Melissa and I had the July Pinterest Day last Saturday. As you know, we usually go out to lunch, or have our "helper," Ken Duke, fetch us something to eat. Melissa had a great idea. Since we are never hungry enough or rich enough to have appetizers when we go out to dinner, let's make a few and just eat those for lunch. Fantastic!!!!
Here's what we had: Potato Skins with Bacon and Sour Cream; Tortellini Bites with Parmesan Garlic Ranch Dip; Chips and Salsa; Marinated Bocconcini (spell check doesn't like this word but I know its right); and Marinated Olives. YUM, YUM, YUM. I forgot to take any pictures of the food. :(
We were supposed to paint dishtowels. We never got to them. We had such a nice time eating, talking, crying, laughing, eating some more, talking some more (well, you get the idea). Sometimes you just have to enjoy the down time with your bestie. The dishtowels will wait.
Love ya, Mel!
Friday, July 31, 2015
Monday, June 29, 2015
My turn to try!
SWIG cookies! MMMMMMmmmmmm.
My husband, Jack, and I were driving home from seeing our daughter and her family in Salt Lake City last week and we stopped at Swig in St. George. Actually we were TOLD to stop at Swig. My BFF Melissa said she wanted some cookies so why didn't we just swing by. She'd had them and said they were absolutely DELICIOUS. I put the address into my Waze app and it led us right to one of their locations. We drove into the parking lot and saw that there were two lines, so we got behind the longer line, figuring it was the one for ordering. There was a sign listing some of their items, but it really didn't give us much information. They specialize in different kinds of drinks (I still don't know what a "dirty Diet Coke" is...) and some goodies.
If you are on Pinterest, you've heard of their sugar cookies. Everyone seems to have a copycat recipe pinned. Big, thick sugar cookies with light pink icing. They also have some other cookie flavors. My husband, never one to say no to a chocolate chip, ordered chocolate chip but I wanted the famous one. We ordered a dozen (that qualified us for one free) and handed over $20. My husband asked where we pick them up and yelled, "this is our first time here!" He's always saying embarrassing things like that.... We drove around the other side of the little food hut, to the other window, and picked up our cookies. We didn't have to wait very long. The girl inside handed over a brown cardboard bakery box. It was really quite heavy and cool to the touch. I lifted the lid and inside were these big, cold cookies, stacked up, each on their own individual square of parchment paper. The chocolate chip cookies looked fine, but I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into one of those pink-topped beauties. So. Good. Dense, cool, chewy, not too sweet. So THIS is what everyone has been raving about! I get it, I get it.
So, of course, I had to try my hand at making some. I went to Pinterest and sorted through the different recipes that have been pinned and settled on this one from nobiggie.net. I don't know if any of these are exactly the recipe, but I think they're close enough. I would have to live in St. George or Provo (apparently there is a location there, as well) to do a thorough job of taste testing. It is really a good thing I don't live closer or I'd weigh even more than I do.
So I followed the recipe, and this is what I came out with (I forgot to take a pic until I was half-way done).
The dough, as all have said, is not sticky. It feels very light and buttery. I rolled them into balls. Golf ball size. The real Swig cookies are much larger.
Then I dipped my glass in a combo of a couple of tablespoons of sugar and about a teaspoon of salt before pressing the balls down. You can see above that I didn't make beautiful balls. But it didn't matter because they got smooshed anyway.
Here are some after they are baked. See the nice crumbly edges? This is a different batch than the ones above. I found that if you don't rush to get them on the baking sheet, but let the dough sit in the bowl on the counter for awhile, the dough will get those crumbly-looking edges.
I let them sit out a little and get a bit of a harder top on the frosting before I packed them up. Each one got their mandatory parchment square to rest on.
My husband, Jack, and I were driving home from seeing our daughter and her family in Salt Lake City last week and we stopped at Swig in St. George. Actually we were TOLD to stop at Swig. My BFF Melissa said she wanted some cookies so why didn't we just swing by. She'd had them and said they were absolutely DELICIOUS. I put the address into my Waze app and it led us right to one of their locations. We drove into the parking lot and saw that there were two lines, so we got behind the longer line, figuring it was the one for ordering. There was a sign listing some of their items, but it really didn't give us much information. They specialize in different kinds of drinks (I still don't know what a "dirty Diet Coke" is...) and some goodies.
If you are on Pinterest, you've heard of their sugar cookies. Everyone seems to have a copycat recipe pinned. Big, thick sugar cookies with light pink icing. They also have some other cookie flavors. My husband, never one to say no to a chocolate chip, ordered chocolate chip but I wanted the famous one. We ordered a dozen (that qualified us for one free) and handed over $20. My husband asked where we pick them up and yelled, "this is our first time here!" He's always saying embarrassing things like that.... We drove around the other side of the little food hut, to the other window, and picked up our cookies. We didn't have to wait very long. The girl inside handed over a brown cardboard bakery box. It was really quite heavy and cool to the touch. I lifted the lid and inside were these big, cold cookies, stacked up, each on their own individual square of parchment paper. The chocolate chip cookies looked fine, but I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into one of those pink-topped beauties. So. Good. Dense, cool, chewy, not too sweet. So THIS is what everyone has been raving about! I get it, I get it.
So, of course, I had to try my hand at making some. I went to Pinterest and sorted through the different recipes that have been pinned and settled on this one from nobiggie.net. I don't know if any of these are exactly the recipe, but I think they're close enough. I would have to live in St. George or Provo (apparently there is a location there, as well) to do a thorough job of taste testing. It is really a good thing I don't live closer or I'd weigh even more than I do.
So I followed the recipe, and this is what I came out with (I forgot to take a pic until I was half-way done).
The dough, as all have said, is not sticky. It feels very light and buttery. I rolled them into balls. Golf ball size. The real Swig cookies are much larger.
Then I dipped my glass in a combo of a couple of tablespoons of sugar and about a teaspoon of salt before pressing the balls down. You can see above that I didn't make beautiful balls. But it didn't matter because they got smooshed anyway.
This is what they looked like after they all got smooshed. Mmm. That little bit of salt in the sugar mix that clings around the edges is soooo good.
Here are some after they are baked. See the nice crumbly edges? This is a different batch than the ones above. I found that if you don't rush to get them on the baking sheet, but let the dough sit in the bowl on the counter for awhile, the dough will get those crumbly-looking edges.
Then I made the icing, following the recipe. This may be the trickiest part. All of the recipes tell you to add powdered sugar and milk until you are satisfied with the texture and consistency. What do I know!?! Some of the photos make the icing appear very smooth and thin. Some show it a little thicker. Give me some definitive measurements, people! I wanted them to be able to stand up to being sent through the mail which would mean a little bit of stacking. So I made my icing a little thicker than some others did. Again, I am too far away from Utah to do quality control!
I let them sit out a little and get a bit of a harder top on the frosting before I packed them up. Each one got their mandatory parchment square to rest on.
Well, Sis, I hope they get to Berkeley in one piece! If not, I'll bet the crumbs will still be delicious...
Friday, June 26, 2015
ICAD....what's that???
I was on Bloglovin' and saw a blog post about an ICAD challenge. What is that?, I thought. I googled it and was led to this post on the Yellow Daisy Art website. Apparently, it is the Index-Card-a-Day Challenge. Sounds like fun to me! Kind of cool. The best part is that it says the motto is "there's no catching up." Just start where you are. I am hoping it will help me get my creative juices flowing. So....I'm on my way to target to purchase index cards. I'll let you know how it goes.
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Time to SPICE things up...
Melissa and I did a really GREAT Pinterest project for Christmas. I didn't post it because we didn't want people to know what we were giving them as gifts! I just ran across the photos today and thought I'd put this up.
I saw a great pin showing little clear Christmas bulbs filled with dip mix. I thought to myself, "EVERYONE loves a little dip..." So, we decided to make them! I shopped at Smart and Final, as well as a local Hispanic foods market to get the dry ingredients. Let me tell you, spices aren't all that cheap! But since I got such a large quantity, it didn't end up costing more than a dollar or two for each mix. We multiplied the each recipe by 24. Don't the spices look look beautiful? You can get the recipes here.
We've heard from lots of our friends. They seem to like them. I know I do.
I saw a great pin showing little clear Christmas bulbs filled with dip mix. I thought to myself, "EVERYONE loves a little dip..." So, we decided to make them! I shopped at Smart and Final, as well as a local Hispanic foods market to get the dry ingredients. Let me tell you, spices aren't all that cheap! But since I got such a large quantity, it didn't end up costing more than a dollar or two for each mix. We multiplied the each recipe by 24. Don't the spices look look beautiful? You can get the recipes here.
After we mixed them all, we decided to put them into little cellophane bags, staple the bags shut and then staple a cute topper on them.
I printed out the headers in color, on cardstock, trying to match the design to the feeling of the dip. Dips have feelings???? Guess so. Here are the finished products. Don't they look cute?
Friday, June 12, 2015
I Did It!
Suzan Strong Dunbar, Valedictorian Finalist...
I graduated from Santa Ana College on June 5th. My degree is in Liberal Arts, because I could never choose just one thing! 4.0 GPA. Never thought this would be me.
I went back to school in 2006 (you realize it is now 2015) to take a metalsmithing class for jewelry making. I had researched which colleges in California had such a program and Santa Ana College was one of the few. I figured I'd take a few classes, maybe get a certificate in jewelry making. When I applied, the jewelry making class was already full, so I took a Survey of Humanities class, which was mostly online but had several class meetings to take the tests. I was HOOKED. I fell in love with Santa Ana College--the campus, the staff, the students. I passed no less than five schools on my drive down there. But that didn't matter. Here I am, nearly nine years later, preparing to move into the next phase and get my Bachelor's degree in Applied Management (sort of like Organizational Leadership). I eventually took that metalsmithing class and learned a lot. Then they cancelled the jewelry program.
After the ceremony, Jack, my mom and our friend, Pat went out to dinner.
Pretty fun to celebrate.
I am giving myself four years to complete the B.S. See you in 2019!
I graduated from Santa Ana College on June 5th. My degree is in Liberal Arts, because I could never choose just one thing! 4.0 GPA. Never thought this would be me.
I went back to school in 2006 (you realize it is now 2015) to take a metalsmithing class for jewelry making. I had researched which colleges in California had such a program and Santa Ana College was one of the few. I figured I'd take a few classes, maybe get a certificate in jewelry making. When I applied, the jewelry making class was already full, so I took a Survey of Humanities class, which was mostly online but had several class meetings to take the tests. I was HOOKED. I fell in love with Santa Ana College--the campus, the staff, the students. I passed no less than five schools on my drive down there. But that didn't matter. Here I am, nearly nine years later, preparing to move into the next phase and get my Bachelor's degree in Applied Management (sort of like Organizational Leadership). I eventually took that metalsmithing class and learned a lot. Then they cancelled the jewelry program.
After the ceremony, Jack, my mom and our friend, Pat went out to dinner.
Pretty fun to celebrate.
I am giving myself four years to complete the B.S. See you in 2019!
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Down Two
So, since I forgot to push the PUBLISH button on the last post, I can give you a report of what/how I've been doing with my eating for the past 7 weeks. Well......as of today, I'm down 2 lbs. Mind you, I've been down as many as 5.5 lbs, but today, my weight puts me at 2 lbs. What can I say....??? Better than being UP 2 lbs???? Yeah, right.
My biggest problem is that I'm a celebration eater and, let me tell you, there are lots of things in life to celebrate!!!! The weekend, the start of a new week, MANY birthdays and holidays, a night out with my girlies, walked around the block, home alone, finished a project, lost a pound, discovered a new ice cream flavor.... you get the idea.
The good news is that I have made a commitment to journal my food no matter what. So, those 3000 calorie days are well documented (I'm only supposed to eat 1630 per day). I think this makes me feel a little bit more in control of my food consumption.
No photo to show a difference until I'm down 10. You may never see me again. Ha! I'm sure there will be many more celebrations which will call for photos. In fact, my next blog is guaranteed to have a celebration included.
My biggest problem is that I'm a celebration eater and, let me tell you, there are lots of things in life to celebrate!!!! The weekend, the start of a new week, MANY birthdays and holidays, a night out with my girlies, walked around the block, home alone, finished a project, lost a pound, discovered a new ice cream flavor.... you get the idea.
The good news is that I have made a commitment to journal my food no matter what. So, those 3000 calorie days are well documented (I'm only supposed to eat 1630 per day). I think this makes me feel a little bit more in control of my food consumption.
No photo to show a difference until I'm down 10. You may never see me again. Ha! I'm sure there will be many more celebrations which will call for photos. In fact, my next blog is guaranteed to have a celebration included.
Monday, April 20, 2015
The Day of Reckoning
Shhhhh...... This was supposed to be posted on 4/20/15, but I forgot to push the "publish" button... ugh.
205.5. You've got to be kidding me. Haven't I done this before? When.... maybe 2006? I began 2007, at a weight of 230, on my way to losing 80 pounds. I started that by cutting carbs so that I could control my blood sugar. I swore I'd never see the backside of 200 again. Ugh. Why did it seem so much easier then?
My lowest weight was in 2012, when my son, Jackson, was dying of cancer at age 29. I got down to 146. For some, with a height of 5'2", you are thinking that I was still overweight. That may well be, but I felt good in my body. For all of the external stuff I was going through with Jackson, I at least felt good about my control of food. SOMETHING I could control. I was walking regularly and watching my food.
Since he died, 2 1/2 years ago, food has become a source of comfort. I never realized that I used food that way. Maybe because I had never felt such loss before. Before he got sick, so many things mattered and seemed important. Since, not much seems to matter and so I saw my weight creep up and up and up. "It's understandable," my friends would say. "You shouldn't be worrying about it now." Jackson was so proud of my fitness level. He, like me, had always struggled with weight. It contributed to his disease. Why have I been unable to control it?
I have definitely tried to address it for at least the past year. And yet I am about 11 lbs higher this year than I was in April of 2014. I must be doing something wrong. I've tried everything under the sun. Low carb. Counting points, a la Weight Watchers. Fasting two days per week. Eating as much as I want, but for only 8 hours a day. The trouble is, I want to be able to eat as much as I want. Period. Never going to lose a pound that way!
Yesterday, I was on Pinterest and someone pinned a blog called Runs for Cookies. It is by a girl named Katie who lost 125 lbs through diet and exercise. When reading her blog, she talked about feeling like she was starving by only eating 1200 calories per day and that she wasn't willing to give everything up. She lost the weight by simple calorie counting. She played around with eating as many calories as possible but still losing weight. She built in calories for dessert every day. She didn't eat yogurt, because she hates it. She only ate the foods SHE wanted to eat. It made perfect sense to me. I found another blogpost that had a similar message.
So I am going to try it. I downloaded the MyFitness app for calorie counting and keeping track of my exercise. My goal is 159, which is 46.5 lbs away. MyFitness says that I can eat 1630 calories a day and lose about 1.5 lbs per week. We'll see.
I'll add more about my exercise soon.
205.5. You've got to be kidding me. Haven't I done this before? When.... maybe 2006? I began 2007, at a weight of 230, on my way to losing 80 pounds. I started that by cutting carbs so that I could control my blood sugar. I swore I'd never see the backside of 200 again. Ugh. Why did it seem so much easier then?
 |
| With my grandson, Strong, at 205.5 pounds. Yikes. |
Since he died, 2 1/2 years ago, food has become a source of comfort. I never realized that I used food that way. Maybe because I had never felt such loss before. Before he got sick, so many things mattered and seemed important. Since, not much seems to matter and so I saw my weight creep up and up and up. "It's understandable," my friends would say. "You shouldn't be worrying about it now." Jackson was so proud of my fitness level. He, like me, had always struggled with weight. It contributed to his disease. Why have I been unable to control it?
I have definitely tried to address it for at least the past year. And yet I am about 11 lbs higher this year than I was in April of 2014. I must be doing something wrong. I've tried everything under the sun. Low carb. Counting points, a la Weight Watchers. Fasting two days per week. Eating as much as I want, but for only 8 hours a day. The trouble is, I want to be able to eat as much as I want. Period. Never going to lose a pound that way!
Yesterday, I was on Pinterest and someone pinned a blog called Runs for Cookies. It is by a girl named Katie who lost 125 lbs through diet and exercise. When reading her blog, she talked about feeling like she was starving by only eating 1200 calories per day and that she wasn't willing to give everything up. She lost the weight by simple calorie counting. She played around with eating as many calories as possible but still losing weight. She built in calories for dessert every day. She didn't eat yogurt, because she hates it. She only ate the foods SHE wanted to eat. It made perfect sense to me. I found another blogpost that had a similar message.
So I am going to try it. I downloaded the MyFitness app for calorie counting and keeping track of my exercise. My goal is 159, which is 46.5 lbs away. MyFitness says that I can eat 1630 calories a day and lose about 1.5 lbs per week. We'll see.
I'll add more about my exercise soon.
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