Covid Chronicles, Week 7

Week seven has begun.....I think this will be a while, so I'm trying to pay attention to the little things that make life interesting.  Practice makes progress, right?

We have friends where the husband is on fellowship in Cardiology at Baystate Medical in Springfield.  The wife is a pharmacist at Hartford Hospital.  The daughter is kindergarten age, and they are having a tough time implementing the many distance learning lessons supplied by her teacher.  I offered to meet with Vivienne via FaceTime (on a regular basis) and do some things with her.  She is nicely improving in decoding consonant-vowel-consonant words with sh and ch, and also in recognizing her sight words.  Yesterday I noticed good improvement in counting, as we played a dice game!  It's a lot of fun, and also gives me a feeling that I'm at least doing something to help others at this time.  

Anyway, I had the family print out a paper square that needed to be folded like the origami "fortune tellers" we used to make in grammar school.  This one folded to become a SHark!!!  She had a lot of directions to follow (that's the SLP in me getting activated here), it starts with SH, and it's good practice for fine motor skills, too.  

Here is a photo of mine. The tape was necessary to keep the forehead together while I made it "talk."  I guess I could have used glue, but then one needs to wait until it dries!  

A fun thing that anyone can do at this time is head on over to the Cornell Red Tail Hawks camera:

Red-tailed Hawks

Red-tailed Hawks A Red-tailed Hawk pair has been nesting above Cornell University’s athletic fields since at least the 2012. Watc...

At the moment of this writing, there are two babies hatched.  They are so cute!  I am always amazed at the good parenting the hawks provide to the babies.  The mom is named "Big Red," and the dad is "Arthur."  I have been watching this for quite a few years and continue to donate so that these web cameras can continue.  Give it a look!

Here is a photo they provided of the first baby that hatched:

Just a warning:  they are carnivores.  They eat raw, fresh meat.  To keep the babies healthy and happy, there are usually some dead animals hanging around the nest at this point.  Once you get over that, they are totally amazing.  

At least we can keep in touch with our kids with FaceTime, texting, emails, and phone calls.  Katie recently sent us this photo of her two dogs.  Uhtred, the big one standing, is only like 6 months old.  He is a standard schnauzer.  Dogmatix, relaxing on the bench, is at least 10 years old and a mini schnauzer.  

I continue to try to maintain a routine and exercise every day.  I've also been on Amazon a lot.  On Saturday we got up and Peter went to make coffee......but the coffee grinder just stopped.  Sigh.  It was six years old already, so I just ordered a new one on Amazon.  Thankfully I found some ground coffee in the house, as most of our coffee is in whole bean form.  It will tide us over until the grinder arrives next weekend.  

Best wishes to all......

It's not about the cake! - Musings on gluten free baking

I just finished 24 cupcakes for a birthday party for my adult kids this afternoon.



This is what I have learned over the years:

Make cupcakes.  It's fine to use a mix.  I like cupcakes because they are fun, don't dry out as quickly as regular cake, and allow the hints below to make a great dessert.

My son tells me that most GF baked goods taste better when refrigerated.  It's a good idea to make the cupcakes and fill them, then put them into the refrigerator until the next day, when you frost them ahead of your guests' arrival.

Use a cupcake corer or small spoon to carve out a bit from the top of each cupcake.  Put a small glop of something everyone will enjoy, whether it's from a jar of fudge topping, some cherry pie filling, jam, lemon curd, or a peanut butter filling.  Cover your filling with the small cake piece that you just carved out.  This gives a nice surprise when your guests bite into the cupcake.

Use HOMEMADE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING.  Do not use a can of frosting!  There is a big difference in flavor.  Make a double batch, because the frosting is important.

Use a piping bag to make a bakery-like topping with the frosting.  This is easier than you think.  You can use a disposable pastry bag and a decent open-star stainless steel tip.  Swirl from the outside in.  Well, that's my experience, anyway.

You can put cocoa into a fine mesh strainer, then bring the strainer over the frosted cupcakes, tapping the strainer lightly with a spoon to let some cocoa drift onto the frosting.  This is nice if you filled the cupcakes with something chocolaty.  Otherwise, a small decoration like chocolate chips looks nice.

Do not worry about perfection.  It's homemade, not made by a computerized machine!  No one will care.

With the filling, homemade buttercream frosting, and the bit of decoration, your guests will love the cupcakes.....even guests who hate gluten free food.

It's not about the cake!

How do I handle that?

I've been lacking in keeping up this blog.  Sorry!

What's been going on, you ask?  Well, a year ago, I retired from my work as a speech-language pathologist in my local school system.  I truly loved my job, but the time seemed to be right.  I didn't see any sense in putting off the next step in life.  I felt that I needed to figure myself out, just as I had to figure myself out when I got married....had kids....an empty nest....etc. 

It was a good thing to retire a bit earlier than Mr. HH.  I took up strength training classes at a local gym.  I started teaching third grade religion classes at my church.  I joined a bible study group, which was fascinating.  (People talking about the afterlife?  NO ONE discusses such things in a public school setting!)  I started line dancing. 

Mr. HH is now retired, and I am busier than ever. 

Here's my take on change:  It takes a year to get used to any major change, like a new job, a new life situation, or even the death of a loved one.  It takes two years to "get a handle" on it. 

We need to give ourselves time to get a handle on things. 

Crazy life

My life recently has been crazy but very good.

After a number of years of my daughter and her husband living in South America, they suddenly moved back to the USA almost a year ago.  He is in a school for watch repair, and that will end in yet another year.  We don't know what will happen then, but for now, we are in heaven!  It's almost a five hour drive to visit them, and we do it approximately every other month.  I can now send her cards or even packages, or just give a quick call or text.  It's really not much more phone-like contact than before, but the ability to see her more often and to send cards (that actually reach her) is priceless.

In April, our son finally got a job that uses his many skills and talents, while also paying a living wage.  He got a new apartment in a nearby town.  He comes by regularly to do his laundry and eat dinner.  No problem with that!

Having kids that have surpassed the teenage years and have entered real adulthood is awesome.  I am proud of both of them more than I can express.  They each have unique talents, they are both extremely kind people who do amazing things, and they seem to truly enjoy our company!

This May, hubby and I celebrated 36 years of marriage.  That's pretty cool, too.  He's a total sweetheart.  I can sit and talk with him more easily than anyone.

Shortly thereafter, our daughter received her Master's degree in reading!

Following that, we went on a short cruise to Bermuda to celebrate my 60th birthday.  We are currently acting on the idea that one never knows what is around the corner, so we should do things while we can.  (Last year we took a trip to Alaska.....came back to a big mess and lots of angst, but that's a separate story.)

I had told hubby, "No party!  We're going on a cruise instead!"  He said OK.

Just before the cruise began, hubby was hired for a new position in New Haven, and he formally retired from his job at UConn.  He is uniquely qualified for this new position, and sees it not only as a challenge but as a "last hurrah" before retiring for good.  When I saw his interest and enthusiasm, what more could I say?  The grand plan (at least for the moment) is for both of us to "really" retire in two years......

Between the Bermuda cruise (which was great) and his job change, I had barely enough time at home to do laundry.  Routine household tasks were difficult to accomplish.  We visited our daughter, transferring ownership of a vehicle to her.  We went to Maine for a weekend.  We got a "new" (pre-owned) vehicle for him to commute to the new job.  We went to a car show in Bennington, VT, and stayed at an inn there.  So much fun; not much time to breathe!  The end of the school year was in full swing, and I had been careful to get as much work in as possible before the cruise, but the scheduling for the following year always gets me anxious for some reason.  I knew I could do it and I did, but wow.

We did all this to pack in summer fun before hubby's new job kicked in on June 12.  You don't want to leave work early or take lots of days off when the job is brand new!

On June 10, it was after my birthday.  Daughter and son-in-law were coming to CT for the weekend.  We were to have dinner together with my dad, brother, and son.  I had said, "We can even just grill here at home," and hubby said, "No, I think we should go out."

I figured, "Why should we pay for dessert and coffee?  We can just come back here for that!"   I made an ice cream crunch cake (GF of course) and set the table.  Hubby never said anything.

We arrived and parked across the street from the restaurant.  We walked across the street and I saw my two amazing children walking on the sidewalk toward me.  My daughter looked beautiful.....and amazingly, she was wearing a dress that had been my mother's.  Mom had worn it to my wedding 36 years ago!  

We walked into the restaurant.  Oh, look, balloons!  Someone is having a party.  Um, that's my friend.  Um, I know everyone here!  Oh my gosh!  They are having a party for me?

Hubby said daughter really wanted to have this party. She was the driving force here.  How could he say no?  So he's off the hook, and the work involved in this means more than any presents ever could.

Needless to say, after a full four weeks like this my back and neck were in knots.  It was good stress, but I'm a person who needs down time.

I was doing errands the following Friday morning and noticed a salon next to my bank.  At this salon, they also do massage.  I walked in.  Next thing I knew, I had an appointment right after lunch.  It seemed to be just what I needed!

Now I am home for the summer.....except I will be doing a bit of summer school......and my house needs a lot of attention.  I am cleaning out my closets and have a long list of things to accomplish.

Lessons learned in the last year:

• Sometimes we just need to wait a long time for the good things to come.  
• Enjoy the little things in life, for someday you will realize they were the big things. 
• Life goes by quickly.  (How did we ever get this old?)
• Appreciate your loved ones.  Tell them so.  Act like it, too.
• Take time to meditate.  

Wishing you all a multitude of blessings in the near future....

Still here...

I have neglected this blog for a while.  Never fear, I'm still around searching for those tasty nuggets in a burned dish.  Some days are easier than others. 

Searching for the Perfect Lemon Square

About a month ago, I decided to make lemon squares.

I used almond meal (almond flour) for the crust. 
I wanted the lemon part to be tangy, not too sweet.
I wanted them totally delicious.
I used fresh lemons.

What I wound up with was very tasty.
We ate them all up.
But the crust wasn't as solid as I would have liked.

Yesterday, I re-worked the recipe.
I came up with this. 

I couldn't get the photo quite right,
but the flavor and texture was just what I was looking for.
Yeah, this was just about perfect.

Lemon heaven.....

Lemon Squares                                              

(Makes 16)

Preheat oven to 325.

Grease an 8” square glass pan.

In a bowl, stir together:

¾ cup almond meal,
¾ cup GF flour
   (“Ancient Grains” by King Arthur is nice),
¾ tsp xanthan gum, and
¾ cup sugar. 

Then cut in

1 stick of softened butter (1/2 cup),
Until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.

Press this mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.

Bake for ~20 minutes, until golden but not browned.  It may bubble up and look a bit funky.  When you take it out of the oven, let it cool a bit and settle down. 

While the crust is baking, clean up your bowl and beaters. 

Juice up 4 large lemons to get

¾  cup of lemon juice.

Zest some of the lemon peel to get about

2 Tbs of zest.

When you remove the crust from the oven, increase the temperature to 350.

Into your clean bowl, crack open

4 eggs.  Whip these up together to get them nice and frothy. 

Combine in a small bowl: 

1 ¼ cups sugar, and
¼ cup rice flour.

Mix this into your eggs, being careful to not have lumps. 

Use a hand mixer or a hand blender. 

Add in your juice and zest.

Gently pour your lemon mixture over the somewhat cooled crust.

Bake for an additional 20-25 minutes, or until set.

Cool and refrigerate before cutting into 16 squares.

Dust with powdered sugar.  

Brownies to Go!

Wow!  I just took an old recipe that I used to use and converted it to some GF delights.  It was very easy and delicious.  It made what my friends and I called "Blondies", and we flavored them with almond extract.  They were a staple for a little while. 

I ran across that old recipe and was also perusing a GF regular brownie recipe.  Lo and behold, the proportions were very similar.  I did an experiment with "my own thing," making blondies and brownies side-by-side.  Although the blondies seem a bit more crumbly than the brownies, they both sliced nicely.  Success!! 

I wrapped them up individually to send to my gluten free son in Albuquerque.

Gluten Free Brownies -  AWESOME – with changes to make almond “blondies”, too

Preheat oven to 350.

Grease an 8 or 9” square glass pan.

Take ½ cup softened butter (one stick)

and cream it in a mixing bowl with

1 cup sugar.

Beat in two eggs,

one at a time.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For brownies:                                                                   For almond “blondies”:

Add

1 tsp vanilla extract,                                                      Add  1 tsp. almond extract           

2/3 cup GF flour blend,                                                         1 cup GF flour blend,

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder,

1 tsp xanthan gum, and                                                        1 tsp xanthan gum, and

1/8 tsp salt.                                                                            1/8 tsp salt.

Stir in                                                                                      

6 oz. chocolate chips.                                                    No chocolate chips.

Pour into pan, and                                                            Pour into pan, and

smooth with wet fingers.                                                   smooth with wet fingers, then 

             sprinkle top with

               1-2 Tbs sugar and

~ ¼ cup of slivered almonds.

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bake 28-30 minutes.

Cool in pan.

Cut into 16 squares.

     

Update:  February 2016 - These are still awesome!  I made them for a baby shower and my GF friends loved them.  I made enough to send the "blondies" to a friend who can't have chocolate, and they were a hit!