Steven working on the Datsun

this,

Dad working on the Datsun

and this,

Data watching over us

my mom, grandma and I were doing this,

Visiting Millennium Park (and downtown Chicago)

this,

Since Christina couldn’t be there, mom talked to her on the phone while she frosted cookies.

this,

Mom wraps the gifts while Data watches

and this,

Posing for silly photos so we won’t lose our minds

with finished products like this

Sample plate of goodies
(We ended up making vegan sugar cookies, vegan chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter kisses, peanut clusters (some vegan), caramel popcorn (some vegan), butterscotch num nums, vegan chex mix, and (pre-made) toffee)

and this.

Mica’s Prize

And now it’s all over! I’m always sad to see family (or friends) go – it’s a fun change of pace to have more people in the house. But I would be lying if I told you I wasn’t looking forward to resting and sitting on my ass tonight!

It’s funny how spending two whole days with my mom and grandma really made our similarities and differences stand out. And you could say that about spending concentrated chunks of time with anyone – not just family. Take college roommates for example. After just a full day or so together, you realize whether or not you have the same methods of doing things and whether you were raised with the same values. It’s things as simple as how you clean, or how often you clean, and how you communicate about it.

Obviously, I have more specific examples from this weekend, but I don’t think it would be nice to talk about them here. It was just interesting to me to see which family traits (or values and methods) I’ve held on to, and which I have modified. Some of it has to do with food choices, like the on-going (for years) butter vs. margarine debate, and some of it had to do with conflicting personality characteristics – not conflicting because they’re different, but because they’re the same. Maybe I can write about that at a later date.

These last two paragraphs make it sound like I didn’t have a great time, when really, I did. It’s just that I don’t see my family very often, and I rarely get them all to myself, so I just feel like our interactions are more intense, because they’re so rare.

Anyway, have you had an experience with someone else that really made your similarities and differences stand out?

And now it’s time to tackle google reader and email. How long will it take me to read 340 new posts? Ha. I’ll get through them, but don’t be surprised (or offended!) if you see me commenting on posts a few days old. I haven’t logged in to reader since Thursday night, or even spent much time on the computer.

• On Wednesday, I have to give a very important presentation at work which will determine whether or not I get a raise! Steven and I are also going to the Eating Animals Reading on that day AND my sister and her friend are staying at our house Wednesday night.
• On Thursday, I am driving my sister and her friend to the airport at 5:30 am. Then, Steven and I are attending the Chicago Construction Expo all day. Then (!), my mom, dad and grandma are arriving for the weekend.
• On Friday, my mom, grandma and I are going to Chicago to do some window shopping on State Street and Michigan Avenue.
• On Saturday, we are BAKING all day long.
• On Sunday, I will take my grandma and mom to church, then they will head home… and I will promptly collapse!

And that’s not to mention all of the prep work we’ve done these past few weeks, this weekend and today and tomorrow – painting, cleaning, buying groceries, etc.

BUT, I am excited! We had a lot of fun baking all of our holiday sweets last year, and THIS year, I am doing a Homemade Holiday Sweets Giveaway!

Would you like to win a Holiday Sweets Basket like one of these?

The Holiday Sweets Package will likely contain:

• Frosted Sugar Cookies
• Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies
• Snickerdoodles
• Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Toffee
• Caramels
• Caramel Crispix
• Chex Mix

I say “likely” because who knows what the day will bring. My mother is often springing (good) recipe ideas on us at the last minute.

I will put a note in the package saying which items are vegan and which are gluten-free. They will not all be, but please, still enter the contest! Some will be, and you can share the rest with your friends/family/coworkers/grateful strangers.

Contest Rules:

1. To enter the contest, simply leave a comment below telling me what your favorite holiday treat is. It doesn’t have to be one I listed above. It can even be a favorite dish!
2. To get an extra entry, link to the giveaway in your blog, and leave me another comment linking to your post.
3. This contest is open until 5:00 PM CST on Saturday, November 21st. I will use the Random Integer Generator, or if I am feeling fiesty, the old “name out of a hat” drawing to select a winner on Saturday. I will announce the winner Saturday evening.
4. This contest is open to readers in the contiguous United States only. Sorry! I want to make sure your sweets arrive quickly!

We have a lot to look forward to this year:

• My mom, dad, and grandma are coming to Chicago the week before Thanksgiving for the 2009 Cookie Extravaganza.
• We may host Thanksgiving at our house this year with friends (if any Chicago friends are around)
• My sister will be in town late Thanksgiving Day, and possibly stay until the following Saturday, so we can have another fun meal with her and maybe do some “window shopping”
• Steven’s family is coming to our house this year for the holidays, so we get to decorate (And get a real tree! Data will be so excited when I tell him.), and plan fun meals and activities
• We may go visit some college friends in December
• We will get to see my family for the holidays sometime in December or January
• There is a slight possibility that we will travel to Disney World in January to run a half marathon (if not, we will be looking to get rid of our entries)

Our first real tree, in 2005!

We have fun, busy times ahead to look forward to. And I didn’t even mention that we have sometime planned practically every weekend until the holidays hit. Luckily, those events are close to home, and we don’t have to travel (much).

I think I get so excited about the holidays each year because I love to plan. Even though every year, I realize more and more how things don’t ever turn out exactly as planned (hey, that’s life!).

Do you get excited about the holidays? Do you love to plan things out too?

Do you live in a little fantasy world in your head like I do? Ha ha.

But, we all remember how tired we were making so many sweets (and dealing with a few failures). So, we’ve decided to only make four things.

Of course, my mom is already calling me suggesting more and more to bake. What happened to only making four things, mother?! She’s apparently having a hard time deciding on what to bake.

So, if you were receiving a basket of sweets, which four items below would you want in it? See the photo below the poll for a reference picture. And let me know if you have some favorite item that we did not include on the list!

[poll id="6"]

All the sweets we made last year, some items not included in the poll

And, one more poll, that Steven sort of inspired me to add at the last minute.

[poll id="7"]

Recipe here.

Steven wasn’t 100% pleased with Wednesday’s vegan chocolate chip cookies, so he searched his new favorite website, vegweb.com for ideas. The new recipe he found truly tastes just like the Nestle Toll House ones. The recipes takes a bit of preparation, but is worth it.

The dough looks like chocolate chip cookie dough!

Our cookie sheets sure do look used!

We also tried this “Craving-Cure Cookies” recipe – similar to an oatmeal raisin. I liked them because they are dense and chewy. Steven didn’t like them as much, for that reason.

I had my eyes set on this one, because it was full of raisins.

Our neighbors came over for dinner, so we had a lot of options for dessert:

Banana Muffins, Craving-Cure Cookies, and Chocolate Chip Cookies.

They must have liked the vegan treats, because they took some home! But, there is still enough to share with Diane and E at Saturday’s dinner date in the country.

I think we went a little overboard in our sweets making today. Which is funny, since I gave up sweets for so long for Lent, and didn’t even crave them anymore. Now, since I run so much, I don’t even feel guilty about eating sweets (if in moderation!). In fact, I don’t feel guilty about much that I eat. But I won’t talk about that – I might jinx myself.

I am a #7 – I like my banana a bit brown and lightly bruised. I think Steven is more of a #4 or #5. So at the beginning of each week, we buy about 15 bananas in different stages of ripeness. Every once in awhile, we end up with some “leftovers” at the end of the week that are even too ripe for me to eat (although, I probably would have eaten one of them in the photo below).

I usually make banana bread or banana donuts when we have leftovers, but we were already using the bread pans to make granola bars and it was too late in the day for donuts, so I decided to try Jen’s Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I’m pretty new to the idea of mixing bananas and chocolate, and I’ll admit, it’s taking me awhile to get used to it. BUT, I thought this recipe was cool because it’s fairly healthy (no added sugar!).

Waiting to go in the oven…

Finished! They didn’t change shape at all while they cooked!

I tried one right away when it came out of the oven, but the chocolate had too strong of a taste and was too hot. Even though I put less chocolate in it, I still think I put in too much. Next time I make them, I will probably add a bit more cinnamon, less chocolate, and try some without chocolate completely.

Jeez. I can’t believe I am complaining about too much chocolate. What has happened to me? Ugh. After not eating sweets for so long, sweets taste too sweet.

The cookies did have a nice chewy texture, and a yummy banana flavor! If you are into the chocolate/banana combination, they are worth a try! They are pretty good for a “healthy” cookie.

See the recipe in the extended post below.

More Rainbow Cake Photos: I thought I would share the photos of the inside of Christina’s Rainbow Cake with you! It’s so colorful and fun!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

See Jen’s original recipe here, and the one she originally found here. The original had coconut in it, but I didn’t have any, so it didn’t go in. I’ve italicized the changes I made below.

Ingredients:

• 3 large ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon banana flavoring
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon - will add more next time
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 5 oz. chocolate chips – will add less next time or not add at all

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine bananas, vanilla extract, banana flavoring and applesauce. Set aside. In another bowl, mix dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to wet until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop dollops of the dough onto a cookie sheet with parchment paper. The original recipe says to bake 12-14 minutes – I baked about 17, at the top of the oven. Make sure the bottoms don’t burn.

When I made them, it made 20 small cookies.

Well, it’s Easter, so it must be time for the big recap post on Lent.

Basically, you can read this list here and just imagine that all it says is “give up sugar treats,” because that is ALL that I was successful at for Lent (since 2/25 – I didn’t cheat on Sundays). I did have a few granola bars with bits of chocolate, and sports beans, but other than that, I completely gave up cookies, chocolate, soda, muffins, candy, and so on… and I feel GREAT!

I am about to spend the day making cookies, but I don’t think I’ll eat any. I am probably going to wait and have a sweet treat after my office’s Biggest Loser Challenge ends on Wednesday (there are 3 boxes of Girl Scouts cookies waiting to be eaten in my house). I plan on staying off the soda, and only having it on special occasions.

As for the rest of the list? A lot of it had to do with attitude and communication. I didn’t progress very far, but I DID figure out a lot of what is bothering me and why, and I tried different ways to handle it. I think I am getting there! Already I have tried to tackle my frustration this weekend by communicating better.*

And the “frivolous items”? Well, I DIDN’T buy a single magazine or book, which is what I had in mind when I wrote that. But uh, yeah, I did buy new clothes (twice), running outfits, a new computer, and… a new car. Good thing I wasn’t buying any magazines, right? Jeez.

We cut back on eating out, not that we did it much before, but I think that can be attributed to the fact that we are so conscious of what we put in our bodies now.

What did I learn? I learned that I CAN reach a goal, but that it can be too overwhelming to try to tackle a lot at once (perhaps I should follow Nilsa’s “challenge a month” lead?). Upcoming goals for me include really committing to cutting out swearing, and trying veganism, and apparently, working on my blogging addiction (any tips with that?).

Unrelated topic: My sister, Christina, was inspired to make a rainbow cake after seeing this set on flickr. Check it out, it’s pretty cool! Here are her photos below. I totally thought of Tori’s rainbow cake when she told me about this!

It looks like you just use yellow cake mix, then separate it and add food coloring to make the fun colors! Or maybe not food coloring? I am not sure what’s in those little white tubes.

Doesn’t it look so fun?! Christina’s so fun.

Yummy! I hope everyone enjoys it!

Christina made this cake to share with my family for Easter. They are all together, with my mom’s side of the family. I decided not to join them this year, so Steven and I are going to take it easy at home (If you can call him running 12 miles taking it easy! HA HA! I only have to run 6 today.).

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

*”What’s bothering me?” you ask. Well, how nice of you to ask. Thank you. 1. My face is STILL numb and it’s bothersome to eat. 2. The kids in our neighborhood were damaging the trees in our yard yesterday, playing in the street, and harassing a goose. I went outside to talk to them, calmly and nicely, about all three things. I wondered why their parents were no where in sight, letting them play in the street! 3. We saw Fast and Furious last night, and once again, there were a bunch of very young children in the theater. One woman sat down and let her toddler climb up and down the stairs on his own. Well, of course he fell and started crying. There were 5 or 6 kids that probably got up at least 10 times (no, seriously) and literally ran up and down the stairs, very loudly. And the kids behind us would not shut up the entire time. I finally asked them, again, as nicely as I could, to please be quiet so the rest of us could enjoy the remainder of the movie. It was a fluff movie, but that experience really put me in an upset mood last night. 4. My frickin’ cat keeps waking me up at 6:00 am, and I can’t go back to sleep, and I am lonely, up by myself. (Data just goes back to bed!)

Then I decided I wasn’t done, so I grabbed my little coin purse and trekked my way back to the vending machine. I got there and stared at it. The top two rows of the vending machine have salty snacks – mostly chips. And the remaining, I don’t know, five or six rows, are ALL sweets.

I gave up sweets, making it very difficult to find anything I wanted. This is where a normal person would stop the quest and go back to there desk, but I stood there for quite some time and noticed someone else in there, kind of looking at me.

“I can’t decide what I want,” I told him. He didn’t want to use the machine, but seemed curious that I was standing there so long.

“Well, you gotta narrow it down,” he said. “Do you want salty or sweet? Once you decide that, there are other decisions to make. For example, if you choose sweet, then you need to decide if you want something chocolatey. And if you do, will it be nuggety, nutty or fruit-flavored?”

I thought that guy was pretty funny. I realized what I WANTED was M&M’s, but I couldn’t have them, so I went down to the snack shop in our building.

I found the same situation there. More sweets than anything else. My craving for something sweet intensified while I was down there. But I resisted, and grabbed a bag of Gardetto’s.

Yuck. What a disappointment. First of all, they weren’t what I wanted. Secondly, I felt super self-conscious eating them at my desk because they are so crunchy (you know what I am talking about diane!). And thirdly, they leave a super nasty after taste in your mouth. And they don’t really have a good “before taste anyway. I hate that I just had to eat something, and picked something that didn’t even hit the spot.

So, I confirmed something about myself – I have a sweet tooth. When I get snacky, I crave sweet treats. You know what I was thinking that day? “M&M’s sound good. Warm, chewy cinnamon rolls sound good. A Deerfield’s Bakery donut sounds good.” I wanted something sweet and soft or sweet and crunchy.

Since I gave up sweets I’ve been having half an orange in the afternoon (along with carrots and celery). I thought now might as well be a good time to eat “closer to the earth” as well. I get so sick of eating processed crackers and bars. And even though I look for processed food without high amounts of sugar in it, it’s hard to find. There’s still a lot of sugar in there.

Most days I am totally fine eating my healthy snacks, but every once in awhile I get these awful urges that I just have to eat, eat, eat! They don’t come that often. But I hate it when they do. I wish I was better at controlling them. I feel awful putting bad things into my body that I don’t really want. Especially because I run so much. Usually that is enough to make me not do it, but not all the time. Ugh, I am blabbing.

I don’t know if I learned anything from all of this, or if I just feel better sharing my guilt here.

Side note: Should I feel guilty that I felt good yesterday when I overheard my cute and skinny coworker confess that she ate one roll of thin mints the day before, and the other roll the next day? Of course, it was immediately followed with “Now I have to work out, like, twice today!”

I looked down at it, and my eyes fixated on the one piece of chocolate in it – a Milky Way Midnight Mini.

I picked it up and held it in my hand. I thought, “I will go put this in my desk drawer – then I can have it as a small treat this afternoon!”

Then I remembered. Was it not just yesterday that I said I would try to cut back on sugar?

Jeez. This may be harder than I thought.

Luckily, I remembered my new goal, and put it back in the bowl. Then I felt something strange – a sense of relief. Relief that I can now walk around the office and ignore ALL of the candy bowls, because I am going to try not to eat any sugary treats.

The relief feels pretty good.

When I asked Steven what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, he said he wanted a “huge bavarian creme donut.” “Not twice the size of a normal doughnut, but like, four times bigger.”

Hmm.

I sent an email to our favorite bakery, to see if they could accommodate the request:

Dear Deerfield’s, My husband loves your bavarian cream donuts. I was planning on ordering a cake from your store for him for his birthday, but he asked if I could order him a big bavarian cream donut with chocolate frosting. Is it possible to order something like that? I think he just means bigger than a normal donut, about four times the size. I would order it for pick up on Dec. 21st. Thanks for letting me know (and for humoring me!) Kimberly

They responded right away:

Hello, We don’t make a “jumbo” donut however we can either do a layered birthday cake with a custard filling or a Bavarian Cream Pie which has 2 layers of yellow cake filled with Bavarian Cream and topped with fudge icing. Please call Customer Service @ 847-520-0068 ext. 4 to place your order, Thank you. Cindy

At least they humored me. I laughed when I saw “jumbo” in quotation marks.

So, Steven didn’t get his “jumbo” donut – he got the leaning tower of donuts (thanks for the suggestion, Denise!) as well as a birthday cake, and some black and white cookies (which were very, very disappointing).

I gave him the donut tower, cake and cookies yesterday, since I wouldn’t have the opportunity to pick them up today. I also made sugar cookies, peanut butter cookies, and snickerdoodles yesterday (for Steven to take to work). So breakfast was donuts and cookies. Lunch was cookies and cookie dough. Afternoon snack was string cheese, then cake and ice cream with our neighbors. Pre-dinner snack was cookies. Dinner was penne pasta with alfredo sauce and green beans.

No wonder I had a headache when I woke up this morning!

When I was walking from the train to work this morning, I thought maybe yesterday’s sugar overload had finally cured me – I had made me feel awful enough that I would never binge on cookies again!

Yeah, right.

Sweet treats will always be around at celebrations! Birthdays just aren’t the same without a special sweet treat. I hope Steven enjoyed his! Happy Birthday, babe!

Steven and the furbaby.