I am happy to announce that we finally retired the ghetto box, the cardboard box from Christmas 2010 that Buddy the cat adopted when noone was willing to save him a lap. Neither of the cats seem to be missing it. There's no circling around that spot, no crying while looking there, no lashing out at the puppy. They don't even seem to have noticed. Somehow, I expected to keep that stupid box until Buddy really did reach his expiration date. The sweet guy is still going strong. I've tried to give him more lap time, but walking a dog has dug into it. I like resilience and determination in a cat.
I'm looking out on the front lawn where the boys seemed to have dug up every inch of snow in an attempt to built a snow fort. It takes a lot of snow to build a fort, but I can tell you, this snow is perfect for building. It packs tight and holds onto other snow. We're all hoping that it will snow some more and the kids will be off from school for another day. A minute ago, I wished we were all still outside playing because the trees joined in the game and began to drop great snowballs from their boughs. It is a wet snow, so each branch is outlined in white. It's pretty, but I'm glad it's dropping off since it's supposed to snow again later and the branches are already weighed down pretty well. There's another big snowball fight happening outside. The trees play even when we've quit and come inside for hot cocoa.
I've been making homemade cocoa for Nick and Adrian, using milk, half-n-half, stevia, and unsweetened cocoa warmed on the stove. Then I have them whip up some cream to top it. My mother used to make hot chocolate that way. My mother did some good things.
She also made snow ice cream after it had snowed long enough. My dad used to say that the act of snowing cleaned the air so that after six or seven inches of snow two or three days in a row and finally he'd declare that it was clean enough to eat. I've read that there is no place in the world left where it's safe to eat the snow. That stinks. My mother would have us get a stockpot full of the cleanest snow we could find. Then she quickly added sugar, vanilla, and a little milk and stirred it up and served it before it melted. It was so different from regular ice cream, more strongly vanilla flavored and grainy from the sugar. We loved it. It's funny how we could come in from playing in the snow, our skin still cold inside our clothes, and we'd sit down to eat a bowl of snow ice cream.
You can see why I'm insulin-resistant, don't you? I have eaten enough sugar in my lifetime so far for two whole lifetimes. Sometimes I wonder if I ate more sugar because I was insulin-resistant or if I was insulin-resistant because I ate more sugar? I know I had the same trouble with low blood-sugar when I was a kid. I couldn't think. I got really shaky and sweaty and would often feel nauseous if I had to wait too long between meals. Now, I know that if I feel that way during a normal interval, I'm eating too much sugar and need to cut back. I carry food with me everywhere, tomato juice, corn nuts, apple sauce, and turkey jerky. Protein is the safest way for me to take care of that feeling, but I can't tell you how tired I am of eating jerky.
I'm starting to get warmed up after being pummeled with snow balls. The boys teamed up against me and, though I got them pretty good a couple of times, they really got going and I was done for. Now, we're back inside. They played out in the snow from 8:00 am until about 1:30 pm, coming in to warm up and eat before they went back out. I think they're done for now since Adrian fell and bruised his knee. I might make popcorn later. Oh man, my mother used to make popcorn balls too. Basically, you make popcorn and roll it in Karo syrup and butter. All of those winter foods have so much sugar in them. I was thinking of making cookies later too, but that's just sad without sugar. It's sad and hard but we've lost so many of those traditions. How can I justify it when Nick has the same problem that I do with sugar?
So after the boys came inside, I made up salads with romaine lettuce, cheese curds, fresh pineapple, chunks of summer sausage, and raspberry viniagrette dressing. It was delicious! I could have made soup, but I'm kind of tired of my cheesy brocoli soup and haven't been otherwise inspired.
The boys are lost in a video game. The skies are heavy with unshed snow. I'm going to head into my kitchen, turn on my audio book, 'Historian,' by Elizabeth Kostova, and see if I can gather the ingredients for chili. It's a good night for chili. Now that's a winter tradition I can keep.
Thank you for listening, jb
I'm looking out on the front lawn where the boys seemed to have dug up every inch of snow in an attempt to built a snow fort. It takes a lot of snow to build a fort, but I can tell you, this snow is perfect for building. It packs tight and holds onto other snow. We're all hoping that it will snow some more and the kids will be off from school for another day. A minute ago, I wished we were all still outside playing because the trees joined in the game and began to drop great snowballs from their boughs. It is a wet snow, so each branch is outlined in white. It's pretty, but I'm glad it's dropping off since it's supposed to snow again later and the branches are already weighed down pretty well. There's another big snowball fight happening outside. The trees play even when we've quit and come inside for hot cocoa.
I've been making homemade cocoa for Nick and Adrian, using milk, half-n-half, stevia, and unsweetened cocoa warmed on the stove. Then I have them whip up some cream to top it. My mother used to make hot chocolate that way. My mother did some good things.
She also made snow ice cream after it had snowed long enough. My dad used to say that the act of snowing cleaned the air so that after six or seven inches of snow two or three days in a row and finally he'd declare that it was clean enough to eat. I've read that there is no place in the world left where it's safe to eat the snow. That stinks. My mother would have us get a stockpot full of the cleanest snow we could find. Then she quickly added sugar, vanilla, and a little milk and stirred it up and served it before it melted. It was so different from regular ice cream, more strongly vanilla flavored and grainy from the sugar. We loved it. It's funny how we could come in from playing in the snow, our skin still cold inside our clothes, and we'd sit down to eat a bowl of snow ice cream.
You can see why I'm insulin-resistant, don't you? I have eaten enough sugar in my lifetime so far for two whole lifetimes. Sometimes I wonder if I ate more sugar because I was insulin-resistant or if I was insulin-resistant because I ate more sugar? I know I had the same trouble with low blood-sugar when I was a kid. I couldn't think. I got really shaky and sweaty and would often feel nauseous if I had to wait too long between meals. Now, I know that if I feel that way during a normal interval, I'm eating too much sugar and need to cut back. I carry food with me everywhere, tomato juice, corn nuts, apple sauce, and turkey jerky. Protein is the safest way for me to take care of that feeling, but I can't tell you how tired I am of eating jerky.
I'm starting to get warmed up after being pummeled with snow balls. The boys teamed up against me and, though I got them pretty good a couple of times, they really got going and I was done for. Now, we're back inside. They played out in the snow from 8:00 am until about 1:30 pm, coming in to warm up and eat before they went back out. I think they're done for now since Adrian fell and bruised his knee. I might make popcorn later. Oh man, my mother used to make popcorn balls too. Basically, you make popcorn and roll it in Karo syrup and butter. All of those winter foods have so much sugar in them. I was thinking of making cookies later too, but that's just sad without sugar. It's sad and hard but we've lost so many of those traditions. How can I justify it when Nick has the same problem that I do with sugar?
So after the boys came inside, I made up salads with romaine lettuce, cheese curds, fresh pineapple, chunks of summer sausage, and raspberry viniagrette dressing. It was delicious! I could have made soup, but I'm kind of tired of my cheesy brocoli soup and haven't been otherwise inspired.
The boys are lost in a video game. The skies are heavy with unshed snow. I'm going to head into my kitchen, turn on my audio book, 'Historian,' by Elizabeth Kostova, and see if I can gather the ingredients for chili. It's a good night for chili. Now that's a winter tradition I can keep.
Thank you for listening, jb
No comments:
Post a Comment