What I Really Think

We went to the NJ State Fair on Sunday, basically in search of Turkey Drumsticks and Kettle Korn.

What we saw was this goat, in the Goat Pavillion, pooping. Have you ever seen a goat poop? A baby-birthing size hole opens in it's back and round pebbles fall like gumballs.

Probably should have had a camcorder for that instead of a camera.

I dropped Becky at the bus this morning for her week of encampment. Okay, I know it's only a week but I still cried.

Wish she knew some other kids going; maybe I'd feel better then.

We saw March of the Penguins last week. It's got me thinking off and on all week about different things. But yesterday, as I was pondering some eggs for breakfast I wondered about the empire penguin eggs. They lay one egg. Well, chickens lay dozens but not all of the "take." We eat those that don't. So do all the empire penguin eggs take? Do some of those poor penguins sit in those freezing cold temps, caring for eggs that have no baby chick growing inside? Can they tell the difference? And if they don't all take, why hasn't some enterprising person run an expedition to gather up those eggs that don't take and sell them on the market for like a gazillion bucks each, like truffles (which by the way does anyone really like truffles or is that an emperor clothes thing but that's another topic).

We took Sammi to a Yankee Game on Saturday. Our seats weren't together because two of them came with our season ticket plan, but when we realized Becky wouldn't be home and decided to take Sammi, we bought a third ticket, two rows behind our original two. Anyway, we got to the game, went to the upgrade window and managed to turn our two and one seat way in right field (home run territory) into three seats in Main Box behind home plate (for the nominal price of $90, yikes); still cool though.

What I don't get, is we're about five rows back in Main Box (Field Box is in front of that, so maybe twenty five rows behind home plate). When we arrive, a father and young daughter (maybe nine) are sitting in the first row of our section. Eventually, someone arrives and claims the seats that father and daughter have. They get up and move to the second row until someone arrives and boots them out of those seats, then it happens while they're in the third row. Now each time it happens, people stand about because they have to get a staff person, to move the people in their seats and everyone's blocking our view. Finally it ends up with the father and daughter sitting in the sixth row, behind us and I doubt those were their seats either!

So tell me, why can't these people just sit in their flippin' seats to start!! Why must they disturb everyone else because they're too cheap to pay for these seats to begin with! What is that father teaching his child about following rules???

Now I'm thinking maybe I should stop smuggling food into movie theatres...

At the end of last year, all the students in my daughter's middle school received a summer math project to do. Now we had summer work before but that was reading, which can be done anywhere at almost anytime (i.e., on the beach, at the pool, on a train into the City, etc). But a math project? No, you're stuck in the house, researching items on the Internet, scratching out dozens of calculations and making pie charts.

I figure the school administration thought this would be a good idea, a way to keep math fresh in the kids' minds over the summer. I guess they don't realize how much my kids spend at the snack shack at our pool on a daily basis? Or that they have to calculate the change? Or that they're constantly figuring out how many days they have left of summer vacation. Or the human age of our dog forcing me to recognize her "birthdays" every few weeks. Nope lets give them a math project that will take a few hours to complete that they can cram into the last couple of remaining days of freedom they have.

At the end of this project, they courtiously left a space for parental comments. Well, I told them what I thought. I said I found it hypocritical that a school district that spent the last two days of the school year showing my daughter movies, and the week prior to that, taking her to a ball game, bowling and to a park, should send home math work to do over the summer. I promised to take take her to ball games, movies, bowling and parks if they promised to teach my daughter while she's in school.

She's afraid they're going to fail her now.

It's the most wonderful time of the year....:)

How many years do you need to do a job before you get it right? The bus that takes our kids to middle school was over thirty minutes late today. It's not as if the transportation department didn't know this day was coming over ten weeks ago. It's not as if they haven't run this same route for at least a couple of years. It's not as if they haven't been running buses to this school for over thirty years. So what does it take to get an on time bus on the first day of school?

Feel free to skip over this b/c it's going to be long and it's detailed and if you smell something, that's the steam seeping from my ears!

On Monday May 8, as I'm driving my daughters to their after school activities, my check engine light comes on. Within a few seconds, I notice my car is not shifting gears. S*** I exclaim. After getting one to her necessary location, canceling the other's appointment, I speak to my mechanic, the beloved Pete. Pete says, "Sure, Kim, bring it on in." I call my friend Lisa, who meets me at the mechanic, where I leave my car, and she takes me home.

The next day Pete calls. "You need a new Transmission Control module." We're going to try to get it for you but we're not sure, if we can program it or if the dealer needs to do that. It should be about $350." Grateful that I don't need a new transmission, on a four-year-old car with only 42,000 miles on it, I thank him.

Unfortunately, Pete calls back later to tell me that only the dealer can program the module, so I need to bring it there. Gulp. He says, “Don’t worry it shouldn’t be more than $400 or $450.” When I pick up the car from Pete, he won’t take any money for diagnostic work.

I call the dealer, Dayton Chrysler, in Dayton New Jersey, who cannot give me an appointment until Friday. "Well," I say, "I can’t use the car anyway, and since I have a ride today, can I bring it over now?” "Sure," he responds, "And maybe we’ll get to it on Thursday."

When I drop it off on Tuesday, I tell them it needs a new transmission control module; it’s not shifting out of first. On Friday afternoon, I get a call, “Kim, you need a new transmission control module.”

“Really? How’dya know?” I think. I do not say.

I thank him and ask when it will be ready. Monday.

Monday, I pick up my car, and $560 later I leave.

On May 22, my check engine light comes on again. Since I believe it’s related to the initial problem, I mean what are the odds, of this happening twice in two weeks, and since that work has a 12-month, 12K miles warranty. I bring it to the dealer’s service center again (remember that's Dayton Chrysler).

On May 23, they call to tell me some hose was bad totally unrelated to the previous week’s repair. Yeah, right. Only problem, I’m not home to receive the call. Chris is and he tells them to go ahead and fix it without asking how much. He thinks all mechanics charge like Pete. Me, I would have said, leave it alone, I’m taking it to my mechanic. So, on May 24, after $185 repair, I pick up my car. $5 for the hose, $180 for tax and labor. Who knew you could charge tax on labor?

On June 21, my oil light comes on. I mistakenly think it’s a low oil light, and since I’m 200 miles shy of my 3000-mile oil change, I bring it to Pete. Pete gives me an oil change, $30.

Later that day, the light comes on again. Hmm…I take out my book. Turns out it’s not the oil change light but the oil pressure light. I call Pete on Thursday, June 22nd. He tells me to bring it in first thing on Friday morning. I do.

Kim, he tells me, I going to replace the oil pressure switch and hope that takes care of it. I ask him to replace three of my tires too while he’s at it and he does. I get the car back later that day.

On Saturday, the light goes on again, and I bring it back to Pete. Pete was afraid that might happen. He delves deeper, and calls me later in the day to say, “You need a new oil pump and that’s a $1200 to a $1500 dollar job. As much as I’d love to take your money, I’m not going to. There’s no way a car with only 42,000 miles should need a new oil pump. Call Chrysler and demand they pay for this.”

On Monday, I call Chrysler in Detroit. They agree that my car shouldn’t need a new oil pump but before they can agree to assist, they need me to take it to their service center for diagnosis. The woman is very nice on the phone and gives me her private extension to call her back when I get the diagnosis. I call our Chrysler dealer first thing Monday morning but they cannot see me until Thursday. I ask if I can bring the car over now, since once again, I have a ride and I can’t use the car anyway; they agree.

On Friday, June 30, they call me to tell me that I need a new Oil Pressure Switch and it will cost $180. When I tell them I put a new oil pressure switch on just last week (which I told them also when I had dropped off the car) and my mechanic only charged me $30 ($18 for the part) They reply, “We’ll call you right back.” Ninety minutes later, they call back, insisting it’s the oil pressure switch and not the oil pump. They agree though I should bring it back to Pete, and they agree not to charge me the diagnostic fee.

At this point, my car has not worked for 10 days. I explain to him, fine, but if my mechanic puts a new switch on the car, and the light comes on again, I don’t want to have to wait another four to five days for an appointment. Jerry, at Chrysler, agrees to see me immediately if that should happen.

Back to Pete, who has left on vacation to visit his family. So I speak to Dino. Dino insists it’s not the switch but the pump but once I explain to him that Chrysler won’t assist me if I don’t have their mechanic diagnose it, and he won’t diagnose it without a new switch, Dino agrees to install a new switch. Dino won’t charge me at all for the new switch.

Now we’re into the holiday weekend. My car is ready on Saturday, but I am not home. So on Wednesday morning, when we return, I pick up my car. I am not three miles from my mechanic, when the oil pressure light comes on again. I go home, and I call Jerry at the Chrysler Service department.

Jerry says, okay; bring the car in on Monday. Jerry, I explain, Monday is not immediately. You promised you would look at it immediately. Okay, he responds, Friday. Bring it in on Friday. Jerry, I further explain, Friday is not immediately either. When would you like to bring it in, he queries. I could be there in ten minutes, I reply. Fine, bring it over he says.

So on Wednesday, July 5, (14 days after the light initially went on), I bring my car back to the Chrysler dealership.

On Thursday, July 6 in the afternoon, Jerry calls me and tells me, “Kim, you need a new oil pump.”

“You think, Jerry?” I think but do not say.

I call the nice woman at Chrysler Detroit on her private extension to tell her I have a diagnosis, only she’s not there, so I leave a message.

On Friday morning, I call her again, and leave a message. She does not call back.

Following Jerry’s advice, I call the general number on Friday afternoon b/c maybe the nice woman is away on vacation, or maybe she just doesn’t want to return my phone call.

Don’t ask me to go into the details of how long it takes to speak to someone who can help you at Chrysler Detroit, a very, very long time. Oh heck, let’s go into the details.

First you call them and after navigating through their menus (four or five levels deep), you speak to someone, who listens to the entire story. Then says, let me transfer you to someone who can help you. This second person must put you on hold though, while they “review your file,” then they call the dealership, then they return to tell you what they can/cannot do.

In this first case, the woman I spoke to (the second one for that call), explained that they could not assist me without a full diagnosis b/c according to Don, at the dealership, while they knew I needed an oil pump, they did not know what else might be wrong with the car. “What does that mean?” I ask. They need to take the engine apart, to get to the oil pump and examine all the areas on the car that could have been affected to make sure nothing else is damaged.

Now, remember, I’m in the hole to the dealership for a diagnosis fee which runs about $85 an hour, which I don’t pay if they fix it. If I decide I don’t want them fixing it (i.e., there’s no way I’m paying their prices if Chrysler Detroit isn’t assisting me with these repairs, I’m bringing it back to Pete), I still owe them all that money.

As I’m explaining to her that 1) they could have told me this before the entire process started, or 2) they’re holding my car hostage now b/c you see once they take that engine apart, and diagnose it, they’re not putting it back together again for me to take to another mechanic to fix – so I have to use their mechanic and their incredibly high prices. She just repeats over and over, “You need to have a complete diagnosis before we will consider assisting.”

Moreover, while I’m explaining this to her, our phone line goes dead because our alarm company is here testing our house alarm and disconnected the main line to the house for a test. Yes, that was me you heard scream on the afternoon of July the 7th.

When I call back, navigate the menus, speak to the first representative, who spends ten minutes familiarizing himself with my file before transferring me to the second representative, who spends another ten minutes, doing the same, the second representative does not feel as belligerent as the first. He gets Don, from the dealership on the phone in a three-way, and explains to me that the complete diagnosis is for my benefit. This way, if the faulty oil pump caused other damage to the car, they will find it, and Chrysler can assist with the entire repair, rather than me being back in this boat, in another month or two with a different problem. Okay – though it still commits me to using the dealer for this repair, I agree to the complete diagnosis process and tell Don to go ahead and take my engine apart. The Chrysler Detroit rep insists they will make it financially beneficial to repair the car, if they decide to assist (i.e., I won’t be hugely in the hole).

On Tuesday, July 11 (20 days after the light first came on, 16 days after I first brought it to the dealership), Jerry calls me to tell me the engine looks fine. He’s going to see if they have the pump on hand, if not they’ll order it and should receive it on Wednesday or Thursday. The total cost will be about $650.

I’m not asking why his estimate is half of Pete’s but I am a bit suspicious, not of Pete, but of the dealership. Yet, I cannot put my finger on it.

I call Chrysler Detroit., again, once I’m 20+ minutes into the phone call, I speak to a nice gentleman, who constantly apologizes while he puts me on hold, to review my file and then to call the dealership. He returns and says, “Ma’am, the dealership has overruled us on this one and is offering to pay for labor if you pay for the part.” Aha, I think, that number they gave me was for the part, and in my mind, totally unacceptable. I don’t say that though, instead I play dumb and ask, “Do you know if that $650 was for parts and labor or when they gave me that number had they already deducted labor from the estimate?” He does not know but suggests I call the dealer to find out. I stay calm and explain, that I’d rather he did it, because I still want assistance if I’m out the $650 and I don’t want to have to wait on hold for another 20 minutes to get to someone that can help me. He understands and apologizes, yet again, for not asking the question himself. He tries the dealership but cannot find anyone who knows the answer as Don and Jerry have both gone out for lunch. In the end, I call the dealership and leave a message for Don or Jerry to call me.

Later that afternoon, Jerry calls me and tells me my share will be $350. I can stomach that and am satisfied. He tells me he will try to have the car for me on Thursday, but definitely by the end of the week.

On Friday afternoon, I call asking about my car and they tell me, “The technician cut his hand while working on your car and needed to get stitches. It won’t be ready until Monday.” I verify he is okay and hang up but then things gnaw at me.

I won’t even tell you the nightmares I had that night regarding my car (well, okay – I dreamed I saw it driving on the road with a license plate that said, “Save Me”). On Saturday, because I’d been tossing and turning all night, because it had been 19 days since I first brought the car to them, and because my friend’s boyfriend, a mechanic, said they probably damaged your car and it was in a body shop and not even on the lot, I drove over to the dealership to see the car and make sure they were working on it.

On Monday July 17, 21 days after first bringing my car to the dealership (for the third repair in five weeks), I got my car back.

Yesterday, August 2, 16 days after receiving my car, the check engine light came on again. Of course, I called them and of course, they told me to bring it in next week. I told them that was unacceptable and they agreed I could bring it in this morning, first thing.

At 10:30, just after I went into the garage to bundle our recyclables and noticed a 12 inch oil puddle on my floor, they called to tell me the check engine light was not coming on, and there was no code stuck in the computer so they couldn’t tell what was wrong with it. I explained that I had just found an oil puddle in my garage, so I was sure something was wrong with it and I’m now sure it has something to do with the repair they were supposed to have made over two weeks ago.

I’m still waiting to hear back from them.

Becky had to write a poem for something. I get confused. She's always writing something so I'm not sure if this was an assignment for class, for a contest or for the school's literary magazine. Anyway, being the proud momma that I am, I'm posting it. I hate putting it in Daily Grind though because it's really not a grind to read.

Something to make you laugh - I hope!

Every morning when Sammi goes to the bus stop, we take Fala along with us for a walk. So invariably, about 7:55 or so, she'll start to sit by the front door. By 8:05, she's in a frenzy of "C'mon, let's go, time to go, we need to go," activity. Needless to say, summer has this dog totally confused, as she's in her frenzy every morning, jumping and running towards the door, but going no where. Poor girl.

So this morning, we took pity on her and took her in the car with us on the way to swim practice.

But don't worry, she's buckled in.

And when I say mankind, I do not mean the human race (to me, that's a bit offensive since the majority of the human race are women, perhaps it should be womankind but anyway, I digress). When I say mankind, I mean men, yes those, beer guzzling, ball scratching, bastions of society, men.

So how does this happen?

I read Leslie's fairy tale and it got be wondering. I mean I think it's great and all but it makes me wonder, did I do something "wrong" by falling in love and getting married, especially so young and with so little experience?

Okay - posting twice in one day is something I normally do not do. But I received this cute story this morning with regards to New Jersey and I was trying to think of a good time to post it but reading Jerry's friend, Rose's comment regarding Jersey, I just thought I had to defend my home state.

Okay - Becky's rehearsal ran over and I'm sitting here, way past my 10:00 bed time, waiting to go pick her up. And I'm wondering, do you need to refrigerate water mixed with crystal light? I mean I know you don't have to refrigerate water but does the mixing in of the fake flavor crap do anything to the water that will cause me to puke (or some other stomach ailment that shall not be named), if I drink it if it hasn't been refrigerated?

Bueller? Bueller? Anyone? Anyone?

Do you ever have those times in your life where you just know you're grinding yourself down, but really, only because just around the next bend is vacation? That's the mode I'm in now. Finishing touches on vacation planning, trying to get some loose ends around the house tied up (I have tons of shopping returns I need to send back, not to mention general cleaning), and an over-scheduled social life this week. That's what I'm doing to me.

Saturday night - our annual clambake - I'll try to get an entry in on that. Friends we've had going on 12 years now, that we met when Becky started nursery school, come over once during the summer for a blow-out dinner. Followed by an early morning 40 mile ride with some friends who I couldn't ride with previously because of my training schedule.

Last night, we met my bro and nephews at Great Adventure b/c they're returning to Florida tomorrow and it was our last chance to get together for a while, not to mention, I had been promising to take the girls at night for a while. I didn't go on any rides, just hung with Andy but the kids hit, Nitro, Batman, Superman, The Great American Scream Machine and topped it off with El Toro. Another late night.

Tonight, it's up to Yankee stadium with rain for the third of our season tickets. Need to get to the supermarket at some point to pick up the fixings for our tailgate. I'm bringing Antipasto Chicken Sandwiches (from cooking light), recipe to follow.

Thank G-d tomorrow and Thursday, not much on the agenda (I'll swing in to full vacation prep then). But then Friday back up to Yankee Stadium for another game, this time with Chris, and hopefully the girls, if I can swing two more tickets tonight while we're at the stadium.

Saturday, I promised to take Becky to the mall - we're going to hit the make-up counters for some makeovers. Saturday night, Chris and Becky are heading to the beach so he can run the dog-day race, but I bagged out on him. Sunday - another bike ride and packing - we have to pack not only our stuff for Vermont, but both girls are going to encampment (a one week sleep away camp sponsored through United Synagogue).

And finally, Monday - we're off! I'll be blogging though b/c the cabin in Vermont has Internet access. But because I'm a glutton (not just for punishment but for food and wine too), two days after returning from Vermont, it's off to Paris!!!

The day after I return, school starts!!

Which reminds me, somewhere between now and Sunday, I need to get haircuts scheduled and school supplies bought for Sammi. Becky won't buy them until after school starts, lucky for me.

Phew.

Okay - so I'll be back shortly with some recipes from the clambake, the tail gate, and some trip planning stuff for both Vermont and Paris. So stick around!

Okay - I think Krista and I have two totally different CSAs. Look at the her Pick of the Day, all beautiful, nicely layed out. Now, take a look at the stuff they're giving a way at my CSA.

Random Vegies with Peckers

Tomato with Crooked Pecker

.

Sorry, it's the best I could find.

Well, it's my birthday too!

I wonder if I could rent Sixteen Candles to watch today - great birthday flick.

Have a good day all.

Before Bookcase
I don't know about the rest of you, but I collect books. Oh not rare books, not a certain genre of books, just books. And it's really not intentional either. I just love browsing bookstores and when I see something that looks or sounds interesting, I buy it. Not just that, but I make lists of books I want, and for the holidays, Chris's Dad and/or Aunt usually end up buying me even more books. Then what happens to most of these books? They sit.

Trish was talking about the Coyote she has near her and I was wondering about this critter in our backyard.

Sorry for the poor quality but it's through a screened window - didn't want to get too close. So is it a fox or coyote. We go back and forth because Chris insisted that while coyotes are being spotted in NJ none were spotted in our area. Then, last week, one was spotted in the next town (which our house practically borders), so now we're back on the fence. I say, our fox have redder coats and are smaller (I have a non-digi picture of one somewhere). Though the animal control guy thinks it might be a fox with mange (which is sad) but I'm still not sure.

Anyway one more shot for your consideration

My grandma used to hollow out the inside of rolls and bagels. She'd take the dough and put it into this plastic bag with a twist-tie (probably and old produce bag or something). She'd eat the outside of the bagel or roll herself but then, when the bag was full, we'd take it across the street to the park, and feed the pigeons.

Some people get skeethed out by them, but I don't. I like them.

In college, there was this park on the other side of the mountain from our campus. Sometimes Chris and I would go over there and feed the ducks and geese. I like doing that too.

Thanks Kathy, for helping me to remember those things.

Pigeons in Venice - Man Was I Heavy

Dolce Italiano
I don't remember her name but there was this blogger who wrote about her efforts to do every single recipe in Julia Child's cookbook (not sure which one); I think she even got a book deal out of it. Honestly though, I've never read or even seen her blog, it's just something I've heard through blog lore. Something I always thought would be cool to try.

Well, now I'm going to try it - only I'm not going to do it with Julia Child's cookbook. I'm going to do it with Gina DePalma's new cookbook, Dolce Italiano, Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen.

So yesterday I made a batch of the Lemony Semolina Cookies from Dolce Italiano. I wasn't sure about the semolina as far as the consistency in your mouth, but I had some on hand (left over from a batch of arborio rice coating we made in August), so I wanted to use it up. Also wasn't sure about the addition of limoncello into the cookie dough - but both of these reservations were unfounded. Another winner - even Sammi approves. Oh and they weren't overtly lemony just enough - great with a cup of tea or coffee as an afternoon snack. Heck, they even went well with my glass of milk before bed.

Oh and Weight Watchers wise - these are great at only 1 point a piece!

I haven't decided what's next but I'm leaning towards the hazelnut cookies.

"Don't ever make these again!" Becky says, and then smiles, "I'm addicted."

Well, I could definitely see that happening. I baked these on Friday afternoon and if I didn't hide them, in of all places, the cookie jar, they would definitely not have survived the hordes of people in and out of our house this weekend. Before they even cooled from the oven, Mom, daughters, nephews, brother and future sister-in-law all gave them the thumbs up.

They were easy to make, with minimal fuss but I guess could get pricey with hazelnuts ringing in at a whopping $8.99 a pound at Whole Foods but definitely worth it. I used the food processor to not only finely chop the nuts but also to do a number on the bittersweet chocolate which melts lusciously throughout.

One of these days, I'm going to have to get the kids to rank these recipes in order of preference but not yet. Oh and I haven't figured out the Weight Watcher points yet but I will, and will update this entry when I do. Definitely a make again.

Oh the white coating is from a roll in confectioner's sugar before baking.

Next up, probably the almond fingers and/or the polenta cookies.

Update: each of these cookies is two Weight Watchers points.

Fala's not sleeping. Well, that's not entirely true. She's sleeping right now, on the chair in my office. She never used to sleep on that chair but since I put her favorite afghan on it, she sleeps on it most mornings while I work.

What I mean to say is that she's not sleeping at night. She falls asleep just fine but sometime about 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning, something bothers her and she stars scratching. When she scratches, she jingles. When she jingles, she wakes me. Why? Because she sleeps next to me on the bed.

So for the last several mornings, I've woken at about 4:00 or 4:30. It means nothing to her to wake me at that time, because, as I've already demonstrated, she sleeps all day. What does she care?

I'm not sure why she starts scratching then, but last night I removed her collar and she fell back to sleep. I, on the other hand, was up for good, so I watched the rest of Inspector Lynley, Blink of an Eye, on Tivo. I had fallen asleep during it the night before, around 9:15. Why? Because the stupid dog keeps waking me at 4:00 in the morning.

So now, I'm in a funk because that's what happens when I don't get enough sleep. That, and overeating. Don't ask me why being tired leads me to overeating but it does. Anyway, so now I'm in this funk, and I need to get out of it but am not sure how.

For starters, I'm cleaning the house, before Anna, the cleaning lady arrives. Yes, we all know the absurdity of cleaning before the cleaning lady - but it's not really cleaning, it's more like straightening, putting crap away so that she can actually dust and vacuum without navigating the obstacle course that is normally my house.

Next, maybe I'll convince me that getting on the bike, will make me feel better. But somehow I doubt it - this could be one of those days where I walk around in my bike shorts and shirt all morning. Then again, you never know.

After that - I'm clueless. I could try reading but I'm tired. Maybe a walk in the woods but I'm tired. Can't do the nap - I lost that ability sometime since college with only fleeting glimpses of it on the occasional vacation without children. Besides, Anna will be here and I feel there's something terribly wrong with me napping while she's cleaning.

Anyway, so now I'm in a funk and I've probably blown enough time whining here - so I guess it's back to "straightening" for me.

Webster's defines censorship as "the institution, system, or practice of censoring." It defines censoring as "to subject to censorship." You have got to love that circular thinking.

However, censor, besides the first meaning dealing with Roman magistrates, goes on to the second definition of "one who supervises conduct and morals" (hmm ... perhaps we should change the term on our SlowTalk forum from Moderator to Censor?). It also defines censor as "an official who examines materials ... for objectionable materials." And finally, "an official ... who reads communications ... and deletes material considered harmful to the interests of his organization."

So reading that, it seems that the administration of Slow Travel Talk does censor. But here's my question, "What's wrong with that???"

Last Friday I made these cookies from Dolce Italiano, Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen. Another winner!!

The cookies called for currants so I was a bit leery if Chris would like them. Chris considers raisins to be the "food of the Devil" so I wasn't sure if his feelings about tiny dried fruits carried to the currant. Luckily, they did not. As a matter of fact, these passed the bittersweet chocolate hazelnut cookies (aka biscotti di ciccolato a nocciole) as Chris's favorite (Sammi's favorite is still the Lemony Semolina Cookies; I'm not sure about Becky's). The recipe calls for grappa, which I do not have on hand, so I substituted brandy. Plus, I forgot to sprinkle the cookies with granulated sugar before baking, but still these were a hit. The only one who didn't appreciate them was Becky. As it turns out, she has the same aversion as her father, only hers does extend to the poor currant.

Again, sorry for the picture quality - I suck at taking food pictures.

On the Weight Watcher points program, these cookies come in at an easy one point each!

I have a Weight Watcher friend (i.e., someone I know from my meetings), who has the WW One Pot cookbook. They no longer sell this cookbook so she offered to bring it to a meeting for me, let me look through it, mark the recipes I would like and she would copy them for me. Good deal I thought.

So last night, I made the first of the copied recipes, this Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya. Now normally, I don't feel comfortable posting recipes from known sources on my blog unless they're already out there on the web (e.g., on Cooking Light or FoodTV) - not sure why, I guess just my bugaboo - guess I want the cookbook author to get to make another sale or something. But since this is from a book that's no longer in print, and therefore no one can make anymore money on it, I don't feel so bad.

Tomorrow, Chris and I will celebrate our wedding anniversary. But since more often than not, he's on the road for our actual "anniversary" we celebrate on the weekend before. So last night we cooked a wonderful anniversary dinner together, then set the dining room with our fine china, popped the cork on some bubbly (and later a Dei Montepulciano de Nobile Riserve 1997) and enjoyed.

To start, I ordered some domestic caviar from Tsar Nicoulai. It arrived Friday afternoon on schedule and we kept it on ice for last night in the fridge. I also ordered a package of blini mix which Chris cooked up during the afternoon.

Eighteen is an important number in Judaism - don't ask me all the significance because learned I am not but I can tell you it's Chai and symbolizes life, and you'll often see Jews wearing the letter Chai around their neck for good luck.

Today, also happens to be my 18th, or chai, wedding anniversary.

I wanted to wax on poetic, write some moving tribute to my partner and best friend for these last eighteen years. You know the one who leaves the toilet seat up, never wipes up the pancake batter after he's made breakfast for us on Saturday morning, never tosses out his paper cup after he's brushed his teeth, but realized it's easy to put into words all the little silly things he does that irk me but so much more difficult to come up with something original for the way he makes me feel.

So I think about Chris, and I think about these past 18 years and I think about life and good luck and I realize that more than eighteen years ago, I had the good luck to find someone with whom to share my life. Someone who makes me laugh, who challenges me to be better than I am, someone who supports me when I fall short of those challenges and someone with whom I cannot imagine my life without.

Sometimes, unbelievable, even to me, here we are, eighteen years later, still building our life together, merging our likes and dislikes, sharing our accomplishments, and our sorrows, realizing some dreams, while others fade away and still yet, creating new ones, but together.

It makes me smile to think about my favorite part of the day, when we climb into bed together (and wipe your dirty minds, I'm talking about the actual act of sleeping next to each other - can you believe we still spoon every night?), and knowing that it is his favorite part of the day too. It makes me sad to think about the losses we've endured together, both family and friends. It makes me hopeful though when I think of all the plans we still make, the trips to take, the parties to have, and for Chris, the marathons to run.

I think it takes a certain amount of luck, and faith to commit your life to someone else. Today I am profoundly happy that Chris chose to do that with me. So Happy Anniversary my love.

Well, it's that time of year again, time to get ready for Thanksgiving. Why does it seem that every year, I think I'll have plenty of time to prepare and experiment with some new dishes, only to get jammed up the last week?

I know, it's because we usually end up going away during November, and by the time we return, I'm always hit with the realization that Thanksgiving is only a week away.

This year is no exception, but for the fact that rather than a week after our return, I'll only have two days, I find a bit daunting. You see we're heading out tomorrow for my brother's wedding in Florida and will not return until Monday afternoon; looking forward to the weekend but man, am I a bit nervous about next week.

So with that in mind, I threw together my menu and to do list last week, and rather experimenting with some new dishes, one that incorporates some old favorites, only one new dish, and some make aheads that I'm working on now. I also forfeited the idea of making the desserts from Dolce Italiano, Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen, to save some boockoo time, and decided for the next best thing, pies from Emery's.

Okay - so it's been a while because in between my Thanksgiving prep we traveled to Florida for my brother's wedding. Great fun, but hectic weekend. I hope to write a bit more about that over the weekend when we have some pictures Becky took.

Anyway, back to T-Giving. So here's where I stand. The carrot muffins are in the freezer and need to come out (same with the Bourbon Dogs and the sourdough bread). I never did get to make the sweet potatoes last week, so I'm working on them now (they're on the stove). The turkey is in the fridge brining - which, by the way, is a complete pain to do when you're by yourself. Luckily my Dad was sleeping in his chair and I was able to wake him with my voice to come help me before all the liquid spilled in the sink.

Pickled Bird
I use turkey bags to do the brining and like to put the turkey, within the bags (I double bag), into my roasting pan in the fridge (it's how it fits) but last night we couldn't lift the bags out of the big 20 quart pot in which I had them in the sink (I used the pot basically to prop up the bird), so I ended up cleaning out the fridge a bit (re-arranging and stuff), so I could get the bird inside, in the 20qt pot and all.

Alright, another update, the sweet potatoes are done and so are the mashed potatoes. I'm toasting the bread for the stuffing now and will begin chopping vegies - with luck I should be done with prep work and cleaning this afternoon.

I made this tonight for dinner after getting the original recipe from In One Pot by Weight Watchers (a book that's no longer published). We really enjoyed it, it came together pretty easily and was tasty. I've noted my changes at the end and I think the only thing I'll do different next time, is toast the flour in it's own saute pan or in the oven as Cooking Light does in their Gramercy Crawfish Gumbo. Enjoy:

* Exported from MasterCook *

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon oil
3/4 pound pork tenderloin -- trimmed of fat and 1/2" chunks
1/4 pound low fat sweet Italian sausage links -- casing removed
1 large onion -- chopped
1 large green bell pepper -- chopped
2 stalks celery -- chopped
3 cloves garlic -- minced
1/2 cup water
14 1/2 ounces canned diced tomatoes
10 ounces frozen okra -- sliced
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 bay leaf
2 cups hot cooked rice

Sprinkle the flour evenly over the bottom of a large nonstick dutch oven or heavy pot. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the flour is fragrant and begins to color, about 5 minutes. Cook, stirring constantly, until the flour is the color of peanut butter, about 10 minutes longer. Transfer the flour to a small bowl, wipe the pot clean.

Heat the oil in the Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the pork and sausage and cook until very lightly browned, 6 - 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic and water to the dutch oven. Cook stirring occasionally, and scraping up the browned bits with a wooden spoon, until the vegies are softened, 3 - 5 minutes.

Return the flour to the pot and cook, stirring about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes with their juice, the okra, broth, thyme salt, pepper, cayenne and bay leaf. Return the pork and sausage to the pot; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered until the pork is tender and the liquid thickens slightly, about 20 minutes. Discard the bay leaf.

Put a mound of the rice in the center of each soup bowl. Ladle the gumbo around the rice.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 372 Calories; 7g Fat (16.8% calories from fat); 30g Protein; 47g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 55mg Cholesterol; 944mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 3 Lean Meat; 2 Vegetable; 1/2 Fat.

NOTES : I sliced the okra though the recipe didn't call for it. So I defrosted the okra for a couple of minutes in the microwave first. I like it sliced because its pieces are then the same size as the others in the pot and it acts as an additional thickening agent. Also, instead of the salt, pepper, and cayenne, I subbed 2 teaspoons of Creole Seasoning. Lastly, I used Turkey sausage.

Serving is 1 1/2 cups of gumbo and 1/2 cup of rice.

I followed Palma's lead and made the infamous Cheddar, Date Biscuits, that Shannon, of Poptarticus had originally told us about, but with the changes Palma described in her blog, Palmabella's Passion, The Biscuit Experiment. While I love the taste, I'm not crazy about the "appearance." I keep thinking there should be something speckled green in the dough - like an herb or something but I can't think of anything that would go.

I froze a bunch though (unbaked) and will experiment with the reheating (i.e., do you defrost them first or bake right from the freezer, and if so, for how long) this weekend. Next, I need to figure out the WW points in each.

If you can't tell, they're fuzzy NY Jets slippers. Becky got them for me for Chanukah tonight. Chris got me something too, but I'm still scratching my head over that one, some sort of tool for making repairs on my bike? But isn't that what my bike shop is for??

Pine Nut Biscotti

I'm back to cooking and baking so I thought I'd post a couple of things from yesterday, in case anyone is interested.

First, we had a bit of an ice storm yesterday, so to me, that means cookies. I tried Cooking Light's Pine Nut Biscotti from the December 2007 issue. While making it I made one change, I subbed almond extract for the vanilla because I like the taste.

I feel like Shannon! Well, not really. You see, Shannon goes to see the hippest, coolest bands out there. Where she hears about them, I do not know. Where she gets the energy to sit through concerts at night, I do not know. I on the other hand go to Christmas concerts at 3:00 in the afternoon but because it's Christmas music done with keyboards, drums and electric guitars and violins (in addition to a strings section), I feel I can make a slight comparison to Shannon.

So last Saturday we took the girls to see Trans Siberian Orchestra at the Meadowlands (aka, the Izod Center, but this place changes names all the time, so who can keep up - we in Jersey just call it the Meadowlands).

That's a clip of the show, done with my crappy cell phone before Becky informed me, "You know, you can set the phone to take videos for longer than 15 seconds." Duh! Of course, she took longer videos which I asked her to send me but hers are so long, that her phone software won't let her transmit them, bummer. Anyway, maybe you can get a glimpse of what the concert is like - lots of loud music, lights and during the second half, pyrotechnics. They really put on an amazing show.

Now, that reminds me, the first half of the show is a rock opera based upon the CD, Christmas Eve and Other Stories. The first time we saw them in concert, last year, when they finished the first half, we thought that was the end of the show. But then Chris, from the band, came out to introduce everyone and said, "Don't leave, we've got some great surprises for you during the second half." So who knew about the second half? Not us, and not about half the audience that did leave. But we stayed and they did put on a great show and had a surprise, one of the guys from Emerson, Lake and Palmer, came out to jam with them. I don't remember if it was Lake or Palmer but it was someone big.

So this year, we knew not to get up after the first half because the second half, while it contains some Christmas music, also has some other songs from the band, which I like to say is like Bethoven on acid, or maybe steroids. Chris (my Chris that is), likes to say, it's how Bethoven would play if he were alive today. Anyway, again, Chris (band Chris that is), told us about the great surprise that awaited us at the end of the show. Then Paul O'Neal came out (the band founder, not the baseball player) and he started to talk about the surprise and how the rock opera Tommy was an early influence on his composing and how he saw this great concert in the 70s...yada, yada, yada.

So we're thinking, oh they got someone who wrote some songs for The Who coming out, whoopdee doo but noooooooooooo......

It's Roger Daltry!

Every year Chris's Grandma (and Grandpa) would make a huge batch of these very basic cookies for the holidays. This was before I knew them or Chris at all (actually, I never met Chris's grandpa as he passed away before we met). Anyway, when Chris and I first got married, his grandma gave us a big tin full of these cookies on Christmas morning. Our second Christmas together, we were living in Missouri, and she sent a tin to us there, with instructions not to open them until Christmas morning (I had to hide them from Chris). She passed away five months later.

Yet, the next year, we still received our tin, this time, from Chris's aunt, who took over the making of "Grandma's cookies." Each year we would receive our tin, and each year I would hide them until Christmas morning when we would eat them for breakfast.

When we moved back to Jersey in 95, I was indoctrinated by Chris's aunt into the making of "Grandma's cookies." The first year or two, I pretty much just watched but as Ann got a bit older, and her shoulders a bit stiffer, I began to assume more of the responsibility. We make a huge batch, and there's a lot of dough involved that has to be mixed (too much for my stand mixer), so we end up kneading it, almost like bread dough).

Now, on Thanksgiving, we pick a day to get together to make the cookies. We try for a weekend when the girls can help (they've been indoctrinated too - so much so, that this year, we even let Becky knead but mostly they crank the machine, shape and dip the cookies into the seeds, aka sprinkles). If we end up on a weekday, due to busy schedules, it takes Ann and I about three to four hours to bake about maybe 15 - 16 dozen (maybe more I've never really counted). When the girls help, we can get done in under three hours.

This year, Becky grabbed her camera and documented the event.

I love the themes. Often they can be interpreted so many ways. Today's theme can be in reference to food or delicious could describe a specific moment, experience or even a person. Of course, being the food-oriented soul that I am, I went with the original and obvious food reference.

Now the hard part though - which food picture to post. There have been so many (though I must admit I'm not very good at foodie shots). In the end, I decided to go with a crappy quality photo (because I took it with my cell phone) but one that I think sums up delicious for me.

Chris has been away for a while. He's installing a system for a client, and they went "live" on Monday. So we haven't seen him for about 11 days. Luckily he's coming home tonight, leaving Monday, but then won't be back again until next Saturday or Sunday (normally he's only gone three or four nights at a stretch). These periods grate on me though, because not only does it mean I must pick up the slack at home, but also because I feel bad asking him to help out (nor do I think he wants to) on the few hours over the weekend that he is home. So while he's working overtime, so am I but no one ever considers SAHMs as working overtime.

Anyway, I guess he heard the growing stress in my voice this week. So these arrived this morning.

Not only that, but after he remembered how I was feeling, he reminded his team members and told them all to send their signifcant others something. He also feels bad that many of them have to work tomorrow (and if it weren't for us, he'd probably stay too), so he told the team that's working tomorrow to take their SOs out for a nice dinner (specifically stating, not Outback, somewhere nice).

I can respect a manager like that. He's the first one in and often the last one to leave. Last night, after he put in a full day, he returned to the office at 11:30pm to bring the second shift some food. I don't always appreciate the sacrafice of time it forces us to make because he supports his team, but I appreciate the fact that he appreciates our sacrafice, and he appreciates his team.

Yes, that's what my eldest just said to my youngest. Guess I didn't pay enough attention to the card that came with the flowers in the entry below. "Looking forward to seeing you Tonight!" Yes tonight was underlined and now my youngest swears she's sleeping in our room with us to make sure nothing happens. Great ... just great.

The other day Girasoli posted 100 Things About Her, on her blog, Shave Ice and Gelato. I thought that was a fabulous idea. And immediately set out to copy it and create my own list (before you get in the list know, I have very few good ideas of my own, but I'm great at recognizing others and stealing them). So without further ado, here's my list:

1. I can watch some movies over and over.
2. My favorite movies for this are It's a Wonderful Life, Baby Boom, Ground Hogs Day, American President; Okay I like "redemption" movies. Oh and When Harry Met Sally for different reasons.
3. I've known Chris (my husband) since I was 11. We were in the same home room in 7th grade.
4. I first noticed him a few months later.
5. We became friends when I was 16.
6. We started dating when I was 19.
7. We married when I was 24.
8. Chris is the only man I've ever been with.
9. I have two girls. Anyone who knows me knows how funny this is.
10. I was a tomboy growing up (gi joes, not barbie dolls).
11. I played powder puff football in college, defensive lineman.
12. In high school, the coach of the boys freshman football team saw me recover a fumble in gym class and wanted me to try out. I didn't. My father would have freaked.
13. I went to Lehigh University (go Engineers! Yes, engineers, not Mountain Hawks - how do you change the name of a school mascot?)
14. I was a Computer Science major.
15. I graduated with honors.
16. I live in the town in which I was raised.
17. I was born in Brooklyn NY though.
18. I spoke with an accent when I was angry for many years - think Maris Tomei in My Cousin Vinny (also great movie).
19. My favorite bike was stolen when I was 16 on LBI (Long Beach Island).
20. It was an orange Peugot.
21. I learned to ride a bike without training wheels at age 5. My dad took me to Toys R Us as a reward.
21. I knew (know) all my grandparents. Three have since passed but my Grandma May is still alive (she'll be 95 in April). She's losing her mind a bit now but she's more fun that way.
22. I have one brother. He just got married (second time) has two sons and one stepson.
23. My brother lives in Florida but wishes he could move back to Jersey. Never thought I'd say this, but I wish he could live here too.
24. My parents live in Florida half the year. I miss them when they're there (but they drive me crazy sometimes when they're here ;D).
25. I like to watch TV and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
26. Sometimes I can watch more than one show at a time by flipping. It drives everyone else crazy.
27. I had a blanky growing up.
28. A piece of my blanky is still in my nightstand.
29. I like to eat. I mean I know the whole thing, eat to live don't live to eat, but forget the food issues, I really like to eat.
30. I like to drink wine too.
31. And beer :) C'mon, it tastes good.
32. If right now I found out I would die tomorrow, I'd pull the girls from school, bake chocolate chip cookies, get lots of milk and plop on the couch with them, watching the above said movies.
33. I wish we could domesticate squirrels. Fala does not agree with me.
34. My favorite flower for its scent is the rose, for its appearance, the calla lily.
35. I get nauseous on amusement park rides that spin around in a circle real fast.
36. I'm a Great Adventure season pass holder. Those from NJ get which amusement park I mean.
37. I look forward to and immensely enjoy my first sip of hot coffee each day; it's a ritual to me.
38. I drink my coffee with milk, no sugar.
39. I am a geek.
40. I like all the Star Treks (well except Enterprise which I never got into).
41. My favorite used to be TNG but now I'm enjoying voyager in re-runs on Spike.
42. I played D&D as a kid. Told you I was a geek.
43. All my life I've been in search of the perfect chess board.
44. If I didn't have self-control, I'd probably collect chess boards.
45. I do not own a chess board.
46. My favorite city in the world is New York. I am lucky I live so close.
47. My second favorite city is Paris, Rome, Jerusalem, Florence, Venice, San Francisco.
48. I do not like scary movies. They scare me.
49. My first job out of college was with a computer consulting firm.
50. I installed huge computer systems, the first one, coding in assembler.
51. My first computer was a trash 80.
52. I got into computers because my mother wouldn't let me get a mo-ped (yeah I had $600 burning a hole in my pocket).
53. I had my first job at age 12.
54. I delivered the local afternoon paper (on the weekend, it was early morning).
55. My second job was as a coat-check girl in a local restaurant.
56. My third job, a filing clerk in a local law office.
57. All those jobs were before I graduated High School.
58. My favorite books are Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Pillars of the Earth, The Chosen and Tale of Two Cities.
59. They are the only books (other than children's books), I've read more than once.
60. My favorite children's books are Where the Wild Things Are, Snow White and Rose Red and Curious George Goes to the Hospital.
61. When I was a child, I had kidney problems.
62. I had a cute doctor from Australia at Chops.
63. He was my first crush. I was 8.
64. I am a Yankee fan.
65. I am a Jets fan - that combination is something of an anomaly.
66. I will root for the Mets if they're not playing the Yankees.
67. I will root for the Giants if they're not playing the Jets.
68. I do not know how to ice skate.
69. I like watching ice skating during the Olympics.
70. I am Jewish.
71. I was kicked out of Hebrew School everyday for a year.
72. I served as Vice President of School and Youth on our synagogue board for three years, overseeing the Hebrew School - kind of funny, no?
73. Fala is the fourth scottie I've owned. The first was McDougal, the second Scrapper (Sir Cedric Ross Angus Phillip) and the third, Brunswick.
74. Scrapper stayed with my mom when we moved away from home. My Dad said, "Your mom can't bare to lose the dog and you at the same time." That's why Brunswick and Scrapper overlapped.
75. Next time we get a dog, I want to get two.
76. I've written a romance novel.
77. I've written a mystery novel.
78. Neither has been published. I'm too chicken.
79. I did publish a short story though.
80 I got $65 for it.
81. I think Stephen King is a great writer.
82. I can't read Stephen King. He gives me nightmares.
83. When I was younger, I dreamt of redeveloping Coney Island. I still can't believe no one has done it.
84. I almost drowned in the ocean when I was 5. Never turn your back on the ocean.
85. I was 12 before I went into the ocean again.
86. I get seasick.
87. I love sitting on the beach, reading.
88. As a child I suffered from wicked homesickness.
89. In high school, I'd force myself to visit older friends in college for weekends, to get over it.
90. I play MahJong though I'm not in a regular game.
91. I do own a MahJong set; it belonged to my grandma May.
92. I like to play games.
93. My favorite used to be Risk.
94. I like to do jigsaw puzzles.
95. I hate going to the dentist. But I do love my dentist; he's a sweet guy.
96. My favorite season used to be autumn, now it's spring.
97. I do not like cauliflower.
98. I lived in St. Louis for 5.5 years.
99. I was a Cardinal season ticket holder.
100. One of the happiest days of my life, was the day we left St. Louis to move back to NJ.

It's been a while since we've had a snow day (I don't think we had any last year, well, maybe one), so tonight, in anticipation of the possible three to six inches of white stuff that may fall between midnight and 6:00am, we're wearing our pajamas inside out and backwards. Yes, it's like the triple dog dare, mother nature cannot resist the allure of children (and their parents who don't mind a snow day), wearing their PJs inside out and backwards, and thus grants their wish with enough snow so that school gets cancelled.

Heck, Continental, shaking in anticipation, already cancelled Chris's 8:00am flight to Greensboro.

Of course, after I've shoveled tomorrow afternoon, remind me again why I took the inside out and backwards road tonight...

She's 4 today!

Warning, it has sound, but hopefully it will give you a good chuckle:

As I've Matured

I thought the girls and I would have a nice Friday night dinner, so I decided to make a big lasagna (also had some noodles I wanted to use up in the pantry). Anyway, as it turned out, Becky went to a friend's house to "study" and Sammi doesn't appreciate "lumps" in her lasagna (aka ground beef), so she and I had a bit of this huge tray while watching Wheel of Fortune - so much for a nice dinner - I watched as Sammi scraped the sauce off the noodles and ate noodles and cheese.

Anyway, I liked it and would make it again. It is a bit of work because you start off making the sauce. I assembled the entire thing in the afternoon, and stuck it in the oven before going to a swim meet. I called Sammi to turn the oven on at 5:00 and dinner was ready about 6:30.

I'm hoping to freeze a chunk of the leftovers. Give it a shot though; it comes in at 8 WW points per slice.

They don't really call it gelato though; they call it artisan ice cream but man it looks like gelato. It tastes like gelato and it has the funky flavors you sometimes see in the better gelato places. Coco Pazzo from the Slow Travel Talk forums, recommended to me to visit the Bent Spoon in Princeton if I were ever in the area to enjoy some of their "artisanal ice cream." We happened to be there yesterday while Sammi had a youth group function at Red, Blue, Green.

Have to say, even if we hadn't had to be there, worth the trip, worth braving the icy weather (high in the mid 20s), worth the price ($3.50 for a small). I enjoyed Sea Salt Caramel Vanilla and NJ Honey and Hazelnut yesterday (yes, they use local ingredients whenever possible) and both flavors were fabulous. They mention other flavors on their website, like bourbon pumpkin, brown sugar & clove and pear prosecco, which sound amazing. Didn't finish though because I knew we were heading out to lunch (another entry), while we waited for Sammi, and I knew we were going out to one of my favorite restaurants for dinner (to celebrate Chris's birthday, another entry), but I had to taste it. Yum! I will be back.

Oh, and they also have a fancy bakery - with some amazing looking cookies and cupcakes (next time I need to take some pictures). It's a small place though, like four tiny tables inside, so consider that if it's raining - might be best to wait until a day when you're sure you can sit outside or it won't be as crowded inside (like a 20+ degree day).

My friend, Rain, is having a baby. It's getting difficult getting to the supermarket, when she's very pregnant and already has a toddler in tow. So she decided to try one of those home delivery/pick-up services. Basically, she goes on line, orders her food and then for two different prices, she has the option of either picking up the order, or having it delivered. The problem with these services, is, as a shopper, you must be completely aware of products and sizes. Rain, not so much - as she ordered a five pound bag of baby carrots last week. Five pounds is a lot of carrots and I'd imagine most people would be hard-pressed to use them up, let alone someone who doesn't cook or bake regularly. Lucky for me though, I became the recipient of about four pounds of that bag, so I went to work finding recipes to make.

Yesterday, I did a bit of baking after finding these recipes on Cooking Light. First up, Quick Carrot Bread.

Carrot-Raisin Quick Bread
From

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup coarsely shredded carrot
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup fat-free milk
3 tablespoons stick margarine or butter, melted
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl (flour through nutmeg). Combine carrot and next 5 ingredients (carrot through egg) in a small bowl; add to flour mixture, stirring just until flour mixture is moist.

Pour batter into an 8-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool on a wire rack.

Yield: 12 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

CALORIES 174 (19% from fat); FAT 3.6g (sat 0.8g,mono 1.5g,poly 1.1g); PROTEIN 3.1g; CHOLESTEROL 19mg; CALCIUM 42mg; SODIUM 215mg; FIBER 1.2g; IRON 1.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 32.9g

Cooking Light, OCTOBER 1998

I always say, I don't have good ideas, I recognize others and steal them. Well, this entry is no exception. As I did previously with the 100 Things About Me entry, which I got from Girasoli, who originally got it from Bleeding Espresso, I now return to Bleeding Espresso for this concept - a series of questions that you use to reflect on your past year.

What's funny though is that Bleeding Espresso got the idea from Sundry Mourning who got it from Gwen’s Petty, Judgmental, Evil Thoughts. So I guess I'm not the only one who recognizes good ideas and steals them.

Yes, I'm a little late to the game, but heck, it's still January, so why not? Who makes the rules anyway. As others have said, if you want to play along - go for it!

Here are the questions.

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
4. Did anyone close to you die?
5. What countries did you visit?
6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
9. What was your biggest failure?
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
11. What was the best thing you bought?
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
14. Where did most of your money go?
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
20. How did you spend Christmas?
21. Did you fall in love in 2007?
22. What was your favorite TV program?
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
24. What was the best book you read?
25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
26. What did you want and get?
27. What did you want and not get?
28. What was your favorite film of this year?
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
32. What kept you sane?
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
34. What political issue stirred you the most?
35. Who did you miss?
36. Who was the best new person you met?
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Keep reading to see my answers.

I have a few dozen recipes I've bookmarked in Dolce Italiano but unfortunately got a bit side-tracked during the holidays. But I'm back now. Last night I went to a friend's house for dinner and I thought I'd bring a little something from the book for dessert. Angela from A Spoonful of Sugar had baked the Venetian Apple Cake back in November and had given it high marks so I thought I'd give it a go.

It comes together pretty easily once you grate the apple. Which I must say, I've never done before and I didn't get much out of it, even after scraping the grater down, but I didn't worry. I knew from reading Angela's blog that the cake had the essence of apple, not big chunks, like most of the apple cakes I've made in the past. The only other thing I noted was that after grating the apple, while assembling the other ingredients, the apple turned, not unexpected but I wondered if it would affect the coloring of the cake. It doesn't. The cake is golden and the apple fits right in - you don't really see it. Lastly, the spices used (a combination of ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg) give it a real autumnal flavor - yum!

I love wheatberries. No, I really do. I loved them for years before I even knew what they were. Chris and I used to go to this restaurant, around the corner from our first apartment, Park and Orchard and they would serve this rice dish, with these little things in it that added a bit of crunch - I loved it (still do). Never knew what they were though.

Flashforward about 18 years, and I'm watching the Barefoot Contessa one day on FoodTV. She's making this Wheat Berry Salad (It was the Back for the Weekend episode. It looked good, so I thought I'd give it a go, and I loved it. I then realized, that's what those little things were in the rice at Park and Orchard.

Now, making that salad wasn't as easy as it sounds, because my local Shop Rite doesn't stock wheatberries. I'm not even sure they know what they are. So for a few years, I had that recipe tagged with no means of making it. Then into my life came, Whole Foods. In their bulk section, Whole Foods has tons of wheat berries. So I bought some for the salad and loved them. Knowing it's my only local source and knowing I don't get there near enough, the next time I went, I bought more ... and the next time .... and the next. Problem is I wasn't cooking with them. I need to find more wheat berry recipes.

So yesterday, I started with this one from, where else, Cooking Light, Wheat Berry-Black Bean Soup. Here's my portion (I topped it with some baked tortilla chips and Frank's Hot Sauce). Chris wanted a dollup of sour cream on his but couldn't find any in the refrigerator.

Chris really liked the soup. I thought it was okay. I'd make it again (to use up some wheat berries) but there are other Black Bean Soups out there that I like better. It was missing ... I don't know ... something. Perhaps if I figure that out, I'll make some adjustments. It got five stars (Outstanding) over on Cooking Light, I'd probably give it three (Good Solid Recipe). For you Weight Watchers out there, it's four points in one serving.

A while ago - probably over a year now, I bought Stir it Up, Super Skillet Cookbook at my Weight Watchers meeting. For a while, I cooked out of it but back then I was core, and so it got shoved to the back of the pile as many of the recipes in the book aren't (core that is). Anyway, as I was poking around for inspiration in making my shopping list, I saw it sitting there, wedged between a Nick Stellino and the Weight Watchers Comfort Food, so I thought I'd pull it out and give it a go.

Tonight for dinner I made the Lo Mein Pork and Peanut Noodles - the kids usually like pork and they like peanut butter, so I was hopeful. I became a bit discouraged though when I realized the amount of veggies in the recipe (1 large red bell, 1 small zucchini and scallions) and became even more concerned when I realized, these veggies aren't cooked but served in the noodles raw. I persevered however, and tossed the noodles and pork together first, then served the kids, then added the veggies which seemed to satisfy everyone.

I'll tell you, though it was quick to cook (once the water boiled for the noodles, 5 minutes), it did require about 20 - 30 minutes of prep time (slicing, dicing, you know the drill) - still pleasantly surprised with the results. Sammi gave it thumbs up and Becky said, "Okay." (she has a thing about spaghetti-like noodles - it's a consistency issue. I will make this again.

I don't know if the Polynesians actually ever made anything like this but Weight Watchers thinks they did and as I went back to the Stir It Up, Super Skillet Cookbook for inspiration again, I thought I'd give it a go. Heck, one of my kids likes chicken and pineapple anyway. Well she just picked out the chicken (but deemed it edible), while the other of the picky palette, glanced at it, and asked, "Can I have a Kids Cuisine?" She's sick, so of course I agreed. I on the other hand really enjoyed it and served it with a 1/2C brown rice. On it's own a 1 3/4C serving comes in at 7 points, with the rice 9.

Yes, that's right - that time of year when a rodent predicts the weather. Today, while I'm away from home, missing my little North Brunswick Ned prancing through the fields behind our house, I wonder if California has their own little critter, another Punxsatawny Phil perhaps?

On another note, before we left, I tried to track down a DVD of Groundhog's Day but couldn't find one. Nor could I find it on iTunes - so I guess I must wait until February 5th or so to watch one of my favorite movies.

In the mean time, hopefully this will do:

And remember folks, don't drive angry!

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but I joined a gym a while ago so that I could add weight training to my repertoire. Actually, my parents bought me sessions with a trainer as a birthday present. I'm also not sure if I mentioned it, but I put on 12 pounds since Paris last August, slipping and sliding through the fall. Today, finally, I got the holiday weight off, down four, eight more to go with this Paso trip here.

I'm really going to try to stay focused while I'm here. I'm not going to deny me things, but I am bringing oatmeal, one point bars, little snacks for traveling in the hopes of mitigating the damage. Another thing I'm doing is participating in IHRSA.

I saw these little pamphlets at the gym, that enable you to use thousands of gyms around the country when you travel from your home gym. Originally we found a gym in a town not too far from Paso, Kennedy Club Fitness, in Atascadero. However, when I checked their website, I noticed that they opened a facility in Paso in December. I called over there, and yes, they participate. Turns out I could use the facility as a guest for $15 without being a IHRSA member, but I get a 20% discount. I'm just psyched to have access to the fitness facility and intend to use it every day I'm away.

I'll report more when I return.

From Dictionary.com, Community: a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage.

For the most part, we all live in them. We seek out companionship, sometimes with similar people (similar age, similar ethnicity, similar religion). Some of us might really have more than one community to which we belong. For example, the town in which I live is one community to which I belong, my synagogue is another, shoot, one could even say the forums to which I belong (e.g., SlowTalk.com) are another, each has a "government" accepted by those being governed with the agreement that those being governed will adhere to the rules created by the government.

What I never get though, is people who feel the rules of their community don't apply to them.

About five years ago, give or take some, my parents moved to one of those age-restricted developments in Florida. Eighty percent of the people who live in this development must be over the age of 50 (don't even get me started on that concept). What I find increasingly ironic though and therefore, increasingly funny, are the stories my parents tell me of their fellow community members. You would think that the primarily over 60 crowd, would "know better." I mean we're not talking children here who may not yet understand the concept of right and wrong. Nor are we talking about teenagers whose job it is to "rebel against the man." We're talking grown adults, who have presumably lived, worked, raised families and obeyed the communal laws of their societies for their entire lives ... or are we?

For example, in the cafe, when you buy the sandwich special, you get the drink for free. They give you a nice styrofoam cup, in which you can pour your own soda, and while you're at the cafe, you may help yourself to free refills. So what's with the people, who take said styrofoam cup home, wash it out, and return the next day, and the next, and the next, helping themselves to soda as they see fit. How is this not stealing?

Or there's the couple that arrived at the pool house in order to pick up their lounge chairs from the pool deck. You see, they never use the communal pool but since their dues go to support the pool, they thought themselves entitled to two lounge chairs that they could bring home to use on their patio. They were stopped.

Let's not forget, the gentlemen who play water polo each week. One day they arrived at the pool to discover it was closed for 24 hours because it was being treated with chemicals (aka shocked or cleaned). These men though, felt they had the right to play their game, and snuck in to the pool area, through the sauna (I believe), and entered the pool. When asked to leave by the staff so the pool could be treated, they refused. Huh?

I won't even get into the reason why buffets are no longer served at member functions but you can imagine.

So here's my question? Why live in these places if you don't agree with the rules? If you don't want to pay dues? Why live in a community at all?

I have a lot to write about given the fantastic weekend we had. But I'm still a bit loopy from little sleep and crossing time zones twice in four days. So for now, I'd like to share with you some of my favorite ads from the Superbowl. I've always had an affinity for the ads, since that's what my Dad did for a living for over 40 years.

First the Honorable Mentions

Love the Cat Screeching - Bud Light

I love to read but I do so much of it with my job, that by the end of the day, usually the last thing I want to do is read. Not so lately though, as I've read two books (diametrically opposed) that I thought I'd share.

The first, Shadow of the Wind, was just an amazing tale of a boy coming of age and the mystery that he unravels surrounding his favorite author. I enjoyed this one so much, I didn't race through it but doled it out in small doses because I didn't want it to end. Well, that is until I got on the plane to California last Friday - then I raced through, finishing it with hours to spare that left me bored. I highly recommend this read and still can't believe it's a translated edition.

The second book, as I said is the total opposite. While the first definitely falls into the literature category, well, this next one can't be called anything but fluff. Geeky fluff at that (hey I warned you I was a geek a while ago). Think Stephanie Plum of Janet Evonovich fame gets turned into a vampire and you're almost there.

Undead and Unreturnable is just a bit of fluff that's good reading after a deep book. Finished it in a couple of hours on the flight home from California, leaving me plenty of time to watch a movie and annoy Chris.

Last night I started whizzing through the next in the series, Undead and Unpopular which I'll follow with I'm Not Scared.

Happy reading.

Sometimes at my Weight Watcher meeting, my leader, Amy, hangs recipes on the walls. Today there were two up there that sounded interesting, oven fried chicken (still to come) and Raisin Scones. I opted to try the raisin scones first, since I was looking for something sweet to make to have with some afternoon tea (I'm trying to kick the popcorn in the afternoon habit).

It took less time to assemble these than it took for my oven to preheat. Also, I soaked the raisins first in hot water (I like to do that to plump them a bit before baking). Lastly, I ran out of raisins so I did half raisins half currants. They're not bad - light and easy - and at one point each, who can complain. Next time, I may try cranberries with a little orange zest added in. Or the currants again with some lemon zest.

Wow, I didn't realize the time - I almost let today slip by without an entry. So what to write about? Hmm...

Okay - here's something,

On Wednesday night I met the Lehigh Girls for dinner. I'm not sure I mentioned the Lehigh Girls before but we're a group of girls (okay - I'll admit our age - woman) who went to college together some 20+ years ago. Since then, we still gather pretty regularly to celebrate birthdays, holidays, etc. On Wednesday night we gathered to celebrate Rain and Mare's birthday (you've heard me mention Rain before - we traveled to Florence together way back in 2001).

Anyway - we often meet in the City, but this time, we opted for Indian in Morristown and visited Caffe India on Washington. Now don't get me started on finding the restaurant (basically, from 287 you go around the green - yes that stupid park they make you go around, but if you could just go straight past it, you'd end up on Washington. Oh and yes, if you pass the Hyatt like me, you didn't go around enough), anyway where was I - oh yeah, finding the restaurant. Well, I guess I covered that anyway - it's basically on the other side of town from 287. Parking is on the street, but on a Wednesday night wasn't a problem.

There were six of us who managed to make it to dinner and after the assorted appetizers of meat and veggie samosa, and the naan (two kinds, garlic and spinach), we ended up sharing five entrees with plenty leftover. Let's see if I can remember - there was a lamb special, but the name escapes me, also a shrimp special, name fate is the same, then we had some lentils, Chicken Vindaloo and Bayngan Bhurta, which reminded me of caponata but more Asian spices (which of course, makes sense). Everything was tasty and good quality (e.g., the meat was tender).

We don't normally skip dessert but at first glance none of the typical Indian desserts appealed - however our sweet tooth won out and we opted for some mango ice cream (typical), and being adventurous, Chef's Special Kheer which is basmati rice pudding served with almond and pistachios - this was real tasty and I wouldn't hesitate to order it again.

So on the Kim and Chris scale (though Chris wasn't with us - it's a girls only event - well except for Larry but that's another story), I'd give this place one star (i.e., if you're in the area and looking for Indian, I don't hesitate to recommend this place). Oh, two other things to note, they do not have a liquor license, so remember your wine or beer and the cost for the six of us, including tip came to $152 - not too bad, for the four of us paying (birthday girls don't pay), $38 each - I'll take that any night of the week.

We have been trying to get together with Alan and Janet for months now. Today, finally, after coordinating our schedules weeks out, we finally met at Lupa for lunch. Lupa's one of the Batali restaurant empire, specializing in "Roman trattoria fare" and other than being located in the West Village of NYC, it came pretty darn close.

We started with two of the special antipasti, one a prosciutto role with cheese that was breaded and fried into a small croquette. They were mighty tasty though Chris thought they may have been left in the fryer a little too long. The other special appetizer, was a small salad of some greens - the name escapes me, but if Janet stops by, perhaps she'll remember; they're her favorite. We also had an assortment of their house-made meats, some coppa cotto, salumi, lingua (aka tongue), a house-cured pancetta - and hmm...the last one escapes me, to go along with this we had a Primitivo - the Majara perhaps.

For our primi (actually we only had primi - it was lunch after all), Chris had the Buccatini Amatriciana, Janet and Alan had the house special which was a tagliatelle with a braised pork shoulder and porcini mushroom ragu (with some wilted greens), and I had a buckwheat chitarra pasta with Cavolo Nero. To drink with all this we upped the strength a bit and went with a Barbera, the Moccagatta - yummy. The pastas were good with decent portion size - though I must say, if you have an aversion to salt, this may not be the place for you.

Dessert, Alan and Janet split the tartufo, which I'm assuming they liked; they cleaned the plate - Chris and I opted for an espresso and macchiato, respectively, since we're continuing the party tonight - we needed to save some room. Our bill came to about $137 per couple (if I recall correctly) including tip and tax, but considering the quality and quantity of the food and wine, I didn't think it too bad at all.

And of course, I forgot to snap pictures of the food but I did get this (Chris's empty bowl):

We're having some freaky weather today - sunny, cloudy, sunny, then snow showers all accompanied by some high winds. There's nothing accumulating but it's a good day to sit in front of the television and veg. The history channel is doing one of its weekend Band of Brothers marathon, so I'm plopped here, pigging out on popcorn (I feel sick from eating it), watching it while catching up on all the wonderful February blog entries.

I have to say, we watched Band of Brothers when it first appeared on HBO many years ago. It still remains, in my mind, one of the best, if not the best, mini-series ever. I have always had an interest in World War II but I think this series does some of the best work, telling the story of the American soldier in Europe during the War. If you haven't already seen it, I recommend renting it. If you have, maybe every so often, around Veteran's Day or Memorial Day, you might want to check it out again.

I still can't hear the music from the clip below without tears...

AnnieNC did an entry on a new bird she spotted on her window and listed all the ones she's seen. I don't keep a "list" per se, but se do keep a copy of Stokes Field Guide to Birds in our kitchen (with all the cookbooks), and everytime we see a new one, we date it's entry in the book. So I'm going to go through now and list all the ones we've seen.

Valentine's Day always holds lots of baggage for me, on several levels. So let me start off by saying, I don't really care to celebrate it.

Chris and I started dating 23 years ago (this past Saturday), when he invited me to his fraternity's Valentine's Day dance. I knew he finally was interested in me (I had been pursuing for a couple of months) because he had plans that weekend with a mutual friend, Todd, that he cancelled to take me to his fraternity's party on February 9th. I knew if he cancelled Todd for me, there was going to be some action. That was the day we started to date and that's the day we celebrate in February (though Chris sometimes argue we should celebrate the 10th because we didn't kiss until after midnight).

So this past Saturday, after having a great lunch with Janet and Alan at Lupa, we came home in the evening and celebrated with a light meal of prosecco and caviar. Chris made a playlist for his iPod, entitled Music to Grope By 2 (last year we had Music to Grope by 1 - a new tradition was born), and he gave me this fabulous card:

I think I mentioned somewhere that my CSA is experimenting with a winter share this year. They've never done one before but for $400 we get 16 weeks worth of crops from November through March (or so). It sounded like a good experiment, so I bought in. Though the quantity of crops has not been as rich as the summer, the quality is still good.

That said, last week, I received a cabbage head, that's, well, bigger than Becky's head.

(she's not happy up there because it's right after swim practice). Anyway...

At first, I thought I'd make Roasted Cabbage Rolls but then I saw this recipe in the March Bon Appetit, Cabbage and White Bean Soup with Sausage and it stuck in my head plus the Roasted Cabbage seemed too labor intensive and I didn't feel like it. So Wednesday, when I was at the farm market, and they had chicken apple sausage I decided to make the soup instead. Only problem, when I got home I realized I didn't have everything I needed. So this is what I came up with.

When Becky was in elementary school, she took this book out of the library, Round Robin which happened to be about the same time that my fascination with the Robin and its spring time return started. Now every year, I wait and watch, and wait and watch until I see the first Robin of the season. It's usually in the latter half of February but I find their return a much better harbinger of spring than good old Punxsutawney Phil (well, the robins plus the rabbits in the yard). Anyway, on Friday, I saw the first robins (a few of them) followed immediately by the rabbits Friday night (two in the backyard making Fala go bonkers) - can't ask for more indicators than that the spring is just around the corner!

Now if only I had a picture ...

Do you know the song, by the Bare Naked Ladies? It's a good song, fun sing-along. Anyway, I don't buy lottery tickets often, just when the jackpot is really big, and Angie's post, I Didn't Win the Lottery reminded me I need to get a ticket for NJ's Megamillion drawing tomorrow night which is $220 million!

It also reminds me of the game we often play, what would we do if we won.

Something extra - isn't my daughter talented?

Don't ever doubt that I have Chris right where I want him. :D

You've all heard the term, Going Postal, right? There's a great scene in Seinfeld when Newman talks about it:

George Costanza: Let me ask you something... What do you do for a living, Newman?
Newman: I'm a United States postal worker.
George Costanza: Aren't those the guys that always go crazy and come back with a gun and shoot everybody?
Newman: Sometimes.
Jerry: Why is that?
Newman: Because the mail never stops. It just keeps coming and coming and coming. There's never a letup, It's relentless. Every day it piles up more and more, but the more you get out, the more it keeps coming. And then the bar code reader breaks. And then it's Publisher's Clearinghouse day.

Well, the same thing happens with laundry. It never stops. It just keeps coming and coming and coming. There's never a letup. It's relentless. Every day it piles up more and more, but the more you get out the more it keeps coming. And then the dryer breaks. And then it's the day to wash the sheets...

Two days worth:

Last Friday I took a ride down to Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck). I needed to pick up Tilapia for Friday's dinner and since Matt sold the fish store I used to patron, I'm not as crazy about the quality of the goods. Anyway, while I was there, I thought I'd find something for us to have Saturday night. Of course, when I asked Chris for requests, I got the usual response, "I don't know." When I pressed him, I got a bit more information, "Something meaty." Lots of help, thanks.

So while in WF, I checked out the butcher shop (what I wouldn't give for a local butcher). Anyway, as I walked back and forth in front of the case, one of the butchers asked me, "Can I help you?" I replied, that I was just looking for inspiration and I'd let them know when I was ready. Then I spotted them, lamb shanks. I had never prepared lamb shanks but figured they couldn't be much different than veal shanks. I also had vague recollections of some sort of braised lamb shanks with Moroccan spices that I thought might be good (crossing my fingers that Chris would be able to fill in on whatever other ingredients I needed when he did our regular shopping on Saturday).

So tilapia, lamb shanks (and assorted other goodies in hand), I checked out and headed home.

Upon arrival, I logged on to Cooking Light and did a search on lamb shanks where I found this recipe. It wasn't the Moroccan preparation I had envisioned but it was easy, slow-cooking, and mighty tasty. Chris said it rivaled my rendition of Osso Bucco and I have to say it was so much easier to prepare. The lamb was tender and delicious when done, the polenta and roasted Brussel sprouts were great accompaniments. Not to mention, the Due Mile Sei wine from Castoro that we drank with it. Nice wine - good to taste it when I'm totally sober - it was smooth with flavors that reminded me of chocolate and raspberry - yum.

Anyway, I will definitely make this dish again and definitely wouldn't have qualms for serving it to company. Added bonus, the lamb shanks were so much cheaper than veal shanks. Oh, for you Weight Watchers, this came in at 9 points (not too bad for a Saturday night meal and that included the polenta).

Last week I needed a quick easy weeknight meal. My friend, Lisa, gave me the Weight Watchers Turnaround book a few months ago (she ended up with two), so having just rediscovered it I decided to give it a try.

Using the already cooked chicken (Perdue short cuts) this came together pretty easily. It was tasty too. Becky had hers as indicated (i.e., in the taco shells), but I had mine over a big bowl of mixed greens which was good too.

Okay - we have another shot at this people! Remember, inside out and backwards. We need a snow day!

And who has heard about toothpaste on a nickel by the window?? Does it work?

Okay - I have to admit, the last time we had this opportunity for a snow day, I forgot to wear my pajamas inside out and backwards. And of course, nothing happened. But not last night, I remembered and look!

Well, it's 10:50pm and I just realized I didn't blog today. So of course, not to ruin the streak, I booted up the laptop do get this one in. Normally, by now, I'd be asleep, or at the very least, in bed watching TV but tonight Sammi is out. It stinks when your 11 year-old has more of a nightlife than you but there it is. She's at a dance. The dance ends at 11:00 and we will need to pick her up at the synagogue around 11:40 or. Needless to say though, we're sitting here watching a 48 Hours Mystery on Melanie McGuire, falling asleep.

So I'm going to sign off now - having fulfilled my obligation to blog today even if it's late night dribble. See you all tomorrow!

We had our first snow day on Friday and I promised Chris, if it snowed, I'd make him Cinnamon Biscotti. And I kept my promise. This recipe originally came from Cooking Light but I modified it with the addition of Cinnamon chips and because I don't use margarine and didn't feel like melting butter, I used canola oil.

Something about winter Sundays makes me want to eat stew. Well, at least something that's cooked slowly all afternoon while I slovenly sit on the couch, in this case, watching Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. So for yesterday's meal, I returned to the photocopies a friend made me from the Weight Watchers In One Pot cookbook.

But let me digress one moment. I have to say, there are two things that irk me about the Weight Watcher cookbooks. 1) They only offer them for a limited time and then they're gone. Unless you want to way overpay on E-bay, you snooze, you lose. 2) They repeat recipes. Well, yes, maybe they're not exactly the same but I don't call changing macaroni from regular to whole wheat and low fat cheese to fat free cheese in order to make something core, a new recipe. I guess because of these two bugaboos, I have no compunction about reprinting their recipes.

Anyway, so back to my lazy Sunday - for yesterday, I decided to make a Beef Burgundy, which while it wasn't entirely in one pot, came close enough. I assembled all the ingredients about 10:00am because the recipe said it needed 8 to 10 hours on low. It was easy peasy, and then it sat and cooked away all day, making the house smell pretty good.

There are no pictures though because I have this thing with slow cooker foods - I don't know if it's me, or if it's because the recipe cooked too long (as I said, the recipe said 8 - 10 hours, but my crockpot cooks hot and it probably was done in more like 5.5 to 6 hours) or if it's just a function of crock pot cookery, but other than the parsley sprinkled on at the end, all the colors just melt, into a sort of brown. It tasted good though and Becky and Chris both said I could make it again. There's a lot of extra gravy, so make sure you have an nice crusty loaf for mopping.

Another Weight Watcher recipe, this time from Turnaround Program Cookbook. I love Chinese food so anything that resembles that, and satisfies a craving, I'm in. This one did that and came together quick. I'm usually concerned that there's not enough sauce in these recipes but this one had enough to coat all the chicken and broccoli nicely. Becky doesn't like broccoli but picked out the chicken and gave it a thumbs up. I will make it again.

Don't you just love that word? I do. I love how it sounds like it means. I love how it feels when I say it. And I love that I can use it in a sentence, like, my weight loss attempts over the past few months have been lackadaisical at best.

Yep, that's true - I've been stalled for over six months now. Some weeks, worse than stalled, some weeks I gain. At least now though I when I gain one week I can usually get it off the next but still, I'm spinning my wheels. I'm pursuing weight loss "without interest, vigor or determination." I'm totally "listless" and "lethargic." (all good words by the way).

I like to tell the girls when they have a problem and they're upset, they have five (maybe 10 if it's a big problem) minutes to bitch and moan and then they have to figure out how they're going to fix it.

Given that, let's say I'm done bitching and moaning about this one. But, seriously, for the life of me, I'm stumbling around here and trying to figure out how to get back my drive and determination.

All suggestions welcome.

Okay - shhh...don't tell anyone, but I forgot to post this last night, so my last day of February entry will be post dated. Anyway though, I was in a minor baking frenzy yesterday and thought I would return to Dolce Italiano for inspiration for last night's dessert. I had found almond flour a while ago in a local market, so decided to make the Almond Fingers.

Almond Fingers photo by Becky

Last year, No Knead Bread swept through the Internet - there were huge discussions about it everywhere. It was based upon a column by Mark Bittman published in the New York Times (I'll dig out my recipe and post it another time). But since then, Amy let us know about a second version of this bread, or "Soon the Bread Will be Baking Itself." My fellow Slow Travelers have been doing it for months and yesterday, I thought I'd finally give it a try.

You basically mix a batch that's good for four small loaves (maybe just under 16oz each). I did my first one yesterday:

which we enjoyed with dinner last night (by the way, those are some of those almond fingers in the background). Then I put the remaining dough in the fridge, and tonight, just baked another loaf:

It's cooling now. This is so easy (especially once it's in the fridge), I can't imagine buying bread again! Shoot - Chris has a bread knife in hand - have to go!

Fala was going bonkers yesterday and Becky looked out the window to see our fox/coyote walking across the back yard. By the time she grabbed her camera though, he was already in to the woods. She snagged some pictures but unfortunately they're not great but I thought I'd post them anyway. I really feel bad for this little critter.

That's one of my favorite lines from a movie. Do you know which one? It's Legally Blonde. The full quote goes like this, "Exercise creates endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people don't kill their husbands." I use it a lot at my Weight Watcher meetings when trying to encourage women to exercise. It's usually good for a few laughs.

Yesterday, I took my own advice. Having not slept well the night before (I do not think I will ever get used to Becky walking in the door at one in the morning), and feeling so much stress my stomach was in knots (rare do I feel so stressed, I can't eat), I opted to ride the bike rather than vegetate in front of the television.

We're still not riding outside though. So with the bike hooked into the trainer, Chris popped in a training DVD and we did Chris Carmichael's Train Right Climbing Routine without leaving our bedroom (personally, I could think of other things that would be more fun without leaving our bedroom ;D but this is what we chose). Man, did I sweat. And man, did my heart pound. And man, did I feel good afterward. Not just physically good but mentally much better too - clearer, well, happier.

Today it's supposed to be in the 50s, so I may take the combi-bike out for a short ride and Becky and I are definitely going for a walk.

Oh and to everyone who offered your encouragement, thanks! Four good days in a row - I'm going for three more!!

My Weight Watcher leader sometimes hands out these calendars each month with a little saying for every day, or a little suggestion for something to try while you're on program. Some people tape these to their mirrors and actually execute (or try) each of these suggestions through the course of the month. I've never done this though because it always seems as if I get my calendar after the month has already started and I'm a big why bother kind of gal.

Well, this month, my leader handed out the calendar on February 28th, so I had no excuses (except that it got buried under Becky's Australia stuff on the steps, so as it is I missed the first three days). But what the heck, why not give it a try?

Saturday's was "A goal without a plan is merely a dream. Write a Winning Outcome for the month and plan to reach it." Well we did this in our meeting - I don't normally set weight loss goals (I prefer other goals that should result in weight loss) but I need a kick in the pants so I set a goal of 5 pounds by March 31.

Sunday's "Focus this week on getting the Good Health Guidelines in each and every day. Success begins a the grocery store." Well, for me success often begins by not setting foot in the grocery store but that's another story. The Good Health Guidelines mean you should get your five fruit or veggies in, your two or three milks, and your two healthy oils every day. Often members trip up because they use their points on other things, and don't meet these requirements. I've set a bit of a rule for me, "no fun foods until the health guidelines are met." Which means, no popcorn, 100 cal packs, ice cream, whatever if I don't have my fruit and milk eaten (or at least budgeted for).

Yesterday's was "enjoy a piece of fruit with your breakfast today." Well I blew this. But I'd probably blow it most days. Now that I'm trying to stick with a two point breakfast on weekdays - it's rare that I'll have a piece of fruit with it.

And today's, "Create a soothing milk drink with warmed milk, sweetener and vanilla, almond or hazelnut extract." Yeah, I intended to do that, but Sammi missed the bus, and I had to go pick her up, and on the way home we drive by the new Starbucks, and well you get the picture - one Grande Skinny Mocha latte later - I feel I've accomplished this task.

So that's it so far, almost four for four - not bad. In addition to my normal daily March postings, I'm going to try to do these too but at least I have material to post each day with my March Bloggers. :)

Got this in an e-mail today.

Dog Pack Attacks Gator In Florida

At times nature can be cruel, but there is also a raw beauty, and even a certain justice manifested within that cruelty.

The alligator, one of the oldest and ultimate predators, normally considered the "apex predator," can still fall victim to implemented 'team work' strategy, made possible due to the tight knit social structure and "survival of the pack mentality"bred into the canines.

See the remarkable photograph below courtesy of Nature Magazine. Note that the Alpha dog has a muzzle hold on the gator preventing it from breathing, while another dog has a hold on the tail to keep it from thrashing. The third dog attacks the soft underbelly of the gator.

I thought I would do another entry on communities, though no more juicy stories about the residents of my parents’ development believing the rules don’t apply to them. This one is a bit closer to home.

Last night we went to Becky’s swim team awards dinner. They do it at the end of each season to recognize not only individuals but the team’s accomplishment during the past season. It’s the first time we’ve been to one for this swim team as it was Becky’s first year swimming for them. Later, after we left, it struck me that this group of students is also a community within a community.

Recognizing that, I could immediately draw a comparison between this new community and the one on Becky’s old team, for whom she swam for three seasons. Now before I continue, I hope I am not hurting Becky’s feelings by stating that while she has a beautiful stroke, she’s not the fastest swimmer. Yes, she’d probably be one of the top swimmers in some of the schools we swam against, but in our town, on these two teams, she’s just not in the top.

So I mentioned about my Weight Watchers sayings/tasks a day calendar. When last we met, I left off with March 4. Since then, we've had, "This is a great day to focus on eating lots of leafy green vegetables. The darker the green, the better," on March 5th.

In honor of that one, I made my standard Broccoli Raab stir fry. In non-stick skillet, coated with cooking spray and maybe a teaspoon (or more of oil), I add sliced garlic and a dash of some crushed red pepper. I saute until I can smell the garlic or until it's slightly toasty then add some chopped broccoli raab (not finely chopped, basically I take a bunch, and give it three good whacks, crosswise). Toss that about a bit, throw in some salt, toss about more, and when most of the liquid left on the leaves of the broccoli from washing, is absorbed, I may toss in some water or a bit of broth (if I have some open). Let it simmer for a few minutes and voila, spicy broccoli raab is served.

Yesterday's saying was "How many ounces of water will you drink today? Set a goal and to reach it." I blew this one - forgot to check the calendar in the morning and so didn't set any sort of water goal.

Today we have, "Enjoy dishes made with plant-based protein, such as lentil stew, split pea soup, or nuts added to salads." I didn't go with any of their suggestions but instead, took some frozen falafel from whole foods, sauteed it in a non-stick skillet coated with cooking spray, until it was toasty, and put that atop a big old salad of mixed greens, red pepper, carrots, onion and tomato with a bit of non-fat ranch dressing in the mix. It's one of my favorite lunches. I still had a chunk of the no-knead bread left (about 2 ounces), so I toasted that well, and drizzled it with 1/2t of Mauro's olive oil from Le Casa Gialle - yum! Works out to a 3.5 - 4 point lunch (if I count the dressing which sometimes I do, sometimes I don't). Not too shabby.

For a few years now, Boleskine over on Slow Travel Talk, has been mentioning to me a restaurant in Rahway, David Drakes. Every time we think of going out to dinner, we think, let's get to Rahway, and try it but in the end, our laziness prevails and we end up at my favorite restaurant, The Frog and the Peach. However, this past Saturday night, flush with Chris's bonus (well, at least knowing he was receiving one in a few short days), we decided to celebrate, and took the opportunity to visit David Drakes sister (or maybe in this case, brother) restaurant, Daryl Wine Bar.

Have you seen this show? They started last year with the Real Housewives of Orange County, which I never watched but now they're in my backyard, NYC, so I had to tune in. Oh My Gawd! In best NJ accent; it's totally obscene and yet, like a train wreck I can't look away.

Somebody save me!!!

Okay - so you have to know, though I never mention it, Monty Python and the Holy Grail is one of my favorite all time movies - it is just so incredibly silly. But sometimes you need silly.

Sometimes silly beats scotch.

And sometimes, really good friends, beat both.

Thanks for my new slippers Amy!!!!

Rain has a baby girl! Welcome to the world Natalie!!

Do you know what stinks? Computer problems. Do you know what stinks more? Computer problems less than 48 hours before you're supposed to go away. Do you know what the only bright light is? It's not my computer but Becky's. Last night Becky got what Chris affectionately refers to as the Blue Screen of Death.

So you all should have read yesterday's post on the Blue Screen of Death - well the saga continues today.

After completing the bios run of the hard drive last night and having it come up clean, we rebooted the system and everything seemed fine, until (scary music), the BSoD flashed again!

I threw in the towel (for the moment).

On the plane to the west coast, I finally had time to finish my book club selection, The Stone Diaries. Our meeting was last Sunday and due to the craziness of getting ready for the trip, and not finishing the book on time, I decided to skip it. I'm sorry I did. I would really like to hear what everyone else thought of the book.

I couldn't decide if I liked this book or not at first. Like the Daughter of Fortune, I found the book to be mostly exposition, told from varying points (but mostly the author's point of view). But like Daughter of Fortune, after I read it, I found it is staying with me, certain images etched in my head. Normally, I don't like exposition. Normally, I like the author to show me what she means not tell me what she means. I want to make up my mind about characters based upon their actions, not their story.

This was different though. I find my mind wandering back to the story, a biography of basically an ordinary woman (though she did come into this world through an extraordinary birth). Yet, somehow the author managed to make her ordinary life interesting in the end. I guess that's why she won the Pulitzer prize, huh?

So if you're looking for anything but a quick read, something that will capture you (give it time) and hold on to you, if you like the sensation of someone sitting you down and telling you a story with multiple threads that somehow come together in a tapestry of interesting design at the end, read the Stone Diaries.

It's Purim today (well, I'm pretty sure it's today or tonight and tomorrow, I'm on vacation, so I've lost a bit of time). Anyway, Purim is a Jewish holiday, like many other Jewish holidays, that we celebrate, in that, the reason we're celebrating is someone tried to wipe us from the face of the earth, they failed, let's eat. Well, Purim is a little different because in addition to eating we drink for this one too (like Passover where we must have four glasses of wine), for Purim, if memory serves, we're supposed to get so blasted, we can't say, recognize or something the name of the villain in the story, Hamen.

I started I'm Not Scared a while ago but had to way-lay it when my book club fast approached (the previously mentioned Stone Diaries), so finally while we were in California, I finished it. It’s a good coming of age story about an Italian boy living in a poor small town (really a hamlet) in southern Italy. He stumbles upon a mystery that ends up leading to places he never should have gone. I have two issues with the story though, trying not to give too much a way 1) I believe and will double check this, but the hero is all of nine years-old. He seemed older. I would have placed him at twelve, too mature otherwise. 2) The ending. Such an ending – let’s just say, if you’re someone who needs closure, this isn’t the book for you. I’m almost tempted to write the author to find out what happened next! It’s a quick easy read though, and worth an afternoon’s investment. I believe it’s since been made into a movie, so I’m updating my Netflix queue to grab a hold of it to watch with Becky (she had read the book a while ago, pulling it off my shelf when she was in short supply of reading material.

Friday, after finishing I’m Not Scared, I started The Girl in Hyacinth Blue. Like I’m not scared it’s one of the books that had been sitting on my shelf for a good long while now that I never got around to reading. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure why I bought it when I snagged it to bring to California with us. I’m glad I did too.

As I discovered upon finishing, the book, written by Sue Vreeland was the first novel written by the author of the Passion of Artemesia (her second novel), which I had read a while ago. Again, this time she delves into the art world and history only the heroine of our story isn’t an artist but really a painting, a questionable (and yes fictionalized) work by Vermeer of, yes you guessed it, a girl in hyacinth blue. Ms. Vreeland writes maybe a dozen chapters (I didn’t count them), starting in so-called present day United States, tracing the history of the painting through each and every owner, right back to it’s creation in the 17th century. You could almost read it as a collection of short stories with the painting as the only common element. Another quick read that didn’t even last me past the Rockie Mountains but worth the go. Now I need to remember to check to see if she has since published any other novels.

In the back yard of my parents' neighbor. Yikes!

We're a bit dangerous with chocolate bunnies, peeps, a cell phone camera and too much Bracchetto.

Don't foget, lights off from 8:00 - 9:00 tonight - your local time.

Earth Hour

An update.

On Friday, March 28th, I called Circuit City, did I mention that's where I brought it to be repaired, to the Fire Dog people there? Did I mention I brought it in on March 18th because I thought it would be quicker than waiting for the warranty people to send me a mailer and for me to mail it back to them because I was going out of town? Did I mention that on March 18th, they promised they'd have a diagnostic answer for me by March 23rd and would call me?

So here we are Tuesday, and I wait with baited or is that bated, breath, for John’s (aka Yanni’s) phone call telling me the PC is ready for pickup.

And I wait.

And I wait some more.

And do you know what?

He never calls.

So Chris calls the store this time. And Chris tries to speak to John, who as it turns out, left for the day and then Chris gets disconnected. All of this after being on hold off and on for over 20 minutes.

It’s 6:30 now. Not happy. I am so not happy.

Just to recap:

Blue Screen of Death - Part I
Blue Screen of Death - Part II
Blue Screen of Death - Part III
Blue Screen of Death - Part IV
Blue Screen of Death - Part V

And now for our continuing saga...

I get home from Circuit City and check messages. I still need to pack for a trip to Savannah. Becky still needs to pack for her weekend convention. Piles of clean clothes cover my bed that must be put away. There’s a message from Chris, his boss isn’t coming for dinner (there was a slight chance he’d be joining us – dodged a bullet). Then I get an e-mail from Chris. His boss is coming to dinner. Great, in the midst of the “delivery” tonight, Chris’s boss would be here with us. Well, at least that will force me to stay calm. I feel like I’ve entered a 50s sitcom.

Much updates to the blog must occur (for example, getting rid of the March Madness bloggers - bye friends and replacing them with our new group, Sunday Slow Bakers (we're really not slow, we're just all affiliated with SlowTrav in some way and like to bake). I throw the links up shortly but basically, there's a group of us, who each week will bake the same recipe from a specific source, and post our results on Sunday. For the first round, our source will be Dolce Italiano, Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen - each person selecting a recipe from there. Next go around, a different source - can't wait to see how long we can keep this going for.

Krista initiated the Sunday Slow Bakers and had the honor of choosing the first recipe, Italian Crumbly Cake. I baked it yesterday and here are some results and observations.

Okay, well not really. But we've been "adopted" by a robin who made her nest in our weeping Cherry tree, right outside our front door. Becky has confirmed sighting of at least two eggs in the nest (we can see into it clearly from our guest bathroom window). So we've banned use of the front door, so as not to scare her and Chris is going to remove the screen from the bathroom window in hopes that we can use it as a vantage point for photos once they hatch.

Robin in Nest, Photo by Becky

Robin bouncing around on lawn after we scared her by mistake, Photo by Becky

This week for our Sunday Slow Bakers, Deborah chose Sicilian Pistachio Bars. Like the other recipes, this one came from Gina DePalma's Dolce Italiano.

Normally, with pistachios, the hardest part of the recipe for me, is finding unsalted, shelled pistachios but I lucked out and found them at Whole Foods last week. The second hardest part is not eating them before I actually use them in the recipe. While I made it to the recipe with pistachios in tact, I can't say as much for the leftovers.

Today's the day; Chris is running the Boston marathon. He left our hotel, the Courtyard Marriott, about 6:00 am to catch the bus from the Commons to take him to the starting line. The race doesn't start until 10:00 though, so he'll definitely have some time to kill.

Somehow, he sent me the above photo from his Blackberry (when last I checked, he couldn't figure out how to do that).

I'll update more, if I have a chance, later this morning, and again after the race, before we catch the train.

Oops - he just sent one more shot of Athletes Village:

Cool eh! Photos courtesy of Becky.

Here, I lightened it a bit and made it a little bigger.

No videos so far though.

Maria, requested and we aim to please here at the home of the robins. First off, they're getting very big, and soon will be forced from the nest, to live on the ground, where they will practice using their wings and learning to fly. Their father will stay with them there while their mother will lay the next set of eggs in the nest. We're a little nervous about this stage as we have lawn care, so are keeping a close eye, so we can put up some sort of temporary fence/warning signs to keep the lawn service from mowing the lawn in that area.

Here's a shot of them, hanging in the nest - can you see the wings? How about the open eyes?

Here's a shot of mom feeding the "teenagers." Sometimes she gives them entire worms. They're big enough now so we can actually watch from our family room window which is just a few feet from the tree. She doesn't seem to mind.

One more quick shot of those fecal sacks. The mother and father (yes, he's an active participant), pick up the sacks and drop them around the neighborhood. The father seems to prefer my neighbor's driveway. :)

Okay, okay - I know I'm two weeks behind. I still haven't even done the bread sticks from week three but today, I finally got to the Grappa Soaked Sponge Cakes from week 4. Now, like so many of my fellow Sunday Slow Bakers, I did not have mini-bundt pans and though my intention all week had been to hit Bed Bath and Beyond to see if I could get some there, I never did. So like others, I improvised using a small bundt pan for half the batter and my large muffin tin (6) for the other half. Also, I don't have grappa, and at this point in my life, I don't feel like buying any. I'm not a grappa drinker. Normally, when a recipe calls for grappa, I sub brandy but after reading Palma's blog, I decided to go with limoncello instead (it was a toss up between limoncello and Disarono but more members of my family prefer lemon flavor, so the limoncello won).

The cake is pretty easy to put together though with a few distinct steps (e.g., making the glaze, dry ingredients, wet ingredients, separate eggs - oh and I always wonder, should I have sifted the cake flour and then measured or measured then sifted?). Also I feared I may have deflated my egg whites some when I incorporated them into the batter but everything seemed to rise just fine. Baking time was exactly 25 minutes, and while I enjoyed brushing the limoncello glaze on at the end, I realized I need new pastry brushes, as little bristles got left behind here and there.

Here are some shots, sorry no decoration with them and my results weren't nearly as pretty as my fellow bakers. Oh and I didn't do such a hot job of greasing the bundt pan (all those nooks and crannies), so the cake came out in two pieces leaving a bit behind in the pan.

Yesterday, we did the tour of New Jersey's nursing homes. Starting in West Orange to visit my 95 year-old grandmother, and unfortunately (unfortunately because she's in a home), ending in Piscataway to visit Chris's way too young mom.

On the bright side though, we celebrated grandma's birthday (a few weeks late), with an ice cream cake. So I thought it would be good to post a picture of all of us, four generations of Lapiroff women (Lapiroff is grandma's maiden name).

Well, yesterday, our little friends were busy standing in the nest, testing their wings, hopping just outside the nest on nearby branches.

Yesterday's Shots

Then last night, while Becky was upstairs and I was out, one of our little babies flew the coop (or nest in this case).

So, here we were yesterday, me at home, Becky and Sammi at school, feeling sad all day. I kept checking the nest, only to remember, our little babies were gone. Then we went for a walk, and got really upset when we saw a dead baby bird on the ground. There was a nest above us, and it didn't have its feathers yet; it must have been blown from the nest during Monday's storm.

Afterwards we came home, Beck and I were chillin' on the couch, watching TV when she let out a scream. The father and one of the babies were back! They were prancing around on our front lawn, the father, looking for worms, and the baby following close behind. Sometimes the father would feed the baby, and sometimes it looked like she was trying to find the worms herself. Becky grabbed her camera and took another couple dozen shots.

So this week I got to choose what our Sunday Slow Bakers made. I wanted something slightly challenging, different, and with produce I knew I could easily find this time of year. I would have chosen the zucchini cake but I was hoping to do it this summer (with the glut of zucchini I get from the farm - though now I think it's what we're making next week, but I need to check). Gelato was another definite possibility, but we're supposed to be baking, so I ignored those too. There was also an apple tart - but again, to me, a fall dish, which is how I ended up with grapes (nine weeks out of ten I can find decent grapes at the market).

First off, I got these big, sweet black grapes from Whole Foods, so that part was easy. I had some left over hazelnuts from when I made the chocolate hazelnut cookies, no grappa (for soaking the grapes), so I substituted some Frangelico and the rest of the ingredients were pretty straightforward (e.g., butter, flour, cream, eggs, sugar).

I had already made two tarts using the Sweet Pastry Crust, a Fresh Fig Tart and the cover recipe, Pine Nut Tart, so I didn't have any nerves about assembling it this third time. I still love this crust recipe. It comes together easily, isn't delicate, so if it breaks while I'm rolling, or moving to the tart shell, it's easily repairable, and this time, if someone doesn't forget to close the freezer drawer and defrost my freezer, I should hopefully have some crust left for another tart real soon.

Likewise, the filling was pretty easy too - though it did require three different bowls, one on the food processor for chopping the nuts, one for the egg yolks and one for the egg whites. The recipe suggests using the same bowl for the yolks and whites, and just cleaning between, but since I needed a bowl to mix the hazelnuts and egg yolks together in, I didn't do that. I just used my hand mixer for the egg yolks, added the hazelnuts, and my stand mixer to beat the egg whites.

Leave plenty of time for this recipe though, both active and inactive. Inactive because the tart dough requires an hour or two of chilling before rolling, and then another hour once it's rolled out and in the shell. Active because slicing and then placing those grapes could be a bit time consuming.

It baked up fine in the specified time and looked pretty puffy when it first came out of the oven but then settled nicely. The grapes did spread some, so don't be afraid to place them close together.

See that? That's the chart of the hills we climbed when we rode our bikes into the Sourlands of NJ on Saturday. Oh, yeah, a nice 50 mile ride up and down some flippin' big hills! Who knew we had such hills in New Jersey? Well, most of us who live here and ever traveled to the western or north western sections of the state.

I'm very proud of me on that ride. I didn't rest on any of those hills, or get off the bike once! Though I did travel pretty slowly on them, I kept chugging along. I only wish I brought a camera because some of the views were amazing and we traveled along rodes that sometimes contained more bike riders than cars.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending upon how you look at it), we're doing it again this Saturday, only going farther! Oh, and for those who like numbers, it was a 50.5 mile ride with a 3050 foot elevation (i.e., total amount of climbing across all hills, which also means, we had descents of 3050 feet). In Vermont, the highest elevation we had was 2800 feet (or so) and that came going over one long slow climb over a mountain.

I made this cake on Sunday afternoon since we were having friends over for dinner Sunday evening. Some comments from memory, it said to grate the zucchini but I've always shredded it in the past when making zucchini cakes (using my Cuisinart), so I wasn't sure how to approach this. I did end up using my box grater, and used the second to smallest hole to grate the zucchini which came out a bit pulpy and watery but I'm happy to say I actually liked it that way in the cake. You didn't have "strings" of zucchini as you ate the cake - it just sort of blended into the background.

The other think I loved about this recipe (and from the Grappa cakes), is the suggestion/direction to brush the glaze on. In the past, whenever using this type of glaze, the recipes I've used have always said to drizzle the glaze on - which usually ends up with a mess on my counter (if it's still on the cooking rack), or puddles on my plate (if I've plated it). Plus, you don't get "complete coverage" of the icing around the cake. By brushing this on, it really does create a crunchy coating all around the inside and outside of the cake.

My last observation, the use of the spice combination of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, made the flavor of this cake more reminiscent of fall desserts to us - so while I won't make it again during July or August - I absolutely know what I'll be doing with the September, and October bumper crop of zucchini we always get at the end of the harvest.

Chris loved this cake and definitely proclaimed it a make again. Becky too - Sammi, not so much, but I think if she didn't know there was zucchini in it, she would have loved it too.

Anyway, we're so pathetic, and this went so quickly that here's my picture!

Oh - I still need to figure out the WW points but will report back shortly with that information.

I don't like "travel mugs." They leak (my car console is evident to that) and they don't keep the liquids hot enough for me. I do like styrofoam to go cups though. While they do still leak, at least the coffee/tea stays hot. However, they're not so friendly to the environment, and as a family, we were going through about 12 - 14 a week.

So, a few weeks ago, I ran into a fellow Weight Watcher member at Dunkin Donuts before our meeting and she was getting a refill of her travel mug. I asked her what they charge her for that, it's 12 ounces, so apparently a small. Then I asked her if it keeps the coffee hot, and she said for a long time. Then, she proceeded to turn the cup over, and lo and behold, it didn't leak!

Okay - I'm bad, since my debut, I missed two weeks but I'm back.

So first shot, me, while my mother still had control of my hair and clothes.

Me, after I started to gain control (she still had a little - notice the lilac pants):

And we're back with the Sunday Slow Bakers. This week, MarciaB made the selection and a good one she did. We made the Chocolate Polenta Tart. All I can say is yum and yummier!

First it calls for the Polenta Tart Crust, which while I found easy to assemble, I had problems transferring to my tart pan. It kept crumbling. No worries though, I just transferred it in pieces and did a combination of pressing and using my little Pampered Chef roller to get proper coverage. I think this resulted in a thicker crust but we didn't mind (as a matter of fact, Becky asked me to just make the crust next time).

The chocolate filling was totally easy to put together and tasted like warm, fudgy brownie when it came out of the oven. We didn't have ice cream to serve it with, so just dusted on some powdered sugar.

This is a definite make again (as a matter of fact, it will probably be made very often). Next time, I may cut down on the butter in the polenta crust - just to see what happens. Oh and we wrapped it and put it in the refrigerator because we were going away on Saturday (I made the tart on Friday). Sunday night, when we got home, still good, good at room temperature, good cold, and good when Becky nuked it (it's hers and Sammi's new favorite). Oh and for those who are keeping track, at a sliver of 16 servings (as opposed to 10 in the recipe), this comes in at a whopping 7 points a slice.

Okay - first let me give props to the people who deserve it by saying, it is so much easier to do a triathlon as a team than it is as an individual. So to all those people who I passed yesterday, while I was on my bike (well, except the other team's rider), I am sorry. I had only one event and I blew all my energy on it.

That said, Chris, Becky and I participated in a sprint triathlon yesterday in Southern NJ. What that means, is that, each of us participated in one event. Becky, is our swimmer, so she swam the quarter mile (in the black lake), I'm the biker (though Chris can really smoke me, it's still the only event in which I had any chance at competing), and we all know, Chris runs. So, as a team, we entered.

And to get to the chase, we won for Coed Teams!!!!!!!!

And yes, there was one other team so we actually did beat someone, but hey, we won!

Yes, late I know. I'm not telling you which of my children this is, but shen she see's it, she'll probably kill me. It was nice knowing you all.

Last night I got together with the Lehigh girls for dinner at Vento on Hudson street in New York City. It's on the edge of the meat-packing district which began a bit of a renaissance a few years ago. We started with the most inexpensive bottle of prosecco they had on the list (at $45), while we waited for our last two stragglers and ordered some small plates (aka appetizers), calamari, mozzarella in carozza, prosciutto e melone and marinated baby artichokes. All were good.

Next, once everyone arrived, three of us decided to order pasta (Chiatarra Pappalina - homemade spaghetti with chicken, peas, mushrooms, garlic and oil, and Tagliolino - which was their version of shrimp fra diavolo). The pastas ring in at an incredibly reasonable $14 each (but be warned these aren't American yabba dabba doo portions but more akin to the appropriate Italian portions). Both pastas were homemade and plates were cleaned. The other four, ordered three pizzas (at $12 each) sharing a funghi, a Siciliano, and a Caprese - all looked good and only two slices survived.

For dessert, we shared some zeppole (worth an order), the Panini (marshmallow, nutello, and vanilla sauce, pressed into a sandwich - think an Italian s'more), and a rather forgettable Tortino (the Panini was the clear winner of the night). Oh, and I had the salted caramel gelato, which was amazing.

This, with coffees cappuccini, a second bottle of prosecco, and a vodka on the rocks for Larry (our honorary "Lehigh Girl"), came in at a little over $50 per person. Definitely reasonable for the city.

Can't comment as to the decor of the restaurant though as we snagged a table outside, which was absolutely perfect! No one wanted to get up to leave.

Sorry - no pictures.

Is it just me, or does everyone hit a sort of skid anytime life circumstances change even slightly? We raced into summer vacation, finishing off all those last minute school things, and then boom, circumstances changed and my entire schedule went kerplunk and with it updating this blog (sorry Lisa).

So I figure, it's time I get back into my routine (my biking this week has suffered too but that's another story - long and short of it, I changed a tire myself this morning; I'll find out if it will hold up later).

With that, I thought I'd treat you all to what I consider a rather funny picture of my kids (all of them, my daughters and my nephews), as they rode on Kingda Ka at Great Adventure yesterday. Check out Jakey's hair - it's actually on end!

From back to front, left to right, Sammi, Kevin, Jakey, Becky

So this week's was easy (of course I say that after I accidentally posted the wrong theme - Jan 5 - Delicious), my dog Fala has pointed ears!

Isn't she a cutie?

Yes, I know, late again. I guess that's me - I just don't seem to get on-line as much over the weekend. What I should do is set a scheduled post and be a bit pre-emptive. Anyway...

I thought I'd throw up some pictures from our time in Vermont. The first two are from our Mount Mansfield hike and the third from our Double Ferry bike ride, enjoy:

Some of you may well remember my car saga of two summers ago, Chrysler Sebring and Why Chrysler Sucks (btw - that Chrysler dealership has since gone out of business). Well, if you followed along, you also know that 20 months ago, I traded in that piece of junk for a used Volvo convertible (2004) from Edison Volvo.

I'm not going into all the gory details on this one because really, there aren't any. Basically, a few weeks ago, my car started acting up. Nothing major, just sometimes it wouldn't turn over the first or second time I'd go to start it.

Many of you know that I belong to a CSA, which means every week from June through November, I get a box off localy, organically grown goodies. Each week you don't know what you get until you arrive, but after you've been doing this a while, you get a feel for what will come and when.

Lately though, it seems we're getting Swiss chard out the wazoo. I mean really - how many times can you eat sauteed Swiss chard? And while I like it in my lentil soup, I hate that when I freeze my soup, the chard gets kind of a nasty green as opposed to the vibrant green it has if I cook it just right.

So last week I went searching for a new Swiss Chard recipe and found:

Swiss Chard Spanakopita Casserole

Cooking spray
2 1/4 cups minced white onion
3/4 cup minced green onions
3 garlic cloves, minced
9 cups chopped trimmed Swiss chard (about 1 1/2 pounds)
6 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons minced fresh mint
1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 large egg whites
10 (18 x 14-inch) sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed

Preheat oven to 350°.
Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add white onion; sauté 7 minutes or until golden. Add green onions and garlic, and sauté 1 minute. Stir in chard; cook 2 minutes or until chard wilts. Stir in parsley and mint, and cook 1 minute. Place in a large bowl; cool slightly. Stir in cheeses, salt, pepper, and egg whites.

Place 1 phyllo sheet on a large cutting board (cover remaining phyllo to prevent drying), and coat with cooking spray. Top with 1 phyllo sheet, and coat with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with 3 additional sheets.

Cut phyllo stack into a 14-inch square. Place square in center of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray, allowing phyllo to extend up long sides of dish. Cut 14 x 4-inch piece into 2 (7 x 4-inch) rectangles. Fold each rectangle in half lengthwise. Place a rectangle against each short side of dish. Spread the chard mixture evenly over phyllo.

Place 1 phyllo sheet on a large cutting board (cover remaining phyllo to prevent drying), and coat with cooking spray. Top with 1 phyllo sheet, and coat with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining phyllo sheets. Place 18 x 14-inch phyllo stack over chard mixture. Fold phyllo edges into center. Coat with cooking spray. Score phyllo by making 2 lengthwise cuts and 3 crosswise cuts to form 12 rectangles. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until golden.

Note: Cut the phyllo stacks so they fit in and up the long side of the baking dish. Arrange folded section against short edges of dish to encase filling.

Yield: 12 servings

CALORIES 121 (35% from fat); FAT 4.7g (sat 2.8g,mono 1.4g,poly 0.3g); IRON 1.3mg; CHOLESTEROL 14mg; CALCIUM 134mg; CARBOHYDRATE 13.6g; SODIUM 449mg; PROTEIN 6.1g; FIBER 1.6g

Cooking Light, DECEMBER 2003

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Now Phylo is one of those ingredients that scare me - it's brittle, it sticks together, you know the drill but this wasn't bad. Because you're making it into a casserole, you can easily hide your mistakes (sort of like lasagna). The instructions weren't so clear, and I meant to take more pictures (will do next time), but here's one from my camera phone of the casserole before I placed the top layer on.

Basically, you're cutting up the bottom layer of phyllo into three pieces so you have enough to line the edges of the casserole dish, all the way around. Then you cover it with the top layer, tucking the edges in towards the center.

Again, sorry for the lack of pictures, but I made this after riding 100K that morning, and while we were expecting company that night but trust me, it looked and tasted delicious. Oh, and can you believe I actually didn't have enough Swiss Chard, so supplemented with a little baby spinach too.

Definitely a make again and for you WW fans out there, it has 3 points per decent-size serving.

Witches Candle

Okay - not sure if this qualifies. I mean afterall, there is some light but you have to admit, it's a pretty dark picture.

Crazy story here too. While we were in London in 2006, we took a tour out to Avenbury and Stonehenge (one of those private access to Stonehenge things). If I ever get around to writing my trip report, you can read all about it. Anyway, while we were in Avenbury, we saw these three women, dressed in colorful clothes (tops and scarves really with black pants), hugging the rocks. I kid you not.

Later that day, we went to one of the buriel mounds in the area and ran into them again. Only this time they were inside the cavern, chanting, with candles lit, very strange, in an unfamiliar way. Anyway, I took a picture of one of the candles just to see if it would come out, and that's what I got.

Well, here it is the first week of our Sunday Slow Scoopers! And unlike our bakers, where I fell by the wayside as the weather warmed, and we migrated to the shore, I figured I could follow through with this one, as moving my ice cream maker was a lot easier than all my baking accessories/ingredients. Hopefully it pans out.

So for the first week, we started with Butterscotch Pecan Ice Cream. The first step in this process I did at home, whilst I had about an hour to kill on Thursday morning before my Weight Watcher meeting (ironic, no?). I melted some the butter, stirred in the nuts and tossed with salt before baking. I let them cool during the day (while we did crazy things, including dealing with car issues and getting my daughters pierced on various parts of their bodies), packed them up and brought them to the beach with me.

On Friday, after everyone cleared out of the kitchen at lunch time, I began making the custard with the help of my trusted assistant, and photographic documentor, Becky.

I found this on Andasamo's Blog, Let Us Go Then You and I who found it on Trisha's Blog, The Life of an Obsessed Reader. And like Andasamo, I think it's pretty cool.

Here's how it works:
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline (or mark in a different color) the books you LOVE
4) Reprint this list in your blog so we can try and track down these people who’ve read 6 and force books upon them ;-)

The premise of this exercise is that the National Endowment for the Arts apparently believes that the average American has only read 6 books from the list below.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Phillip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller.
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (I've read many, but not all)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Travellers Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War & Peace - Leo Tolstoy (it's on the shelf anxiously waiting its turn...)
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (I adore the entire "trilogy in five parts")
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime & Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis (I've read two so far)
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (psst, this is part of the Chronicles of Narnia #33...)
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne (classic!!)
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (we need something for those books we feel silly and that don't belong on this list)
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving (One of my all time favorite books)
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding (actually, can't remember if I read this or not)
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville (g-d forbid, after Billy Budd I hope I never read another Melville again)
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Colour Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro (another one on my shelf...)
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flauber
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo. (I'm about 1/3 of the way through and need to pick it up again

Okay - here are some of my quips with this list.

• some books are series (e.g., Lord of the Rings and shouldn't count as one).
• it's missing some books, (e.g., Huck Finn, The Good Earth, Faranheith 451- I can go on and on)
• just because a book is popular (e.g., The DaVinci Code) doesn't mean it's good.
• Some are double counted (e.g., Shakespear and Hamlet) oh and by the way - Shakepseare's plays were meant to be seen not read.

Hmm...maybe I'll start another entry with all the books I think should be on this list. Oh, and I've read almost half the list - at 29. Good list though for a resource for possible future Book Club selections.

Sunday, we had some of the most incredible storms I've seen in a while sweep across the island. They started in mid-afternoon and didn't relent until sometime during the night. The only place poor Fala could be comforted was in her pen, in our room, or under the bed. Another one came through Monday afternoon and she darted under my parents' bed before we could catch her.


Approaching Storm

Anyway, Becky snapped some shots (some outside before the lightning strikes started) and some through the windows of some of the amazing clouds we saw. They looked painted on the sky and I thought I'd share them.

Last September, I visited Paris with two friends. One morning we went for a stroll through the Luxembourg gardens where I snapped this shot. I think it's pretty colorful, though the skies were cloudy.

I had hoped to find a shot of a rainbow I had taken in Pisa a few years ago but couldn't track it down.

Here's one more shot, also from Paris, but from a trip in 2006. This boat seller/renter can often be found in the Tuilleries.

Stolen from Krista who got it from Last Night's Dinner.

Directions:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

And I'm adding a step, italicizing things I would try if given the opportunity.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (but Alligator)
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho (so, what is this?)
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi (I don't do cauliflower)
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries (we used to pick these in a field behind our house and my friend's mom made a pie.
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (I did a Habanero - that was enough, thank you)
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (Becky ate freshly killed ants in Australia)
43. Phaal (Mmm - must find this)
44. Goat’s milk (little known fact, as an infant, I had a milk allergy and had to drink goat's milk. I of course don't remember this and subsequently grew out of it).
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu (uh, NO)
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel (they gross me out)
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (sadly, a former addiction)
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini (yum)
58. Beer above 8% ABV (have you read about our Vermont Trip?)
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads (see They're Not Sweet and They're Not Bread for more information)
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs (Gross, thought they were chicken fingers)
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill (no thanks)
76. Baijiu (had to google this, never heard of it)
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. (I wish!)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare (editing apparently Rabbit doesn't count)
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse (no thanks)
90. Criollo chocolate (where can I get some?)
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

I think this confirms what we already know, I'm a little piggy. :)

For our summer book club selection, we're reading Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Now that's my thing, I think during the summer, when we go two or three months without meeting, we should read a large book but after buying this one, I feared I bit off more than I could chew. I think everyone else thought that too and as a result, we pushed our meeting off from August to September.

But that was because everyone said, while they couldn't sit and read the book at length, they were enjoying reading it and wanted to finish it before we met again. Having finally started to read the book last week, I have to agree.

I'm only 200+ pages into the 750 page tome, I have to say, I'm really enjoying it. So much of the story resonates today. And so many thoughts are occuring to me (not to mention I'm learning new vocabulary and history as we go), I feel as if I should get out my highlighters and take notes as I go along.

I'll blog some more about some of my observations at a later date (e.g., I think sports in our country killed politics, does anyone else find it hard to believe that the Republican party was found on an anti-slavery platform?), but for now, I just thought I'd let you all know what's gracing my nightstand (and my beach bag).

Oh, and to also agree, that I can't sit and read this for hours on end (usually about an hour at a time is my limit), so while I'm reading this, I also started, The Paper Moon. by Andrea Camilleri, another in the Inspector Montalbano series, enjoyable and easy.

Okay - first to start, I really do love Tiramisu. But every time I think of the name, I'm reminded of that scene in Sleepless in Seattle with Rob Reiner and Tom Hanks:

Rob Reiner's character, "Tiramisu."

"You'll love it."

Well, I'm here to tell you, they weren't talking about ice cream in that scene but maybe they should have been.

Palma, talked about the Dog Days of summer in her blog, Palmabella's Passion a few weeks ago. But lately, the dogs in my life have given this term new and crappy meaning.

First it started with poor Bandit last week. He's Fala's boyfriend.

Bandit and Fala Enjoy a Bath Togehter

Last night the Lehigh Girls went out to celebrate the twins' birthday. As we were choosing restaurants via e-mail back in July, someone raised the question, "Why don't we ever go out for Chinese food?" No one had an answer and since Don was making the trek into the city from her home in CT and it was her birthday, she opted to visit Joe's Shanghai to get some soup dumplings.

Now I've been eager to try soup dumplings for years, ever since Dean, of Dinomentioned having enjoyed them at some place in Chinatown whose name now escapes me but I can tell you it was several years ago, so I was totally up for this "adventure."

Let me just start off by saying, this is not a "hip" place. It's not trendy, there's no blasting rock music (though we were in a back room with a wide screen TV showing the Olympics), it's not dark, there are no candles on the table, no funky artwork on the walls, and we're not talking 5* service (which is how I ended up with a glass of mediocre white wine and a Tsing Tao that of course I couldn't let go to waste). This is a basic Chinese restaurant, maybe one slight level above a Chinatown dive, located in midtown (we ate at the 56th street location).

There were eight of us and we started with some steamed vegie dumplings, steamed pork dumplings and orders of the famous soup dumplings (crab and pork), which surprisingly weren't on the menu. We also had an order of spring rolls (crisp and not greasy). Everything was good.

For entrees we enjoyed, beef with asparagus, Peking duck (no accompanying soup), some sort of prawns in a sweet citrus sauce (reminded me of General Tso's shrimp), a spicy shredded pork dish (decently spicy and good), Singapore Chow Mai Fun (also spicy, also good), and vegetable fried rice. Pretty much everything went.

For the eight of us, with assorted drinks (glasses of wine, beer, and vodka), we paid $360 including tip. Not too bad for dinner in midtown. Would I go back? Maybe, if I'm in midtown, with a hankering for Chinese and it was crappy weather or I was seeing a show there or something, but actually, I'd probably rather opt to hop on the subway and head downtown to Chinatown to pay less, and get as good if not better food, maybe even in their Chinatown location, which I'll have to try next.

Wrinled

This week's theme gave me agida. I tried to sneak a picture of my grandma's hands at the nursing home but couldn't. And honestly, in all the recent pictures I have of her, she still looks pretty darn good (she's 95). Same for my Dad, thought of posting a picture of his crow lines, but he also, still looks darn good. Thought of posting my own crow lines (and I may have resorted to that), if Chris didn't help out.

While we were having dinner last night, I told him about my dilemma and after he too suggested grandma, he looked at a crumpled piece of foil sitting on the table, and said, "Why not that."

So I did. But I couldn't get a good, clear shot, too dark. Then this morning, I tried again but the crumpled piece of foil just didn't work. I don't have a fancy shmancy camera and it just couldn't focus well enough. Then I unfolded the crumpled foil and voila!

Wrinkled Foil

Pina Colada Sherbet w/ MintBleary, bleary, bleary - Chris woke up at 4:00 to catch a 6:00 flight to Atlanta this morning and he was a bit noisier than usual. Not to mention he woke up at 3:00 to take some Advil (as we found out yesterday, Chris has shingles - which is another entry in itself - the topper to a banner week health-wise for the Riemanns, but I digress). So we have a brave house guest (brave b/c she's not only dealing with Chris's sudden diagnosis but the return of two stinky teen girls, also recovering from illnesses at sleep away camp) but because we have that brave house guest, I pushed off making this week's Sunday Slow Scoopers dish until yesterday, so we could all enjoy it for dessert last night.

Grom on BroadwaySaturday, we spent the day in Manhattan. It was one of those perfect city days, not too hot, not too cold, clear air, and the streets weren't crowded. After lunch at Casa Mono, we decided to head up town for dessert (though I hear there's now a location on Bleeker street), to visit Grom (we were heading to the Museum of Natural History anyway).

For those who don't know, Grom is an Italian gelato store (not ice cream, gelato), started by two guys in Piedmont. It first came to my attention after they opened a store in Florence and Diva of Over a Tuscan Stove first reported about it coming to NY. Since then, I've been meaning to head up there to give it a try, and I finally did.

Grom Menu

First, this isn't your "neighborhood" ice cream store. You're not going to get a selection of 31 flavors, and there is know cookies and cream on the menu. What you will get are a selection of some basic flavors (vanilla and chocolate, but done the Grom way), made fresh, with some of the coolest ingredients out there.

For me, it was a small dish with espresso (which will perk you right up) and Caramel which the description indicated had sea salt. Now don't get me wrong, it was good, but I expected more of a salted caramel flavor (i.e., more salt) akin to the Bent Spoon in Princeton. Chris enjoyed Fior de Latte with Mint - think Mint Chocolate Chip without the chips. Five minutes from the museum, I can't imagine a trip to the Upper West Side without a stop at Grom.

Mmmm...

Oh, and flavors change regularly (based upon availability), so be prepared.

Duck Egg at Casa MonoOn Saturday Chris and I popped into the city and decided to visit one of my favorite restaurants, Casa Mono. I've been there several times, twice with a friend and once with Chris (this would be our second time together) and I have yet to be disappointed.

It's a small restaurant, with maybe under a dozen tables, two-tops and four-tops, and a bar, that seats about six from where you an watch the chefs prepare the varied assortment of tapas. And that's pretty much all they prepare here, tapas.

The first time I visited I guess about two years ago, I wasn't as adventurous, and we stuck to some basic dishes expanding my repertoire with each subsequent visit, to the point now, where I'm hoping they add some new items to the menu soon but here's what I've enjoyed, favorites first.

• Duck Egg with Mojama - May they never remove this incredible dish that I dream about from the menu. It's sauteed fingerling potatoes (w/ a nice crispy exterior, soft interior), stacked on a plate, interlaced with jamon (Spanish for really good ham akin to prosciutto), topped with an enormous sunny-side up Duck Egg, sprinkled with some shaved black truffle. Heaven on a dish. We like it so much, Chris and I ordered two the first time we visited the restaurant.
• sauteed brussel sprouts (in season, the way they make this side dish is just delish).
• Pumpkin and Goat Cheese Croquettes - a bit on the heavy side but really, really good - would love to learn how to make these for Thanksgiving.
• Fideos with Chorizo and Clams - the Fideos is a pasta, small and thin, think small pieces of angel hair pasta - presented so it looks like a conical inverted birds nest.
• Razor Clams ala Plancha (they were out of these on Saturday - bummer)
• Quail with Figs - Yumm
• Which reminds me I'm pretty sure I also had Guinea Hen there on a previous visit but can't remember the preparation
• Setas with Garlic - sauteed mushrooms - I could just eat a heaping portion of these.
• Pigs' Feet - not what you think. They basically cook the meat off the feet, form it into some sort of patty (square), and fry it. Remember the axiom, everything fried is good and these were no exception.
• Sweetbreads with Fennel al Mono - see previous axiom. Yep, we ate these on Saturday after our waiter said they were the best dish on the menu. I always thought Sweetbreads were brains but apparently they're some sort of gland. They were fried and atop a salad of Fennel and as long as I didn't think about what I was eating, they weren't bad. And now, I can cross something else off my Omnivore 100!
• Mussels with Cava and Chorizo - honestly, I can't remember if I've had these or not but I think I have and I imagine they didn't suck.
• Sardinas Fritas - they were fried and we filleted them ourselves. Good but I had plumper ones in London.
• Calamares Fritos - Come on, it's Fried Calamari - what can be bad?
• Pan con Tomato - think Bruschetta - not bad, but you know, normal.

I'm pretty sure there's more but that's what I remember off the top of my head. There's been nothing that's disappointed me or that I wouldn't order again, so I consider that an excellent recommendation.

As far as drinks, we usually opt for wines but I didn't really note any of these. Of course, they're heavy on the Spanish wines. This past Saturday I had the house Cava and then a rose that our waiter recommended - both hit the mark. Chris opted for a Tempranillo (also waiter recommended) that he wasn't thrilled about - even with the high acid, it was still too much with the food. His second glass, a Grenache, I believe, really hit the spot and I'm sorry we didn't write it down. On a previous visit, we enjoyed a sherry with my favorite Duck Egg dish, which was a revelation.

As I said before though, this is a small place. You can pretty much snag a table or a place at the bar if you arrive for lunch when they open at noon, especially if you're only two people. But other than that, I'd opt for the 30-day out reservation (unfortunately, this feels like it's become the norm at many NYC restaurants). I just made one for my birthday and can't wait!

As I've mentioned before, our CSA seems to be OD-ing on Swiss Chard this year. I don' t think a week has gone by where we haven't gotten some to cook, many weeks at least 10 leaves. Normally, I just do a quick saute of it, or throw it in some soup, but I've been unable to cook soup this summer and I grew tried of my version of the quick saute, so I started looking for some alternative methods.

You may remember from a few weeks ago the Swiss Chard Spanakopita, which while delicious, is a bit labor intensive. So on Friday night, I went in search of something simple and found it on Cooking Light. This recipe was so flipping easy and so flipping good, I don't think I'll be making Swiss chard any other way for a good long while.

Spicey Swiss Chard with Lemon

Spicy Swiss Chard with Lemon
From

Although 16 cups seems like a large amount of chard, it will cook down. Three simple ingredients--crushed red pepper, garlic, and fresh lemon juice--round out the flavor.

2 teaspoons olive oil
16 cups trimmed Swiss chard (about 2 pounds)
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chard; saute 1 minute or until slightly wilted. Stir in pepper and garlic. Cover and cook 4 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Uncover and cook 3 minutes or until liquid evaporates. Stir in juice and salt.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1/2 cup)

CALORIES 43 (38% from fat); FAT 1.8g (sat 0.3g,mono 1.2g,poly 0.2g); IRON 2.6mg; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 74mg; CARBOHYDRATE 6g; SODIUM 345mg; PROTEIN 2.6g; FIBER 2.3g

Cooking Light, DECEMBER 2002

Nutritional intake for the last 36 hours

My Dad, Laughing

Grilling ribs has been something I've always wanted to try and something I've always been intimidated to do. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it was memories of my mom making spare ribs as a child, I seem to recall a lot of work, boiling, grilling, you name it. Maybe it was the fear of eating them (I don't even want to think about the Weight Watcher points involved) but whatever it was, I never made them ... until last Friday.

The Setting for Rib Night

Chris has been hankering for them too. At first, he had the bright idea for us to invite some friends over to join us in this culinary endeavor but I quickly talked him down from that (i.e., "What are you crazy?" and "Uh, no!" seemed to do the trick). But he wouldn't be detered from the overall pursuit of the ribs so we decided to visit Whole Foods on Thursday night, buy the best ribs money could buy (well, we think at least better than Shop Rite), and picked a recipe.

The other Sunday Slow Scoopers were making Lavender Honey ice cream this week but I just knew I didn't have it in me to do something that required lavender flowers, and custard, and whatever else, over the Labor Day weekend. So instead, I branched out on my own, and went for one of the simplest (and best tasting Blueberry Pie) ice creams I could think of, Vanilla.

Now, normally, Vanilla, like all the others requires the custard step. But Dave provides some recipes for "Philadelphia Style" ice cream, where while you cook the ingredients the day before, no egg is involved, therefore, no custard, and for me, no worries.

I forgot to take a picture the first night we enjoyed it atop apple pie (Dad didn't get blueberry), but here it is from last night, with a little chocolate sauce and sprinkles. And yes, I know, I really need to practice this food photography. I think it's the night lighting, yeah, let's blame that.

Philadelphia Vanilla

Chris says it's the best Vanilla he's ever had. Mom liked it too "even though I'm not usually a Vanilla fan." But if you're looking for something quick, easy and tasty, go with this one.

Vanilla Ice Cream, Philadelphia-Style

3 cups heavy cream (or 2 cups heavy cream and 1 cup whole milk - I used this variation)
3/4 cup sugar
pinch salt
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
3/4 tsp vanilla extract

Pour 1 cup of the cream into a medium saucepan and add the sugar and salt. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the saucepan and add the pod to the pot. Warm over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved.

Remove from heat and add the remaining cream (or milk and cream combination, is using) and the vanilla extract.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator. When ready to churn, remove the vanilla bean, rinsing and reserving it for another use, and freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.

It's that time of year again, the time of year when zucchini comes out of everyone's ears! We are no exceptions. Well, at least this year we didn't even bother growing our own. I've tried several zucchini bread recipes including an orange zucchini bread that I think I forgot to blog about (I'll go see if I can find pictures). So in addition to Becky's favorite, the lemony zucchini muffins I made last summer, this morning I tried a new recipe from Cooking Light.

Zucchini Bread

We're talking before and after photos of us over on the SlowTalk Forums, so I thought I'd post my photos here for everyone to share.

Okay - so not as early as I would have liked (Chris and I were friends in HS), but here's a shot from early in our dating relationship in college.

Semi-Formal

And for fun (another before - lest you think we were stuffy)

I tried but just couldn't say it any better. Anyway, if only you watch the first two bits, about Karl Rove and Bill O'Reilly, you'll get what I mean.

Is it possible to get news coverage that doesn't insult my intelligence, that reports the news, and keeps the talking heads at bay?

As I mentioned, I'm reading Team of Rivals now. Well, last night the author, Doris Kearns Goodwin, appeared on The Colbert Report. Thought I'd post the clip.

So today's my Dad's birthday. He's 71. I think he looks darn good for 71. Anyway, I figured since was his birthday, I'd tell you what made him laugh so hard in this entry.

You see, for years, he's been telling me about the Alligator that lives in the pond behind their house in Florida. I never believed him though (b/c I didn't really want to believe him - I don't like Alligators; they freak me out). He'd call and say things like, "We're in the hot tub and the alligator is watching is on the shore," or "saw the alligator swimming around today." And I'd just reply, "Sure you did dad. Go have another Martini."

So last April, when we were down there visiting, we saw this!

Alligator on Neighbor's Lawn

So the eggplants keep rolling in from my CSA. And while I'm getting sick of caponata (look for a recipe for Eggplant Parm Lasagna real soon), I tried one at a farmers market in the Whole Foods parking lot a few weeks ago that was different than mine and delicious, so I made it last week. Sorry forgot the pictures but here's the recipe. It's sweeter than mine, and I like the addition of the red pepper, I think it's probably a better topping for crostini or bruschcetta than mine too. So anyway, here's the recipe:

1 large eggplant - cut into 1 inch cubes; I used a bunch of smaller ones - maybe a pound
1 large onion - diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 cloves garlic (I inadvertently minced these but it still came out fine - I just added them towards the end of the saute so they wouldn't burn)
2T tomato paste
1/4c raisins (I didn't have raisins, so I used currants)
2T chopped green olives
2T chopped black olives
1/2 dried basil
1t oregano
1 - 2T Balsamic vinegar (pretty sure I used two)
1T sugar
1t crushed red pepper
1/4 cup water

Fry the eggplant in olive oil until dark golden brown. Okay so the recipe didn't say how much olive oil and b/c I'm weight conscious I used 1t for each batch and did it in two batches - you could probably use more. Drain on paper towels (didn't bother with this). Empty skillet of oil (didn't bother with this). In 3T olive oil (I used less, maybe 1T), saute onion, pepper and garlic (remember if it's minced add it to the end). I sauteed until they were softened. Add remaining ingredients and eggplant. Simmer about 15 - 20 minutes, serve warm or cold.

As I've mentioned before, our CSA has totally gone overboard this year on Eggplants and I'm darn tired of making caponata. So I've started scouring Cooking Light, looking for other eggplant dishes. Although, not fall yet, and really not cool outside, I decided to fire up the oven Saturday night and make something rich and gooey - Eggplant Parm Lasagna.

Baked Eggplant SlicesThis isn't an easy dish from the standpoint that there are lots of steps, but in the end, it's a one casserole meal, so after dinner (assuming you've cleaned up along the way), you're pretty good to go. It also has a really decent serving size - dividing that 9x13 casserole dish into 9 makes for a good-sized portion at 9 Weight Watcher points each. Also, I was concerned about baking the eggplant as opposed to frying it but man, it worked great! This is a definite make again, a good vegetarian option, and I wouldn't hesitate to make it for company.

Eggplant Parmesan Lasagna

Remember now we must differentiate between opinion and fact, so for opinions, you may want to check these out:

My Fair Veep an op-ed piece by Maureen Dowd.
Jane's Piece on Sara Palin and her follow-up.

And for some facts:

Sliming Palin
Fact Checking McCain

The eggplant glut continues (I think I have two left in the refrigerator). I also had a bunch of tomatoes left (we got to take 20 last week at the CSA). So I decided to make this dish last night. It takes a little prep time only because you have to roast the eggplant for 15 minutes (so figure in preheat time, roasting, and chopping of vegies), but once that's done, it comes together easily for decent pasta sauce. Heck, even Becky liked it (though she didn't actually eat it - opting for plain pasta, and just a taste of the sauce).

Not in my backyard but a friend's in Northwest New Jersey (can you believe that). That doesn't mean there hasn't been a black bear in my yard, there's been one roaming the area for a bit now but so far, I personally, have not seen it or gotten a picture of it.

As many of you know, my birthday is September 27th (yes, less than two shopping weeks for those of you who must and you know who you are). However, given to the possibility that my birthday could fall on Rosh Hashanah (I was born on the second day) or Yom Kippor, years ago, I took to extending the celebration over a few days (plus dinners out with different friends, family, etc.). Well, when I hit 40, I decided I merited not just a week but a month, which worked quite nicely, usually starting two weeks prior to my birthday, and finishing sometime in October. I've also found this mode of celebration healthier - after 2000, when a week of constant celebrating, landed me in the hospital with gall stones (and later removal of offending organ - yes I'm sure the cannoli, and rich cheeses had something to do with it too). Anyway, now at least, I can usually dole out these fattening meals over the course of four weeks, rather than one, letting me plan better. Anyway, I digress.

As it's September, it's time for the month of Kim. This year we decided to kick off the celebration with my parents at a restaurant on LBI known as The Gables. When this restaurant first opened, it had several claims to fame 1) they had no menu 2) the evening's menu was determined by what the chef bought fresh in the market that morning 3) therefore, when you made your reservation, they would verify/clear any food-related issues with you (i.e., allergies and extreme dislikes), 4) you showed up and were served whatever the chef created that day in a multi-course extravaganza 5) oh, and they didn't have a liquor license, so it's BYO (bring your own beer/wine) - yeah.

A few years ago, the owners sold the restaurant, actually to neighbors of my parents, who have since renovated the restaurant and the corresponding Bed&Breakfast and while keeping the "tasting" menu have also added some a la carte selections for dining. Everything else, menu-wise stays the same, fresh, local ingredients, no liquor license etc though they no longer clear food-related issues when you make the reservation.

We love Indian food. But I've always been intimidated to make it at home. Not to mention the caloric count on many dishes. You can imagine my surprise though when my sil recommended a Chicken Tikka Masala recipe on the Weight Watchers site. I had to give it a shot, and I have to say, it was pretty darn good. I can't say whether or not it's "authentic" but it sure takes good. I've made it twice now and both times we enjoyed it.

Have you gotten the idea yet? We're getting lots of eggplants this summer from our CSA. Don't get me wrong, I really like eggplant. But sometimes, too much of a good thing ... In an effort to help me, Tourmama over on Slow Travel Talk, even started a discussion on eggplant recipes. She posted a link to this San Francisco chronicle article, Meet the eggplant's extended family which has a couple of interesting recipes.

But last night, after another CSA pickup with three more eggplants in it, and still having some eggplants left from last week's pickup, I decided I need something quick and easy to do as a "side-dish" for last night's dinner of Chicken Tikka Masala and that's where the Quick Eggplant and Tomato Sauté came into play.

It was a good choice too because not only did it use up a bunch of the smaller eggplants, but it also used up the red onions and peppers I received from the farm. Once all the dicing was done, it came together quickly and made a tasty side dish. I have a ton left over so we'll see how it is re-heated with lunch today.

Now it says it's a 1/2 cup serving at 1 point but a 1 cup serving also has 1 point - in case you want to double up.

Becky's assignment for her photography class last week was "lines." Didn't that work out for me?

This week's choice was actually my pick! So, there's no doubt it would be Chris's favorite, and it was. Sammi chose it as her favorite so far too but Becky still prefers the peach. I think even Fala liked it best.

Crazy though, I didn't even get to serve this with apple crisp, or cobbler or pie, as it was gone before I had a chance to do any baking. I did get to serve it with a baked apple though on Saturday night.

I'm going to make it again this week and serve it on Rosh Hashanah I think with the cliche apple cake. Should be good.

Last year, when I did my first century, it seemed like such a big deal. I had a training plan that I executed pretty well, butterflies in my stomach the day/night before, and set dietary requirements for the ride. It was also a big deal for my family in that Mom, Becky, and my friend Lisa, came to the finish line with champagne and had decorations waiting out the house when I returned.

This year was toned down for me in the sense that I never got into a regular training schedule, and as far as food requirements, heck I just wung (is that a word?) it. Also, we didn't even register for the ride until a few weeks out, waffling on whether we would do a century and if so, which one. As far as friends and family, well our true blue fans, Becky and Lisa were still at the finish line (no champagne this time), and instead of decorations at home, Becky gave me a cool henna pumpkin tattoo with a "100" in the middle.

All that said though, this was a great ride.

First, it's called the Pumpkin Patch Pedal and it's sponsored by the Staten Island Bike Association. Though from Staten Island, they come out here to Central (and southern Jersey) to do their ride. Now here's the fun part, the claim to fame of the PPP is that they have pie at the rest areas! Turns out they only serve it at the last rest area (which makes sense; I mean who wants to ride 75 or 50 miles with some pumpkin pie lodged in your stomach?). Anyway, it was the pie at the rest areas that really attracted me to this one (and you didn't believe I was food oriented?).

I'm very fond of the saying, "It's not rocket science" when describing the difficulty of a task. So you can imagine my delight when I saw bumper stickers appear that say, "My Congressman is a Rocket Scientist" when describing my congressman, Rush Holt (you know, it's one step a way from my dad can beat up your dad, but hey, it's cool). And it's pretty much true (you can read about Rush Holt's background here).

Now for many months, the thing about this "Mortgage Crisis" that I could never understand is why didn't all these people, with the mortgages that suddenly got so high they couldn't afford them (thus leading to foreclosure), didn't refinance? Am I missing something here? Why didn't the banks work with these people to get better terms, that they could afford to make? It didn't (and still doesn't) make sense to me. Yeah, sure, the banks may lose money but better to lose $100K than $400K (I'm pulling numbers from my arse here), but no? Better to have payments coming in on a house than having it sit empty, going into disrepair and being sold for less than worth, no? I didn't get it. I still don't - what am I missing?

But imagine my surprise when I received an e-mail from Rush Holt, that pretty much describes the same thing - I'm going to post it here (I hope he doesn't mind) because it's his ideas on the bail out - and you know what? It's been done before, during the Great Depression and it worked.

Today is my birthday. So I thought I'd give you a "view" of me as an infant.

Have a good day all!

I made this for dessert for Rosh Hashanah this year and it was really good. I left out the nuts in my version, only because I forgot but still no issues. I'd definitely make this lightened version of my normal recipe in the future.

Sorry, no pictures. And for you Weight Watchers, this comes in at 6 points.

For a side dish for Rosh Hashanah, you should have something sweet (well, the entire meal should be sweet, for the sweet New Year). Often we go for something with honey in it but I wanted something a little different and opted for these instead. This dish came together easy (once all the carrot peeling and slicing was done), tasted good and I made it the day before and simply re-heated in the microwave. I doubled the recipe but was still surprised by how much it cooked down. I'll still make it again though.

For Weight Watchers this has 1 point per serving. Again, sorry no pictures.

This is an old standard recipe that I've lightened a bit using fat free sour cream and egg beaters. Though I think I'm going to go back to either light sour cream and/or real eggs - I just think the consistency is better. I may cut down the sugar instead - consider the lightened version a work in process.

Noodle Pudding (5 points), serves 16 with other side dishes, 12 (and 7 points) solo

16 ounces no yolk egg noodles -- medium
1 1/2 cups sugar
15 ounces applesauce
1 cup egg beaters, Fat Free
2 cups sour cream, no fat
1/4 cup light butter, unsalted
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 cup raisins

1. Boil noodles and drain put back into the pot
2. Add all ingredients except cinnamon
3. Pour into greased 13 x 9 pan
4. Sprinkle w/ cinnamon
5. Bake 90 minutes at 350 or bake 45 minutes and freeze then bake one hour from the freezer

I got this recipe many years ago from an old friend. She made this Challah for Rosh Hashanah because it's especially sweet but you can use it whenever. Suse taught me how to bake and how cooking for your friends and loved ones is a way to show them you love them. Every time I bake this bread, I think of her.

* Exported from MasterCook *

Suse's Challah (3 points)
1 cup hot water
2 packages dry yeast
1/2 cup honey
5 cups flour
1/4 cup oil (I use canola)
1/2 cup raisins
2 eggs

1. Add oil to water
2. Add honey, stir until dissolved
3. Sprinkle yeast over mixture
4. Stir once to moisten
5. Let rise (5 to 10 minutes)
6. Add 2 cups flour to mixture
7. Add egg, raisins and rest of flour
8. Knead until smooth and elastic
9. Let rise 1 hour
10. Make challah (2 small round ones can also be made haven't tried braided yet - see pictures below)
11. Put on cookie sheet
12. Let rise until double in size (about 1 hour)
13. Brush w/ beaten egg yolk
14. Bake until golden brown (about 30 - 40 minutes at 350)

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 153 Calories; 3g Fat (17.4% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 28g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 18mg Cholesterol; 8mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

I have one daughter who is raisin intolerant (like her father), so in addition to Suse's Challah, I also make this recipe from my friend Lisa. What I like (love) about this recipe, is that it starts out in the bread machine, so you only do the final baking in the oven and no mixing or anything. It's great for starting on a Friday afternoon so you can have fresh Challah for shabbat dinner. Lisa has another challah recipe that's a little sweeter, if I recall, but I never got it from her.

This one makes me sad. It's Chris's mom and the girls in Rome and at the point in Angie's life when the disease finally became pronounced to all her knew her. Sammi doesn't remember what Angie was like before the Alzheimer's, Becky only vaguely. That's sad.

I guess I stopped writing just after my birthday, so I missed filling you all in on my Rosh Hashana menu. I wanted to get inspired, early on, and try some new dishes but as usual, I got side-tracked and went with many tried and true but did manage a new one.

For starters, we went with a Mediterranean theme:

• hummus
  
• Babba Ghanoush
  
• stuffed grape leaves
  
• olives
  
• pickled vegetables

For dinner we had:

• Matzo Ball Soup (aunt Sheila made the pea soup)
  
• Mixed Greens salad with Everyday Vinaigrette, glazed pecans (store-bought), and Gorgonzola (on the side b/c half the family doesn't like cheese on their salad)
  
• Then I stole Chicken with Leeks and Figs from Amy. I was worried about making a new dish without taste-testing it first and so I was also going to make the Eggplant Parm Lasagna but my oven went on the Fritz on Saturday and I didn't want to push my luck with its use. As it turned out, with the oven, I "trick" it into warming up and once it gets to the proper temp, it maintains it but I just never knew when it would die, so didn't push it.

  Anyway, back to the Chicken, mine was a bit different than Amy's because I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts (most of my family are white meat eaters; cooking for my extended family, by the way, can be problematic at best). So what I did was to keep the chicken breasts out of the concoction, after the initial browning, until the last 15 minutes when I added the figs, since I figured the thin breasts would cook quicker (oh yeah, I used the chicken breast cutlets). Anyway, this worked well. I also made it on Sunday and let it sit in the fridge until Monday, when I reheated it in the broken oven for about 30 minutes, covered, at 350-375 (hard to tell w/ the broken oven).



• Carrot Coins with Maple-Balsamic Browned Butter
  
• Standard Noodle Kugel (I had a craving)
  
• Raisin and Plain Challahs

Everything came out great, and there was plenty of food and no worries with the busted oven.

Don't You Just Want to be Lazy Looking at This?

Sometimes I just don't feel like writing. And I guess it's been that way for the last couple of weeks. It's not that I didn't have things to post, it's just I never felt like going through them.

But now I do.

So, I'm going to back-post them (a long game of catch-up). What I'm going to do is temporarily expand the number of entries I display, so all the catch-up posts appear below this one. I'll leave them there for a week or so and then return to my usual five entries on the first page.

So time to get started ...

As Seen in Our Local Paper

Seriously! I saw this ad in our local paper last week. Does anyone else find this amusing? Okay, I understand it's a new business and you want to call attention to it but it's a funeral parlor! So an open house with food??? And what about RSVPing "Regrets Only?" Was the entire readership of the local paper supposed to call to let them know they could not attend. Sorry, this one just makes me laugh.

It's pretty warm here right now - in the seventies - but the calendar says October, the leaves are changing and starting to fall, and for me that means fall. Along with that, it means fall flavors. Nothing says fall like apples, so this hit on all cylendars.

I was going to make this dish last night because I needed something that I could cook based upon what I had in the house (I had a pork tenderloin in the freezer, apples in the fridge and the first apple cider of the season too) because I didn't know if Chris was going to get the food shopping done before dinner or not. Then it turned out that Sammi's friend was sleeping over, and Chris could get to the market, so we opted for something safe last night (hamburgers) and to make this tonight, with the now defrosted pork tenderloin.

As far as the Sweet Potatoes, well, I bought a whole bunch at the farm market Friday afternoon (they scream fall to me too) and we always have maple syrup around, so that was a no brainer.

Pork Medalions with Double Apple Sauce and Maple Sweet Potatoes

This week Chris brought home lemongrass from our CSA. Of couse, I had no idea what to do with it but luckily they provided several recipes and this is the one I decided to make.

A 1.5C serving comes in at two points. This is a really refreshing soup, I think due to the inclusion of the lemongrass. Definitely refreshing enough to enjoy as a summer soup too.

Ingredients

1 fresh lemongrass stalk, root end trimmed and 1 or 2 outer layers discarded
1 large onion, chopped
1T olive oil (originally called for 2T butter and 2T olive oil)
1 3/4 pounds kabocha or butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1- inch pieces ( 4 cups)
2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen com kernels (10 ounces; from 2 to 3 ears)
5 cups water (I used 4C chicken broth and 1C water to give a little richness)
Garnish: cilantro leaves (I forgot this but it would have been good)

Preparation
Cut off and discard top of lemongrass, leaving a 6-inch stalk, then smash stalk with side of a large heavy knife.
Cook lemongrass, onion and 1t salt in oil in a heavy medium pot over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 10 minutes. Add squash, com, water, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and bring to a boil over high heat.
Reduce heat and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until squash is tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and discard lemongrass.

Puree soup in 3 or batches in a blender until very smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids), straining each batch as blended through a fine-mesh sieve into a large heatproof bowl, pressing hard on and then discarding solids. Season with salt and pepper and reheat if necessary.

Seriously?

For this week's Sunday Slow Scoopers, Chris chose any flavor of chocolate from the Perfect Scoop. At first I thought I'd keep it simple and go with the Philadelphia Style Chocolate Ice Cream - basic and simple. But then I saw the chocolate peanut butter, which is one of my favorite flavors and it was way simple, meeting the second requirement, so that's I went with.

And Lisa, if you're reading this, just come over for some before it's all gone.

Oh, and for weight watchers, a 1/3 cup serving is 5 points.

Wednesday night (for reasons I will discuss in some future post), I wanted something quick and easy for dinner and yet comforting. Of course, when I planned our weekly menu (yes I plan a menu on the weekend and then Chris food shops based upon that menu), I had no idea that's what I would want, so this one worked out really well.

The soup comes together in a few minutes, and cooks for maybe 15-20 minutes before you eat it. I didn't bother with the salad, but we had some left over ciabatta that Chris toasted up, rubbed with garlic, sprinkled with salt and drizzled olive oil over to make a nice accompaniment.

No pictures (maybe I'll get one at lunch today) but it's soup; it's easy and it's good. Oh and for you Weight Watchers out there not necessarily good value (7 points in a 1C serving) but it is pretty darn filling and with a salad, makes a good meal.

Pasta e Fagioli
From

1 tablespoon olive oil
6 ounces hot turkey Italian sausage
1 1/2 tablespoons bottled minced garlic
1 cup water
1 (16-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce
1 cup uncooked small seashell pasta (about 4 ounces)
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans or other white beans, drained
Minced fresh parsley (optional)
Crushed red pepper (optional)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add sausage and garlic; sauté 2 minutes or until browned, stir-ring to crumble. Add water, broth, and tomato sauce; bring to a boil. Stir in pasta, 1/4 cup cheese, oregano, salt, pepper, and beans; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 8 minutes or until pasta is done. Let stand 5 minutes; sprinkle with 1/4 cup cheese. Garnish each serving with parsley and red pepper, if desired.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

CALORIES 353 (26% from fat); FAT 10.2g (sat 3.1g,mono 4.1g,poly 2.3g); IRON 4.5mg; CHOLESTEROL 34mg; CALCIUM 177mg; CARBOHYDRATE 45.6g; SODIUM 742mg; PROTEIN 20.5g; FIBER 4.5g

Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2000

There are certain foods that tell me fall is in the air, apples, butternut squash, soups, home-baked bread, and now, added to the list, the Pumpkin Spice Frappucino at Starbucks. Now I personally can't enjoy one of these suckers (at 360 calories for a tall with whip cream just not good food value) but Becky has been dying to try one, so last night after a delicious sushi dinner, we headed over to our local store. I had a sip though, and I have to say, that was one of the more interesting flavor combinations I've ever tasted in a drink. Becky enjoyed the "creme" version but there's also a coffee-based one (comes in at 230 calories w/o whip cream). Me, I found a new favorite (since they got rid of my skinny mocha latte), a skinny caramel latte that comes in at 130 calories and counts as two milk servings a day (grande is 16 oz and 3 Weight Watcher points).

Robin Hayes

Michele Bachmann

Joe McCarthy

First a little background.

My grandmother, in 1959 was given six months to live. She had breast cancer. She did die eventually, from cancer in 1982. Her sister, my aunt Sylvia died in the 1970s of the disease. One of my father's sisters (my grandmother's daughter and my aunt), had a double mastectomy a few years ago. The other sister, is currently battling the disease.

So, yes, though they say the "genetic" form does not come from the father's side of the family, I often wonder about that.

But given all of that, you can imagine my shock when I found a lump in my breast last Tuesday.

In all of the whirlwind of the last 10 days, one good thing is rising on the horizon, we're still heading to Italy in 11 more days. It was the first thing the doctor said after giving us the diagnosis, "You're still going to Italy next week."

It was the last thing on Chris's mind. It was the last thing on Andrew's mind when I told him too. But it wasn't the last thing on my mind. Strange, but I think the most frustrating thing about my "situation" at the moment is that it's robbed me of my ability to plan for the next few months anyway. I don't know what we're going to do for Thanksgiving. I don't know if I'll be able to do any "holiday" celebrations. And worse still, I don't know if I'll be able to go to Disney with the family to watch Chris do the Goofy challenge or to Paso Robles for the Slow Bowl. It's the not knowing and the not being able to plan that frustrates the heck out of me.

So I want this trip.

I know, once I meet with the as yet to be named oncologist, will put the final plan together. And then, at least, I'll have a plan, a timeline, and can hopefully start to plan things again and according to Dr. M. that should all be in place before we leave, which will make traveling easier. I know she's right.

But for now, at least, I think I'm going to take some time today and focus on the next trip and keep praying for clean lymp nodes on Monday. I'm starting to get that one day at a time thing.

First, I just want to thank all of you who have contacted me through e-mail and comments. I've said this before and I'll say it again, knowing there are so many of you wonderful people out there pulling for me, makes this all bearable.

Next, I want to share with you an e-mail I just received from my Aunt. I mentioned her before, as she's had a double mastectomy and reconstruction. Hopefully she won't mind me sharing her words of wisdom with all of you, but they really resonate - I may have to paint them on my walls, or at least, tape them to my bathroom mirror.

Dear Kimmee,

If good thoughts help to heal you, then you are well on your way; we are all pulling for your speedy "detoxification" and recovery. You seem to be doing all the right things, so what I tell you now may be unnecessary, but just in case, here it is: KEEP BUSY. Do not play any scenarios over and over in your mind. Remember, you just have to go thru each step/procedure once, so torturing yourself by playing different scenarios over and over in your mind, and therefore going thru them more times than you actually have to, is destructive to your well-being. Do what you have to do to take care of yourself, and then go about activities and live in the NOW on the hour to hour basis. Before you know it, each step will be over, and you will only have had the anxiety for each step much more briefly, than if you think about it all the time.

It took me about 20 years to realize this, but when I did, and forced myself to live that way, my quality of life was much better. (Of course let it be said that I only was able to do it relative to this whole breast issue; I still worry about stupid things like grandkids and such, all the time!!) I counseled friends to do the same, and it really made sense to them. I hope it makes sense to you.

Also, if you want some general info, have you read any of Dr. Susan Love's books. They answer a bunch of common quests. And never be reluctant to ask questions, no matter how many, or how often to whom ever you choose. It is your body and your decisions; be as informed as makes you comfortable.

I am here if you need me for anything. Love to you. Aunt Dennise

--------------------------------------------------------

Okay now before any of you get any bright ideas, you can't go around calling me kimmee (that's reserved for my aunts, father and Doru). But shit - doesn't that all make so much sense? I also like the line "be as informed as makes you comfortable." I'm totally getting that too - there are certain things I want to know (treatments, effects) and certain things I totally care not to know (odds) and it's good to have someone give you permission to choose what you want to know and what you don't want to know.

Becky went to the mall yesterday shopping with Al. Al needed a dress for a sweet sixteen they're going to on Saturday night. But I got a present too. Becky found this book in Bath and Body Works, Cancer Vixen: A True Story
- it's the story of what happens when a "shoe-crazy, lipstick-obsessed, wine-swilling, pasta-slurping, fashion-fanatic, single-forever, about-to-get-married big-city girl cartoonist with a fabulous life finds ... a lump in her breast?" She figured at least I hit on the wine-swilling, pasta-slurping description and both the author and I are 43 when it happens, so she hoped I could relate. It's done as a comic book (easy to understand) and so far our stories are parallel. I'm enjoying it - it makes me laugh (we're trying to laugh as much as possible now).

The other thing she picked up for me was a nice notebook from Barnes and Noble. I wanted something I can write random thoughts, questions and "to-dos" in, something I could take to the doctors with me in which to write notes (my memory sucks but if I write things down, I usually remember them). We're keeping it on the counter in the kitchen too though, and the girls can write whatever questions they have, that I can't answer in it, and I told them I'll ask the doctors for them.

She had six she wanted to choose from but she chose the one she bought because it has this saying in the front cover:

Enjoy the the little things in life for one day you will look back and realize they were the big things

• TD: change light bulb in entry hall
• TD: pay Capitol one bill
• TD: Cancel extra reservation at Cesari (story here)
• TD: Cancel Auto Europe reservation (story here)
• Q: Do I need a breast MRI? Full body MRI? If so, who gives me the scrip?

I figure between this blog and that notebook, this entire process will be documented to the nth degree. That gives me a feeling of control, even if it's false, I still like it.

Oh, one more thing, there's a cancer walk in our town this morning. I was going to do it with Lisa but it's just too raw for me. But Steph, Al and Becky are going over to do it and that makes me want to cry ... in a good way.

Lest you think I've been wallowing in self-pity, I decided to throw some recipes up too. Friday and Saturday night we've enjoyed some really good dinners, so as time allows, I'm going to throw the recipes up here.

First, last night's dessert, Oatmeal Cranberry Classics. I got these from Weight Watchers Best Ever Desserts cookbook, which I believe they sold only in meetings, not in bookstores, and as is their way, took out of print within the year. What attracted me to these suckers (besides I'm a huge oatmeal cookie lover) is that I had all the ingredients in the house. I even had dried cranberries, which I didn't use though, because no one but me and Mom like them. Instead, I subbed Cinnamon Chips which just give a little burst of flavor. If you want to stay within "protocol" you could have subbed dried cherries, blueberries or chopped dried apricots (and I imagine the ubiquitous raisin) but I wanted a little indulgence.

I used my smallest scooper (about 1T) and got 36 cookies (as opposed to the 30 they said) and the best part, each of these little suckers comes in at only 1 point (high fiber). Oh and I found Whole Wheat Pastry flour at Whole Foods but if you use that cinnamon chip link above, you can also get it from King Arthur Flour.

In 17 hours, I'll be in surgery. In 24 hours, the tumor should be gone.

I'm scared.

I'm nervous.

Please God, give me let me be okay.

Thought we could all use a good laugh this morning.

MORNING SEX

She was standing in the kitchen preparing to boil eggs for
breakfast, wearing only the T-shirt that she normally slept in.

As I walked in almost awake, she turned and said softly, "You've
got to make love to me this very moment."

My eyes lit up and I thought, I am either still dreaming or this is
going to be my lucky day. Not wanting to lose the moment, I embraced her
and then gave it my all, right there on the kitchen table.

Leaving soon. Pretty calm. I'm starving though ;).

See you all later.

Well, that wasn't so bad. The surgeon, Dr. M, ran a little late but they took me in a bit after 1:00. I woke up a bit before 3:00 in "stage 1' recovery. By 3:20 I was in stage 2 where they gave me juice, coffee and cookies.

Dr. M said the lymph nodes looked good, soft (whatever that means) and we'll get the final pathology on Thursday (keep your fingers crossed) but they got all of it and the margins were clean. So we're hopeful.

More later but wanted to let you all know what's going on.

Again, thank you sooooooooooo much for all the support and encouragement. Y'all will never know how much it means to me.

Warning, right off the bat - I'm not cushioning stuff in here - I don't think it gets too disgusting but just be warned.

First, do you know how I know God loves me? And yes, even with cancer, I still believe that. It's because on Sunday night, in the midst of my panic, Pretty Woman was on TV - I mean c'mon, what better form of mindless entertainment to take your mind off your troubles? And you know what, he/she did it again Monday morning. Do you know what was on then? Miracle on 34th street (the original) - in October? Yes, God loves me.

So Monday morning was pretty much spent playing Spider Solitaire, watching Santa Clause prove he's the real thing, killing time in any way I could until it was time to leave for the hospital. About 9:15 I decided a shower might be a good idea, since god only knew when I’d get to shower again. Plus, I needed to shave. Chris of course was upset, “You shave for the folks in the operating room and not for me?” Well, yeah dear, I barely know the people in the OR but you’ve I known for most of my life – you can put up with a little stubble. ;D

Anyway, we hit the road about 10:15, 20 minutes earlier than we probably needed to get to the hospital for my 11:00am appointment. It’s probably a good thing we got there early though, because first Chris missed a turn (on a route he’s driven hundreds of times during his life – he used to volunteer at the hospital – guess he was distracted) then once we gave our name to the parking attendant (so we could get free parking – they have all the patients on a list), parked, it took us two wrong guesses before we finally figured out where we needed to go for outpatient (aka ambulatory) surgery.

Anyway, we enter a large waiting room with maybe two dozen people waiting – hard to tell the patients from the waiting families but after a while (and the green name bracelets they give me) you know who is who. It never occurred to me that men would be here too – as I thought this outpatient center was part of the Women and Children Pavilion but nope, it’s for everyone, kids too. Anyway, we sit in the waiting room, with only one TV playing CNN (okay – is it only me, but can’t we have mindless TV while waiting for doctors or surgery – must we be subjected to the news?).

As the hour goes by, they call various waiting families into the back and at least one other patient, a young woman, younger than me, who has been crying off-and-on on her husband’s shoulder – yeah I know that feeling. Finally, it’s my turn just after noon.

Yesterday, though forgotten in the events of the past two weeks, was our 19th wedding anniversary. Hard to believe that 19 years ago, we promised in "sickness and in health" and now we're being tested in that arena ... whatever.

We decided though, if I were feeling up to it, we'd go out to dinner and yesterday was a good day. We tossed around a few possibilities but settled on Soho because we wanted a place with an upbeat, hip vibe, decent food and where I could indulge in a martini (oh, and by the way, a martini with a red wine chaser, works just about as well as oxycodone for killing pain).

We sat at the bar because, well, we like sitting at the bar. In no rush, we started with an item off their "specials menu" steak and chicken satay with some sort of sweet, chutney like sauce and cabbage slaw. The meat was seasoned well enough to eat solo but was real good with the sauce and slaw too. If I hadn't already ordered my before-mentioned sapphire martini, a beer would have been good at this point.

As we finished our shared appetizer, we put in our dinner orders. Now the strange thing is, I've been craving meat lately - seriously craving, but when I asked the bartender to pick between the lamb loin, the skirt steak and the fettuccine on the menu (Chris had enjoyed this a few weeks ago when he had dinner at Soho with his Dad, so I threw it into the mix), she immediately went with the fettuccine so I trusted her. Definitely a good pick. It was a sweet potato fettuccine with pulled duck confit - and it was rich and amazing. Here's the actual description from the website:

A lot of stuff going on in that dish but it hit on several cylinders though totally rich, and I couldn't eat more than a few forkfuls before I felt almost full.

Chris went with a special off the daily menu a hangar steak with gnocchi but I don't remember any more of the preparation. He asked for it rare and boy was it, but it was also seasoned well and tasty as were the gnocchi. On the side, we shared (i.e., Chris ate most of it), some of the rice truffle cakes which had a crispy outside, soft inside, and nice essence of truffle. All this got washed down with an interesting Argentinean Malbec that actually had a buttery aftertaste.

For dessert, they were out of Chris's choice, carrot cake, but had mine, the Hot Apple Galette, which was warm, oozy, and delicious. We shared it (i.e., Chris ate most of it again).

This, with two cups of coffee, came to about $160 including tip and tax. Food-wise, probably one of the best meals I've had at Soho and definitely a fun night out in a lively environment.

Sorry, no pictures, after taking that first sip of Martini I pretty much forgot everything else.

The doctor thought we'd get the full pathology today but so far no call from her office. Hoping she just makes these calls at the end of the day but who knows. We'll see. If I don't hear today, I'll give them a call in the morning.

Other than that, feeling okay - a little stiff in the arm and tired. I didn't think I'd be this wiped from the surgery but I guess it takes stuff out of you, healing and all.

Oooh, I just took my pain meds, which is the generic form of percaset or oxy-coton or something. I've just taken them before going to sleep but I over did it yesterday and was a bit sore today, so I just decided to take them now (so I can take them again before bed) and man am I flying ..... wheeee. Hope the doc doesn't call now b/c there's no way I'll get what she's saying anyway.

A cabbie picks up a Nun. She gets into the cab, and notices that the VERY handsome cab driver won't stop staring at her.

She asks him why he is staring. He replies: 'I have a question to ask, but I don't want to offend you.'

She answers, ' My son, you cannot offend me. When you're as old as I am and have been a nun as long as I have, you get a chance to see and hear just about everything. I'm sure that there's nothing you could say or ask that I would find offensive.'

'Well, I've always had a fantasy to have a nun kiss me.'

She responds, 'Well, let's see what we can do about that: #1, you have to be single and #2, you must be Catholic.'

The cab driver is very excited and says, 'Yes, I'm single and Catholic!'

'OK' the nun says. 'Pull into the next alley.' The nun fulfills his fantasy with a kiss that would make a hooker blush. But when they get back on the road, the cab driver starts crying.

'My dear child,' said the nun, 'Why are you crying?'
'Forgive me but I've sinned. I lied and I must confess; I'm married and I'm Jewish.'

The nun says, 'That's OK. My name is Frank and I'm going to a Halloween party.'

Got all of the tumor and the lymph nodes are negative (that's the good one)!

I'll get the full report when I meet with her 4:20 on Monday and then I'll make the appointment with the oncologist but I'm feeling pretty darn good right now.

Of course, I've been a slug on the couch all day 45 minutes at the gym, at only 2mph on a treadmill totally wiped me out - better get used to that ... Hey on the other hand, how many woman do you know at the gym four days after a lumpectomy?

We visited the surgeon this afternoon for my one week post-op and to go over the final pathology reports. First off, I have to say, I've arrived. When I go to sign in at the doc's office, the nurse sees me and says, "Kim, you don't have to sign in." Ooh, cancer has its perks.

A few minutes later, I'm called into the office and the nurse removes my surgi-strips, shows me the stitches that will dissolve and then brings me into the doc's office along with Mom and Chris to go over the report.

I scribbled notes all over it and I'm going to try to recap most of it here for you - feel free to ask questions. I feel like now, my education can begin.

First, we went over page four of the report, the pathology from the surgery. I had a duct cell carcinoma which is one of the most common cancers. My tumor was a whopping 3.7cm which works out to be 1.5 inches. I had angiolymphatic permeation which if I understood correctly, means the little blood vessels within the tumor contained cancer cells. This could be bad because that's how the cells travel to the lymph nodes but luckily my little suckers didn't make it (go body!). Most cancer patients have a grade 2 tumor, mine was grade 3. It's the fastest growing kind. The good news, it also responds best to chemo. To give you an idea of how fast it grows, grade 2 can double every six months, grade 3, every 3 weeks. This sucker hadn't been around for long (which relieves some of my guilt, makes me realize that breast self exams are way important, and that Alina, getting me to call the doc to move up my appointment probably saved my life - or at least my lymph nodes!).

Now we get into a little discussion about chemo and radiation and the difference between the two. The doc explains a bit to us but basically the chemo prevents the cancer from appearing/spreading to the rest of my body, and the radiation, saves my boobs. The chemo kills the cells, and the radiation "rehabilitates the cells" basically discouraging them from becoming rogue mavericks (hmm...perhaps we should have named that tumor Sarah ... you bettya). Anyway, after this combo of treatment, recurrence is about 10% - I can live with that.

Okay - now back to the results from the aspiration - I'm ER IPOX (estrogen?) negative, PR IPOX (progesterone?) negative and HER-2 Negative (still waiting for the final results on that one), but that's good. I won't be doing any of those other medications, and she seemed real upbeat about the HER-2 being negative too. Basically, my cancer was not hormone sensitive (again the education needs to begin - though she said stay way from stat tables b/c my tumor size was large but everything else was good but a lot of the stats don't take that into account).

The rest of the time we asked her some questions better geared towards the oncologist but just to get her opinion on what my future may hold. She thinks, I'll probably need 16 weeks of Chemo, every other week for 4 cycles and then again, radiation after the chemo. She also said it will probably be a drip, three hours at a shot. Of course, all of this will be up to the oncologist but we just wanted an idea.

Lastly, my mom and Chris left, and the doc took a look at my stitches and said I'm healing faster than expected and to have a great time in Italy!

Update: Oh, I totally forgot this but Brenda's comment reminded me, when the doc walked into the room she said, "So how you doing Kimmy?"!!! Too funny - okay so who tipped her off?

May the rogue mavericks stay out of my boobs and out of the white house.

They didn't wake me. Chris did that when he got up to go to the bathroom but these are the thoughts that popped into my head as I tried for two hours to go back to sleep (I was finally successful and had the strangest dream about a party at George's house).

• Did I make plans to meet for coffee on Tuesday or Wednesday
  
• I need to call the oncologist
  
• When will I be able to sleep without my bra?
  
• I'm thirsty
  
• I'm hot
  
• What if that fast-growing cancer comes back before chemo and radiation start somewhere else - it's that fast
  
• I need to schedule Becky's physical
  
• It's election day!
  
• I'm horny
  
• I'm going to Italy!!

Lots of stuff to digest after meeting with Dr. F, the oncologist, but one of the things I need to decide pretty quickly is whether or not I want to participate in this clinical trial. He was having the paperwork faxed to his office and I'll pick it up tomorrow and will let him know by Wednesday. So I need to do some research.

Anyone know anything?

First, thanks all for the thoughts and insight on the Avastin trial. I picked up some information from the doc's office yesterday that I need to get through that today in addition to all the links and articles people have sent. I do appreciate it. I'm going to sit down this morning, digest it all, and write all my questions down.

The doc called last night, must have been between 8:30 and 9:00 but I had taken two simply sleep to kick the jet lag to the curb, and was out. Sammi still woke me though - hope I didn't sound like a total idiot but I told him I was sleeping and asked that he call back today which he said he will. He just wanted to make sure I got the info.

I chopped my hair off yesterday. I had been letting it grow out since last June and, for me, it got pretty long, but now it's back to normal - very short. Figure it will be easier that way. I may actually buzz it though next month. How about a #1?

I'm having a Muga (don't have the form in front of me for correct spelling), test on my heart tomorrow. They want a clear image, and to make sure everything is good, in case I decide to do the trial. One of the rare side effects is heart trouble.

On Friday, I go back into the hospital for an outpatient procedure to put a port in my chest (lower neck area - not sure exactly where). It goes under the skin and gives them easy access for blood tests and the chemo so I don't have to get pricked every other week. This process grosses me out more than the lumpectomy. It reminds me of those "ports" on people in the Matrix, just a bit freaky.

I swear I'm going to be able to go to medical school after I get done with this (well, assuming that I can get over the nausea that the sight of blood gives me - I should be a dream patient, huh?). Anyway, my heads a bit swimming, and I have to head out in a few moments and I'm hungry, and I've put on weight since the diagnosis, so my pants are tight and well, heck, I'm just going to post some links and notes here during the day, as I have time, and publish later.

Articles:

Costly Cancer Drug Offers Hope, but Also a Dilemma
F.D.A. Extends Avastin’s Use to Breast Cancer
Panel Recommends Against Avastin for Breast Cancer
In Second Trial, Avastin Is Found Effective in Treating Breast Cancer

Back home now.

There's tons more out there but that's what I've read so far. The doctor also sent over a 19-page document describing the trial and all the nasty side effects, possibilities, etc. I came up with a list of questions to ask him and some notes:

Notes

• I have a 20% chance of getting a placebo
  
• a 40% chance of being in ArmB which coincides with my normal treatment and getting the new drug
  
• I have a 40% chance of being in Armc which requires extended care
  
• If I'm in ArmC (40%chance), I will still need to go to the doctor for Bevacizumab once every three weeks (10 cycles) for an additional 30 weeks
  
• I can stop the study at any time

Questions

• I'm Stage 2A, why am I high risk (the trial is for patients with lymph node positive and high risk lymph node negative breast cancer patients)? Is it because of the grade 3 tumor? Basically, why am I a good candidate for the study? What is my risk of recurrence (I haven't asked that question yet; I'm afraid to)?
  
• In previous trials, the "studies showed improved results in patients whose breast cancer recurred." What were those improved results? And can you apply those statistics to me since we're not dealing with a recurrence but a prevention of recurrence?
  
• How many of the five other candidates from our local hospital have already been selected? Is it possible to talk to them or any other participants?
  
• I thought my second round of paclitaxel was every other week for 8 weeks, 4 cycles but the info on the study says once a week for 12 weeks, which is it?
  
• If I'm in the study, and in ArmC, does that mean I have to keep the port in for an additional 30 weeks?
  
• I was pre-eclampsia at the end of my first pregnancy. Does that make me pre-disposed to high blood pressure as a side effect of Avastin?
  
• Why am I on a dose dense schedule (one dose, every other week - 4 cycles, repeated twice), as opposed to the classical schedule (one dose every third week)
  
• What is my drop dead date for deciding
  
• So far, there have been 1,136 participants. Have their been any indications of side effects more frequent than others? More harmful than others? Has anyone finished yet? Any indication of results?
  
• How will this improve my outcome versus the standard care for breast cancer?
  
• What experience do you have with this clinical trial? Other trials?
  
• What will be involved in the long term follow-up?

My doc called about 6:00 last night (guess he learned not to call too late), and I gave him an out because I had a ton of questions, I offered to e-mail them to him, to take up less of his time, and he said, no go ahead we'll do it over the phone. He did warn me at first that he may not be able to handle all of them and that we may need to contact one of the doctors or nurses actually working on the study.

I told him I was leaning away from doing it and he said that was fine, no pressure, I need to do what I feel is right but we went through all the questions anyway. The fact that he was totally supportive of me not doing it and didn't try to convince me, made me feel a lot more comfortable with him.

Anyway, after a lot of thought and reading a bunch of articles, and talking to him, and sleeping on it, I've decided not to pursue it. I think my odds are pretty good as is, and since there's no indication that in my situation, it will greatly enhance those odds (it may turn out that it does but we just don't know), I didn't think it was worth the added side effects or time commitment. I guess what it comes down to for me, is I want to get back to my "normal" life as soon as I can, and this will prolong that possibility.

So I'll call his office today and we'll schedule my first chemo.

I have to go in an hour to get a Muga scan of my heart (he said we need that anyway), and then I have a funeral to attend, so more Italy stuff later today or tomorrow.

So you know what's missing from all this cancer talk? Pictures! I think I need to start taking them to go along with what's happening. Anyway, today I had a Muga test, which basically is images of my heart. They weren't looking for anything wrong, just a baseline for comparison to make sure it doesn't get damaged by the poisons medications they're going to start injecting into me in a couple of weeks.

As the tech said, this is probably the easiest procedure I'll endure during the next few months. It started with a needle, as they injected something into me (I forget what). Then I had to wait 20 minutes, while whatever they injected into me bonded with my red blood cells (a little tango perhaps). Then another injection, this time with radioactive stuff (and no, unfortunately, I do not glow in the dark). They attached three sets of diodes and wires. Then two sets of pictures of my heart, the first took four minutes to capture, the second eight minutes. And then I was done. Less than an hour from start to finish.

Oh, and because my veins suck, and I'm down to one arm, you do get a picture. Here's my hand (they had to go in through the back of my hand), with it's pretty pink bandage. I'll take it off a little later but right now, I'm enjoying the bright color.

Just got home from the hospital. Had the port put in. It took a lot longer than I expected. When I had asked, they told me the procedure takes less than 90 minutes and that's true but what they didn't include in that figure is the time it takes to register (twice), time for medical history, wait time, and recovery time. All in all, it took 3.75 hours from the time Chris dropped us off (Mom stayed with me) until the time he picked us up.

First we had to sign in at admissions where they copied my insurance card (that info should just be tattooed across my forehead by now), my driver's license and the prescription for the procedure. Then we waited for an administrator to call us into registration where she copied my insurance card, driver's license and prescription and had me sign my life away (seriously - you basically have no rights if you want them to work on you it seems). Then she sent us off to Radiology, where we waited to register again, where they took my prescription and had me fill out a form about my medication and allergies (I can't remember if they copied my insurance and driver's license again), and we waited for about five minutes.

Finally, at about 11:25 (we had arrived at 10:45 for an 11:00 appointment), the person who registered me with radiology walked me into the back, basically into a room with four or five beds and a desk (aka nurse's station). Mom didn't come with me. I had to change into a gown (tied in back), and sat there while one of the nurses (very sweet, very talkative, which was good and distracting) took my medical history down (you'd think they'd have this all from three weeks ago when I had the lumpectomy). No heated blankets here though, and I got cold. She was good though, making sure everyone knew that everything (IVs, blood pressure, even the port), had to be done on my left side (when you have lymph nodes removed on a side, you shouldn't have anything done on that arm again - well, at least for a good long while).

A resident came in and went over the procedure with me and had me sign more forms. Finally, after Noon (I think it was like 12:15), the nurse wheeled me into the OR (I went from my bed, to the OR table - no walking this time). She started to prep me, while waiting for the rest of the team to arrive (normally she wouldn't do this but they were running late and she didn't want to keep me waiting - I said, very sweet). Once they arrived, Donna took over and Brian (I think - he had a Giants scrub hat on), and things moved quickly. They asked me what type of music I would like (anything but country - so we listened to the Blues Brothers soundtrack), doped me up with a sedative, the doctor arrived, draped me, and the procedure went off. There was a lot of poking and pinching but really, the worst part was when they ripped the drapes off and the tape at the end. Donna stayed by my side pretty much throughout, so whenever I opened my eyes, we chatted.

By about 1:45 or so, they wheeled me back into recovery, and let my Mom come in (normally they wouldn't do that but no one was there but me) - recovery was really the staging room in which I started. Donna monitored me for a little while, then warmed my lunch (mac and cheese with some steamed veggies), then she headed off to another procedure.

The other nurse returned, helped me dress and by 2:20, I was allowed to walk out of there to wait for Chris at the entrance (normally they'd want to wheel chair me, but I told them I could walk, so they let me go).

Now a couple of things to note, I've got this derma-plast stuff (think super glue for skin), so no shower for 24 hours. Plus nothing rubbing against it for a few weeks (no bra, seat belt, I have to wear some sort of pad over it to protect it from those things). The port is under the skin - it's not like a little knob above or anything, and from it, there's some sort of tube that runs to a vein/artery (I get them confused) in my neck. So my neck is a bit stiff as the pain meds run out. They didn't give me anything for it - told me to just take Tylenol. I'm waiting for it to kick in. This will save the veins in my arms though as I won't need to take any meds or give any blood through there - a good thing since they're already bruised and shot. No walking on the treadmill for at least a week, but I can do the stationary bike. Basically, now I have two useless arms. Oh well, such is life.

Now, if anyone is curious, I've put a picture on the next page of the scar. That big brown mark isn't part of it. It's a birthmark I've had forever. I tried to get them to remove it while they were working there but no such luck.

People have asked to see a picture of my new, short doo. As you can see though, it's pretty similar to my picture to the right. Once the chemo kicks in though, I imagine I'll buzz it until it falls out. But for now, here's a pic of me, this morning in my pjs, as seen through the reflection in my bathroom mirror.

On Sundays in the winter, I love dishes that sit and simmer on the stove or in the oven for a long period of time. They make the house smell wonderful and if I get them going early enough, cooking dinner doesn't interfere with Sunday football!

I found this recipe on, where else, Cooking Light and made it for dinner this past Sunday. Everyone loved it. Along with a tossed salad and some fresh bread it made for a great meal and I finally got to use two acorn squash that I got from the CSA a few weeks ago.

Okay - so on Thanksgiving Becky told me she did her list of what she's thankful for (I have no idea what she wrote) but figured I'd try to do one. To be honest though, with the big "C" hanging over my head, and feeling a bit sorry for myself, it's hard for to do this but I thought I'd give it a try.

• I'm thankful for my family and friends who have been so incredibly supportive through this.
• I'm thankful that other than the "C" I'm in pretty darn good health.
• I'm thankful that the rest of my family is in good health.
• I'm thankful everyone is coming over today.
• I'm thankful that I had a great trip to Italy.
• I'm thankful that I have a roof over my head.
• I'm thankful I have good food to eat and good wine and beer to drink!
• I'm thankful for the Macy's parade (and that it's not windy so we should get balloons today).
• I'm thankful that the girls didn't freak out when we cancelled our trip to Disney World in January to see Chris run the Goofy challenge.
• I'm thankful Anna is coming back to clean my house on Monday.
• I'm thankful Fala is feeling better (she has brittle nails, broke one, and her paw got infected. She's in one of those silly cones now but she slept better last night and the meds seem to be working).
• I'm thankful Dad got me a banana chocolate chip muffin for breakfast.
• I will be thankful as soon as Chris stops reading the paper behind me, and makes another pot of decaf.
• I'm thankful Mom has stayed with me through my surgeries.
• I'm thankful we saw a bald eagle flying yesterday - never saw one out of captivity; they're beautiful.
• I'm thankful for my doctors and their quick action and their thoughtful oversight.
• I'm thankful we're decorating the house this weekend. It will be good to have some holiday cheer.
• I'm thankful we're still planning a trip to Hawaii in June
• I'm thankful the girls aren't fighting.

On Friday, I had to get up early (after the hullabaloo of T-giving) and go for an MRI. Now first off, the major radiology place in our area has multiple locations. With my MRI visit, I've now been to three (you think I'd just be able to go to the same one each time) but different locations, different equipment and different levels of ease to get an appointment. So on Tuesday though, Chris and I drove to this "new" one to drop off my films (I carry them wherever I go now), my prescription and yet to allow another picture of my insurance card, so they'd be all ready for me on Friday.

Woke at about 6:30 on Friday, showered, had too much coffee and hit the road at 7:15 for my 8:00 appointment (even with dropping the stuff off ahead of time, I still needed to be there at 7:45 for the 8:00 appointment). I walk in, only one other person is in the waiting room, and they copy my insurance card, yet again, and give me a clipboard of forms to fill out (first off, two I had already filled out twice, once at each other location and second, why couldn't they just give these to me when I popped by on Tuesday?). Before I can even get halfway through the first form, I'm called into the back.

My tech introduces herself (sorry I don't remember her name), gives me a locker, inspects my pants (they had told me ahead of time to wear loose, comfortable clothes, so I was in sweats), pronounces them okay, and gives me two gowns to put on top (the first to open in the front, the second as a robe, opening in the back). I go into the changing room, do my strip tease, put on the lovely gowns and emerge, throwing my coffee and all my clothes and reading material into the locker).

It's about 15 seconds before the tech returns and takes me into the back, where I meet Mary the nurse, who explains the process to me and starts my IV. Yep, I had another IV; I'm a veritable pin cushion. But I have to give props to Mary - she stuck me in the side of my wrist, pretty painless and absolutely no bruising! I think I want to take Mary with me now on for all my pin pricks.

So people (i.e., my Dad) warned me about the MRI - you have to stay completely still, you're in this tiny, enclosed space for between 30 and 45 minutes, and it's loud! Well, Dad never had a breast MRI (which I think now, I would pay to see). Mary explained it to me, and she was right, I had to laugh when I saw the contraption.

It's a regular, old MRI tube (like you may see on some medical dramas), but you don't lie on your back when you have a breast MRI. You lie on your stomach, with your head in these little grips (think like a massage table), and your legs slightly elevated. And where do your boobs go? Well, the Ladies Auxiliary dangle down, in this little "holder" that hangs below the table - imagine a hole in the table, with little boob cups underneath. So there I lay, for 40 minutes or so, with my hands extended straight over my head, a pillow just under my ankles and my boobs a dangling. The good thing though, because you're on your stomach, looking down, you never realize you're in that tiny enclosure.

Oh, and it is loud! It whirs and beeps and sounds like a jack hammer off and on, during the procedure. They gave me head phones, and played the music of my choice (I went with top 40 this time), and while the music gave me something on which to focus (I counted songs, figuring between 2.5 and 3 minutes a song, I could guestimate how long I was in the machine and how much longer I had), the music does not drown out the other noise.

It does though drown out the voices of the techs, and I found it hard to hear them when they were checking up on me, and when they were letting me know about the contrasting agent.

Yes, the contrasting agent, which brings me back to that IV. At first, I was just getting a saline drip, but near the end, they injected the agent into me, through the IV. They had warned me that when that happened, I would feel a cold sensation moving up my arm as the agent moved threw my blood I guess and lit up my boob. They weren't kidding. I lost the sensation as the stuff reached my shoulder though (so don't know where else it went throughout my body).

Oh, forgot to mention, they were just checking the left boob - to make sure nothing got missed on the mammogram, to get a clean picture of it for comparison purposes in the future, and to give me a bit of piece of mind.

All in all, when they came in to get me out of the machine, I thought it had gone pretty quick (who knows, maybe I fell asleep). I was in and out of there in less than 60 minutes (and that includes the five more minutes it took to finish filling out those forms I hadn't finished before the procedure), and I think that probably was the easiest procedure to date.

Oh, and one last word of advice, don't drink too much coffee before you have an MRI ... or at the very least, use the restroom first.

From our recent Italy trip, a street performer. Obviously, not really metal but he so reminded me of the bronze sculpture done by George Segal that is part of the FDR memorial, the Bread Line, I couldn't help but snap a picture or two.

I've always told my girls that bravery isn't the absence of fear, it's acting in the face of fear. Going through this though, I'm not so sure. I want to amend that definition. I think bravery is acting in the face of fear when you have a choice not to.

I guess that's why I don't think of me as brave. Really, what choice do I have? Are there women out there who don't have the cancer removed? Women who opt not to go through chemo and/or radiation? With two children and a husband, do I have that choice? Not really.

I think acting in the face of fear, when no other choice exists, is surviving. Maybe that's what I am, a survivor. According to Dictionary.com:

Survivor: a person who continues to function or prosper in spite of opposition, hardship, or setbacks.
Survive: To carry on despite hardships or trauma; persevere; To live, persist, or remain usable through.

Yes, just a survivor. That's all I want to be.

In the interest of truth in advertising, and lest you all think things have been a bed of roses here, I have to tell you something, in the past few weeks, a good old depression has set in. Like all depressions, this one moved slowly, seeping its way into the cracks and crevices until it was able to blow them wide open. I didn't even realize that it had happened, until questioning why I've been so tired and worn out lately Chris replied, "Depression will do that to you."

Damn, smack me upside the head but he was right! I kept attributing the tiredness to recovery, first from the lumpectomy and then from the port procedure but really, seven days should be more than enough time to recover from that procedure and yet I was crashed on the couch most afternoons.

Oh, and did I mention the crying jags - sometimes hitting out of nowhere, sometimes stupid commercials would trigger them, and sometimes me, watching TV shows in which someone has cancer (bad move - btw - Grey's Anatomy viewing has been temporarily suspended in our house though I can usually brace my way through an episode of House).

So, if Bravery is action in the face of fear, for me Depression becomes inaction in the face of fear - because that's pretty much what I do when depressed, sit on the couch in a ball and do nothing. So my cure for depression? Simple, action.

That's why over the past two days, I've washed, dried, folded and put away bins full of laundry, worked more hours than I probably have in the last two weeks combined, taken Sammi for Bat Mitzah lessons, swim practice and for her physical (she's not a happy camper, having gotten three shots yesterday), not to mention watching Becky's swim meet yesterday (they won, and Becky shaved two seconds off her best time in 100 free - hopefully she can keep that up).

It's not really a cure though - I think if I just stay busy, stay moving, I don't have time to think (Jill Ladota once told me, back when I started college that I think too much). So, it just keeps the depression at bay - shoving it back into the recesses of my head, back into the cracks and crevices. I know this, because last night, after answering several phone calls in the span of a ten minutes, as soon as we walked in the door, it exploded again this time though in the form of some seriously irrational anger, which quickly subsided but did have me yelling at everyone (including poor Fala who was just trying to snag some of my dinner when I wasn't looking).

Anyway, it's in the back of my mind now, and Lisa's taking me to the gym this morning before I go wig shopping, so that should keep it under control for a while (at least until we get into the chemo room this afternoon).

Okay - as Deborah suggested (and don't worry both my friend Al and I both thought of this too), we brought cameras with us wig shopping.

First thing I'll note, it's much easier going wig shopping with a friend, especially one that makes you laugh.

Second, does anyone else but me get freaked out by all those bald heads with hair perched atop?

They were everywhere, just staring at us.

Just a quick note to say we're home. I'll write up more about the chemo tomorrow - just starting to feel a bit emotionally drained. It took less than 3 hours though (the part where I actually got the meds was really pretty darn quick). Anyway, going to rest and eat nachos, more in the morning.

First off, let me start by saying I'm feeling a bit wonky right now. Sleepy and slightly queasy. I don't know if it's residual from the Atavin (aka Lorazepam) I took last night, from the chemo or whatever. So I'm not feeling my writing "spark." You're just going to have to bare (or is that bear) with me.

We headed over to Dr. F's office about 1:20 after a mad scramble to get all our books, magazines, dvd players, dvds, water and snacks together. They must have thought we were moving in when we walked into the office with a pink cooler, and large tote bag but no one said anything.

Like always, I signed in, and we sat. Only today, for the first time, we noticed a fire burning in the fireplace - I call that seat! It wasn't a real wood burning fire, but heck it was a fire and it kept me warm (I tend to get cold when I'm nervous). It's the only picture I have, taken with my cell phone, because I forgot my camera.

Wednesday night about an hour after getting home, I crashed big time. Nausea, exhaustion, you name it. I took some atavin and crashed - slept through the night.

Thursday, well, it's a blur but for two 90 minutes where we dropped Sammi at the mall while Chris and I went back to the doctor to get a shot that is supposed to boost my white blood cells. Took some meds - names are upstairs.

Then home again, more drugs that are supposed to help with the nausea but don't; they just knock me out.

Yesterday, was the worst so far, lots of nausea, lots of sleeping, lots of not getting comfortable. Lots of wishing I had a rifle. I think I did manage to shower once. I ate a handful of captain crunch, two bites of apple sauce, sipped about 3 ounces of juice and threw up for the first time last night. Felt a bit better afterwards though.

Chris called the doc and they're going try a new med next week but want to check my white blood cells first. Turns out, by the way, you're more likely to suffer from chemo nausea if you suffered from morning sickness, ooh wish someone would have shared those pearls of wisdom with me five days ago. Next cycle they're putting me on Emend; not sure why they didn't start with that.

Just made some jello - i have a craving. Crazy? Will take four hours before it gels. Sipped about four ounces of water this morning too. So far it's staying down. Pray I've turned a corner.

First breakfast in Italy. Wish I had savored it more.

Okay - so sorry I haven't posted since the big Chemo Sucks plea for sympathy. Things actually did get better, after hurling Friday night, I felt about 40% on Saturday and yesterday, I did manage to get out in the morning for a bit to a local craft fair, feeling about 60% (today, I'm about 75% and I can live with that).

I'm eating and drinking, though certain smells manage to set me off (say good-bye to fried foods), and while I'm still wonky and have very mild queasiness, everything seems to be staying down.

So I went today for my check-up with Dr. F (I see him every three weeks, in addition to my chemo, in addition to my blood tests). We talked about the nausea and he talked about the different course of treatment for next week to help with the queasies and after he listed off a bunch of possibilities, he says, "and there's always the marijuana pill," only, he's from South America (can't remember if it's Brazil or Argentina) but anyway, he pronounced it with the "J" sounding as in "John." I'm sorry, I made him repeat it and then couldn't help but laugh - I'm calling it that from now on. I don't think he appreciates my humor though when I say things like, "Well can we skip the rest and go right to that?" But he did chuckle when I told him my Mom already offered me her stash and Becky said she could pick up some for me at school (like it's something she can get in the school store).

Anyway, for those of you checking in, I'm hanging in there, trying to get as much done now while I feel up to it and dreading next Tuesday a bit (but knowing it will last less than three days now, I think I can handle it).

Thanks for checking in.

Hey all, there's some other random website scraping some of our material, so bare with me while I run some tests to see if they work.

Honestly, I don't know where that term comes from but it goes through my mind constantly these days, and actually, one of the nurses during chemo quoted it back to me last week. She didn't remember where it came from either.

I guess it goes through my mind so much because so many chemicals go through my body these days. I thought I'd share some of the stuff I'm taking, ingesting, streaming with you.

First off there's Adriamycin (aka, Doxorubicin, aka Dave). This is one of the big ones I get during Chemo. It injures cancer cells, resulting in their death. It can damage my heart. It's red (yes, folks, I pee red now, at least the first few days after chemo).

Next, the other bad boy, Cytoxan (aka Cyclophosphamide, aka Clyde). The other big Cancer drug (also used it seems for some auto-immune diseases). It too injures cancer cells, resulting in their deaths.

Next up, all the drugs I take to counteract the effects of the twins, Clyde and Dave:

Ativan (aka lorazepam) - honestly not sure if this is anti-nausea, anti-anxiety or just something that helps me sleep. I took it for the first three nights.

Compazine (aka prochloperazine) - anti-nausea - not so much.

Zofran (aka odansentron) - another anti-nausea - again, not so much. Apparently, I was getting some of this in the IV last week that was supposed to last a few days - uh, no.

Colase - stool softening (don't you just love the mental image I conjured for you): best advice, to take it the day I started chemo. I had no, shall we say, stuffy problems.

Some drug I can't remember, but it's a shot they gave me 24 hours after the chemo to help me produce white blood cells.

Now the drugs I take to counter the side effects of the drugs I'm taking to counter the side effects of the twins, Clyde and Dave (follow that?):

Claritan - don't ask me why - but that white blood cell shot I took apparently causes bone pain and the Claritan helps that (had to take it for the first five nights after the shot).

Immodium AD - well you saw that colase one, well apparently, eventually, not being stuffy, could lead to being rather ... loose ... shall we say. So you need this to get somewhat stuffy again. Luckily, I haven't needed this yet.

What's funny, is that all this is for the girl whose mother had to chase her around the house, tackle her and pin her down in order to get her to take cough medicine. I've always said, God possesses nothing, if not a sense of irony.

I've been remiss in writing about Italy (hope to start again soon), but I thought I'd post one of my favorite pictures from our last trip.

Being there two days after our election, it was cool for me seeing President Elect Obama's pic on the magazines (not to mention the posters).

Well, the Slow Travelers are back in the kitchen but now we're simmering soups! We're four weeks in, and while I made the Mexican Turkey Soup, I've missed two others so far but I'm jumping back in with Teaberry's selection. For other Slow Soupers and their take on this delicious soup, click on the links to the right, under Sunday Slow Soupers. The spices mixed into the meatballs give them, and the entire soup an interesting flavor, almost middle eastern as opposed to Italian. For me, I'm looking forward to lunch tomorrow as dinner tonight was delish!

Italian Wedding Soup

Meatballs:

2 eggs beaten
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 pound ground turkey (or ground meat of choice - I used 96% lean ground beef)
2 tablespoons olive oil
spices: 3/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon allspice, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon salt

Mix everything together, and roll into 1″ balls. Saute in the olive oil until lightly browned on the outside (I baked them at 350 instead until they were brown; next time I may try poaching them in the soup). Set aside.

Soup ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped celery
3 cloves minced garlic
3 diced strips of turkey bacon (or regular bacon - I used center cut regular)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons Marsala wine
2 quarts of chicken stock
1 cup orzo
1 tablespoon dried oregano

4 fresh leaves of basil, chopped
3 cups of arugula
1/2 cup shredded Parmigiano for garnish

Saute the onions, celery, carrots, and garlic in large soup pot for 5 - 6 minutes. Add the bacon and the balsamic vinegar, and let all the flavors mix and blend.

Add the Marsala and let this cook down a little. When it is almost evaporated, add the chicken stock, orzo, meatballs, and oregano. Simmer this for about 15 minutes, til the orzo is soft.

Add the basil and arugula and cook for about 1 more minute. Serve with a sprinkling of Parmigiano for garnish.

So I received this huge box last week from my fellow moderators (aka co-workers to you non SlowTrav people out there) and inside were hats! But more than just hats, each one had a personal card from the mod, which made them all the more special. I also received a package from Marcia and David (of Happy Trails to Us: My Reluctant Blog) with another hat and today, a third package, from Palma and Brad, of Palmabella's Passion. So I thought it was time I did a little modeling for you all.

Now, first apologies, I tried to keep the cards and hats in sync but I may have screwed it up but here we go.

From Marcia and David - jean-ware for my head - cool!

From Doru - for those light-hearted days

Mom sent me a little joke for a laugh this morning, enjoy!

Two women friends had gone for a girl's night out. Both were very faithful and loving wives, however they had gotten over-enthusiastic on the Cosmos.

Incredibly drunk and walking home they needed to pee, so they stopped in the cemetery.

One of them had nothing to wipe with so she thought she would take off her panties and use them.

Her friend however was wearing a rather expensive pair of panties and did not want to ruin them. She was lucky enough to squat down next to a grave that had a wreath with a ribbon on it, so she proceeded to wipe with that.

After the girls did their business they proceeded to go home.

The next day one of the woman's husband was concerned that his normally sweet and innocent wife was still in bed hung over, so he phoned the other husband and said, "'These girl nights have got to stop! I'm starting to suspect the worst. My wife came home with no panties!!'

"That's nothing," said the other husband, "Mine came back with a card stuck to her behind that said..... "

Chemo only took two hours today from the time they hooked me up until the time I left (2.75 by the time I got my next set of appointments set up and got home). Rain's a good chemo buddy (she brought bagels and muffins and Juno to watch). Ended up sitting next to the mom of one of Becky's friends too, so we gabbed an awful lot. I should have taken a picture of the food spread they had set up in there. Don't know if that's a daily occurence or if it was a special occassion. Hope it was the latter b/c otherwise I'd expect all those nurses to weigh a ton (but they don't).

Here's a shot of the big, bad, twins Clyde and Dave. Not so good because they're in the yellow bag (every patient gets their own little yellow goodie bag). If you can make him out, Dave is the two red syringes that get injected into my IV line. Clyde is the clear pouch they hook up to me. Clyde makes it feel like I have soda bubbles in my nose.

Adriamycin (aka, Doxorubicin) and Cytoxan (aka Cyclophosphamide)

The other drugs I got today (in addition to the normal saline), were Emend, and Aloxi, for the nausea. Though the Marriage-you-wanna (aka Marijuana) pill came highly recommended by fellow patients.

Okay - one more shot.

Me and My IV (sounds like a song)

I had taken my Bah Humbug hat off to watch a movie (love the hat hair).

Feeling a bit wonky - and though I've had almost 96oz of water so far today, dry mouth. Maybe slightly queasy (this could be mind tricks though in expectation) - but I'm keeping an eye on it. The moment it gets worse, you can bet I'll be popping those pills!

Well, I'm probably not eating today but that doesn't mean you all can't. I got this recipe years ago, I think from the New York Times, but now I pretty much wing it and thought I'd share it with you. It's a great pantry meal (i.e., I keep everything in my pantry and can make it in the time it takes to boil water), hope you like it too.

1 16oz box of spaghetti (or really whatever pasta you like)
1 28oz can Whole Italian tomatoes (or a good brand of crushed - like Muir Glen, or heck, even diced would probably work too)
1 can anchovies (or maybe 5 fillets from a jar if you can find)
1 - 2T capers (rinsed and drained)
pitted kalamata olives (I prefer fresh from the olive bar but keep a jar in the pantry just in case; I've also used green and plain bland black ones in a pinch - I use a good handful - adjust based upon how much you like olives).
1 medium onion
parsley (decent amount of fresh, or a couple of tablespoons of dried)
basil (1 -2 T dried - Chris likes a lot of herbs)
oregano (1T dried)
crushed red pepper - a dash

Dice the onion and saute with the anchovy in olive oil in a large fry/saute pan. Break down the anchovy with the back of a wooden spoon. When onions are a bit soft, toss in pretty much everything else (if using whole tomatoes, break up with back of same spoon). When it boils, bring it down to a simmer.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. When it's boiling, add some salt to the pot, and give it a minute to return to a boil before tossing the pasta in (it's quicker to do it this way than salt the water from the beginning - it takes longer for salted water to come to a boil). Once the pasta is done, toss it with sauce and serve with some parmigiano reggiano atop if you like.

From my brother in Florida:

'Twas the night before Christmas and down here in Boca,
I was sitting at Starbucks, drinking my mocha.

I know we're all Jewish, but was wondering still,
if Santa would come here and give us a thrill.

On my way home, no Christmas lights did I see,
on the houses, the windows, not even the trees.

What a strange feeling. Not a decoration in sight.
Was it really December or a warm summer's night?

I drove past the deli's, there were lines out the door.
People were waiting for kishka and more.

The restaurants were busy, Christmas dinners not planned.
Never, not here we're in Boca Land.

At home all was quiet. I left out Kosher wine,
In case Santa came to Boca for the very first time.

Snoozing came easy to me Christmas Eve.
I wasn't waiting for presents to be left under a tree.

I could hope all I want. I could fuss and then see,
if Santa would make time for little old me.

Then all of a sudden he pulled up in his Jag,
with a sack full of presents each sporting a tag.

Oh Bloomies, oh Saks, a computer and more.
He knows where to shop, he frequents my stores!

He looked for the lox, the bagels and jelly.
He came to Boca first to fill up his belly!

"I have a long night ahead, I want you to know .
From Boca I leave for New York and the snow."

He stayed for a while, he chatted and ate.
Then he left in a flash before it got late.

What a great night I thought with a sigh.
That jolly old Santa is a really nice guy.

As I cleared off the table I heard with delight
"Shalom to y'all, and OY, what a night!!

Stealing from Andasamo, who stole from Softdrink of Fizzy Thoughts,

The things I have done are in BOLD.

(the list is too long for the front page, so you'll have to click on to continue in the extended entry!)

1. Started my own blog (a gimme!)
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower (several, the last one, we woke the girls at 2:00am, wrapped them in blankets, they were small, and watched from our deck)
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world (both)
8. Climbed a mountain (have you seen hiking, biking and bears ... not really)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo

You know the thing with this cancer, on the good days, you can almost pretend it's not really happening. You know, those days, a week out of chemo, when you're not overly tired (at least no more so than anyone else during this time of the year), when you can stomach everything (even your morning coffee), and when you still look ... normal. Once you lose your hair though, that goes out the window.

No matter how much you know it's coming, it's still devestating. It's still defeating. It's still frightening.

Now the dog isn't the only one shedding.

If anyone complains about hairs in their Christmas Eve dinner, I may have to kill them.

Do you realize that? Yesterday was the first day of winter, which means today, we'll have more sunlight than yesterday. Chris laughs at me when I note things like that (it actually frustrates him when we're sitting on the beach in the summer and I tell him I smell autumn in the air, but many times I do). But now, while in this teen degree weather, I do not smell spring coming, I do take comfort knowing that today will be longer than yesterday and tomorrow longer than today.

And with that, I shaved my head yesterday. Not a number 1 but a number 6 and I didn't do it myself, my friend Alison came over and did it (the strength and support of people continues to amaze me). It's actually more comfortable because one of the things I didn't realize, when you lose your hair, it actually hurts. Every time I would touch my hair, it felt like someone was yanking at the roots. Every time I rolled over in bed, the pain woke me. Last night I slept soundly and deeply because I was just more comfortable.

It's such a hard decision for women but for me, who already had short hair, and never cared for my hair (more of a nuisance than anything), it felt right and I feel better about this decision with each passing moment. I am wearing my wig this morning though, only because I need to get used to it, and in the hopes of freaking Sammi out a little less (Becky was cool with my decision and was actually the photographer for it but it freaked Sam).

So without further ado - the buzzing of Kim.

We Started With a Number 8

Because I am a baaaad mother, I don't have any recent photos anywhere of my kids for people to see (heck, I'm so bad I can't even remember the last time I took photos of my kids). So for Kel, here are pictures of the girls from September of last year. The only difference, Sammi's about 3 inches taller now (she's 5'5"). They were modeling the dressesthey wore to my brother's wedding last year.

Charles's Kid

My Other Daughter ;D

A woman goes to her boyfriend's parents' house for Christmas dinner. This is to be her first time meeting the family and she is very nervous. They all sit down and begin eating a fine
meal.

The woman is beginning to feel a little "discomfort," thanks to her nervousness and the broccoli casserole. The gas pains are almost making her eyes water. Left with no other choice, she decides to relieve herself a bit and lets out a dainty fart. It wasn't loud, but everyone at the table heard the poof.

Before she even had a chance to be embarrassed, her boyfriend's father looked over at the dog that had been snoozing under the woman's chair, and said in a rather stern voice, "Skippy!"

The woman thought, "This is great!" and a big smile came across her face. A couple of minutes later, she was beginning to feel the pain again. This time, she didn't even hesitate. She let a much louder and longer rrrrrip.

The father again looked at the dog and yelled, "Skippy!"

Once again the woman smiled and thought 'Yes!' A few minutes later the woman had to let another rip. This time she didn't even think about it. She let a fart rip that rivaled a train whistle blowing.

Hi All, just wanted to wish you all celebrating a Merry Christmas!

I always loved watching the Christmas shows as a child, although we never celebrated (we did have a family dinner but that was because it's my aunt's and grandma's birthday and everyone had the day off from work), but no presents were exchanged (unless it happened to be Hanukkah), and no decorations present.

Still, every year I looked forward to two things, the Sears Wishbook (heck I still got Hanukkah presents), and the barrage of Christmas movies/cartoons and heck, what do you call those claymation type characters? But my favorite were the Miser Brothers from Year Without a Santa Clause, those dancing yahoos always put a smile on my face.

Got a cool present from Chris this morning - it's the Flip Mino!

Here's my very first video:

Oh, I fear for you people, now that I have this little toy, I think I may inundate you with video. You all will just have to bear with me though as I get more proficient in using the recorder. So here's some video of Christmas lights on a house near us. The only thing they're missing, is music. Unfortunately though, my little camcorder doesn't capture things as clearly as I'd like but hopefully you can make out some of the distinct decorations.

See this is what I've been talking about! Why has it taken so long for them to come up with this line of reasoning, and execution? I've been saying since this has started why must the treatment kill every fast growing cell? Why haven't we developed treatments to specifically target cancer cells? Well, at least I know now, that's where research is finally heading. Colleen, thanks for sending this along.

On Friday we took the girls into the City (more on this to come) and on the rec of a friend made a pit stop into Ricky's to try on some fun wigs. You pay $2 and that lets you try on three wigs (and gives you the hair net to go along with that). I ended up buying two (they're not expensive, like $30 - $40 each). Last night Chris and I went out to Due Mari (more on that later too) for dinner and I decided to wear Chris's favorite wig.

So what do you think? :D

There's a story I heard a while ago, about a man walking along the beach with God, and how God promised to always be there for the man, and pointed to the two sets of tracks. Yet as the man's life went on, he found when times were hard for him, when he suffered, he saw only one set of footprints and he cried out to God, asking why God had abandoned him. To which God replied, "Those were the times I carried you."

I can't remember where or how I first heard this story but it's been coming back to me a lot lately. I Googled it this morning, and found that it was actually based upon a poem written by Mary Stevenson in the 1930s - you can read about it here: Footprints in the Sand.

Here's the original poem.

Just wanted to pop on and let you know I'm back from the chemo coma. I can't even begin to describe how it sucks. I literally can feel the drugs coarsing through my brain, numbing it, making it almost feel as if it's vibrating. I know that sounds strange but it's how I feel.

So what have I been doing? Well, after crawling back into bed on Tuesday afternoon, I remember a Housewives of Orange County marathon, a Honeymooners marathon (I think that was New Years Eve) and a Bones marathon (think that was New Years Day) - it was pretty gross though so I think I finally changed the channel at some point.

I lost almost all the rest of my hair.

I ate two 1/2 pieces of toast, two ice pops and a bit of raisin bran, two glasses of welches grape juice (anti-oxidents) and that's about it.

I'm making up for it today though. There's a tuna sub with my name on it so back later.

Okay - returning to the Italy pictures again, I was going to use this for Favorite, but decided I liked the other one better - but this poster, seen in Rome, gave me hope.

You may remember this from last year's Year in Review thought I might do it again.

Here are the questions. This time, I followed directly with answers.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? Let's face it, chemotherapy.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Well, since I don't remember any resolutions, I'm going to say, "No."
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes, my best friend had an adorable baby girl.
4. Did anyone close to you die? Yes.
5. What countries did you visit? Italy and parts of the US (California and Vermont).
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? A body that doesn't betray me.
7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? October 24th. It's the day I found out I have breast cancer. September 21st is the day I rode my second Century, strong. November 4th, obviously.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Not giving up.
9. What was your biggest failure? Could say not losing weight, but I really don't think of that as a failure. I'm not harping on it.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Yes.
11. What was the best thing you bought? Hmm.... I got some really cool gifts, can't think of anything I bought for myself. Ooh, how about the silver necklace I'm wearing.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? The accomplishments of my daughters continue to amaze me.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Sarah Palin (and many others in the Grand Old Party).
14. Where did most of your money go? Luckily still, more probably to travel than medical (of course, that doesn't include the government).
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Our Presidential Elections.
16. What song will always remind you of 2008? I Kissed a Boy. We heard it on the way to our triathalon, and it will always remind me of that.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer? Sadder. Fatter. Poorer. - Wow that's pathetic.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Road my bike and hiked. I miss being active. Read for pleasure.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Eat gross foods.
20. How did you spend Christmas? With friends and family.
21. Did you fall in love in 2008? No.
22. What was your favorite TV program? Hmm.....I love my usuals, but became addicted to Real Housewives of NYC.
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? I don't like to hate people.
24. What was the best book you read? Water for Elephants.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery? You know, nothing - guess I'm just not that into music.
26. What did you want and get? Keurig Single Cup Coffee Maker; it's my new favorite toy.
27. What did you want and not get? A popcorn maker.
28. What was your favorite film of this year? Gosh, I'm not sure I even saw a movie in 2008 - at least nothing worth remembering. Wait - checked last year's and it turns out I saw Juno in 2008 which I definitely loved!
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I was 43, and I spent the day with my family in the City, going to my favorite restaurant and having a nice dinner at home that night.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Being healthy.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Same as always, jeans and either a tee or a flannel or shorts and a tee.
32. What kept you sane? Having fun whenever possible.
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Barak Obama
34. What political issue stirred you the most? The elections and the inability to campaign on the issues.
35. Who did you miss? Tim Russert.
36. Who was the best new person you met? Hmmm...can't think of who I met other than doctors and nurses...and I can't complain about a single one - they've all been terrific.
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. If you have your health, you can have anything want. If you don't, you have to make everything you have count.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. "And even when your hope is gone
Move along, move along just to make it through." All American Rejects

Now off to read what I wrote last year.

For Christmas this year, we included a new type of gift under the tree for the girls, a joint gift, a “trip.” Basically, Chris and I found a decent rate at the Embassy Suites near Battery Park ($200 a night), and decided to take the girls into the city, the day after Christmas, and packaged it as a gift under the tree.

Since it was the girls’ gift, we left it up to them, how they wanted to spend their day. At first they decided we would head up to midtown, walking along Fifth Avenue, to see the Christmas decorations, store windows, ending perhaps at Central Park for a carriage ride but as we approached the subway, they changed their minds and decided they wanted to do some shopping in Chinatown (okay wish we had known ahead, we could have just walked).

So, as it were, we hopped off the subway, after one stop, on Canal Street and proceeded to hit every chotchkey store on the south side of the street (not to mention a pit stop into Ricky’s to try on some wigs). Eventually though, as we wandered down Mott street we realized it was 1:00, and we were hungry. In the mood for Dim Sum, and not finding any restaurants in our immediate vicinity that seemed to serve it or seemed inviting, we decided to head over to an old stand-by, HSF, on the Bowery.

Now I’ve been going to HSF since I was a kid, when my parents used to take me to their midtown location, on the east side, in the 30s. That location closed year ago, so we continued at the Chinatown location, though over the years, I’ve noticed the service degrade and the food become, well commonplace, like every filling tasted the same, and not much variety in choices, but we continued to go for lack of knowledge of something better.

So you can imagine my surprise when we showed up there and found HSF gone, and another restaurant in their place, Sunshine 27, located in the same location, at 46 Bowery. At first we weren’t sure about entry, but the jam packed restaurant, complete with shoving crowds to get in, convinced us otherwise.

Now I’d swear some of the staff looked familiar, and the décor hasn’t changed that much, but we were delighted to find, after waiting 15 minutes for a table, that the variety of choices has returned and the food tasted, well, pretty darn good. We ate to our fill and then some, really enjoying the clams in black bean sauce, several different tofu preparations, a bunch of different dumplings, some steamed green vegetables, spring rolls, egg rolls, and my favorite, baked pork buns, actually turning many more, unfamiliar dishes away (including some sticky rice which I still haven’t decided upon liking or not).

The service was spotty, in that it took several requests to get water, and our teapot was only refilled after we finally received our bill, which came to $44 for the four of us and included a beer. Though, I wouldn’t mind some alternative locations to try too, I’d return again, my faith a bit more restored in this Chinatown location for dim sum.

A few things have happened that I haven't written about so I thought I'd give you all an update.

First, somewhere just after the second chemo treatment I received the results of the MRI they did on my left breast (remember, the lump was in the right). Dr. F called and because I was in my chemo coma, he gave the results to Chris who gave them to me. They found an "anomaly." Though Dr. F told Chris who told me not to worry, of course, that sent me into a major funk - let's face it, the thought that I could get through all of this only to find out my other breast could be "infected" left me feeling rather hopeless. Chris kept telling me both my oncologist (Dr. F) and my surgeon (Dr. M) weren't worried but it didn't help, much. Chris kept telling me that even if it were cancerous, the chemo would kill it but it didn't matter. Chris kept telling me I was going to be fine, but short of God coming down and telling me, I couldn't imagine believing that. All I could think about was having to have another biopsy when this is done. Another lumpectomy? Questioning, should I have insisted on the double mastectomy? Doubt.

After I came out of the second chemo coma, another thing happened. I became overcome with fear and despair. Crying jags ensued, suddenly and often with out immediate reason. Now I've dealt with depression, and I know how it feels for me, and this felt like something completely abnormal. Like some other being was possessing me and controlling my emotions - I didn't recognize myself. Pure unadulterated fear of dying kept rearing its head at the most random moments.
Last week, before my third round of chemo, I met with Dr. F for my monthly check-up. He noted some swelling in my legs, which I think is gone now (they look pretty good to me as I type), my numbers were good, and he examined my breasts, which felt fine (still a little fluid in the right one from the surgery but he said that should get reabsorbed). Then it was time for my questions.

First off I asked about the MRI results. And in his accent, which I love by the way, he said, "That's nothing. I talked to Dr. M and she too said, 'that's bullshit.'" I love how he speaks, and when he says bullshit it makes me smile. Basically, they both think it really is nothing, a blip, but it's good that we know it's there because we can keep an eye on it. He said it would have been worse if we didn't know it was there and then saw it again after the treatment. And it's tiny (after all it didn't show on the mammo). I breathed easier - okay, maybe I didn't need God coming down telling me not to worry, having two good doctors emphatically telling me would suffice.

Then I asked about the depression - was it normal to feel this way? Could it be the drugs? The anti-nausea meds? He said it's everything. The illness, the chemicals, the anti-nausea meds could all be contributing to it. He gave me the name of a counselor but also supported my decision to cut back on the Atavin during my chemo coma. While it helps fight the nausea it's also an anti-anxiety and I just didn't like how it was making me feel.

We covered some other things but, basically, after talking to him, I felt better.

Then of course, I had chemo, and the world quickly became days of sleep, fog, dizziness, and nausea again. I took the compazine, I had the Emend, but I didn't take the Atavin.

After 3.5 solid days in bed, I came out of the coma Friday morning, and managed to sit on the couch all day, watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy in our bi-annual "Slugfest."

Saturday, I felt better, but still, tired and on the couch.

Sunday, I actually went to the gym with Lisa. Walked on the treadmill, barely going 2 mph but I was there. Rest of the day? Back to the couch.

And then yesterday came. And the strangest thing happened. I woke and felt ... hopeful. Really, hopeful. I could finally see the light at the end of the chemo tunnel (it's March 9 by the way). I'm not halfway through but for some reason, I just got the strongest sense that once I pass this glitch, everything will be fine. The little bugaboos in my brain like to whisper, "You'll feel foolish if it turns out you're not fine." But I finally feel strong enough to tell them to shove it.

I went for my blood test yesterday and my white blood cells are below normal (which is normal - gotta love the double speak) but the other numbers indicating production show they should be back up soon. My platelets are down too (they help clot my blood) but not at a dangerous level.

So where am I this morning? Still feeling hopeful but also a bit more accepting of the fact that this stuff is weakening my body and that while I need to live my life, I also need to give my body a break, give it the rest it needs to stay strong. Me and the couch have become good friends. But I'm hopeful it won't last and that a year from now, it won't miss me too much.

Stolen from Palma, of Palmabella's Passion who stole it from Marta, of Postcards from the Trail. I'm in.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
Not my English name but my Hebrew name is - I just don't remember who.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
Gosh, I'm on a good streak, I think it's been a couple of days.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
I do but no one else does - it's indiscernible.

4. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
Yes.

5. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
Yep.

6. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
A good amount but only in jest (well, unless Chris and I are having a disagreement).

7. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS
Nope but I have no recollection of having them taken out.

8. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
Not in this lifetime (stealing Palma's answer).

9. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Quisp which you can't find, then Captain Crunch.

10. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
If I can't slide them off.

11. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
No.

12. FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Gosh - just one?

13.WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Whether or not they look me in the eye when they speak to me.

14. RED OR PINK?
Red

15. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
My weight - but that's temporary.

16. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
My friend Joanna who I lost touch with years ago.

17. WHAT COLOR SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
I'm barefoot.

18. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
Meatballs - Chris's aunt made them for me.

19 WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
Sienfeld (The bizarro world episode)

20.IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
aquamarine.

21.FAVORITE SMELLS?
Warm apple pie, fresh roses, the ocean, fresh cut grass.

22. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
Becky.

23. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
On TV Football; in person, baseball.

24. HAIR COLOR?
What hair?

25. EYE COLOR?
Hazel.

26. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
No

27.FAVORITE FOOD?
Warm chocolate chip cookies and ice cold milk.

28. SCARY MOVIES OR SAPPY ENDINGS?
Sappy endings.

29. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Lord of the Rings, Return of the King.

30. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
It's 8:00pm - silver, satin pjs.

31. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Summer (but can I be spring?)

32. HUGS OR KISSES?
Hugs.

33. FAVORITE DESSERT?
Anything with apple.

34.WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
Reading? Gosh, Okay let me look, I'm supposed to be reading 19 Minutes but I just started Queen of the Road instead.

35. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
I'm not using a mouse right now.

36. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
UFO Hunters and something on King David.

37.FAVORITE SOUND?
The ocean. The crickets at night when we're out on our deck. The birds tweeting on a spring morning (unless it's at 5:00am).

38. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
Hmmm....Beatles I guess.

39. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME???
Israel or Hawaii - not sure which is actually further.

40.DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
Notta one, though I have been known to debug computer programs in my sleep.

41.WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
NY

Chiocciola did this on her blog, Home is Where My Bed is and we all know what a thief I am so I couldn't help but steal and of course, it only confirms what I already know, I'm a Cool Nerd Queen!

Not completely done with me yet, but so far, the aftermath of Chemo. The other aftermath, a good, long life (feel free to come back and read about that one as time goes on).

I've mentioned this before but my grandma Ann (my Dad's mom) had breast cancer and in 1959 they gave her 6 months to live. In the 70s (yes long after the 6 months), she lost a kidney to cancer. And years later another tumor formed where the kidney was, and if I remember the time line correctly, it metastasized, eventually spreading to her brain. She died May 11, 1982.

She loved the song I Will Survive, sung by Gloria Gaynor, released in 1978. I think in part because she was such a survivor and perhaps, in part, because of the tumultuous relationship I've gathered she had with my grandpa.

After she passed, whenever we were at a family event, a b'nai mitzvah or marriage, and a band or DJ would play that song, to me, it was like she was there, a message from her.

Yesterday, as I was enduring my chemo coma, Becky came to my room to sit on the floor and spend some time with me. Becky has a friend, JT, and JT's mom has/had breast cancer. I sat next to her during one of our mutual chemo treatments. She's very nice. There's a Karaoke night at the high school but it's only open to students and staff, no parents. JT's mom told JT to tell Becky to tell me (follow that), that it's too bad it's not open to parents because we could do I Will Survive and whip our wigs off at the end.

That made me smile, then it made me cry, happy tears, because I do believe grandma sent me a message yesterday, through JTs mom, that I will survive.

Call me crazy.

But I do believe.

Gloria Gaynor Lyrics
I Will Survive Lyrics

Just a quick note to say I'm finally starting to feel a bit more "normal" as much as that word can be used here. I took the Atavin during this past round which made it easier for me to tolerate fluids but I'm feeling a bit weepier right now, not sure if it's related but I'm telling myself it is, which makes it bearable.

More later but after more coffee and hopefully a bagel with chive cheese and maybe some tomato!

Okay - all of my regular readers, feel free to skip this entry. I've been playing with subscribing to RSS feeds in Outlook and I'm just running a test now. Don't worry though, if this works, I'll write a detailed post explaining stuff in case you're interested.

So, let's start with RSS Feeds. Well, shoot, let's backtrack to last year when Becky wanted me to get Microsoft Publisher for some school projects and I decided it was probably time to update my Microsoft Office from 2003 to 2007. Of course, after I bought it, it was still months and months before I finally upgraded but that's another story. Anyway, sometime in the late summer, early fall, I finally did and installed Microsoft Outlook 2007.

I use Outlook to keep track of our calendars, my to dos for work, e-mails I need to follow up on, basically, a multitude of things.

Recently, I've started to follow more and more blogs, but basically, when I remember, I check them, which means, I lose track, or I have multitudes of entries to go through at one time, so I get overwhelmed and stop, or I end up re-reading things I've already read.

So yesterday, I happened to page down in my navigation pane past the outbox in Outlook and saw something called RSS feeds.

And I thought, "Hmm, is there a way I can follow the blogs through my Outlook with downloads?"

Now, I know there are on-line services that do this but like I said, I live out of my Outlook and I liked the idea of having updates downloaded to me when they occur, so I started reading.

A good friend called this morning to touch base, talk about the inauguration, and ask if I put the recipe for the lamb stew I made two weeks ago on my "website." To which of course, I replied, "Doh, totally forgot." So I'm glad she called, among other reasons, because it reminded me I had to do this and gave me a topic for today.

This dish originally came from Barb of Follow my Bliss after she posted it on the Slow Travel Talk Food Forum (which by the way is still open to the public through January 2009).

We found it hearty and delicious, the perfect meal to have on a cold winter night. It freezes well too, so we'll be able to have it again soon.

All the kids with Chip of Chip and Dale fame
Okay - I messed up. I though the theme was chip, not chipped but heck, I'm still going with this.

Shot taken many years ago on a family trip to Disney World. With their backs facing us, all the kids (from left to right, Sammi, Becky, Kevin and Jake), getting Chip's autograph. Oh that's my brother Andy next to Jake and my Dad, looking on in the background.

So part of this cancer trip, as you all may know, includes a lot of couch time. At first I thought great, it will give me time to catch up on all my reading (you know, silver lining and all), but that hasn't been the case. Many of the days my mind is just too fuzzy or my eyes a bit, well not blurry, but just not wanting to focus for too long, so what's a girl to do? Yes, as you've already guessed, watch television.

So let me tell you, there's a derth, of quality television out there but definitely some riveting stuff. Over the past few weeks, I've found a bit of both and I thought I'd share some of my recent discoveries with you.

Another one from Dad - enjoy:

An elderly man really took care of his body. He lifted weights and jogged six miles every day. One morning he looked into the mirror, admiring his body, and noticed that he was suntanned all over with the exception of his penis. So he decided to do something about that.

He went to the beach, undressed completely, and buried himself in the sand, except for his penis, which he left sticking out of the sand.

A bit later, two little old ladies came strolling along the beach, one using a cane to help her get along. Upon seeing the thing sticking out of the sand, the lady with the cane began to move the penis around with her cane.

Remarking to the other little old lady, she said, "There really is no justice in the world."

The other little old lady asked, "What do you mean by that?"

The first little old lady replied, "Look at that. When I was 20, I was curious about it. When I was 30, I enjoyed it. When I was 40, I asked for it. When I was 50, I paid for it. When I was 60, I prayed for it. When I was 70, I forgot about it.

"Now that I'm 80, the damned things are growing wild, and I'm too old to squat."

I've been the recipient of many wonderful gifts in addition to the well wishes of so many people. But lately, things have been showing up and either they don't have a card, or my husband, in his enthusiasm is opening these gifts and not noting cards and tossing away the packing stuff.

This morning, this arrived in the mail ... way too funny (oh, and make sure the volume is up so you can hear the noise it makes)!

Thank you to my mysterious benefactor - this has been good for some great laughs.

This week I underwent round five of Chemo. We got to say good-bye to Clyde and Dave and started up with Taxol. Now, I'd heard that Taxol doesn't cause the same range of side-effects that Clyde and Dave do but I wasn't sure what that means. Now I know, so I thought I'd give a quick update with you all.

Basically, they took me off the Emend because the nauseousness wasn't supposed to be as bad and it wasn't. I took Atavin and Compazine on Monday night and Tuesday night and that was it and I've been eating and drinking the entire time.

They did put me on mega-doses of steroids (don't ask me which one, the bottle is downstairs). I took a dose Sunday night, again Monday morning and more in the IV Monday afternoon, during my chemo and let's just say I was quite peppy on Tuesday, into Wednesday morning but was still able to sleep.

Yesterday mid-morning I crashed, and slept most of the day, when the other side-effect manifested itself - body aches. Yep, my doctor said it would be like the flu, and he wasn't kidding. Yet, I was still able to sleep and Tylenol pretty much keeps the pain at bay.

I still have fuzzy brain but no where near the coma I had been in during the other four treatments (yes, I can actually speak in full sentences). Still have it now, but I'm going to force myself into the shower and take mom out to dinner for her birthday!

Oh, and I finally asked, sort of, the prognosis question. Basically, I asked Doc F. on Monday if I could start planning my life again, my spring and summer trips, you know. He looked at me like I had two heads and basically said, "Yes, that's why we're doing this. We're planning on you being cured this spring." Phrew.

Feel like I can finally breathe again. And that light at the end of the tunnel is getting bigger.

Off to look at Paris apartments!!!!!

Squirrel in Union Square NYC

Normally, I don't publish two photos but I want you all to understand that the above picture of the squirrel, taken by Becky, was taken without a telephoto lens. This little guy was in a grassy area of the park (during the Green Market), and was trying to find a place to bury that nut. He had no fear and came pretty close to people as you can tell by the photo below.

Chris and the Squirrel

This weekend is Slow Bowl. Yes, I wrote Slow Bowl, not super bowl. Now most of you reading this have no idea what Slow Bowl is but I'm going to tell you. Slow Bowl, is an event started three years ago, coordinated and orchestrated by my friend Shannon, at which many of my SlowTrav friends gather, in Paso Robles CA, for a weekend of good food, good wine, oh and maybe some super bowl watching. We missed the first Slow Bowl but went to the second last year and had been looking forward to this year's with the giddiness of kids looking forward to summer break.

You all know what happened though.

We had to cancel because of my diagnosis. The doctor just didn't think it would be smart traveling across the country, during chemo week, exposed to the recycled air in those germ factories we call airplanes.

This week though I received one of many incredible gifts (I will write about the others later - hey I need a post for each day in February). This one though from our Slow Bowl friends ... an entire case of wine, from the wineries they will be visiting and tasting at over the course of this weekend. To be thought of by them at this point in my life, in really such an appropriate way, touched both Chris and I.

So to all the Slow Bowlers, thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and caring. I've said it many times and will continue to say it, the support, love and prayers of all of you has awed and inspired me and helped make this difficult time extremely bearable.

Nevertheless though, while video conferencing yesterday morning, via Skype, with the party house (where we were lucky enough to stay last year), while fun, also saddened me. Great seeing and talking to everyone, but I have to admit, the pity me party began. So I dug into the big brown couch, and prepared for a day of mindless television watching, and waiting for my Big Love CD to arrive in the mail.

Got the e-mail below from my father.

As men age, we start seeing more and more of the medical world and its employees; which nowadays seems to have more and more female physicians and therapists etc., and in this case a new urologist for me.

Our family doctor just recently referred me to a just out of medical school female urologist.

I saw her yesterday, and she's absolutely drop-dead gorgeous as well as unbelievably sexy.

She told me that I must stop masturbating.

I asked her, "Why?"

Stolen from Krista who got it from Annie.

The One Book That Changed Your Life

I had to think about this one but within a moment it popped into my head: Green Eggs and Ham. Seriously, it's from Sam that I learned that you should try everything, you may like it. Holly Cow! Do you think I subconsciously named my second daughter after him?

One book that you've read more than once:

Actually, there have been more than one but Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, the tale of civilizations end and rebirth haunts me for some reason.








One book you'd want on a desert island:

Hmmm....will come back to this one.

Got it! The Lord of the Rings: 50th Anniversary, One Vol. Edition

One book that made you laugh and One book that made you cry:

I'm not done reading it but Queen of the Road is definitely making me laugh and lots of books make me cry, but I'll go with Exodus. (Though I have to agree with Krista, Prayer for Owen Meany is one of my favorite books of all time).








One book that you wish had been written

Okay - does this mean like someone else wrote it but I wish I had, or a book idea that's been bouncing around in my head and I wish I'd just sit down and write it?

One book that you wish had never been written:

Well, I don't care that it was written but I wish I never had to read Billy Budd.

One book you're currently reading:

I'm half-way through Suite Francaise (and am enjoying it) in addition to the aforementioned Queen of the Road.

One book you've been meaning to read:

Only one? World Without End (I loved The Pillars of the Earth).

So, I'm venturing out into the blogging world (i.e., reading other blogs from around the world) and my most recent addition (well, I followed for a bit last year), is Bleeding Espresso. Michelle of Bleeding Espresso is a huge proponent of something started two years ago called World Nutella Day.

Michelle along with Sara at Ms Adventures in Italy, are some serious Nutella fans, from birth I think. Now me, well, I wasn't introduced to Nutella until sometime while I was living in St. Louis, maybe some 14 - 18 years ago, as a mighty delicious alternative to peanut butter. Unfortunately, it's a love I abandoned some five years ago when I started to lose the weight. I tried to console myself with the knowledge that the Nutella we get in the states isn't of the quality (i.e., ingredients) that my European brethren enjoy. Yeah, right.

Of course though, with that one consoling thought in my mind, I used it as justification to enjoy as much Nutella as I could handle when visiting France or Italy.

Now, let me let you in on a little secret, there's one slight perk (and I mean slight) when you get diagnosed with breast cancer ... thoughts of watching your weight go quickly (and appropriately) out the window.

So on our last trip to Italy in November, just before the chemo started, I wandered into a store in Pienza where I purchased a jar of Nocciolata by Slitti (Nocciolata = chocolate hazelnut) and for all you alcoholic SAT enthusiasts out there Nutella (in the US) is to Nocciolata like Pabst Blue Ribbon is to Long Trail Double Bag (actually the two shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence).

Nocciolata by Slitti

Now part of World Nutella Day (besides writing about it), involves demonstrating how you use it. And in all my grandiose plans, I thought of making some new and fabulous cookies, drink, fondue but when it came down to it, I just couldn't do it. I couldn't give up what remains of my Nocciolata to a dish, which I'd have to share with others. This stuff is mine, all mine.

Mmmm.....on a spoon

So in the end, today (in addition to the spoon), I just enjoyed it the way I have been, spread on a piece of toasted cinnamon raisin bread.

Nutella on Toast - Breakfast of Champions

Stolen from Casa Az

You Are Copper

You are provocative and challenging. You help people realize who they really are. You live a very balanced life. You always take time for love and art. You are both a powerful and generous person. You always have time to give back. People find you to be incredibly ethical and loyal.

You know, usually I scratch my head at these things, but I'd say this one fits well. Though copper? Shoot, shouldn't those qualities at least be silver or gold? ;D

Me on Emily's Covered Bridge in Stowe

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Seriously, I think we may need a definition of what marriage is because right now, if I could marry my Keurig, I would.

Don't know what a Keurig is? Well, only the best invention ever. It's a single brew coffee machine. Which means, now I can have a hot, fresh cup of coffee whenever I want, without driving through Dunkin Donuts, visiting Starbucks, or brewing a fresh pot at home.

My New Love

It's quite simple, you pop open the top, drop in a pod (aka K-cup) which can be any number of dozens of different flavors (Paul Newman has some, Green Mountain Coffee has them, and even Gloria Jeans), fill the carafe with one cup of water (well, to the fill line, I'm assuming it's eight ounces), put a cup on the platform, and press the button. Three minutes later you have a hot, delicious cup of coffee (oh, and there are also tea K-Cups and Hot Chocolate, though we're not big fans of the hot chocolate).

I order my K-cups from Green Mountain Coffee (because I want the flavors I want - but Bed, Bath and Beyond also sells them) and it works out to be about 50 cents a cup. Yes, I know, not cheap, but 50% cheaper than a cup of coffee at Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks (based on a 16 oz serving), but not as cheap as brewing an entire pot (especially when using my can of Chock Full O Nuts from Shop Rite that I bought on special). But let's face it, sometimes, you just don't want an entire pot, or even half a pot, sometimes you just want one cup of perfectly brewed coffee and that's what I get each morning before the rest of the house wakes (and demands their pot o' joe) or in the afternoon, when I need a pick-me-up.

I got a lot of comments on last week's Photo Theme, Bridges
, as I posted a picture of Emily's Bridge just outside Stowe Vermont. Most wondered as to the origins and locations of covered bridges so I thought I'd fill in some details.

First off, some facts gotten from Wikepedia:

• Covered bridges originated in central Europe (who knew) and can be found in countries like Switzerland, Bulgaria, and even Italy (hey - the Rialto is a covered bridge after all).
• Pennsylvania is the state with the most covered bridges in the United States, 200+ but "Vermont has more per square than any other place in the world."
• Now, like you Chris and I argued over the purpose of covered bridges. I would blithely comment that maybe they were made to keep snow and things off the bridge and I wasn't too far off. Apparently, wood bridges decay pretty quickly but if the floor of the bridge is covered by other material, can last up to eight times longer.
• The other reason for the covered bridges - animals. Seriously, apparently, they made these bridges to look like barns (enclosed on the side) so when they would move animals (e.g., sheep, cows) across, they wouldn't get spooked.

Emily's Covered Bridge in Stowe

Me on Emily's Covered Bridge in Stowe

Also known as Gold Brook Bridge, resides just outside of Stowe on the appropriately named Covered Bridge Road (from 100 make a right on to School Street, at the corner of the store Col'd Lizard, then bear right onto Stowe Hollow Road and again on to Covered Bridge Road). I heard it gets it's nickname from a jilted lover (aka Emily) who killed herself on the bridge (hanging) and now, apparently haunts it (i.e., don't drive over the bridge at night). If you want to read more about Emily's Bridge check out X-Project, Paranormal Magazine.

Biking Covered Bridges in Vermont

If anyone does happen to be in Stowe and wants to bike covered bridges, I'm including Chris's Covered Bridges from Hell (and it really is - serious mountain climbing). Oh, and Chris warns that some of the roads turned out to be dirt, and he didn't end up with the complete ride, but you can see where there are covered bridges - maybe you'll want to drive it instead.

Stolen from Amy.

You Are Brazil

You are carefree and fun loving. You like to party all night. You are warm and physically affectionate. No one is friendlier than you. You are lively and a great conversationalist. You can talk for hours. You are creative and willing to take risks. You are a true free spirit.

I'm not sure I agree with this one. I don't like partying through the night, I'm not really carefree and other than the chemo induced Brazilian wax I have right now, can't think of much else that I have in common with Brazil.