) I'm capable of doing this, which all seem to be to the good.
He also went to the dentist on Friday, with me, and had a great time at the cleaning. He just did everything the hygienist asked, and did it willingly and promptly. The hygienist was very impressed, and told Jet so in no uncertain terms, and even let Jet get two toys from the Treasure Chest. Jet was very proud of that and said, "I've been Good forever!"
Hee.
As a reward we went to "the really BIG McDonalds" (there are three in town. The one that is part of a gas station is "the small McDonalds", the one with a small climbing tube set is "the medium McDonalds", and the one with nearly a whole building for the climbing tubes is the really big one) and he ate all his nuggets, played in the tubes, and had an ice cream there. I skipped my ice cream.
Yes. John got a digital scale over the holidays, and I'm actually weighing myself again. I am actually not that far off of my weight from before the holidays, which is good; but to be really comfortable I think I want to get down just five pounds. John's been riding the exercise bike nearly every day for a good amount of time, and we're both eating more fish, more veg, and more fruit than before. We're concentrating more on what we should be eating not on what we shouldn't be eating, if that makes any sense at all. :-)
On Saturday I got a little time to myself and I hit The Flower Bin, a yard and garden center here in Longmont. When we'd first moved in, they'd sent us a five dollar gift certificate, simply for moving into town, nearly two years ago (that long?). Being the pack-rats we are I still had that certificate and found it and used it to pay for part of my seeding mix, packets of seeds, potting mix for the house herbs, aphid and fruit fly traps for the house herbs, and indulged in a HUGE seeding tray. I'm thinking of seeding quite a few tomatoes and basil this year and rooting quite a few rosemary and thyme plants, and selling the plants at work just to make up for the initial setup costs for my garden. I bought seeds for one heirloom determinate (green zebra), one early season small tomato (First Lady II), and one cherry tomato which should provide something for everyone's needs. I also want to seed a bunch of garlic chives just for Mei, as she seems to like planting them in her backyard.
I have small ambitions. It should be fun to see how well I can do this.
I spent most of the very warm afternoon repotting the herbs into much bigger pots so that they'll be able to survive the week we're gone to San Diego without much more watering than once a week.
I also got my box from Sweet Maria's. Thanks, Dad, for my gift certificate! I used it on a very nice stainless steel moka pot, unbleached filters for work, a few pounds of coffee (a Papa New Guinea varietal, which my parents actually introduced us to and a Brazilian varietal that I love for both espresso and straight drinking), the sweetest little twelve ounce frothing pitcher (it's completely perfect for my less-milk lattes and mochas), and plenty of packing peanuts for Jet to play with. :-) I love great quality and low prices together. The moka pot has been brewing some really nice coffee, though it actually doesn't seem to be that much more concentrated than a French Press or a drip cup using the Swiss Gold filter. It's interesting, though, as it seems nearly exactly like my vacuum brewer, but with flow-thru instead of steep. A way to get a single cup instead of a pot, though, and I'm very grateful for that.
I've discovered whole wheat pastry flour, and found it to be absolutely excellent for pie crusts, though a mildly different pie crust than the normal pie crust, in that the flour is nutty and chewy and does not do flaky very well, but does do tender excellently. So it was a great deal of fun to have Jet man the apple corer/peeler/slicer. So long as he kept his hands on the handle for turning the beast, he was completely safe from all the sharp bits. He was quite willing to let me stick the apples on the thing and take the cores off, and he ended up asking for one of John's Gala apples to do for himself.
Jet was great last Friday, cheerful, happy, and willing to help. I actually think that when I ask him to help he gets a double boost of 1) Wow, Mom needs me and 2) I'm capable of doing this, which all seem to be to the good.
He also went to the dentist on Friday, with me, and had a great time at the cleaning. He just did everything the hygienist asked, and did it willingly and promptly. The hygienist was very impressed, and told Jet so in no uncertain terms, and even let Jet get two toys from the Treasure Chest. Jet was very proud of that and said, "I've been Good forever!"
Hee.
As a reward we went to "the really BIG McDonalds" (there are three in town. The one that is part of a gas station is "the small McDonalds", the one with a small climbing tube set is "the medium McDonalds", and the one with nearly a whole building for the climbing tubes is the really big one) and he ate all his nuggets, played in the tubes, and had an ice cream there. I skipped my ice cream.
Yes. John got a digital scale over the holidays, and I'm actually weighing myself again. I am actually not that far off of my weight from before the holidays, which is good; but to be really comfortable I think I want to get down just five pounds. John's been riding the exercise bike nearly every day for a good amount of time, and we're both eating more fish, more veg, and more fruit than before. We're concentrating more on what we should be eating not on what we shouldn't be eating, if that makes any sense at all. :-)
On Saturday I got a little time to myself and I hit The Flower Bin, a yard and garden center here in Longmont. When we'd first moved in, they'd sent us a five dollar gift certificate, simply for moving into town, nearly two years ago (that long?). Being the pack-rats we are I still had that certificate and found it and used it to pay for part of my seeding mix, packets of seeds, potting mix for the house herbs, aphid and fruit fly traps for the house herbs, and indulged in a HUGE seeding tray. I'm thinking of seeding quite a few tomatoes and basil this year and rooting quite a few rosemary and thyme plants, and selling the plants at work just to make up for the initial setup costs for my garden. I bought seeds for one heirloom determinate (green zebra), one early season small tomato (First Lady II), and one cherry tomato which should provide something for everyone's needs. I also want to seed a bunch of garlic chives just for Mei, as she seems to like planting them in her backyard.
I have small ambitions. It should be fun to see how well I can do this.
I spent most of the very warm afternoon repotting the herbs into much bigger pots so that they'll be able to survive the week we're gone to San Diego without much more watering than once a week.
I also got my box from Sweet Maria's. Thanks, Dad, for my gift certificate! I used it on a very nice stainless steel moka pot, unbleached filters for work, a few pounds of coffee (a Papa New Guinea varietal, which my parents actually introduced us to and a Brazilian varietal that I love for both espresso and straight drinking), the sweetest little twelve ounce frothing pitcher (it's completely perfect for my less-milk lattes and mochas), and plenty of packing peanuts for Jet to play with. :-) I love great quality and low prices together. The moka pot has been brewing some really nice coffee, though it actually doesn't seem to be that much more concentrated than a French Press or a drip cup using the Swiss Gold filter. It's interesting, though, as it seems nearly exactly like my vacuum brewer, but with flow-thru instead of steep. A way to get a single cup instead of a pot, though, and I'm very grateful for that.
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