by

A Day of Eats, Whole 30 Style

So, as I mentioned in this post, I went on the Whole 30 again.  As it turned out, I didn’t finish this pass before giving it up as a bad job – I guess I just wasn’t committed enough this time around.  I gave myself a couple of nights off, some for good reasons (mother-in-law’s birthday; dinner at the home of new friends who I didn’t want to burden with my food demands) and some for not-so-good reasons (primarily, because I wasn’t feelin’ it).  As a result, I am definitely not seeing the same benefits as I’ve seen in the past when I’ve stuck religiously to the program through inconvenience and don’t-wannas.  But I’ll give it another try in April and do better next time.

Whenever I tell people about the Whole 30 – “no grains, no dairy, no sugar, no legumes, no soy, no corn, no white potatoes, no preservatives, no alcohol” – I inevitably get the same question: “So what exactly do you eat?”  My answer is, always, “Really delicious food.”  I’ve found that the key to succeeding with the Whole 30 is focusing on what you can have, and that list is actually pretty long.  Meat and seafood is welcome (although I still avoid beef, pork and ham products as I have since I was 17), fruits and nuts (except peanuts) are encouraged, and vegetables are the cornerstone.  Still, it can sometimes be hard to envision, so I thought I’d show you a full day of eating on the Whole 30.

A couple of things to note: first, while on the Whole 30, I don’t count calories, nor do I worry about fat, protein or carbs.  I stick to the list of approved foods and let the chips fall where they may.  It always takes care of itself.  And second, please keep in mind that this is a fairly light day of eating.  I try my best to eat intuitively, to have something when I’m hungry and to stop eating when I am full.  I just wasn’t especially hungry on the day that I had planned to photograph my meals and snacks.  (Probably because I’d been too busy to work out for a couple of days prior to documentation day.  I’m always more hungry when I’m exercising a lot.)  I promise, if I’d felt hungrier, I’d have eaten more!  So, with that, here we go:

Whole301

Breakfast was a baked egg cup with a side of orange.  (I gave three of the orange slices you see here to Peanut.  She had her own breakfast but – as usual – was more interested in mine.  Oranges are delicious, so I can’t blame her.)  The egg cups are something I’ve been experimenting with as quick, easy, protein-packed breakfasts to have on hand for when I go back to work.  I don’t like to eat sweets in the morning – except for fruit, of course – and I’m not a cereal person (I’m hungry again in an hour), so I sometimes have trouble getting a breakfast together.  The egg cups are the perfect solution.  They’re filling – each cup is the equivalent of two eggs, plus some veggies (sautéed broccoli and onions in this case).  They’re also a delicious way to have my favorite breakfast (eggs) in quick and convenient form.  I’ll be sure to share a recipe soon!  Unpictured: a cup of Harney & Sons “Tower of London” tea, which is amazing.

Whole302

I didn’t have a morning snack – too busy chasing a goofy kid around to think about my stomach – so lunch was next and I did put a fairly good spread together.  On my plate: turkey sausage (it’s tough but you can find Whole 30 compliant sausages – this one is a turkey kielbasa from Garrett Valley, which I got at the local co-op), sliced kohlrabi, red bell peppers, and leftover Brussels sprouts.  I eat a lot of salad on the Whole 30, but sometimes I’m not feeling it and when I’m not, a “snack plate” like this is my go-to option.

Whole303

I was still hungry after my snack plate, so I tossed together a fruit salad – half a banana, a few strawberries and a handful of raspberries.  Fruit is my favorite food and I could eat a fruit salad every single day and not get bored.

Whole304

Afternoon snack was another quick and easy one: half a small sweet potato topped with almond butter.  I make baked sweet potatoes (in the microwave, it’s actually quick and easy) ahead of time and keep them in the fridge to toss into stews or soups, blend into smoothies, or just snack on like this.  If you’ve already got the sweet potato cooked, it’s just a quick 3 minute blast in the microwave and you have a warm, filling snack.  I know it looks revolting, but I promise it tastes good.

Whole305

Dinner was late because I had a volunteer commitment in the evening.  (I tutor a basic literacy student for two hours each week.)  When I got home shortly after 8:00, I was starving and wanted something quick and easy, so salad was the clear answer.  I used Romaine lettuce (which I prefer to spring mix; I used to throw out an entire container of spring mix every week and finally it occurred to me, eureka, don’t buy it if you don’t like it – it’s hubby’s favorite salad mix, but I eat far more salad than he does, so now I buy my favorite lettuce instead), cucumber slices (I keep them in the fridge for snacking and tossing on salads), shredded chicken from a roast I made a few days ago, and a simple dressing of herb-infused olive oil and a flaky pink sea salt.  Perfectly yummy, filling from all that fiber and chicken, and on the table in a flash!  Followed that up with an unpictured cup of herbal tea to unwind before bed, and… it was good.  It was very, very good.

Have you ever done a Whole 30?  Are you curious or do you think it’s crazy?

by

Tifft Nature Preserve: Winter 2014

Tifft Nature Preserve is an urban wildlife sanctuary located practically in the heart of Buffalo.  I’d been itching to visit for months, and hubby and I thought it’d be fun to go at least once in each season, and photograph the landscape as its elements changed with the months.  A few weeks ago, we bundled Peanut into the car and set off for our winter visit.

DSC_0836_01_03

Before we even got out of the car, we’d already seen two deer.  Deer in the middle of the city!  Love it.

DSC_0835_01_01

(This guy ^ was closer than he looks.  I need to learn to work my camera a little bit better, clearly.  Or maybe I should have swapped in my zoom lens.)

DSC_0828_01

There were beautiful paths leading in several different directions, so we picked one to follow.  I can’t wait to see what this trail looks like in spring and summer!  I expect it’s a riot of green overhead and all around.

DSC_0829_01

DSC_0816_01_03

Peanut wasn’t sure what we were doing tramping around in the snow, but – once again – she was not impressed.

DSC_0805_01_03

We passed a bat habitat that the nature preserve had set up in the trees, which I thought was extremely cool (almost like a modern art installation).  Although I – like every woman, I think – have a horror of getting a bat stuck in my hair, I actually really like bats as a rule.  They’re good for keeping local insect populations under control, and if you actually watch them swooping through the evening sky, they’re really quite graceful.  Obviously we didn’t see any bats (it being the middle of the day) but I like knowing that the nature preserve is taking steps to protect the local population.

DSC_0807_01_01

More nature: deer tracks!  I felt like I was tracking a Jaguar with Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet.

DSC_0813_01_03

DSC_0822_01

We found a small frozen pond tucked away down the trail.  Peanut is recently obsessed with ponds (more on this next week) and we took advantage of the opportunity to show her her favorite ecosystem all frozen over.

DSC_0824_01

I don’t think she really put two and two together.

DSC_0820_01

Just before we turned back, we saw this small offshoot trail leading to a wide expanse of snow and grass.  I might be completely losing it, but something about the landscape reminded me of the beach.  Maybe the small path leading to the great wide open?  Or the tall grasses that look so much like the Outer Banks’ famous sea oats?  Either way, it was a beautiful sight.

Thanks for the lovely walk, Tifft Nature Preserve!  Can’t wait to see you bedecked in your spring finery.  Anytime now…

by

ANNE OF INGLESIDE

Anne of Ingleside

Anne is now a mother of six spirited children – little Jem, who made his appearance in Anne’s House of Dreams, is big brother to Walter, twins Nan and Di, little brother Shirley, and (born in this book) baby sister Rilla.  Anne’s days are full as she juggles the social demands of being a busy doctor’s wife with her motherly joys – telling stories, answering (seemingly endless) childish questions, soothing bumps and bruises, receiving fresh-picked bouquets, and providing infinite love.  The story bounces back and forth between Anne’s life and that of her increasingly independent children.  Each of the kids gets a chapter or two devoted to their adventures, and we’re also treated to plenty of time observing Anne’s daily life, gossiping with Miss Cornelia and Susan Baker, and smiling over the foibles of the Glen St. Mary residents.  There’s also plenty of comedy with the interminable visit of Gilbert’s Aunt Mary Maria, and the way the Ingleside clan finally gets rid of her is pure gold.

Anne’s life seems charmed, but when Gilbert becomes more and more distracted, she begins to worry that his love for her is fading.  After they encounter Christine Stuart (Gilbert’s old friend from his days at Redmond College) at a particularly unpleasant social event, Anne’s jealousy skyrockets (she rather cattily observes that Christine has put on weight and has no children, whereas she, Anne, has six and is still svelte… not Anne’s finest moment) and she also begins to worry that she has been taking Gilbert’s love for granted.  I won’t tell you how it all resolves, but rest assured (spoiler alert!) Gilbert loves Anne as much as the day they were married.

Since I’ve proclaimed that I have four favorites or near-favorites in this series (Anne of the Island, Anne of Windy Poplars, Anne’s House of Dreams, and Rilla of Ingleside) it seems only fair that I should admit that Anne of Ingleside is my least favorite Anne story.  I always love reading about Anne and her brood, of course, but I find the story a little disjointed, what with bouncing back and forth between Anne and the kids, and frankly, Anne’s attitude toward Christine (who isn’t the nicest person in the world, but let’s not fat-shame) and Gilbert bugs me a bit.  But I still love these characters and this setting.  So to say that Anne of Ingleside is my least favorite installment just means that I adore it very slightly less than the other seven, but I still adore it plenty.

I’m submitting this review of Anne of Ingleside, by L.M. Montgomery, to the Classics Club Blog as part of the Classics Club Challenge.  You can buy Anne of Ingleside, by L.M. Montgomery, here, or support your local indie bookstore.  (These are not affiliate links.)

by

In Which Sometimes I Care Too Much What Other Bookish Folk Think

CentralLibrary4

Here’s a story that I love to tell: when I was a senior in high school, I took an anthropology elective in which our class participated in the Asch Conformity Test.  For those not familiar with the experiment, it goes like this: twelve people sit in a row, and the test administrator tells the group that they are going to take an eye exam.  The administrator passes a sheet of paper down the row, with a line on it, and instructs the group to commit the length of the line to memory.  Once the paper has made its way to the end, a second paper follows with two (or three, but our class did two) lines printed on it, labeled “A” and “B.”  The administrator asks the first person in line to choose the line of the same length as the first line, and gives a secret, pre-arranged hint as to the correct answer.  (In our class, the teacher asked the first student in line for the answer, and the student knew that if the teacher used his first name, the answer was A, and if he used his surname, the answer was B.  It worked because this teacher always switched up how he addressed students, so it didn’t seem weird.)

The first ten people in the group of twelve are “in” on the experiment – they know what’s going on, and their job is to all say the same thing.  When the first person says “A,” everyone else in the “in” group says “A,” whether “A” is the correct answer or not.  The question is, what will the last two unsuspecting souls do?  Will they agree with a wrong answer, or will they buck the group and go with the answer they know is right, even if it means being the only person who disagrees?

As you can probably guess, I was one of the poor two kids who didn’t know what was going on.  The teacher admitted, later, that he had actually delayed introducing the experiment until a day I was absent from class for a violin lesson, because he really, really wanted to see what I’d do.  Here’s what I did: I measured the first line against my finger (hey, there was no rule against that) so that I was 100% confident, when the second sheet came down the row, that I’d have the right answer.  So when the entire group said “A” and I knew the right answer was “B,” I said… “B.”  After a few sheets had gone down the row, the teacher started to pressure me to agree with the group – asking me if I’d had my contact lens prescription tested recently, signaling the class (unbeknownst to me) to laugh at my different answers.

I never did agree with the group.  I stuck to my guns and gave the right answers, even when I was the only one.  After the test (and after I got a big round of applause) the teacher told the class I was the first student he’d ever had, in over twenty years of teaching, to completely refuse to agree with a wrong answer.  He also shared the story with that semester’s psychology elective, which my boyfriend was taking.  When the teacher mentioned he’d had a student never agree with a wrong answer, for the first time in his career, I’m told my boyfriend threw his hands in the air, pumped his fists and shouted, “That’s my girlfriend!”  (Stubborn, or steadfast?  You decide.)  The teacher asked me what went through my head when he was making fun of me and pressuring me to agree with a wrong answer.  I said, “I thought you were being an idiot.”  (Sorry, Mom, but it was true.  If it helps, Mr. E laughed, and he definitely appreciated my honesty.)  Then he asked me how I felt when the rest of the class laughed at me.  I shrugged and said “I really don’t care what they think.”  And I meant it.

(Hey, I was the girl who drew on my jeans and read Shakespeare under the stairs at lunch.  I had built up a pretty good record of not caring what high school kids thought about me.)

If I didn’t care what my peers thought about me in high school, I care even less as an adult.  Obviously, I want to be respected in the community, and I want to be perceived as a valuable employee at work.  But (within normal social bounds, and with due concern for the needs of my family) I wear what I like, go where I please, and read what I want, and I really couldn’t care less who has a problem with any of those things.  With one exception.

When I read a book, and I love it, and one of my blogging friends picks up the book at a later time (whether on my recommendation or not), I desperately want them to love the book too.  I’m not entirely sure why this is so important to me.  It’s not like these are books I’ve written.  It’s not like I know the author personally.  It’s not like I actually have any skin in this game at all.  But it’s how I feel.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot in recent weeks.  First, my friend Katie read A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True, which I read about a year ago and really enjoyed (although I liked the historical plot much better than the present-day plot).  Then, my pal Eagle-Eyed Editor tweeted about reading Rainbow Rowell’s Attachments, which I loved and which I recommended here.  Both times, I was filled with anxiety.  What if my friends didn’t like these books?  (Both times, they did.  Sigh of relief over here!)

This is just silly.  If my friends don’t like a book I like, it’s not the end of the world.  It’s not the end of the friendship.  (It might even be the start of a friendship: my blog pal Amal found me while searching for reviews of The Tower, the Zoo and the Tortoise, which I loved and she definitely didn’t.)  Really, if my blog friends and I disagree on a book, everyone is going to be okay.

I think what it boils down to is this: I like and respect these people, and I like and respect my readers (and if you’re reading this, that means you!), and I want to be a trusted source of book recommendations for people I like and respect.  If I like a book and you don’t, or vice versa, that doesn’t mean one of us is wrong – art wouldn’t be art if it wasn’t open to varying interpretations; it’d be science.  But I can’t stop hoping that we can love the same books.  And I’m always going to be giddy when someone tells me they love a book that I loved and recommended – whether that’s my blog friends, my mom, mother-in-law, BFF or close family friend, all of whom have read and loved books on my recommendation.  That just fills me with pride, and gives me so much joy – to know that I read and loved a book, and I told you about it, and you read and loved it too, and now we share this.

Should I try to care less whether my friends love the books I love?  I don’t know.  Part of me thinks I should.  After all, in the end, they’re just books and it’s okay – normal! – to disagree about books sometimes.  But I don’t think I’ll ever get there.  I think I’m always going to care.  I’m always going to be excited to pass out book recommendations to my family and friends, I’m always going to be a little nervous when they crack the spines, and I’m always going to be wildly happy if they love the book too and a bit bummed if they don’t.  Not because I’ll suddenly question my own opinion of the book.  (I have a pretty high opinion of my own opinion, if you couldn’t tell.)  But because I’ll feel badly that they wasted their time on a book they didn’t love, because of something I said.

So if I give you a book recommendation, know that my heart is behind it, and know that I care deeply about what you think.  I may pride myself on marching to the beat of my own drummer, but it turns out I really do care… because I care about you.

by

Comfort Reading

Any voracious reader could probably name multiple reasons why they love to sink into a book.  There are many things I love about reading, and I’ve pondered why I read in the past.  In that post, one of the reasons I named was “escapism.”  When I hit a rough patch, as we all do from time to time, books invariably make up an important part of the process of getting through the hard times.  Just the act of reading itself is comforting.  It’s a familiar ritual for me: choose a book, curl up under a blanket, sip tea and get lost in a story.  Of course, I don’t do all of my reading on the couch at home.  I carried a book with me to the NICU every day – to read in the car, the pump room, or during downtime while Peanut snoozed in her isolette.  It wouldn’t be the first time I’d treated a book like a security blanket.  I had many rough days during which I found comfort in reaching into my tote bag, grasping the book du jour and thinking about how I’d have some time to lose myself in the pages later.

Since then, through long newborn days, planning and carrying out a move across several states, and job-hunting, I have thought a lot about comfort reading, both in terms of the practice of reading itself and in terms of the type of books I select during the dark times.  Not only is the act of reading comforting to me, in and of itself, but the choice of book can bring some added comfort, too.  I noticed that “comfort books” fell into three categories for me:

Gentle Reads

These are soft, quiet books in which it may seem as though nothing much is happening, but the beauty of the words themselves and the characters’ steady progress through the story is comforting.  In September of 2012, I slipped back into the gentle world of Fairacre, reading Storm in the Village during my pumping sessions in the NICU.  It’s not as though there was no conflict – indeed, the entire premise of the book is that an atomic energy company wants to mar the beauty of the natural landscape around Fairacre by erecting a housing estate, a terrible concept!  But Fairacre is a quiet place with familiar, well-loved characters and it made me feel better to spend some time there.

I also revisited an old favorite from my childhood.  In order to bring Peanut comfort while she was trapped in an isolette, I spent hours reading to her out loud from Emily of New Moon, by L.M. Montgomery, which was my favorite book as a young reader.  (You may notice the title and wonder if Peanut’s name is a coincidence.  It’s not.)  Of course, Peanut doesn’t understand the language or concepts in Emily of New Moon, so for her the comfort lay more in hearing my voice.  But I won’t lie and pretend that reading a childhood favorite wasn’t good for me, too.

I visited Fairacre many times during the months we were debating pulling up stakes and moving to Buffalo.  And some of the final books in the Fairacre series happened to also be my final books borrowed from my favorite library.  That’s not a coincidence: although I knew that moving to Buffalo was going to be a good thing for our family, it wasn’t easy to uproot our entire life in Virginia.  Miss Read, Miss Clare and the rest of the Fairacre village folk (yes, even the caustic Mrs. Pringle!) made the transition somewhat smoother for me.

Humor

In addition to the gentle reads, I also need a laugh when I’m feeling down.  I found that in Freddy and Fredericka, a sweet but funny and slightly inappropriate tale about a hapless Prince and Princess of Wales who are dropped from a plane over New Jersey with a mission to prove their fitness to rule by re-conquering the United States.  Much of the humor lies in word-play and silly images, both of which resonate with me as a reader.  I spent hours laughing over Freddy and Fredericka in the mothers’ lounge and on the car rides to and from the hospital when Peanut was in the NICU, and it did make me feel significantly better.

Even before the NICU days, I’ve turned to humor to get me through rough patches.  Specifically, P.G. Wodehouse’s bumbling aristocrat, Bertram Wilberforce Wooster, and his brilliant valet Jeeves, have given me plenty of laughs when I was stressed out over work or travel.  Watching hapless Bertie get engaged to a string of terrifying women, only to be rescued over and over by Jeeves, is a sure cure for any anxiety.  (And you’ll certainly ponder whether you’re really under stress when you contemplate the horrors of an engagement to Lady Florence Craye.)

Cozy Mysteries

I’ve been a fan of mystery novels since I picked up my first Agatha Christie, back in middle school.  And I think they’re perfect comfort reading when you’re feeling a little bit buffeted by the world.  Sure, the premises of these books can be a bit gruesome – you’re bound to encounter a dead body, sometimes more than one, along the way – but the thing about cozy mysteries is that they’re pretty much guaranteed to end well.  You can rest assured that the sleuth – be it Miss Marple, Flavia de Luce, Maisy Dobbs, Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane, Precious Ramotswe or one of countless others – will solve the mystery in the end.

And there are often other storylines, especially in the more recently written mysteries (Dame Agatha wasn’t big on this, but her successors often are) that focus more on the sleuths and their supporting castmates – their relationships, dreams, goals, what-have-you – than on whodunit.  Will Mma Ramotswe get together with the kindly garage owner, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni?  Will Maisy find happiness with James?  (Still waiting for the final word on this one.  C’mon Maisy, don’t be stupid!  James loves you!)  Will Flavia ever make peace with her ghastly older sisters?  You’ll have to come back for the sequels to find out, but the beauty of these series is that these stories often work out just as neatly as the mysteries our heroes and heroines solve.  Sometimes it takes awhile, but that just makes the conclusion more satisfying when it inevitably comes.  But even when the personal results aren’t quite as neat and tidy, you can at least count on a wrap-up where everything makes sense, the bad guys are caught and the good guys debrief over a cup of tea (or something stronger).  It’s nice to be able to count on that.

When you’re feeling down, do you turn to books for comfort?  Which ones?

by

ANNE’S HOUSE OF DREAMS

Anne's House of Dreams

Anne’s House of Dreams opens with an event that Anne fans have been waiting for over at least three books – Anne’s wedding to Gilbert Blythe!  Can I just say a few words about Gilbert?  He’s one of my all-time favorite literary leading men.  I love that he starts out as a boy who tries to tell a girl he likes her by teasing her (“Carrots!  Carrots!”), that he waits patiently in the wings and contents himself with friendship until Anne is ready to return the love he’s been offering for years, and that he and Anne grow together into a strong, united pair.

After the wedding, Anne and Gilbert depart immediately for Four Winds, a harbor town in which Gilbert has inherited a medical practice and found a “house o’ dreams” for Anne.  Anne is delighted with the little house and with the local characters who immediately turn up to welcome her – including Miss Cornelia (Four Winds’ version of Mrs. Rachel Lynde, minus the husband), and Captain Jim, an old sea dog with a tragic past.  But Anne is most fascinated by her nearest neighbor, the reclusive, reticent and beautiful Leslie Moore.  Anne sets out to win Leslie’s confidence and friendship – and it’s no easy task, but our favorite redhead has yet to meet a soul she can’t win over.

Anne and Gilbert have a mostly blissful early marriage, but one tragedy mars their newlywed years – the loss of their first baby, “wee white lady” Joyce.  I remember blazing by that part without much thought when I read these books as a child and a teenager, but this time I was a soppy mess, having had a “wee white lady” of my own.  I kept thinking, there but for the grace of modern medicine go I.  This is why re-reading is great: the more life experience you have, the more you can inform your reading and relate to the characters.  A sad storyline that made little impression on me at age 12 brought a completely different flavor to the book when I read it as a mother who had her own fragile baby.  If anything, it was a better read because I was able to relate to Anne in a new way.

Anne’s House of Dreams is… I think… my second-favorite (after Anne of the Island) of the Anne books.  It’s close, though.  As I mentioned last week, I also love Anne of Windy Poplars, and Rilla of Ingleside… so.  These are just outstanding books.  The characters are so richly realized, the settings so gloriously detailed; the more times I read them, the more I find to love.

This review is part of my challenge to read and blog about 100 classic books in five years for The Classics Club.

Buy Anne’s House of Dreams here, or support your local indie bookstore!  These are not affiliate links.

by

Why I Love Winter

CR9

The other day, I was scrolling through Twitter and saw a tweet from the Another Mother Runner ladies to the effect of, “Yes, we’re all sick of winter, but let’s try to think positive for a minute.”  (I’m paraphrasing, but that was the gist.)  And the tweet caught me off guard and pulled me up a bit, because I’ve definitely been guilty of whining and moaning and complaining about winter this year.  (I know it’s not just Buffalo, and that most of the country is getting pounded, so I can commiserate with everyone else who is sick of it… but, at the same time, when there are more people who are sick of it, there’s more complaining on the internet.  To which I have added more than my fair share.)  So I decided to take a leaf out of Sarah and Dimity’s book and look on the bright side.  It should be easy for me, because I grew up loving the cold season.  I love to ski, snowboard, ice skate, cross-country ski, hike on snowy trails, and I used to enjoy every blessed moment of the chilly times.  I’ve missed out on a lot of the good stuff winter has to offer this year because we have the wee one.  Next year, I think, she’ll be up for more fun times in the snow and I can’t wait for that.  But in the meantime, let’s look on the bright side.  Here’s what I love about winter:

image

  • When Peanut makes that ^ face.  I’ll gladly drag her around on that sled as long as she wants, if she keeps those smiles and giggles coming.
  • The feeling of snowflakes getting caught in my eyelashes while I’m out on a run.

winterlove1

  • Feathery etching on the windows in the morning.
  • Mountain sports!  Skiing and snowboarding and feeling the wind in my hhhhhh-arms (name that TV show… I know Katie will get it).
  • The Olympics, of course!  Only every four years, but Olympic winters are extra-magical.

CR4

  • The solemn peace of a forest under cover of a fresh snowfall.
  • Hand-knit scarves and tams and wraps and anything else, because they bring the cozy like nothing you can buy.

DITL 52

  • Watching big flakes float down, while wrapped in a cozy blanket, knowing you have nowhere to be and nothing to do but curl up with a book and/or cuddle with your sweetie and sip tea or cocoa.
  • Citrus fruits!  I can’t get enough; they’re a winter staple.

Freezer1

  • The sound of snow crunching under my feet as I walk or run on a wooded trail… or a city street.  Both have their own magic in the winter.
  • The particular blue of a winter sky.

winterlove2

  • Baby hats.  Especially ones that look like kitties.  (Please ignore my disheveled appearance and focus on the baby, mmmmm-kay?)

The days are getting longer, and daylight savings is here, and soon it’ll be spring, and this winter – dreadful as it’s been at times – will be a memory.  And I do hope next year isn’t quite as vicious.  But I’m going to make an effort, for as long as this winter lasts, to look on the bright side, complain less, and remember that even though it tries my patience from time to time, I’m a northern girl and I do love winter.

Why do you love winter?  C’mon, you can think of something.

by

Recipe: Cocoa-Nut Energy Truffles

cocoanut4

So, as you may know if you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, I’m currently in the midst of Whole30 number three.  (Can I get a woot, woot!)  I realize the Whole30 program isn’t for everyone, but it definitely works for me.  I feel lighter, fresher, and more inspired when I’m eating Paleo or Paleo-ish, so I try to eat that way as much as possible.  Every so often, though, I feel as though I’ve fallen into a trap of eating too much sugar and too many refined carbs.  So when I start to get sluggish and dull-feeling, I know it’s time to hit that nutritional reset button and do another Whole30.  (You can read some of my thoughts about the Whole30 program here.)

During my first Whole30, I made an effort to whip up energy bites (basically, at home Larabar-esque truffle hacks) for Emma and me to snack upon between meals or before workouts.  They’re easy and they’re a lot cheaper than buying piles of Larabars.  (Don’t mistake me: I do that, too.)  Early on in my second Whole30, Emma sent me a fab birthday gift which included several flavors of energy bites from her co-op (and hubby picked some up at our co-op as a surprise, too… so I had lots).  I stretched the co-op energy bites through the entire Whole30 and never had to make any of my own.  This time, I thought it’d be fun to experiment with a few different flavors of energy bites, and here’s the first.  Presenting: Cocoa-Nut Energy Truffles.

cocoanut1

Ingredients

  • 1 package Dole pitted dates
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened flaked or shredded coconut
  • 1/2 cup raw unsalted almonds
  • 2 heaping tbsp. unsweetened almond butter
  • 1-2 heaping tbsp. plain cocoa powder*

*I used 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder and my energy truffles came out with only the barest hint of chocolate flavor.  If you’re just looking for a whisper of chocolate, use 1 tablespoon, but if you want something fudgier, up the quantity to two heaping tablespoons.  I’ll be making that modification the next time I whip these truffles up.

Method

  • Combine all ingredients in a high-speed blender (such as a Vitamix) or powerful food processor.  Process until mixture is the consistency of heavy wet sand.  (You’re welcome for the visual.)
  • Decant mixture into a bowl.  It should look like this:

cocoanut2

  • Knead with your hands until all ingredients are fully combined, and the batter comes together like so:

cocoanut3

  • Roll into two-bite sized balls.  If desired, roll balls in extra coconut flakes or cocoa powder.  (I left mine plain and they were perfectly fine.  Refrigerated, they do not stick together.)
  • Store in the fridge and enjoy a few at a time anytime you need a little pick-me-up!

These little bites are a great dessert treat, pre-workout fuel, or pick-me-up any time of day.  There’s some debate about whether 100% natural cocoa powder is permissible on the Whole30, and even the program’s founders don’t agree.  Personally, I agree that cocoa powder is much like cinnamon – it could be reminiscent of a non-Whole30 treat, but if you’re not using it as a crutch then it’s fine.  I think that the negligible amount of cocoa powder spread throughout these little bites (particularly when you consider the health benefits) is n.b.d.  So go ahead.  Enjoy!

Yield: approximately 15-20 truffles, depending on size.

Please source Covered In Flour for this recipe.

by

ANNE OF WINDY POPLARS

Anne of Windy Poplars

(Oops!  I finished reading the Anne books back in October, but totally dropped the ball on writing up my reviews.  Bad blogger!  Expect one each week for the next month-ish, until we get through them all.  Sorry!)

Spoilers ahead!  If somehow you don’t know how Anne’s romantic life works out and are planning to read the books for yourself, come back later.

Anne of Windy Poplars, the fourth in L.M. Montgomery’s perennially popular Anne series, finds our heroine freshly engaged to her childhood nemesis-turned-friend-turned-romance, the dreamy Gilbert Blythe.  Say it with me, ladies… FINALLY!  Gilbert, of course, has loved Anne since they were children, but it took Anne awhile to come around.  Fortunately, she has now.  Still, Gilbert and Anne have a long way to go before they will end up at the altar.  Neither of them being overly funded, they agree to a long engagement while Gilbert puts himself through medical school.  To pass the time and earn some money during the engagement, Anne accepts a job as principal of Summerside High School.

Anne’s road will be a bit rocky for her first months on the job, because it quickly becomes clear that the “first family of Summerside,” the Pringles, didn’t exactly support her candidacy.  Apparently, Anne was up against a Pringle cousin for the job, and the Pringles can’t forgive her for winning the position.  They set out to make Anne’s life miserable and drive her from Summerside, almost from the very beginning: she is turned away from almost every boarding house in town, snubbed by half the residents of Summerside (Pringles, Pringle relations, and Pringle hangers-on), and the Pringle kids make it their mission to act out and undermine her authority at school.  Smart, perky, obnoxious Jen Pringle is the ringleader of that effort, and Anne laments the fact that they’re pitted against one another, because she believes she could really enjoy and appreciate Jen if the circumstances were different.

Ultimately, Anne’s perseverance and good humor win the day – as we knew, of course, that they would.  It doesn’t hurt that Anne stumbles across a damaging bit of information about one of the most famous past Pringles, of course, but her determination not to use the information – even though the entire clan has opposed her at every turn – is what really wins the family over.  (Being “the bigger person” works sometimes!)  The Pringle storyline is one of my favorite parts of the entire series, because it’s pretty much the only time (saving, maybe, a certain young woman in Anne’s House of Dreams, but more on her next week) that Anne isn’t immediately and universally loved by everyone with whom she comes into contact.  (Yes, Marilla isn’t instantly captivated by Anne the way Matthew was in the opening chapters of Anne of Green Gables, but it really only takes her a few pages to come around.)  The fact that Anne has to work to gain the Pringles’ respect and esteem is refreshing.  Of course we all know that Anne will win their hearts – she always does – and that she and Jen Pringle will end up lifelong friends.  But it takes awhile for her to get there, and she struggles along in the meantime, and I really like the fact that – at least once – Anne has to work for her popularity.

Of course, there are consolations.  Anne lives with two delightful widows, Aunt Kate and Aunt Chatty, and their housekeeper, Rebecca Dew.  There’s a running joke throughout the book about who really runs the show in the widows’ home.  Rebecca Dew believes she does… but she might be mistaken about that.  (Read it and see, and be delighted.)  And there’s a sweet next-door neighbor, Little Elizabeth, whose life will be forever changed during Anne’s short residence in Summerside.

Anne of Windy Poplars is up there with my most beloved books of all time, and it’s one of my favorites in the series.  (Anne of the Island takes top billing, but I also love Windy Poplars, Anne’s House of Dreams, and Rilla of Ingleside.  And yes, I do realize that that’s half the series I’ve just named as favorites.  Sue me.)  Nothing much of consequence happens… Anne’s engagement to Gilbert happens before Windy Poplars opens, and the wedding isn’t until the next book.  But Anne’s newsy letters to Gilbert are lovely, the Summerside personalities charming, and the little glimpses into Anne’s life delightful.

I am submitting this review to The Classics Club as part of my challenge to read and blog 100 classic novels in five years.  Next week, my review of Anne’s House of Dreams!

You can buy Anne of Windy Poplars here, or support your local indie bookstore!  Psst – these are not affiliate links.

by

Reading Round-Up: February 2014

Reading is my oldest and favorite hobby.  I literally can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love to curl up with a good book.  Here are my reads for February, 2014…

The Novel Cure: From Abandonment to Zestlessness: 751 Books to Cure What Ails You, by Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin – No matter what your particular problem might be, you’ll find a cure here.  Berthoud and Elderkin, two exceptionally well-read friends, recommend fiction as cures for every ailment known to man… and maybe one or two that they made up.  My favorite cure?  The Hobbit, to cure “short, being.”  This was a witty and creative premise, and I’m hooked on the books-about-books sub-genre, so it was a clear win for me.  (Not perfect, though.  I had a few complaints: referring to Jess Walters, author of Beautiful Ruins, as “Jesse Walters” – grrrr, typos; calling Beth March a “goody-goody” – no, Beth was just a naturally sweet person; and mistakenly identifying Briony and Cecilia Tallis as cousins when in fact they’re sisters, which is kind of important to the plot of Atonement.)

Big Stone Gap (Big Stone Gap #1), by Adriana Trigiani – I’ve been meaning to read Adriana Trigiani for ages now, and I decided after walking by her newest release on a “new and notable” table at Barnes & Noble, that it was time.  Big Stone Gap is the first in a series of four books about Ave Maria Mulligan, town pharmacist in a rural Virginia mountain hamlet.  Ave Maria has made it through 35 years of life without anything particularly exciting happening to her.  But all that changes when she receives a letter from her recently deceased mother.  Suddenly Ave Maria is the subject of the hottest gossip in town, the center of a firestorm of family feuding, and the object of two marriage proposals.  Oh, and on top of all this, Hollywood light Elizabeth Taylor is coming to town on a campaign stop for her husband, Senator John Warner.  I loved every moment of reading about this not-so-sleepy town, and I’ll be checking back in with Ave Maria for the second installment just as soon as I can get my hands on it.

These High, Green Hills (Mitford Years #3), by Jan Karon – I have this thing with these books.  Every so often I get a little overwhelmed and I want some emotional candy in the form of a book where everything is guaranteed to turn out for the best (even if it’s a little bumpy there along the way).  That’s when I reach for a cozy mystery or a Miss Read book, most of the time, but the Mitford books work too.  Sometimes I feel like these books are a little too perfectly packaged – know what I mean?  (I mean, for heaven’s sake, the town homeless guy is named “Homeless” and actually lives in a cottage and doles out soup to his neighbors.)  But I did like this one better than the first two.  Father Tim is now married to his erstwhile next-door neighbor, Cynthia, and he’s showing a little bit more self-awareness than he did in the earlier installments, so he didn’t drive me nearly as crazy this time.  Cynthia is a delightful character and I loved watching her dance around the old church biddies as they tried to strong-arm her into leading every committee.  I actually checked the fourth book out of the library along with this one, but I’m undecided as to whether I’ll read it or return it and wait for the next time life gets overwhelming.

The Writing Class, by Jincy Willet – I’d been meaning to read The Writing Class for at least six months, and I’m so glad I finally got to it!  Amy Gallup is a reclusive, bitter has-been: an author who reaped instant critical success with her first few novels and hasn’t been able to bring herself to write one since.  Amy passes her time doing freelance content creation and copy editing, writing her blog “GO AWAY.”, and teaching a writing class at the local university extension.  Most of Amy’s writing classes are awful, but this semester’s group promises to be a pretty good bunch… until a few unsettling events occur, that is.  First, Amy gets a weird phone call.  Then, a student receives a cruel, biting parody of a poem she’d shared.  Things get stranger and stranger until one member of the class turns up dead.  And then another.  Amy is determined to find out which of her students is the sick ticket, and she’ll need them all to help her – including the writing class “sniper.”  This was one of those books that really had me torn.  On the one hand, I kind of wanted to crawl under the covers with it and read all night.  But on the other hand, I didn’t want to read it at all, because that would mean I’d finish it and then it would be over.  A good problem to have!  The Writing Class is going to be a 2014 highlight for sure.

The Happiest Toddler on the Block, by Harvey Karp, M.D. – I’d read Dr. Karp’s first book, The Happiest Baby on the Block, back when Peanut was itty bitty, and found it pretty interesting and informative.  (It wasn’t the most helpful for me this time around, because it was mainly written for parents with colicky babies, which Peanut – thankfully! – was not.  I might need the info more with baby #2.)  The Happiest Toddler shares some great insights into what makes toddlers tick (and why they act like little maniacs from time to time) and how to connect with them, minimize problem behaviors and encourage good ones, and come out on the other side with a child who is well-behaved, confident and independent.  Like with The Happiest Baby, I found that a lot of the advice would be more helpful for parents with a more troublesome kid.  I’ve been lucky in that, much like Peanut was not a particularly challenging baby (NICU notwithstanding), so far she’s a very easygoing toddler.  We don’t have a lot of tantrums or meltdowns, may it continue this way.  That may be, in part, because I’ve put in a lot of time “feeding the meter” as Dr. Karp calls it, but I think Peanut’s easy disposition is the main reason.  Still, even though we’re not desperately in need of help managing an unruly toddler, I found The Happiest Toddler as interesting, informative, and useful as its little brother volume.  Hubby and I have been using the tactics recommended and experimenting with what works best for Peanut.  I’d definitely recommend this read for fellow toddler parents.

I’m sort of surprised I read as many books this month as I did.  My total is down, though I’m sure I’ll read more in March.  February is a short month, and my reading always takes a bit of a hit when the Olympics are on.  (Go Team USA!)  The string of comfort reading continues and probably will until the weather outside is a little warmer and less dreary.  The Writing Class was the highlight of the month, for sure – I love me a good poison pen mystery, and this one was full of both wit and suspense.  I’m not sure what I’ll be reading next month, but I’m looking forward to a blank slate on which to fill in my readerly impressions.  (And I’m also looking forward to SPRING!)