bethsblog

Cheers!

It's New Year's Eve. Gary and I will do our usual thing... just the two of us...  no party hats, streamers, or noisemakers... We have an early dinner reservation at the Hearthstone, where we will crayon our requisite resolutions on the paper tablecloth, and then head home to spend the evening cozied up with a DVD or a board game. We'll turn in early after setting our alarm for 11:45, when we'll watch the ball drop on TV, kiss-in the New Year, then roll over and go back to sleep. Sounds pretty dull, but that's the way we like it.

Added advantage: total lucidity on New Year's Day.

Tuesday, I'm returning to Ann Arbor for one more week with Amy and family now that the new baby is here. I hope I can get a couple posts written from my remote location... Amy's laptop Mac.

Looking forward to taking 2 1/2-year-old granddaughter Sophia, swimming in the Best Western pool, and going clothes shopping with Amy for a few new wardrobe items to compliment her knock-out-gorgeous-nursing-mama-figure.

I'll also be attending my sister-in-law's much-anticipated wedding on Jan. 5th, conveniently located in Ann Arbor too. Just when all the Holiday Hilarity is winding down, we get to have another celebration bringing together family and friends from distant places for what promises to be a wonderful time!

Here's to your happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

Cheers!

"There's no hurry." 

Introducing...

Cassidy May McKenna!

Just 2 hours old.

She's got all her fingers and toes!

Mom was a trooper and accomplished her
goal of a natural, drugless labor and delivery.
She's not too much the worse for wear...

Here's proud Grampa Gary,

Grama Beth holding her best Christmas present ever,

and  Sophia, who loves her new baby sister... (and daddy too!)

Amy is now Home Sweet Home... doin' what comes naturally!

As a family, we are truly blessed by this wonderful new arrival at this special time of year. Funny how it seems that it was never going to happen, but when it happened IT REALLY HAPPENED!

This is probably my final post of 2007. 
See you in the NEW YEAR!

Merry Christmas to All!
And always remember:

"There's no Hurry!"

She's here!

Happy to announce the arrival of our new granddaughter Cassidy May McKenna!

Thursday December 20, 2007
12:47 p.m.
8# 6 oz.
20 1/2"

Amy and baby are healthy and doing excellently!
Grampa Gary and I are thrilled!
Welcome to the world Miss Cassidy!

I plan to post photos next week.

Until then:

"There's no hurry."

The Way It's Supposed to Be

Christmas this year is far from normal.
For the first time in 30 years, I'm not in my own home.
I'm living out of a suitcase.
Like a traveling salesman.

Then I think of those 30 years of holiday bustle.
Fighting the shopping mobs.
Baking and decorating a gazillion cookies.
Feeding crowds of hungry company.

But here I sit. Waiting.
Gladly helping my expectant daughter.
Joyously playing with my granddaughter.
Focusing on just the essentials: eating, sleeping, exercising.

My normal Christmas on ice.

Then I think about the holy couple.
Far from home.
In a lonely stable.
Waiting for a baby.

And I realize that everything is
Exactly the way it's supposed to be.

"There's no hurry."

My Room

I'm still in Ann Arbor... happily spending my days helping out
The Mother To Be and my nights in the comfort and solitude of my deluxe accommodations at the Best Western Inn, where I must admit, I'm a bit of a VIP.   

My first stay there was 2 1/12 years ago... when Sophia was born. I got the impression that many of the rooms had seen better days. I changed rooms 3 times in an effort to find a room where all the plumbing was working. They finally moved me to a deluxe jacuzzi room with a king size bed and gave me a really good rate. Now every time I come to Ann Arbor they give me the same room with the same wonderful rate. It has begun to feel like my room.

Since it's their slow season, they have put a hold on my room so I can come and go as I please over the next several weeks... it may end up being about a month total when all is said and done. This time they gave me an even better "extended stay" rate.

Amy and Steve did graciously offer me their basement guest space, which is quite comfortable. (Well... they don't have a jacuzzi.) But after a full day of cooking, cleaning, laundry, running errands, and toddler hilarity, it's nice to retire to the solitude of my room for dinner and nice hot soak. I've also committed these several weeks to  silence... no TV, music, or computer, while I'm in my room, from early evening to when I head over to Amy's in the morning. Been doing a lot of journaling, reading, and yoga... and loving it.

Baby Update: Amy's having frequent "twinges" but none of the serious stuff yet. In the Vast Scheme Of Things, it won't be long...

"There's no hurry."

Stockpiling

With T-minus 11 days until Amy's Offical Due Date, I decided to make myself useful today and bake 3 batches of muffins for her freezer: SCD peanut butter, lemon poppyseed and carrot walnut. She kept her feet elevated while 2 1/2 year old Sophia and I whisked and measured, stirred and scooped the goopy, yummy batters nearly all morning. Sophia loves helping with cooking projects, perched on a kitchen chair in her Dora the Explorer apron. She reacts with a gleeful "eeeewww" when the mixtures get especially goopy!

When The Project was complete and Amy and I were loading the muffins into freezer bags, she exclaimed, "It's so nice to know that I've got muffins stockpiled! Thank you so much!"

My pleasure, sweetheart!

"There's no hurry."

Christmas Star

Sometimes things happen, that to me, seem as if the Universe has lined up to say something special.

As you might already know, I'm on an extended stay at the Best Western in Ann Arbor, while assisting my daughter until her new baby arrives, and for perhaps a week or two after.

Each night before I go to sleep, I ask the Powers That Be for a safe delivery of a healthy grand-baby, all in good time.... maybe tonight! 

After I got settled into my motel room last Sunday, I looked around... and alas... there were no Christmas decorations. Sadly, I had left a fully decorated house behind... how depressing! And me a decorations addict! Fortunately there's a Rite Aid about a block from the motel. For only $12.99 I bought a 2 foot fiber-optic tree, that shimmers and twinkles merrily...  very festive, if a bit cheesy. But I've been moaning about the fact that it's seriously lacking a star.

This morning, I was heading back to my room after an excursion to the front desk for a clean set of towels, and I as stepped into the elevator there was this white mylar star-shaped balloon, string-less and partially deflated, hovering near the ceiling.

As we speak, I'm sitting here on my bed, watching, marveling, as it floats around my room on the various air currents. At one point it actually hovered over the goofy little tree and then it drifted over to where I was sitting on the bed and very nearly brushed my face, as if to say, "A little star is about to be born and all will be well."

Love,
The Universe

"There's no hurry."

Holiday Cut-Out Cookies

The Holidays just aren't the Holidays without cut-out cookies! For over 30 years I've dedicated a day each December, to making them. I came up with this delicious SCD version of a family favorite, substituting legal ingredients for the sugar and wheat flour. I've included variations for both a nutmeg "sugar cookie", and a gingerbread version...  There's no need to frost these tender and crisp delicacies.

Cut-Out Cookies 
(makes 3- 4 doz. depending on the size of cookie cutters)

1/2 cup very soft butter
1/2 cup honey
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
Spices as desired- see below
3 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
Additional almond flour as needed for rolling pin and cutting surface.

For ginger cookies use:
1 1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon

For "sugar " cookies use:
1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Cream together butter and honey. Add lightly beaten egg, salt, baking soda and the spices as desired. Add the almond flour and stir until well combined. Divide dough in thirds and scrape/dump onto three large sheets of plastic wrap. Fold the sides of the wrap loosely over the dough and press it down into a flat patty roughly 1/2" thick. Refrigerate dough 1 hour or more.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Flour both sides of one of the dough patties with almond flour. Lightly flour counter top or wooden pastry board too. Roll out to a thickness of 1/4" using additional almond flour as needed to prevent dough from sticking to rolling pin and board. You may need to lift dough while rolling and dust a little more almond flour underneath to prevent it from totally sticking to the work surface... a little sticking may be unavoidable. Cut dough with cookie cutters which have been dipped in the almond flour. With a spatula (silicone works the best) transfer the cut-outs carefully to a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Place cookies 1" apart. Gather dough scraps into a ball and re-roll. If dough becomes too warm, it may be returned to the refrigerator until workable. Repeat with remaining dough patties. Combine scraps from patties and continue to roll out and cut until finished.

Bake cookies one sheet at a time for 7-10 minutes at 325. They are done when they are lightly browned at tips and edges. When firm enough to handle, remove to cooling racks with spatula. Turn oven off and let cookies cool completely. Save parchment paper.

To crisp the cookies:

Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Arrange cookies on parchment paper lined cookie sheets (you can use the same ones).  Bake for 1 hour and then turn off the oven. Let the cookies cool in the oven. When the oven is cool, the cookies will be crisp. Store them in an airtight container for up to two weeks. If cookies loose their crispness you can"re-crisp" them by putting them back in a 170 degree oven for 15 minutes, letting them cool in the oven as before.

Click here for information on how you can get a copy of this beautiful Turtle Soup Cookbook Cover and a set of printer-friendly recipes.

"Keep it simple."

Home for a minute or two.

Last week in Ann Arbor was fun and busy! I helped my 37-week pregnant daughter, Amy, get some of her Christmas shopping done and her tree decorated. I also cooked a crockpot stew, baked a couple loaves of SCD bread for her freezer, and made SCD legal Christmas Cutout Cookies* with my 2 1/2 year-old granddaughter, Sophia. I also cleaned her house...  an unnecessary strain for a woman in her last weeks of pregnancy... whose crotch aches (the baby is very low) who can't stand up for long (her ankles are prone to swelling) and who just hasn't the energy to chase a toddler all day.

I'm thankful to report that I was able to keep up, especially when it came to making the many trips up and down the stairs while helping with laundry, chasing a toddler... (the playdough  is in the basement, and it's one of Sophia's favorite activities) and going up and down for my own purposes, since I was camped out in the basement "guest room".  No knee pain from my osteoarthritis plagued me... prior to starting the SCD, stairs were a real challenge.

I returned home mid-afternoon yesterday to do laundry, have a lovely dinner out with Gary and repack my bags. Today I plan to stockpile a few more SCD baked goods, since I'll be returning to Ann Arbor tomorrow to help out until Amy delivers and for an additional week or so after that. I hope to do a little remote posting as I can.

Wishing the happiest and healthiest of holidays to all my readers, friends, family and fellow SCDers. I plan on sticking with the diet through this season of tempting non-SCD goodies. But I'll not be deprived since there are plenty of delicious legal options for holiday treats in the various SCD Cookbooks.

*Stay tuned for my recipe for Christmas Cutout Cookies, which I hope to post next week.

"There's no hurry."