We Now Return To Our Regularly Scheduled Freak-Out

Three words: Two. Exams. Today.

I've busted out my full arsenal of anxiety-busting help to get me through finals week. I've been drinking chamomile tea like it's going out of style, my Bach's Rescue Remedy is on standby, and my lavendar-chamomile oil aromatherapy blend is at the ready. So far, so good; by Thursday (when exams are over and all my assignments are in) I should be feeling even better. Exhausted, but relieved.

I came up for air this weekend long enough to bake a batch of cookies for the little ones, lest they stage a revolt and boot their mother for lack of tasty goodness coming from the kitchen. I tried a mix from Cherrybrook Kitchen. It was a sugar cookie mix that Flamenco Dad and the kids thought was very good. To the mix you add butter or margarine depending on your preference, vanilla, and milk (cow, rice, or soy). Roll the cookies into into 2-inch balls, place on a cookie sheet, and bake till the cookies are a golden brown. I had some Purity Farms Ghee in my refrigerator so I used that instead of my usual Earth Balance; the result was a delightfully buttery cookie. I will say that I will use a bit less ghee next time--the cookies were almost too buttery in flavor. I guess I didn't take into account ghee's intense, buttery flavor.Also, even though it doesn't say so on the package, I recommend letting the dough chill in the refrigerator for a while before baking.

Okay...back to work!

Five

I know what you're thinking: okay lady, enough with the numerically-titled posts already! My little boy turned five over the weekend. You'd be right if you figured that I'm not over it yet. I don't know when it happened, but suddenly my son became a big kid. And while I'm loving watching him grow and really come into his own there is a large part of me that longingly recalls when he would willingly cuddle up with his mommy and lay his head on my chest and pat me on the shoulder with his tiny hand. Ah, memories.

We had some family over to mark the occasion. The family celebrated with much fun and a variety of treats--some (like the cake in the photo) were not gfcf; but we had plenty of food and sweets that were gfcf, so Zoe and I were able to partake as well. I ate some sugary sweets (which I paid for the next day), but all in all it was a wonderful day...although Mama here got more than a little misty-eyed.

Seis

I was tagged by Lynn to come up with a list of six words to describe me. This was not an easy task; my over-analyzing nearly got the best of me on this one. Here goes:

1. loving
2. friendly
3. imaginative
4. silly
5. sensitive
6. loyal

I don't know who tag for this one, so I invite everyone and anyone to take the challenge. Go for it!

Avocado and Tomato Salad

This week the supermarket had avocadoes on sale, so I jumped at the chance to make some avocado salad. Not that I needed much convincing, especially once I saw the yummy Ugly Ripe tomatoes that sat nearby just waiting for me to scoop them up. I cut up two ripe avocadoes, sliced up a tomato, chopped 1/4 of an onion and a handful of cilantro. I put everything in a bowl, squeezed the juice of one lime over it, added a few tablespoons of olive oil and added fresh cracked sea salt and pepper. Heaven on a plate!

Had I been alone I might have eaten the entire thing myself, but I practiced some self-restraint. Besides, I remembered that avocadoes--while great for you--have quite a bit of fat. I had just enough to satisfy; the creaminess of the avocado, the juiciness of the tomato, the brightness of the cilantro, and the acidity of the lime juice make this really fantastic. Best of all, no stove required.

Shout-Outs

This week Zoe is home on spring break, which means we had a lot of time together to play and cook. Yippee! I made Karina's delicious, made-my-toes-curl, Breakfast Cookies. Words cannot describe how good these are. My kids love them, I love them, even people in our family who aren't gfcf love them. Do yourself a favor: try these cookies. Don't be too surprised if they don't last long in your cookie jar.

My good friend Lynn (of Free to Eat) has a new blog home, Some Foods Are Not My Friends. She's got a recipe this week for GFCF Chex Mix. I remember eating Chex Party Mix at every party my family went to as a kid. Oh, the pangs of nostalgia. Did you know that there is now a Gluten Free Rice Chex? Joy!

I did an interview with Special Needs Parent, a site that covers a lot of information for families with special needs kids. Preciouschild also features a blogger every Tuesday, and yours truly was on deck this week. You can have a look-see at the interview here.

A local reporter who was working on a piece about the head of the local celiac association and gluten-free eating contacted me last week to ask a few questions about our gfcf life. The article can be found here. Mary includes links to a number to great gluten free and celiac resources.

Oh, and in case you missed it Flamenco Dad helped my post a video of part of our show on the blog. Thank you, FD! The video is not the greatest, especially since we had to set it up towards the back of the auditorium. It was great fun working with a pro like my hubby. I'm just an amateur; I do flamenco for fun. But music is his passion; I learn so much from doing these shows with him. Can you tell I'm sweet on this guy?

How I Spent My Friday

So after a REALLY long week of paper writing, exam taking, and tons of busy work I had the pleasure of performing at a show with Flamenco Dad and two of my classmates from flamenco class. The performance was for a group of (primarily retired) music teachers and musicians. The director of our local chamber orchestra was there, as well as a few other people who support our local art scene.

Bobbie and Barbara--my classmates--and I performed a few routines together; I had one solo number; FD and I did one number together, then Dad played several solos. The audience was wonderful! They were very supportive and really enthusiastic. After the peformance, many of the audience members told us how happy they were to have us there. It was great fun, and it felt wonderful to hear that we gave them a good show.

We recorded the performance, and I will upload a clip of Flamenco Dad and me doing our routine. That is, if I can get it to work. Otherwise, I'll just place the YouTube link for it here. I may have to wait for FD to get home to do it, as I'm somewhat behind the curve on uploading videos.