Jennifer Apodaca's Blog, page 12

Friday Five

TGIF! Are the holidays always such a whirlwind? But you know what? Keeping busy isn’t a bad thing Anyhow, let’s get into sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

I went to the dentist on Monday and they did a full set of x-rays and cleaning and all is well. Considering the year I’ve had, it’s nice to get good news anywhere on the health front.We bought two pictures over a year ago — and just this last week Wizard had them professionally frame. Because we get right on stuff like that, LOL. Wizard hung them then in the office and they add a lot of color.I’ve been baking. Let’s see if I can remember what I’ve made: Cranberry orange bread with an orange glaze, double batch of white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, double batch of Mocha Toffee cookies, double batch of Pistachio Cookies with brown butter icing, double batch of lemon cookies, gluten free lemon bars, gluten free oatmeal chocoate chip bars, and double batch of gluten free chocolate crinkle cookies. Have I forgotten anything? I don’t know! Oh wait, I also made peppermint bark.Wednesday I ran to the store, and I paid $11.99 for 18 eggs. I was so mad. And then the bag guy wanted to bag my eggs separately and the checker stopped him. I watched in horror as she told him the put the eggs on the bottom of the bag, then added three pounds of butter, two pounds of powdered sugar then picked up a bag of lemons and told him to put those on top. OF MY EGGS THAT COST $11.99. That when I said,  “No. Those are eggs on the bottom. I’ll take the bag of lemons.” I’m being serious when I say that was me being restrained. But the bag guy was new, and trying. It was the checker I was annoyed with.Tomorrow is the family party at Oldest’s house. He’s every excited for us to see his lights — he totally went Christmas Vacation (the movie) with his outside decor. I’m brining dessert, so I ordered an apple pie, and will make gluten free/dairy free cupcakes. I’ll probably make chocolate cupcakes and  sprinkle cupcakes, but I’m also considering a S’mores cupcake with Marshmallow icing. I have concerns about the Marshmallow icing melting so I may hold off on that one. These are not my best desserts, but they should be okay.

That’s my week, now it’s your turn! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Wednesday Reading

I was getting so irritated at a book I was listening to that was supposed to be a mystery — until I realized I had missed that there was two women protagonists, not one. There’s a single narrator and she’s pretty good, so this isn’t on her. It’s me — I’m baking and doing a bunch of stuff while listening so it just slipped by me. And somehow the book was coming across as one woman whining about a breakup.

Once I caught onto the chapters alternating between the two women’s POVs the book got much more interesting!  There is a women upset about the breakup, but there’s a mystery (or maybe a suspense) brewing up in there too.

I’m not always the brightest, LOLOL!! But seriously, I’d never miss this when reading a physical or Kindle book, but I sure can listening to an Audible book while I’m doing other things at the same time. Especially since I’ve been doing random math in my head while baking for doubling and quadrupling recipes. Plus I change the technique and that requires a shift in baking temp and times. So much math

I’m guessing you all don’t make this same mistake????

Happy Wednesday!

The post Wednesday Reading first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

Yep, the weekend came and went with nothing exciting to report. I felt Grinchy on Sunday, but that will probably pass by today. It’s just achiness and a bit of insomnia. Plus I’m not resting my ankle much because…who has time for that? I did minimal cleaning, wrapped gifts, went to Walmart and spent and obscene amount on baking stuff. I’ll have flour, sugar, butter and chocolate left over, but hopefully won’t run short as I bake as I sometimes have to pivot recipes for various reasons and wanted to make sure I have what I need. I’m still looking for cranberries, pistachios and of all things, candy canes.

This morning I’m going to the dentist, then a couple errands on the way home, and get I’ll started on baking and writing out a few Christmas cards. I’m feeling oddly lazy and not motivated to bake, but I’ll probably get into it once I start. Also no one is making me do this, so the only pressure I feel is self imposed

I also need to come up with a dessert for our family party on Saturday…suggestions welcome but I’m not too worried about it yet. That I can conjure up pretty quickly if needed.

That was my weekend, how was yours?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

TGIF!! Okay let’s dive right into sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

Car Drama stopped by for a visit to our family. One car was damaged getting a tire patched, and other vehicle stolen. Neither things have happened before so it was jarring. It wasn’t Wizard or my cars. And while it’s upsetting, at least it wasn’t an accident and no one was hurt! Things can be fixed or replaced, but people can’t.We babysat our granddaughter on Tuesday. That was amazing as always. She’s just a delight at three months old. She smiles at everyone. And of course, she’d much rather take naps on us than in her crib.I made White Chicken Chili for the first time ever. It came out good (I think). A tad spicy for my taste, but some jack cheese, plain Greek yogurt and avocado on top tames that nicely. I’m pretty proud of it. Wizard isn’t interested, which means it’s all mine for quick and easy lunches. I divided it up in single servings and froze some. That was the good part. The bad part, I didn’t use gloves when I diced the jalapeno. Jalapeno Hand is a thing and it’s annoying. For any of you too smart to chop jalapeno without gloves, it essentially burns for a few hours. I did use some olive oil to break down the  oil from the pepper that causes it, and that helped. Fun fact — I had disposable gloves in the drawer directly below where I was chopping the jalapeno, I was just too pressed for time to stop and put them on. That was a very annoying miscalculation.Wednesday I ran from one room to the other to get the phone when it rang and half way there I felt something funky in my right ankle. I actually said, mid-run, “Crap I felt that.” Wizard saw, and heard, this whole thing and just shook his head in despair. I rarely ever fall, or do normal things. I just sprain my ankle mid-jog and keep going   However I did get the phone in time to answer an important question from one of my sons, and then practiced some dedicated denial to clean the bathrooms after that. When I went to bed, my denial dissolved into an ache, and then when I got up in the middle of the night, I groaned enough to have Maggie run in and check on me. Seriously, it’s mild overall. No significant swelling, it feels better with shoes on, and I spent all Thursday afternoon and evening resting it. Mostly because Wizard made me, but it still counts.This weekend I’ll plan and organize a little baking for next week. I’m not doing a lot, just a few things. I’ll need to do some wrapping since my ankle prevented that yesterday. I’m 92% done with Christmas shopping so that’s nice. I had one key gift go missing even though it showed delivered a week ago — then it showed up last night. That was a relief. I had just started a refund process and then was able to cancel that so all good. So this weekend is odds and ends. Oh and I’m getting the gray erased from my hair today.

That’s my five, now I’d to hear yours!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Wednesday Fires and Reading

Top of my mind today is Fires are Horrible. I know the news focuses on it being Malibu and most people think Hollywood Affluence, but there are many others living in and around that area and they are losing homes too. It’s devastating and very dangerous. The Santa Ana winds and the terrain make it all the more treacherous. It just makes me sad.

Switching topics to reading. So I was zooming along in the latest book I was reading when I just…lost interest. It was somewhere between 2/3s and the 3/4s mark and there wasn’t anything specific in the book that triggered it. I think that, for me, the book had a structural flaw that resolved the action portion of the plot too quickly. But again, that’s just for me personally as a reader. Other love it all the way through, so this is definitely a personal taste thing. But now I’m wondering: Have you ever lost interest that deep into a book you were enjoying?

Happy Wednesday!

The post Wednesday Fires and Reading first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

I wore myself out this weekend, but it’s all good

First up, it’s December and we are on high alert for fires. Anyone else think the weather is just wacky? I mean it’s Southern CA so we don’t get real weather, but fire weather in December? I’m just gonna ask — Mother Nature, did you go off your meds? Hit your head? Have a stroke? I mean we want to be understanding and supportive, but things are getting really strange.

Anyhow, Saturday was my niece’s bridal shower and it was amazing! Just lovely and fun! It was held a restaurant but in a separate room which made it feel more intimate and I loved that. It was wonderful to get to chat with family and friends. I just had a great time + two of my three daughters-in-law were there and that’s always a good time for me. They also had a “fashion artist” (I learn new things every day!) who did sketches of each of us. I took a picture of my fashion sketch to show you:

 

Don’t panic, guys, I still have a face The sketches were about fashion not faces, LOL. My niece (the bride) and her two sisters are into fashion (one is a lawyer, one is a CPA an done is a journalist but they all love fashion!). The hilarious thing for me is fashion and I don’t live in the same zip code, or even on the same continent, you know? But it’s an accurate sketch of my dress. Also…Spell Check was sure I was trying to spell “ointment” not “continent.” Not even close, Spell Check!

Sunday Wizard went racing so I played “How Much Can I Physically Do In One Day?”  The answer is always not as much as I think I can do. But I keep myself busy trying. Most of it was typical stuff like working out (including rigging up a makeshift weight bench which probably isn’t too dangerous…) and washing bed sheets, but I managed to work a double batch of brownies in there which is fun — one for us to keep and one for Youngest. After writing this blog, I’m hoping to maybe get the tree decorated before Wizard gets home but we’ll see if I have the time and/or energy.

So how was your weekend?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

Late because I put the wrong time on scheduler. It’s been a week of random mistakes for me!

TGIF!! The first Friday in December just doesn’t seem possible, but here we are. Okay, let’s get to sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

I’m baking sourdough bread as I write this because multi-tasking is awesome.Well, #1 is true unless you screw something up. I did and I feel terrible. Biker Witch and I made plans to meet on Friday, only I typed Thursday when I texted her. So I didn’t show up. I suck and still feel bad about it. She, however, we very kind and forgiving. Biker Witch is the nice sister.I’ve barely been doing Yoga, but I’m lifting more weights (light weights) now that I’m feeling better. I feel bad, like I’m cheating on Yoga, LOL. Yoga has really helped me get through some hard years physically and I’m trying to find a way to add it back in to retain my flexibility and balance. Right now, I’m using Yoga to warm up but it’s just not the same thing. And I’m aware this is boring and not really a problem Wizard stole my book! I had the book, “Play Nice But Win” by Michael Dell sitting on my table in the living room waiting for me after I finished Silver’s book. When I had 30 pages left of Silver’s book, Wizard randomly picked up “Play Nice And Win” and started reading it. It was war! Just kidding, I downloaded a book called “Lights Out” by Nevessa Allen on the bestseller list that I got curious about. It’s a dark romance, and funny. Not my normal thing but a fun read for me. And Larissa Ione has a new book out that I want to read too. But still, Wizard stole my book! And he’s not even sorry!This weekend is my niece’s bridal shower. I think that’ll be fun. I had ordered a dress from Kohls for it, but it’s not going to arrive until the day of the shower. Everything else both Wizard and I have ordered came — except the one thing I needed. Truly, it’s not a big deal, I have a dress or two in my closet I can wear. It’s just the Universal Rule that the one thing I need will be delivered late.

That’s my five, now I’d really love to hear yours. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Wednesday Reading

The Wolves are in the house! As I’m writing this, I have about 30 pages left of the book “Moonstruck Mafia: Boston” by Silver James. And I will have definitely have finished it by the times this blog pops up in the feeds. I’m just trying to get this blog done before I read, get distracted and forget until late at night when I don’t want to write it. Because I’m lazy like that!  Also, I’m so NOT a night person.

So the book — it’s long, well over 500 pages, but fast-paced with lots of action so it’s a pretty quick read (now that I actually have time to read after Thanksgiving). Honestly it’s several stories in one book so if you like to get more bang for your buck, this is your book! I wasn’t trying to be funny, but there’s also some banging…just saying. But it’s not as R-rated as some books so pretty safe for the typical reader. I think my favorite characters are Ronan and Maura. I especially love Maura, she’s tough, smart and knows her own mind. I’ve enjoyed the book and sort of dreading The End Which is also why I’m writing this blog first. Am I the only one who kind of dreads The End on some books?

In other “reading” I’m listening to “The Wedding People” by Alison Espach and I think I like it…it’s different than what I expected but I’m intersted so far.

That’s my reading so far this week. What are you reading?

Happy Wednesday!

The post Wednesday Reading first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

A nice calm weekend, but dang, my knee is mad. So I’ve been upping my weight training, including squats with weights on my shoulders. But it doesn’t hurt when I do that. I carefully tested it to make sure and no pain. It’s walking, and even that usually starts off okay then begins to hurt. I’ve been trying to cut down on my walking and that was helping, but then yesterday I went looking for a wedding shower gift for my niece. Ugh…I walked probably two miles searching an indoor/outdoor mall type situation (and that’s after my mile and a half walk — cut down from 2 miles — in the morning). Now my knee is complaining. I don’t think it’s an injury, it feels more like a repetitive use/age/arthritis thing. Especially because I can calm it down, then I tick it off and it flares again.

In the good news, I got a gift I’m happy with for my niece. And the rest of the day, I’m gonna rest the knee. Maybe…cuz I’ve got things I’d like to get done pinging around in my head, but I’m trying to be smart. The weekend itself has been good. Thanksgiving is cleaned up. We haven’t decorated for Christmas yet, but we’re not having any events here, so we’ll do that when and how we wish for ourselves

How was your weekend?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

TFIG! Are you out shopping on Black Friday (which now seems like two weeks long!)? If not and you’re here at the blog, it’s time to share five random things about your week. Here’s mine (all Thanksgiving related because I’m writing this right after everyone left and can’t remember the rest of the week!):

Thanksgiving went pretty well and everyone seemed to have a good time. It was semi-organized chaos, loud and messy, so it turned out right One of my favorite moments: Turbo (he’s 6 1/2 now) brought one of his “baby” books to read to eleven week old Baby Girl. It was so danged cute! The baby loved the bright colors and happily let Turbo read her the whole book. It made my heart swell. It’s especially touching because in general, Turbo is a tornado of activity, but he slowed down and gentled because he wanted to read to his baby cousin and it was all his idea.I stressed the first half of the turkey cooking, adjusted the temp down 25 degrees, and then…it all worked. Whew. It was the first year I made a compound butter out of ghee (clarified butter with no lactose) and covered the turkey in it. It really worked out well! And fun moment — one of my daughters in law was making gravy at the stove next to me while I was doing green beans. At one point, she reached over and added salt and pepper as I was cooking, and another time adjusted my heat. It’s rare to find someone you can cook with that well, and truthfully, she’s a better cook than me, so I happily accepted her help.All the food was great, my daughters-in-law and sister all brought dishes and helped out overall. I appreciate the help so much, and it makes the meal so much more of a family effort which is a nice feeling.Maggie is wiped out! But funny story — she heard Youngest’s car in the driveway and lost her mind in joy. She went and waited by the door for him, and barked impatiently when he didn’t come in fast enough. But by the end of the evening, she was in her bed in a bedroom, and away from all the commotion. She’s not as young as she used to be, LOL! It’s okay, though, because neither am I!

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours. I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and you all have a great weekend!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.