Something sweet to eat during an elimination diet

If you fnd yourself in the throes of an elimination diet and pretty much can't eat anything, this is the perfect thing to put a smile back on  your face for a moment or two.  (Until you realize that what you really want is a croissant, of course, but you can't bloody have one of those.)  It is rather unfortunate though that I only discovered this recipe on day 23 of my no gluten, no dairy, no eggs, no soy, no booze diet -- which is technically the last day before I start reintroducing.  But who cares, these things are wonderful, and I intend to keep making them even if I'm not actually allergic to everything under the sun. (Please, God, don't let me be allergic to everything under the sun!)

These are a fabulous alternative to those nasty Lara bars I sometimes buy in a fit of desperation, too.  These have texture, these have ingredients you can actually see and recognize, and these are not just an emulsified sticky mess. Instead they are more like a healthy, protein-packed oatmeal cookie that really fills you up. That being said, they are not the sort of thing to eat as you wander around the house, or maybe while driving.  They are crumbly sons a bitches and you will leave a trail in your wake. So grab a napkin. Or a plate. Or a platter. Depending on the size of the bar that you've just broken off. Or just do as I do, stand in the kitchen and scarf down the lot.

My Beloved Gluten-Free/Vegan Bread, For Your Perusal

Here we are. Both a recipe and a masterwork, I'd say. No?

And the only reason I am putting it here, is because I keep misplacing the blasted thing and that would be rather sad indeed, don't you think?  Afterall, it took me a whole year of tweaking, and trying, and experimenting, and going into debt for ridiculous and bizarre flours.  So I should have something to show for it in the end, yes? Yes.

Anyway, that's a story for another day.

garbanzo flour -- 192 grams
potato starch -- 128 grams
sorghum flour -- 64 grams
millet flour -- 64 grams
arrowroot -- 64 grams
ground chia seeds -- 43 grams, could do 64 grams without major debacle
golden flax meal -- 32 grams
xanthan gum -- 2 teaspoons, roughly 10 grams
salt -- 2 teaspoons, minus a tiny pinch to appease the sensitive
instant yeast -- 7 grams/quarter ounce

Everything, except chia seeds, salt, and yeast, are Bob's Red Mill. Yeast is RedStar because that one claims to have won a major award or something. Salt is Saltworks because that's what a Romanian named Adelina kept going on and on about.

2 cups water
3 tablespoons agave, sometimes honey
2 tablespoons oil, grapeseed, olive, or whatever floats your boat
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar 

Acupuncture, a new favorite past time

Emilia and I had an impromptu mommy-daughter acupuncture appointment today.  She sat in the chair next to me, ate the lunch I had packed for her that morning, chatted with Ying, listened as I recounted the most recent chapters of All the Light We Cannot See (I've been giving her a blow-by-blow account of this fabulous book, and she is always asking me 'what happened next, mama?').

And then she is quiet, as I slip off into the stillness that is acupuncture for my few remaining minutes.  Afterward as I was getting dressed and looking at my phone, I saw about four hundred and six pictures that the girl surreptisously snapped as I laid there, likely smiling to herself all the while, because her mama was none the wiser.  So if you find this terribly shocking, blame the girl, not me.

What it says

Live simply, expect little, give much.
Fill your life with love, scatter sunshine.
Forget self.
Think of others and do as you would be done by.

(That ought to fix me up in the morning. Thanks mom.)

1:48:35! #pdxmarathon

My goodness, but I am so proud! It was fun, it was flat, it was crowded, it was fast, and it was sunny. I feel lucky spending the day doing what I love.

To run, to smile, to feel light -- it fills me with gratitude.  This is what keeps me afloat and this is what helps me exhale.

The solitude of running never feels like solitude to me; instead it grounds me, it settles me, it makes my heart want to explode sometimes in happiness -- and that is a wonderful thing.  To wit, I'm apparently wicked fast! (And I also have incredibly sore knees. Whoa!)

And it was a positively beautiful day

It's amazing the difference
A bit of sky can make.
-- Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends

Me Succulents

Me Garden

New York, Hell's Kitchen

In the Art Room

I don't know the story of this painting.  All I know is that I saw it yesterday in the art room of my daughter's school, and I can't stop looking at it. It's by Andrew Wyeth, and it's called Christina's World, and I think it is marvelous.