Commitment Issues

My darling man-child got himself into a spot of trouble on New Year's Eve, resulting in a ticket and court date, set for January fifteenth. Being that I still mother him (ever so slightly, mind), it was a court date for the whole family... which pretty well had me in knots as soon as I realized it was quickly approaching.

Social commitments are not my strong suit, as, for some years now, I have fought with panic/anxiety which is predominantly triggered outside of our home, almost always when waiting or being still. I realize court probably isn't considered social to many, but, to myself, it involves the same readying... the dressing process, having conversational topics, and bringing something to do should a lull present itself.

For this engagement, I started on an idea I had whilst doing the Christmas makery, which was inspired when knitting a little hat for a friend's niece.


petal: a neutral based beanie for little heads with interchangeable flowers and bands

charcoal heather hat; bands/flowers in soft pink, sage, and grape

I kind of love it. ... but I love most things involving the infliction of absurdity on children :D And, now that I am looking at it, I see the idea can totally be expanded to encompass a propeller beanie! ;) YAY

Dear Life, Srsly?

Last night, our youngest wasn't pestering me in the kitchen while I was cooking dinner, so I knew something was going on. Sure enough, he was in a tiny kitty ball and running a fever.

Ossim semi-regularly crops up with mysterious fevers. At the last visit, his doctor said he believes Ossim may have FIV = compromised immune system. From what I have read on FIV, there isn't much to be done treatment-wise except staying on top of fevers and feeding a high protein diet. It is a contagious lenti-/retrovirus, transferable through deep bite wounds (saliva to blood), which would line up well with the way Ossim was found... about four weeks old, young for being away from the nest; nasty-scabby ear and a disturbingly large abscess which cropped up a few days later. Because he was tested for everything but (main concern: leukemia) when we found him, he has lived in our pounce this long and the cats do not play rough enough to cause concern, so we have opted to make no changes to his lifestyle.

Little Ossim Vunderstuft ♥s apples
Anyway, that's Ossim... who is currently hating me for forcing syringes (needle-less) of water into him every hour, will *really* hate me for taking him to the vet for the double poke (thermometer, antibiotic shot), and will be wishing me dead around day three of seven with the oral antibiotics, twice a day.


Otherwise, as of eight thirty this morning, we, apparently, have a power issue. Being that our house was erected in nineteen sixty-eight, it was not equipped for the electronic needs of today. We may be a special case, as we, at times, run five computers simultaneously... on top of televisions in the back two bedrooms, a couple of stereos, window air conditioners when it is hot, space heaters when it is cold, microwave, convection toaster oven, giant fridge, &c. Yeah, we are asking for it. And this morning, we received! ... a breaker which refused to be reset + two bedrooms and a corner of the den without power.

Priority shifted once again, I will be moving the Mister's computing area to a spot whose outlets are on a separate breaker and hopefully be finished in time for Ossim's appointment, then to a hardware store, where we will hopefully find a breaker for our obsolete breaker box. After which, with any luck, our electrician friend will come replace the breaker, as I am practically petrified when it comes to dealing with electricity. I'm no fool...

Sweets for the Sweet

Our son turns twenty today. Twenty! I can't believe it :\ Rather than allow the thought to fully sink in and rattle about my brain, I am going to share his birthday treat and get back to the garage... which I have fully destroyed, again, in order to get to the spot where I will set up the new shelving, then put it all back.

By the numbers, this isn't as eeevil as the Pot de Crème, but, shoo, it is wicked sweet and definitely not kosher by the Mister's and my dietary habits. I can only pray the kids will plow through it before I have a middle-of-the-night lapse in senses.

Death by Reese's

1 box yellow cake mix
1-16 oz jar (doesn't have to be exact, 15-18 oz will do) natural creamy peanut butter, divided as 1 c and [rest]
1-1/2 tsp Ener-G + 2 tbs water (or 1 egg)
1/3 c water
~27 mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, unwrapped
16 oz Reese's Pieces (or peanut butter M&Ms)
12 oz bag semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven according to box directions and prepare a 9" x 9" baking pan by spraying bottom lightly.

Whisk together water (1/3 c + 2 tbs) and Ener-G (or beat egg and 1/3 c water together) in medium mixing bowl; add in dry cake mix and 1 c peanut butter; stir or beat with mixer until thoroughly combined. Spread evenly into prepared pan, smoothing with moistened fingers (water or cooking spray) to an even consistency.

Stud [cake] with peanut butter cups in a staggered pattern and pop into the oven for 30-35 minutes or until done (cake will pull away from pan and edges will brown slightly). Transfer from oven to wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Once cake is cooled, combine the rest of the peanut butter and bag of chocolate chips in a double broiler set-up over medium heat; stir until chips have melted and everything is well mixed. Pour chocolate mixture over cake, spreading to edges. Top with Reese's Pieces and chill, uncovered, in the refrigerator until chocolate is set.

Remove from fridge and allow to come to room temperature before serving. May be stored at room temperature.

Makes 40 1"x2" bars with a 1"x1" square remaining.

Calories: 242.4 | Total Fat: 12.9 g | Cholesterol: 0.0 mg | Sodium: 167.9 mg | Total Carbs: 21.0 g | Dietary Fiber: 2.8 g | Sugars: 13.9 g | Protein: 3.8 g | Vit. A: 0.0% | Vit. C: 0.0% | Calcium: 0.8% | Iron: 2.5%
Full* nutrition can be found here.
*Since a lot of the ingredients are packaged, a good portion of the nitty-gritties of nutrition information is missing.

It's a shame the home improvement centers don't lease help-for-the-day. I could totally use an assistant with greater upper body strength than mine! C'est la vie and back to the grind. ... or grunt, as the case is ;)

Still Hungry

Today is my Mister's forty-first birthday :) Considering the Gluttony Fest that precedes his day, we typically do leftovers and a yay birthday dessert... he should have something special, non?

Just after his birthday three years ago, he joined me in vegetarianism and also began trying to avoid eggs -- tough to do when you are grabbing snacks in convenience stores -- because of his spiritual beliefs. Since I had only been doing egg white omelets when trying to cut some fat and had conducted a fair few experiments in egg replacement, giving up eggs wasn't much of an ordeal. Dairy, however, unf.

He hasn't any spiritual qualms with dairy, directly, but I'm sure if he were to be exposed to the industry, he may feel different. I, on the other hand, lean more toward the health-nut end of vegetarianism.

in my mind the scale goes as such:

buddhist_________________animal hugger_________________health nut

we meet at animal hugging :)

Through volumes of reading, I have concluded that, while dairy is tasty, the commercial industry is awful, dairy doesn't do the body good, then, through exposure and the failed attempts over the past year to kick it, it is quite addicting. ... and super hard when everyone else in the house is having tasty cheeses.

So(!), when the final approach began for this new year (after we both mega failed over Christmas, indulging in my mother-in-law's deliiicious Christmas Cookie Extravaganza, containing both eggs and butter), I struck a deal with the Mister:

no eggs. no dairy.
Essentially, we're going dietary vegan. Ok, it wasn't much of a deal, more of a proclamation, but he agreed. Fingers crossed we can both stick to reading labels, at least long enough that we work out replacements for the things to which we are accustomed. Fortunately, avoiding dairy will be fairly easy, as I have sufficient practice in making my own tofu ricotta / tofu feta / crock-style (spreadable) "cheeses" and veggie shreds melt well enough for our stromboli needs, IF my laziness doesn't push me to cave into ordering pizza.

Recipe du (naissance) jour: bittersweet pot de crème, chilled (no need for baking if you don't use eggs)

Pot de Crème

1-14 oz can (full fat) coconut milk
5 oz bittersweet chips (read the ingredients if avoiding dairy, we use SunSpire 65%)
2 tbs turbinado sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of salt

Put everything except coconut milk in your blender/processor canister (please hold on pureeing). In a small saucepan, heat coconut milk to a simmer; pour milk into blender (over other ingredients) and puree until smooth. Divide mixture between 4 small ramekins or teacups. Chill at least 5 hours.

(this one is a baddy!)
Servings: 4 | Calories: 451.6 | Total Fat: 36.5 g | Cholesterol: 0.0 mg | Sodium: 54.8 mg | Potassium: 243.3 mg | Total Carbs: 30.7 g | Dietary Fiber: 5.2 g | Sugars: 19.7 g | Protein: 4.8 g | Vit. A: 0.0% | Vit. C: 1.9% | Calcium: 2% | Iron: 25.5%
Full nutrition can be found here.

Tonight will ring the end of indulgence and the resumption of trying my best to take care of us, so we are going out with a *BANG*. Mmm!

Buenas noches, hasta luego :) Mañana, it's back to the pillow makery for me!