AND MORE CHOCOLATE

After visiting my OB/GYN, I made another attempt at perfecting my chocolate. It didn't go well. Tomorrow is another day to try 

The visit to my OB/GYN did not go as expected. I won't go into the gory details but omI an not sure I am going back to see her. I said this last time but I relented and returned. This time I will not return. It was a horrible visit. 

Until tomorrow...

MORE CHOCOLATE

After a couple of hours of work, began to experiment with fillings in chocolate with different flavors and ingredients. 

Not as easy as you think. Taking a regular recipe and changing it into a vegan recipe can be tricky sometimes. It is especially tricky when using milk. Some vegan milks have a flavor to them. Certain creams like heavy creams, have a flavor usually of coconut. Also using coconut oil is quite popular but the coconut flavor comes through on whatever you're making. 

I have tried about five different ways of making the filling for my chocolate but so far no luck. I am trying a new version tomorrow so wish me good luck. 

I'm also preparing for my ex-foster's son's graduation from high school. This is a very big day and one that I was many times thinking would never happen. I'm super proud of him. 

Until tomorrow...

HIKING & CHOCOLATE

No, I did not take chocolate hiking. Vivien and I woke up and decided to go for a hike. We went to a sort of local park, that I've only been to once, to do a two mile hike. It's a very cute park with a little lake and woods. Miss Vivian was having a grand old time sniffing everything along the path. She also met couple of little dogs that she got along with. The only dog she didn't like was the puppy who kept barking at her.

When we got home I started making candy again. I've been working on what goes inside the chocolate. Since it's vegan it's a little more complicated than just buying caramel and putting it in the chocolate. There are items like vegan heavy cream, aquafaba, coconut milk and coconut cream. How to make it vegan, sustainable and quick. That's what I'm tough to do. I think I'm almost there. 

Friend is having a birthday party this coming weekend and I volunteered to make a lentil salad. As soon as I agreed, I went on Instagram and there was this amazing lentil salad recipe. That is what I'm now going to make. 

Until tomorrow...

MAKING CHOCOLATES

Early in the morning I went to Whole Foods to pick up a few items that didn't come the other day in my food order. 

Then I began making the filling for the chocolates. I never made this type of filling before and the first attempt did not work. The second attempt worked pretty good but the taste was off. I think one of the ingredients was off a bit. 

I melted the chocolate and filled the molds. About 20 minutes later I put the filling in the mold and covered it with chocolate. 

Then I took the the dog to the dog park. The park was very empty but she got to play with a couple of dogs. There was a little Chihuahua that she was particularly fond of. The dog parents were a bit odd. 

Until tomorrow.. 

NO POWER AGAIN

First thing in the morning the new pest guy arrived. He was so nice and such a change from the arrogant pest guy that came a few months ago. Seems like he might be able to solve my past problem. 

Around lunch time a friend came by and we went for a walk to get Indian Street food. We ate outside and then walked back home. It was really good food that I haven't had for years and didn't realize I missed.

After she left I picked up the remote control to put on the Olympics to watch while I made chocolates and all the power died. I I thought it was just me because weird things were happening. Two of my outlets were making this weird clicking noise and the refrigerator was beeping. Of course I ran downstairs to check the breaker box but everything was fine. My attempt to make chocolates was thwarted by a car that ran into a fire hydrant and electric pole. The beeping and clicking went on for the longest time. Then I finally got a notification that my electricity would be out for about 5 hours. 

Since I had taken all the extension cords and put them away from the other nights power outage, I had to redo all of the extension cords to keep the refrigerator going and this time I figured out how to make the Wi-Fi work. Thank goodness I charged up the generator. I guess for the time being I should keep the generator full. 

Well the power came back on around 6:30 p.m. which was too late to start making chocolates. But because I had Wi-Fi the whole time I was able to watch some shows on my iPad. 

Until tomorrow...

CLEANED UP HOUSE

Last night the power was actually out from 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. It really wasn't a bad situation. I kept myself occupied. 

Starting early in the morning tomorrow I'm going to have a pest control person come and assess my situation in the backyard. Animals are eating by lemons and lemon tree. I hear it's probably rats. The guy told me that these kind of rats stay in the backyard and don't come in your house. So that's some good news. Whatever they are they're driving Vivien crazy. She must have some terrier in her. 

Then my friend is stopping by. This all means I needed to pick up the house. I can never figure out how it gets so messed up but it must be me. I washed dishes,  I cleaned behind the refrigerator I did various other things to get the house ready. 

Until tomorrow...

POWER OUTAGE

I received a letter just under 2 weeks ago letting me know that the power on my street was going to be off tonight. The power is going to be off from 9:00 p.m. till 6:00 a.m. the next day. I've just spent the last half hour sorting out how to keep my refrigerators running during this time. I'll take Orencia and it needs to stay cold. This is always a fear of mine that the power will go out and my medicine will go bad.

If you are a frequent reader you know that I bought a solar generator a while back. It is going to come in awfully handy tonight. I had extension cords going from my kitchen refrigerator to the generator and also my garage refrigerator going to the generator. We shall see if there's enough power in the generator to go all night. I've got my fingers crossed. 

I was kind of concerned on what I was going to do from 9:00 till 11:00 but I did stuff on my phone and I watched some TV on my iPad. I kept myself entertained. 

Until tomorrow...

MAMMOGRAM DAY

I had my mammogram today. I wore my tiara to give me luck. The whole process was pretty painless but it is a pain. Who wants their boobs shoved in to a machine that clamps them flat?  Not fun. 

Then I returned the giant cooler I bought by accident. Well I knew I was buying it but I didn't realize it would take up the entire back of my NEW car. It wouldn't have fit in my old car! 

Until tomorrow...

BREAST MRI

 I went to my breast MRI this morning. It is such an uncomfortable test. You undress, lay face down on the MRI bed with your face in a circle. Your breasts are put in a metal guard where your breasts are sticking through downward. They stick you feet first into the MRI machine. Half way through, they put some contrast in your arm.  Fun it was not. I did wear my tiara!! 

Until tomorrow....

GEARING UP

I am gearing up for this week. I have my breast MRI and my mammogram all this week. I've got my tiara (my lucky tiara) already put in my bag so I don't forget it. I've had that tiara, which was given to me by a friend, for over 20 years. It looks a little more but it still has the magic that's keeping me from having breast cancer. 

Not sure I've thanked my friend enough for getting me this tiara. If nothing else it gives me a lot of confidence when I go in for breast health exams. Plus I get called princess, Queen, and your highness. Who wouldn't want that? 

Until tomorrow...