Long Time No Blog

Yes, Gentle Reader, I am daring to show my face on my own blog after all this time. But trust me when I tell you that Chez Boeckman-Walker has been an incredibly busy place these past few weeks and that I haven't had much time to post.

You don't believe me? Well then, Gentle Reader, allow me to shut you up.

Chez Boeckman-Walker: Now With 33% Fewer Tonsils!
After damn near a year of appointments and sleep studies and MRIs and a month-long CPAP trial, the husband finally got the surgery he needed to help rid him of his severe sleep apnea. The surgery--surgeries, I should say, since he had a tonsillectomy, septoplasty, uvulopalatopharyngoplasty and bonus adenoidectomy--went very well, but his recovery has had a few bumps.

First, the husband wound up in post-op recovery for about six hours because he woke from the anesthesia puking blood, which had drained into his gut from his nose, and then experienced bleeding from his nose that just didn't want to stop. Not a lot of blood loss, mind you, but enough to be worrisome. And enough to require him to stay in recovery until his ENT could check things out, which took forever because he had several surgeries scheduled the same day.

Once I was able to bring him home, the husband did pretty well--until Monday evening, when his nose started bleeding again and wouldn't stop. After a call to his doc, we wound up in the E.R., where the doc removed the packing and stents from the husband's nose (which was scheduled to be done at the doc's office the next morning) and managed to get the bleeding--again, not a lot but worrisome enough--stopped. Since he couldn't determine the exact cause of the bleeding, he had the husband admitted for observation.

Once I was finally able to come home and stay home around midnight, I got about four hours of sleep then hauled back to the hospital, all hopeful that I'd have the husband back home in time for me to Spin with the world's greatest Spin instructor and have something close to a normal Tuesday.

Ahh, how foolish I was to think such thoughts! To paraphrase a useful saying, I plan; the universe laughs.

When the doc came by to check on his patient around 7:15 Tuesday morning, he highly recommended keeping the husband in the hospital for continued observation through the majority of Tuesday just in case his nose started bleeding. Come the evening, the doc proposed, he'd come by, remove the light packing he'd put up the husband's nose in the E.R. and discharge him. That what we did--and my plan for a somewhat normal Tuesday flew right out the window.

As evening approached, the husband and I tried to predict when we might get the hell outta Dodge. I think he was hopeful for his doc to return to wrap things up in the early evening (5 or 6). I said we'd probably see him after 7. We both aimed to get home in time to watch the Fox Comedy Hour at 9.

Long story short, we barely made that goal. But fortunately the husband hasn't had any further bumps, and he's thrilled to be able to breathe out of his nose to some degree once again. Because, hey, mouth-breathing really, really sucks. And he felt good enough to take part in what we hope will become a Thanksgiving tradition for the human residents of Chez Boeckman-Walker.

Run, You Turkey!
By the way, Gentle Reader, happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Don't stuff yourself stupid.

As mentioned at the end of the last section, today the human residents of Chez Boeckman-Walker attempted to initiate a new Thanksgiving tradition: taking part in the annual Thundercloud Subs Turkey Trot. We'd registered to participate long before we knew the husband would be having surgery, and even when we scheduled the surgery, we were very hopeful that the husband would be able to do the 1-mile walk he'd registered for. Me, I registered for the 5-mile run because walking is just not my thing.

So despite the fact that the husband had been in the hospital less than 48 hours before that starting air horn honked, we were downtown this morning, ready to enjoy a little exercise. The weather was quite nice--a bit balmy and overcast, but you won't hear me complain since various weather-reading newscast personalities had mentioned chances of drizzle for Turkey Day morning. Because this event is a well-established one, quite a few folks turned out, including two of the boy's old posse from daycare. Those boys were as happy as pigs in mud as they dashed around their parents, who didn't feel terribly at ease trying to make small talk. (The husband and I aren't the world's most social people, after all.)

The race itself wasn't too bad. Too many hills and downhills for my liking, but I survived. Hell, I managed to put in a pretty good time: just over 40 minutes. The boys reported that the walkers got off to a late start since runners were still in the chute waiting to get out on the course when the organizers were trying to get the walkers lined up and out there. The husband said he felt pretty good, sticking to a long stride so that the boy could jog alongside him. They crossed the finish shortly before I did.

Will we do the Trot again? Probably so, especially since we have nothing better to do on this holiday. There's no turkey to thaw and baste, no stuffing or other traditional side dishes to prepare, no pies to bake. Nope, we don't do traditional at Chez Boeckman-Walker. I doubt you find that terribly surprising, Gentle Reader.

Other Things That Have Kept Me Busy and Away From Blogging
I've been spending a bit more time in front of my computer doing paying work this month, so another excuse I have for not posting more is that by the time I call it a day doing paying work, I really don't want to spend more time at the computer. In addition to the work I've been doing for ParentsDigest.com, earlier this month I hooked back up with some of the people who'd started my last real job to do some editing and writing for their new Web site, DailyMeds.com. I'll readily admit that returning to health and drug-related work has been really nice.

Speaking of jobs and real jobs, I turned down one. In fact, I officially turned it down while waiting for the husband to leave post-op recovery. It was a contract editing gig downtown for 40 hours a week, and the company was offering me some flexibility so that I could still pick up the boy from school in the afternoon and then work from home.

So why would I turn down a flexible, relatively secure (even if temporary) position when I've been bellyaching and worrying about the family's financial situation, especially in light of the husband's medical needs? Well, Gentle Reader, I didn't think that my family needed me trying to juggle a full-time gig and all the things I do here at home (such as helping the boy with all the school crappola) and all the things I do for myself, such as running and blogging and cooking. I really, really would have liked to have taken the job, but I know that the boy needs me right now. School is...well, so I don't go off on some rant, let me just say that school takes a lot of out of him, and he needs to be able to come home and have a parent who can try to meet his needs. I knew I wouldn't be able to do that if I were trying to work from home after school. So, yeah, I guess I passed so that I could try to be a better mom for my kid.

A real shocker, isn't it, Gentle Reader?

In addition to the additional freelance gig I've picked up and stressing over whether or not to work outside the home again, I celebrated my birthday--the big 33 and was presented with a wonderful Le Creuset tagine by the husband, which was a total surprise--and prepared the house for Mum's arrival to help out with the boy while I cared for the husband post-op. Yeah, I know, Mum already knows I'm a horrible, lazy housekeeper and really don't care how much dust accumulates on immobile objects, but I felt compelled to at least try to not make her completely grossed out by the living conditions of my home. And it was nice to be able to celebrate my birthday with the woman who brought me into this world. We even had a chance to do a little shopping, and I got to share some more of my kitchen stuff with her. That was a lot of fun.

No, really. It was a lot of fun. I'm not being sarcastic.

Culinary Misadventures That Went Unblogged
As I noted at the beginning of the previous section, working more has left me reluctant to spend additional time during the week at my computer, thus I've not shared with you, Gentle Reader, some of the new recipes I've tried. I was stunned when I realized the other day that the camera was no longer in the kitchen. It had become a regular part of it, just like Lumpy and the 'fridge and the pile of recyclables waiting to be taken out. To not photograph dishes and their preparation was...bizarre.

Anywho, since this post is getting abominably long, here are links to recipes I've tried (to varying degrees of success):

• Rosemary chicken with orange-maple glaze (Very tasty!)
  
• Pumpkin mousse (Also very tasty and perfect for when you want that traditional pumpkin pie taste but are too lazy to bake one or too cheap to buy one)
  
• Asian chicken noodle soup (Lemongrass is fun!)
  
• Not-so-dull dal from Suvir Saran's American Masala (Sorry, I'm too lazy to type up the recipe, but it's a basic toovar dal with some cumin and chiles that's quite tasty but didn't look a thing like the picture in the book.)

And because I'm lazy, I'm just throwing up here a Slide show of photos from these past few weeks. Enjoy!

They Like Me. They Really Like Me.

No, Sally Field won't be making any special guest appearances on my blog. If that disappoints you, Gentle Reader, all I can say is...wow, you're pathetic.

No, the people who really like me are the fine folks at ParentsDigest.com. I've been asked to sign an independent contractor agreement with them as a freelance editor. Yes, Gentle Reader, all my whining and bitching and moaning on Monday convinced the universe to send some work--looks to be fairly steady work--my way. Ain't the universe great?

If you have a moment, if you're a parent, if you know any parents or you just want to be kind, go over to the site and check it out. It's a relatively new company, and they (and I) would appreciate any business you can provide.

I should have a post later today or this evening about Thursday's culinary misadventures. (Yes, misadventures.) Since everyone's battening down the hatches for Ike--which I'm sure isn't going to do jack for us here in Austin--I don't have much to do this evening. Joy.

Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice

In the words of Steve Jobs, who took them from the incomparable Mark Twain, "Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." Sorry to disappoint you, Gentle Reader.

Tuesday found me nicely recovered from my earlier melancholy, so I got my reenergized arse into the kitchen to whip up something pumpkiny, which I'd been wanting to do for a while. Eschewing some of the recipes I found in the Taste of Home Halloween Food & Fun special issue, I dug out a recipe card for fat-free pumpkin raisin oatmeal cookies tucked in the back amongst the other untried recipes. I failed to record the source for this recipe. I suspect it might have come from Hubpages.com; as I look over the page, it seems awfully familiar.

Fat-Free Pumpkin Raisin Oatmeal Cookies1 C canned pumpkin
1 C brown sugar
4 egg whites
1 1/2 C flour
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t cloves
3 C rolled oats
1 C raisins

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
   
2. In a large bowl, mix the pumpkin and brown sugar, then beat in the egg whites.
   
3. Gradually mix in the flour, baking soda and spices.
   
4. Stir in the oats and raisins until evenly moistened.
   
5. Place dollops of dough onto cookie sheet, or press lightly into a jelly roll pan to make cookie bars.
   
6. Bake 10-20 minutes for cookies, 20-25 minutes for cookie bars.

Sorry I have no nutritional information or recipe yield to offer. I'm sure you can track down your own nutritional calculator online and figure this stuff out if you're that curious.

The Faudie's Futzings

• As I was emailing this recipe to the younger sister yesterday, I realized I mistakenly used a whole can (15 oz.) instead of a single cup. I can't imagine that one measly cup of solid pack pumpkin is going to be enough for all the dry ingredients, though. Three cups of oats and 1.5 cups of flour is an awful lot of dry stuff, Gentle Reader.
  
• As usual, I substituted Splenda Brown Sugar Blend for the brown sugar, and I replaced the all-purpose flour with three-fourths of a cup of white whole wheat flour and three-fourths of a cup of whole wheat flour.
  
• I sprinkled cinnamon atop the dough once I got it into the jelly roll pan (after first making the mistake of putting it into a 13" x 9" cake pan, which was stuffed damn near to overflowing with dough). Why? Because I feared the nutmeg and cloves would be too strong. After my first culinary misadventure with microwave carrot halwa that left my microwave reeking of cloves for weeks (yes, Gentle Reader, that stench lingered long after I'd cleaned it out), I just can't take a lot of cloves in anything. To me, half a teaspoon of the stuff combined with half a teaspoon of nutmeg borders on too much. So I sprinkled additional cinnamon atop the dough in hopes of tipping the flavor scale in cinnamon's favor. It didn't work so much. Next time I'll just use a quarter of a teaspoon each of nutmeg and cloves. Maybe I'll throw in a quarter of a teaspoon of cardamom, which is in the same family as cinnamon, if memory serves.

While I believe the 20 minutes these babies spent in the oven was the right amount of time, the bars came out awfully tough and dry-chewy, not moist-chewy, which was a total bummer. I blame the whole wheat flours. I know I'm supposed to increase the amount of liquid ingredients when I use whole wheat flours, but I'd already (unknowingly at the time) used too much pumpkin, which is moist. I'm not sure that adding more liquid egg white is the right thing to do either.

To solve the dryness problem, I dug out of the pantry a jar of pumpkin-pecan butter the husband and I acquired at Williams-Sonoma last fall (or perhaps in the fall of 2006). The stuff tastes very similar to Mum's pumpkin mush (make pumpkin pie filling, except a bit more flavorful, put it in a meatloaf pan, sprinkle it with a streussel, bake it, top it with a same-sized portion of homemade whipped cream, stir it all together--that's pumpkin mush), hence the reason we splurged and got a jar. But the pumpkin spice goodness of the pecan-pumpkin butter fits perfectly with the pumpkin spice and oatmeal-raisin goodness of these bars, thus solving the moisture problem.

If you don't live near a Williams-Sonoma or can't afford the pecan-pumpkin butter (which is our current situation, so we're portion out our jar very carefully), consider whipping out the fat-free caramel ice cream topping. The caramel works surprisingly well with the bars. Then again, I'm a sucker for caramel and could probably team it successfully (at least for my taste buds) with damn near anything.

Bon appetit!

Happier Financial News

No, the economy isn't magically turning around, Gentle Reader. Fat chance with that one. No, this is good financial news for the residents of Chez Boeckman-Walker: I might have another freelancing gig.

The fine folks at ParentsDigest.com need an editor to look over its parenting book summaries, and the person hiring thought I'd work well. I did one summary yesterday and am now waiting to speak with my contact about how I did. The pay is pretty good and the work is pretty interesting. Keep your fingers crossed!

Monday Melodrama

If you're in a cheery mood and have no patience for self-indulgent whiners, then skip this post. I'm going to unload here because...well, I need to unload and I find myself with no other outlet.

Don't worry. I'll hold back until you've gone.

Still waiting.

Last chance.

Still here? Okay, that's your choice.

So here's the thing: I feel so frustrated I ready to reenact that infamous scene from Network.



Yeah, that one.

I can't frickin' find any job leads, and I'm scared. The husband's going to be having surgery soon (at least we hope to hell so--we've been dealing with this apnea shit for nearly a year now), and we all know how easily a person, a family can find herself or himself or themselves on the brink of financial ruin all because of medical bills even when she or he or they have insurance. Yeah, we have insurance (an HSA and high-deductible insurance that kicks in only in extreme circumstances, but that's a rant for another day) and we have a sizable nest egg in an account we rarely touch, but the surgery's probably going to wipe that out. And with only one real wage earner in the family and with prices rising....

Well, Gentle Reader, there are days when I just want to cry because I'm scared to death of what's going to happen. That's in addition to the days when I want to cry because I'm scared to death that the surgery (technically surgeries because the husband will be having at least two procedures done all at once) is going to make things worse for the husband (as we've been forewarned by the ENT) or not any better or that the husband will have complications--expensive complications. It's a medical procedure involving a stay in the hospital, Gentle Reader; we all know that if you want to stay healthy, you stay the hell away from hospitals.

But here lately it's the financial consequences that have been very heavily weighing on me. Where I used to be able to send out three or four email queries daily about potential money-making opportunities, I'm lucky if I send that many out a week. I wrestle constantly with the idea of going back to work fulltime, but after two weeks of school, I see that the boy, who crashes for at least an hour and would stay crashed longer if allowed to by his mum, needs the time at home after school to recuperate, if you will, from the school day. An afterschool care setting I doubt would provide him with that downtime. Plus I haven't even been able to find much in the way of fulltime employment that I'm qualified for.

Which leads me to another fear/concern/worry: The longer I "sit out," the less qualified I'm going to be for fulltime employment. Am I condemning myself to the "unemployable" status by trying to do the right thing for my kid, for my family? I do want to work, but I need flexibility. I don't want to find myself in my "golden years" absolutely destitute because I took time away from working fulltime and stopped building my 401(k).

And all this fear and frustration I can't discuss with the husband. The FSM knows he's got enough shit to deal with: being the sole wage earner in the home, managing all the crap he has to deal with at work, dealing with the physical and mental effects of his apnea, parenting. I can't dump this on him and put that kind of pressure on him. Plus.... Well, I love and respect the husband tremendously, but when it comes to situations like this, he just doesn't offer the kind of...support I find myself needing. In fact, I usually wind up feeling more guilt-ridden and shitty after trying to talk to him about this stuff than I did before.

Since the husband's out, I naturally turn to the blog to express my fear and frustration and resentment and whatnot. Because, hey, isn't that what the Web is for, to "anonymously" spew venom and other vileness?

I hate this apnea. In a way, it's robbed me of an attentive friend and partner and "brain mate." Once upon a time, the husband and I seemed to share a brain we were so closely aligned. But now...well, life has gotten in the way. The give and share and take of our relationship that I used to find could very well fuel my imagination and creativity has gotten damnedably bogged down in the inanities of life: bills, parenting, household chores, routines. And I know our relationship isn't the first to ever have this problem, and it sure as hell won't be the last. And it doesn't help that I'm feeling incredibly insecure right now. I just wish....

Well, I wish for a lot sometimes. And then I curse myself for wasting my breath and wasting the moment. So I guess I'll walk the boy to school and then hit the gym. Maybe something'll come to me when I'm running today. Or maybe I'll just let the tears leak out while I'm running. Or maybe I'll just sweat 'em out. I don't know.

Culinary Misadventures With the Kiddo Return

Since this is the kiddo's last week of freedom, I'm trying to make it a memorable one within the constraints of the law and my sanity. Inviting him back into my kitchen may push both.

The Oddest Twinkies Ever Made
As you may recall, Gentle Reader, from my first culinary misadventure with the boy, I had picked up a kid-friendly cookbook from the Bam-meister for a wonderfully cheap price--and it actually had some recipes we used! One of the recipes we didn't have time to make was for corn dogs using a corn stick pan. Since I'm a cheap bastard and refuse to pay $12 for a cast iron corn stick pan, I wound up buying for just a bit more a few weeks back a Twinkie pan because, well, the husband swore we needed it and I saw its potential use as a corn dog maker.

Today the Twinkie pan made its debut in my kitchen. I trotted out the box of Krusteaz fat-free honey corn bread, which also made its debut in my kitchen. (I grew up on Jiffy sweetened corn bread. Literally. Practically every morning for years Mum would whip up a square pan of this yummy stuff for us before school.) Ya gotta love anything you just add water to make! But would the corn bread baked around an Oscar Meyer 98% fat-free weiner satisfy the boy, whose damnedable father introduced him to the drech that is a Sonic deep-fat-fried corn dog? See for yourself:

A Supper Featuring 'Special Lettuce'
or
Return of the Giant Pasta Shells
While going through some old Weight Watchers Magazine recipe booklets, I came across a recipe that I thought had some potential and employed one of the boy's favorite ingredients from a prior culinary misadventure: giant pasta shells.

The only drawback: it called for both mushrooms (the boys are major mushroom haters) and spinach (which everyone knows is a sure-fire picky-eater repellent). But I hoped the appeal of those mutant pasta shells might overcome both the boys' aversions to other ingredients. Plus the recipe gave me the chance to use up some lingering ingredients that were nearing expiration in the 'fridge, so I plowed ahead.

The recipe is pretty simple: brown some onion, garlic and mushrooms, add some liquid, add some chicken, add some spinach, let simmer, then pour over some cooked giant pasta shells. I'll admit that I had my doubts that I could pull it off, though, particularly after adding the liquid. I feared it wouldn't thicken or that the chicken wouldn't probably cook through sitting in the liquid.

And perhaps Lumpy saved my bacon--er, creamy chicken and spinach--with its accurate heating power. Or perhaps I can actually make something without screwing it up. (Don't gasp too loud, Gentle Reader. The FSM knows I'll never be competent.) But once I got to the point of adding in the spinach, I was pretty sure I was going to wind up with an edible dish--even though I had no clue what the finished dish should look like since the cookbook I got it from didn't include one.

Not too terribly disgusting looking, non?

Sadly, I have no serving dishes in which to pour the prepared pasta, so one of my Williams-Sonoma mixing bowls had to fill in as one. I swear no kitchen should be without a set of these incredibly handy bowls. Sure, they're a bit heavy when all nestled together, but they don't take up much space because they nestle so nicely, and the price is really good considering you get 10 bowls of quality glass.

Anywho, enough of a nonfunded product plug for W-S. Check out my finished dish:
Even if you're not a fan of spinach, you have to admit that the finished dish is colorful. Right? Right?

Of course, to fool the boy into at least trying the dish, I told him the green stuff was lettuce. He likes lettuce. He planted lettuce at Mum's house earlier this summer. I figured that was a safe fib.

And it worked for a while. Then he announced he didn't like the dark green lettuce. But he ate several shells and a good bit of the cubed chicken, so I was satisfied. And no, he didn't touch any mushrooms. The husband did accidentally eat one and proudly announced he wasn't dying as a result. Twerp.

If you're interested in making the special lettuce and chicken dish for your own picky eaters, here it is as it appears in Weight Watchers: Simply the Best:

Creamy Chicken and Spinach1 t canola oil
2 C sliced mushrooms
1 onion, chopped
2 minced garlic cloves
1 T all-purpose flour
1 C skim milk
1/2 C low-Na fat-free chicken broth
3/4 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cubed
10 oz. frozen, chopped spinach
1/4 t ground black pepper
4 C cooked medium pasta shells
2 T grated Parmesan cheese

1. Thaw and squeeze dry chopped spinach.
   
2. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet. Once oil is shimmering, add the mushrooms, onion and garlic, then cook until softened (5 to 6 min.).
   
3. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until it is lightly browned (about 1 min.).
   
4. Gradually stir in the milk and chicken broth, then cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils and thickens (2 to 3 min.).
   
5. Stir in the chicken, spinach and pepper, then return to a boil, stirring as needed. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and let cook, stirring as needed, until the chicken is cooked through (6 to 8 min.).
   
6. Place the pasta in a serving bowl, and pour cooked chicken sauce over it, tossing to combine. Sprinkle with Parmesan (optional).

Yield: 4 servings

Nutritional Info
Calories: 231
Fat: 3 g
Saturated fat: 1 g
Protein: 21 g
Fiber: 3 g
Carbs: 29 g
Cholesterol: 35 mg
Na: 135 mg

The Faudie's Futzings

• I used a 4 oz. can of no-salt-added mushroom pieces and stems instead of 2 C of sliced mushrooms. I like mushrooms, but I can't eat that much of 'em all by myself.
  
• Since my kitchen is all-purpose flour-free, I used a tablespoon of white whole wheat flour.
  
• While I did have more than a cup of skim milk on hand, I opted to use up some fat-free evaporated milk I needed to dispose of. That was about 3/4 of a cup, so I topped it off with skim milk. I don't think it affected the flavor at all, but how would I know?
  
• I set the small can of grated Parmesan cheese on the table. I'm not a big fan of cheese, and I've prayed that the boy doesn't become like my little sister--a total cheese junkie. Did my not using but a scant sprinkle of cheese on my own serving affect the flavor? Doubtful. But when I spooned out some of the boy's abandoned "dark special lettuce," which he had fairly liberally blessed with Parmesan, I could definitely taste the cheese--and was glad I'd abstained. I'm just not that big on Parmesan.

The next time I make this, I'm probably going to substitute rotini or penne/ziti because (A) the giant shells are just too fragile to be tossed with cubed chicken and (B) there's not enough sauce in the recipe to really fill the shells. If you opt to use shells, consider a layering technique to combine them with the chicken-spinach sauce: put down a few shells, pour some sauce over it, then stir/toss gentle to combine before putting down another layer of shells then pouring more sauce over them. I think this technique might introduce more sauce into the shells. But, then again, what do I know?

Beware of Volcanoes
When my dear friend Joy visited, she kindly gave the boy the gift of an awesome kid-friendly cookbook since she'd read about his culinary misadventures with his faudie mother here on the blog. (Her own kiddos prepare supper for her family once a week. Lucky lady!) We'd picked out a few recipes together but decided tonight to cap off our day of misadventures with an apple volcano.

If you want a quick and pretty healthful, not to mention tasty treat for yourself or your mastication-able kiddo, here's the recipe:

Apple Volcanoes1 apple
1/2 C peanut butter
1/4 C sunflower seeds

1. Core the apple with an apple corer.
   
2. Fill the hole of the apple with the peanut butter. A butter knife works well.
   
3. Sprinkle the sunflower seeds on the peanut butter.

Sorry that I can't provide you with nutritional info. The book doesn't include it, but should obviously one apple is one serving.

The Faudie's Futzings
Yes, Gentle Reader, I even futzed with this simple recipe.

• We used a medium Red Delicious. I had three small ones, but the boy chose the biggest of the four.
  
• We didn't use half a cup of PB, that's for sure. Maybe an eighth of a cup. And we used the reduced fat Peter Pan creamy, although the boy said something about using crunchy. I'd imagine crunchy would be fun and add a nice crunch to the already crunchy apple.
  
• I didn't have sunflower seeds, so I got out the can of mixed nut morsels we bought ages ago for an ice cream topping. I'm sure your favorite nut would work fine. I'd also thought of using miniature marshmallows for bigger "boulders" of "lava." The toasted coconut marshmallows Jet-Puffed might also be fun. I'm not a marshmallow fan, so I'd have to consult the husband.

Updates

I'm once again laboring for money! I'm taking on some proofreading work of grade school texts. Yeah, me--the one who rails against the woeful state of public education. But I don't point the finger at texts or teachers or students or administrators. I point the finger at No Child Left Behind and the big-ass gimme that little piece of legislation was for private business.

The angel food cake ripper does work! Instead of perforating the cake in order to make cutting it with a knife easier, I realized on the second knife that the ripper perforates the cake so you can then very cleanly rip away the slice from the cake body with your fingertips. Very handy!

Culinary Misadventures With Lumpy, Day 1

Monday truly was a reminder of the truth of my blog's subtitle: Change is the only constant in the universe. How do I know this, Gentle Reader? Well, within two hours--if that--of Lumpy arriving at Chez Boeckman-Walker, I got word that the editing project I've been working on since early July--the one I'd hoped to furiously work on for the rest of August so that I could bring home a nice chunk of change--was ending pronto. Ahh, never count your weasels before they pop, I tells ya.

But the delightful thing about finding myself suddenly between freelance gigs is that I have much more free time. And who doesn't love free time? Let me rephrase that. What faudie with a brand new oven doesn't love free time?

C Is for Cookie--Is That Not Good Enough for You?
In the time between purchasing Lumpy and Lumpy's arrival, I'd decided I'd inaugurate its oven by whipping up a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies, something I've been dying to do since rediscovering the culinary arts but just have not done. While waiting for just the right time to make a batch of these delectable cookies, I've bookmarked at least half a dozen recipes for this simple but scrumptious cookie, so deciding which one to make might have been difficult, wouldn't you think, Gentle Reader?

For once, I actually made a decision without much drama and agonizing. (That's a real victory for me. Just ask the husband.) I went with David Lebovitz's interpretation of Nick Malgieri's chewy oatmeal raisin cookie recipe. The original recipe appears in Malgieri's Perfect Light Desserts: Fabulous Cakes, Cookies, Pies, and More Made with Real Butter, Sugar, Flour, and Eggs, All Under 300 Calories Per Generous Serving (which is on my list of books to keep an eagle eye out for at Half-Price books), while David's interpretation first appeared on his blog, which has been an inspiration for my own, way back in 2006.

The cookie dough was incredibly easy to make and was ready to go in a jiffy. I knew from prior baking experience that the end products would be a bit more dense since the recipe replaces oil with applesauce, and I'm totally fine with that. While some folks balk at such substitutions to bring down the calorie and fat content and urge instead to stick to moderation, some of us can't even have or prefer not to have even fatty, high-calorie treats in moderation because, well, we might have problems moderating our food intake or might have issues allowing ourselves that occasional "indulgence." (Which is why I wish that publishing and higher profile culinary-type folks would remember that for far too many of us, food isn't just about nourishing our bodies; it comes with a whole lot of emotional baggage, thus we need help making sure that our food choices truly are nourishing while we work through our emotional baggage.)

My cookie scoop once again came in very handy, as did the parchment paper, which I opted to use because it was about 4 PM when I started making the cookies and knew that I still had supper to make yet, thus I didn't want two cookie sheets sitting around waiting for me to clean while I was wrangling supper. I was so very pleased by how well the cookie dough dropped onto the paper, unlike those messy key lime cookies I made just a few days ago.

Lumpy Cookies + Lumpy the Oven = Total Awesomeness
I'll admit to you, Gentle Reader, that I was very nervous about preheating the oven. What if it blows up? was the silliest of my fears. What if I failed to remove all the packaging and something catches on fire? was the more realistic of my concerns. What if Lumpy performs about as well as 'ol Lady Kenmore? was the most absurd of my worries.

But have no fear, Gentle Reader, for Lumpy performed beautifully. It preheated so incredibly quickly. While I'd given half a thought to whipping out an old oven thermometer I have to check the temperature once Lumpy beeped to tell me it was ready to go, I didn't do it because, well, I was lazy and just wanted to get the cookies baked before I ate the dough right off the cookie sheets.

As recommended by both David and the folks at ATK and, I believe, the folks at King Arthur Flour, I swapped the sheets on the racks after about five minutes of baking so they'd have equal time in the two possible oven positions. Yeah, sure, it's a hassle (especially when you're operating a new oven and didn't fully read the instructions for the timer before putting it to use and discover that when the timer goes off, the oven shuts off in its basic mode of operation), but if you really, really love cookies and/or your cookies are already handicapped by a bumbling would-be culinary artist, you want to give them every shot at coming out edible, right?

And boy oh boy did these babies come out edible!

If you want to try them for yourself, Gentle Reader, here's the recipe.

David Lebovitz's Take on Nick Malgieri's Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe1 C flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t NaCl
2 T unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 C granulated sugar
1/2 C (packed) light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 C unsweetened applesauce
1 t vanilla extract
1 1/3 C rolled oats (not instant)
1/2 C dark raisins (or dried cranberries)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and set the racks on the lower and upper thirds of the oven.
   
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and NaCl.
   
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar until smooth. Mix in the brown sugar, then the egg, applesauce and vanilla.
   
4. Stir in the dry ingredients, then the oats and raisins.
   
5. Drop the batter by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart on the baking sheets, and use a fork to gently flatten the dough.
   
6. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes or until they "look dull on the surface but are moist and soft," according the Nick. Rotate baking sheets during baking for even heating.

The Faudie's Futzings
or
The Faudie's Interpretation of David Lebovitz's Take on Nick Malgieri's Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe

• I used egg substitute instead of the one egg. I never have eggs in my 'fridge. Maybe one day I'll have to break down and buy some since it seems I will have opportunity to use them.
  
• I used Smart Balance butter instead of my usual fat-free Promise substitution. I knew that I'd be dealing with a lot of liquid in the recipe already thanks to the applesauce and didn't want to sabotage it with even more from the fat-free butter.
  
• I used white whole wheat flour. I knew from prior experience that its nuttier taste would go extremely well with the oats.
  
• I used Clabber Girl Sugar Replacer in lieu of the granulated sugar, and I whipped out the Splenda Brown Sugar Blend in lieu of the packed brown sugar. The dough might have turned out not quite a gooey if I'd used the granulated sugar since the Clabber Girl stuff is awfully powder (it looks and acts a lot like powdered sugar), but I didn't want all that sugar in my cookies. I'm a carb-oholic and must do what I can to restrain myself.
  
• I didn't realize until just now as I was coding the recipe's instructions that I was supposed to flatten the scooped cookie dough with a fork. Oopsie! Well, I don't think that really screwed anything up. The cookies came out baked just enough for my preferred level of chewiness.

Pressure Cooker + Lumpy the Oven = Total Awesomeness
For supper, I quickly made some Acapulco chicken. And I do mean quickly, Gentle Reader, for Lumpy had my pressure cooker fully pressured within minutes thanks to one of its two high-power (16,000 BTU) burners--and I only had it set to medium heat! If I'd made this feast on 'ol Lady Kenmore, I'd have needed a good 15 minutes to fully pressurize the cooker.

Nor did I have to worry about ruining my pressure cooker because the burner's flame was just...right. There's no other way for me to describe it. The flame was even, steady and constant and provided even, steady and constant heat. 'ol Lady Kenmore? Constancy and steadiness were just not her forte.

If you haven't figured it out yet, Gentle Reader....

I Heart Lumpy!

No One Ever Said This Was Going to Be Easy....

After putting it off and putting it off, here at long last is a video of the kitties from almost two weekends ago. If I were more ambitious, not so lazy (and weren't using MS Movie Maker for the first time), I'd take the time to find just the right background music (the fabulous--and now cliched--bit from the big fight from "Amok Time" seems appropriate). But I'm lazy. So just enjoy the kittens at play and hum something to yourself.

Just adorable, aren't they?

Sadly, in the past week one of the grays has disappeared. We're not sure if it's Sambar or Rasam, but since last Saturday, Momma's only been showing up with two kitties. What's even sadder, I suppose, is that the remaining gray has grown so much that we're having a hard determining if it's Rasam or Sambar. But at least we have pictures and video to remember our M.I.A. kitten by!

In other (less depressing news), I had my first interview yesterday. (But now on to the depressing stuff.) It went well, I think, but I doubt I'll be extended an offer, not because I wouldn't be a good candidate for the work the team needs done but because the...particulars of the position aren't right for me. I've been spoiled by my last job because I'm wanting a fair amount of flexibility. The human residents of Chez Boeckman-Walker are at a point (and moving every day closer and closer to a point) at which having two adults working outside the home a fair distance from home just isn't.... Well, I hesitate to use the word convenient here, but that's part of it. Practical is another word that might work well but doesn't tell the whole story.

During the hour it took me to get home yesterday from the interview, I realized that I'm going to have to work a lot harder--push myself a lot more--to get freelance gigs because I'm becoming more and more convinced that sort of work situation is going to offer me the flexibility I want so that I can continue to pursue my interests (i.e., keep working out the way I do, play in the kitchen whenever I want) and, once the kiddo starts school, be home for him so he doesn't have to go to after-school care. This realization hit me kind of hard because, well, being a successful freelancer (i.e., contributing in some meaningful way to the family's income) means I've got to learn to market myself, and that's completely outside my comfort zone. And the FSM forbid I leave my comfort zone!

Yet as I'm realizing this and working through my panic over the self-marketing thing, I'm also realizing that I'm not helping myself at all during this unemployment time by not pursuing the opportunities that have come up. Okay, granted, being accepted to write for eHow.com is hardly anything to cheer about because the open topics are for tasks I have no experience with or knowledge of. But I've been sitting on the contract for suite101.com for a few weeks now. Why? Because I'm scared I won't be able to churn out 10 articles every three months. I keep telling myself that's really not that much work given the production time frame. Yet still I can't bring myself to start. So how in the world am I going to survive as a freelancer if I can't bring myself to do this little thing?

Ah well, life's a learning experience. Trial and error and frustration and success, right? Roll with the changes, woman.

Freelancing Fun

Well, it's my penultimate day with my current employer. How am I feeling about it? Honestly, my emotional stability rates a "Meh." I'm not jumping for joy that I'll be unemployed very soon, but I'm not panicking--yet. I had my moment of panic earlier, and I'm sure I'll have many more as my employment search stretches out. But right now, I'm rather ambivalent. I've been here twice before, so I know what to expect by and large. The only thing to do is keep on rolling.

Speaking of my job search, I've been contacted in response to two of the growing number of freelance writing inquiries I've sent this week. Both opportunities turned out to be...a bit on the questionable side. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned and waaay behind the times (a dinosaur at 32!), but I don't think submitting my personal information through an online system that's largely designed to capture such information and then essentially spam that person or through a site that requires paid membership (don't let that $3 introductory fee deter you!) doesn't strike me as the appropriate way to handle a relationship with a contractor, even if that contractor is just one of who knows how many freelance writers working for that company.

Am I surprised? Not too terribly much. I'm well aware of the numerous scams out there. With the economy the way it is and the growing number of people looking for either primary employment or supplemental income through work-from-home opportunities, the sector is probably brimming with, well, suckers looking for whatever they can get. But as I told Mom when she asked if I'm filing for unemployment, my family's not in dire straights (yet). The husband assures me (now) that I can take my time and find a position that is right for me.

Aside from taking care of the last few duties for my soon-to-be former employer and sending out queries to potential employers and clients, I've been doing some recipe reading. Here's another transition I've been making since April or so: kitchen outcast to culinary competent. Strange how dropping 35 pounds and essentially transforming your body will make you suddenly very keen on controlling what goes into your body, isn't it?

Well, after a string of relative successes, I did a really, really stupid thing. My pan of pumpkin chocolate chip brownies I made Sunday met an unfortunate end when I failed to refrigerate them while forgoing air conditioning during these slightly unseasonably sweltering early summer days. I went to cut into them last night and noticed a strange smell and certain lines of black on the pan that hadn't been there before. Smeared chocolate? I asked myself. Heh, wrong! So today I'll be trying an orange butterscotch cookie recipe from my Weight Watchers Quick and Easy Menus book--one of the recipes I've been wanting to try for a while but keep putting off to make things for the boys. (Have to stop doing that. Just like I've been taking smaller portions of the protein component of our suppers so they have more of it because the FSM forbid they eat any vegetables!)

But I also managed to snatch a mild success out of the jaws of defeat yesterday as well. Inspired by Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian, I grabbed out the leftover green dal (whole, not split) from the pantry along with a jar of tarka masala sauce we'd picked up...FSM knows how many years ago (unopened, of course) and started experimenting. I followed the directions for preparing the dal from another tarka dal recipe I'd found, but I wound up with a greenish-brown mush instead of the "pale...soup like [sic] mixture" described. But that mush smelled wonderful, so I then partially followed the directions on the tarka masala jar and voila! I wound up with a very tasty dish that I'm pretty sure was low in fat and had some protein to it. Pairing it with a wee bit of jasmine rice (not too much--the boys can have as much of it as they like since I really shouldn't be eating too much of it) and the curried salmon cakes we've made before (this time doubling the amount of curry powder, with fabulous results) made for a great Wednesday meal.

And yesterday was only Wednesday. Today is only Thursday. It's not Friday yet. Sheesh.

Transitioning to Being an Unemployed Blogger

This morning I resumed my "normal" routine now that the Memorial Day weekend has passed, which means I got up at the crack of dawn to busy myself with various tasks just so I can feel useful as I make this latest transition from wage earner to employment seeker. After some time in the kitchen, I sat down, popped "freelance writing jobs" into Google and what does it spit out? A helpful site titled Freelance Writing Jobs.

One of the articles/posts discusses why freelancers should have blogs, and I read it with great skepticism. I'd rather be too busy writing for other people and making money than writing largely for myself and not be making any money. But who am I to stand against the tide of this thing called blogging? So what if I was burned in a very bad way by my first attempt waaaay back!

Don't get me wrong: I don't have grand dreams of being the next hit blogger. But what does it hurt to take a few minutes (yeah, right--not for verbose 'ol me) to jot down some thoughts? I've got a lot going on in my life to write about. Why be scared of making it public?

So here it is.

(Plus I liked the article about that fabulous phrase "So what?" and thought I could potentially give this blogging thing a shot. I know most of what I put here will deserve a big "So what?" -- but I'll try.)