Saturday, looking towards next week

As promised, I wrote up the recipe and how GOOD these cookies are 

on my All the Ribbons blog earlier today!

They have this wonderful understated lemony tang,

the sweetness of the cookie is blissfully understated and the balance of 

flavours is lovely.  The cookie is soft, tender, chewy but crisp enough

that it clatters perfectly on the plate when serving the cookies.

I call it a cookie with an old soul, one that feels linked to the generations

before who have baked this cookie from Patrick's stash of recipes

handwritten on index cards.

For more, please read my blog post:

Lemon Crinkle Cookies!

I can't wait to have more of them tomorrow,

they are the understated type of cookie that wows you more mid-bite than immediately

but that you find yourself thinking about later, and wishing for another,

and then another.... 

 Breakfast was indeed decadent.

First the lemon crinkle cookies,

then a lovely biscuit with jam,

then a bit of the plum torte. 

(I still mean to blog this plum torte!)

Lunch was beef stroganoff, biscuits and sides of fruit salad and a green salad.

As you can see, I had a third lemon crinkle cookie with my fruit salad.... so good!

I walked by our laundry room and who did I see? Silly Cleo! :)

Finished my doughnut today too.

Pretty but I have had better...

We were really blessed to share vespers with friends from our other (far-away) church tonight

and go out to dinner with them.

It was a blessing to be with friends.

Also a blessing to have so much good food to eat.

***

We were not able to be in Michigan for Uncle Hank's funeral, which was today.

Three family members took pictures of the flowers we sent.

I am really sad we were not able to be there.

As my Mom would say,

It is what it is. 

***

So.  I am officially in countdown mode. 

Next Friday I go to Philly for the eye appointment that 

could take up to FIVE hours. 

I am going to need to leave the house before 8 AM.

My appointment is at 11:30 but I need to give myself a bit of

leeway for unexpected things, which from what my friend who lives in Philly

has told me, I will need. 

I will be lucky if I am home by 8 PM or so.

So I am planning my food, drink (including tea), snacks, 

knitting, book/s to ready, headphones to take, cell phone

battery to re-charge my phone, writing (paper, pens), prayer rope...

not to mention my medical papers/research, folders, notebook...and 

lots and lots of eye drops...

Mr Husband is not going with but he is only a phone call/email/text/chat away.

The trains there + uber are not hard.  

It's more that it will be 1) a long day 2) eye appointments of this nature and tests I find

difficult, I often feel overwhelmed and afraid... but who would not be if there 

is a possibility of severe vision loss?  Or even not fully severe (i.e. blindness) but totally unknown.

I keep clinging to 2 things: 1. God 2. No one that we know of in my family lines

has gone blind.  Of course I don't think we know more than 4 generations back but STILL.

It's really something to hold on to, based on what I know and what my

 friends and research show. 

***

Well.  That's about all for me.

I could use another cookie...

***

May God bless, help and save us!

Thank you Thursday for the NYC bagel, donuts + books

First a big thank you for Elizabeth who sent me this wonderful book 

that I am already paging through and thinking,

I want to try making that...or ... who would have thought! or, hmmm, what

would that look like today? or what is patna rice? 

I owe you a letter and hope to write it soon!

It is amazing how God brings just the person,

just the thing, to bring cheer in a week that was harder than some.

I guess you can all tell how much food and reading about food means to me.

I just finished My Berlin Kitchen and found it a really interesting read,

and I must admit to putting paper tabs for recipes to look into... 

***

So, I was really dragging earlier today; had not slept super well and it 

was oddly hot in our place even though it's not as hot outside.

I did make it on time to the dentist,

grabbing a kombucha at Trader Joes, a NYC bagel with PB before the dentist 

(they have mouthwash which I used), a doughnut plant doughnut

(I am hoping my friend J. is reading this post as she is planning on going there

this weekend and I wanted to point out that there is scaffolding above the place

so it's a bit harder to see but fully still there and cute... there was so many choices!) 

and I ended up going to a small NYPL library... it was super small... 

but I found 2 YA books that look of interest (so many new books don't appeal to me 

sadly... or perhaps not sadly as I would not want them too, but you know what I mean)... 

but it was nice to have a seat, find a book that drew me in 

and that Mr Husband left work early (5 PM leaving is early for him) and we met up

in NYC and walked to the PATH train together and went home and 

saved cab fare (it's a good 30+ minute walk home from the PATH or a 10 minute cab ride) 

by having us go home at the same time... :) 

***

So I had the delicious beef stroganoff for lunch with a biscuit,

that was when my day started getting better, 

as before I felt like I was tired, as if struggling through molasses...

and the dentist was happy with my teeth (yay for that!)...

***

We talked over plum torte and ice cream, and on the way home as well,

so we had caught up on each other's days and then watched a Waltons

and then even had time for reading, since Mr Husband got home earlier, 

so so nice and he read through some comic books that he is vetting for our

now 8 year old nephew... and having a lot of fun... 

Cleo was finally with us again

(she has been hanging out in our hall bathroom with tile floor,

we think it was much cooler for her in the heat that even

with central AC was still impacting us) 

My Husband had already gone to bed and right after I took this picture,

she tried to go on his chair.  Oh No You Don't Cleo!

She is a goof.  I told this to a friend on social media who asked if Cleo

took her medicine today...: 

"I tried something new today… 

I ground up Cleo's pill, it grinds up very easy into a powder 

and I use a small funnel and took and put it into the plastic syringe 

that the vet gave me to use for her liquid medicine. 

 then added milk to the same syringe with the powdered ground medicine in it 

and then basically grabbed her and put it in the side of her mouth 

which made her open her mouth and 

 I was able to put the liquid medicine with powder down her throat in a way 

that wasn't too uncomfortable for her… 

I did the same to night with her liquid medicine and 

I added milk to that as well adding the the milk 1st and the medicine last

 so that the 1st thing into her mouth was the medicine

 and the lasting and her mouth was the milk 

in hopes that it will make it less unpleasant for her! 

So I successfully was able to get the medicine into her today

and I was very pleased about that! We will see if it works again tomorrow!"

I also gave her a little bit of vanilla ice cream, let her lick my plate when I was done

and gave her wet cat food... so while I am giving her medicine, I am also 

doing my best to spoil her and keep her weight up as well... 

I am really hoping I can keep giving her the medicine...

a few years ago she would just foam the liquid medicine out of her mouth

and all pills she would not eat... it was terrible... so I am really hoping 

that this time around she will keep tolerating it... it's too early to know yet if she will...

***

I am home tomorrow but having lunch with a friend... 

I hope to make a curry and cookies....and fold the pile of laundry that is

so high that it is teetering on the verge of spilling over.... 

***

So many I know are struggling... 

I am worried about a friend who I can't name here but is really struggling.

Lord have mercy! Lord have mercy! Lord have mercy!

on all of us!