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Two folks asked for recipes from this week's shabbos menu: my broccoli kugel and apple & cranberry tart. I don't really use a recipe for either, but I'll tell you what I do.

Broccoli Kugel
I'm a bit embarrassed about how low-tech and low-in-culinary-value this "recipe" is, but there you have it…. I searched high and low for a good broccoli kugel recipe and I was hugely disappointed in all of them until I tried the Spice and Spirit Cookbook's Creamy Broccoli Kugel. It's delicious, but a bit high maintenance. I'm willing to do the work for something that is really worth it, and I did use that recipe for a long time, until I went to a friend's house for Shabbos lunch and she served a delicious, very similar, broccoli kugel, so I asked her how she makes it. I'm very, very approximate in proportions and I really just mix it until it "looks right", but it's pretty hard to mess up.

Two packages frozen broccoli florets (you can use fresh, but I hate checking broccoli, so for kugel, I don't bother)
3 Tablespoons mayonnaise
3 eggs
3 Tablespoons onion soup mix.

Cook the broccoli until it's tender and then mash it with a potato masher. Mix in remaining ingredients. Spray a casserole dish with nonstick spray and coat with cornflake crumbs or seasoned bread crumbs (I actually prefer cornflake crumbs on the bottom and seasoned breadcrumbs on top if I'm not being completely lazy). Pour in the broccoli mixture and sprinkle cornflake crumbs or breadcrumbs over the top. Bake at whatever temperature (seriously, I do it at whatever temperature the oven is for whatever else I'm cooking… so it averages around 375) until it's done. How do you know it's done? Well, it "looks right" and it won't jiggle when you shake the pan. That's it.

Cranberry Apple Tart
I don't always use a recipe for this, but the recipe for "cranberry-apple torte" in Kosher by Design (by Susie Fishbein, p. 215) is pretty close to what I usually do, so I'll post that recipe.

Crust:
2 cups all purpose flour, sifted (yeah, right, I never sift it)
2 cups dark brown sugar (I use whatever kind of brown sugar I have)
1 1/2 cups oatmeal (quick-cooking of 1 minute type, according to the recipe… I use whatever I have)
1 cup melted margarine (give or take)
2 teaspoons cinnamon (seriously, does anyone measure this stuff?)

Filling:
4 Cortland Apples, peeled and cut into small chunks (I use whatever kind of apples I have and I use anywhere from 3-5 depending on how apple-y I want it to be)
1 (16 oz) can whole berry cranberry sauce (or use fresh cranberries… for me this is preferable because fresh whole cranberries aren't sweetened… so I vary back and forth between canned and fresh depending on what I have in the house… I usually have both)
2 Tablespoons all purpose flour, sifted (yeah, right. Seriously? This woman needs to give it up on the sifting!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. (or, you know, whatever, this isn't "real" baking that has to be exact)
Heavily coat a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick spray; set aside (and you know, if you don't have a springform pan, use whatever)
In a large bowl mix the crust ingredients (easiest to mix with your hands, not a spoon). Reserve 1 1/2 cups of this mixture. Press the remainder into the prepared pan and halfway up the sides of the pan with the palm of your hand. (Yeah, so, um, I don't measure how much I'm reserving and I just press in however much it takes and have whatever is leftover leftover).

In a medium bowl, combine the filling ingredients. Mix with a spoon. Pour the apple mixture into the crust. Sprinkle the remaining crust mixture over the top. Use the back of a spoon to gently press the crust coating so that it evenly coats the top and meets the crust that is coming up the sides. This is what will enclose the filling. (Seriously, it's easier to press down with the palm of your hands, but whatever works for you is fine)

Bake for forty minutes. (or, you know, however long it takes)

Yield: 10-12 servings. If you use a springform pan, pop the side panel off the pan before you serve it and it will be stunning, but it's just as yummy made in a regular casserole dish as well. I alternate how I do it depending on whether S is willing to wash the springform pan (he does the shabbos dishes, bless him).

Amazing that I managed to write a whole post with no mention of my unmentionables! Will update tomorrow after I get my third beta results back .

Dinner Friday night was a success. My math was, again, incorrect, and we had 20 people. Fortunately, I cooked for an army, so while we were a little short on chicken, that was easily rectified by cutting some pieces in half. We had more than enough for the fish course, more than enough for the soup course, and we had so many side dishes that I doubt anyone noticed that there wasn’t much in the way of chicken. Fortunately, we also had plenty dessert. Not a soul left my table hungry. I wrapped my ankle in an ace bandage for an explanation of why I wasn’t being nearly as accommodating as usual. I plated everything, but others from the table did the actual serving. So it was all good.

I had horrible contraction-like pains all day yesterday, so I took it easy. Unfortunately, this means I did not make it to shul in the morning, but there’s always next time. A friend read me the megillah last night. This morning I arrived JUST in time for the megillah reading. However, I’m still glad I chose to take it easy. I really wasn’t feeling all that well yesterday, and it was good to not be running around all over the place.

Thanks for all your kind thoughts on Friday and since. On the one hand, I’m ecstatic about the brilliantly doubling beta. On the other hand, there’s just too much of this that feels like last time: The surprise pregnancy after a strange and disappointing cycle, the bleeding, the pain. As Thalia said, it seems apparent that this is what happens when I’m pregnant: I bleed. So maybe it’s normal for me. It’s certainly not unheard of. It’s just that it’s hard to believe this is going to end any diffferently than the last miserable failure. I know there is absolutely no reason to believe that it will have the same outcome and logically I don’t believe it’s likely. Emotionally, however, is an entirely different story. I’m all kinds of worried. I have, however, had a thrombophilia (clotting) panel run. Though one test came back borderline, it shouldn’t be what’s causing this particular issue, and I was otherwise in the clear. I’m still raising my eyebrows a bit, though, because the bleeding I’ve been having is almost entirely clotted. It’s gross and sorry for the TMI, but it’s quite uncomfortable and it’s a large part of what’s making me worry. Still, I’ll trust that for the short-term I’m okay. But I’ll continue to worry about the long-term.

Still, I know that no amount of worry on my part is going to change the outcome. Either I’ll stay pregnant or I won’t, and there’s nothing I can do to change that outcome at this point. Not even by restricting my activity. Which brings me to a couple of your comments… Yes, the mental health benefits of restricted activity are still worthwhile, even though I know that there isn’t (at this point) a true physical benefit. If I miscarry, I don’t want to say again, “what if I’d done something differently?” like I did last time. I knew, logically, that nothing I did caused my last miscarriage, but I still wondered at first. I also want to clarify that I’m not being negative about the reasons for restricted activity. It’s realistic that the restricted activity doesn’t have a physical benefit at this point. And I am not negating the mental health benefit that I’ll get from not pushing myself too far. I’m all for doing whatever it takes to make this go as smoothly as possible for the next several months. Really.

Yes, they will do another beta tomorrow. I don’t know if they’ll do another after that. I know they’re generally satisfied once the beta hits 1000, which it should have done today. But since I know they won’t do an ultrasound until at least another week, I’d really much prefer to have betas in the interim, so I may ask for them anyway. I hate being the paranoid freak in the office. But I also hate not having information along the way. I actually feel pretty positive about tomorrow’s beta. I don’t see any reason why it won’t have continued to rise appropriately. See? I can think positively. In the short-term, anyway. Except then I remember that literally all of my pregnancy symptoms have disappeared entirely Seriously. Unless you count bleeding and cramping as pregnancy symptoms, which for me it appears that they are.

Now I think I’m going to go crash. I was up late last night, and awakened early this morning by a three-year-old-monster. Time for some rest, I think.

Dinner Friday night was a success. My math was, again, incorrect, and we had 20 people. Fortunately, I cooked for an army, so while we were a little short on chicken, that was easily rectified by cutting some pieces in half. We had more than enough for the fish course, more than enough for the soup course, and we had so many side dishes that I doubt anyone noticed that there wasn't much in the way of chicken. Fortunately, we also had plenty dessert. Not a soul left my table hungry. I wrapped my ankle in an ace bandage for an explanation of why I wasn't being nearly as accommodating as usual. I plated everything, but others from the table did the actual serving. So it was all good.

I had horrible contraction-like pains all day yesterday, so I took it easy. Unfortunately, this means I did not make it to shul in the morning, but there's always next time. A friend read me the megillah last night. This morning I arrived JUST in time for the megillah reading. However, I'm still glad I chose to take it easy. I really wasn't feeling all that well yesterday, and it was good to not be running around all over the place.

Thanks for all your kind thoughts on Friday and since. On the one hand, I'm ecstatic about the brilliantly doubling beta. On the other hand, there's just too much of this that feels like last time: The surprise pregnancy after a strange and disappointing cycle, the bleeding, the pain. As Thalia said, it seems apparent that this is what happens when I'm pregnant: I bleed. So maybe it's normal for me. It's certainly not unheard of. It's just that it's hard to believe this is going to end any diffferently than the last miserable failure. I know there is absolutely no reason to believe that it will have the same outcome and logically I don't believe it's likely. Emotionally, however, is an entirely different story. I'm all kinds of worried. I have, however, had a thrombophilia (clotting) panel run. Though one test came back borderline, it shouldn't be what's causing this particular issue, and I was otherwise in the clear. I'm still raising my eyebrows a bit, though, because the bleeding I've been having is almost entirely clotted. It's gross and sorry for the TMI, but it's quite uncomfortable and it's a large part of what's making me worry. Still, I'll trust that for the short-term I'm okay. But I'll continue to worry about the long-term.

Still, I know that no amount of worry on my part is going to change the outcome. Either I'll stay pregnant or I won't, and there's nothing I can do to change that outcome at this point. Not even by restricting my activity. Which brings me to a couple of your comments… Yes, the mental health benefits of restricted activity are still worthwhile, even though I know that there isn't (at this point) a true physical benefit. If I miscarry, I don't want to say again, "what if I'd done something differently?" like I did last time. I knew, logically, that nothing I did caused my last miscarriage, but I still wondered at first. I also want to clarify that I'm not being negative about the reasons for restricted activity. It's realistic that the restricted activity doesn't have a physical benefit at this point. And I am not negating the mental health benefit that I'll get from not pushing myself too far. I'm all for doing whatever it takes to make this go as smoothly as possible for the next several months. Really.

Yes, they will do another beta tomorrow. I don't know if they'll do another after that. I know they're generally satisfied once the beta hits 1000, which it should have done today. But since I know they won't do an ultrasound until at least another week, I'd really much prefer to have betas in the interim, so I may ask for them anyway. I hate being the paranoid freak in the office. But I also hate not having information along the way. I actually feel pretty positive about tomorrow's beta. I don't see any reason why it won't have continued to rise appropriately. See? I can think positively. In the short-term, anyway. Except then I remember that literally all of my pregnancy symptoms have disappeared entirely Seriously. Unless you count bleeding and cramping as pregnancy symptoms, which for me it appears that they are.

Now I think I'm going to go crash. I was up late last night, and awakened early this morning by a three-year-old-monster. Time for some rest, I think.

Dinner Friday night was a success. My math was, again, incorrect, and we had 20 people. Fortunately, I cooked for an army, so while we were a little short on chicken, that was easily rectified by cutting some pieces in half. We had more than enough for the fish course, more than enough for the soup course, and we had so many side dishes that I doubt anyone noticed that there wasn't much in the way of chicken. Fortunately, we also had plenty dessert. Not a soul left my table hungry. I wrapped my ankle in an ace bandage for an explanation of why I wasn't being nearly as accommodating as usual. I plated everything, but others from the table did the actual serving. So it was all good.

I had horrible contraction-like pains all day yesterday, so I took it easy. Unfortunately, this means I did not make it to shul in the morning, but there's always next time. A friend read me the megillah last night. This morning I arrived JUST in time for the megillah reading. However, I'm still glad I chose to take it easy. I really wasn't feeling all that well yesterday, and it was good to not be running around all over the place.

Thanks for all your kind thoughts on Friday and since. On the one hand, I'm ecstatic about the brilliantly doubling beta. On the other hand, there's just too much of this that feels like last time: The surprise pregnancy after a strange and disappointing cycle, the bleeding, the pain. As Thalia said, it seems apparent that this is what happens when I'm pregnant: I bleed. So maybe it's normal for me. It's certainly not unheard of. It's just that it's hard to believe this is going to end any diffferently than the last miserable failure. I know there is absolutely no reason to believe that it will have the same outcome and logically I don't believe it's likely. Emotionally, however, is an entirely different story. I'm all kinds of worried. I have, however, had a thrombophilia (clotting) panel run. Though one test came back borderline, it shouldn't be what's causing this particular issue, and I was otherwise in the clear. I'm still raising my eyebrows a bit, though, because the bleeding I've been having is almost entirely clotted. It's gross and sorry for the TMI, but it's quite uncomfortable and it's a large part of what's making me worry. Still, I'll trust that for the short-term I'm okay. But I'll continue to worry about the long-term.

Still, I know that no amount of worry on my part is going to change the outcome. Either I'll stay pregnant or I won't, and there's nothing I can do to change that outcome at this point. Not even by restricting my activity. Which brings me to a couple of your comments… Yes, the mental health benefits of restricted activity are still worthwhile, even though I know that there isn't (at this point) a true physical benefit. If I miscarry, I don't want to say again, "what if I'd done something differently?" like I did last time. I knew, logically, that nothing I did caused my last miscarriage, but I still wondered at first. I also want to clarify that I'm not being negative about the reasons for restricted activity. It's realistic that the restricted activity doesn't have a physical benefit at this point. And I am not negating the mental health benefit that I'll get from not pushing myself too far. I'm all for doing whatever it takes to make this go as smoothly as possible for the next several months. Really.

Yes, they will do another beta tomorrow. I don't know if they'll do another after that. I know they're generally satisfied once the beta hits 1000, which it should have done today. But since I know they won't do an ultrasound until at least another week, I'd really much prefer to have betas in the interim, so I may ask for them anyway. I hate being the paranoid freak in the office. But I also hate not having information along the way. I actually feel pretty positive about tomorrow's beta. I don't see any reason why it won't have continued to rise appropriately. See? I can think positively. In the short-term, anyway. Except then I remember that literally all of my pregnancy symptoms have disappeared entirely Seriously. Unless you count bleeding and cramping as pregnancy symptoms, which for me it appears that they are.

Now I think I'm going to go crash. I was up late last night, and awakened early this morning by a three-year-old-monster. Time for some rest, I think.

510.

No, seriously…. five-one-zero.

Holy cow. I’m in shock. My nurse is in shock. Did I mention I’M in shock?

My nurse called and said, “you’re still in the game, the numbers look great!” and I replied, “You’re kidding…!?”

What a dumbass thing to say. Of course she’s not kidding. Why would she lie? I don’t think I could say anything dumber. Gah! Actually, it got stupider. I then told her I didn’t believe her and she told me the number (510!!). I was stunned so she asked how much I was bleeding. A lot. How much is a lot? I would easily have called yesterday CD1 and it hasn’t relented.

So now I’m officially on “restricted” activity. What my nurse isn’t saying is that this restricted activity will have no physical effect on the outcome of this pregnancy. What I know that she’s hoping is that if I miscarry I don’t sit around blaming myself for lifting something too heavy, or overexerting myself, or whatnot. This “restricted activity” is merely meant to keep me mentally stable. Yeah.

Oh, and if I have any severe abdominal cramping, fever or vomitting, I must come in immediately to be seen. Yeah. Or something.

For the moment, I’m just plain grateful. We’re going for FOUR months this time! (Just kidding!) And you know, if this doesn’t work out, we’ve got the backup plan.

Off-topic:

Oh, I miscounted. We’re having 15 adults and three kids. And I’m supposed to be “taking it easy.” Decemberbaby asked what I’m cooking. I did most of my cooking last night: Mushroom Barley Soup, Baked Gefilte Fish, Chicken (just boring marinated chicken), Mushroom Tarts, Cranberry Apple Tart, Roasted New Potatoes, Green Beans with caramelized onions and pignoli, Broccoli Kugel (maybe), and um, I feel like I’m missing something. Dessert came from the bakery, because I’m lazy. And my nurse doesn’t want me doing any serving. HAH! ‘Cause that’s gonna happen.

The waiting game

My nurse hasn’t called yet. And it’s ridiculous that I am anxious about it. Theoretically, calls are made between 12 and 4pm. But Wednesday she called me around 10am, which means nothing about today’s call, since she could have a different schedule today.

And let’s not forget that the time of her call isn’t going to change the results. But here I sit. I refuse to even go to the ladies’ room for fear of missing her call, which is stupid, but that’s the way it is. I cannot believe what a freak I am being. This is so stupid.

Pessimism

I hold out little faith that tomorrow’s beta will yield any good news.

Oh, did I mention that we’re hosting 14 adults (and a bunch of kids) for dinner tomorrow night? Yeah, I’m crazy. Bleh.

Pessimism

I hold out little faith that tomorrow's beta will yield any good news.

Oh, did I mention that we're hosting 14 adults (and a bunch of kids) for dinner tomorrow night? Yeah, I'm crazy. Bleh.

Pessimism

I hold out little faith that tomorrow's beta will yield any good news.

Oh, did I mention that we're hosting 14 adults (and a bunch of kids) for dinner tomorrow night? Yeah, I'm crazy. Bleh.

The waiting game

My nurse hasn't called yet. And it's ridiculous that I am anxious about it. Theoretically, calls are made between 12 and 4pm. But Wednesday she called me around 10am, which means nothing about today's call, since she could have a different schedule today.

And let's not forget that the time of her call isn't going to change the results. But here I sit. I refuse to even go to the ladies' room for fear of missing her call, which is stupid, but that's the way it is. I cannot believe what a freak I am being. This is so stupid.