Pentagenarians & Beyond: W/B 12/4

Deb that's the thread. there was another post in there, right before my "spam reported" post, that was deleted by SNM ( or whoever monitors the board) after I reported it as spam. the deleted post was touting some diet scheme and had a link to something at the end.

Lynda, I'm sure I have the vanilla bean recipe and can post it i think tomorrow. It's a very rich delicate cookie a bit like mexican wedding cakes but rolled about 1/4 inch thick and cut in circles. My grandmother used to make them while my mother made the other 2 dozen kinds. It was really lovely when they made a dessert tray out of all these tiny different flavored cookies. it was a picture.

Bought our spin bike today....a Lemond Revmaster Pro. I pick it up tomorrow. a little more expensive than some but it seemed like much better quality. just not that many to pick from. with both of us using it we want it to hold up.

Off topic here, but we had another incident of google maps being wrong. everyone relies on Gmaps or mapquest but 50% of the time ( for us) there's an error. The store we bought the bike changed location in the last year. the location google maps showed was not their current or previous location, or even where the store was about 8 yrs ago. DH gave me a map saying 'this is where it is" and I was sure it was wrong. and it was. Am I the only one who has this problem??
 
Hi Valerie,

Makes sense now!

as for Google maps, I usually use Mapquest, but have found them to be wrong too. They have our house on a completely differnt street/area so I know what you mean.
 
Good morning all,

Nothing new here, we are supposed to get some type of lake effect storm tomorrow or tomorrow night. Those are the worst.

I got a FedEx package at work yesterday, it was from one of my co-workers in Memphis. She send a whole box of small squares of baklava. It is delicious. I didn't get a chance to speak with her to see if it was homemade but I believe she does make this. Wow talk about sweet and rich.

Valerie, did you get the spin bike home yet? I am waiting to see how you like the Cathe spin video, or spinning in general. I have never tried it.

Garance, I can't believe your DH goes to bed at 10:00 and is up and doing farm work at 5:30. With all that physical work though, he must sleep like a rock. I sometimes wish I had a more physical job. Maybe when I retire...

This month is flying by. Does anyone else feel that way?

Off for more coffee....take care,
 
Deb I get it this afternoon. It will need to be put together and the electronics display is coming via UPS. I didn't want to drive to their main store with holiday shopping traffic. they would have assembled it for us but it's easier for us to move it still in the box. the electronics aren't necessary to use it but will be nice to track progress. It's very adjustable but it will be a new exercise for us.
I'm usually the guinea pig when we go try new gear. I go first and "look foolish" and ask basic questions then DH tries it next. we tried about 4 different types of bikes and agreed this was the most like riding a real bike. the salesman told us he can always tell who will actually use something because they try all the settings, adjust the heights and fiddle with things. most people come in, look, and just buy something. those will be clothes racks.

anyway we were getting two stores to compete against each other. weaseled the price down by several hundred dollars, got a free mat and discounted 35 lb dumbbells for DH. It was a fun process. I had just the right amount of caffeine.

I've gotten to distrust both map programs . the map DH printed showed the store in the shopping mall itself. I knew it wasn't right. DH thought we could walk from one store to the next but it was about half a mile away across a gigantic parking area and a couple miles driving the way traffic is directed. I wonder how much business gets lost when the info is so wrong. not the first time this has happened to use. we've had major intersections wrong and peoples homes wrong. I can understand the homes because so many details but this was a glaring error.
 
Hi Deb, Josie, Joan, Cathy, and Valerie--

This morning I did Athletic Training (56 min.).

Yesterday it was pouring rain all day and really soupy grey. Woke up this morning to about 3-4 inches of snow, but the sun is out and it's really pretty compared to the grey slough of despond yesterday.

Deb, I love baklava and have made it a couple times with puff pastry sheets. Yes, dh sleeps like Rip Van Winkle on ambien, but he's always up and out by the time I get up at 6:15.

Valerie, I've never had problems with Mapquest, but, according to dh, they tend to choose a less driver-friendly route than he would take--but he's a real map nut and loves navigating short cuts and back roads.

Hi to Joan, Josie, and Cathy!
 
so many people swear by mapquest & Google maps.. I feel funny being critical but it happens to me ( us) regularly.
SIL's house in Fresno had streets (BIG streets) wrong. we drove several miles the wrong way before DH ( used to live there) knew something wasn't right.
In Montana... showed the junction of I-90 and I-15 incorrectly.
I've plugged in home addresses gotten totally different locations with similar names.
I wanted to send directions to BIL/SIL on how to get to aunts assisted living and the route shown was much more complicated with huge potential for wrong turns. I wrote directions which were much easier and faster.

this exercise equipment place was the latest one. I know the area ... major shopping area... so I knew "wrong" immediately. If I were a business I'd be screaming bloody murder. I'm going to show them the map. they're a local chain and maybe can get it fixed. Most people don't use paper maps anymore.

I never made these by myself, helped my grandmother make them. the recipe was in her head ( like most recipes were back then) but I wrote it down ....on a check stub from 1970. If you get a chance I hope you enjoy them. the other thing I remember was that the vanilla bean grated easier when it had dried out somewhat. I think she used a nutmeg grater but don't remember for sure. the cookies took on more vanilla flavor as they sat in the extra sugar in the tin so were best after a couple weeks. I bought vanilla beans at costco last year but never got to make the cookies. maybe this year. I don't own a stand mixer but would go ahead with a hand mixer as long as butter is softened.

Vanilla Bean Cookies
1/2 lb butter room temperature
2T powdered sugar
2 cups flour
1/4 lb ground almonds

Cream butter & sugar
Add flour gradually.
Add nuts
Refrigerate until firm.
Divide and roll like piecrust. ( I don't remember here but think she used a pastry cloth dusted with flour)
Cut into circles with round cookie cutter or drinking glass about 2-3 in diameter. Use a thin spatula to lift cookies onto baking sheet.
Re-roll dough scraps, handling as little as possible and rechilling if needed.

Bake 350 about 15 minutes until very lightly browned.
Grate 1 vanilla bean. add to 1/2 lb of powdered sugar. cover and mix cooled cookies in sugar. Store in tins at cool temperature.
 
Thanks Valerie--I will try these. Yes, vanilla beans are usually sort of leathery. I wonder if a food processor would grind them up.
 
Lynda I hope it's right. my memory of 1970 is not real detailed. I was probably about 22 and they were my favorites and I tend to not like overly sweet things, even way back then.

they were very "short'- buttery delicately textured cookies and sitting in the bed of powdered sugar/vanilla bean sweetened them. I hope this is right but no way to check. my grandmother has been gone a LONG time and my mother never made them. I wrote the recipe as clearly as I could > 40 yrs ago. I'm amazed I still have it, written on an old check stub. must have just been a spur-of-the-moment thing.
I suppose we could google the recipe and see what shows up. I've never seen a similar recipe though. I'm thinking I may try them just because I don't know why I haven't in all this time. I wrote up as many details as I remember.

I will talk to my mother in the next few days and will ask if she has the recipe. she is 92 and not real organized so I'm thinking probably this is the best we'll get. I googled it and all I found were things that didn't sound similar but there were a lot of hits. reading the recipes... they talk about scraping the center out of the vanilla bean. I just don't remember. I remember little dark bits in the powdered sugar.
 
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Good evening,

Went to doctor yesterday and will need to be on medicine at least 2 more months. He told me he couldn't believe how much better it was so I don't think he really believed it would be better by now. He didn't tell me that a month ago. Most days not too bad but they felt worse the last two days.

Doctor said that tear ducts are working so eyes are constantly in "water" so my eyes are chapped just like your hands get in the winter from too much washing. He changed medicine a little so once a day I can now use a lubricant eye drop for dry eyes. It made sight blurry for awhile but I don't know how much it helped.

The bakery "only" had about 10 pies, 4 cakes and 4 cheesecakes and 10 kinds of cookies available that day. You could special order anything else.

Elliot and I made sugar cookies. We baked half one day and half the next.
Each day I ate 2 cookies and saved 2 each for dh and dm and sent the rest home with kids. I could eat them all if they were around. I like my sugar cookies better than most because they have cinnamon and nutmeg in them. I may make a different cookie next week. It was nice to have some without overdoing it.

Joan
 
Good morning,

No lake effect storm yet, a few flakes gently falling down but nothing like they predicted. They did say that the bulk of it would come this afternoon, just in time for the ride home. yee haa.

Valerie, will you try CycleMax as soon as you get the bike put together? Shortcake, type buttery cookies are my favorit... Those cookes sound great, but too much work for me!

Garance, just brought Kylee in, she was jumping up trying to catch snow flakes. This will be the first snow she has seen.

Joan, glad to hear your eyes are getting better. I like sugar cookies too, and could eat 5 or 6 with a good cup of coffee.

Now you're making me hungary again!

Hi to Josie, & Cathy,

Any exciting plans for the weekend? Does everyone have a tree up? I think we will pass on the tree this year. Can't imagine what the Vixen would do with ornaments!

Take care,
 
Hi Ladies,

Happy Friday! I will be taking my DF to her baby shower tomorrow; she is having her 1st baby at age 43. She has been trying to get pregnant for ever. She went through 5 treatment of in-vitro and it finally happened on the last try. She is having a girl.

I could not see myself with a baby at her age, but I’m happy for her. I know that she will be a great mom.

I will be going spinning tomorrow and a bike ride on Sunday. I’m not sure on the mileage for Sunday yet, but I’m looking forward to it.

Deb, I will post the lemon sugar cookie recipe when I get home.

Hi to Valerie, Joan and Cathy!

Josie
 
Hi Deb, Josie, Joan, Cathy, and Valerie--

This morning I did Cardio Supersets (41 min.). I really like this one.

Going to a Christmas party tonight--should be fun. I will try not to eat too many goodies.

Deb, we will be getting our tree on Sunday. I always enjoy going to this farm and wandering around trying to decide which one is "perfect."

Valerie, I don't think I will try those cookies with only 2 Tbsp of sugar for 2 C. of flour. I think, even with all that butter, you would end up with something that tastes more like pie crust than a cookie.

Joan, glad your eyes are getting better.

Josie, my sil did not have her first baby until she was 42--not a problem with fertility. Divorce and then a few years before her second marriage and kids. She is a very youthful 58. Maybe kids keep you young?? My mom didn't have me until she was 40.
 
Good morning,

we did not get the lake effect storm that was predicted. They get everyone all riled up, it's all they talk about on the radio, and NOTHING. I know, I should just be grateful and I am, really.

Going in to work for a few hours, then we have our dog club holiday party this evening. No, we do not bring the dogs, although it would make it more interesting that's for sure.

Did I tell you that Keegan's urine analysis finally came back with a normal PH and no crystals???? Best Christmas present ever for me. Now to keep it like this so he doesn't form any more stones. We are also cutting back on the bladder med, again. Last time we cut back he started with the symptoms again. Hopefully with the normal PH and no crystals, that won't happen this tie.

Garance, so you cut the tree down?

Josie, bike riding in December...if only....*sighs*

Hi to Valerie & Cathy,

I got up at 1:00, came downstairs and read for a while, maybe slept another hour...

Off for more coffee.
 
Picked up the spin bike yesterday. big box. DH and I will move it to the exercise room and put it together this morning and test it . it takes practice to get the technique down. I'm not used to standing when I ride. We have an extra set of pedals so will be able to wear cleats. I didn't get used to them outside but indoors will probably make for more efficient pedaling. We have an very old stationary bike that we use often for warm up. not sure if we'll keep it or not. the room is getting crowded. old bike isn't worth much but still works pretty well and is a nice exercise to warm up.

Went to the doctor yesterday for a check on a crooked finger. It got crooked 40 years ago when I was knitting a lot. It may not be what had been diagnosed before so I have a splint to wear for a few weeks and see if it straightens out a little. I don't want surgery on it regardless. Really ties you up for a long time and no guarantee it will stay straight. I have other spots in my hands that are getting bumps and cords. getting old is such a bummer sometimes.

Lynda they were sweet and buttery and very "vanilla" as I remember ( long ago) because of the powdered sugar they were stored in. I may try a half recipe. DH has never had them. I bought vanilla beans last year but never made them. the vanilla bean grates better as it gets older and dryer. I didn't find similar recipes so I hope this is correct. may talk to my mother this weekend but I don't know if she kept this recipe, or whether she can find it if she did. I'll report back if I make them.

gotta go move the bike now..
It looks like we will be going to a restaurant for christmas dinner a week early. 2 people will not be able to get here on the xmas weekend so will do the week before.
 
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