New Adventures

I have been lusting after this book by Dorie Greenspan since it hit the shelves, but really couldn't afford the $40 price. I found it in the bargain section for $8 and snapped it up. I love this book. There are so many really good recipes in it that I just couldn't decide which to try first. So I have decided that I am going to start at the first recipe and bake the goodies in the order they are listed in the book. I will try one recipe each week and give you feedback on it. Tomorrow I will be making the first recipe: Blueberry Orange muffins. They sound great. Next week will be corn muffins.

This has been a rough couple weeks at Casa CrazyLife. I had a little incident with a kidney stone over a week ago and I have had a heck of a time getting back to my old self. Today I literally slept until 3p.m, which was the time I had to leave to get to my mittens class. I was supposed to get a call last week from the doctor's nurse to set up the details on another test that needs to be run -- that has not happened. I am starting to get "pissy"-no pun intended. I think I am definitely going to be changing doctors since I realize I have very little faith in the clinic and the doctor that I have been seeing. He doesn't explain anything clearly (Thankfully Shelly's mom came to the rescue on that) and is really odd about not making eye contact. I will be calling Monday and trying to get some info from the nurse. If they have lost my stuff that I brought in, you will probably see the clip on the local news under "Woman goes nuts on incompetent doctor"... I am getting pissed off enough that my friend Sue made me promise to talk to her and vent first before I call their office. Come on people, all I'm asking for are answers!! If there is not an answer this week, I am going to have them transfer everything over to my OB/GYN and ask her to arrange the proper tests and refer me to a doctor she recommends. Actually I am going to do that anyway. Ok, I'm done griping! I am looking forward to finally feeling like my old self though!

On the knitting front, I started the Fiddlehead Mittens for the class taught by Jen at Twist. I had missed the first class since I was sick, but I caught the second class. We have one more class. At first I could not figure out the I-cord cast on, but Shelly showed me and it finally made sense. I love this cast on! It is really the best cast on for mittens since it makes a firm, decorative edge. I may have to frog and start over though since I noticed my stitches are getting REALLY tight. Luckily I'm only a couple rows into the pattern, so it is not a big deal. I am going to spend a lot of time working on these so I can get the first one done this week. I'm sure the thumb gusset will be a new experience.

Friday night, cute man and I joined Cindy and Sue for sushi at Tokyo restaurant on Rock Road (near Applebee's) in Derby. There is a Tokyo in west Wichita that is owned by the same guy and both have fabulous sushi. The same guy also used to own Ichiban in east Wichita, but closed that one when the Derby store opened up. If you have a chance, go have sushi there. The spider rolls are the best I've had in town and I really like the Henry's roll too. We appreciate that there is usually not a long wait period and we can go dressed casually. The prices are also really good. They have a grill too, but we have never had that. I'm sure it is every bit as good as the sushi though. And yes, we sometimes go to Sumo for sushi, but I really prefer Tokyo because it is much more relaxed. This was the first time Sue had had sushi. Cindy and I are not sure what she thought of it. I used to think I'd hate sushi before I had actually tried it. However, after trying the spider roll, which is cooked crab, I was hooked. From there I tried the smoked salmon rolls and everything in between. The only one I'm not too crazy about is the eel, which is cooked. I know a lot of people who LOVE eel rolls, so obviously it is just my personal taste. My son will eat a plate of the eel rolls by himself if given the opportunity. One of the kids is really chomping at the bit to learn to make sushi, so I am going to take him to Overland Park this October to take a sushi class at the Kansas City Culinary Center. I have taken several classes there and love them every time. They have classes on just about everything. I wish we lived closer! I'd live there! I've taken a tamale class, a french pastry class and a healthy cooking class (on the same weekend I took the french pastry class--tee hee)..I did notice the Wichita Center for the Arts here in Wichita has a couple cooking classes this Fall, so I am happy that is an option. There is a soup class--it looks like cream based (potato, corn chowder, curried chicken) soups, but I'm game. I'll probably sign up for all the classes at the Center for the Arts since I really want it to take off and be successful. We NEED a cooking school here!!