The best thing I can offer to this world is not my force or energy, but a well-tended spirit, a wise and brave soul.

Shauna Niequist

Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living

Groupon loves Scientific Research

Why else would they send me an email announcing a one day sale on yet another massage therapist that is just a couple miles from my house??

So in the name of Science, I'll be adding a 3rd massage therapist to be sure I've got an adequate sampling in my quest for accuracy of speech in my declaration of having found the best massage therapist in town.

I can't wait to tell MWC.  He'll be so proud of my due diligence in this endeavor.

It Still Works!

Well, for the first time since I drank the Kool-Aid, I turned on my oven this week and am happy to report, it still works.  First, I baked this bread using whey from making yogurt.  I served it with a spaghetti squash dish...made in the Instant Pot of course!

And again to make Sweetness's birthday peach crisp and to caramelize some BBQ sauce on  the ribs that were first prepared in the Instant Pot.

A Sweetness special request dinner - no vegetables!  Happy girl!

And how does the cook feel about the use of the oven?  Well, I'm happy I have another month before the next birthday girl and the need to back a cake!  The kitchen was hot, hot, hot!

Theology (no matter how orthodox), a belief statement (no matter how biblical), and propositions (no matter how exact and correct) are all useless if they don't lead us to the reality which is God and to the astonishment that ought to be a regular occurrence in the believer's life.

~Steve Brown, What Was I Thinking? Things I've Learned Since I Knew it All

All in the name of research....REALLY!!

 Earlier this summer, upon reading some good reviews of a local spa, I bought a Groupon certificate for a massage.  It was half price for a 1 hour sports massage.  I couldn't pass up that deal.

I think it was the best massage I've ever had. In fact, I practically fell asleep on the table.  Alas, that Groupon offer is gone but another place I've heard positive things about is now offering a similar deal-- 40% off of one hour massage.  So I bought one and have an appointment.

MWC is an advocate for accurate speech.  So I have asked myself more than once, was it REALLY the best massage I've ever had?  Could I be mistaken?  Could the one at this different salon REALLY be the best one I've ever had?

MWC is also very scientific minded and puts great store in properly conducted research.  I am certain my observations and opinions based upon an appointment weeks ago, can no longer be trustworthy or valid for such an important comparison study.  So out of respect and love for my husband, I did what any self respecting researcher would do...I set up conditions to be more accurate.

So in the name of VALID research, I will be going to Spa B in two weeks for a one hour massage followed two weeks later by a return visit to Spa A so that I can do a proper comparison of the two.

I'm sure MWC will be so very proud of my sacrifice in the name of good science and my desire for accuracy in my speech.  I can't very well claim its the best massage I've ever had, if I've nothing to compare it to.  And this way,  after my research that is, I can at least ACCURATELY say, "Its the best massage I've ever had in this town."

Because sometimes the Kool-Aid spills

Given my current IP obsession and all my posts singing its praises to get others to drink too, I feel its only fair, that I fully disclose that not all is perfect in the IP world.  I have had a few "misses".

In the spirit of full disclosure:

Our artichokes were disgusting and tough.  We ended up throwing them away.  Not to be discouraged though, I bought these babies and we will be trying again.  This time I will use the steam function and cook them a lot longer than the manual recommended as I suspect that was my problem.

I love eggs and avocado together. Avocado toast is a favorite breakfast so when a post for a baked avocado/egg popped up in my newsfeed on Facebook, I decided I had to try it.  I decided to attempt it in the IP.  Not a good move.  Can you say disgusting?

 I decided to give it a try again and decide if the problem was the IP or the actual dish itself.  This is the baked according to direction version.  Definitey prettier and a much better texture...but only slightly less disgusting in flavor.

 Final verdict:  Warm avocado is the culprit and is just a wrong, wrong, wrong way to eat it.

“By accepting God's love for us, we fall in love with Him, and only then do we have the fuel we need to obey.” 
― Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality

Cheesecake Factory of my own

One perk...or pitfall..of participating in the FB group with other Instant Pot fanatics, is the plethora of photos of cheesecakes made in the IP.  They are adorable and get rave reviews.  So I did what I usually do when faced with a new food to make...I jumped on the bandwagon...AND texted my BFF LFT and asked her for a recipe.  She sent me her favorite..a classic New York cheesecake from a blog called This Old Gal. (and for the record, that blog has THE BEST recipes!)

 I've never made a classic cheesecake before so I got organized and laid it all out to be sure I had it all

Classic graham cracker crust.  I got it a little too thin in the middle.  On the next one I made I shook the crumbs around for even distribution before pressing them down.

After mixing the cream cheese part, I covered the pan with papertowel and foil as directed.

Full disclosure...I am a blonde AND have senior moments.  In order to get the pan down into the Instant Pot, a "sling" is required.  I made this one out of foil.   However, I failed to fold it into the pot and ended up with a sealing failure.  Steam pouring out the sides was my first clue.  A frantic text to LFT set me to rights.  I turned it off and started over again.

Voila!! Perfectly baked cheesecake with no cracks!

Sour cream topping finishes off this classic New York cheesecake.

Pure Yumminess!!!

After making 2 of the classic cheesecakes (I gave the second to a neighbor), I attempted an Oreo cheesecake.  I did not have the same success.  It is tasty but the texture is not quite right.  A little Google research tells me my mistake was most likely in overbeating the eggs.  It cracked almost immediately as it came out of the IP.

It was however tasty, the texture was just off.  Serving suggestion was to top with whipped cream and crushed oreos.  However, I made the crust extra thick so skipped the Oreos on top.  It got a 4 thumbs up from my family...even from Sweetness who doesn't like Oreos.  (I didn't know such a person existed, must less in my own family!!)

Passion for pasta

Because contrary to what my current drinking the Kool-Aid-esque IP obsession would suggest, good food can be made in other ways.  Case in point, homemade spaghetti I made with my mama during a recent visit.  It was delicious!!  I own a Bosch universal and not a Kitchen Aid so this is not an option at my house without a new kitchen gadget or application of my cooking lessons for homemade pasta in Italy

Lessons in Italy by our fabulous host, Massimo.  Pasta the way his grandma did it every day of her life.  It was delectable...and so fun to make!

I guess the decision as to which version I attempt could be decided by Amazon!  Will they practically give away a pasta maker any time soon?

IP Yogurt

We go through a LOT of yogurt around here.  Having lived in Europe, we have come to appreciate plain, non-flavored yogurt without all the added sugar.  I decided to give the yogurt feature a whirl last weekend.  It was a bit time consuming as far the IP was concerned but required little effort on my part.

Yogurt is a two step process.  First boiling of the milk- or steaming the jars if you are making individual pots of yogurt.  I opted for the large pot.  I poured in 1/2 gallon of milk and pushed a button and walked away.  Two hours later it was heated and had cooled down to the proper temperature for the second step.

The second stage requires 8 hours of incubation after stirring in the yogurt starter (in my case, a big spoonful of yogurt already in my fridge.)  It had a lot of liquid whey and I found removing the lid without adding more liquid from condensation a challenge.  However after I strained it in the fridge overnight, it was thick and creamy and quite tasty.  Although a little more tartness would be my preference. In future,  I will try playing with the incubation period to hopefully get a thicker consistency to start with.  

1/2 gallon of milk yields 2 quarts of yogurt..making it basically half the price of 2 quarts of plain Greek yogurt from Costco.