I almost was not going to post this week but decided I wanted to. This will be a short post. I like to post early for T as we are also a day behind Europe time. This event we gather together over at Bleubeard and Elizabeath's-find link in my sidebar. Just share a drink related photo in your post-and nice to link back to her as well.
My husband needed a surgery (not his heart) that we knew was going to be a rough one-extreme pain and he won't use pain pills-those can cause more troubles than the pain allot of times. This will be a very slow recovery for sure. I stocked up on foods so we are set til the end of the month-may need to go out for something I hadn't thought of though
Last week I shared my tea advent calendar, I must say I loved the idea of this-a new tea each day but I am very disappointed. All the teas taste exactly the same-even though they all have different names, some are green tea or rooibos and a couple black teas. I think they all have the same spices in them especially too much cloves. Thinking next week I will swap out some of these teas with some of my own teas so I can get a variety. I love these little boxes so will save for next year and refill.
We have been having spring like temperatures again, with a bit of cold coming in later in the week. No snow here but I am reading about areas getting lots of snow. I can do without needing to shovel for the moment - smiles.
One evening I made myself a cup of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows-so good. I drank it while watching the national rodeo finals This hot cocoa is in the Kansas City Chiefs super bowl mug from a couple years ago.
I also made us biscuits and gravy one day last week. I used a different biscuit recipe-from Beard's Bread book. It made the perfect amount for two days and the recipe even worked well for my gluten free version-which is not always the case.
I had halved the recipe and it made us each two large biscuits-for two days. One side is wheat and the other gluten free
Larry loves apple crisps so this one is apple-blueberry crisp. I use splenda on the apples and coconut sugar in the topping to cut some of the sugars.
That's it for me-Happy T and new week
Oh dear-your cooking looks so good!!!! I love reading about your day and what you're up to. I don't use pain killers either-I'm just fearful of what they are doing to my kidneys and liver. I want my innards to be healthy! Glad for your nice weather-it's snowing here-fairly hard.
ReplyDeleteHi Debra, the first snow is always so pretty-but you can keep there for now-smiles
DeleteWhen Kathy cooks, I take notes! I love visiting here on those days and am inspired to put my apron on. (I found a new one at the resale shop that I really like.) I hope your hubby is doing well and able to rest comfortably. Colder weather is knocking on our door so it really is a good time to hunker down inside. We stayed up every night to watch the National Finals Rodeo. It was a good one this year! Hilltop Post
ReplyDeletethank you very much, our weather is not too bad-cool and dreary though. I was looking for something to watch and ran into the rodeo finals on the cowboy channel-enjoyed it. Have a good week ahead hugs
DeleteSending healing wishes to hubby. Good looking food
ReplyDeletethank you so much, the biscuits and gravy were really good
DeleteNot a pain killer fan either...the eggs with gravy looks fantastic.
ReplyDeletea favorite dish I make once in awhile
DeleteSending all good wishes for your husband's surgery and for your sanity during it. Your baking looks delicious!
ReplyDeletesmiles-thanks so much
DeletePrayers for Larry's recovery
ReplyDeleteGet your rest as caring for a love one can double being tired, tension thing worrying. I hope you find a tea you absolutely love.
thank you so much, today was a better day-so thankful, I was very disappointed in these teas the names of them all sounded so good too and they were all organic
DeleteSorry to hear about your husband needing surgery Kathy. I hope all goes well in the recovery department. It sounds like he's getting good food during his recovery. From the looks of it you've had some delicious results in the kitchen. Have a happy T day Kathy. hugs-Erika
ReplyDeletethanks so much, recovery is always slower as we age too-sigh. I made these dishes before his surgery as I knew he wouldn't be eating much the first few days-they did turn out delicious-hugs
DeleteI hope your husband makes a good recovery Kathy. It looks like you're taking very good care of him with those yummy treats. It's a pity the advent teas are so disappointing.
ReplyDeletegood morning, thank you Yes I was surprised all the teas taste the same, the one this morning is suppose to be peppermint-nope still cloves oh well I love the set of little boxes so will just refill with my own teas nest year
DeleteHope Larry heals well and doesn't have too much pain. Sorry your tea was so disappointing! Your food looks great as always, lately I've been living odd peanut butter sandwiches! Happy T Day, hugs, Valerie
ReplyDeleteah I haven't had a peanut butter sandwich in a long time-always loved it warm on toast
DeleteHere's to getting healed up for your Hubby. LOVE the idea of a tea calendar though bummer on them tasting all the same. Apple crisp for the win and yum on the hot chocolate!
ReplyDeletethanks, yes the teas were a bummer oh well,
DeleteSorry about that. Love the idea though. This is something I would even make for a friend, with one tea packet each day.
DeleteOh I am sorry. Another surgery. And we always feel good. It´s not fair, either way.
ReplyDeleteAlso sad with the tea! Bleh.
Here it´s freezing cold (no mail from you yet... argh) - would be heart-warming!
The gravy looks very yummy!
To a good T-Day and best wishes to Larry! Hugs...
thank you so much Iris-hugs
DeleteHI Kathy,
ReplyDeleteI love the sound of your advent tea but how disappointing that the flavors are not all different. Such a great idea to fill it yourself next year, then you can use flavors that sound interesting and have variety.
Your food looks delicious, especially the crisp. I love using coconut sugar and honey in mine as well.
So sorry to hear that your hubby is having another surgery. I know what you mean about the pain killers, one most likely will end up with constipation. No thanks.
Happy Tea Day,
Kate
Lovely comfort food especially the apple crisp. That’s a big favorite here. I hope Larry has a speedy recovery. Happy T Day
ReplyDeleteThe Anonymous comments are from CJ
ReplyDeleteHi CJ we really like the crisps too, in the past I never minded making my own pie crusts but this is so much easier and I like a crisp better. thank you Happy T
DeleteI'm so sorry your husband needs surgery. I hope his recovery is fast and uncomplicated. He's right about pain medication issues, so we are always careful... but we do take some meds at times.
ReplyDeleteThe biscuits look tasty. It's a shame about the teas all tasting alike. It'll be fun to do one next year with teas you've chosen yourself.
Happy T Tuesday!
thanks so much, I was so happy that these biscuits turned out good-I have made lots of bread over the past years but never a good biscuit-finally haha I wouldn't have made a good pioneer cook.
DeleteYes I will enjoy this advent calendar for next year. today's was lemongrass still tasted like cloves-sad
Hope your husband is doing better. Recovery can be very difficult. Love your meals. Stay strong.
ReplyDeletethanks so much, this is a difficult one for sure. I made a big pot of chili yesterday-good for today again and then I will freeze the rest for later
DeleteBest wishes to your husband. I hope he gets through this without a hitch.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime he will enjoy you being there and your lovely food.
It all looks very yummy. I admire you for what you can do for a gluten free diet. The friend that stayed with me is glutenfree and she had brought her own bread as we can't get glutenfree products locally, only pasta. So cooking was a challenge, but we tackled it together and had some fun along the way.
Happy T-Day,
Hugs,
Lisca
thank you Lisca-this is a rough one So glad your friend could spend time with you-and cooking together is always so fun-hugs I order allot of gluten free items in online-crackers etc-not allot of choices in the stores near me Hugs
DeleteKathy, wishing your hubby a quicker recovery and less pain. My husband won't do te pain pills either. Hurts us to watch the hurt. Cyber hugs to you both.
ReplyDeleteYour biscuits and gravy look wonderful. All your food looks great as always. Yum!
Take care and hope you are finding much joy in everything. Happy T-day too. Hugz
thank you so much Hugs
DeleteYou don't have to tell me. I know I'm late visiting. The good news is, all my tip-ins except one are in the mail. The bad news is, there are NO handmade Christmas cards this year. You get what you get!
ReplyDeleteI hope Larry makes a quick and full recovery with limited pain. I can appreciate his resolve. I have to be on my deathbed before I even take an aspirin.
Your biscuits look good, and I remember how much I enjoyed sausage gravy.
Sorry to read about the teas. As an aside, not tea related, BUT I bought a container of three loaves of baked goods at Sam's. There were raspberry, lemon, and cinnamon loaves. When I ate them, they ALL tasted like lemon. Even the raspberry tasted like lemon. I bought a second batch the next tine I was at Sam's and it was the same then, too. The lemon overpowered everything. I wonder if that is the same with your teas. Especially since they came so far to get to you. Regardless, I'm confident you will be happier with your choices next year.
Thanks for sharing Larry's surgery, your yummy biscuits and gravy, your hot chocolate, the apple crisp, and your teas with us for T this week, dear.
no worries Elizabeth-you are hosting a couple events-there is only so much time in a day hugs
DeleteI can't take asprin either when I need something I use white willow bark-much milder.
I was wondering that too if the cloves in the teas is over powering all the teas-they are in seperate boxes but not wrapped so makes sense.
hugs
Cloves can be SO overpowering. I was surprised they overpowered the peppermint, though. That must have been weak peppermint tea.
DeleteThanks for understanding my being late. Between T Tuesday, hosting TioT, and my AJJ obligations, I am really stretched to the limit this week. At least my sewing machine is sewing again.
You are busy lady. so g lad you fixed your sewing machine-did the bobbin area have allot of lint? that has happened to me if I am sewing allot I am not big on cloves to begin with and it has really taken over all of these teas-I wrote that in my review of the product
DeleteI am always very careful about lint. The bobbin area was clear and so was the bobbin. It is a drop in bobbin that has no adjustments. Since I sew mainly paper to paper, it is even worse than if I were to sew fabric to fabric. Mine is more paper "lint." I clean after about six pages, depending on how much sewing I do on them.
DeleteI am glad you wrote a review on the teas. They should be made aware of the problem so others won't buy the product if they don't like cloves.
I had not thought of paper lint-I read reviews online all the time before I decide to buy really helps as I do allot of shopping online now days-we are actually more rural for shopping choices then we were living in the woods-so since reviews help me I write allot of reviews
DeleteSorry to hear about your hubby, I hope he isn't in too much pain and wishing him a speedy recovery 😊. Loving the hot chocolate with marshmellows and your baking looks delicious especially biscuits and gravy topped with the eggs - so yummy! Take care dear friend and sending you Happy T Day wishes! Hugs Jo x
ReplyDeleteGood morning, thank you Jo, this was a very painful surgery and he is used to being in pain all the time so this excalated things-he is beginning to feel a bit better now thanks. we love biscuits and gravy with eggs I need to make them more often-smiles
DeleteHappy Belated T day Kathy! Not 5 minutes after i linked up to the Tparty hubby walks in and says' We need to go to the hospital'.. sigh... He had tried to cut off his fingers with a power tool... um.. yeah.. So several hours , 12 stitches and one broken finger later he's doing okay.. So my T day was total craziness.. but i'm trying to make the rounds now.. I think i need to pick up a box of Swiss Miss hot chocolate now.. and marsh mallow whip.. MMMMMmmmm... I hope Larry is feeling a little better Kathy.. Big Belated Hugs! deb
ReplyDeleteOh no how scary I do love a good hot cocoa-I make my own mix for it. Larry is doing better today-thank you
DeleteHope your husband has a speedy recovery. The blueberry crisp looks delicious. Sorry for my lateness, have a sick kitty. Happy T Day! Elle/EOTC xx
ReplyDelete