This Is The Year We Turn 40!

My dear dear Colleen and me at her birthday party.

Happy Holidays!

I really needed to use up all the persimmons that people have been donating to our household. So I made persimmon-apple sauce, and I canned it even using directions from the Ball Blue Book of canning.

Proof

Then I made Persimmon-Apple Sauce Cookies.

Persimmon-Apple Sauce Cookies

½ cup vegetable oil

1 cup persimmon-apple sauce

½ cup dark brown sugar (up to 1 cup if you prefer sweeter cookies)

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda

2 cups flour

1 cup oats

1 cup flake coconut

1 TBSP cinamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

½ cup chopped pecans

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix dry ingredients (baking soda, flour, oats, coconut, cinnamon, ginger) in small bowl; set aside

Beat vegetable oil, persimmon-apple sauce, and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, one at time followed by vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients, once cup at a time. Add nuts last.

Bake ¼ cup or smaller size scoops for 10 minutes on baking sheet.

Finally! Something!

Ed, John, and I ran the Healdsburg Wine county Half Marathon for Halloween. All things considered (blisters, muscle pain, chafing, etc.), it was a blast. I highly recommend and am scheming for next year.

So Far So Good

We came home from vacation to a nice showing from the garden. The tomato vines are out of control, and I've had to bind them up and cut back a bit. They're not the prettiest vines anymore, so from now on I'll just post photos of their output. I love the cherry tomatoes the best, and I've cashed them out for the week I'm afraid.

Organics

I'm not sure if it does any good for me, but I try to buy organic if I can or think it's worth it. There are two good links to consider in the decision making process.

One -- A list foods and pesticide loads.

Two -- Recent LA Times article about the recent study showing no difference in nutrition.

Back From Vacation

We're back from our tour of the Pacific. We spent a week in Hawaii and another week and a half in Washington.

I have lots of photos to organize, post on Facebook, and print. For now:

Sea Turtle -- Elias's favorite animal after Omar and Pac'a. We didn't get any photos of the dolphins we hung out with due to my fear of losing a camera to the ocean as we kayaked through Kealakekua Bay.

Me in a state of wonder, dressed in my constant Hawaii outfit -- a swimsuit, tank and skirt. Easy stripping for snorkeling and swimming occasions.

RIP

Michael Jackson died today, and I just can't believe it. Among other things, I'm thinking about mortality, the moonwalk, and the Chris Rock's joke about how we forgave MJ after the first kid but took pause after the second. , I'm thinking about some great songs that are fun to sing and dance to.