I made french toast tonight from Rebecca and my sourdough bread.
Filed under things that are delicious.
1/2 pound Churken (Chicken + Turkey) patty, Pepperjack Cheese, 7 pieces of Maple Bacon, Housemade Jalapeno Ranch sauce on an organic Essential Baking Company kaiser roll.
Hand-spun Rocky Road Milkshake
Nesbitt’s Strawberry Soda
Tater Tots with Rosemary Sea Salt(via pouryourheartintoit)
shut up.
Oh lahwwwwwd.
— I went to Iron Belt, Wisconsin with Rebecca, her family and Billy (Stacey’s boyfriend) on December 27. We met up with their extended family at their grandma’s house and spent the days up to January 1 desperately trying to burn the calories we were consuming so we could go right on not feeling guilty about eating second and third helpings of Grandma Linn’s delicious cooking. There was so much snow! It was fantastic. Her cousins had piled up a huge mound of snow before we arrived, then soaked it so a hard layer of ice would freeze over, making it stable enough to be hollowed out into a snow fort that probably fit six grown people at a time.
The morning after we arrived, Rebecca and I snow-shoed down the street and around the corner into woods full of tall pines and frozen streams. We’d get out there and listen to the snow falling in small piles from trees and the sound of branches crackling and groaning in the wind. It was great to just spend time out in the forest with her and feel such a dense personal sense of solitude. We intended to come back around to find our own trail again so as to make a loop, but it was getting late, so we backtracked the way we came.
The next day, we went cross country skiing with Rebecca’s dad. We went much farther than I thought we would, and by the time we finished I was utterly exhausted and confident that I would never do this again. I have since amended my position—I want to be more physically fit next time we go, and I don’t want to have to struggle my way up as many hills. Even a little hill is daunting when you’re trying to ski up it.
We went downhill skiing the next day, which is much more to my liking. I was impressed by the size of the hills they had for skiing! I expected something altogether unpleasant, like our local Hidden Valley ski resort. This was honestly like skiing some of the short runs out in Colorado, where Rebecca and I are going in March. There were feet of real snow, which in itself makes a huge difference. Skiing artificial snow just isn’t the same.
We went out snow-shoeing again the day before we left, following the trail we’d made earlier in the week. Someone had finished the trail, bringing it back around in a loop into itself.
We drove home on New Year’s Day. 12 Hours in a Ford Expedition with 7 other people. It felt good to get out of the car and stand up, but I’m sorry the our trip had to end. It was great fun to spend time with Rebecca’s family and Billy.
— On December 25, Christmas Day, my grandma went into the hospital at my parents’ insistence. She was showing signs of dehydration, and had started experiencing hallucinations. She was dizzy, and nauseous, and her blood pressure was fluctuating wildly. Rebecca and I had planned to go to Jefferson City to visit my grandparents the following morning, and my parents told me that it would probably still be okay to come. We’d visit Grandma in the hospital and celebrate Christmas as a family.
We drove to Jefferson City, MO on December 26, and we stopped downtown to eat at Arris’ Pizza. I had called my dad and told him this, and my mom and Jared showed up to eat with us. Jared, Rebecca and I sat at the table as Mom told us that Grandma had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s—everyone in my grandma’s family apparently ended up with Alzheimer’s, and she had been putting off going to the hospital because she didn’t want to have it confirmed, and this is why she was so resistant to go when my parents tried to get her to go. Mom then told us that my grandpa hadn’t wanted us to know this, but he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s two years ago, and has been on medication to help him manage.
Mom told us that the doctor told my grandpa what he already knew was coming—they won’t be able to live independently for much longer; my grandpa just can’t take care of Grandma on his own, especially in his condition. Just the other night, he had been helping her bathe while she was too unwell to do it on her own, and he almost couldn’t get her out of the bathtub. We talked for a little while longer, and I don’t know how I was able to keep myself from crying until Rebecca and I left the restaurant. We got into the car, and closed the doors, and I turned the key in the ignition. As soon as I looked over at her and we saw each other’s face, she reached forward to hold me as I fell apart.
I grew up with my grandparents. I lived at their house until I was 4 or 5, I spent large chunks of every summer with them until I was 13 or 14, and they’ve always been these incredible constants in my life, no matter what. She’s 80, he’s 81. I love them dearly, and I’m heartbroken for them. I hope that they can keep themselves until the end.
And I hope that the end isn’t for a long while.
Cakeball people…
do you know if a bar of melted dark chocolate will work the same as chocolate bark? We used all our chocolate chips up last night, and I don’t want to run to the store. I wouldn’t be able to make very many, but I’d be able to make a few…
No idea, but I want to say yes, it should harden fine.
Actually, I want to say GET IN MY MOUTH, but that’s a given.
It might be a little bitter, if it is maybe add a bit of sweet and condensed milk but if you do that make sure that it hardens before you dunk all your cakeballs in it! However, it should work just fine!
If you’re going to melt a dark chocolate bar, I would recommend melting a little gulf wax into it to stabilize it. I don’t know how big of a chocolate bar you’re talking about here, but I’d say a sugar cube-sized chunk of gulf wax per 3oz dark chocolate wouldn’t hurt.
It’ll stabilize things, it won’t mess with the flavor, and it’ll give it all a nice gloss when it sets.
I’ve been dining on free birthday meal coupons from various restaurants for a good two weeks.
I love the taste of “this should have cost you $8 + tax”.
I’m reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula right now. After my weird mythological creature kick in elementary school (the Loch Ness Monster, vampires, Bigfoot) I’m sort of surprised that I never actually got around to reading this. To be fair, I don’t think they had this in my elementary school library OR at the bookmobile.
I went to Columbia tonight with Rebecca, and we met JD at Shakespeare’s Pizza for dinner. We sat around and ate tasty supreme pizza and just talked for awhile. It was really great to catch up. After that, we went to the Andrew Bird concert. St. Vincent opened, and she was pretty good—I hadn’t heard very much of her music before, to be honest. Andrew Bird managed to play an entire concert without Plasticities, Weather Systems or Heretics, which is pretty unusual, but he put on a fantastic show. This was Rebecca’s first concert, and I think she had a good time.
I got back to my house around 1:00 a.m., ate a gyro and it’s now time for bed.
If there were power outlets out here, where I’m eating, I would spend a lot more time here. I’m listening to the Weepies and loving life, but I only have 19 minutes left of battery life.
I used to come here ALL THE TIME growing up to grab a chocolate éclair for breakfast. Memories, memories.
UPDATE: Found a power outlet behind some shrubbery. Victory.
Who eats toaster strudels at midnight while laying in his bed? This guy.
That’s right ladies, I’m quite a catch.
