Written @ 7:45 p.m. on 2007-11-10
Pumpkin Marmalade
Ach-CHOOOOOOOO! Sniffle. It's been going pretty much like that. I think maybe I have the flu? Or a sinus infection? I don't know. It's killer, though. I gave in to it yesterday, and sat on my couch with my thera-flu. Today I decided that I will feel like shit sitting down or standing up, so I hit the gym.
I go to a guy's gym. Mostly weightlifting, with none of those girly "spinning" classes and the like. The place is small, independent, downtown, and filled with young, urban, "I just got out of prison, look at these big guns!" kind of guys. This means I get lots to look at while I am perched on my treadmill. Lots. And they have a playstation for the kids, so I'm set.
I'm finally starting to feel a benefit from exercising. My whole life, I never felt "good" from working out. Ice cream feels good, not squats, people! After all of these years, only recently have I enjoyed putting my headphones on and zoning out to some cardio. It's the zoning out that I like. Hopefully, it will pay off. As I said, I haven't been too stellar on the diet, and I kinda stopped losing weight, but ten lbs is ten lbs, and I'll take it!
In other news from Project Me, I bought makeup! Dreadheads are not supposed to wear makeup, P. told me. She's five, how does she know this stuff? But she's right. It is against the neo-hippy religion. As you know, I like to break the rules, and I am really enjoying this bronzer stuff. Did everybody know about this but me? You put this loose powder on, and it looks like you just spent a refreshing day in the sun instead of in your pathetic little life in a cubicle under florescent lights (just as an example). Sweet.
Today I made Pumpkin Marmalade as pictured above! Yeah, baby! We didn't have time on halloween to carve the pumpkins, so I decided we might eat them. In theory, that's why people have pumpkins. TO EAT, right? I never ate them, but I know you can. How else would they get them in the cans to make pie out of, right? Makes sense.
So, I get on the handy-dandy internet, and I find this recipe, and ooooh...is this stuff heavenly. In the words of Rachel Ray...YUM-O! And, in other news...pumpkins are very close to rocks, and are really annoying to chop up. We chopped up the pumpkins, peeled, and soaked that in a bunch of sugar. In a separate pot, chopped up an orange and a lemon, with the peel on, into teensy bits, added a bit of ginger, and some salt. Boiled into marmalade consistency..and BAM! YUM-O! It's a good thing.
(Hahaha. I don't even HAVE cable.)
We also made our traditional Thanksgiving Trail Mix. This is a good thing to bring when you go to someone's house for the holidays. We bake the seeds, and throw cinnamon and brown sugar on midway through the baking. Then, toss that with goldfish (baked crackers, not live fish!) little pretzels, peanuts and butterscotch chips.
I'm proud of this, because, you know, let's be frank, I haven't been the most stable for my kids over the years, so holiday traditions we are kind of short on. But, for three years in a row, I have made this trail mix out of halloween pumpkins, and brought it to thanksgiving at my mom's. It's downright heartwarming.
The marmalade is frickin' time consuming , though. It might be a one time thing. I was thinking, besides on toast, it would be really good mixed into pancake batter, and then you could have pumkin marmalade pancakes. Impressive.
xoxoxo. Sniffle.