Hankering for doughnuts

A few days ago I got such a ridiculously strong hankering for doughnuts, at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday night, no less.  Do you know how many doughnut shops are open at that time?  None.  Now mind you, I haven’t had doughnuts in YEARS!  I was watching “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”, which has absolutely nothing to do with doughnuts nor were there commercials for doughnuts.  Just out of the blue, I wanted a freshly made (or two), soft glazed doughnut.  What’s so wrong with that?  I didn’t want those week-old (+) doughnuts neatly stacked in a cardboard box – you know what I’m talking about, the ones in the bread aisle?  Yuck.

I began furiously and vigorously searching for a doughnut shop nearby.  Something like Winchell's, or Dunkin’ Doughnuts, even Krispy Kreme.  114 miles, 0 locations found and 42.8 miles, respectively.  Granted, Napa and their neighbors don’t like chain restaurants, but c’mon, people!  So I then decided to look for something local – because as much as I was in the mood for some sweet goodness I wasn’t about to drive 40+ miles.  And then I found it.  Happy’s Donut Tree Too.  The more I read about it, I was willing and ready to risk the 5 minute drive from my house.

“Their donuts are very good and smell amazing (… they are light and fluffy inside and have a very thick frosting and glaze selection).”

Yes, please!  How late and when are they open?

“You have to work hard to get them because they don't make many so you want to get there before the rest of the savvy few do.”

Somehow I missed reading this portion.  It would have been really nice if I’d remembered it the next morning.  I was so thrilled to find this doughnut joint and wanted to get there as quick as I could.  Except that it was now 10 p.m., and I couldn’t get rid of my doughnut craving.  I’d discovered that they’re open 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. Geez, where else do they sell doughnuts?  That’s right, the grocery store!  I decided to bite the bullet (cause if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em) and made the trip to Raley’s.  Oh sweet golden chocolaty nuggets!  It’s the golden ticket!  It was calling my name.

I was so ecstatic to make this unique trip to grocery store.  Oh Raley’s, how you saved my sugar craving!  The Sugar Gods listened and provided!

Yes, this is exactly how I felt after biting into a long, chocolaty doughnut with the crème filling (of which name I can’t remember for the life of me).  It was exactly what the doctor ordered.  Sugar peace at last.

After some much needed grocery shopping the next morning, I decided to take a swing by Happy’s.  By the sound of it, I couldn’t be disappointed, right?  It was only Noon and for sure they’d have doughnuts left, right?  I parked across the street from Happy’s (because there isn’t any parking) and bravely crossed the tumultuous street.  When I finally walked in I was shocked to see Happy’s empty.  I mean completely empty.  It looked like they were closing (for the day).   They had a half sheet baking tray of the stuff they were still trying to sell, at 12:30.  Rats!  I didn’t really care for what they had, as I was REALLY looking forward to doughnut holes.  I think the doughnut place near my parent’s home was open mostly all day!  I wish Happy’s could be open later too.  Needless to say, I went home unhappy from Happy’s.

I still haven’t gone to Happy’s, but one of these mornings, by golly, I’ll have a doughnut hole.  And it’ll be delicious and worthwhile.

Hey Pumpkin!

Last weekend we invited some friends over for an incredibly late breakfast (12:30 p.m.) and pumpkin carving.  This would be the first time my friend T and I would carve our first pumpkin.  Can you believe it - at 27 years old, our first pumpkin carving?  Well you’d better believe it.

T’s pumpkin carving

My pumpkin carving

Don’t they look great?  I made éclairs for the first time on Sunday, which I’m planning on making again on Thursday for my work Halloween party.  Thanks to Paula Deen the Mini Éclairs were great and were very easy to make!  I’ll post pictures when I make them this coming week.

T made some awesome crepes and we also had fresh fruit and pumpkin pancakes.  I would have loved to have tried the pumpkin pancakes, but I’d filled up on crepes & fruit and was incredibly full.

I don’t know why it took me this long to find a local produce stand.  I suppose I hadn’t really tried looking for a place, even though I really had the desire to support local farms.  We had such a great time at D&S Produce.  I’m a bit sad to find out they’re closing their season October 31.

Look at all those pumpkins!  T & I went through the hay maze and all of us looked through the lot to find some great pumpkins.

 

Who’s the king of the world?

 
We came home and were so excited to carve our pumpkins.

After some pumpkin pie and lots of dishes later, it was all worth the fun.  I can’t wait to someday to go through corn/hay mazes with my kids, carve pumpkins, eat pumpkin pie and go trick-or-treating and see those big smiles on their faces.  It will be a great day indeed!

Lazy Sunday

What doesn’t get done today will get done tomorrow.  I had planned on making éclairs and butternut squash soup;  Much to my dismay, I didn’t get a chance to make them today.  However, tomorrow is a new day and right after I come home from work I shall make them!  I’ve never made éclairs, but I’m looking forward to making them.  The WW Butternut Squash Soup I found looks so delicious and filling – I hope it doesn’t disappoint.

At least the day wasn’t a complete waste.  MigL and I went grocery shopping tonight so I should be all set and get my cooking magic together!

p.s. Is it weird that I woke up at 10 a.m. today on October 10?  I really hate it when the neighbor kids yell and wake you up, especially on a Sunday.  I was expecting to sleep in longer….

Losing for Good

The 3rd annual Weight Watchers Lose for Good Challenge began on September 5.  I’ve been so excited about it since I initially read about it in this month’s WW Magazine.  This’ll be a great time to lose those last few pounds and get back to my goal weight and continue to maintain!

“As you lose weight and participate in other activities from September 5 to October 23, you can help feed children and families in need.*  Wow, only 2 weeks left until L4G is over.  Do you think I can lose another 5 pounds in two weeks?  It doesn’t hurt to try healthfully, of course.  Healthy eating and exercise, here I come!

So far, as of last week, I’ve lost 5 pounds!  Yeah!  I’ve got about another 5 pounds to go and I’ll be back at my goal weight.  I don’t know why, but for me it seems easier to lose weight during Fall than it is any other time of year.  Since I began WW in late 2008, I’ve noticed that I have a difficult time losing weight from May – September.  However, even though I have days or weeks when it’s difficult to maintain, I’ve been successful at maintaining within 5 to 10 pounds. Yay me!

I spent this morning as a cooking fairy.  My friend T was hosting a home lunch (free lunch for college students) and was invited over to lunch.  However, I spent this morning helping (which I totally didn’t mind at all) chopping and peeling broccoli, parsnips and carrots and browning some tri-tip roast.  We had a really great lunch!  Butternut squash soup, steamed broccoli, carrot/parsnip mash, tri-tip roast, boiled potatoes and a zucchini-pecan cake.  Yum!  A few hours after lunch I began feeling sleepy because I was so completely full from lunch!  Thank goodness for a nice walk and French-pressed coffee.  I still feel completely full from lunch.  Even though I’m fairly tired, I hope I can fall asleep soon.

I’m currently watching “Because I Said So”  It’s a great chick-flick way to end my fun-filled day. 

Oh yah, so I’ve been going through some blog remodeling/face lifts lately.  I feel like I needed to kick it up a notch, if you know what I mean.  Some more changes soon to come, but it’s all work-in-progress.  Bear with me, folks!

Under the weather with the Three Little Bears

You know how you can just feel when you're getting sick?  That’s what I felt yesterday. Ugh.  I really hate being sick.  My daily bedtime goal is 10 p.m. but have yet to stick to a full week of 10 p.m.  Because I felt I could be getting sick (and feeling some chills), I made myself crawl into bed at 9:15.  “I don’t feel well.”  “I know honey, you’ve already said that.”  “I have?” “I’m cold.” “Let’s get you into bed and tuck you in.”  “OK.”  “I don’t feel good.”  Yep, definitely on an off day.

I probably didn’t fall asleep until 10 anyway, but I knew I tossed and turned a little.  Thinking I’d sleep until my alarm went off, as usual, I set my alarm to go off at 6:15.  I slept like a dream.  It wasn’t until the morning came and I slowly began to wake up and felt like I’d gotten a good night’s sleep.  I turned over to check the time on the clock. 5:30 a.m.  What?!  It’s only 5:30?  For the next 10 minutes, I really tried to go back to sleep; but much to my chagrin, I couldn’t.  Well, I suppose 7 hours it is.  Hmph.

Today I felt like many a three little bears.  It’s too hot.  It’s too cold.  And the “ahh” moment. 

It began as another cold day in the building.  Of course, everyone was cold.  But I was freezing.  I clenched and  my green coat hoping it would provide more heat, just as a warm blanket would.  Then I was warm, hot, then cold and felt as if I were a wet piece of clothing going through the dryer cycle sent with shots of November cold air.  Chills began creeping throughout my body.  Two Advil please.  I thought I would feel better by lunch time.  I know Advil works great and does wonders for me, but I was doubtful it’d work a miracle in 30 minutes.  I wasn’t even hungry and hadn’t been for the last day. “I think can make it until two”.  I was expecting a phone call for a work project at two and decided if I didn’t feel well, I’d come home.  The phone call didn’t come through until 2:45.  Cold.  Hot.  Warm. Dizzy. Sleepy.  I’m definitely not myself.  It was time to leave early before I got worse or got anyone else sick.  I had an epiphany early this morning that one of my co-workers was sick.  Surely I must have gotten sick from him.

The building temperature at work has been too hot, too cold.  Since I began working there, whenever it gets cold, the AC is on.  When it’s blazing hot outside, it’s hot inside.  I hope we can get a “perfect” temperature soon.

The ahh moment came when I crawled into bed for some much needed rest after my body was telling me it wanted to shut down on the drive home.  An hour and a half later, I woke up hot and sweaty.  Yep, utterly disgusting.  I walked into the living room and slowly began waking up again while watching Say Yes to the Dress re-runs through Comcast’s On Demand service.

My sweet husband went and grabbed some dinner of which I only ate half, not because I’m not mindful about portion sizes, because I am.  But only eating half of a burger and 1 or 2 fries and a sip of OJ?  On a normal day I would have eaten half of a tray of fries and the entire burger, minus the OJ.  I gotta get some Vitamin C at least one way, right? 

Time to finish watching the last part of Glee.  How could I almost forget it’s on tonight?

Sweet dreams to all of you and may you have a healthy day tomorrow.