Author: boomingbanter

Our walk was not as lengthy as we’d planned. We didn’t do the big lake. Instead we went to a little local one and cut down a beautiful blue spruce Christmas Tree.

It’s a little early but since there is a big friendsgiving happening at Laura’s today for her daughters school mates we decided we’d go for it.

The lack of steps didn’t stop us eating though. We had such a good catch up last night and a dinner that was delicious. We washed it down with way too much bubbly and fine wine by the fire.

Sleep was sound in a big comfy bed until I heard a noise that sounded like someone knocking on the window. It went on for a while and then one of the three dogs started barking.

Convinced we had a prowler I got up. It was five forty five but there was nothing or no one to be seen but dogs and cats.

So back to bed for another snooze this time with dogs in tow only to hear the same noise again twenty minutes later. This time though the culprit was in the room! It was Miss Missy scratching and hitting her paw on the wood floor!

She did good though waking us early so we could get that turkey in the oven and all those trimmings toasting. Now all we need to do is stuff ourselves as well as that bird!

Blessing # 518 – Prowling Pets

This morning I’m leaving the boys and heading two hours north to spend a girly weekend with my bestie Laura and her daughter.

Scooby and I got our big walk in first thing this morning as soon as Aaron left for work. Those steps are going to be needed for what lies ahead.

When we worked together in France Laura and I saw each other almost everyday as the kids played together most weekends.

Now we see each other only every few months but we’re still like sisters. We have a lot in common including a love of wine.

When Laura was moving from Florida to Ohio we went house hunting together. I was with her the day she chose her home. It’s a cute 1920 cottage that she has worked so hard to transform into a  little palace out of a fairytale.

As it’s a gorgeous day we’re going to go for a good walk at Lake Erie before huddling in light a big wood fire and catch up with a fine bottle!

Tomorrow an early thanksgiving celebration is planned so better get those steps in while we can!

Blessing # 517 – Early Starts

It’s warmed up today and feels almost balmy as we’ve just nudged past freezing. Scooby super sniffer was in heaven. The thaw must vaporize all those calling cards that were left by other puppies in the snow.

It’s two months now since we adopted Scooby and he’s changed so much. He lifts his leg now at the mail boxes and holds his tail high. He is a popular pet in the neighborhood. The kids coming off the school buses rush to say hi to him and he reciprocates. He loves other dogs and is playful with all of them. Our neighbors have just got two nine week old cockapoos and he is adorable with them. Very big brotherish and gentle letting them climb all over him.

All of us enjoy his energy. He plays by himself if no one will play with him tossing balls and running after them.

He still like to mouth a bit with his family but it’s understandable as he probably never had a chance to do that as a puppy.

He gets me walking too and as we can see from all the apps around this is no bad thing for the waistline.

One celebrity that I love and follow is Ruth Langsford. She is a big fan of walking and counting steps with her doggie too.

There are some celebrities that are divas and there are some who are just like girlfriends. They try all sorts of diets and they admit their weakness and flaws. They make you feel like you are normal and you gotta love them for being just themselves.

Blessing # 516 – Real Inspiration 

We got a slow cooker only a few years ago. Now we don’t know how we lived without one. Scooby is sold too!

How easy it is to throw a dinner together. Peel a few spuds, carrots and onions and stick them on top of a piece of meat. Might take ten minutes at most. Flick a switch and go away for the day!

There are certainly more adventurous things to do in that crock pot too. Ideal for all tastes especially vegan to build up flavor.

It’s the joy of knowing nothing is going to burn or stick to the bottom and best of all that only one pot will need washing that makes it all a dream.

For the old diet it’s great news too because that slow simmer means a lot of force in comes forward without a drop of fat added.

Tasty and tender and a timesaver too what more could you ask for a Thursday evening.

Blessing # 515 – Slowly Does It

 

The Christmas markets are opening all over the world. Even the Royals are taking them in. They are filled with all sorts of tempting treats and festive foods.

Back in the early sixties my Mom started preparing for Christmas months in advance.

She shopped a lot at the local Co-Op grocery store. It was a hybrid between an old fashioned store where you bought flour and sugar by the pound and a supermarket. What I remember most is getting stamps there. We’d put these in a little book and then Mom would redeem them for some much desired item. Once she got a roasting tin that she kept for the rest of her life.

At The Co as we called it you could put money aside in the Christmas Club. You handed it over to someone behind a desk with bars a bit like a bank. Don’t ask me why this was better than just saving it in your own purse. Maybe it took those few shillings out of the way of temptation to spend on something else. Anyway my Mom was a faithful follower of the Christmas Club that started almost as soon as the clock stuck twelve in New Years Day

She would also buy a few things each week to put away for Christmas. This included dry fruit and sugar that eventually found its way into a Christmas cake.

The very British speciality known as Mince Meat was bought to make Mince pies and a Christmas pudding or two as well

A very typical gift for family and friends at the time was a box of biscuits (cookies for you guys in USA). This selection was extensive and filled with a huge variety of diet busting business.

The big box was a great treat and soon disappeared at least in our house. The chocolate ones always disappeared first then the jammy doggers and finally there would be the plain shortbreads left that were so run of the mill they were not seen as special at all.

All this stocking up was almost as fun as the big day itself. These days if you’re anything like me you just run out at the last minute and haul it all in. Maybe an old fashioned run up to the big day is something to think about. Might help get in a few more steps too.

Blessing #514 – Counting Down

The fluffball from Texas had his first taste of snow and loved it. What a bit of racing around he did both outside and when he came back in last night.

Those little frozen paws must have needed warming up because he apparently went stir crazy and Krishna couldn’t get him to calm down last night when it started. Aaron brought him in from his last walk around 10:00 and I was already out for the count so missed the drama.

This morning was what you might dream of for Christmas. There was a full moon and a perfect blanket of crispy snow. It didn’t stay perfect for long when the young man got at it. He had such fun and so did I even though it was well before dawn.

School has called at five thirty to let us know there would be a two hour delay because of the weather so of course no chance for me to go back to sleep. Scooby and I did the only sensible thing you could and got into the white stuff.

I absolutely LOVE snow. It makes me feel so bright and happy. Even if it’s frigid like it was today the light is amazing and makes everything so beautiful.

It also makes diets and dinner easy because everyone wants soup. Except of course a fellow who just wants to eat his full of this very special H2O!

Blessing # 513 – Texas Snowman!

With snow in the forecast when Aaron got back from school today we went for our flu shots to CVS our local pharmacy. Dad had his already when he went for his check up at the docs.

The shots are covered by insurance but CVS gives everyone who gets one a five dollar token for future purchases over $25. They also gave us a 20% discount coupon. Good incentives but not of course the reason for our trip.

Krishna has had really bad flu in the past and Aaron too but I’ve  never had flu in my life. Doesn’t hurt to take precautions though.

This is yet another reminder that the winter and all the festivities are coming fast and furious. Everyone’s weight move downwards this week including the fluffball. Maybe we’ll still manage to fatten him up like the proverbial goose before Christmas.

Aaron loves to talk about food so we got to planning thanksgiving on our drive. Aaron doesn’t care for Turkey on the bone. In fact he’s a strange Chinese because he doesn’t like bones at all. He loves crispy skin though so we agreed we’d still get a small Turkey and a big ham.

All the other fixings are everywhere in the stores. Stuffings of all sorts and enough pumpkin to sink an oil tanker. One of the most delicious dishes that goes along with thanksgiving is sweet potato casserole. My friend Laura makes a fabulous one. It is a mix of sweet potato, sugar, spices, butter and cream and it’s all topped with pecans and marshmallows. Sounds like a dessert doesn’t it? It’s not though it’s a side beside your Brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes and it’s amazing.

Those pilgrims and their kind native America neighbors have something to answer for but since I’m only seven pounds away from my goal I’m going to make us some  fabulous fixings!

Blessing #512 – Vaccines and Vittles

Today at Church was the first day for people to sign up to bake for our  annual Cookie Walk.

My friend Kathy was at the desk today and usually I’m straight in there signing up to make ten dozen. This year I’m reflecting. Is it better to support the efforts by buying more rather than baking?

Kathy, like many of our Lily Circle who organise the event, are expert bakers. They turn out these creations that are truly works of art. Ice snowmen, Santa’s with hats and beards, Christmas Trees you name it they are beautiful.

Each year I have disasters. Once I asked my cousin Yvonne to give me her easiest recipe for no bake treats called fifteens which she did. They are festive looking and well known in Irish homes around the holidays.

I then proceeded to make them using ingredients from the USA that were only a close approximation to those used in the UK and it was a complete disaster. My friend Patricia was over staying with us when this happened and she was doubled in two laughing at the mess.

Patricia sent me Mary Berry’s Baking Bible for Christmas that year and so come cookie walk baking time the next year I was armed and ready to make Viennese Swills. Invariably at the start the confidence level is high. These are destined to be perfection! Soon reality sets in as hard as the dough! Bible or no these didn’t make it to Church!

For the past few years I’ve stuck with making simple sugar cookies in the form of stars or angels but invariably I burn some because the speedy Gonzales’s in me makes me try to get them all done in a couple of hours.

Even the best of them look pathetic beside the other iced and spiced masterpieces. A good annual lesson in humility for the super confident I suppose!

So what to do? Apart from slow down and follow a recipe for once. Well maybe I’ll try Yvonne’s fifteens again and use the right ingredients this time or maybe make mini sugars that are so tiny and sweet they’ll be irresistible!

You can help by sharing your easiest most impressive cookie recipes. You might help some other soul in the same boat!

Whats all this to do with Diets? Well you can be sure that at least part of what’s not sellable is edible so we nosh them down rather than pack them up and pack on pounds!

Blessing # 511 – Seasonal ReStarts

After last nights feast and some good wine I slept like a baby.

Just as well because I had an early start. To get back to Central Ohio for a meeting at 9:00am I said Zaijian to Tjin at 4:45 am!

All went well on route. It was me the country station and a convoy of semi trucks till I hit the Ohio border. I felt really like An American Girl

By this time it was close to 7:00 and some weekend commuters had, like the sun, begun to rise.

All continued to plan and I was on interstate 75 with sign posts telling me it was 670 miles to Atlanta and 1100 to Tampa! This never fails to excite me when I think that if I just stayed on one road for long enough I’d be in the tropics. The thought is particularly appealing when it’s freezing cold outside.

So perhaps distracted by day dreams or maybe because of road work I missed my exit and ended up having to take a country road instead.

I was livid because I wanted to make the meeting on time. Now it seemed I was going to arrive half and hour late.

The road was so very different from the highway. Cute towns and villages and many Amish buggies out and about early. One had three men up front which is a tight squeeze in a buggy and all had long ginger beards. Thought for a minute I was back in leprechaun land.

They brought me luck though and I made it to my meeting with two minutes to spare and lots of thoughts of Amish pastries and where I could go to find them sometime soon fresh baked from the farm. With all the stress of the day I must have burned off at least half a cinnamon roll!

My appetite was soon satisfied by a home made apple cake my friend Jo had baked for our meeting. Another day down weight I fear not!

Blessing # 510 – Kings of Different Roads

My friend Tjin and I have spent a lot of time in the past two days talking about food. This is something of a hobby for those of us who work in the industry.

We got to reminiscing about our favorite culinary experiences during our time in China and talked so much about Schezwan dishes that we decided we had to have some. Our absolute favorite is pock marked mother’s tofu (Mapotofu). Not the most appealing name but the most delicious of all dishes and a dieters disaster!

So tonight we’re going to light up our taste buds with plenty of pepper of the chili and the Schezwan  variety. Might induce a little thermogenesis!

If you’ve never experience this type of pepper you’ve got to try it. Do so in very small quantities though at least to start with. It’s got this flora citrus like note and is wickedly spicy and it also has some magical component that numbs your mouth and makes you droll all at the same time!

Tjin and I have a particular fondness for it because we spent years working with it. We even put it into a beverage code names Cosmopolitan at one time way back in 2003!

Tjin knows all the Chinese hot spots in Kalamazoo so we’re ordering from the best. It a Hunan rather than Schezwan so might be even hotter! To balance out the all that spice were also dumping the diet for dumplings and a little greenery in the form of fried pea shoots.

If you cave in best to go the whole hog so we might just get a little crispy fried pork too!

Blessing # 509 – Take Away from Far Away