Auntie K Takes a Plane

For a homebody, I think I do a moderately impressive amount of travel. Here's what's planned for the next few months:

July - TX to play with niece and nephews and celebrate my birthday (my mother will be there also)

July - UT to play with my own auntie and my dear mother (have I told you how cold and wonderful it is in my aunt's basement where the guest room is?)

Sept - Savannah for a conference. I've been to the conference once before, and think that this time, I need to plan my meals better. I had an invite to Paula Deen's The Lady and Sons last time, but I declined--sounded like too much hassle. What do you think, should I give it a try this time?

Sept - Louisville for a conference. I would like to stay an extra day and loaf around. The traveling thing is starting to get expensive, however, so I may have to think about it. Here are some places I could visit--Embroiderers' Guild of America Museum, The Knit Nook, Schimpff's Confectionary, Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind, Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen.

Nov - San Francisco for (someone else's) conference. I figured it would be the least a sister could do, to offer to share a hotel room when her brother goes to present. I've never been to San Francisco. I have, however, read Thunderbolt House multiple times, so I feel I know what I need to know before I go. I figured I could sneak into A's session and see how real researchers sound (as opposed to most library-related quasi-researchers).

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Photo: Chicago Daily News, Inc. (1928). Miss Ella Van Huesen and an unidentified woman standing on a block next to an airplane on a field [photonegative]. Chicago Daily News negatives collection, DN-0086214. Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society. Available from Library of Congress American Memory.

I Knew Better

Have you ever gone ahead and done something you knew you shouldn't? It's probably a daily occurrence for me, but the latest instance was making nonfat pumpkin bread. I knew that a quick bread with no fat would taste terrible, but for some idiotic reason I expected miraculous, impossible results. They didn't happen.

The other culinary experiment of the day was potato leek soup, which turned out not so bad. I used a mixture of half and half and skim milk instead of the specified nonfat half and half (talk about an oxymoron) . My one mistake was in not realizing how salty four cups of chicken bouillon would taste. I used that because I find myself possessed of not one, but two jars of bouillon. Now I know for next time, though I doubt I'll be able to afford the leeks again!

Tuesday's Recipe

I'm under a self-imposed baking ban (but still trying to stretch the remains of the last pre-ban treat, rhubarb cake, similar to this recipe). There is an exception, however, for certain items.

So Sunday I made Breakfast Bars, combining parts of a Sun-Maid Raisins recipe with its super fiber variation:

Breakfast Bars

Ingredients
1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/4 C flaxseed meal
3/4 C toasted wheat germ
1/4 C sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 C canola oil
1/4 C honey
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
14 bite-size prunes, chopped
1/4 C pecan halves, chopped
1/3 C Craisins

Directions
Heat oven to 350F. Grease an 8" square pan. Combine first six dry ingredients in medium bowl. Stir in oil, honey, egg, vanilla; mix well. Stir in fruit and nuts. Press mixture firmly into greased pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely before slicing. Bars may be slightly crumbly. Makes 10 bars.

Nutritional Facts (according to my calculations):
per bar: 217 calories, 9.7 grams fat, 4.4 grams protein, 2.3 grams fiber.

Assessment
Too much oil, which is actually a good thing, because even before the bars were out of the oven I was thinking about how to reduce the percentage of fat. Next time I will try 3 Tbs oil, 1/4 C white flour and 1/4 C whole wheat flour, perhaps with some low-fat granola thrown in (see below). Could have stood more prunes--I just didn't feel like chopping any more.

My mother's variation (she discovered the recipe) includes 3/4 C all-purpose flour, granola in place of wheat germ, pine nuts, chopped dates, and no flaxseed meal. Extremely tasty.

Floating Away

I'm implementing some new personal health initiatives. I'm reluctant to broadcast all of them, because I haven't been very successful in the past. I'd rather just surprise you when I am successful. However, I'll share one aspect of The Plan with you: drink four bottles of water at work every day.

If you could make one personal health improvement, what would it be?

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photo: Lee, Russell. (1941). Water fountain, Caldwell, Idaho [photograph]. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA-OWI Collection, [reproduction number LC-USF33-013077-M1]. Available from American Memory.

Anticlimactic, or, a Litany of Excuses

I visited Whole Foods yesterday. I'm sorry to report that I didn't come out with anything more exotic than an avocado. I also picked up some nice sweet cherries, some raspberry jam (organic, of course), three boxes of Near East Creamy Parmesan Creative Grains, which is not available to me anywhere else, and a bag of shortcake biscuits (and a cookie, apple, and candybar, if you want to know everything).

I have some peaches at home that I plan to eat with the biscuits, and I read up on whipping cream when I got home (apparently, ultrapasturization is death if you want nice whipped cream, but that's probably all that's available to me). And yes, I could make my own shortbread biscuits, but for some reason, they called to me from the bakery table.

It was raining to beat the band when I finished at Whole Foods, so I decided to skip Trader Joe's, then drove around the block and into the parking lot anyway, but once there, stuck to my guns and left without going in.

Let's face it, I probably would have bought only candy and nuts at Trader Joe's, neither of which I really need, especially after buying 400-calorie biscuits. Finally, my lunch at Provence yesterday was $11 and I was still feeling the pinch, so I'll save that for another trip.