50/50

Dizziness and nausea started last night and continued all through most of the day today.  Blech.  I'll mention it to my OB when I see her tomorrow, but she had told me that it was possible that the nausea might come back, so I'm not sure there's much to do beyond taking some Zofran if I need to.  (Also, her office called me today to let me know that the copy of my files was ready for pickup.  Yay!)

On the good side though, I was able to start cooking for the High Holidays.  Yay me!  I mixed together two batches of MyMahtha's Honey Walnut Coin Cookies and put them in the freezer.  I'll defrost the dough and bake off the cookies next week.

Fate, Don't Listen

Fate, don't listen to me, because I'm actively not tempting you right now.  The nausea has been improving.  So long as I eat something small every 1.5 - 2 hours, I seem to feel OK.  Bathroom issues also seem to be under control.  (Hey Fate!  I'm not tempting you or counting chickens or anything similar, so go somewhere else, OK?)

If things keep going like this, we're going to start weaning me off the pump this coming Monday.  We're going to wean really slowly, so I'm hoping that will minimize my body's need to feel vomitous 24/7.

Since things have been improving, I'm also trying to get back onto vitamins.  We're going with 2 Flintstones a day -- today I had Fred and Wilma.  Flintstones are especially appropriate in my case as, when I was growing up, I believed that the Flintstones were based on my parents (minus the talking prehistoric animals).

In cleaning the house progress, we removed two plastic shopping bags from the Room and went through them.  I designated what should be given away, trashed/shredded, or kept.  Those piles are currently in the living room.  This seems terribly inefficient.  We used to have two shopping bags full of stuff in a room -- now we have piles of stuff all over the living room.  I'm unclear as to when exactly we'll be removing these piles, so I'm thinking this ain't as good as it could be. 

Going to go put in a load of laundry, then we're going to get a new cooling pad for the laptop.  It's an exciting life, people!

Mad IFers' Tea Party (Recipe Inside!)

Today is the Mad IFers' Tea Party, hosted by Clare at The Pitter-Patter. Go over to her site to sit and have a cuppa and some treats with us! (Also, happy 30th birthday to my brother, who never got his wish to be older than me, but did grow much taller than me).

In honor of the party, I'm virtually baking a favorite cookie recipe, Honey Walnut Coins. I bake these cookies for Rosh Hashanah, and they are a perfect cookie for fall and go especially well with a good cup of tea or coffee.

Honey Walnut Coins (as adapted from My Mahtha)
Makes 48 cookies -- Pareve or Dairy

2 sticks (8 oz.) unsalted butter or margarine, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/3 cup honey, plus 1/4 cup (warmed until liquid) for brushing
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp. salt

Preheat your oven to 350° F. Spread the walnuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes.

In a food processor, pulse flour, salt and 3/4 cup of the toasted walnuts until finely chopped.

In a mixer, beat the butter on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add sugar and beat until pale and fluffy, about 2 more minutes. Beat in 1/3 cup honey. Reduce speed to low. Add the flour mixture and beat until just combined (dough will begin to come together). Shape into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 1/2 hours (up to 2 days).

After dough has been chilled for proper time, preheat your oven to 325° F. Let the dough stand at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Pinch off about 2 teaspoons of dough and roll into a 1-inch ball. Repeat, spacing balls about 1 inch apart on greased or lined baking sheets.

Dip the flat bottom of a glass in flour and use to flatten the cookie balls to 1/2 -inch thick discs. Periodically re-flour the bottom of the glass so that it does not stick to the cookie dough. Press one of the remaining toasted walnut pieces into the center of each cookie.

Bake, rotating sheets about halfway through, until edges are pale golden, about 20 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks and brush cookies with warm honey.

Let cool and serve. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Note: I first made these cookies using a mixture of half white and half whole-wheat flour. If you choose to do this (meaning, you didn't do it because you didn't check how much white flour you had on hand when you started baking), I'd increase the amount of honey in the batter a little to keep the dough more fluid and less dense.

Resting & Cooking

Who knows what my body is doing? I sure don't. The pink streaks stopped after two hours yesterday.

I kept taking my Prom.etri.um, thinking it can't hurt to keep taking it.

My nurse confirmed my thoughts that this really could be anything: random spotting, my period, who knows. She said that I should keep taking the Prom.e.tri.um and I should not exercise or do anything strenuous and that hopefully, we'll get a great beta result. The beta will remain on Friday morning as previously scheduled.

Will be on my feet a lot all this week at night since I'm doing lots and lots of cooking for Rosh Hashanah. I'm going to try to modify my actions so that I'm taking good breaks and putting my feet up as much as I can.

Yesterday, I made two Carrot-Zucchini Kugels (pudding/casserole). I had hoped to get in a Potato Kugel in there, but I started cooking too late in the evening to throw that in as well. I'll cook that tonight and I also plan to make an Apple-Banana Cake recipe that I found at Sugarlaws.

Tomorrow, I plan to make Honey-Walnut Cookies from a Mahtha (aka Martha Stewart) recipe that went over well last year. Thursday night, I'm planning to make two different versions of challah, one from Baking & Books, the other from The Meatless Chulent.

Wish me luck!

Challah Back Girl

Yesterday, I made a challah (Jewish traditional egg bread). Me, the girl who misread a recipe for scrambled eggs and accidentally added 2 Tablespoons of black pepper in the mix. OK, I did that when I was 8, but still. The challah looks and smells like bread. I braided it and rolled it into a circle. (It's tradition to have round challahs for Rosh Hashanah, because it symbolizes the year, the life cycle, etc.) Hopefully, my honey-vanilla challah will taste as good as it smells. I hope to take a picture of the challah tonight and post it after the holiday.

I got the recipe from Ariella of Baking and Books; go check it out, her blog is filled with awesomeness.

The challah, and the Martha Stewart honey-walnut cookies, were made last night (both with whole-wheat flour because I had run out of white flour). Yesterday afternoon, my mother taught me how to make her fantastic matzah ball soup. I can't wait to eat it tonight.

Yesterday morning, I made a carrot-zucchini kugel (kugel is usually translated as pudding; it's sort of like a casserole). I also made a vegetable kugel with spinach, carrots, celery, mushroom and onions. The last thing of the morning was making two potato kugels.

I didn't want to make the whole day about cooking. I would have preferred to spread the cooking out over a couple of days, but I did get everything done, so I am proud of myself. :)

Someone With Way Too Much Free Time

Check this site out:

How To Make Roses Out of Maple Leaves

Yet, I still admire this person. It's how I feel about Martha Stewart too. Or as my Gramie calls her, "My Mahtha" (she's got a New England accent).