New year ! . . .new me?

Naaaah, it's the same old me, but with a few tweaks. 

I'm not one for making resolutions, but I am not against a course correction or two. 

If I said I will be drinking alcohol a lot less, it is because I have already been doing that for the last few years. I get night leg cramps if I drink more than a glass of wine (my fave beverage, after tea) and of course I get brain fog, which at my age is already in the running for the top spot in ....sorry, what were we talking about?

Getting more exercise? Geesh. OK I am actually doing that. Since we moved here, I have an 8 to 10 minute WALK away from my church, and I attend Sunday 9am, Weds. Eucharist 8am, Thursday Bible Study 10am, so that is what I consider my exercise routine. I like to think of those old women in Sicily who walk to the market daily, up and down the hillside, and live to be ancient. 

Eating healthier. Um, yeah. This is new, actually. After making umpteenth dozens of Christmas cookies,(see recipe at the bottom of this post)  with tons and tons of butter and sugar, it is easy to feel yuck at the thought of more of the same. But I have also recalled that I had planned on more of a plant based diet when I moved to this house last summer. I was also in the process of moving Dave to memory care, and thinking I would only be cooking for one, I got all excited about eating the way I wanted, like more salads and less messy frying etc. 

But then when Dave and I agreed that he would return home, I went back to my old way of cooking, to please him.

This was our 45th anniversary dinner in December. Where's the green veg?

But as I was complaining to my sister Brooke about this, she remarked, "You are the mother in this house" and she is right, as usual. So I began infiltrating more and more vegs and limiting the grease bombs that used to fill out our menus. Not eliminating it. Still have bacon, but as a garnish not a banquet. We still eat way too much cheese, so I will remember that if I don't buy it, we won't eat it. So simple. Did I mention that I got put on statins last year? Yeah, well. 

OK enough about physical stuff. Let's talk about my buying stuff habits. 

This is from an upcoming estate sale. Can you stand it? All that fabric, so neatly folded and stored in a gorgeous cabinet? My first thought, 

I should have this . 

But naaaah. I have no place for it, and won't actually use it. But ooooohh. So pretty. 

When I chose this 1149 square foot house, it was because I wanted to really really downsize, and I still feel that way. Going to estate sales is very educational. All the stuff we collect and then have to deal with or our kids have to deal with it after we depart, well, you know you can't take it with you. Therefore, I will seriously limit what I bring home. She said...

On the other hand...Goodwill is 30% off on Wednesdays.

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Here's the recipe of the best cookies I made this holiday season

Ina Garten's Shortbread with my additions

Makes a lotta cookies, rich but not overly sweet. 

3 1/2 cups flour

3 sticks of butter

1 cup of sugar

1 t vanilla

zest and juice of three limes (my brilliant idea)

1 cup of finely chopped walnuts or pecans if you got 'em

Bake at 350 degrees for like 20-25 minutes or until brown around the edges. 

Here's my fave trick with this recipe. Lay some plastic wrap on the counter and dump the dough onto it. Flatten it into a rectangle by topping it with another layer of plastic wrap. Then cut the 1/2" thick dough into rectangles and place those in rows on the cookie sheet. They don't spread much but still need a bit of space between them. 

We kept eating those, and I had to make a second batch in order to include them in the cookie gifts for the family. 

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Thanks for your enthusiasm for my return to blogging. What a gift you are to me!!

Happy New Year!