Super Busy Week: I Need Flowers, Cooking, & Waves

So last weekend started out great. Then this, this, this, and this happened. Alas, my Sunday and the days thereafter have been quite busy - along with many, many others who are doing their parts to thwart the ultimate injustice. But I won't talk about that now except to say that I rely so much on my beloved. ❤️ He is my everything and he gives me too much credit. My role is actually quite small. 

Even in my busy times, I try to find some beauty and, increasingly, I like to think I'm becoming more disciplined at prayer and even - gulp - fasting more consistently at some level. 

I really try to make sure that I at least have some nature around me. I try to make a point of noticing it more even if I'm just driving kids back and forth to class. This morning, my cell phone was already going off at 7:41. By 7:55 I was at my desk talking shop and drafting a brief for the next 4 hrs. I at least made time to cook a nice dinner, attend part of Vigil, and arrange some flowers. But I missed out on my Saturday morning walk and geocaching adventure with my Toby. That literally made me sad. 

I don't have much time - editing and proofreading my latest brief awaits me - but I wanted to post some neat flowers Toby bought me and the fruits of my culinary efforts (diversions). Hopefully, I can find my way into nature tomorrow evening at least. 

These are at my desk, as you can see. They are the ever-faithful Humble Alstoemerias. I love that color: rich orangey-red with some golden yellow in the center. You can see that Verdie is doing well. 

Toby brought these home yesterday and I arranged them today.

Toby loved the yellow and brown. I did, too. He brings me various flowers and never knows how I will arrange them. But we often have the same ideas. The beauty of being together now nearly 25 years. 

Don't these remind you of a forest? They have muted colors, and yet they are quite becoming. The ones in the center almost look like mushrooms. You get a sense of pine cones even. I think they're a great choice. They seem to bridge fall into winter and we've certainly been having more winter than fall temps here in DFW.

I actually made time to shop and cook after a long day of....lawyering of sorts on Monday. I made enough meatloaf for 3 days. We had fast days in between where I made some shrimp and crab fried rice with some veggie egg rolls. I had help from frozen offerings. 

This may not be the most appetizing photo, but I wanted to show you how my meatloaf goes into the oven. Years ago, I started making free form meatloaves rather than putting them in loaf pans. I watched a cooking show that talked about how that basically stews them rather than getting them golden brown and caramelized. It made sense to me. I made two with a heavy coating of Mignonette seasoning from Penzey's and two with ketchup which I put on from the beginning. That way at the end it's more of a thick glaze. 

I used a boxed vegan wild mushroom gravy to finish this off, but I started by sautéing sliced baby bella mushrooms in butter until dry, deglazing with Saldo (our favorite red wine), then adding the gravy. I let it simmer and reduce some. 

These are actually just organic canned French style green beans. I start with bacon and onions which I sautée then I add the green beans, rinsed, then some diced fresh tomato and let it simmer a bit. Toby especially loves it. He can't believe I can make canned green beans taste that good. It's an original recipe I made up. 

The baked meatloaves. They had a healthy bit of sautéed veggies in them: onion, garlic, celery, carrot, along with parsley. I mix that with the ground beef and add two or three eggs, salt, pepper, garlic powder, perhaps some Chicago steak seasoning, almond flour, maybe a dash of cream and/or ketchup. I mix it well, then form my loaves. I bake at 400 for about 30-45 min. 

Can't go wrong with mashed potatoes. I used Russets which I did not peel except where there were any unsightly blemishes. I boiled them with salt and garlic. Then I strained, added butter, half and half, mashed well and adjusted the salt and pepper to taste. 

Plated in a bowl. Served with Saldo.

Later in the week, Toby hit Costco to replenish the coffee we love that they sell and also picked up some Macadamia nuts. Anthony loves them. We brought home several varieties from Hawaii and Anthony decided he loves them. Toby requested I turn them into Macadamia Nut Cookies which I did by way of modifying a Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from my favorite gluten free cookbook. I used white chocolate chips instead and reduced the sugar by about half. Since it was a fast day, I used vegan butter instead of dairy butter. They turned out great! (I did still use the eggs, however.) 

Last night I worked until 3 a.m. I was back up - and, as I mentioned, I  was on the phone talking shop by 7:55 a.m. this morning. Today. On about 4 hours of sleep. I did, however, manage to make a homemade chicken enchilada casserole using this sauce, homemade boracho bean soup, Spanish rice, and Toby contributed guacamole. One has to eat. And one needs a break before editing their own writing. 

I also have taken some pretty awesome shots - screenshots (I think I miss photography!) - from the Banzai Pipeline on the North Shore of Oahu. October through March are the best times for this absolutely fascinating unique creature of nature. I mentioned that I love this live cam. The Anacapa Cam has been down over a week! I really hope they replace it or fix it. This has replaced that for my taste of the ocean though I'd rather have them going simultaneously with my other favorites. 

Some of these are series, progressions of the waves. I like to do that. 

I'm amazed at how aggressive these waves are. I watched some surfers yesterday in pretty fierce waves. It's both beautiful and a bit scary. Toby and I were there last year almost at this time. I am looking forward to writing that post. It was a magical time. We are not beach people. We hardly got in the water. But we so enjoyed being in there and watching the waves and taking in Hawaiian nature. We long to return. 

I find myself having some Wanderlust lately. It's very unlike me - or the former me. I used to not have any desire to travel. Then one day, I did. And we started taking vacations as a family and as a couple. It was a great change. It's helped things so much. It's nice to get away, out of our routines and experience new places, people, things, nature. 

We've not been anywhere since our summer vacation in August. We'd hoped to be able to steal away for a long weekend, maybe to the Ozarks, but that did not work out. Maybe we can do a little something over the Christmas break and/or over Spring Break. We've never taken a Spring/Break trip. Maybe 2020 is the year to do it. 

So, while with work I'm a bit like this... 

...I'm also very much Kassiblog, too! I need that balance. Sometimes it ceases to exist for a while and that can't be helped. But I try to restore that balance as soon as I can. The next two weeks are going to be very busy and stressful. I even have a mediation out of town the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, if you can believe that! But when I get back, I'm all about the big Turkey Dinner and the season of Thanks. Toby is greatly anticipating it. He recently re-posted (that is from several years ago) his famous Tobyblog Thanksgiving Special. I'm going to see if we can top that and maybe I can post a Kassiblog, too! Thanksgiving Special this year. Everything this year seems new and fresh and extra special again. 

Thanks for reading!