What to do on a rainy day - er, week really.
Even though with every rain drop my thoughts are filled with wondering if the silicone patches I applied to the leaky spots worked, if my bilge is slowly but surely filling with water, if my boat is sinking at the dock unattended but I am pleased to report I managed to stay out of trouble and the boat is still floating. Not that I know because I have been out to see her but because I have friends that work at the marina and keep an eye on her. Why haven't I been to visit? Well, mostly because I have been fighting a sickness all week. Monday night I ventured out and tagged along with friends to hear Chris Fischer from Ocearch give a lecture about his work. If you ever get the chance to listen to this man, please don't miss the opportunity. Not only was it scientifically intriguing, I got an overload of reassurance that today's crazy idea is tomorrow's world changer. This was the first most amazing thing that happened this week.
Now for the second!
This evening I felt like I was improving a little and was taking stock of my pre-payday pantry (it is a sad, sad scene!) when I decided to begin my annual indulgence in all things pumpkin. I am a bit ashamed of how much canned pumpkin I stockpiled. Not the little cans, no. The family sized cans from Sam's club! If there was a 12 step program for pumpkin addiction I could be the poster child. Seriously, if I end up stranded on a remote desert island and you can't get to me by sea for rescue just air drop pumpkin seeds! Let the pumpkin-ing begin - starting with pumpkin pancakes.
One minor glitch: in my NyQuil induced haze I can't remember the recipe concoction I used for the flour mixture. Google to the rescue!! An hour and a half (or more - don't judge) and with a handful of new pumpkin recipes to try I head to the kitchen to begin my pancake pre-mix. Why a pre-mix? Well let's face it, no person should have to do complicated important tasks like measuring and math immediately after waking up. I decided if mixing the dry ingredients was good, maybe I could try mixing the wet ingredients ahead of time as well. Anytime we can take the 'Wendy error" factor out of something I should probably take that opportunity.
So I got some of my almond coconut milk, scooped out a bit of canned pumpkin (ok, maybe a smidgen more than a bit), sprinkled in some pumpkin pie spice (because when I went digging for the individual bottles there was a catastrophic implosion in the spice cabinet), a drop of my real vanilla concentrate and blended them into a creamy smooth and amazing smelling concoction. In an act of divine intervention, I also thought some powdered dark chocolate could be yummy. Not enough to overpower, just enough to know it is there. The mixture was yummy enough to drink on its own! God must be rewarding me for good behavior because what happened next was nothing short of a miracle. Well, what happened after what happened next.
I put my jar of deliciousness in the fridge and when I placed it on the shelf my eye caught a glimpse of the box of Tazo Chai Tea concentrate. That was it - the "EUREKA" moment! Not the vacuum cleaner kind but the oh-my-goodness-why-did-I-not-think-of-this-before kind. Not exactly to the caliber of "hey, why don't I get a boat and sail the world" but pretty close. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of tasting the Chai tea latte - I promise you your life is not complete. Tazo made it easy with their boxed concentrate (clearly THEY know the value of simple mornings). Just mix the concentrate with milk of your choice and put over ice for a cold drink or heat it up for a toasty one. In my EUREKA moment, I saw a vision in slow motion of mixing the deliciousness of the pumpkin milk mixture with the concentrate. If two things are good alone they have to be GREAT together, right? As luck would have it, this time that math worked out in my favor. The complex blend of flavors was unlike anything I have experienced, even cold! The unfortunate thing is I drank all of the concentrate I had left so there was not an opportunity to try it warm. I imagine it will replace my mug of hot cocoa on those fall and winter mornings. And afternoons. And evenings.
Just in case you missed it - the super simple list of ingredients: chai concentrate, milk of your choice, pumpkin, vanilla, pie spice, optional dark cocoa powder. Simple and sinfully rich!! No need to guess what is in my mug when you see me on the water!!
Even though with every rain drop my thoughts are filled with wondering if the silicone patches I applied to the leaky spots worked, if my bilge is slowly but surely filling with water, if my boat is sinking at the dock unattended but I am pleased to report I managed to stay out of trouble and the boat is still floating. Not that I know because I have been out to see her but because I have friends that work at the marina and keep an eye on her. Why haven't I been to visit? Well, mostly because I have been fighting a sickness all week. Monday night I ventured out and tagged along with friends to hear Chris Fischer from Ocearch give a lecture about his work. If you ever get the chance to listen to this man, please don't miss the opportunity. Not only was it scientifically intriguing, I got an overload of reassurance that today's crazy idea is tomorrow's world changer. This was the first most amazing thing that happened this week.
Now for the second!
This evening I felt like I was improving a little and was taking stock of my pre-payday pantry (it is a sad, sad scene!) when I decided to begin my annual indulgence in all things pumpkin. I am a bit ashamed of how much canned pumpkin I stockpiled. Not the little cans, no. The family sized cans from Sam's club! If there was a 12 step program for pumpkin addiction I could be the poster child. Seriously, if I end up stranded on a remote desert island and you can't get to me by sea for rescue just air drop pumpkin seeds! Let the pumpkin-ing begin - starting with pumpkin pancakes.
One minor glitch: in my NyQuil induced haze I can't remember the recipe concoction I used for the flour mixture. Google to the rescue!! An hour and a half (or more - don't judge) and with a handful of new pumpkin recipes to try I head to the kitchen to begin my pancake pre-mix. Why a pre-mix? Well let's face it, no person should have to do complicated important tasks like measuring and math immediately after waking up. I decided if mixing the dry ingredients was good, maybe I could try mixing the wet ingredients ahead of time as well. Anytime we can take the 'Wendy error" factor out of something I should probably take that opportunity.
So I got some of my almond coconut milk, scooped out a bit of canned pumpkin (ok, maybe a smidgen more than a bit), sprinkled in some pumpkin pie spice (because when I went digging for the individual bottles there was a catastrophic implosion in the spice cabinet), a drop of my real vanilla concentrate and blended them into a creamy smooth and amazing smelling concoction. In an act of divine intervention, I also thought some powdered dark chocolate could be yummy. Not enough to overpower, just enough to know it is there. The mixture was yummy enough to drink on its own! God must be rewarding me for good behavior because what happened next was nothing short of a miracle. Well, what happened after what happened next.
I put my jar of deliciousness in the fridge and when I placed it on the shelf my eye caught a glimpse of the box of Tazo Chai Tea concentrate. That was it - the "EUREKA" moment! Not the vacuum cleaner kind but the oh-my-goodness-why-did-I-not-think-of-this-before kind. Not exactly to the caliber of "hey, why don't I get a boat and sail the world" but pretty close. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of tasting the Chai tea latte - I promise you your life is not complete. Tazo made it easy with their boxed concentrate (clearly THEY know the value of simple mornings). Just mix the concentrate with milk of your choice and put over ice for a cold drink or heat it up for a toasty one. In my EUREKA moment, I saw a vision in slow motion of mixing the deliciousness of the pumpkin milk mixture with the concentrate. If two things are good alone they have to be GREAT together, right? As luck would have it, this time that math worked out in my favor. The complex blend of flavors was unlike anything I have experienced, even cold! The unfortunate thing is I drank all of the concentrate I had left so there was not an opportunity to try it warm. I imagine it will replace my mug of hot cocoa on those fall and winter mornings. And afternoons. And evenings.
Just in case you missed it - the super simple list of ingredients: chai concentrate, milk of your choice, pumpkin, vanilla, pie spice, optional dark cocoa powder. Simple and sinfully rich!! No need to guess what is in my mug when you see me on the water!!