i’m about ready to take stan to the vet! poor little guy is licking himself bald. i have a cat pheremone air thingy going, but it seems to be getting worse and worse. the internet tells me it could be allergies or he could be stressed out, but the only thing that could really stress him out is me wanting to pet him all the time XD
i need to knit him some legwarmers đ
i am failing on the blogging this year, but i am winning at backdating.
i also failed to take many pics this year of thanksgiving food, but so it goes when the only real things we made were pies and stuffing.
thanksgiving was pretty laid back! jane and i walked a 5k in the morning, saw a movie, then came home and made the squash galette, which turned out better than last year!
this year, i used the paul hollywood rough puff folding technique when i folded the butter into the dough, and goodness gracious if that didn’t make a difference. the dough was super flaky and crisp, and it definitely didn’t have a soggy bottom. it also got done a lot quicker. (i’m not sure if this makes a difference at all, but i did let it sit in the fridge for three days before rolling it out.) so, hollywood handshake on that galette for sure. it also had some bacon in it, which of course makes a delightful taste addition to an advertised vegetarian option.
the actual dinner was pretty simple. we reheated five things and called it a day. the galette was the most labor intensive thing of the day, and after that it was rolling out bread dough for rolls (i didn’t even make the dough. just thawed it out in the freezer). turkey was purchased premade, potatoes premade, gravy premade. perfect. the dishes sat overnight and we did them 24 hours later.
well, the one fail this year was my first pumpkin pie. i had no white sugar, so i decided to use coconut sugar which said could be used 1:1 for replacement. MISTAKE. that pie tasted awful. so i made another pumpkin pie last night because i wasn’t going to go through thanksgiving with no pumpkin pie (even though we have a maple and sweet potatoes pies).
this one is much better. already had a giant piece for breakfast!
in other news, i’ve got to run like 6 miles tonight. blarf.Â
i tend to post this every thanksgiving. oh well!
When daylight saving gives us an extra hour of sleep on a Saturday night, and the days suddenly grow so short that I wonder why itâs 9:30 p.m., look at the clock, and realize itâs still 5 p.m., I know itâs time for the holidays. Iâm not one to want Christmas to come right after Halloween, and I enjoy the time it takes to move from Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Yearâs. But Thanksgiving isnât what it used to be, for some reason.
When I was young, my family went to my aunt Kathleen & uncle Georgeâs house for the day, along with their kids, my aunt Colette, and uncle Squire. My mom was âfamous,â I guess you could say, for her pumpkin pie, and this is the dish we would bring to the Thanksgiving spread. Although I loved the food and the people at the time, looking back, it was really the night before Thanksgiving that was especially endearing.
For the four pies that would ultimately come from the oven, my mom would start prepping right after supper, pulling out cans of pumpkin puree and evaporated milk. She mixed the ingredients in the large stainless steel pot we owned, the only thing big enough to hold all the ingredients. There was a real science to the spices, taste-testing for the right combination after each dash here, teaspoon there. Some years we had pies that tasted heavily of cloves; other years, nutmeg sparkled on our tongues.
After the filling was perfected, it was time for the crust, which was the best part for us kids, and the worst part for my mom. My siblings and I would gather around as we watched her crumble flour, salt, and Crisco between her fingers, then add water until the dough stuck together. We helped get the pie plates ready, which I never remember her buying and that she still uses, by swirling Crisco on the bottom and sides with a napkin, making circular patterns until we were told to stop.
Meanwhile, my uncle Squire always came to our house the night before Thanksgiving to make his contribution to the dinner: cranberry-orange sauce. Because he was a bachelor and didnât have much of a need for kitchen gadgets, he didnât own a blender, a necessary accouterment for making cranberry-orange sauce. My dad, of course, was in the kitchen as well, inputting commentary when necessary and generally making fun of my mom and uncle. So there we were in the kitchen, my mom, dad, Squire, and one, two, three, or four kids.
Our countertops were old and not the best for large-area food preparation, so my mom used a piece of laminate, which was a remnant of countertop cut for a sink (something I realized much later in life). After my dad pulled it from its cubbyhole and placed it on the kitchen, my mom prepared for the most difficult part of piemaking: rolling the dough. After cursing her dough and yelling at us to watch out while she flipped the crust from the surface to the plate, my mom let us have the leftover pieces to mash together and play with. After begging to cook our mini-pie creations, mom made us toss our dough in the trash.
But the best was yet to come: It was time to slip the pies into the oven. Baking four pies took time â two batches of prep and hour-long baking for four pies â and of course, small children had to go to sleep to prepare for the next dayâs festivities. We were tucked into bed while the pies baked, the smell wafting up the stairs and into the bedroom where we would be lulled to sleep by the scent of pumpkin and spices. It was the best nightâs sleep of the year.
we say speak of the devil quite a bit – it’s become a part of everyday lexicon when you’re talking about someone and that person shows up.
but the phrase goes back to 1600s or even earlier. and it wasn’t meant lightheartedly, either, like we mean today. the full phrase is:
“speak of the devil and he will appear.”
it originated in england and it was pretty serious stuff. there was a superstitious belief that it was dangerous to mention the devil by name. at that time, it was like speaking the name of god. this is how all the devil’s nicknames came to be: prince of darkness, the horned one, etc. it seems like the clergy was a little more adamant about the situation than the general populace. no one actually thought the devil would appear, but it was considered unlucky.
that’s changed, though, and when we say speak of the devil, it’s usually a pretty ok thing to say and no one’s expecting the devil to show up.
though i’d be pretty stoked if the devil duck showed up.
so i filled out an employee spotlight for work last friday, because i didn’t want to run around trying to find someone who would fill it out for me for the friday news i compile. but that’s another story…
anyway, one of the questions is what’s your favorite book.
one?
ONE?
(i mean, i wrote the questions, so i should only blame myself.)
so i wrote a list of ten books to appease the masses and mostly me.
then i was tagged twice on FB to post 10 book covers. so i took a pic of the books i listed in my spotlight (MINUS 11/22/63 because LIZ HAS THAT BOOK).
here’s review tuesday: kate’s fave books edition.
i forgot to include pat rothfuss in my spotlight. i’m kind of bummed about that. but otherwise, all were included.
you may be wondering why “beauty” instead of the blue sword or others; beauty was the first book of robin’s that i read, and i was intrigued. sometimes it’s the initial books that grab you the most.
little house in the big woods is my favorite laura book, and HP6 is probably my favorite.
one note: if you haven’t read any michael perry, please do. he’s got just a lovely writing style that hits you right in the gut sometimes.
i’ve decided to talk about motivation monday! only because i was extremely motivated over the weekend. i scrubbed my floors, washed all my rugs, vaccuummeedd up a storm, cleaned the oven, nate scrubbed the toilet, and i spot cleaned cat barf off my living room floor (hardwood, thankfully).
as for future motivation, i’m going to watch the menards black friday ad for some flooring specials because i think it’s high time i did something about the peeling linoleum in the kitchen. first, i will practice on the entryway floor because no one uses that and if i screw it up, i won’t feel too bad about life. i think the kitchen floor will need to be done in parts, only because the more labor intensive part will require me to move the appliances out of the kitchen, ack. i hope moving the dishwasher won’t be too annoying. i mean, we did it last year, so in theory it should be a piece of cake to do it again. it’s just so tedious.
as for the rest of this week, motivation includes making pies tomorrow night and wednesday night making the dressing. other than that, thanksgiving should be easy peasy! i also may have convinced jane to walk the wishbone run Thursday morning with me, so i will actually trot, rather than not.
stan NEVER wants to snuggle. he runs around the house like a crazy cat, and if you pet him, chances are he’ll try to attack you. but once in a while, he takes a time out and actually cozies up for a snuggle!
so you got a bonus last saturday when i made my millionaire shortbreads and yummy chicken wild rice hotdish. i’m not sure you deserve a foodie friday…
but! here’s what i will do! thanksgiving is coming up, and for the first time in a while, i am not making a turkey! i want this year to be easy. here’s my plan:
i signed up for the wishbone run (it was only $5) and told myself if it was 30Âș or more i would run it. i really wasn’t expecting the temp to be that warm, but turns out i might end up having to run it that morning! :/ who knew…
this month marks SEVEN YEARS (!!!) since i started running. barring some injuries and vacations to high altitudes, i’ve consistently run the past seven years.
let’s do a throwback to 2011’s trip to the black hills with the fam.
five months after this pic was taken, i started running regularly at the fieldhouse at st. ben’s.
and, as my dad said, i’ll never be a sprinter! but, starting running was hard. it was probably one of the harder things i’ve done in my life, especially since it was from scratch. i’d run off and on during the summer of 1998, but it never really got into a groove with the breathing.
breathing was the worst part, followed by the ambition to keep at it, then trailed by the fact that muscles started to hurt. oh god, the breathing. it took probably 2 months for my breathing to get into a groove. and once that breathing was under control, i knew it was time for easy street.
i will say this: the muscle part was never really a barrier; in fact, i think i got off pretty easy with how little my leg muscles hurt. i could have had shin splints, and i never did. i wrapped my knees for a while, and my hips hurt for a couple weeks, but overall, muscles were good. now i’ve got calves of steel. (that’s about the only steely muscles i have, unfortunately. wish i had buns of steel but the junky trunk is real).
i don’t know how i kept going. i could have easily quit and resumed my lifestyle of slothdom. but maybe it was a challenge – sort of like how i run long distances, not because i want to win a race, but because i want to prove i can do it. the first time i ran a mile non-stop was glorious. i stretched out on the wrestling mat in the corner and was just giddy with myself.
i’ve battled plantar fasciitis in my right heel, a bad cortisone shot in that heel, three rounds of PT on it. i severely sprained it at ragnar 2017 and screwed up the tendons, and now the top of that foot’s not doing great because i’ve been trying to correct my gait. i just have to be ok with the fact that that foot will never be like the left, unfortunately.
i’ve lost 75 pounds! and my triglycerides are fantastic, despite still eating a bunch of bad food. my cholesterol levels decreased into levels that my doc said they didn’t even register on the bottom of the scale. i can attest to running as a healthy alternative to sitting on the couch.
winter means treadmill running, which sucks, but it makes summertime outdoor running that much more enjoyable. there are days when i wonder why i even put on my shoes, then there are days when i would be fine with two miles, aim for three, and actually run four (those are few and far between). i just recently ran my fastest 5k, another exhilarating moment.
i’ve run three half marathons and two ragnars. a marathon will probably never be on my plate, as my joints and muscles just don’t like running more than 8 miles. and that’s quite all right! if you’d asked me 10 years ago if i’d ever run 13 miles, i’d’ve laughed in your face.
and i’m still slow. i mean, you’d think after 7 years, i’d be a little speedier, but it’s OKAY to run slow. i want to enjoy the run and not kill myself. i think that’s 90% of why people quit running after trying it out. you don’t have to run a 10-minute mile right out of the gate. you don’t even have to run it after 7 years. my fastest 5k time? it was an 11:34-minute mile. that was FANTASTIC. i normally run a 12-12:30-minute mile.
so here’s to another 7 years of running. i didn’t think i’d still be running after 7 years, but now i’m invested. i hope my knees hold up, my foot works itself out, and my bunion chills out (good grief my feet). in the grand scheme of things, i’d rather have some bad joints than a heart attack.
here’s 2015 with my green lady!
i was rereading a book (codex) a couple weeks ago and ran across this word with very little context, and i knew i’d run across it before (not in the initial read), so i looked it up.
“a manuscript or piece of writing material on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing but of which traces remain.”
i’d read it in ” a discovery of witches!” (which, i might add, i own a signed first copy of ….thanks liz! lol)
it’s greek in origin from the word palin for again and psestos for rubbed smooth.
i’m sure you could call other things palimpsets, but it made sense in pre-gutenburg times when paper was scarce and books were rare.
what are some modern day palimpsets? could old VHS tapes that you recorded TV shows on over and over work? there wasn’t much trace of the old shows, but it was again rubbed smooth.
maybe double-exposure photography would count. chalk or whiteboards definitely – when you can still make out words that have been erased. old hard drives that you think you’ve reformatted but someone steals and is able to pull all your old data from?