Jackfruit

Have you heard of Jackfruit? 

It's a giant fruit from south Asia that is related to the fig but is a whole lot bigger. The fruit can be used as a meat substitute since it's texture is very similar to pulled pork or shredded chicken. 

Since Bryan mentioned the other day that we always tend to cook the same foods over and over again, I thought I'd shake things up a bit and try this out.

The recipe I found called for chicken, but we switched that out for the jackfruit and cooked them in the air fryer instead of deep frying them in oil. We ended up with a really good meal - with the added bonus of having a lot of fun assembling them!

First you take your egg roll wrapper and wet the edges. Then you place your filling inside diagonally. 

Fold the edges over to cover the filling and roll it up into a burrito.

Pop them in the air fryer for a few minutes on each side, and voila! 

Jackfruit Eggrolls!

My Senior Prom

Do you remember your high school prom? 

I remember being so excited about it. My boyfriend at the time was from Talkeetna and was a year older than I was, but he agreed to take me since I had gone to his with him.

I picked out some beautiful deep maroon silk material and an elegant dress pattern for Mother to make my gown for me.

I had my hair done at the salon (which coincidentally was the same salon my sister ended up buying a decade later) so I would be so pretty.

About half an hour before time to go, I was all dressed up and sitting at the hearth in the kitchen watching out the window for his car to come down the driveway.

An hour and a half later, Mother finally convinced me to go with her down to the hotel for a cup of hot chocolate. He never did come down the driveway.

Yup. I was stood up for my high school prom.

Three days later, I got a phone call from him saying that he'd gotten a job up on the slope. I honestly don't think he even remembered that he was supposed to take me to my prom - and I never told him.

Life Without Plastic

 One of my goals for Life is to minimize my use of plastics as much as possible. To that end, I have made all the usual switches that everyone hears about: a reusable water bottle instead of one-use bottles purchased at the store, beeswax wraps instead of sandwich baggies, and saying "no" to straws and/or buying metal ones (and using them).

I'm also doing a few other, not so mainstream things like: using a bamboo hair comb & hair brush, using bamboo toothbrushes, using tooth tabs instead of tooth paste, even switching from dental floss in a plastic carton to floss in a small glass vial. 

Two items I have found recently are in the trial stages right now, and if they actually do what they say they do I'm pretty excited about them.

The first one is a laundry detergent called  True Earth  It is a dehydrated detergent sheet that goes into the washing machine either whole or ripped up. The packaging is not only a LOT smaller than those huge plastic tubs, but it's also biodegradable and compostable! I have washed three or four loads with it so far I have no complaints at all: the clothes are clean and smell good.

The second one is a line of cleaning supplies from a company called  Blueland  At first I was a little put off by the plastic squirt bottles that arrived in the mail. I mean, the whole point is to NOT have plastic bottles. But they are refillable, so theoretically I will not have to buy another one ever again. The cleaning solution is what you buy over and over again - and this arrives in a biodegradable & compostable packaging in the form of a tablet that you dissolve in water. It took a good hour to desolve the tablets this morning, but once they were gone I went through the house and tried each one out. I am happy to say my house is quite clean now. The mirror in the bathroom is shiny and the vanity is sparkling, the counter tops in the kitchen are squeaky clean and even the ancient faucet in the sink looks like new again.

Next on my list of products to try is a solid shampoo & conditioner by the company called  HiBar   I've heard good things about them and am eager to try them out!

Our Weekend in Girdwood

Our Weekend Get-Away in Girdwood did not go as planned. The intent was for Bryan to go skiing all day Saturday, and for me to stay in and work on my papercutting. He had new (to him) skis, boots, and poles to try out – I had Valentine cards that needed to be made.

But, as Robert Burns once wrote, “The best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray.”

The apartment we rented this time was directly above The Bake Shop and offered up the ability to ski right out the back door – literally – as well as close proximity to those World-Famous Cinnamon Rolls any time we felt the need. The place was teeny-tiny, with the bed right there in the living room – but it had all the necessities, although we did have to go buy a spatula for our pancakes one morning. Not a horrible place, but not the greatest either.

For Bryan: it rained the entire time we were there. And not just a light sprinkle, either - it was pouring down rain! He would have been miserable because his gear is not waterproof. He had to stay in and work on computer stuff instead: not a complete waste of the day, but not at all what he’d hoped for. He couldn’t even go to the Sitzmark for a drink (also located conveniently nearby) since that was closed due to the whole pandemic thing.

For me: I woke up with a killer migraine Saturday morning around 3:00 A.M. and spent the rest of the weekend trying to recover from that. I did manage to make the cards I wanted, but not much more than that. On top of that, the building was very busy with lots of skiers coming and going all the time. STOMP, STOMP, STOMP! STOMP, STOMP, STOMP! All day long, up and down the hallway. And at night, people were partying, laughing, playing loud music, and just generally having a great time VERY LOUDLY.

We did at least get to go out to dinner at our favorite Japanese place. We weren’t going to go at all until we learned that they were seating people in the ballroom rather than in their tiny little corner of the hotel. That way, they got to spread everybody out and comply with COVID-19 regulations while still offering up some really fine sushi. It was expensive, but oh so tasty.

Duck Foot Brewery

Last night’s virtual tasting was probably one of the best ones we’ve attended so far – except that it was beer, and I am not a beer drinker. Bryan is, however, and he said it was very good beer.

The event was hosted by La Bodega again, this time featuring the Duck Foot Brewery out of San Diego. We had both their Owner and their Chief Beer Taster talking with us and sharing three of their creations with us: Sour On Love (a sour beer with cherries), Jabberducky (an IPA), and Turn of Darkness (an imperial stout beer). As an added bonus, the Tasting Kit included a glass for the beer with the Duck Foot label on it! Because, yeah… we need another glass.

Matt Delvecchio started the Duck Foot Brewery back in 2012 as a way of providing good craft beer for people (like himself) who have Celaic Disease and cannot tolerate gluten. With that in mind, ALL the beer they create is certified Gluten Reduced. Technically it is gluten free (they consistently test well below 20 parts per million) but since they start with products that contain gluten and remove it organically for their end product, they cannot claim being completely gluten free.

Matt Akin, the Chief Beer Taster, has to have the worlds best job ever = he gets paid to taste beer! He stated last night that every beer that comes out of their brewery has to pass his palette first.

The evening was full of good conversations, good beer, and good company.

Numb Pinkie Finger

I don’t remember exactly when it started, but it was at least a year ago when my right pinkie finger went numb. Not the whole finger, either: just a section in the middle of it. I can’t think of any specific injury that may have caused it, it’s apparently just a random occurrence. It’s oddly painful, too. You would think if the nerve went dead, I wouldn’t be able to feel anything; but that is not the case. I can feel things – just muted and painfully.

“You really should get that looked at.” He kept saying each time he caught me wringing my hands and complaining of the odd feeling.

I totally meant to, but I was afraid that it was my neck again and I did not want another surgery. So I put it off “Just until I get back from my vacation.” Then COVID hit and everything went to hell in a handbasket, which gave me yet more excuses to not go in to have it looked at.

Finally, however, I could not put it off any longer. In October, when I had my mammogram done, the doctor also had them do a CT scan on my neck to see what was going on. Insurance balked at paying for that, however, so it was yet another three months before I was able to follow up on those results with Dr. Kralick, my Neurosurgeon.

Now really – how many people can say they have a Neurosurgeon? That’s pretty cool – except that it isn’t. 

Anyway, he reviewed the pictures taken from the CT scan and found that my neck was just fine. It shows just normal wear & tear, with nothing to indicate there is any reason to go under the knife again.

However, my pinkie is still numb – so he recommended that I have an EMG done to see how my muscles and nerves are functioning. 

As luck would have it Dr. Kussro works right there at the Anchorage Neurosurgical office, so they scheduled me for another appointment just a week later.

That was an interesting experience, to say the least. Dr. Kussro was very talkative, explaining the procedure and what he was doing as he did it. I learned all about the nerves, muscles, and how they interact with each other.

The first part of the test involved sending electric shocks at particular spots along my hand, arm, and neck to see how well the nerves transmitted the impulses. They were very mild shocks but still not very pleasant. I had to use my breathing techniques several times to keep myself from getting upset.

The second part of the test was a bit more invasive, involving needles stuck into the muscles at various places. This showed him how the muscles respond to the mild shocks he gave. The needles involved were very tiny but long; I barely felt most of them – but I have to say the one he stuck into the ball of my thumb really hurt. He had to apply a bit of pressure afterwards to stop the bleeding on that one!

The result of all these fun and games was inconclusive. We do know that I do not have any never damage. That’s the good news. The bad news is that we still don’t know why my pinkie is numb.

More tests will be forthcoming, I think…

 

 

Ringing In The New Year - My Way

I was planning on writing a post to commemorate the first day of the new year: it was going to be so witty and so well written that you’d come back day after day, eager to read any future posts I might write. But of course, life had different plans for me. I came down with a nasty migraine, one that lasted well into 6 days. I would say I still have it, but this might be just the hang-over I’m feeling now.

My sleep has been whacked way off course. I’m so exhausted I can barely function, and yet when I lay down to sleep my head hurts so much I can’t. So I quietly get up, get myself a cup of tea, and head upstairs to amuse myself on the computer while Bryan sleeps.

During the day, I find myself just aimlessly wondering around the house with no clue as to what I was doing. I also find myself following people for no particular reason other than that they look like they know what they’re doing.

Realistically, what better way for me to ring in the new year, you know? It doesn’t get much more ME than that. I suppose.

My New Office

 I finally got my new office space done, and I couldn’t be happier with it!

The desk we bought was from a used furniture store and is actually a dining table. It’s hand-made, and super heavy. Bryan had to replace the braces that hold the legs on, just to make it sturdier. It’s about 4’ wide by 6’ long, giving me plenty of room to spread out with my two monitors and whatnot.

My chair is just a regular chair, nothing special about it except that the seat is extra wide so I can sit cross-legged if I want to. Viktor sleeps in my lap a lot, so I had to consider that when I purchased it. I also got a floor mat for it, but the darned thing is too wimpy, so I ended up moving it over to the craft area.

The cables running from the monitors and keyboard over to the computer were a big jumble of mess, so I had Bryan drill a hole in the table to run the cables down through to the computer on the floor. He bundled them all up and attached them to the bottom of the table so you can’t see them from across the room. It really cleaned the workspace up a lot! I even have a multi-plug strip mounted up there, in case I ever need to plug more things in.

To finish off my workspace, I had him help me hang some pictures up on the wall. On one side, I have my elephant from Africa (really like that photo) and on the other side I have a poster that was made for me by my sister-in-law’s 5^th grade class from about 10 years ago (they made it to thank me for reading to them on my lunch hours that year). I even have a cat bed made up with blankets, pillows, and a heating pad at my feet for the kittens to nap on.

The computer itself is running smoothly, although we have had a few speed bumps along the way. I am mostly ready to turn my old computer back into the office but will hang on to it a while longer in case I come across something I haven’t thought of yet. I do need a few more programs loaded onto the new one still, but since they do that all online it’s no big deal.

Whiskey Tasting with Jack Daniels

I’m not a huge fan of Jack Daniels, I have to admit. But I do love these virtual tastings, so went ahead and signed up for this one, facilitated by Brown Jug and hosted by Jack Daniel’s brand ambassador, Ed Tecosky.

As usual, we bought out tasting kit earlier from the warehouse in Wasilla:

• Jack Daniel's Single Barrel
• Jack Daniel's Single Barrel - Rye
• Jack Daniel's Single Barrel - Barrel Proof

This tasting was an interesting one in that it was presented in the form of a Trivia game. We scanned a bar-code (no pun intended) they displayed on the screen which loaded the ap onto our phones. The game consisted of 21 questions on the history of the company and of Jack Daniels himself: some True or False, some multiple choice. You got more points the faster you answered, and even more points if you answered correctly.

Bryan and I did not do so well, ending up in 22 place (out of 25 players) – but there were prizes for the top three contestants. I assume the Jack Daniels company got their names & addresses from them after the tasting, to make sure they got what they won.

Somewhere during all that chaos, we tasted our whiskey. It almost felt like an afterthought, truth be told. Like “Oh, yeah… I guess we should actually drink something here.” But Bryan was happy with it, so I didn’t complain.

Viktor’s Appointment

As you all know my Viktor has a rare blood type, so he is a member of the Blood Donor program that his Vet created. To be in the program, the cat must have a good personality - one that tolerates handling and blood draws - and must be of good health. As a bonus to the cat’s human, we receive a free yearly check-up on the cat, including x-rays, full blood works, and flea/tick medicine if necessary. We also get a photo of our cat posted on their Wall of Honor, for all the world to see.

Yesterday was Viktor’s first annual check-up. Sadly, it did not go as well as his initial start-up appointment did. Viktor is upset at me for moving my office upstairs (he doesn’t like it upstairs but wants to sleep on my lap like he’s done since I started working from home). So, when the vet started poking him with needles to draw blood, he started struggling which caused the vet tech to nick him in the neck with the needle. He’s fine, there’s no real harm done – but he did come home with a bright yellow bandage around his neck which was rather startling. He did not like it – but had to wear it for at least an hour to make sure the wound stopped bleeding.

Honestly, though; when I finally took the bandage off there was no blood on the cotton at all. Still, it’s best to be safe.

Viktor has not been called upon to actually give blood yet, aside from that first time to make sure he could give. Cat’s blood is different than human blood in that it cannot be stored for months at a time, so they wait until they actually NEED it before calling for it. Thankfully, no cat has needed my Viktor yet – but we’re just a phone call away, so rest assured when he is called, he will be there.

Weekend Get-Away in Talkeetna

Bryan and I took of Friday afternoon and headed up north to Talkeetna for the weekend. It was our normal Friday Off, so we took our time and ambled our way up the highway. The snow just kept on getting deeper and deeper as we went, ending up with well over two feet at the cabin we’d rented for the weekend. It’s so pretty!

Our cabin was a tiny one, with some rather ingenious quirks getting all the necessary items crammed in there while still providing a livable space. There was a TV with cable available for our use, but it was located at a very strange angle from the couch, so watching our movies at night was interesting. The wrought iron ladder leading up to the sleeping loft was right smack-dab in the way of entry to the kitchenette, so you had to duck and twist each time you went in or out of the kitchen.

But honestly, it wasn’t all that bad. We had room for me to work on my artwork while Bryan worked on his computer. The kittens enjoyed exploring the place. Viktor even learned how to climb up a ladder! Mind you, he never did figure out how to climb down the ladder – he’d just sit up there and cry until I went up and got him. Come to think of it – maybe he did figure out how to get down!

This whole COVID thing really does suck. Last year in Talkeetna trip was so much fun with the Taste of Talkeetna, breakfast at the Roadhouse, and lots of Christmas shopping and people watching. This year, the Taste was canceled, the Roadhouse is closed, less than half the shops have managed to keep their doors open, and the whole place is a Ghost Town.

Still, we had Mountain High Pizza delivered to us for our first dinner, went to the Denali Brew Pub for our second dinner (masks required until your food arrives), and got breakfast to go from the Flying Squirrel. All in all, it wasn’t that bad.

More Wine Tastings

We had a couple more wine tastings these last few days, all online of course.

The first one was a set of 8 different wines, hosted by Oracle (a company Bryan works with a lot). The lady guiding us through all 8 wines was in South Africa, so she was up at 1:00 in the morning while Bryan and I had to take time off work at 2:00 in the afternoon to attend. Other attendees were from all across the globe: a very diverse mix of people!

The wines we sampled were quite good, a mix of both reds and whites. The bottles were specially made for the tastings and held just enough for two glasses each. I was tempted to keep the bottles and make something out of them – but that would just turn in to one more project I never get around to.

The second tasting was hosted by La Bodega and featured 3 bubbly wines, 3 white wines, and 3 red wines. They did not have sample bottles, so they let you buy the ones you were interested in without having to buy any you did not want (or could not afford). Bryan got us one red and one white – but we did enjoy listening to the entire tasting event, as the presenters were quite enthusiastic about their wines and had a lot of information to impart.

My New Home Office

I got an email from my Architect last week informing me that there was a new computer with 2 monitors, all still brand new and in their boxes, waiting for me at the office. Was I planning a trip to Anchorage anytime soon? As luck would have it, Bryan had an appointment in town that very next day: so he offered to pick it all up for me.

Once it got home, we set it up temporarily upstairs in order to get all the programs loaded onto it and make sure everything runs properly before taking down my old computer. The IT guy in Oregon worked on all of the new installations remotely. Modern computers are amazing, I have to say. We set up the computer, turned it on, and then just walked away. All weekend long, it chugged away downloading all the programs required without my having to lift a finger! It still needs a few more programs before I can make the big switch, though.

Seeing how big everything was (the monitors are both monster 32” screens!) we decided that the rickety old card table I had been using was neither big enough nor strong enough for the new setup, so Bryan went online and found me a hand-made table that is much bigger. So much bigger, in fact, it does not fit downstairs in my “office” area! But it’s such a beautiful table, I went ahead and bought it and will just relocate myself upstairs.

I sent a quick email off to the main office letting them know the progress we’d made so far, and got a response back telling me to expense the new desk & get a chair, too! So, I went online and found a good deal on a new chair (we just happened to be in time for the Black Friday sales) which Bryan will pick up for me when he gets the new table.

My task this weekend is to rearrange my crafting area to allow room for “my new office” and figure out where Viktor’s heated cat bed will go so that he can be near me while I work. I have an idea in my head of what I want to do: I’ll have to wait until I see the new table to make sure it will actually work.

Stay tuned for more news as it develops!

Happiness is a Drawer Full of Tea

I have a special drawer in the kitchen, full of all my tea & tea paraphernalia. It’s my Happy Place.

First thing in the morning, I have a cup of Market Spice. The jar for that tea is so big it doesn’t fit into the drawer, however – so it goes on the counter next to the stove. Lauren gave me that jar back when she was probably 12 years old: she carried it on her lap all the way from Seattle! I love that jar, and buy my Market Spice Tea directly from the factory to keep the jar full.

All the rest of the tea I drink throughout the day come from the drawer, each cup a different flavor depending on my mood.

• There’s smoky teas (Lapsang Souchong, Russian Caravan, Malawi Mountain Moto)
• There’s plain black teas (Spring Laoshan Black Tea, Connoisseur Tea, Rare English Breakfast, Qianjiazhai Hand Fired Black Tea, Yulu Yan Cha Black Tea)
• There’s flavored tea (Spiced Pear Black tea, Orange Nutmeg Tea)
• There’s Oolong teas (Milk Oolong, Aged Se Zhong Oolong)
• There’s some Pu’er teas (Golden Leaf Shu Pu’er, Gong Ting Shu Pu’er)
• There’s even a green tea although that’s not exactly my favorite (Genmai Cha Green)

The companies I buy my tea from are mostly all on-line, although I do shop at Summit Spice when I’m in Anchorage. As mentioned earlier, I shop at MarketSpice (based out of Seattle) but also buy from Verdant Tea and The Rare Tea Co. as well.

As I’ve no doubt you all noticed, I drink loose leaf teas almost exclusively. To contain the leaves in the water, I use this tea basket from The Republic of Tea. I’ve found that the nylon mesh is easier on my fingers than a metal on (the metal ones get HOT!) and I love how they fit perfectly into my mugs, allowing the tea lots of room to steep!

Of course, the right mug is almost as important as the right tea! Sadly, my favorite mug (the middle one) got broken in the earthquake a few years ago. It’s glued together for now, but it can’t last forever. It is a goal of mine to find The Perfect Mug to replace the broken one: the blue one pictured to the left is a good second choice, but it’s just not quite right. I thought the green one pictured to the right would be a good one, but it is too small.

Sheep Mountain Lodge

Bryan and I rented a cabin up at the Sheep Mountain Lodge for the weekend and had a very relaxing time together.

Check in wasn’t until 3:00 and the lodge is only an hour from home, so we took our time Friday morning getting ready. We packed up the food and winter gear, our toiletries and overnight bags, and since the kittens were coming with us this time we also packed up their litter box, food bowls and several toys. I got their travel crates out and had them sitting in the living room just warming up – and both cats just walked right in and sat down, effectively saying “We’re ready to go!” Certainly makes going places with them easy.

However, Naldo was NOT happy in the truck. She voiced her displeasure LOUDLY the entire trip out there! I thought for sure she’d eventually tire and go to sleep, but no – she just yelled louder. I’m not sure what her problem was: she wasn’t car sick, she was warm, she could look outside. I finally thought that maybe it was that she couldn’t see me very well – so on our return trip I situated her crate with a better view of me, and that did seem to help a little bit. At least she didn’t yell as loudly.

The cabin we ended up in was very nice, with a bathroom in one corner and the bed in the other corner. They provided a small fridge with a tiny little microwave on top for our “kitchenette” so Bryan set up his camp stove on the table to cook our meals for us. That left just enough room for my crafting table and all my card making supplies while Bryan set himself up on the couch with his computer work. We had to get a bit creative with the portable DVD player, though – trying to find a place in between us while still making sure that both of us could watch.

The kittens enjoyed exploring the place. There was a log running across the room up high that Viktor was just determined to examine. Thankfully he never figured out how to get up there – but man, he tried. Finally, right before we left the place I put him up there just so he could say he did it. He got scared, of course. He’s not the bravest little boy in the world. But we love him anyway.

The lodge itself is closed (this whole COVID thing truly sucks) but the caretaker offered to deliver meals if we wanted, so we ordered our dinners from him and cooked our own breakfasts and lunches. We had to open the door a tiny bit each time we cooked, however, just to make sure we didn’t get sick from the propane. It was cold enough out there I didn’t worry about the cats escaping – they peeked outside each time, but chose to stay in the warmth of the cabin.

Best of all, from Bryan’s point of view at least, the Hot Tub was up and running! He went out there three times over the course of two days, relaxing in the heat. I am not a hot tub person, so I just let him go by himself.

They Found A Lump

Since October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I scheduled my yearly mammogram on the 27^th of that month. As luck would have it, Imaging Associates has an office out in the Valley so I didn’t have to take the day off to go in to town. Instead, I just drove a few miles down the road and got it done in no time at all. 

A week later, I got a message on my phone telling me to call them for an appointment. Since I had just had my appointment, I thought it was a mistake and I almost ignored the message. I did call them, however, if only to just clear up the misunderstanding. I’m so glad I did because it was not a mistake - I really did need to go back in for another appointment. It turns out they had found something they wanted to get a better look at.

This second appointment was quite different: first they took a series of pictures on one machine and then had me wait in the dressing room while the doctor looked at the results. Then they took another series of pictures on a different machine and put me back in the dressing room to wait while she looked at those images. This went on for two or three times before the doctor finally decided that a biopsy was needed.

The very next week found me back at the office bright and early on Tuesday morning. The procedure itself really wasn’t so bad. I laid down on the table, face down with my left breast over an opening. They raised the table up pretty high so the doctor could get underneath and work with her needles and knives. They gave me a topical anesthesia so I really didn’t feel a thing except the pressure of the clamps holding me in place. The whole thing took maybe an hour, which really isn’t that bad. They were actually quite pleased with how quickly it went – apparently sometimes it can be hard to find the lump but mine was right where it was supposed to be.

Once it was over and they brought the table back down to a normal height, I got up to head back to the dressing room – and proceeded to almost pass right out! I had completely forgotten that my body tends to react that way, so was not prepared for that at all. They had me lay back down for a while and then gave me a ride in one of their wheel chairs out to the dressing room. Once I got changed I spent a little time in the waiting room drinking some apple juice just to make sure I was capable of driving myself home.

The test results came back on Thursday with a clean bill of health: the lump is benign! Now I have a lovely bruise and am waiting for my shower today to finally get rid of the tape holding my wound together. It’s been 5 days: plenty of time to heal I think.