Thursday, Last in February

[zip2play]

I had a LONG post that I screwed up thanks in part to a Microsoft interruption about downloading an Update. I have it set to automatic but THIS lovely was an UPADATE to the UPDATE SYSTEM- long and short...20 minute composition up the poop chute!

Susan INK ...I'd forgotten that nuns of the 50's despised ball-point pens- invented by LUCIFER himself! Consequently the zipster went home day after day with hands Blue-Black, compliments of Waterman and an endless string of leaky Shaeffer "snorkels" (and I'm not even Jewish [])...remember the cule little well on the side...nice walk down memory lane. The upshot, all Catholics have a beautiful scripts and you can immediately pick out the Catholic signatures while thumbing through the checks in any psychiatrist's office.

Linda, So Upstate will start sending their newly released psychos down to Penn Station with a ticket to the Big Apple...gee, I guess with 20,000 more homeless, those "counters" should be able to find 5 instead of 4.
If you bake with xanthan does the final product still have that slippery mouthfeel of xanthan??? Not awful but not great either.

Shawnee, That outside corner cabinet sounds like a nice design statement. If we didn't have only 8 foot ceilings I'd think about expanding UP too. I know what you speak of with the "out-of plumb"...parents (and grandparents home was circa 1872) and solid brick but the windows got really "unique" ...I shouldn't have let my harriden sister squawk me into selling the house (for a song), I knew every nail in the place and will live to regret it someday-if not tomorrow.

Loretta....you get a "degree", now just don't leave a space between the number and the ampersand as in 20&deg (skipping the final semicolon for clarity)

Kefir grains on first leg of journey to the Poconos....imagine the poor woman doing the transport with a 100 mile commute into NYC twice a day- I'd put a bullet through my head (or my boss's).

Doors going on cabinet today....I kid you not - it came with a 5 pound bag of about 175 doojiggies...those attachments for holding pressboard together without any drilling are ingenious (and STRONG). But the pigeon English instructions a nightmare (and I'm an engineer!)

Til later kiddies!

ps...do you think Irish Pete is selling cereal...LOL!

[SuSUN]

Good Morning One and All,

What a good chuckle the "Catholic Education" gave yesterday. Boy, I needed that! Thanks to Zip's verbal interpretation. Those days were more humiliating than painful. They say that builds character! I love the line about the exquisite penmanship in the "trickcylists" office denoting yet another RC. With that formative training....to conform.....we "are the world order" LOL!

Zip: You do get full Healthcare coverage, when you are a landed immigrant. I dont know how you would apply to emigrate, but your Engineers degree will help. Do you have a Canadian Consulate nearby? I will see if I can get all the rules and regulations at this end.

Scales up again. Not been watching too carefully lately. I blame it on the cold weather making me eat to keep out the cold. I have been lax of late trying to give in to my comfort foods to help get out of the duldrums, now paying for it. I know that Spring and Summer are really coming and those bulges will be revealed shortly,so gotta get them reduced. DD keeps telling me lots of Cardio will do it. I think she is right! Training for my old age!
Only a month to FLA, so need to get my butt in gear!

I'll check back later, no "paid" work today.

Susan

[LoveMontana]

Zip, xanthan in anything I baked doesn't have that slipery feel. As an avid label reader, I've found that many products have either guar or xanthan in them. It's even in some chewing gum.

Sorry your sister talked you into selling the circa 1872 house. Wow, that would have been a wonderful restoration project.

LOL, at least you got instructions with your cabinet. One of my put together projects came with only a few drawings and a gazillion parts. Ugh!

I'm surprised Pete's posts are still up. Rules and regs here state "no selling".

Susan, Comfort food isn't going to help one bit. Are you slipping back into mild depression? I sincerely hope not... Get yourself out for a walk and some sunshine, if you can find it.

Ginny, hope you stayed somewhat warm and dry at work last night.

Shawnee, Did dh finalize his plan for your new cabinet?

Loretta, Hopefully your snow is gone or at least not still coming down.

Pam, what's up?

Shelly, come on lady, tell us about yourself. Don't be shy.

I'm off to my annual probe and poke at the GYN and then to work, so I'll catch up later.

[OrchidCactus]

Mornin' y'all,

LOL on the RC upbringings! Not having gone there was a blessing IMO, especially after hearing about all the horror stories. Good ol' public schooler here

Linda, hate going to the GYN....but it's a thing we gotta do. Hope the visit is brief and the instruments warmed.

Loretta, the ice missed us, did you get it? We've warmed up a bit, 40's so far here, and the rumor is if the breeze starts coming from the Gulf we may even see some SUN!

Shawnee, good luck with the cabinet project. I know all about non-square houses--this one doesn't have a plumb wall at all, except for what DH has done! Makes for some interesting cuts on trimwork! Hope Murphy stays away for your project.

Zip, those instructions you get with the 'assembly required' items are generally confusing at best. I think it took us 4 hours to put our entertainment system together, and 3 hours on the computer desk. Your cabinet should be pretty straightforward (I hope) but one never knows. Good luck!

Susan, yep, time for more sunshine for you! And now you have FL to look forward to as well, so cut the comfort food and you'll be just fine. You do have a cheering section here, so don't let the winter blues get you down.

Pam, are you all ready for your fun weekend? Don't get yourself all wore out planning for it now! Just kick back, and enjoy.

Shelly, come on, don't be shy.....we don't bite! Well, we may nibble a little, but only once we get to know ya LOL! Just jump on in with us and have some fun.

Well, y'all, off to shower so my hair dries before work.....

[shawneesioux]

Hi Y'all

DH is looking thru his stash of hoarded leftover building materials; this project just may get started this year...LOL...I gotta pack up several boxes' worth of stuff that's anywhere near the ''site'' and whisk them to safety, out of harm's way. Our old house isn't wonderfully old, as in 1800's ...part was built in the 40's..then MOVED to this land, then added on to in the 60's. Most of town is built on either landfill or on what was previously a river...we're the ex-river.

ZIP...that Xanthan only makes its presence known in "wet" recipes, such as gravies...and apparently some cheesecakes...NADA sign of it in muffins, etc., other than its binding and rising abilities.
Doh! ( DS told me Duh is obsolete.. ) It took me awhile to realize Pete was peddling..passed right over my head that he was posting the NO NO site addys...
Guess the Admins think we maintainers are a bunch of innocents here, and they don't monitor to delete...Barbara NJ made a great comment to him.
Was told (in jest) that our Daily Threads are like "an OLD PEOPLE'S SOAP OPERA''.........LMAO over that one, cause its true! .....is there ANY Subject matter we haven't tackled, investigated, and opined on..?...

Ginny, when we do the "some Assembly required" projects, we always come up with a couple fastener pieces of unknown usage..probably belonged on the Space Shuttle...and sends us digging thru our own supply for something that works better. DH always does his Mantra: "What kinda crap is this flimsy hardware??!" ...this is Murphey's clue to ENTER, STAGE LEFT...LOL

Montana, you just had to bring it up ...the GYN with the frozen instruments of torture...I'm stalling...then there's the barbaric boob-squasher, grinning evilly and beackoning...Hope your "tour of duty" there goes as quickly and comfortably as possible.

Loretta, what's on your mind today? Any new baking adventures in the offing?

SUSAN..if you need COMFORT: Hug Oliver and find a simple LC recipe that throws a Party in your mouth!

Shelly, Tink, ...will be back later to check on ya.

Shawnee

[zip2play]

Shawnee,

Funny you mention that...it's nice to be of similar ages ('ceptin Ginny....but we're aging her prematurely by osmosis-sorry girl).
I was thinking just this morning about being able to mention something like THE DAVE CLARK FIVE....without having to explain that they weren't gangsta rap nor the latest TV reality show!

LOL

On the other hand my favorite network shows are BUFFY, ANGEL, CHARMED and the Sci Fi's FARSCAPE and TRACKER, and Comedy's SOUTH PARK and CRANK YANKERS....so my tastes run younger than many half my age...perhaps reversion to a second childhood....goo goo!

Susan by "landed immigrant" do you mean landed on the shore as in Robinson Crusoe, i.e., physically there...or landed as in the landed gentry like the Squire of Ottawashire, i.e., a landowner?

[SuSUN]

Sheepishly checking in for the looming penance for 'fessing up' on the eating story. Yep, I know, I know I gotta stop it. Went hog wild with the carbs since I started adding them more liberally.

Glad you guys are there to "discipline" me. Guess we RC "damaged" kids are looking to be scourged of sin! I think Lent is just around the corner, maybe I can muster up some Induction days? sf jello here I come!

Shawnee: LOL! about those pesky left over parts, from a "little assembly required," and parts of the space shuttle, ROLMAO! Yikes, did I actually use a swear word there.....Sister Margret, Rose watching over my shoulder! I regularly HUG Oliver and he is adorable, so will increase,....images of Wendy, stitching Peter Pan's shadow....DH will attest this is already true! Now a LC recipe that gives a Party in the mouth. Ideas welcome but not the Suzy Homemaker in the kitchen. Also gotta find some alternate breakfasts.

Linda & Ginny: Yep, Got oodles of Sunshine today. Too cold to take Oliver out but could get me wrapped up to face the elements. Thank you for the nudge! Cold and clear last night, lots of stars twinkling up there!

Where are the rest of the gang????

Zip: Landed Immigrant or Alien, both sound alien to me?

Later,

Susan 126lbs

[Loretta V]

They have revised our weather forcast to eliminate the snow and freezing rain to just rain. I am SOOO happy. I got to go out and do my grocery shopping this am and the library was open.
More shopping tomorrow at Sam's Club. I got my Diabetasweet but it was in the bag. Too many new recipe ideas to work on. They all taste good too. I have so many food ideas to try. I used the xanthum gum in my beef stew. It is my imagination, but does it affect the taste? I did not think that the gravey of it was slimy. I tasted the raw product but did not denote any flavor from it. I cannot put too much over on DH, he is a super snoop and now that he is not smoking his taste buds are even better.

Shawnee I had to check out BarbaraNJ remark to the recent hawker. Great line. I guess we should just ignore those posts and not even give them the stisfaction of a reply. I'm glad this DH is not into remodeling or changing. I went through enough of that with my first h, knocking out walls etc. It is nice to be stable here. Except that he complains about the price of the new parts to repair the existing stuff. "You could buy that elbow for a quarter."

Zip way to go on putting your project together. It willl probably enable you to have plenty of new Storage space for those bargains. It is a shame about that older family home. My brother still lives in our parents home and it has some nice older features.

Linda thanks for that cookie recipe. How will I fit that into my menu? These new ideas are never ending. This is great.
I love this wol. Is that truck working right with its new clutch.

Susan not long before that trip to sunny Fla. I know you will get rid of those extra lbs quickly. I enjoyed the RC musings too. My penmanship is not the case though, that ruler on the knuckles did not keep me from writing sloppily. I can't even read it myself sometimes.

Ginny we are getting rain off and on. Thank gooddess that freezing rain is out of our forecast. SHamoo is limping along but I seem to see new root growth.

SHelly hi to ya. Check back when you get a moment.

Tink glad you got a week end off to spend time with the DGK.
Is Fairfield Ca a long distance from where you live? Glad your DD and her friend are taking care of the planning of it. It should be a great time. Ryan will be here soon and be ready to be spoiled.

Later guys

[SuSUN]

I followed orders, I did get out for a 30 minute walk in the gorgeous Sunshine, clear blue skies too. A visual treat for much needed colour with all the white stuff around. Went out to look for some wildlife, even if just a crow but nothing was stirring.

Off to make supper.

Susan

[shawneesioux]

SUSAN, you don't have to be a CHEF to have some variety for Brekkie, just a little pre-planning works wonders.

You've probably heard this before: If its LC Food and you like it, it works for breakfast...not just lunch or dinner, or Snacktime. I make "extra" for Dinner to have those leftovers, then have them for snacks or breakfast. Its too easy to look for a hunger "fix" and if no premade LC stuff is available, then reach for a NO NO.

While its true that making Breads, Muffins, and pies/cheesecakes is a little more complicated than the "usual" way with white flours, its not that difficult once ya get the hang of it......and ....ask Loretta to verify...cheesecake for breakfast is a TOTALLY acceptable SIN.
If ya tell us what kind of recipe ya might be interested in, we might come up with an idea or six.

I made the "K" Greek Cookies today, with a twist...cause I can't leave anything "as written"..LOL

Here's my changes, and made 2 varieties from the mix:

Koulourakia (Sesame Cookies)
left out the sesame this time
I used two Cookie sheets covered with Parchment paper.

Ingredients

1/2 C Butter , room temp
1/2 C Splenda ( I used 1/4 C DiabetaSweet , 1/4 C Splenda)

1 tsp Vanilla
2 Eggs
1-1/2 C Almond flour, 1/2 C Oat flour, 1/2 C WW flour

1 Tbls Gluten for binder
1 tsp Xanthan
1-1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ground cloves
1/4 C Milk (cream/water)

Toppings

Fifty/50 Orange Marmalade jam (only ONE ECC per TBLS !!, so that's 1/3 Carb per teaspoon)

1 TBLS Splenda or DiabetaSweet mixed with 1 tsp Cinnamon, in a salt shaker


Method

Cream butter and sugar with vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat eggs and add gradually to butter mixture, beating well. Sift dry ingredients twice. Stir Dry stuff into creamed mixture alternately with milk to form a soft dough.

PUT ON DISPOSABLE GLOVES ..or take off your rings

Pick up little meatball-sized blobs of dough,..roll between palms to get round..makes about 30, or 15 on each sheet.
Dampen fingers, press the "meatballs" kinda flat.

Variety:
for one sheetful, sprinkle with the fake sugar/cinnamon mix..I even added a sprinkle of Nutmeg.

the other sheet: make a Thumbprint depression in each cookie center, fill it with about 1/2 to 2/3 teasp of the jam (remember, a FULL teaspoon is less than 1/3 carb... )

Baking time: 20 minutes or til golden. Oven temperature: 360°
Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container.

The sun is out, so I'm about to be also.

ALRIGHT, Loretta..got that DiabetaSweet!!

later
Shawnee

[Loretta V]

STOP
Already with these recipes. I don't have enough time to eat all of this as it is.

Yes I got the Diabeta and guess what it is really more econimical than the Other syrup. The 16 oz bag has 100 servings and the 32 ounce bottle of the syrup has only 64. The price is about the same, but I have to add shipping to the syrup.

Before I try the cookies I want to make something called Creamy Jello using low carb mans recipe with the Kool aid and unflavored gelatin. I need to save that cookie recipe. I have also found a recipe called Weight Watchers Cake that calls for 6 eggs and sugar. You beat the yolks and then the whites and bake it in a tube pan. I'll take more lecithin.

So many ideas.
Any advice here for the Cauliflower Mashed potatoes. I am going to try them soon. I bought the frozen 16 ounce bag.
Loretta

[shawneesioux]

Loretta, you slay me!

...and if you can find the 2 lb box,(which is just two 1 lb bags stuffed into an ugly box)... its like $9.95..as opposed to the $6.95 I pay for the 1 lb sack.

The COOKIES are too good! I'm "wearing" 4 of them already...went too long without!
So get that new Jell-o made and post it, inquiring minds...and that WW Cake recipe too, pleeeeease. Hey, I have an old WW book around somewhere, better take a squint in it...

Maybe Montana can help ya with the Caulif recipe, its not my fave...I like cheese baked on it.

I got to PLAY outside for awhile...picking up little Birch twigs/limbs and pulling weeds...and the eternal poop-scooping..
Found a pink Hyacinth in bloom, and a few little Grape Hyacinths..a tiny bud on a tulip...the Bleeding Heart is breaking thru the ground..
later
Shawnee

[LoveMontana]

Mother of Pearl!! Will ya look at all the recipe ideas and energy just flowing on this thread? Wow!

Ginny, you lucky girl!! No RC guilt or bruised fingers and legs. Must have been a wonderful childhood for you.

Susan, isn't it great to get out and see the blue sky and all that sunshine. It makes one feel wonderful!! Aww hun, you went through enough as a child so we wouldn't give you a penance.

Shawnee, I hear ya. It took us a looooong time to finish this basement but the wait was worth it..
LMAO at the Old People's soap opera. Good one and so true.

Glad you have some flowers poking their heads up. Buds on the tulips? <sobing here>

Holy cow where do you find the energy to work so hard on the recipes? The revision to the K cookies sounds great. I can't wait to be retired again to try some more of your and Loretta's recipes.

Roger, goo, goo, Isn't second childhood fun? How's that pantry coming along? Save those leftover parts, you never know when they will come in handy.

Loretta, so you dogded the snow and ice bullet this time. Good for you.
As for the cauliflower mashed, They really are so easy. Just cook the snot out of the cauliflower, drain, mash with your cream cheese, butter and cream. Add your favorite spices like onion, garlic or maybe some other flavor cheese. Yumm! We have them frequently. Going to put some onion in the batch I make Sunday to go with Gerard's meatloaf.

ROFLOL the broken clutch is still in the thang!! Gerard is plugging along but with frozen fingers and cold butt from the concrete garage floor. Once he gets the old rusty bolts and thingys out, hopefully the new one will just slip in easily.

Shelly, Shelly, Shelly, did we frighten you off? I sincerely hope not. Come talk to us and let's get to know each other.

Pam, when are you leaving for Fairfield. I bet you will have a wonderful time with your DD. Enjoy

Got home early from work because I went in early. My poke and probe appt. was the first one after their lunch so it was in and out really quickly..pun intended Went right to work so I could get home early. Barbaric boob-squasher appointment won't be till April. Gotta be careful of the dates with blasted ins. coverage. They only pay for one a year and not a day earlier.

Off to print some recipes.