Easter Weekend 2010

Hello ... I WROTE this post last Monday, but Blogger was being difficult about including photos at the time and I didn't have the patience to fight with it. So here it is, Monday's post on Friday:

Well, it is presently 6:56 pm Easter Monday, so I suppose the long weekend is about finished. Did y'all do anything particularly special???? I didn't ... just enjoyed being at home, and that was really nice.

Miss Boots assumed my presence indicated "play time", and she made quite a pest of herself insisting that I drop whatever I was doing to play. If I tried to ignore her, she started doing naughty things like jumping into the bookcase and knocking photos and books onto the floor, or climbing up the back of my legs! Besides hair elastics and scrunchies and dirty socks out of the laundry basket, Bootsy's favourite toy at the moment is this gadget ... a fake fur "tail" with a bunch of feathers and a bell at one end and a stick at the other end. The stick is brilliant! Keeps the hu-mom's hands safely out of the way of kitty claws. The game goes like this: Boots PRETENDS she's NOT really watching the "tail" go by ...

... then at the LAST possible second, she ATTACKS and KILLS IT! Repeat until kitty is too tired to continue. In between rounds of this game, I finished the "bubblegum and licorice" sock I (we) started last weekend. I managed to get it all done during the week while travelling to and from work on the city bus, but for the "bubblegum" pink toe . I got the ribbing and first row of the pattern of sock #2 started ...... with Miss Boots' assistance of course ... ready for this week's knitting on the bus project. In addition, I spent some time in the kitchen preparing a variety of things for the freezer. I like to have soup / stew type things that I can heat up quick if I'm tired at the end of a long day. I also bake my own bread, and try to keep some "baked goodies" on hand.

PS: Missing you L ... cookies are lasting so long these days that they're going stale in the cookie jars! ;-P

I had a couple of extra zucchinis in the fridge, so I made ORANGE ZUCCHINI BREAD. Here's how:

First, grease a loaf pan and set it to one side. Then, grate about a cup of un-peeled zucchini ...

... along with the zest of one orange. In one bowl, mix together your dry ingredients: 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Yes, I used whole wheat bread machine flour. It's what I found in the cupboard! In a second bowl, mix together your grated zucchini and orange zest with 1 egg, 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup veg oil, and the juice of 1 orange.

Mix the wet mixture into the dry mixture and keep mixing until the two are incorporated together but don't overdo it. Spoon batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake at ...

... 325 degrees F for 55 minutes. A toothpick should "test clean" at the end of the 55 minutes. If not, bake another 5 minutes. Let cool completely before slicing or storing.

I like to bake. And I like to eat. If I ate all the things I baked in one or two sittings, I'd be much "fluffier" than I already am. Baking is a real challenge for single people, did y'all know that? I have discovered a solution! Ziplock bags! I store one or two slices of home-made bread, Orange Zucchini Bread, cake, etc in the freezer in individual Ziplock bags ... then I can take out and eat a reasonable amount when I feel like it. For example, yesterday I had an urge for something chocolate and decadent after dinner, so I dug into the frozen chocolate cupcakes ...

... and served myself up one cupcake with a handful of frozen raspberries, a shot of raspberry liqueur, and a splash of cream ...... all in a fancy Margarita glass. Dessert for one! If I don't treat myself when I have the urge, I end up eating too much of the good thing after denying myself for any extended period of time. How do y'all keep your eating/dessert habits under control?