OREO ICE CREAM

 I have been craving Oreo ice cream for days.  I just finished the mint Oreo ice cream last week and it was good.  The Oreo cookies got really small and pretty much disintegrated in the ice cream.  I wanted to make ice cream where the cookies stayed cookies so I made the cookie pieces really big so even if they started to disintegrated they would not get too small before they froze up.

The ice cream came out great. It has nice big chunks of Oreo cookies.

I finally had a bath.  Having that heart monitor on me made it I could not have a bath for two weeks.  It was hard! Especially the first week when it was raining.  I love to have a bath when it is raining.  I could also take a long shower without having to worry about getting the monitor all wet.  It was a nice weekend.

Until tomorrow...

DAY SIXTY OF COOKING COURSE

 I made something really good today.  I made a Banh Mi sandwich.  It was a four step process:

1. make the barbecue sauce and mix it in with the mushrooms to marinate.  I used mushrooms instead of eggplant.  Cook after 30 minutes.
   
2. make the pate. The pate was made out mushrooms and peanuts. 
3. make the salad out of cucumber, rice vinegar and sugar.
4. assemble the sandwich.  

This sandwich was so awesome to eat.  The mushrooms were marinated and cooked just right. The pate added some flavor with the peanuts. The cucumber salad added a crunch and sweetness.  It was such a balanced sandwich.  

I was going to make something else but I decided to take it easy instead.  I found ants in my downstairs door area so I had to clean that out. There is no food or water there so I have no idea why they were there.  There must be a hole somewhere.  I get ants every now and then in that spot. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY FIFTY-NINE OF COOKING COURSE

 This morning I decided to make a Crispy Tofu Noodle Soup from a magazine recipe.  I wanted some food that will last a few meals.  I found this awesome soup recipe and I had most of the ingredients.  I traded out some of the ingredients like the tofu. I didn't have plain tofu but I had tofu that was already flavored and cooked.  I took some soy sauce and soaked the tofu before I fried it.  It changed the flavor of the tofu. Then I didn't have the chard in the recipe but I had some kale so I used that instead. I like to take a recipe and switch up the ingredients with what I have available. The soup tastes great.

I took a break during lunchtime and watched the last two episodes of WandaVision.  I am starting to understand it a little.

I wanted to make a Banh Mi from the cooking course but I realized I was missing an ingredient. So, I made a dessert instead. I made a Mango Jelly.  It is a vegan jelly with fresh mango on the bottom layer and the top layer is a sweet coconut cream topped with toasted coconut.  It isn't super sweet but refreshing.  I enjoyed it very much.

 I went to turn on my front door light and it was burnt out.  I can't remember the when I put in that light bulb but it had to be a long time because there was painter's tape on the light from when I had the house painted. That was almost two years ago.  I put the same type of light bulb in again.  I guess it has a long life. It also seemed lighter but I think it is just because I washed the light cover off. There was a ton of dirt and bug stuff in the cover.  I also had to WD40 the screws because the painters tightened the screws so much I had to use pliers to loosen them. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY FIFTY-EIGHT OF COOKING COURSE

 Today didn't go as planned.  First, I had a hard time getting going.  It was one delivery after another.  My food was delivered (except the new Ben & Jerry's flavor), then an Amazon package, then the post office picked up my package, and then another Amazon package.  I finally got going around 2pm.  

I made Fried Spring Rolls with Dipping Sauce on my first day of Vietnamese cooking.  It started out well with the veggies and tofu cut up and mixed with the vegan fish sauce and coconut cream.  It looked delicious. I rolled perfect spring rolls and they were ready to go into the oil.  They were the same rice wrappers I used last time only this time, the minute they went into the oil, the wrapper disintegrated.  I don't know what happened.  It was a big mess as all the ingredients from the spring roll floated around in the oil. At this point I decided to call it.  This was not going to work like my last round of fried spring rolls.  It may have been the sauce that made the spring rolls a bit wet.

I had to think on my feet and find another way to cook them. I decided to try baking them in the toaster oven on a piece of parchment.  It worked!  They weren't fried but baked.  The spring rolls still tasted delicious.  

They were so good I ate them all for dinner. Yum!

I went to a video "school" tonight and learned about Grizzlies. I learned the California Grizzly is extinct but there are like 15 types of Grizzly bears around the world.  It was super interesting.

Until tomorrow...

DAY FIFTY-SEVEN OF COOKING COURSE

Well, I did it!  I passed the Thai cooking chapter.  I took my test, passed and received my certificate.  

Today I cooked my final Thai dish Tom Som - Spicy and Sour Soup.  It IS Spicy.  I took one bite and gave the whole soup away.  I didn't even put all the spice in the soup.  It had a bunch of mushrooms, tofu and tomatoes in it.  It was a pretty soup that would burn your tongue out of your mouth.  I do see that my spice tolerance has increased through this course.  When my dog walker says something is too spicy for him, I know it is VERY spicy.  He is one of those folks that travels with hot sauce and grew up eating chili peppers in Mexico.  

Now I am moving on to the Vietnamese chapter.  I am super excited!  I started out with making Vegan Fish Sauce with pineapple.  The pineapple is cooked with sea salt and molasses.  Then it is strained and kept in the refrigerator.  

I wasn't done for the day and I made Fried Morning Glory with Spinach as a substitute.  The spinach is blanched and fried with the vegan fish sauce.  It was really tasty and I love spinach.

I got to take my heart monitor off today. It is all boxed up and ready to go back tomorrow.  Two days ago I could not wait to get it off but most of the time it was fine and didn't bother me.  I was thrilled to take a shower longer than a few minutes and this weekend I want to take a long bath.  While wearing the monitor you have to be careful how much water, sweat and steam gets near the monitor.  It will be a five weeks until I hear the results.  It will be interesting to hear the results.

It was a busy day.  I even had time to buy some more supplies for the upcoming week.

Until tomorrow...

DAY FIFTY-SIX OF COOKING COURSE

 I attempted making Pad Thai today.  It turned out okay but I think the recipe called for too much tamarind paste.  It tastes okay but tamarind paste is a bit biter and when I make it again I will put less. The Pad Thai has tofu, noodle and bean sprouts.  

There are different items to put on the Pad Thai depending on your tastes: crushed peanuts, lime, sugar and chili flakes.  I only used the lime and peanuts.

Tomorrow I am finishing up the Thai chapter and moving on to the Vietnamese chapter.  

I posted my first blog post on my other blog. It was exciting to keep moving forward with my new project.  

GOOD NEWS: I spoke to the veterinarian last week and we decided that I should try again giving Lucky children's Benadryl on the days she goes to the beach to see if her "snorting or stuffiness" goes away.  I started last Friday and I think it is helping. I wouldn't say she is cured but she isn't up all night having a hard time breathing so this is super good news.  I am getting better sleep!

Until tomorrow...

DAY FIFTY-FIVE OF COOKING COURSE

 It's a Monday and I had a tough time getting moving. Not sure why.  I finally got moving and began the cooking for the day.  I have three dishes left for the Thai chapter.  Today I made Laab Isaan.  It is a dish with mixed mushrooms and tofu with chili flakes.  It also had fried sticky rice that is ground into a powder. 

 

I took one bite and my mouth was on fire. It was hot!  I had to eat a spoonful of rice with each bite to tamp down the flames.  

I gave the rest of the dish to my dog walker and I am sure he doesn't think it is too hot.

My friends helped me edit some of the writing for my website.  They made the writing so much clearer and edited the punctuation.

I had a phone call from a friend who moved to Hawaii tonight. He is back in town to finish packing his final items and get his pets. The pets needed to get final shots before they could travel.  They move for good to Hawaii in a month.  I am excited for them but sad for me.  Hopefully some day I can visit them.

Until tomorrow...

SLOW DAY

 Today was a slow day.  I talked to my nephew for his birthday. It was good to catch up with him.  Then I video chatted with some friends for my regular Sunday Funday.  Then I talked to my friend A.  I wanted to catch up with her. She is going to help me edit some of my writing.

I watched the movie The Little Things on HBO. I know it had mixed reviews but I really liked it. I thought Deenzel Washington is always good in these types of roles. Jared Leto was his crazy self.  I still can't get over Rami Malek playing Freddie Mercury.  It will take me a while to see him in a different role. 

I worked on my blog for my new venture for my new website. Then it was the end of the day. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY FIFTY-FOUR OF COOKING COURSE

 The excitement this week never ends!  I got up and went to the post office to mail my mail and get my mail.  Lucky has not been feeling well (not to worry, just upset tummy) and I took my time getting out the door.  I drove down and got my mail.  I just got back in my car and my phone rang.  It was 7:35am on a Saturday.  It was the alarm company telling me my inside sensor went off.  No outside sensors went off so no doors or windows were opened.  After a momentary panic I figured out it had to be the dog.  This happened once with Happi.  It was her bark that set off the sensor, not her presence.  I am assuming the same thing was happening.  I told the guy this and he said he could not cancel it without my pin.  What was my pin?  I could not remember my pin.  This is not my first pin I have forgotten.  I am sure it will not be my last.  The problem with pins is that when you don't use them, you forget them.  I could remember my old, old one.  Not the current one so he said he had to call the police.  I explained that I was 2 min from home.  Nope that would not do. So, he called.  I got home and everything was fine.  Lucky was fine.  I remembered my pin now that I wasn't in a state of shock and called them back to see if they could cancel it.  Nope.  The police showed up at my door and I explained it was my dog and thanked them profusely.  This is only the first time the cops have had to come for a false alarm.  Other time I set the alarm out of habit and the dog walker came on his scheduled day and the alarm went off but I remembered my pin and stopped the police from coming.  My dog walker was terrified.  

Once again when the excitement calmed down, I cooked a scrumptious dish called Fried Morning Glory & Dipping Sauce. Although it is changed to Fried Spinach & Dipping Sauce.  I could not find any Morning Glory.  It was so good!  It was a lot of work for very little outcome. It was more of a party trick.  It was fun to make.  The spinach goes in the tempura and goes in the oil.  It fries and comes out crispy and delicious.  Then a dipping sauce is made from mango, spices and lime.  A little to hot for me but it was good and my friend S (who came by to get her curry from yesterday) had some and loved it.  

 Three more dishes and I move on to Vietnamese food.  

Until tomorrow...

DAY FIFTY-THREE OF COOKING COURSE

 What a morning!  I went down to start my car and you guessed it, it didn't start.  The battery was dead yet again.  I called for service and they came right out.  This time I told them I don't care what your recommendation is I want a new battery straight away.  He said I could take the battery down and get it recharged since it had practically no charge left.  I said no thank you.  All I can envision is I am waiting in line to get my vaccination and my car won't start because the battery conks out.  No thank you.  Just give me a new one right now.  Then he showed me what to do if I can't drive it for a few weeks.  There is a trick to keep your battery from running down and you don't have to get a drip thingy or take your battery out.  I don't think I will have to do it but good to know.

Of course I missed my window to get to the post office.  I also set my alarm off because I was so distracted when my car wouldn't start. Crazy morning.

Once everything calmed down, I made a lovely curry.  Yes, another one. It is the last curry in this chapter.  I am so happy.  This curry was kind of fun.  It was Panang Curry with Jackfruit "Meatballs".  The meatballs were more like fritters we make in the USA.  The curry was made tofu, mushrooms, baby corn and coconut milk and then it is poured over the meatballs.  The meatballs were made from jackfruit, soy sauce and tempura flour. They are then fried until they are golden.  I used canned jackfruit so I didn't have to crack open that large fruit.  The curry was too spicy for me (I ate a little) but the jackfruit fritters were really good.  Who doesn't like fried food?  

Once again I gave some to my friend S and to the dog walker.  

Until tomorrow...

DAY FIFTY-TWO OF COOKING COURSE

 After doing some work I made Green Curry.  Interesting observation: the green curry paste is green but the final product is not green.  I guess it is good since I am not so sure I want to eat too much green food. I didn't have any green chili's so I used red peppers and it didn't make the curry hot.  Good news: I could eat it. Bed news: it was not how the curry was supposed to be.  Oh well, I don't think making curry's is my jam.  This curry came out great but it was not spicy at all.  

I used mushrooms instead of eggplant. It was made with coconut milk and coconut cream.  

Until tomorrow...

DAY FIFTY-ONE OF COOKING COURSE

 I was very unmotivated today.  I don't know what it was but I didn't want to get going today.  Fatigue has set in.  Sometimes it happens this time of year.  I get blah when it is rainy and dark.  Only today it wasn't rainy or dark; it was a sunny and warm day.  I guess I have just been "on" for so many days in a row. 

I got my act together and got up and made Massaman Curry.  I made the massaman paste the other day so I only needed to throw together the curry.  This curry is a sweet and spicy curry with potato and tofu.  It has cinnamon, star anise and cloves.  I tried it and it is just too spicy for me.  I could at least try it without having to drink a ton of water and eating something sweet.  I could make this for myself and just not put so many spices in it at a later time.  Then I could eat it.

I had a weird thing happen.  I was playing with Lucky, my dog, and my arm started hurting. It felt like I had pulled a muscle in my forearm and the muscle was spasming.  I don't know if that can happen or not but I could not pick up the dog toy without pain.  It took hours until I could type this and make a fist again. I don't know what I did.  I hope I don't do it again. Getting old sucks.

Until tomorrow...

DAY FIFTY OF COOKING COURSE

 I am really excited about this social media stuff.  People really want to view my photos.  

Today I was all set to make a curry but the ingredient didn't show up until 4:30pm.  So I made a Red Curry.  The red curry paste was red, I swear it was red.  Then once I made the curry with all the ingredients, it turned yellow.  I don't know what happened.  It tasted great, if you like spicy curry!  It burned my mouth and I could only taste it and take the photo. My mouth was on fire!  I packed it up and gave it to my friend S and my dog walker.  They love spicy food.  

Today is Pancake Day.  Did you know that?  The day before Lent is pancake day.  It was the day to use up ingredients in the house before Lent.  I decided to have breakfast for dinner and make pancakes.  I made them the American way and ate them with Vermont maple syrup.  I hear it is tradition to make them more like crepes and eat them with lemon and sugar.  

Until tomorrow...

OATMEAL, CHOCOLATE CHUNK AND PECAN COOKIES

 Happy President's Day!  I started to make a dish from my cooking course but low and behold, got part way through and didn't have an ingredient.  I thought I had the ingredient but I didn't.  It was a vital ingredient so I could not continue.

So, I decided to make cookies instead. I made oatmeal, chocolate chunk, and pecan cookies.  They taste yummy.  

 It was a slow holiday type of a day. Plus it was raining. 

Until tomorrow...

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

 It was a rainy and overcast Valentine's Day.  I took a day off from my cooking course and all cooking and baking.  I thought about making cookies but the dank weather got the better of me.  

I met up on zoom with some friends to have a Valentine's Day celebration.  It was nice to see some friendly faces.

I spent much of the afternoon working on social media for my new venture.  I decided that cooking and photography are making me very happy.  I started with Instagram and now I have matching Twitter, blog, Tiktok and website.  I wanted to have a Facebook account too but Facebook is quite difficult.  I have covered all the social media areas.  My cousin is helping me a bit.  The rest I am figuring out myself.  

Today I contacted the website provider and talked the tech's ear off.  I got him to help me with part of setting up the website for me.  The rest I did myself.  This is not my first website. My brother helped me when I did my first website and for the last 10-15 years I have taken care of all the updating and changes. I don't think setting up a new website will be so hard.  I already have the basic set up and some photos on the page.  It mostly says "Under Construction".  

I find it interesting that it is all so easy to set up social media these days. No wonder everyone has social media.  When I made my website years ago, it was so much harder and that was with a website builder.  

Then I took a break and watched the rest of Wanda Vision.  If anyone can explain Wanda Vision to me, please do.  I am totally lost.  I even texted my friend who is an expert on DC Comics and Marvel Comics.  He couldn't figure it out either.  That made me feel much better.  I felt like I did when I watched Westworld.  Totally confused.

I wore my heart monitor for 24 hours so I was allowed to take a shower.  I am not allowed to heavily sweat or have water sit on it or shoot directly on it.  Okay, now take a shower!  My shower is large but the shower fills up most of the area so I fashioned a plastic bag to cover the monitor.  I think tomorrow I am going to use the rainshower since it doesn't shoot at me and may have so much water shooting at me.  Unfortunately the handheld shower is not working (this is something I need to figure out) due to I think when I bought the new shower head. I don't think the shower head works with the handheld.  I need to call the company and find out.

Until tomorrow...

DAY FORTY-NINE OF COOKING COURSE

 I had to use the mushrooms up before they went rotten.  So, I got up this morning and made vegan Pad Kra Pao.  It is a Thai dish with tofu, lots of mushrooms, beans, sauce and spices.  It was so tasty I wanted to gobble it all down.  I had to eat only a little because last night I ate the entire large serving of drunken noodles.  These dishes are delicious but they are not low calorie.  I need to eat some veggies and fruits!  

I had to do another online shopping trip to get food for the rest of the Thai recipes and for the beginning of the next chapter Vietnamese.

I watched a great tearjerker movie today on Apple TV.  It is called Palmer and it stars Justin Timberlake.  I know, I thought Justin Timberlake?  But I was surprised how good he was.  I didn't think Disney's Mickey Mouse Club once.  The little kid in the movie was especially awesome.  Ryder Allen is his name.  Cute as a button!  I recommend it highly.

Until tomorrow...

DAY FORTY-EIGHT OF COOKING COURSE

 The first thing I did today was take my car to the post office and get my mail. The car started right up!  I did sit for 15 minutes a block away and let the car run.  I went through my mail and listened to the radio.  

I got three deliveries today.  

1) my heart monitor. It is on now and ready to go. 

2) a variety set of tea bags. I wanted to have some teas that were different. I loved the sets I got for Christmas so I bought myself a small variety pack. and 

3) a shirt I bought a while ago.  I bought this shirt and never got a email receipt, never got an email confirmation, I got billed on my credit card under a weird name, and the shirt had not arrived in three weeks. I contacted the credit card company to challenge the "weird charge". Then I got an email two days later stating the shirt would be coming in five days. It arrived today and looks great.

I started cooking first by redoing the mistake from yesterday.  I made Tom Yum Tofu soup.  I got all the ingredients in the pot this time.  It was much spicier than I like to eat so after tasting it and taking the photo, I put it in a cup and gave it to the dog walker.  He was happy to give it a try.  I am sure he will ask where the spice is since he likes things spicy.

Then I made a dish that is now one of my favorite, Drunken Noodles!  I don't know why I never tried drunken noodles before.  Drunken noodles (vegan) consists of thick noodles, kale, tofu, carrots, baby corn (baby corn!!!), soy sauces, spices and lime.  It is so flavorful.

I let the dog walker have a small amount but I am eating as much of this as I can.  Yum!  

Until tomorrow...

DAY FORTY-SEVEN OF COOKING COURSE

 Did you ever make a recipe and when you were done you realize you left out an item?  I have seen people on cooking shows do it but I always think it is because they are under such stress, of course it is easy to leave out an item.  Well, let me tell you, it is easy to do it even if you have all the time in the world.  I was cooking Tom Yum soup today (it is one ingredient different from Tom Kha Tofu)  I must have been looking at the recipe for Tom Kha Tofu and forgot to switch back to the recipe for Tom Yum soup.  I got to the end and I was trying the Tom Yum soup and I thought "hm, this tastes exactly like Tom Kha Tofu."  Well, it was Tom Kha Tofu soup.  I make the soup twice in a row!  Luckily, it is so good I will eat it all.

Today I made Tom Kha Tofu soup.  It is a coconut based soup.  It has lemongrass, keffir lime leaves and red chili pepper.  It had tofu, mushrooms, and tomato.  It is one of my favorite soups.  Perfect when you are sick since it is warm and cozy.  

Since I made it twice by accident, I have a bunch!  

Until tomorrow...

DAY FORTY-SIX OF COOKING COURSE

 I cooked two items today.  First I made Glass Noodle Soup.  It is a comfort soup like chicken noodle without the chicken.  It has tofu, cabbage, carrots, celery, mushrooms and glass noodles.  It was easier to make than I thought. Although my dog walker told me he thought it was hard to make so maybe I am getting better at making complicated recipes.  It was so delicious.  My dog walker said "very good!"  I gave him some to take home.  

Then I made Papaya Salad.  This was a bit complicated.  First I had no green papaya so I followed the instructor's directions and used cucumber. Where am I going to get a green papaya during a covid lock down? It was time to make due.  I also didn't have any long beans.  So, it is a covid papaya salad! 

The dressing was supposed to have 1-3 red chili's.  I put in 1/2 of a chili and the dressing burnt my mouth.  I had to keep eating peanuts to cool it down.  The salad was delicious but spicy.  

I think I am liking Thai food.  Some of it is spicy but I am being careful with how much of the chilis I am putting in the food.  If I put the amount the recipe called for, my head would blow off.  

Until tomorrow...

DAY FORTY-FIVE OF COOKING COURSE

 Today was busy!  I cooked two things.  

First I made Yam-Spicy Mushroom Salad.  It does not have yams in it as I thought.  It is called Yam and it is a salad with mushrooms and veggies.  It is also a warm salad.  The spice comes from the dressing that goes over it.  Boy, was it spicy for me!  The veggies cooled it down.  It was so delicious I ate the whole thing right after taking this photo.

Then after I cleaned up from the salad, I started making Fresh Spring Rolls and Dipping Sauce.  These are different than the fried spring rolls in that they are not fried.  

The spring rolls have the same ingredients as the friend spring rolls and those ingredients are cooked in a wok for a few minutes.  The ingredients are tofu, veggies, and glass noodles.  Then they are rolled in a brown rice wrapper.  The dipping sauce is almost the same as the dressing on the salad.  I ate all the fresh spring rolls, they were so good.  Yum!

I got another delivery today.  I got my bird watching book.  I saw a woodpecker two days ago. I have never seen a woodpecker near my home before. It was so exciting.  I wanted to look it up and read about it.  But I need to have a guide near the door if I see it again.  I have it narrowed down to two woodpeckers.  Woody is not one of them.  It is either an Acorn or a Nuttail woodpecker.  I have to see the woodpecker again to be sure.

Until tomorrow...

CARDIOLOGIST VIDEO APPOINTMENT

 I had my video appointment with my cardiologist today and it turns out I haven't seen her since 2019.  Early in 2019.  Time is so weird right now.  Was it yesterday or a year ago?  Who knows?  

We talked about putting me on medicine (I say no) again. We talked about if my heart palpitations got worse (no) and if I have new symptoms (maybe).  She was happy to hear I was exercising but wanted to know if my palpitations happened when I exercised (no).  Since I am not going near people (she agrees) she is sending me a heart monitor to use for two weeks.  This will be my third heart monitor I have ever done.  When I exercise it will be like doing a stress test.  So fun!  

Since I had that appointment and another one plus some work, I didn't have time to do any cooking today. I got some deliveries. I got my refund check from the cable company because I cancelled my service.  It was $6 more than expected!  The fresh lemongrass I ordered arrived a whole week early as did the mushroom stock.  

Until tomorrow...

BETTER AND MORE FUN NEXT YEAR

 Okay, I have eaten too much chili.  It is Superbowl day and I have been waiting to eat the chili I made and now I am so full.  It was a boring Superbowl.  Frankly, I stopped watching after halftime.  I wanted to have a good time watching football but it just wasn't the same.  The commercials weren't that fun.  The halftime show was boring.  I was disappointed.  Then I ate my disappointment in chili and cornbread.  

I guess next year it will be better and more fun.  We can hope, can't we?  That next year we can have Superbowl parties and see commercials with foot long subs and see morning show with contests about the best appetizer to serve at the party.  How to tailgate.  Which beer is the best.  Who has the best barbecue.  

I realized this year I didn't even check into the puppy bowl.  I usually check to see how cute the puppies are but I forgot this year.  Maybe that is some of my disappointment too.  

Until tomorrow... 

DAY FORTY-FOUR OF COOKING COURSE

 I got my certificate for finishing the Japanese/Ramen course!  There was a test and I passed with 100%.  I made sushi rice so many times, I know the recipe by heart.  

Now I am on to the Thai course. Today I made Fried Spring Rolls.  Once again I had to improvise and used rice paper wrappers instead of the regular spring roll wrappers.  It made it a little harder but they turned out great and tasted amazing.  There was so much flavor!  I put all the ingredients (red cabbage, tofu, carrots, cucumber, mushrooms, and glass noodles) in my trusty wok and cooked them up.  Then I put those ingredients in the wrappers and back in the wok to get fried up.  

It made about seven of them and I am not ashamed to say they are all in my stomach.  Yes, I ate them all for what my family calls Linner (lunch and dinner combined).  

I started watching a Netflix series called Firefly Lane.  I think I read the book years ago.  So far it is good.  I finally finished The Magicians. That was awesome and I am sad they are not filming another season.

I took my car to get the mail and parked to let it run for 15 minutes before I came home.  I do not want to have to call for service again.

Until tomorrow...

YUP, MY CAR WOULDN'T START

 Okay, it finally happened.  I went out to my car and it wouldn't start.  The battery was just about dead. There was not enough charge to start the car.  The car was stuck and I was unable to get to the post office to get my weekly mail.  More importantly I had outgoing mail that needed to be postmarked today.

I had to call for service and get the battery charged.  The battery is fairly new so all it needed was to be charged and run for 30 minutes.  All is good now.  

I ended up having to stalk the postman to make sure the mail was picked up and sent on it's way.  

Since my day was sent into chaos, I decided I was not in the right head space to start my Thai cooking course.  Instead I started watching a Netflix movie The Dig.  I won't say much because it was so good.  It is a true story about a British woman who, pre-WWII, decided to hire an amateur archeologist to dig on her land. It may sound boring but it isn't. There is so much to the story.  Then to find out the story is true was fascinating.  I recommend it highly.

Since I was not starting the Thai chapter, I thought I would swap what I was going to cook tomorrow and do it today.  I made vegan TVP (textured vegetable protein) chili and corn bread.  

It is very good.  It isn't the best chili I ever made but I never made chili with TVP before. It adds a different taste to the chili.  I am ready for Superbowl Sunday.

Until tomorrow...

THE DAY JUST FLEW BY (NOT IN A GOOD WAY)

 I spent the day getting ready for making Thai food.  I had deliveries.  I had to pay bills.  I worked.  I had foster kid work.  I exercised.  I caught up with a friend.  All of a sudden it was dinner time.  I am not sure where the day went.  

Don't you hate those days?  It is 9 am and then suddenly it is dinner time.  You can't remember all the things you did but you were busy all day.  You can't imagine those tasks took all day but they did.  That was my day today.

I hope tomorrow is different.

Until tomorrow...

SOCIAL MEDIA CHANGE

 I have been working for two days to make a change.  I have an Instagram account where I have been posting photos of my cooking course.  I thought it was okay and everything was fine.  Then this past week I was on the phone with a friend that I had not spoken to in a few months and she told me I really needed to make a new public Instagram account.  My current Instagram account is a private personal account and tied to other social media. If I am serious about wanting to increase my followers on Instagram, I need a public Instagram account.

I have the new Instagram account up and running.  I don't have any followers yet but it is just a matter of time.

I just got my veggie and fruit delivery and I got mint instead of lemongrass.  A bit of disappointment since I am about to start cooking Thai food and lemongrass is so important.  I will have to find another place to get it.  On the flip side I have tons of mint!  Mint tea, mint hot chocolate...

Until tomorrow...

DAY FORTY-THREE OF COOKING COURSE

 Last day of sushi!  Today I made a Sushi Cake.  At first I was a bit suspect of making a cake of sushi but it turned out pretty good.  It was about 12 steps and took a bit of time but by now I was used to these steps. 

One of the many steps was to make carrot flowers.  I watched the video of the woman making her flowers and she used a tiny cookie cutter.  I do not have a tiny cookie cutter so I had to free hand cut carrots.  They ended up being very new age flowers.

The sushi cake includes sushi rice, black rice, tofu scramble, and veggies.  I did not have a sushi cake bowl so I used a vase to make the cake. I did not have lotus root so I used water chestnuts.  I could not find beet juice but I found a child's juice that had beet juice in it and used that to dye the water chestnuts pale pink.  I found that the ability to improvise is helping me get through this cooking course.  

The sushi cake turned out pretty good and tastes really great.

It is Groundhog Day and I hear he saw his shadow so there will be six weeks more winter.  Okay. Great.

Until tomorrow...

DAY FORTY-TWO OF COOKING COURSE

 I made Inside-Out Sushi Rolls today.  This was the most intricate sushi so far.  It is basically a backward sushi roll.  The rice is on the outside and the veggies are on the inside.  Once again my dog walker and my friend S received the sushi for dinner.  I have been told it was "tremendous".  

I did my food shopping for the next chapter today. The next chapter is Thai food.  I am super excited.  

I am having some super pain in my hands.  I think all this sushi rolling is not too good for my hands. It has also been a very rainy week and that doesn't help.  Tomorrow is the last day of sushi but it isn't a sushi roll.

I read an article today in the news that talked about immunocompromised people and whether they will produce any antibodies from the vaccine or not. If no antibodies are produced then what will happen?  The current thoughts are to keep safe after getting the vaccine and then get tested to see if there are antibodies being produced before heading out into the world.  I am going to check with my RA doctor and get my head ready to stay inside for longer just in case.

Until tomorrow...