GOING BACK ON ORENCIA TODAY

 Today was a very busy day. I worked a lot, went for a walk to the post office, made a stir fry for dinner, and took care of some stuff for my ex-foster kid. My stir fry was made with butternut squash, zucchini, tofu, and broccoli. I ate it with Udon noodles. 

I am going back on Orencia today. I am hoping that it helps with some of my pain. For about two months now I have been having lots of pain in my knees. My left knee hurt so much I was wondering if I hurt it somehow. I knew I didn't fall or trip or twist it. I decided I needed to rest it and elevate it. So I stopped walking for my challenge and walking the dog. I put pillows in my bed so I could elevate my knee. I tried not to go up and down the stairs as much. I stopped squatting when I give Lucky her medicine. Instead I got a little stool to sit on. 

Just this week I noticed that my knee is not bothering me hardly at all. I think it was inflammation and not an injury to my knee.  In fact today Lucky and I walked longer than around the block for the first time in almost two months. So Hurrah!

Until tomorrow...

CYBER MONDAY

 Cyber Monday. I did a little shopping. A little work. It was a day of doing small things that added up to big times. I started watching a new old series. Hot Zone. If you like apocalypse type shows this is for you. I have almost completed all my Thanksgiving leftovers. One more serving and I am done. The food was so good. 

I did order more Orencia. I decided to go back on Orencia now that my tooth infection is cleared up. I guess I will go back on until the next booster shot in January or February. There is no point in changing medicine during this endemic since I am going to on and off repeatedly. 

A boring day for a change. 

Until tomorrow...

VEGAN CHRISTMAS DOG BISCUITS

 Today was a day to make some vegan Christmas dog biscuits. I wanted to make them today so they are ready for Christmas for a present for Lucky. I am going to freeze some of them for the big day. I will surprise her with some biscuits. 

I will be using these in my annual Christmas card. I needed a prop for my photo. 

Lucky loves these cookies so much. She loves them but I need to limit the amount she eats since they are made with pumpkin. The pumpkin I had was so difficult to cut that I just only got the amount that I needed to make this recipe. It was the thickest pumpkin I ever had. I ended up putting the rest in the compost.

Until tomorrow...

VEGAN KABOCHA SOUP

 Is this a lazy weekend or is it just me?  I feel like I just don't want to do anything major. I know I need to get my Christmas game started but I just don't feel like it. All I did today was wash dishes, turn on the dishwasher, do a load of laundry, walk around the block with Lucky, take my neighbor a slice of pie, and make kabocha soup. That is it in 10 hours. 

The kabocha soup is really kabocha/butternut squash soup. My kabocha was starting to go bad so I had to supplement the soup with some roasted butternut squash. It turned out very tasty but a bit thin. That is okay, I can drink it in a mug. It will freeze nicely and will be good if I get sick. All that ginger is good for a stuffy head. 

Until tomorrow...

MY DAY OF REST

 The day after Thanksgiving. I call it "My Day of Rest". I do not go out shopping even pre-Covid. I stay home and away from stores and people rushing around. I watch TV, movies, take a bath and eat leftovers. That is exactly what I did today. 

The only variation today was that I got an unexpected delivery. My power washer showed up today. My old power washer died and I recently had a large garbage pickup and had them take it away. I loaned my old power washer to a neighbor a couple of years ago and unbeknownst to me when he returned it, it was broken. About a year later, I went to use it and it didn't work right. It has been sitting broken for about two years waiting for me to get rid of it. I have a small car so it is hard to remove large items like that. Today the very nice UPS man arrived with my box, went to deliver another package while I made room in my garage for my box, then carried the box it into my garage and placed it in the spot I cleared out. Wasn't that nice?! My Fed Ex guy could learn a thing or two from him. My Fed Ex guy threw my box of canned dog food up my front steps (there are 12 of them) one day. We have come to a truce since then. I think I won him over with with my sparkling personality. Maybe I should try my baked goods??

That was basically my day. It is what I wanted to do and I did it. Tomorrow I will get going on other things like shopping and baking and Christmas stuff. I just wanted one day to tune out the world. 

Until tomorrow...

UNPLANNED THANKSGIVING DAY

 What a day! I had a whole plan for today and you know what: shot to h-e-double hockey sticks. The plan went awry when I took the job to make the pies. I have been planning my menu for Thanksgiving for a few weeks but it meant I had to start on Wednesday. Since I made those 5 (really 7) pies on Monday and Tuesday I was exhausted on Wednesday so I did not cook. Instead I had to do everything today. I got my self together and started cooking around 11 am. That was enough time to get it all done if I stayed focused. That lasted about two hours when my friends son called me and said he wanted to come by for a visit. He may not be able to before Christmas due to his new job. I said that would be nice. He and I sat out back for 1.5 hours with our masks on 6' apart. 

When he left I started cooking again but then my mother called and I spoke to her. Then a bit later my brother called. It seems my headset broke this week so I could not use it. Then my cousin called. It was so nice of all these people to think of me on this holiday. 

In between I was putting things in the oven and putting things on the stove and stirring and pouring. I finally got everything done when my cousin called and I ate through our phone call. Sorry about that but I was hungry and it was 7:30pm. 

I made a vegan Thanksgiving. Gratin Dauphinois, Pumpkin Quiche (but I used butternut squash because it was late and I already had some butternut squash cut up) and Wild Rice and Butternut Squash Bake. It all tasted delicious. I have leftovers for tomorrow. I am about to eat my lemon tart with a cup of tea. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY OF REST

 I was hoping to have a day of rest and recovery. I was doing really well at this but then I decided to make a quick curd to fill my empty pie crust. I had one "mistake" pie crust that I never filled with curd, so today I filled it. 

That was basically my whole day. I gave my dog walker his pie and he was so happy to get it.

Until tomorrow...

THE PIES WERE DELIVERED

 Today was a whirlwind. I got up early and took a shower to get the day going. I fed the animals and started in on my plan. First up was the whipped cream for the banana cream pies. Well, that was the first problem. It wasn't my fault but I guess not all coconut milk is the same. I had to buy another brand because I was short a few cans and cans for the second pie didn't whip up like the cans for the first pie. I tried a few different things and ended up ditching the whole batch. Then what to do? I had only a very small can (always check the ounces when buying things online) of coconut milk. I went down to my pantry and found some cans of coconut cream. I never made whipped cream with coconut cream but cream is in the name so I took a chance and it worked. I finished the pie in time to let it chill for 2.5 hours.

I then got to take a short break. I needed it after whipping cream for 1.5 hours off and on. I garnished the lemon pies with the candy lemons and made the garnish for the banana cream: chopped pecans and almonds with chocolate shavings. For one of the pies I put the shavings in a baggy because I know the person's son has allergies. I figure I will let them decided if it is okay for the kiddo. 

 Then the hour arrived. I garnished the banana cream pies, carried them all upstairs to go in the boxes and then put them all in a Chewy box that held them perfectly. I put the box in the car and drove to their office.

 These pies were a surprise for the staff members so I stood outside the office and told the receptionist I was outside. The dentist came out and was so pleased with how they looked. She told me she was going to tell her friends. She also said I needed to charge more. I am going to research more about cost. I did this for her as a friend and to start out. Boy did I learn some lessons.

The things I learned: 1) always have extra ingredients on hand, 2) you never have too much time, 3) always make extra especially when you are trying a recipe for the first time, 4) when you make something for the first time assume the first one will be the "first pancake" the throw away, and 5) don't try and bake two pies at the same time when it is the first time you are baking that recipe. I ended up with two "first pancakes". One will go to my dog walker. It isn't horrible, it just wasn't perfect to sell. He will be happy with it. I am keeping the other. 

 I am happy it over and I think I would do it again with more planning time. I would charge more too. 

Now I have to think about Thanksgiving.

Until tomorrow...

DAY THREE OF PIE PREP

 I woke up and got started on the pie making. First I had to make the pie crusts for the Lemon Pies. I made the mistake of making two pie crusts at once. I put them both in the oven at once. It would have been fine but I made the pie crusts too thick. Lesson learned when making a new recipe: make one first and see how it turns out, then make the rest. The two (I call them First Pancakes) are not terrible. They are just not sellable. So I had to remake the two crusts and then the third. I had some extra crust and made two tarts.

After a break, I made the lemon curd. I learned and made one portion of curd. It was not up to par so I put it in the First Pancake crust. I then fixed the curd and made three more curds. I filled three crusts and the tarts. I will fill the last crust in a day or so. It is for me to eat so I will do it later.

Then after a break I made the Candy Lemons to garnish the lemon pie. This was easy and I hope they turn out okay. I was running out of descent lemons at this point. I used over 20 lemons to make these pies and tarts. Some of them were from my tree and were super small (just over the size of a dollar coin). 

I am on track to finish on time. I have to find a bag to carry them when I deliver them. I have a list of things to do tomorrow morning. 

That was my whole day! 

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO OF PIE PREP

 Today I continued with my pie prep. First I cleaned out the refrigerator downstairs. I now have two completely empty shelves. Those should hold five pies. 

Then I cleaned off the stove. I know what you are thinking, how dirty is her stove? I clean it all the time. But today I did the deep dive clean. I have a very old Wedgewood stove and it is very hard to clean not like the new stoves. What I really need to do is take all the stove top pieces off and soak them in soapy water. But that is a task for another day. I cleaned them off so they sparkled. 

Then I cleared off my kitchen table so I can cool pies and do assembly on it.  I cleaned off my counter and made lots of room to assemble pies. 

I go my two deliveries from Amazon with my paper pie pans and 8" springform pan. Now I can start on the No Bake Banana Cream pie. I have two 8" pans now. I proceeded to make the crust and put it in the pan. They are chilling in the fridge. The crust is made out of nuts, dates and coconut oil basically. 

The rest will be done tomorrow and Tuesday morning. 

Then I made some roasted Romeanesco cauliflower, zucchini and broccoli and some baked tofu for dinner. It tasted marvelous.

It was a full day. I also talked on the phone with a friend who just moved to the Cincinnati area.

Until tomorrow...