Be Still My Sugared Mind

I woke up in a fog this morning, my head pounding from lack of sugar. I'm trying to stick to my Whole 30 healthy eating, even if it's only for a week...just to prove to myself that I can still go one week without sugar and wine.

Last night Dave and I were talking about how much we think about food. So much of our idyllic life centers around planning the next meal, worrying about our wine stock, and thinking about where our next dinner or lunch out will be. Rather shameful considering the millions of people who go to sleep NOT worrying about their waistlines but how they will survive another day without starving to death.

When I try to be a healthier eater, it's funny how my mind becomes fixated on what I "can't" have. They say that your body tells you what it needs, so I guess since all I can think about is that marble cake from SusieCakes, maybe my body cells actually NEED that sugar? Probably not.

Yesterday, I was bored and I thought about I going downtown to an art gallery to pick up a little ceramic cake slice that was featured on a Facebook page.  It was only $23 and I thought it would be clever sitting on my kitchen counter.  I knew that I didn't need any artwork (we're on a new austere budget around here), so I wrestled with myself about going. When push came to shove, I had to admit that what I REALLY wanted was to get out, walk in the sunshine and get a cappuccino in a favorite coffee shop...and maybe sneak next door and get some marble cake.

 

Kudos to me, I resisted the strong impulse to waste gas, talked myself out of the artwork and made myself an espresso with my little Peet's drip cone at home. I bought it at Peet's last week when I was having another cappuccino craving, and since I'm trying not to do dairy, those are out too...along with the cube of brown sugar.

I have to admit that I was shocked when I took a hard look at our food and alcohol expenditures in any given month. Hence, the new budget. So is it that I feel deprived all of a sudden, not being able to pop over to the meat market anytime I please that makes me hungry all the time?  Or is it the extra 5 pounds and rebellious innards that brought on this re commitment to healthier eating that makes me feel like I am living in the midst of a famine? Or am I just plain self-absorbed and pouting because I can't have it all...me thinks the latter. It is unfair that we can't put whatever we want into our bodies without it getting cranky, fat and sick. 

So it's Saturday and I should go to the Farmer's market to pick up some fruits and veggies.  My customary routine was to couple it with a trip to Trader Joe's to pick up a few things that the farmers didn't have...AND a trip to Starbucks or Peet's for a mocha. See what I mean?  I am sugar obsessed right now...and I'm off caffeine. Double headache!! But if I give it a few more days, this too shall pass and I will be cured...maybe.

Think I'll go fry an egg or too...place it lovingly on a bed of ham and sweet potato...and get over myself. People are starving out there, Laurel.

P.S. It's good to know that eggs are "okay" to eat now...like I was going to give them up?

Laurel. Everything in moderation.

Shops I Adore: The Crave

Crave: (v) to have an intense desire for something.

Yesterday was my bi-weekly shopping trip with Mom. My brother and I trade off taking her to buy groceries and whatever else she needs. Her soon to be 90 years may sound like we're following a little feeble lady with a shopping cart through Walmart, but our Mom is no little old lady.  She wisely decided about a year ago that she might kill somebody behind the wheel of her car because of her poor eyesight. She willingly gave up her license, which speaks volumes about her feisty razor-sharp mind.

Our normal shopping day consists of Sam's Club, Walmart, Target, etc., but whenever we want a true shopping experience, we try to hit one of the locally owned shops in the Greater Yuba-Sutter area. Yesterday we discovered a chic little gourmet shop on Bridge Street in Yuba City aptly named The Crave.

Owned by  George and Melinda Barlow, The Crave is a gourmet food and gift shop filled with a massive assortment of Olive oils, condiments, teas, and all manner of epicurean delights and gifts for the foodie in us all.

"Our mission is to make gift giving fun, easy and unique for every occasion. 

We want to satisfy your crave to give and make our little corner of the world 

a place where smiles are contagious."

If you're into olive oils, then The Crave is THE place to come.  I didn't count the number of 

olive oil makers, but I noted that many of them were from local 

Northern California growers. 

And YOU CAN TASTE every one of them on the spot. 

I loved their private label oil myself.

The shelves of The Crave were filled with other delights

 to enhance your cooking experience:

salts, mustard, jars of pickled stuff, jams, etc...

heart warming teas and teapots...

 

And a variety of gifts and treasures all to complete great gift baskets 

for a friend, family member or foodies...

George and Melinda have been open a year and 

I can't imagine why I never found this shop before.

 

Though I didn't see Ronnie in Walmart yesterday, 

our visit to The Crave was far more enjoyable...

if you live in the area, it's a must visit!! 

If you don't, they have online shopping in addition to this lovely storefront.

Mom and I will be back...and Walmart Ronnie will have to wait!

P.S. TO MY Facebook FRIENDS and FOODIES - THEY SHIP - go online to their website

The Crave

454 Bridge Street St.

Yuba City, CA 95991

(530) 790-0792

 (855) 854-3700

info@thecravegifts.com

www.the cravegifts.com

Laurel. Support Small Business!!

Colette's Reward...

Professional dress forms right out of the box are like oversized Barbie dolls. Nobody has that figure. It's always amazed me that the Project Runway contestants use dress forms right out of the box.  The contestants usually have to alter everything they create once their live runway models come in for fittings.

My mini-me dress form Colette needed some major "enhancements" in order to mimic my size and shape when I first brought her home. I purchased a kit off the internet which consisted of a box of various foam pads and shapes to stuff into a stretchy cover. That was a couple of years ago. After several months of Whole 30 healthy eating, I shed some pounds, and Colette shed some padding.

To celebrate her more svelte form, I made her a new dress.  If you follow SuZan's blog, FabricLady,
you know that I made her a top out of this same knit fabric. I used a Burda top pattern ( #7645) and just kept adding length, converting it to a maxi-dress. I added splits up the sides at the hemline.

"Congrats on your weight loss, Colette" I said as I slipped the soft knit dress over her headless body.

"Thanks, Lo. It's good to get some of that foam off the girls. You should keep going with that weird eating thing you're doing...it working great for me!"

Colette is such a kidder.

Laurel. A little lighter.

"It's not a diet..."

A few days ago I posted photos of a wedding cake that I made for friends on Facebook and remarked how difficult it was to be around all that sugary sweetness when you're on a "diet". 

I was referring to the Whole9 nutritional way of eating, a Paleo approach to eating healthy advocated by my friend Suzan, the FabricLady. I had no sooner made that Facebook comment and up pops Suzan's reprimand (I'm surprised she didn't capitalize it, given her passion for Whole9):

"It's not a diet...."

"Whoopsie"

Call it what you like, it fits right into my wheelhouse, this style of eating. I have been enjoying lots of eggs, meat, veggies and fruits.  I've eliminated pastas, breads, white "stuff" (rice, potatoes), most dairy, processed foods, 

and....what for it....wine!

That's not to say I haven't deviated in the last month with a glass here and there, but for the most part,  I have been pretty good.

I love tomatoes and it's the only vegetable that I have room for in my tiny raised garden bed.  

This year, I had a bumper crop...the cage fell over from the weight.

My sweet Owen raiding Grandma's garden...

It's NOT a diet in the sense of the Adkins, Jenny Craig, etc. 

(which I have tried all of them)

 but for me, it's an 

eating lifestyle that consists of good, healthy food 

and I love it!!! 

I feel better. Now I need to start walking again.

Side benefit of eating healthier? I've lost 10.5 pounds.

Laurel. Happy Sunday!

P.S. If you want to learn more about eating Whole9, go to Suzan's Blog, FabricLady.  She writes about it all the time!

"Let them eat cake"

I wrote about making wedding cakes last year in "Making weddings is not for Sissies". Recall that I promised to make this cute young couple's cake in a moment of wine weakness and dang if I didn't do it again. But this time, I didn't forget that I committed to some old friends a small cake for their renewal of vows.

So bring on the red velvet and vanilla with butter cream icing. Just because it's small, doesn't mean it can't be elegant.  Just type in "small wedding cake" into Pinterest and see what you get - so many cute cakes!!

Here is mine:

Tasted good too!

Laurel. Best wishes to my friends for many more years!!!

The Farmer

Magpie Tales

Mag 177

photo by Agustin Berrocal

The Farmer

Hour upon hour stringing snap beans
Canning tomatoes and corn
 Peeling lugs of peaches in the shade,
Picking blackberries with the rattlesnakes
Fifty cents a gallon
Bright coins burning holes in pockets at Woolworth's.
Children sitting amid the tall grass

Shucking piles of corn lit by the morning sun
Weeding young melon sprouts
Row upon row in the afternoon sun 

Digging in the soft red dirt

Starchy treasure unearthed in the evening sun

Yukon Gold for the dinner table

Bragging that everything he cooked 

came from the land

Taking for granted earth's bounty, we ate then

Remembering now, at my urban table, how he smiled

Corn stuck between his teeth.

Magpie Tales

Laurel. Farm to table...oh yeah.

A Rose from Karen's...

One of the best things about being retired is knowing that I don't have to go to work. It seems to hit me most in the early mornings when I used to be in my car, fighting the commute and thinking about a boring 9:00 meeting. These days, I am often in my car headed for a nice mocha at Karen's Bakery and Cafe in Folsom.

Besides having THE best Apple Walnut Muffin in the entire free world (bar none!!!) and a  friendly morning vibe, I love that there are always a fresh flowers on each table.  I don't know where she get's her roses, but they always beg for a picture.

Between bites of that yummy muffin, out comes the iPhone...and click!  

You tell me...is there anything prettier that a peach rose sitting

 on a black tabletop???

Laurel. Shoulda got a picture of the muffin too...

Grandpa's Cookie Day

The hubby has a sweet tooth.  He is the only person I know who gets up in the morning and eats a cookie, cuts a slice of that nasty fruitcake he likes, or whatever else SWEET might be laying around. So it should be no surprise that he invented his own little "holiday event" for the grandchildren: Grandpa's Cookie Day.

Now, we're not talking about the typical confections that one could bake at Christmas - you know the ones I'm talking about - fudge, bourbon balls, thumbprints, lace, etc.  There's only one kind of cookie that is on the agenda for this day - SUGAR COOKIES...with lots of soft gooey icing and sprinkles!

The fun starts the night before...somebody has to make all that dough!  The two oldest grandchildren (19 and 17 years) come over and start the baking in the evening. Grandpa and Kyle are a team, and Kellie and I team up. We make 4 batches of dough, as there are 9 grandchildren who love sugar cookies too! Did I mention that Kellie and I make prettier cookies and...we are faster too?? Duh!

We use a tried and true sugar cookie recipe that Dave got from my nephew's wife Roberta:

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
6 cups flour

We chill the dough for about 30 minutes before rolling it out to 1/4 inch thick and cutting the shapes.
We bake for 9 minutes in a 375 degree oven. They look rather pasty, but they make a nice soft cookie.





Over the years I have collected a lot cookie cutters - tin, copper, plastic...all shapes and sizes.  I even found some alphabet shapes, so that each grandchild can have there own initial in cookie dough!

I think the pool table in our family room gets more use as a buffet table, a place to fold the laundry, a nice big surface to cut out a dress pattern, rather than a game of 9-Ball.  On Cookie Day, it gets covered with brown paper.  I mark off a square for each child and as they make their little creations, they put them in their own designated square.

I also cover the kitchen table with a plastic table cloth for the decorating.  I used to think that the older the kids got, the neater they would be.  Not so...by the end of the day, the kitchen is a disaster...there are sprinkles everywhere and frosting in places I wouldn't expect, etc.

The morning of Cookie Day, I make the icing. I use a recipe that I have always used to frost cakes (even my wedding cakes back in the day!) as nobody seems to like that hard crusty frosting typical of store bought sugar cookies.

2 boxes XXX sugar
2 cubes butter
2 tsps vanilla
1/2 cup milk
pinch salt, if the butter is unsalted
Beat the crap out of it!  I also add a touch of corn syrup to thin as necessary.

I make 4 batches for all those cookies, as I hate to run out...and because much of the icing ends up sticking to fingers, smeared on the chairs and down in the tummies. I use Wilton's cake colors of red and green, along with some white, pink, blue and "brown". The icing goes in bowls with little appetizer knives for the little hands.  I also fill some plastic cake decorating cones with icing for "squeezing" on added color (be sure to close them at the ends with rubber bands, otherwise the frosting is all over the place). I also collect sprinkles of all kinds, but this year I decided to use what I already had on hand.
 

As the kids have gotten older, the intensity has gone up a notch or two.  They work very hard on creating unique designs and colorful combinations.  That is, until they start getting bored with it all. Parents often jump in to help.

After several hours the pool table is covered with sweet confections...colorful and imaginative cookies that they get to take home!!  Of course, the price of admission to Grandpa's Cookie Day is that Grandpa gets a square on the table too, and every child must "donate" one of their creations.

 

After all, tomorrow morning is Christmas Eve, and the sugar high will have worn off, and Grandpa will need a fix!!!

 Laurel. Leaving the mess for Grandpa:)

 

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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a 1966 American-Italian epic Spaghetti western film starring Clint Eastwood. I'm not a fan of spaghetti westerns, but I have to admit that the plots often parallel some of life's greatest triumphs and tragedies.  Good triumphs over evil...payback is hell...etc. In fact, should Sergio Leone decide to make a "spaghetti drama" today, I would have just the material depicting slices of life in today's world. October (and it's not even over yet!) is a testament to my own personal Good, Bad and Ugly.

The Bad...my friend was diagnosed with breast cancer. The Good? Well, if there is one, I'm not sure.  But I made her a cute Chemo hat.

More Bad...I backed into parked car with the hubby's truck. The Good? I Have Insurance.


More Good... watched the wee ones make sugar cookies.  Nothing bad about that!

The Bad...went to a craft fair.  It's been a long time since I have been to one, and I was saddened to see more of the same cheesy stuff you always see. Where's the innovation???  The Good?  I found this "stein" to take to a fun Oktoberfest party down the street!!

"Red Solo Cup"

More Good...went on a Sunday picnic in the wine country with friends.  Now that's always good!!

The REALLY good? Take along fresh apple pie!

The Ugly? No words are needed. I left my purse in the front seat. My Bad. Soccer Moms beware...they sit in wait in the school parking lot...watching your hustle and the distraction and chaos of getting your kid to the field...

The good in this? I have insurance. And I have a good bank who watches my accounts. Laurel 6...Thieves 0. The bad? Replacing all the cards, Gigi Hill wallet gone, no driver's license and two hours at DMV...

I am pretty glad that October is almost behind me.  It's been a roller coaster.  But in the end, I can say that even though the Bad and The Ugly were tough, there is still much to be thankful for...like photographing my granddaughter for her senior portrait, taking our good friends out to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, having fun with my knitting friends, reading a great book, enjoying a "Refuel" daily devotional series, watching "Upstairs, Downstairs" on PBS, getting my flu shot, celebrating another friend's 70th birthday, spending the day in Berkeley shopping at Stone Mountain and Daughter for fabric and many other blessings.

Life is a daily drama, but it's meant to be lived each day.  So I will not focus on the (*%*#@^*&^, but concentrate on enjoying today. After all...it's finally Fall, it's raining and I have firewood.



Laurel. Breathe...

 

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Our World Tuesday









Blogging Blahs...

We all get them.  You write witty things, you take cool photos, you link-up, you share your heart...and sometimes it seems like no one notices. While you are busy trying to impress and wow the world, they are busy trying lure you into their world with witty writing and cool photos.

Perhaps it's just this obnoxious heat wave or sheer boredom with life in general, but my blogging has been at an impasse for the last few weeks.  You know those days..you can't  think of a single thing worth talking about, you haven't taken any photos, mainly because you have sat on your back side, glued to the Olympics on the TV.  Thank God, they are over, albeit football starts next week...argh!

Every once in a while, people surprise you.  Someone notices. This morning I saw my own post staring back at me from my blog roll.  Amy, of  Love Bug fame hosts a Photo Show-off every week and she mentioned my blog.  It is wonderful to be cheered on by your fellow bloggers...Thank you so much Amy - you gave me a boost this morning!!

Speaking of surprises, my hubby planned the perfect Sunday for me. First a rousing rock band church service, off to the Tower Cafe for lunch, followed by a visit to the Crocker Art Museum, ending with friends dropping by for dinner by the pool.  What a great day!

the hamburger was worth the wait at Tower Cafe!!!

we became members this year at the Crocker, so we got in for free!!!!!!!!

great exhibit by Pop Artist Mel Ramos

Another Eagle Lake trout bites the dust.  yummy!

Laurel.  Buck up, Laurel...you never had it so good.

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