Tag: personal

Coping

Birthday Goodness (and the Very Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe)

Kerrie Smyres

In response to All Migraineurs Are Different — So Stop Judging Me!, a reader (who happens to be my mom) commented that I share with you my frustrations and failings, but not what I do manage to achieve. I was ready to dismiss it as just my mom being a mom, but then another reader of no familial relation backed her up. Sadly, I realized that I don’t share my accomplishments because they are so often miniscule. I compare myself to “normal people” and come up way short.

I’m trying to overcome my feelings of inadequacy and share the good with you. This is made a little easier since cyproheptadine is reducing my head pain and the fatigue that has drug me down all summer suddenly lifted on Monday (fingers crossed that it lasts!). Also, today is my birthday. This week has been less about accomplishing and more about having fun. And eating foods that aren’t on my migraine diet, though only ones that I’m pretty sure aren’t triggers for me.

Here’s my week in food!

Salted Caramel Ice Cream — My first time making caramel was successful thanks to the fantastic tips from David Lebovitz. The ice cream is superb. Now I want to try making caramel candies. Can anyone recommend a good recipe?

The Very Best Chocolate Chip Cookies — These really are perfect, especially with a couple tweaks.

  • After rolling the cookies into balls, refrigerator for 36 hours. (If the dough is too soft to form balls, refrigerate it for 20 minutes and try again.) This step is a must. From the famous New York Times chocolate chip cookie recipe, it allows the dry ingredients to fully absorb the liquid, resulting in a better texture. Either bake or freeze the dough after the 36 hours is up; it starts to dry out if left in the fridge too long.
  • Use a mixture of all-purpose and whole wheat flours or all white whole wheat flour to add a little depth and nuttiness.
  • I vary the cookie size depending on the recipient. However, the ideal size about the size of a golf ball (3.5 oz), according to the New York Times and me.
  • Use real, unsalted butter and real vanilla. And be sure to use dark brown sugar for the fullest flavor.

Yellow cupcakes from Baking Illustrated are in the oven as I type. I haven’t made this recipe before, but Baking Illustrated has never let me down.

Quinoa Porridge — My new migraine-diet-friendly favorite. Quinoa mixed with a little plain rice milk and sugar, then frozen in 8 oz. canning jars to pop in the microwave for an easy breakfast. When I want dessert, I add some more sugar and call it pudding.

Happy birthday to me! Hope you have a lovely weekend full of delicious food and as little head pain as possible.

 

Community

Weird Things Meme

Kerrie Smyres

Deborah from Weathering Migraine Storms tagged me with the weird things meme. Bloggers who get tagged have to write about six weird things about themselves and then tag other bloggers to do the same. It’s taken way too long to come up with my list, but here goes.

  1. I like orange juice that’s so thick you can eat it with a spoon. That
    watery orange liquid that claims to be orange juice is an insult to
    citrus.
  2. My alarm clock has to be set so the minutes are divisible by the hour. All through high school, the alarm went off at 6:36 a.m. I have no idea how this started, but it’s kinda fun.
  3. Toilet paper that has the end folded to a point (like at hotels) grosses me out. I can go without the seat cover in public bathrooms, but someone manipulating my toilet paper is too much.
  4. Honey is my preferred condiment for french fries. A friend turned me on to this at Houston’s. It works particularly well with the spices they use, but it’s good on any restaurant’s fries.
  5. I almost always sit with my legs crossed under me — what was called Indian style when I was a kid. In my desk chair, on the couch, at the dining table, sometimes even in the car. When my knees start to hurt, I stretch my legs out, but always have them crossed again within five minutes.
  6. I dedicated my thesis to my dog. I got her right after I started my master’s program and she died four months before I graduated. She got me through a lot and I missed her terribly.

I’m tagging folks writing headache blogs that I’ve just learned about. Most of them are new bloggers and all of them write interesting posts. I’m looking forward to learning more about the people behind the blogs.

If you’ve been tagged, here are the rules:

“Each player of this game starts with the ‘6 Weird Things about You.’ People who get tagged need to write a post of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog!”