A low energy week.

  Well, I know it's been quite a while since I've been on here and wrote a post. I've been a bit under the weather to say the least. The chemo I take causes severe drowsiness, and mouth sores, and lots of other crazy side effects, so I've been dealing with that. The last few days, I've slept all day and all night long, waking up only to go to the bathroom or get a drink of something to soothe the burning in my mouth. But I have managed in the last week to make several desserts, and snacks!
   Some oyster crackers got TRANSFORMED into a delicious "grab a handful at a time" snack, and some salty sweet pretzel bites have made the list as a top 10 to some of the family, with is not an easy task, I must say. I also made a delicious bread pudding with a streusel topping. No Brandy sauce this time, since I can't buy it yet, legally. And I also made those fancy poached pears, like I talked about in the last post. Since pears are so abundant right now, I suggest you try that recipe. (I did improve the sauce this time too, recipe will be posted as the last statement of this blog post)

My "grab by the handful" oyster crackers, easy yet so delicious.
2 bags oyster crackers (normally about 1 buck a bag)
2 packets of the dry ranch mixture
3 teaspoons lemon pepper
3teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder (for the cancer fighting qualities)
A couple pinches of salt
A few grinds of fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup oil, like veggie oil or sunflower oil

1. Get a gallon size baggie and pour all your ingredients in and shake shake shake shake shake until its all coated well.
2. Bake at 350 degrees on a shallow cookie sheet or cake pan, (make sure they are spread out) about 20- 25 minutes.
Tip***
Stir the crackers around every 10 minutes or so, to keep the browning even.

Next, the salty sweet goodness of pretzel bark. Wow, this stuff is like, I don't even know, just good.

One bag of pretzels, any shape you desire, we used the normal pretzel twists
1 bag dark chocolate chips
1 batch homemade caramel (recipe to follow)

Layer your pretzels and chocolate chips, pour caramel over while still hot, top with a few more chocolate chips! Simple as that. Wait for it to cool, and cut into pieces.

*homemade caramel*
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch salt

1. Melt everything in a saucepan until smooth. Stir with wooden spoon.
2. Bring to a boil.
3. Cover, and cook 7 minutes.
4. Uncover, DO NOT STIR. Use candy thermometer and let it reach 250 degrees. **be careful this could cause severe burns**
5. Remove from heat, stir, and pour over pretzel mixture.

My bread pudding recipe is of course, Paula Deen's recipe, so google it and make it. It's the best there is. No doubt about it.

Now, for that sauce for the pears.
Take all that extra juice you have from the crock pot, that the pears have cooked in, and pour it into a cast iron skillet. Bring to a simmer and add in a cornstarch slurry. (1/4 cup cornstarch, and 5 tbls water, stirred together smooth.) whisk whisk whisk until smooth and thick. Add in about 4 tbls heavy cream and a teaspoon vanilla, stir and remove from heat. This stuff is delicious on its own lol serve with some pumpkin pie spiced whipped cream on top of your poached pears and enjoy!

Now, enough about desserts. Back to life.
Today, my brother brought his pet pig over here. Yes, pig. Petunia, is a miniature pot bellied pig. She loves vanilla wafers, and banana chips. She is oh-so adorable. I fell in love. We pig sat today, and now she's spending the night. She stayed outside today for most of the day, exploring. But now she's sleeping in my bathroom with an ungodly amount of towels and a big queen size sheet, just in case she gets cold. Since we have a vicious little ankle-biting chihuahua who doesn't like anyone but himself and us, we had to keep the two away from each other all day and night. It has definitely been a task to watch her, but when she rolled over on her back so I could pet her belly a few minutes ago, it made it all worth while.
   
In the morning, I go for routine blood work. Last time I went was Monday, and it was a 12.5. It sure doesn't feel like its that high right now. Normal activity that doesn't require hardly any effort is causing me to get winded. And the strange cold feeling in my lips and toes is a sign of a low hemoglobin.(which is what I get checked) So, we shall see. I'm hoping it's either low enough for me to just get an outpatient transfusion, and go home, or mayyyybe it'll be high, and I'll feel better. I've got big plans this weekend! Paula Deen is coming to town for a cooking and entertaining expo, and I've got tickets! Hopefully I'll be ale to visit with her like I did last year. She's an awesome woman. If you're one of those people who talks crap about her, please, stop reading this blog! I just love her. And from my impression of her last year, she lived me right back. So hopefully, with the help of her body guard and a couple others, I'll get to see her once again.
Well, typing is hurting these crampy hands of mine. Chemo is a crazy drug y'all. I will definitely try to write again sooner. Pictures of the cooking expo will be posted. That's such a cool event. Soooo many samples!! Woohoo!
Thanks for reading :)

And please, anyone who would like to, pray for me! This low energy is for the birds!