Another Day and By Gum Another Pound

Well I have hit a weightloss vein and I am going to mine it for all I am worth. I got on the scale and I will be darned if I did not lose yet another pound. Believe me I am not going to complain. These easy drops do not come along that often and I hope this one lasts for a good long while. I just wish I could figure out exactly what the formula is and keep doing it but I really don't think I am doing anything that different. I have had a bit of a burst of energy in the last few days and have been buzzing about the house cleaning, cooking and decorating. Perhaps that has something to do with it. I sure hope so because with the house on the market it is not going to end anytime soon.

Today in preparation for a four day stay at my parents house for Thanksgiving I baked my brains out. I made two kinds of cookies, an apple pie and two pumpkin pies. My husband made four loaves of his yummy beer and vinegar artisan bread and dough for pizzas.

In the morning I took a master base dough recipe I developed from a chocolate chip cookie recipe my husband imported from the UK. With this I made two kinds of cookies. I took his base dough recipe and added peanut butter to part of the batter and raisin bran cereal to the other.

Tonight I threw together an apple pie and two pumpkin pies (I love pumpkin pie and you non USA citizens do not know what you are missing!!). I was deprived of it last Christmas as Tesco's did not have canned pumpkin in Wales...Believe me the next time we spend Christmas at Granny's I will be carrying mine with me!! I have to say my pie baking has improved of late and I do not know why.

I had to duke it out for access to the oven with my husband after dinner as he made four loaves of beer and vinegar batter artisan bread (it is delicious and I can actually eat a small piece of it with cheese for a meal). While my final pies got their turn after his loaves he made several balls of pizza dough to make pizzas during the weekend.

Now before you start thinking ...Wow that Tina must be some kind of a cook and that must be why she was fat in the first place. Well here is the weirdest thing. I HATED TO COOK for years and years. We ate out all the time. I don't know if is part of my desire to make the most of my tiny pouch of food space or if the fat is melting out of my brain too but I really have started to be interested in cooking again. I know..quick someone get me some aspirin. I must be ill.

My mother in the last few years has introduced a tradition to the family that I think is brilliant. When we are all at her house for extended periods of time (this year 4 days). Each family is in charge of a meal one evening. I volunteered us for Saturday night as we figure Friday will be fine with leftovers bursting forth from the fridge. David (my husband) has developed a pizza that is just delicious. The dough he found in the Peter Reinhart book The Bread-baker's apprentice, pg. 207. The pizza has the most brilliant thin crust and his margarita pizza toppings are yumminy. I can eat it without a problem and it is scrumpdiliscious. ok after wiping away my drool....I think I am hitting another deprivation stage....so let me collect myself here :) yeah well he is taking 9 balls of dough (makes about a 10 inch pizza each) and cheeses, tomato and basil with us on the 5 hour drive to central Washington State tomorrow.

So that is a huge food laden post. I am sure there is some deeper psychological statement to be made but I am just going to stop now :)