NATIONAL SPOIL YOUR DOG DAY

 There is actually a day to spoil your dog.  My dog is spoiled with love every day!  Spoiled with discipline and training.  She gets to cuddle all she wants at night in bed.  

She is asleep with her Bubba.  She named her toy.  She loves this toy.  She throws it up in the air and runs to catch it.  Her dog walker gave it to her and she loves him.  I already bought her a replacement for when it dies because I know she will be so unhappy.  Her old favorite toy (toy #2) is a pink monkey that my friend in KY gave her has gone through three iterations.  She just loves her favorite toys.  

When I first got Lucky she could not have toys because she would resource guard them (attack anyone/thing who came near her when she had them) so all toys had to be taken away.  As she got more comfortable, older, more domesticated I was able to take a few toys out and she was able to share them with Happi.  Mostly because Happi didn't play with toys.  Happi had three legs so toys weren't as fun for her.  Happi could chase and bring back toys but she couldn't trap toys that rolled or moved easily.  Now Lucky has tons of toys and I am constantly stepping on them in the dark.

I mostly worked today.  My client called with an emergency that took a while to fix.  Seems that someone went into the database and made a change that made it so no one could see or approve time sheets.  I had to have a talk about not touching the database because people don't know what they are doing and their 5 minute thing took me 1 hour to fix.  Don't touch things you don't understand.

Lucky and I got to take a one mile walk.  

Until tomorrow...

NOODLE, VEGGIE AND TOFU WITH PEANUT SAUCE

 I reset most of the clocks and things around the house this morning.  I have a few left to do from the power outage yesterday.  I recharged my handy backup charger. I have to be ready for the next power outage! 

I made a very nice Noodle, Veggie and Tofu with Peanut Sauce dish.  I used Udon noodles and baked tofu with red cabbage, broccoli, kale, and shiitake mushrooms.  It is so good.  I now have three dishes to eat this week.  I had the Vegan Broccoli Chickpea Soup for lunch and the Sweet and Spicy Lo Mien with Sesame Broccoli and Mushrooms for dinner.  It is like being in my own restaurant in my house with all this good food.

I walked three miles on the walking DVD tonight.  When I bought the walking DVD set it had a one-mile, two-mile and three-mile.  I thought I would never get to do the three-mile when I could barely get through the one-mile at the beginning.  Today I killed the three-mile DVD and it didn't even bother me.  It was more than 5,000 steps.  I may have to look into a 4 and 5-mile DVD. 

The air quality was "good" again today.  I keep waiting for this bad air they keep saying is coming.  It can stay away if you ask me.

Until tomorrow...

SMOKE AND NO ELECTRICITY

 The day started out with me waking up to air that smelled of smoke.  Although the Air Quality Management said the air quality was "good", I could smell the smoke and that means I will cough.  So, all windows and doors had to stay closed, much to Lucky's annoyance.  She loves to sunbathe at about 11am when the sun comes out on the deck.  It was not very sunny at that time because it was foggy or smoggy or smokey.  I am not sure what it was.  So no outside walking today.

So we stayed inside and watched TV and I cooked.  I made Sweet and Spicy Lo Mein with Sesame Broccoli and Mushrooms.  It is really good.  I swapped out the lo mien noodles for spaghetti and I used shiitake mushrooms instead of baby bellas but it tastes delicious.   

 Then at 5:04pm I got a text message saying the electricity was turned off.  But my electricity was not turned off so I didn't take it seriously.  My mistake.  About 50 minutes later click, the electricity turned off.  I waited because it said the electricity would come back on at 7:15pm.  Okay, not too bad.  Then I got a text saying the electricity was going to be off until 11:30pm.  Then I started to go into go mode.  I went to get my camping lamp (from the 1980s) and all my flashlights.  That was when I realized that my really good flashlights (you know the kind) that were good in an emergency both died recently.  They use those 6V batteries and last forever.  So while I was sitting here I ordered two new big flashlights, two battery operated lamps and a solar operated lamp.  

Then I got my portable charger.  I never really had to use it but I bought it for just this reason.  I keep it charged and thank goodness.  This power outage didn't give me enough time to charge anything (well it did if I took it seriously) so I only had 40% left on my phone.  I had to use my phone to watch TV with no WiFi.  Watching TV will suck your power very fast.  I plugged in my portable charger and it charged my phone while I watched TV.  

Then at 8:25pm Click the power came back on.  Tomorrow I will be spending 30 minutes resetting all the timers and clocks in the house. 

So no inside walking today.  I was planning on walking the 3 mile DVD today.  Just wasn't meant to be.

Until tomorrow...

AIR QUALITY GOOD

 It was supposed to be a smokey day today due to the fires far away.  I checked the air quality and it was "good".  There was no smoke smell at all.  I kept the windows and doors open and it was fine.  Lucky and I walked one mile in the sunshine.

I had a day of laundry and cooking.  I made Vegan Broccoli Chickpea Soup.  It is super good.  I only had a taste but I liked it.  I am making it to eat this week.  It has broccoli, chickpeas, red peppers, carrots, kale, corn, and zucchini.  There is turmeric in the broth.

I watched the movie Gunpowder Milkshake.  It was a good movie but you need to suspend reality.  It was a women empowerment movie.  Then I watched Concrete Cowboys.  It is about the cowboys and horses in West Philly.  It is a fiction movie based on reality.  It stars Idris Elba.  

Until tomorrow...

DAY ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-FOUR OF COOKING COURSE

I baked all day today to get the Vegan Gluten-free Flan Patissier completed.  For those of you who only took one year of high school French  (like I did) that means French Custard Cake.  It was a long day making sure it was all correct.  I finally got it in the oven and the directions were bake "20 -50 minutes" depending on your oven.  No other directions.  I never baked a custard type cake before and I didn't know what it was supposed to look or act like when it was done.  I kept baking it.  I finally took it out when it looked sort of done and not as "wiggly".  It turns out it was done, I think.  I am not a flan or custard fan so this will definitely be going to the neighbors and dog walker.  I tried it and it is okay but give me a chocolate cake any day.  

The crust got a little wonky.  I never baked with a gluten-free crust before.  It tastes fine, it is just falling apart. 

I realized that I never gave my review of Jungle Cruise the Disney movie.  Here goes.  I really enjoyed it as a fun movie with no expectations.  I see it as a cross between Pirates of the Caribbean and Romancing the Stone and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.  There was a little bit of suspended belief, a lot of laughs and a very, very small amount of thrill.  I enjoyed it for a Saturday night movie.  It kept me awake (which is the main thing) and I had fun.  

No time for a walk today.  I was busy doing this baking plus the air quality is bad from the fires.  We may not be going outside for walks for a few days.  We may be staying inside with windows and doors closed and air purifiers on.  The best things I bought last year.  Just thankful we have electricity from the sun gods.  

Until tomorrow...

THE CROWN #3 TEMPORARY

 I woke up early today, went to the dentist's office and had my inlay partial crown removed.  This was not an easy task.  Half of the inlay came off very easy. In fact so easy it almost went down my throat when it popped off.  It turns out the inlay had become unglued from my tooth.  The other half of the inlay was most certainly glued to my tooth. In fact it was so glued, I didn't think she was going to get it off.  I was waiting for her to get out the crowbar.  She was pushing and pulling and using all sorts of equipment and then finally it popped off.  She called it a dental miracle because my tooth was cracked underneath the inlay but the inlay was intact.  

Once she had the crown off, she did the drilling she needed to clean it out and get it ready for the temporary crown.  Now I just wait for my new crown.  She is not using gold right now because it is so expensive. She is using a Zirconia crown.  I did not know that my last crown was also a Zirconia crown.  

I took it easy today since I had a tough dental morning and lots of Novocaine.  After lunchtime Lucky and I took a one-mile walk.  We ran into a neighbor and chatted for a few minutes.  We stayed far apart since his little chihuahua is vicious and would attack Lucky.  The funny thing is his dog (who I call El Diablo) absolutely loves me.  He always wants to come to my gate and sniff and lick my hand.  I won't pet him because he doesn't like that and he has bitten people in the neighborhood who try to pet him.  

After I let the cooing school know about the problems I had with the French Pastry chapter, I got a DM today letting me now that they were sending me a free extra month after my one-year subscription was over to sign up for another chapter of my choice.  I was told they were coming out with another French baking chapter in November so I could sign up for that one maybe.

Until tomorrow...

THE CROWN NUMBER 3 (NOT THE CROWN SEASON 3)

 Interesting news.  I went to the dentist today to get a three week checkup after getting my mouth guard.  We set this appointment because my teeth on the left side were bothering me when I got the mouth guard and we weren't sure if it was because I went over seven weeks without a mouth guard grinding and gritting my teeth into oblivion or did I have an actual tooth problem.  The day I got my mouth guard it was impossible to tell because all my teeth hurt.  My jaw hurt.  

First I have to say, when I got to the dental building I waited to get into an elevator by myself and finally gave up and took the stairs.  It was only 5 floors.  Heck, I walk 2 miles a day.  The dentist looked at my teeth and it took a minute for her to find the crack.  Yes, I cracked another tooth.  The current theory is that when I bit down on the walnut shell and I broke my tooth a few months ago, I probably made a tiny crack in this current tooth too.  It was not noticeable enough on the x-ray. According to the dentist I have tiny cracks in many of my teeth. Since it was not painful and not noticeable, it was overlooked.  Then I went over seven weeks with no night guard and ground the heck out of my teeth.  What was a tiny crack now became a bigger crack and painful when I bite down.  It isn't horribly painful.  I could live with it for much longer but I worry that the same thing will happen and my tooth will fall apart.  It is a tooth with a partial crown.  So, the partial crown needs to come off and then a new crown needs to be put on.  For those of you keeping track, since Covid started this is crown number three.  I am keeping my dentist is business.  As I said before, I should just have my pay direct deposited to the dentist's bank account.  

Stress is shown in different ways.  Mine is through my stomach, my RA and how bad my tooth grinding and gritting gets.  I always grind and grit my teeth since I have done it my whole life but it gets worse when I am under enormous stress.  I think the last 18 months would be a perfect example of enormous stress.

I did not walk today.  I was busy and did not want to.  I think I am feeling a little sorry for myself.  

I did not bake today either.  I will not ready to do the next project and I had all these other things happen.

I had a few people reach out to me today.  It was one of those days. I can go days without my phone ringing and then one day I will have four people reach out.  It is like a vibe happens and everyone wants to talk/text with me.  I call it a "popular day". 

Until tomorrow...

WHAT IS GRAPPA?

 I did not bake today. I was supposed to plan my next project but I got distracted.  I did some admin work and some other stuff.  I took a walk with Lucky.  I cleaned up the kitchen and ran the dishwasher.  I logged my miles in my walking log book.  I spoke with my step-sister.  

I made something good for dinner but I haven't posted it yet so I don't have pretty photos yet.  Another day. 

Last night after I posted my blog, my neighbor came by with six bottles of liquor.  He was so nice to go to three stores to get me the liquor I need for the rest of my courses.  He even gave me two bottles of wine from his personal collection to save money.  The most expensive was the grappa.  I probably only need a little bit but I had to buy a whole bottle.  Since I don't drink, I will have to find someone to give it to.  A grappa drinker. Grappa is a type of brandy of Italian heritage that tastes like sour plums dipped in honey.  

Lucky and I took a one-mile walk today. We ran into two sets of strangers who thought Lucky was a cute puppy.  I had to tell them she was a 12 year old dog.  She shocks people all the time because she acts and looks like she is super young.  

Until tomorrow...

DAY ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-THREE OF COOKING COURSE

 I finished my first French Pastry creation.  It was a haul but I did it.  There were so many components that it took three days.  I now see why French Pastries cost so much. They must have 10 people work on them.  It tastes amazing.  I gave a few away and I am sure I will hear if they are as tasty as I think they are.  

The creation is a Baba au Rhum.  There is a few layers: the baba soaked in passion fruit syrup, mango salad, crumble, mango cremeux, vanilla pastry cream.  I plated it two different ways: restaurant quality and cafe style.  

The restaurant style is so fancy and delicious.  The cafe style is like a party in my mouth with each spoonful.  The dessert is so delicious with the mango and passion fruit. 

I decided to stay inside today and finish my dessert and I did the walking DVD for 2 miles.  This allowed me to have the time to finish the dessert, take the photos, wash the MANY dishes and be ready for my doctor appointment.  If I had gone out for an outside walk, I would have left one of these things to do later and been stressed.  

Until tomorrow...

DAY ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-TWO OF COOKING COURSE

 Today was another day of baking for many hours.  I am still working on my French pastry project but there were so many components that I didn't get to finish.  Some of the components needed to chill for 12 hours and others needed to have room temperature butter.  I just wasn't prepared since the instructions are not very good.  For the next recipe I will need to watch the whole video before I cook and check for mistakes in the written directions since I follow the written directions sometimes.  I definitely follow the ingredient list and sometimes that has been incomplete.  

Tomorrow I have one component left to do and then I can put the dessert together.  I want to do it two different ways: fine dining or casual. It should be fun.  

Lucky and I went for another one-mile walk.  It was a nice day and not too windy.  

Until tomorrow...