Decking the halls

Now that Thanksgiving is officially over, we wasted no time in dragging out the Christmas swag.
No presents to put under the tree yet, but based on the Canadian's online shopping spree last night, that'll soon be changing.

Thankful for tissue

I am battling my 5th day of a progressively worsening head cold. What started off as a horrible sore throat, to the point I thought I had strep again, has turned into full blown scurvy. I've got a head full of snot, blown my way through three boxes of kleenex, and have been on a steady diet of dayquil and nyquil. Thank you to co-workers who come into work sick, share their cooties, and then leave me stuck in a situation where I'm already covering for two other people who are out and can't call in sick. Awesome.

As it just so happened, we weren't having anybody over for turkey day today, so I was free to continue to wallow in my misery while Chris baked up some Thanksgiving ham. For sides we made green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, and gluten-free cornbread.
Dessert was pumpkin fluff which a new Weight Watchers recipe I learned. It's a 15 oz can of pumpkin mixed with a small box of sugar-free butterscotch pudding mix and a small box of sugar-free cheesecake pudding mix (or vanilla), 1 3/4 cup of mix, and pumpkin pie spice. You blend it all together and let it sit overnight and it turns out to be the most wonderful, low-fat pumpkin pie filling ever. We eat it scooped in a bowl with some crumbled gluten-free gingersnaps on top and whipped cream.

Now to let all that yummy food digest through three back-to-back football games. What more could you ask for?

Epic baking success!

Today I tried a bread recipe out of a new gluten-free cookbook. They're called "bread slabs" because they're denser, like focaccia bread. I used my gluten free all-purpose flour mix, water, yeast, egg whites, salt and sugar in the base mix and then added chopped kalamata olives and rosemary seasoning. Once everything is stirred together you plop the dough onto floured parchment paper, shape it into a rectangle and let it rest for 30 minutes.
I'd used the oven for a pizza at lunch so I let it hang out for a little bit in there before the oven completely cooled off. After 30 minutes it was beautifully risen so I cut it into four rectangles, like the recipe called for, and brushed the tops with olive oil and salt before putting them in a preheated oven at 450 for 13 minutes.
Oh my goodness they were so good! The olives and sprinkling of salt on top give them the perfect saltiness and the garlic olive oil I used in the dough gives them such a delicious aroma.
I was trying to save a piece for our stew dinner, but I couldn't stop myself from already eating a piece as soon as it came out of the oven. This will definitely be a go-to bread recipe!

Rocking out!

Kari and I are spending our evening at Arco Arena in Sacramento for Winter Jam, a Christian concert. Rock on!

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Pirate ship

On our walk last night we discovered a house on a neighboring street had gone all out and built a pirate ship in their front yard for Halloween. That's dedication!

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Case in point

This is why we are not farmers;
Our blood orange on the left, a store orange on the right. I don't think anybody will confuse the two.

I get today off for Veteran's Day (as well as half of yesterday) so I indulged in a little early morning grocery shopping as well as a skinny peppermint mocha from Starbucks while I enjoyed a special insert in the paper full of pictures and messages to past and present local Vets. Very touching.

Chilly day chili

Brrrrr.....this weekend has been cold! By the end of the week we had temps in the low 50s and rain which has continued on throughout the weekend. And while today should be the last day of rain, this coming week still looks cold with highs in the low 60s which translates into 50s for P-town. And what better meal to enjoy on a cold, wet weekend than chili?
The Canadian makes a really tasty chili which is as simple as hamburger, chili beans, kidney beans, corn, and chili seasoning. Unfortunately, since beans are darn near impossible for me to digest because of the gastroparesis, we hardly ever have it. But I drugged myself up on tummy pills and enjoyed a steaming bowlful last night with a side of gluten-free cornbread (an awesome Bob's Red Mill cornbread mix). It was so stinkin' good and I only woke up with a mild stomach ache which was well worth it. I think with a little tweaking, like swapping out the hamburger for soy crumbles, this would make a perfect bible study dinner.

I've enjoyed my weekend which involved doing nothing more than sitting on the couch under a blanket watching tv and surfing the internet. Work has been so incredibly stressful the last couple of weeks that I look forward to absolutely lazy weekends. I'm still spending my work days covering the building dept permit counter until they can hire somebody, which according to the last up date will be about a 4 month process. At least they're advertising the job right now and applications are being accepted through this coming Wednesday. Then we can start moving on to the horrendous task of interviews and background checks. Ugh, I hate that part. Just hurry up and send me somebody awesome that I can start training! (Wilson, you want to come back home and work with me......please??)