Well, this guy is paying a visit. I’m sure glad to have him here. He arrived at the bus station in the middle of a downpour, which wasn’t difficult given that it had been raining for over 12 hours. We parked in the driveway because all of the rain and melting has resulted in yet another blob of ice where I usually park. As it’s going to be warmer for a good chunk of this week, I’m hoping the damn thing melts, and soon. I’m over it.
At least Don could see what I’m wrestling with here. A visual never hurts, right?
We’ve had a lovely time so far. He needs to kick back and relax after a long, hard, and physically taxing week.
I happened to see a recipe for vegan chocolate chip cookies on Instagram last week and I saved it because it looked easy and Don is predominately vegan lately. So I gave it a whirl yesterday. None of it looked like the video that accompanied the recipe, so I had doubts as to whether they would turn out. But they did.
They definitely have a different texture. They’re chewier. The vegan chips taste just like regular chocolate chips. Don loves them, so they get a big thumbs up. And that means I’ll have to make some to take with me the next time I go to NYC. I’m already anticipating that request. I know my husband!
We watched the Olympics last night and we’re going to hang out today. He’ll go back to the city tomorrow morning. Too short, but we’re grateful for some time together at our cottage.
Happy Monday.
i am happy you both have time together at home. enjoy that (and those yummy-looking cookies) and may the clock crawl.
we live in a beautiful world and there are so many incredible things to see and do, but (to me) there is nothing better than being together with my loved ones at home!!!!!!!!!
kathy in iowa
I agree. I’m happiest in my home with my loved ones! Nothing better. Thanks, Kathy!
Home always feels “homier” to me when all the right people are there. I’m sure you will both make the most of his visit.
Good luck with your iceberg…
Thanks, Andrea!
Sweet to have Don home for a few days. I saw the video of him singing on IG and I do love his voice. I pre-ordered the cast album so I can’t wait. I need to educate myself about vegan and vegetarian. I hope the iceberg melts! Hugs!
Vegan doesn’t have any dairy – in addition to the no meat of vegetarians.
Thank you for the information. I have been thinking about doing more vegetarian cooking to see if I like it. I have one cookbook so I guess I need to just try it!!
Just go for it, my friend!
Sounds like bliss. Where did you find the vegan chocolate chip cookies?
A grocery story with a natural foods section. They’re pretty readily available.
Welcome home, Don!
Claudia, your vegan chocolate chip cookies made me curious about vegan chocolate chips. I read that Ghirardelli chocolate chips used to be vegan but the company started adding milk product to the chips. Guittard seems to make a variety of chocolate chips without milk products and appear to be vegan. What chips do you use? I’m a pescatarian, but eat vegan about 25% of the time.
I can’t remember the brand but I got them at my local grocery store in the natural foods section.
We saw Don on Sunday Morning yesterday!! It was a quick clip of the cast on stage, I think it was a preview of next week’s program on Jimmy Buffet. I was so excited, I wasn’t paying attention! It’s so exciting to ‘know’ a Broadway performer!!
I hear a lot of people saw him! (I didn’t!) Looking forward to watching next week’s feature.
My husband thought I was crazy! I was saying “there’s Don, that’s Don, Claudia’s husband!”
Yay! xo
I know Don is glad to be at home with his beloved. Enjoy your time together! Cookies look delicious.
We are having a lovely time, Dottie!
bless his heart.
and your cookies look wonderful.
I’ve been vegan now for almost a month. I am already seeing health differences.
I thought milk and and dairy (cheeses) would be hard for me to give up but NOT!
I am loving it! and I had to. the heart issues were getting worse.
the goal is to get off as many heart meds as possible. the side effects are scary.
“let food be thy medicine and thy medicine food.” ~ Hippocrates
The only thing that’s hard for me to give up is half and half because I’ve tried all the vegan options and I don’t like the taste. Everything else? Pretty easy, as there are so many vegan options out there now. Good for you!
Ahhh, glad he is home. I have been watching the Olympics too. You know that we truly have a great country when you haven’t a clue who belongs to the USA…meaning, different names and different backgrounds, all in one country. We are a land of immigrants; proud to be an American! Go, Team USA!
Exactly! A land of immigrants!
I saw Don too, and I said, “I know that guy!” Well, kinda. :) I have the program set to record on the dvr in case I’m not home when it’s on. Today is the first chance I’ve had to read any of my favorite blogs because I’ve been home sick with the flu AND strep throat. (I read at work in between trucks) Sure is harder to be sick when you’re older, that’s for sure. I was kind of worried about myself. I am not 100% yet but I guess good enough to be back at work. Glad your ice situation isn’t as bad as it was.
Feel better, Kathy! Take it easy as you recover.
The cookies look wonderful, but I’m sure the best picture of all for you is Don in his chair with a guitar in hand. We are happiest when we have our nest complete.
The Olympics have been fun. Too funny watching that youngster (17!!) who won the snowboard event. He said he didn’t know much about the Olympics, he pretty much just knew The X-Games, but when they played the song (the Anthem), he realized it was a pretty big deal. Out of the mouths of babes.
Enjoy your remaining hours with Don at home. I’m sure he has an incredibly busy week ahead!
Red was great! He looked stunned that he won, didn’t he? Love his relative ignorance/innocence about the Olympics.
Very exciting for me yesterday–a preview for next week’s CBS Sunday morning show featuring Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville–and there on stage was your darling husband Don!! You can bet I’ll be watching next Sunday hoping to see more of him. :-)
Everyone saw it but us! I’ll be sure to tune in next Sunday!
Those cookies look delicious…I checked on recipes…looks easy enough. I’m sure you both are enjoying your time together…nothing like being back together. I’m happily snuggled in this afternoon….watching the Olympics…oh what fun….but it’s making me cold! It’s quite windy there. Enjoy! ;)
We’ll watch the Olympics tonight – It’s fun and the perfect escape.
You don’t have an easy arrangement with the travel your careers entail, but you make it work well for both of you, congrats on getting it right!
What has made him become a vegetarian? Many people I know are trying it and liking it.
Well, I’m a longtime vegetarian – for over 30 years – and he’s around me a lot. It’s easier for him to cook that way. But also we’ve learned how goats and sheep and calves are mistreated and in many cases killed because they can’t produce milk so there’s no reason to keep them around. In the dairy industry, baby goats and calves are routinely yanked from their mothers after they’ve been born. It’s terrible. I don’t want to go into detail here but you should google it. We are animal lovers and believe they have emotions and feel pain and joy and sadness, just as we do. They deserve better.
Oh yes, as an animal advocate I am fully aware of the horrors. I try to buy meats from sources that raise their livestock humanely, like local farms where I’m familiar with their practices. I have to admit it still bothers me, and perhaps is a bit hypocritical given my love for animals. A few of my friends have found they feel much better now that they have given up meat eating. I’m contemplating it myself.
As Paul McCartney says: “I don’t eat anything with a face.” That says it all to me. Also, from one of my favorite playwrights who was a vegetarian, George Bernard Shaw “Animals are my friends and I don’t eat my friends.”
regarding veganism …
there are so many benefits to eating only plants, among them:
more people are fed because crops take less land space, etc. than do cows, etc.
numerous health benefits (such as lower cholesterol) and overall feeling better
less pollution of animal waste/gas going into the air and water
less animal suffering
there is a ton of helpful information about veganism online, in books and health food stores – and a growing number of vegan “substitutes” for popular foods. like you said, claudia – you will learn things you won’t want to think about – but it’s a reality we need to face. it’s tough to be 100% vegan when there are creature-based things in so many things (like paint, food coloring and car tires, etc.), but i do what i can and am glad and grateful to be as vegan as possible!
kathy in iowa
xoxo
The cookies sound yummy. Glad you enjoyed your time together. xo Laura
We have. He goes back tomorrow morning. Sigh.
Happy that you and Don are having a good time. Those cookies look delicious.
Marilyn
They are, Marilyn! Even better the second day!
I second all of the comments your readers posted! Are you aware of the ads on your site? We love our NEST, we have units in our homes and appreciate the convenience and ease. Want you to know ads are good, plus this don’t interrupt the flow of the blog.
Thank you. I am aware of them. Some of them are the same for every reader, some are tailored to the individual reader’s browsing habits. Just depends. Glad you love your Nest, Gayle!
By aware I meant do you see them when you do the post?
xo
I absolutely LOVE your blog and Instagram account… You are REAL.
Down to earth, without pretense, eloquent, mindful, intelligent, compassionate, loving, kind, open… I could go on & on and risk repeating myself, so I’ll stop. :)
Know that you are truly valued by many online and in real life.
I am most grateful you continue to blog and share your thoughts, experiences, and bits of your life.
Hoping you & Don have a marvelous time during his break.
Peace be with you.
Oh, you made me tear up! Thank you so much for your kind words, Amy! They mean more than I can say. xoxo
Hi Claudia,
I am glad you and Don are enjoying a few days together.
Could you share the chocolate chip cookie recipe you used? I am eating more and more vegan these days. Like you, I haven’t found a good replacement for the half and half I use in my coffee…coconut milk and hazlenut milk are too sweet, this one is too thin, that one is just bleh. And cheese and yogurt are hard for me to give up as well, but when I hear about how dairy animals are mistreated, I am even more inspired to give things up.
I will share it sometime this week. I need to find where it originally came from so I can properly credit them.
Half and half is the tough one! And my coffee is too important to mess with a vegan creamer I don’t like. Hopefully, someone will come up with one that is just right!