And a plate of buttermilk banana pancakes…
Sheesh…I write about food wayyyyy too much! But, since cooking and baking is the one thing I know relaxes me and brings me joy, I have to write about it I guess. Especially since all I do anymore is cook and bake. And eat.
I do have more to write about than food, and I’m thrilled that I’ve made it two weeks in a row with my Joyful Simplicity Sunday post. I’m on a roll…woo hoo.
Big whoop, right? Two weeks in row? I should wait to pat myself on the back until I’ve made it two MONTHS in a row. Though that’s not likely to happen, so I have to pat myself on the back when I can.
So back to that bowl of cookies, and that pan of coconut cake and that plate of buttermilk pancakes. Alcoholics have Alcoholics Anonymous. Overeaters have Overeaters Anonymous. I wonder if there is a 12-step program for people like me who can NOT STOP BAKING. The only thing that keeps me from weighing 300 pounds is that most food around here is inhaled by my kids. My SKINNY kids I might add. Which prevents me from eating too much, although I do certainly eat my fair share. My waist line and my pants know that I speak the truth. I need to find a new less fattening hobby before all my kids leave the nest or I will weigh 300 pounds.
The weather doesn’t help. When it is dreary and cold like it has been lately, the first thing I want to do is break out the measuring cups and butter and sugar. Oh, if only butter and sugar were lowfat!
Pancakes...
This morning, I was in the mood for pancakes. I thought about making pumpkin pancakes, but I had no pumpkin, and I didn’t feel like going to the store…I had some ripe bananas in the freezer, so I searched the internet for a banana pancake recipe.
I drooled over my camera while taking this shot of my plate piled with Buttermilk Banana Pancakes dripping with maple syrup and topped with toasted pecans.
The good thing is that the pancakes didn’t taste nearly as good as that picture makes them look. Actually, they were kind of bleh, and I won’t be making that recipe again. The kids liked them…and devoured them. Tony did too, which is shocking because he doesn’t really like pancakes. Oh well. One less thing I have to eat. I didn’t even finish my plate. I could hear my body high fiving and thanking me.
Cookies…
I thought I was all burned out on cookie baking after the holidays were over and wouldn’t want to make cookies ever again. I made so many batches of cookies, I think I even made some in my sleep. But I didn’t make my favorite cookie recipe of all time…Cranberry Oatmeal Dreamsicle Cookies. I actually made up this recipe years ago by combining a couple of other recipes, and it has become a family favorite.
I have eaten way too many of those this afternoon. I’m not going to say how many.
I have discovered recently that everyone in my family loves coconut. I’m not a big fan of it. I like the flavor, and I like coconut if it is toasted, but raw…not so much. A couple of weeks ago, I bought a bag of coconut to make the one cookie recipe that I have that calls for it, put the bag in the pantry, and forgot all about it. Friday night, I walked into the family room to discover all of my kids and Tony eating a bowl of something. That something turned out to be coconut with melted chocolate on top. Ewwwwwww. Anyway, they all told me they LOVE coconut, asked me why I never make anything with coconut, said they would love it if I would make a coconut cake because that would be Heaven. So, I found a recipe, and made one for dessert tonight. I have to admit, it was pretty tasty. One piece was enough, though. Thank God. I was already feeling like I need to spend my night walking instead of sleeping. I don’t have a picture because my camera battery died just as I turned it on to take a picture. Take my word for it, it was delicious.
Enough about food!
Another joyful simplicity of my week is that I pulled out some of my ancient, dust-coated scrapbook supplies and started making a scrapbook. I used to spend hours each week making scrapbook pages in my stay at home mom days. When I started working at Share 8 years ago this month, that hobby was put aside, and I’ve not made a page since.
I’ve forgotten how much fun it is . And also how much of a mess it is!
I’m just making a small album. I will hopefully have it finished by next weekend, and I will share pictures of what that mess above turned into.
I only have one last joyful thing to write about the week. It’s been a tough week for several reasons, and this afternoon, I found out something that just warmed my heart to the point that I was in tears.
This week has been a bad one for my mom with her RA. My sister has called me several times in tears because Mom is doing so bad and is in so much pain, and she felt so helpless. I did too. The hardest thing is that the only treatment that is left to help her is so expensive that my parents can’t afford it. My sister has been trying diligently to find some assistance to help defray the cost, but unfortunately my parents make too much money, which is ridiculous. According to my sister, they make enough to just be above the poverty level, but it is too much. One person actually told my sister that if they didn’t work and were on welfare, she would have no trouble finding help with her medical costs. There is something very wrong with that, but that is not what this is about.
Since my sister lives next door, she sees my mom on a daily basis, and I know that it has to be heartbreaking for her to see her in such a state. My sister told me one day this week that Mom is already on a high dose of steroids and has been getting weekly shots, but they really are not working anymore, the doctor wants to increase her dosage, which will not be good for her body. My sister says that mom is virtually becoming crippled, pretty much unable to use her hands or even walk some days. She is in so much pain she can’t sleep at night and can barely function during the day.
So the only thing left to do is for her to have an infusion of a drug every other week that she can’t afford. As a last desperate attempt to for my mom to be able to have this infusion, she appealed to my brothers and I to commit to contributing money each month toward the treatment. She asked for us each to contribute $100-$200 a month. How do you turn that down when your mother is becoming crippled and is living in terrible pain?
You don’t. I told my sister that of course, I will contribute whatever I possibly can, and she is setting up a special bank account that we can all contribute money to whenever we have extra to contribute.
What happened today though that was so heartwarming is what my brother Rick said. My brother Rick was kicked out of our house right after he graduated from high school. He left home on foot with nothing but a suitcase. I can’t even imagine what his life has been like for these past years. None of us saw him until a few months ago when he was in St. Louis and wanted to get together with all of us. He and mom welcomed each other with open hearts and open arms, and they talk almost daily now by text.
Today, Rick told my sister that he will put his first check in the mail tomorrow, and that he will contribute even more if it is needed. He told Theresa that since he is not married and has no children, he will pick up the balance of whatever we can’t cover so that my mom has to pay nothing at all. To think that he has obviously put aside whatever bitterness for how he was treated years ago and is willing to do whatever it takes to help Mom now…that he has obviously forgiven and forgotten…I really can’t put my thoughts into words. I know though that I will be thinking on that for a good long time! LOL I can’t even say anything else about it now.
I thought this was going to be a short post tonight. Obviously, I was wrong about that.
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