Hooray! I’ve started my two-day break from work. I really struggled to get through work today, and I was trying to figure out why. I mean, it’s not like I”ll be lying on the couch eating bon bons for the next two days. There’s a lot to do, and the activities vary on the fun meter.
Making pies, decorating the Christmas tree=fun.
Doing dishes, cleaning the cat boxes=not fun.
Helping daughter dye her hair pink=somewhere in between.
I think the difference is, for the next two days my time is my own. I’m not on anyone else’s clock, and that feels good. Here are a few things going on around here…
I made the dough for all three pie crusts tonight! For the “regular” pumpkin pie and the pecan pie, I used vegan butter and shortening. But for my pie, since I’m trying to avoid those types of oils, I used coconut oil. I’m not quite sure how my pie crust is going to turn out, but whatever it is will be fine. I’m used to my foods being a little weird.
Speaking of weird, I had a request for the sugar-free pumpkin pie recipe. Here it is. The first page is for the crust- I made that crust one year and it was not good, so now I make a more traditional crust (although as I said, this year with coconut oil.) The second page is the ingredients for the filling. Honestly, it’s really good!
Tomorrow morning my son and I are going to the gym together. I’m looking forward to it, because he’s been taking a weight lifting class this semester. I’m hoping he’ll have some words of wisdom for me. More importantly, I’m grateful that he’s not embarrassed to be seen at the gym with me- the gym is full of muscle-y guys working out together, and it seem a little dorky to go with your mom. But he doesn’t care.
Lastly, I’m reading this apparently controversial book:
It seems like people love it, hate it, DNF halfway through, or apparently at 96%???? Well, I’m liking it! It’s definitely not a thrilling page-turner, but I’m interested in the characters and want to know what happened to the dad. I’m reading it slower than I would like, because there are so many other things going on now. But barring any unforeseen circumstances, I’ll finish it and report back.
Have you read Happiness Falls?
What’s your favorite kind of pie?
22 Responses
I love so much that you and your son go to the gym together! I bet he is super proud of you.
My favorite pie is key lime followed closely by apple. I hope your coconut oil crust turns out well – it sounds yummy!
I think my son is getting a little more proud of me… he thinks I should do more weights and less cardio, but that’s not going to happen!
Interesting about the pie – so it’s sweetened, but with stevia! I have never used stevia for anything, I assume it tastes a lot like sugar?
Enjoy your time off and your feast! It looks very fun!
Stevia is sweet, but if you use too much it has a weird aftertaste. So it doesn’t work for everything, but it definitely works in this pie.
My favourite pie is pumpkin! My husband’s is pecan. Ditto my son. My daughter HATES pies.
Pink hair sounds very fun!
Really, she hates pies? I’ve heard of other kids with that aversion. You and your husband would both be happy at our house tomorrow- we’ll be having pumpkin and pecan!
I’m reading Happiness Falls right now and I’m just over halfway and there is something that happened that made me IRATE and I am probably going to finish it, but I can’t talk about what made me IRATE without major spoilers, so…here we are. We’ll see if I ever manage to finish it.
Happy Thanksgiving Eve! May your days off be as wonderful as possible.
Ooh! Now I’m really intrigued.
That is cool that your son and you are going to the gym together! I run with my Dad and he wears these old man sweat pants (he also wore jeans while skiing for a long time) but it is so fun to find something that we both like doing together and the quality time is priceless! My favorite pie is probably apple crisp with an oatmeal crumble on top. I could do without crust in most cases. I also like the pecan/pumpkin combo, but prefer my pies not be overly sweet.
Apple crisp is good and definitely easier to make! Crusts are a huge pain.
Definitely warm apple pie with vanilla ice cream or any fruit pie.
Have fun at the gym with your son! That is cool.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving Darlene! I hope you’re having apple pie.
I can’t imagine dropping a book at 96% – what must the last 10% be like for that to happen?!?! I almost want to read it to find out, haha! My favorite pie is apple; it just brings me so much joy! I have it instead of birthday cake.
I’m determined to find out what’s up with this book. I’ll read the whole thing and try to imagine DNFing at 96% and why would someone do that?????
I liked Happiness Falls but I did not LOVE it. I downgraded my rating to 3 stars recently – originally I gave it 4. There were aspects I like but the happiness quotient stuff annoyed me, as did the footnotes. But overall, I thought it was an interesting book and I loved the author’s note at the end about her work w/ the non-speaking autistic community.
It is such a good feeling to be working on your own schedule/time. No one is telling you where to be. So even though I will be busy for the next several days with holiday stuff and kid stuff, it’s mostly fun stuff and I will be sure to nap when Will is napping. 🙂 So any day that can include a nap is a good one. Plus we will be around family a lot and that makes parenting way easier because everyone finds our young kids so novel since my other nieces and nephews are so much older.
Enjoy the gym w/ Paul! I’ll be running a drumstick dash 5k. I am bummed I won’t be doing the 10k but it’s the right choice for my body.
Have fun at your race! I think a 5K is a perfect choice this year. “Any day that can include a nap is a good one.” AMEN SISTER.
I think we’re going to have to set up a Zoom book club or something like that to discuss Happiness Falls. I’m not interested in reading any more than the 30% that I did but I want to know WHAT IS UP WITH THIS BOOK??????????
Enjoy the cooking! I’m headed out to the grocery store now to get our goodies.
Well I’ll let you know more details when I finish it!
I listened to Happiness Falls and I really enjoyed it. At first I wasn’t thrilled with the ending, but then I listened to the last chapter again and I was happier with it.
I love an apple pie with a crumb topping. YUM. For Thanksgiving, we are having a pumpkin pie and a berry pie, both of which I bought at a small local farm stand.
I don’t really eat pie anymore because if I made one GF I would eat the whole thing. I guess apple is my favorite, heated with ice cream. Followed closely by pumpkin.
Awesome that your son plans to go to the gym with you.
I enjoyed Happiness Falls – my rating is the opposite of Lisa’s. Originally, I gave it 3 stars but the more I sat with it, the more I realized I really like what the author did with the novel so I gave it 4 stars. It’s not a book for everyone, but it’s one that worked well for me!
I am not much of a pie person! I’ll eat apple pie, depending on how it’s made, but could honestly never eat pie again and be just fine.
I have not heard of this book but need to have a closer look.
The pie backing begins.
Hope you. had fun in the gym with your son.