happy times are here again

[brightbluegirl]

Last night was quite pleasant. I got home to an empty house, and tidied/unpacked things/opened mail while phoning various people. I spoke to my mother, suzanne, and some Albuquerque friends whilst doing so.

Then I made dinner - a creamy artichoke dip, to be eaten with carrot sticks and baked tortilla chips, with mint tea, and set everything out on the table to be eaten when Andrew came home.

My brother got home just before Andrew, so he ate dinner with us too. (As an aside - he's been surprisingly appreciative of the food we have in the house - liked the walnut burgers, LOVED the dip)

And it was wonderful! I mean, so terrific. Not just the food, but the three of us having dinner together, chatting and talking and telling stories, was awesome. I enjoy sitting down to dinner with Andrew alone - it's a thing I had to learn early in our relationship, because our family so rarely did so or enjoyed it (but his family sits down to dinner every night, and stays there for a long time - it's a chance to talk about things, bond, it's an amazing thing to be a part of) - but this was awesome, and reminded me why having my brother around is good.

Dinner was late, though, because Andrew doesn't get home until 8ish on Thursdays. As a result I didn't eat enough yesterday - 200 calories less than my daily amount. Not a huge problem, I didn't go to bed hungry, but still...

---

Next weekend I go to Andrew's parent's place (my 'in-laws'! hee!!!), and his mother is going to teach me how to can and make jam! I'm very excited!!! I should return home with many items - one of the things we're going to experiment with is sugar-free jams.

This weekend I'm going to do that sewing I've been looking forward to - I have 3 differently coloured materials (royal blue, royal purple, and a nice burgundy one that matches those two) that complement our new navy blue sheets on the bed, so I'm going to make six pillow cases. I also got some purple and some black t-shirt material, so I can copy some of my favourite tank tops. None of that is hard sewing, so I'm going to whip it all into shape by the end of the weekend.

Then, once those things are done, I'll be able to concentrate on quilting. Well, mildly concentrate on quilting.

Andrew pointed something out last night - he said he's really happy that I'm going to have something I can work on in the evenings, but with no deadline and no stress. He said that even the couch cover (and this is true!) had stress for me, because I needed to finish it before the ceremony since everyone was coming over. Of course in my wildest dreams I thought about how nice it would be to be able to give people quilted things for Christmas/Solstice, but... that is SO not going to happen. And I admit, I'm still a little nervous! I have to keep reminding myself that I'm going to start with small things, like placemats, and I'm not making a great big blanket to start off with, so chill out!

And of course, making Christmas/solstice presents. I have some ideas...

Tonight, Andrew and I are meeting up downtown and checking out a new-to-us vegan chinese restaurant at Main and 14th. This guy in some store told us there was one there, but said he couldn't remember the name of it. So I hope he got the location right, or else we're going to be hungry! Heh. Next door to the restaurant is apparently a fake meat store. We want to check that out, too, and see what the prices are and stuff like that. If it's reasonable, we're going to get some fake fish and/or shrimp, so I can experiment with cooking with it.

Comments

[malaka.livejournal.com]

what are you going to use to sweeten your jams? I'm going to make another batch of fig jam, sugar free.. but I'm not sure if I should use an artificial sweetener or just go fruit-only.

How about bags/purses. They'd make great gifts and shouldn't be too time consuming. I personally like short projects, they're more fullfilling. I never finish anything that takes too long. heh

[freakykitten.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't know enough about sugar-free jam making to say. His mother said that there are pectins made with splenda (the only artificial sweetener I'd really consider), but for some things, like figs, they're so sweet on their own, do we need extra sugar? I'd say no.

Otherwise, I'd probably want to look at sweetening with fructose. It's better than sugar, and not artificial... but I have no idea if it can be done.

Bags and purses... hmmmmmm that's a good idea!

[pfloide.livejournal.com]

Okay, so this is a pedantic question, but actually I just want to know. When you say "fructose is better than sugar", which sugar are you talking about? Because, obviously, fructose is *a* sugar. Do you mean sucrose? Or glucose? Or what?

I guess what I mean is - when people avoid eating sugar, which one are they supposed to avoid?

I'm guessing glucose, but I keep realizing that I don't know from beans about dietary stuff, really, which is probably bad for a vegetarian.

[freakykitten.livejournal.com]

When I stay away from sugar, I stay away from products that contain "sugar", "dextrose", and "sucrose". My understanding is that the refining process that sugarcane goes through makes it actually a very unhealthy product for the body (hence avoiding 'sugar'), and that the chemical compisition of dextrose and sucrose are similar enough to refined sugar as to adversely affect me (since I'm hypoglycemic). Although, I'm at the point where most foods I eat don't contain anything chemical (i.e. things ending in 'ose') very often anyway - the packaged foods I get tend to have ingredients like "liquid sugar cane" (which I avoid, in case the refining process is similar), or "malted barley" (also apparently a sweetener, which does not adversely affect my body).

Fructose is a type of sweetener, yes, but it is derived from fruit, it goes through a different refining process, and affects my body differently. It's only one level better than sugar, to be fair, but it's still better to remove something than nothing.

I eat honey, maple syrup (#2 grade amber, which is less refined, containing more minerals), and fruit and fructose, giving me more than enough sweets should I crave them.

Diabetics may need to avoid more types of sweeteners than I do, but I don't know enough about diabetes to say... d might be able to give you more info, though.

[asimplelife.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a wonderful evening. Nick and I spent muchos time hanging out after dinner and I have to say that it is the most pleasant part ov the day. My family never really ate together either, but I am glad it is a mainstay in my adult life.

Oh, and can you post said artichoke dip? Sounds wonderful!

[freakykitten.livejournal.com]

It's really simple, actually:

12 oz of artichoke hearts (I used a 14oz can by Unico - packed in water)
1/2 cup cream cheese (easily substituted with vegan cream cheese)
1/2 cup mayonaise (again, I use vegan equivalents)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper (I use fresh ground, and more than that)
4 tbsp parmesan (I used a faux parmesan made with nutritional yeast and sesame seeds)

Roughly chop the artichoke hearts, and mix with cheese, mayo, salt, pepper, and 1/2 the parmesan. Place in casserole dish or pan, and sprinkle with rest of the parmesan.

Put in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes, or until top is browned.

And voila!

[asimplelife.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Thank you! Sounds amazing!

[mel-nic.livejournal.com]

I wanted to tell you that I think it's cool as hell that you know how to sew as well as you must be able to...! I've always wanted to know how to quilt, but I have to settle for doing mediocre crocheting and needlepoint. Sigh.

But you, you can actually make things. Bravo!

[freakykitten.livejournal.com]

aw, thanks! I'm still starting out as far as sewing goes, although now that I made my dress and his jacket for the big day, I feel more confident.

The quilting is brand new, though, so wait on the congratulations a bit for that one!

[mel-nic.livejournal.com]

Ya well, aside from sewing on the occaisional button or hem, I'm a goner. Maybe some of us, should be content to buy quilts instead...:)venusrising is a natural sewer, as well.