Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Amazing!
Yesterday I gave blood at Holy Spirit. I had been at the hospital until 5:00 AM, and I was concerned that I would have a repeat of the clotting I had in my last attempt at blood donation, also following a hospital vigil. I decided to pop two sticks of the new Shaklee Performance low calorie Hydrate into a glass of water. I drank it down, and then added another glass of water. During the donation the phlebotomist commented that I must drink a lot of water. I filled the bag in record time, five minutes and 20 seconds! I was very impressed. I will have to remember the Hydrate again next time.
Sunday, February 11, 2018
New York Style Cheese Cake Success
It has been quite the week.
Last Friday I made another trip to Eden Valley with the cat. third time in about as many months. She still has a yeast infection in her ear. This time I am back to putting drops in her ears twice a day for a week. At least it is not as many drops as the first time I had to do it. Struggling to drug the cat is never my favorite activity. Dr. Perry did show me how to wrap her in a towel. She said that I still would not have much time to work with the cat (I don't!), but it might help. This morning I did it while Gracie was in her basket, and it was not so traumatic for either of us.
Then came Saturday, and confession. I have not had tears for quite some time, but every once in awhile the scrupulosity still rears its ugly head. I am so thankful for my patient confessor. This past Saturday things were back to normal, and even changed a little bit. I had finished reading Vinny Flynn's Seven Secrets of Confession last week, and found in it a repetition of Father's admonition to see confession as an encounter with Christ and His Mercy. After confession, and again during mass, I prayed particularly to see these two sacraments as encounters with Him.
Then Saturday evening. I had to bake some things for our Catholic United Financial meeting on Sunday. First was the banana bread. I have made that recipe many times, but I was distracted. I ended up doubling the amount of water when I mixed my buttermilk. I scraped it into the pan and hoped for the best. Afterwards I was thinking that I could have added a tablespoon of coconut flour to absorb the extra liquid, but it was already in the oven. It was very moist, but edible. Then I baked a nut bread from the St. Peter's parish cookbook. I thought that had turned out well, but the next morning when I cut it open I had a large hollow spot and raw dough. That got tossed out for the birds. Then I made a blueberry coffee cake, standard recipe out of my Betty Crocker cook book. It was a cinch to make, but the pan was very shiny, so it took an extra half an hour to bake. I was very nervous about cutting that open for fear it would be raw, too. It was okay. Aggie had called to say that she was bringing bars, but with the bread out of the picture and the banana bread and coffee cake iffy, I was worried that I might have to make a trip to Kwik Trip for doughnuts. We survived. Actually, I almost polished off the rest of the coffee cake on Sunday afternoon because it was so good.
Fast forward to Tuesday. I made blueberry muffins for Arthur's breakfasts, and this time, intending to sneak some white whole wheat flour into the mix, I got distracted and left out the second cup of flour. These muffins fell apart very easily, but were really, really tasty because they were mostly sugar and butter!
Then there was the cheese cake. Twice I had the cream cheese out to warm to room temperature. Twice it went back into the refrigerator. First, I had to run into town to pick up a spring form pan. The next day I discovered that I was missing the required whipping cream. Third day I finally got it baked. We polished the last of it off today. It was very good. We ate it without any toppings, and I have to say that the toppings would have been a distraction to the rich, tangy flavor. Husband says that if lent were not approaching, I would have to make another one right away! Disasters redeemed! Here is the recipe which I used: New York Style Cheese Cake
Then there were the disasters in my sewing room. More feed dog jams with the polyester bias tape for the gift roll, and for the hem on Mom's old blanket. I ended up having to take the bobbin case apart to get it running again, and then it took me forever to put it back together again. I used to pride myself on knowing the innards of my sewing machine, but I needed to pray for patience on this one. Then I thought I would sew the hem on the dress I bought for Maja at Once Upon a Child, and no matching thread. It will have to wait. But I did get the edge of my vintage tablecloth apron hemmed.
All of these things have me smiling because they were such disasters. I guess that is God's way of teaching me patience, and giving me something to offer up.
I was able to finish Presenting Miss Jane Austen (May Lamberton Becker, Bethlehem Bookds) his week. I had difficulty understanding the first part of the book, but upon completion I have an image of Jane as being a very sweet and kindly person whom I presume was also good. It seems that she would be a good person to emulate. I have so many other books on my plate that I am not ready to pick up Pride and Prejudice or Northanger Abbey right now, but after reading Mrs. Becker's book, I am sure that I will understand them better than I did when I read Pride and Prejudice in high school. I have seen several of the PBS movies of her books, but I do not think the pace of movies capable of capturing all of the nuances of the books.
I attended another Shaklee meeting on Saturday. I was able to test the new Build product made with grass-fed whey. I also tested the old product, formerly Physique, which is soy, and banana flavored. I have been using the Energizing Soy Protein, but Physique is a blend of protein and carbohydrates, which is a much better choice for after exercise. It helps build and maintain lean muscle mass. We also had a little bit of a discussion on the amount of protein needed daily. Other countries recommend higher levels of protein than what is recommended here. That makes me less worried about getting too much protein, or giving too much protein to the girls when they are here.
Two more days to pray to see what it is that I should do for lent.
Now, off to watch Victoria.
Last Friday I made another trip to Eden Valley with the cat. third time in about as many months. She still has a yeast infection in her ear. This time I am back to putting drops in her ears twice a day for a week. At least it is not as many drops as the first time I had to do it. Struggling to drug the cat is never my favorite activity. Dr. Perry did show me how to wrap her in a towel. She said that I still would not have much time to work with the cat (I don't!), but it might help. This morning I did it while Gracie was in her basket, and it was not so traumatic for either of us.
Then came Saturday, and confession. I have not had tears for quite some time, but every once in awhile the scrupulosity still rears its ugly head. I am so thankful for my patient confessor. This past Saturday things were back to normal, and even changed a little bit. I had finished reading Vinny Flynn's Seven Secrets of Confession last week, and found in it a repetition of Father's admonition to see confession as an encounter with Christ and His Mercy. After confession, and again during mass, I prayed particularly to see these two sacraments as encounters with Him.
Then Saturday evening. I had to bake some things for our Catholic United Financial meeting on Sunday. First was the banana bread. I have made that recipe many times, but I was distracted. I ended up doubling the amount of water when I mixed my buttermilk. I scraped it into the pan and hoped for the best. Afterwards I was thinking that I could have added a tablespoon of coconut flour to absorb the extra liquid, but it was already in the oven. It was very moist, but edible. Then I baked a nut bread from the St. Peter's parish cookbook. I thought that had turned out well, but the next morning when I cut it open I had a large hollow spot and raw dough. That got tossed out for the birds. Then I made a blueberry coffee cake, standard recipe out of my Betty Crocker cook book. It was a cinch to make, but the pan was very shiny, so it took an extra half an hour to bake. I was very nervous about cutting that open for fear it would be raw, too. It was okay. Aggie had called to say that she was bringing bars, but with the bread out of the picture and the banana bread and coffee cake iffy, I was worried that I might have to make a trip to Kwik Trip for doughnuts. We survived. Actually, I almost polished off the rest of the coffee cake on Sunday afternoon because it was so good.
Fast forward to Tuesday. I made blueberry muffins for Arthur's breakfasts, and this time, intending to sneak some white whole wheat flour into the mix, I got distracted and left out the second cup of flour. These muffins fell apart very easily, but were really, really tasty because they were mostly sugar and butter!
Then there was the cheese cake. Twice I had the cream cheese out to warm to room temperature. Twice it went back into the refrigerator. First, I had to run into town to pick up a spring form pan. The next day I discovered that I was missing the required whipping cream. Third day I finally got it baked. We polished the last of it off today. It was very good. We ate it without any toppings, and I have to say that the toppings would have been a distraction to the rich, tangy flavor. Husband says that if lent were not approaching, I would have to make another one right away! Disasters redeemed! Here is the recipe which I used: New York Style Cheese Cake
Then there were the disasters in my sewing room. More feed dog jams with the polyester bias tape for the gift roll, and for the hem on Mom's old blanket. I ended up having to take the bobbin case apart to get it running again, and then it took me forever to put it back together again. I used to pride myself on knowing the innards of my sewing machine, but I needed to pray for patience on this one. Then I thought I would sew the hem on the dress I bought for Maja at Once Upon a Child, and no matching thread. It will have to wait. But I did get the edge of my vintage tablecloth apron hemmed.
All of these things have me smiling because they were such disasters. I guess that is God's way of teaching me patience, and giving me something to offer up.
I was able to finish Presenting Miss Jane Austen (May Lamberton Becker, Bethlehem Bookds) his week. I had difficulty understanding the first part of the book, but upon completion I have an image of Jane as being a very sweet and kindly person whom I presume was also good. It seems that she would be a good person to emulate. I have so many other books on my plate that I am not ready to pick up Pride and Prejudice or Northanger Abbey right now, but after reading Mrs. Becker's book, I am sure that I will understand them better than I did when I read Pride and Prejudice in high school. I have seen several of the PBS movies of her books, but I do not think the pace of movies capable of capturing all of the nuances of the books.
I attended another Shaklee meeting on Saturday. I was able to test the new Build product made with grass-fed whey. I also tested the old product, formerly Physique, which is soy, and banana flavored. I have been using the Energizing Soy Protein, but Physique is a blend of protein and carbohydrates, which is a much better choice for after exercise. It helps build and maintain lean muscle mass. We also had a little bit of a discussion on the amount of protein needed daily. Other countries recommend higher levels of protein than what is recommended here. That makes me less worried about getting too much protein, or giving too much protein to the girls when they are here.
Two more days to pray to see what it is that I should do for lent.
Now, off to watch Victoria.
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