A Chocolate Chip Conspiracy???

So I've been pondering my conversation with my doctor yesterday. It all started out innocently enough. All I really needed was for him to review my labs, tell me that yes, my thyroid levels were holding fine and here's the refill for your meds. That's all. But he apparently was in a giving sort of mood, for he gave me more than that. Much more.

It can partly be summed up in a very simple word. Cholesterol. Not a bit surprising to me at all, my cholesterol is creepin up too high. "It's not bad," he said. "It's just not good." Those are fighting words to me! I don't like to be "not bad, just not good" at anything. Especially something inside me. Especially with this pesky family history lurking in the back - okay, front - of my mind. So we started the long and tedious conversation about cholesterol. What a tiring topic. I told him I know the right things to do in my mind, I just need to apply them. And I will. Try. I will try. But that wasn't enough for him.

"Tell me what you could do better with your diet." Oh, please. Do we really have time to get into all that?? I'm needing to eat more veggies. Yes, I know. I don't eat much red meat, so not a whole lot to eliminate there. But then I got brave and divulged my love for all things baked, specifically chocolate chip cookies. With real butter, of course. "Okay," he says, "so tell me about how many cookies per day we are talking about." WHAT?! Then he grinned and rubbed his forehead in an exasperated fatherly sort of way, and said, "I think that is the first time I have ever asked a patient that question. That question usually has something to do with one's alcohol use, not cookie use." I assured him I was not a daily chocolate-chip-cookie consumer. In my dreams.

I then had to listen to my doctor give me advice about improving my baking. He wanted to brainstorm with me ways I could still do what I love and make it not quite so offensive to my cholesterol. I appreciate the effort, doc, really I do. But just be my doctor. I'll let Paula Deen continue to be my recipe source.

This comes on the heel of 3 different people informing me that the price of chocolate chips is expecting to take a jump this winter because of some shortage of something vital to production of chocolate. Details, details.

So, I'm feeling a bit ganged up on in my little chocolate chip cookie world. In fact, I think my keyboard and fingers are in on it, too. I just tried to type "chocolate chip" and out came "chocolate hip". Coincidence? Typing skills? Chocolate chip conspiracy??

I then went on to be told that no, that swelling in my knee is not something that will likely just go away. He told me to not run for 3-4 weeks. Excuse me? This is getting my anxiety level up. First a discussion about baked goods and then telling me I shouldn't run.

Lastly, thanks to some family history provided by my brother, I am scheduled for a test I otherwise would be able to put off for 10 more years. Lovely. In this case, I guess 40 is the new 50. Or maybe 80, as I've just written an entire post complaining about a visit to the doctor.

I did not run today. Tomorrow? We'll see. I did not eat chocolate chip cookies today. Yet. Tomorrow? Again, we'll see. Maybe an upcoming Monday Menu will feature some kind of cholesterol-lowered chocolate chip cookie. I shudder at the thought, but...we'll see!

Monday Menu ~ Caramel-Glazed Apple Cake

Hello, October! Thanks for bringing Fall with you!

Here is a yummy, yummy cake recipe that smells like Fall, tastes like Fall, and makes you all happy inside that there IS a Fall! This recipe comes from my Costco Connection magazine, of all things...and I'm so glad it caught my eye. It is a perfect piece of something to have with a hot mug of something. Make sure you eat the cake warm...it really adds to the yumminess! Enjoy:

Caramel-Glazed Apple Cake

Cake:

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

3 eggs

3 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

5 Granny Smith or Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. (I used 3 Granny Smith and 2 Fuji)

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

2 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Glaze:

4 TBSP butter

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 cup heavy cream

Butter and flour a 9x13 pan.

To prepare cake, beat both sugars and oil together until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well. Add vanilla and blend. Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg; add gradually to egg mixture, mixing just until blended. Add apples and nuts, and stir until well-combined. This is a thick batter! Scoop into pan and spread evenly.

Bake at 325 for 50-75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Mine took about 65 minutes. Let cool in the pan while you prepare the glaze:

To prepare the glaze, melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add sugars and salt. Cook over medium-low heat for 2 minutes. Add cream, bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Poke holes all over the cake, using a toothpick or skewer. Pour the glaze evenly over the cake. Let it set for at least 10 minutes to let the caramel soak into the holes. Serve warm.

Friday Flashback ~ Bobbing for Apples

Today I am taking a journey back to October of 2002. The kids were 7, 4, and 1...the girls on the verge of turning 5 and 2. We spent a good chunk of the day at Lattin's Cider Mill, feeding all the animals, picking out pumpkins, and of course, eating hot apple fritters. While we were eating, the kids curiously stared at the other kids bobbing for apples. Alex quickly assessed it as a competition, sizing up the errors that were made and the strategies that were used. Although it grossed me out in ways I cannot even find the words for (all these kids dunking their mouths into this big vat of water and apples? Was the vat last used to water the pigs?? Probably not, but this is where my mind goes.), I just imagined all the great pictures I could get of Alex insisting on getting an apple. I was right. He was great material that day. He was at this for a looong time. Strangers sitting and eating their fritters were quite amused at his determination to grab an apple in this vat of germs. I offered, several times, to just buy him an apple. He looked at me like I had a third eye and told me that wasn't the point. He was 7. Silly me.

Beth didn't quite get what he was doing. When we told her Alex wanted an apple, she kept going over and just pulling one out with her hand. We finally convinced her he wanted to pick one up with his mouth, so she went over and dunked her head as a show of solidarity. Naturally, this frustrated Alex, because it caused a ripple to run through the water that threw off his whole 39th attempt.

Finally, SUCCESS! If you'll look closely at the picture, you will understand our skepticism that he would be successful. And our laughter at his attempts. His strategy was to pinch the stem with his teeth. Again, he was 7. He had no top teeth. But, in true Alex form, his determination won out, and he got himself an apple. Soaked with cold water. A hard-earned snack for sure. He ate that apple, dripping with germs, sharing with his sisters. That part of the memory makes me cringe, but no worries...they survived just fine! Not even a sniffle followed that bobbing for germs. I mean, apples.

Brenna then decided that she wanted to give it a try. She gave it a few good tries, then in true princess form decided that the cold water on her face was just not worth it. But I love Alex leaning in with the encouragement.

Then Beth wanted to do it all by herself. She was just around the corner from 2. Of course she wanted to do it herself. The great thing about watching Beth was she was not even going for an apple. She'd just dunk her forehead in the water, stand up and grin at Alex. Then she'd dunk it again. Over and over. From her perspective, that's all her brother did, so that's what she did. She was not happy to be done. Again, she was almost 2. LOVE those ladybug boots with the purple leggings! Again, almost 2. Precious...

We are hoping to head out there this weekend for some apples and fritters. But there is no way in this virus infested world they are sticking their heads into a bucket of germs for the chance to "catch" an apple! We'll fill 'em up with fritters before they can even be tempted.

And The Winner Is...

Okay, here we go with the winner...yeah, sorry you have to watch another video, but I wanted you to see that I really did draw a winner!

KATIE!!!! Can I just say how happy I am to be sending this to Katie? If Katie didn't win, I had already decided I was going to go buy her all this stuff and send it to her. Anything to bring a little ray of sunshine to this sweet gal. And she won anyway! (Truth be told, when I saw her entry I wanted to just shut the whole thing down and declare her the winner.)

So, Katie...I hope this brings you some joyful moments sipping some comfort in a cup! And I hope one day very, very soon you will have to share this with Ben! Know that this comes with a lot of love and our continued prayers! (You can hear Brad's cheer when your name was drawn, and our kids had the same reaction!)

And here is the link to Katie's blog where you read about her story. If you are reading this, please keep Ben & Katie in your prayers!!

And because I had so much fun reading YOURS, and I know you are so curious to read MINE, here is what my entry would look like. If I could enter my own contests. Which I can't. Bummer.

1. grande mocha with 1/2 the chocolate. decaf when I'm being good.

2. favorite thing about Fall: riding my bike over crunching leaves, football, chilly mornings, soup for dinner, anticipating Thanksgiving and Christmas, rain...

3. pie: chocolate pecan for sure. but I LOVE the variety and the excuse to make a big spread of desserts.

4. song: oh, so many. Silent Night, Sleigh Ride (harses, harses, harses), Christmas Cannon (I know, but I love it), So many, too many to list.

I love reading all your answers. Those of you who went all fancy on me and abbreviated your coffee order...you presented quite the game for me to figure out what "DT" and "NF" and such really meant! Thanks for playing ~ let's do it again around Christmas time!

Starbucks Giveaway!!

The tease is over!! I know I've been saying that another "contest" is coming, and then I totally drop the ball. Life just has a way of interfering with good intentions! But here it is, and when all is said and done I think it is just perfect timing! Today is the first full day of Fall! I love this season. I love the smells, the sights, the soups, the anticipation of Thanksgiving and Christmas...all of it! So this is going to be a very non-competitive event. It's a giveaway more than a contest. All you have to do is participate and you could win this lovely prize...

It's a stainless steel travel mug from Starbucks in what color?? Say it with me: CHOCOLATE BROWN! Yum. Even as a color that is yum. And a $15 gift card to fill this with your favorite drink a few times. Oh - and a "Chocolate Covered Cherry Dark Chocolate Bar" that is not pictured.

Why a giveaway? I truly love to give. It's at least as exciting, if not more exciting, for me to give something away than to get something. Really truly. So, with that being said, as long as you are in the U.S., you can win! Just answer a few questions, then I will take all entries and do a random draw for the winner. You have until Monday the 28th at 7:00 p.m. to enter. Just one entry per person.

Now for the questions:

1. What is your favorite Starbucks drink?

2. What is your favorite thing about Fall?

3. What is your favorite Thanksgiving Pie?

4. What is your favorite Christmas song?

There you have it! Good luck and happy Fall!

***an added disclaimer after the comment from my son: you are welcome to play, but if you live in this house you are not going to win, and you are too young to move out, so you are out of luck! but I just may take you out for a grande white chocolate peppermint mocha if you play your cards right. and you can probably eat food for Thanksgiving. and I will probably make a chocolate pecan pie. so it's all good.***

Snapshots of our Special Shelley...

My sweet friend, Shelley, was here from California for a weekend visit. We crammed in a lot of fun in our 3 days!


Shelley got to see both the girls cheer...

And see Alex play his bassoon in the concert...

And have lunch with friends...

And a tea party with the girls...

And another lunch with more friends...

And just hanging out and enjoying being together...

The time always goes way too fast, and we really can't wait to do it again! The coffee pot is washed and put away until next time, Shelley!

All Dressed Up and Somewhere To Play

Last night was Alex's debut as a paid bassoonist! He auditioned for the Capital Philharmonic Orchestra about 3 weeks ago, and this was the result: a young man in his first tuxedo, a mama with sentimental tears, a night of beautiful music, and a very proud family! Here's the recap in pictures:

Trying to get this to fit was like pinning a cummerbund onto a q-tip!

Ah, the price of beauty...I mean, handsomeness...

My two handsome guys working it out together.

Aunt Shelley happened to be visiting from California this weekend, so she got to share this fun night. She was a bit surprised at how big this "little guy" grew in the last 2 years!

Proud mom and dad with our "little man".

This concert was "An American Tribute", very moving and inspiring.

Here is Alex playing side-by-side with his teacher, Lantz. Big man, little man.

Making some beautiful music!

Alex with his proud grandparents.

Our happy little family.

"Where do you want to go out for dessert, Alex?"

"A Dairy Queen blizzard sounds awesome!"

Once we got there: "I think I'll get a bacon cheeseburger to go with my blizzard."

Cuz, you know, this boy is always hungry. And a burger just tastes better in a tux!

So there it is. We are so looking forward to the next concert with this group. December 11 and 12, the Christmas concert. I'm already looking forward to it! I'm imagining a night of cocoa, sugar cookies, and more beautiful music. And maybe a bacon cheeseburger.