One Day & One Cheat Left

The makings for the white chocolate martini are chilling in the fridge.  Technically, we may not actually have one tomorrow as we have been invited to no less than THREE New Year's Eve parties, and if I have a white chocolate martini before a party we won't actually make it TO the party.  But it's nice to know it's there....

Bizarrely, I have now lost interest in my chocolate stash.  Knowing I'll be able to have it seems to be enough.  Obviously, I respond to the "forbidden fruit" idea, which I sort of knew.  Idaho is quite close to Nevada & legalized gambling, but the only times I thought it was any fun were the times I did it while I was underage.  I like knowing I have chocolate in the house--and will be hiding some of it so Andy doesn't eat it all--but if I do have any on Friday, it will be a very small piece. 

Since we were staying with relatives over Christmas, we suspended our diet while we were there.  I would never expect anyone hosting us to live by our experiments, and for 4 days we ate "normally" and I thought I had gotten away with it--no stomach upset, no side effects.  Then we flew home.  Oh my.  There really is no going back........bummer.  Looks like next year's project will be:  finding a reasonable diet we can live with.  This time, with a little more chocolate......

This I Had To Share

In general, I'm a big fan of Amazon.com.  Not only do they have everything, it's been a great way to research food products from home.  So, today while trying to figure out a good gift (or gifts) to send as a hospitality "thank you" gift, I pulled up Amazon's website and typed in "gifts."  The first item that popped up:

something called "Jingle Jugs Animatronics Singing Dancing Boobs."  And this is what Amazon thinks I am most likely to be looking for as a gift.  Which makes sense, of course, as the last order I placed with them was for some Shirley Temple dvds for my nephews and niece.  I can see how they would obviously connect the two. 

Then again, I can guarantee that it's something they don't already have...............

Getting Ready For Friday........

Any guesses what I'm missing most today?

The Christmas Letter

Holiday Greetings!

2009 has been quite a year here at Château Sutton-Goar. This year we:

• 
  
  decided to see if we would feel any difference if we eliminated all processed foods (unknown ingredients, food coloring, high fructose corn syrup) from our diet for one year.
  
  
  
• 
  
  are a bit disappointed to find out that it really does make a huge difference
  
  
  
• 
  
  have a new appreciation for the bravery of our friends who came over to our house for dinner anyway
  
  
  
• 
  
  had an astounding amount of bizarre-looking meals. If you add spinach to almost everything, it increases the nutritional value, but occasionally one feels like one is eating a pulverized Oscar the Grouch
  
  
  
• 
  
  are really glad the one year is almost up
  
  
  
• 
  
  learned to make homemade liqueurs—and in the future would use decaffeinated coffee for Kahlua unless one intends to have cocktails at 7:00 AM
  
  
  
• 
  
  threw a “zucchini cookoff” party and PEOPLE ACTUALLY CAME!
  
  
  
• 
  
  picked several pounds of cherries...which explains all the cherry jam everyone is getting for Christmas
  
  
  
• 
  
  took our injured kitty for walks on a leash—usually in the backyard where there were no witnesses
  
  
  
• 
  
  shoveled insane amounts of horse manure in the literal—not political—sense
  
  
  
• 
  
  decided to double the size of our garden—which made a lot more sense in March than in August
  
  
  
• 
  
  discovered that if we’re having enough fun, it’s hard to notice the difference in only one income
  
  
  

This year I:

• 
  
  spent so much time reading labels for our “Year of No Processed Foods” experiment that a few local grocery stores think I might be a member of staff
  
  
  
• 
  
  grew an insane amount of garlic, and was so pleased with the results that I planted even more for 2010
  
  
  
• 
  
  learned to make two things successfully in that dang crockpot
  
  
  
• 
  
  will have read 100 books (98 and counting at current writing)
  
  
  
• 
  
  have been doing a lot of food history research and was amazed to find that Velveeta was actually invented as a “healthy” alternative to cheddar cheese.
  
  
  
• 
  
  learned how to make non-mushy pickles—and celebrated by canning 50-some-odd jars of them.
  
  
  
• 
  
  used a pressure canner for the first time ever AND didn’t blow anything up. The fact that I was still canning pumpkin at midnight is an entirely different issue.
  
  
  
• 
  
  learned to make mustard, which is much better than anything we’ve encountered in stores.
  
  
  
• 
  
  experienced my first “real” surgery, which wasn’t nearly as bad as the 6-week recovery period
  
  
  

This year Andy:

• 
  
  finished restoring my grandmother’s piano, though learned that it might have been wiser to NOT mention that there would be piano moving involved when inviting buddies over for beer
  
  
  
• 
  
  ran his annual half-marathon....plus a second for good measure/insanity
  
  
  
• 
  
  made homemade crackers, which were excellent...though the thicker ones were a bit like garlic-flavored dog biscuits
  
  
  
• 
  
  learned that motorcycle camping in May is not always a great idea
  
  
  
• 
  
  learned that kayaking in April is an even worse idea
  
  
  
• 
  
  learned to make homemade pasta, though hasn’t found a solution to the “sticking together in some big fettuccine mess while drying” problem
  
  
  
• 
  
  figured out how to fix our furnace after a week of no heat & two separate repairmen did nothing and charged us anyway. (If they can’t fix anything, should they still be called “repairmen?”)
  
  
  
• 
  
  learned that the way to a woman’s heart is through homemade chocolate-peanut butter ice cream
  
  
  

This year I have learned:

• 
  
  just when you’ve thought you have set a new standard for crazy pet owners everywhere, you find yourself signing your cat up for water rehab therapy
  
  
  
• 
  
  cats can have nightmares....probably over the kitty water rehab therapy
  
  
  
• 
  
  if the compost doesn’t get hot enough to kill seeds, it’s a terrific way to seed your lawn, flowerbeds, and flower pots with cucumbers, tomatoes, and sugar peas
  
  
  
• 
  
  putting steaming horse manure on the lawn and garden won’t kill the plants, but might have had something to do with two neighbors moving away
  
  
  
• 
  
  finding a chocolate zucchini cake recipe can make one more accepting when one ends up with a second summer squash where pumpkins were supposed to be planted
  
  
  
• 
  
  those plastic knobs on the gas stove have a lower melting point than one might think
  
  
  
• 
  
  never underestimate how fast a determined cat can remove a leg cast. Theo’s current record is before even getting him home from the vet, which has made him a legend at WestVet
  
  
  
• 
  
  for some cats, kitty valium is not so much a sedative as kitty speed. Finding this out after giving it to a cat in a cast is really unfortunate
  
  
  
• 
  
  just because it stains your fingers, it doesn’t mean that blueberry juice can color frosting
  
  
  
• 
  
  after 6 months, one does stop fantasizing about Diet Pepsi, but one never stops thinking about chocolate
  
  
  
• 
  
  if one of the cats turns a live bird loose in your house and it settles into a flower arrangement four feet above the open front door, the odds of the bird figuring out that a) the flowers are fake and b) it could get out through a door just a few feet below it are next to zero—no matter how strong the cold wind is blowing through the house
  
  
  
• 
  
  if a doctor tells you initially that surgery recovery will take about a week, it’s best to ask questions. He meant in the “stop feeling like crap” sense, and I meant in the “can be out shoveling dirt in the garden” sense
  
  
  
• 
  
  doped up on enough pain killers, I can have all the milkshakes I want because I won’t actually feel my normal headaches from my milk allergy....or anything else for that matter
  
  
  
• 
  
  “all natural” on a food label doesn’t mean what I thought it meant
  
  
  
• 
  
  don’t assume ANYTHING about your home’s construction—even if you bought the builder’s own home
  
  
  
• 
  
  there is such a thing as bacon-flavored lip balm. Why is anybody’s guess
  
  
  
• 
  
  life is always an adventure, though some days more than others.......
  
  
  

We wish everyone a merry holiday season and a healthy & happy 2010!

Toni and Andy

Lessons From Oprah

Recently, a friend mentioned that she had learned a lot from an article in Oprah's magazine.  I thought it was a great article, and thought the holidays would be a great time to share some highlights from "What I Know for Sure" by Oprah Winfrey:

"Every birthday, you decide whether to mark it the end of your greatest days or the beginning of your finest hour."

 "Reading gives you the ability to reach higher ground"

"When you get the chance, go for it.  You can't accomplish anything worthwhile if you inhibit yourself."

"Live so that at the end of each day, you can say, 'I did my very best.'"

"What have you done today to make you feel proud?"

"Making the decision to look after yourself is the ultimate in healthcare."

As long as we play the 'us and them' game, we don't evolve as people, as a nation, as a planet."

"If you feel incomplete, you alone must fill yourself with love in all your empty, shattered spaces."

"A healthy relationship brings joy--not just some of the time but most of the time."

"You are the only person alive who can see your big picture —and even you can't see it all."

Cough Drops

Okay, the cold is back and really hanging on, so there goes my theory about the no processed foods/no colds thing.  I did find some cough drops without artificial colors or flavors, but they seem to have no "active" ingredients either, so I broke down and bought some bizarrely pink lozenges that do have artificial--albeit really bad--flavoring, and of course they work really, really well.  I promise I really was trying to stick to the rules and have been gargling with saltwater like a maniac, but I'm getting a bit desperate. Maybe not desperate enough to try a mustard plaster or anything really horrible, but if this is still hanging around by Christmas, who knows???????

What I Have Learned This Week

*  Mice apparently don't hibernate

*  Having a huge cup of coffee before trying to paint ceramics is probably not the best idea unless one is fond of polka dots

*  There really is no limit to the number of times I can watch A Muppet Christmas Carol.

*  Diet Pepsi tastes just as good as I remember

*  If any of your friends have children in college, it's handy to have a math whiz on speed-dial

*  Having one's alma mater make it into a bowl game will make even the least-interested alumna consider attending the game for at least 20 seconds.....right until she remembers it would involve sitting outside on December 30 in an area that has "winter"

*  One can NEVER have too many groups of great girlfriends

*  The "live-and-let-live" policy for bugs that I talked myself into this summer does not include fruit flies.

*  A week of temperatures right around zero will stop one from whining about ANY other winter weather one gets
 
*  She who feels smugness about getting over a cold quickly is headed for a relapse