Friday Things
1. Thanks for all of the well wishes last week for Duke’s speedy recovery following his neutering. Aside from being a little groggy and sleeping for about an hour after we got home, you’d never know anything ever happened. He’s been his usual ball of fiery energy, and it’s been quite the task trying to keep him somewhat calm and keep him and Einstein from rolling all over each other.
2. Mashable put together a list of the 10 Biggest Food Crazes of 2013. There’s been some crazy stuff happening! The only one I embraced this year was kale. Please note, I use the term “embrace” quite loosely. Tolerate would probably be more accurate.
3. Have you seen this video from WestJet airline in Canada? They totally played Santa in an enormous, astounding way. I actually got choked up at the end!
4. Confession: Even though I love almonds and love things like almond butter, I greatly dislike the flavor of almond extract. Weird?
5. Our stockings are hung, so we are officially ready for Santa!
6. For the first time in my fantasy football-playing history, I didn’t make the playoffs. Boo hiss. Even worse is that I missed getting in by just 0.02 points. I lost my last game by 0.02 points; had I won, I had gotten in. Heart wrenching.
7. I’ve just discovered Boden. This has trouble written all over it.
8. Last week, I mentioned that I had adopted a pretty clean eating plan for a few weeks. Aside from a few nibbles of the goodies I’ve made over the last two weeks, I have stuck pretty closely to just fruits, vegetables, healthy grains and lean meat. I’m actually surprised by how good I feel! I’m used to horrible afternoon slumps that I use caffeine to get through, so I was dreading that. Surprisingly, I haven’t felt sluggish at all, and haven’t had a drop of caffeine. I’ve lost about 4 pounds over the course of 11 days, and haven’t really had any cravings for junk food or sweets. I’ve even made things like lentils, Brussels sprouts and spaghetti squash… broadening my horizons :)
9. Don’t forget about the 12 Days of Giveaways! You can still enter to win a Le Creuset Dutch Oven and a SONOS Sound System! Next week, I’ll finish up with days 11 and 12… I think you’re going to like them, so be sure to check back! ;-)
10. TGIF! Hide your food, the beggars are on high alert!
That airline thing is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. I have mixed feelings on almond extract. It doesn’t really taste like almonds at all. I occasionally use it very sparingly.
Almond extract tastes NOTHING like almonds. Why is that?? I too love almonds but HAATE when I mistakenly grab a cookie that has the extract it in. Blech!
I didn’t “embrace” any of the food crazes, but I’ll occasionally use kale in soup, don’t dislike quinoa as much as other whole grains/seeds and always have sriracha in the fridge, but use it rarely. Love that video from WestJet.
Which one’s Duke and which one’s Einstein? Haha, Duke is getting so big.
I too cried at the WestJet video (as a Canadian living in Australia, it made me v. homesick). Re: almond extract, I like it but a little bit goes a long way. I use it in very few things (mainly my mom’s white Christmas cake recipe).
Oh, those eyes! Einstein and Duke are sooooo cute! How can you say “No.” to those sad “I’m starving to death” eyes?
That WestJet video made me cry. That was incredible!!
Re clean eating- would love to see some clean eating recipes on BEB!
Can you find out how to make Ro-tees…. I am in Thailand for a year and I’m addicted! I think they may actually be Indian, but either way they are delicious. I don’t know what I’ll do when I return to Boston!
Oh my gosh, I am the exact same way when it comes to almond extract!! When I got married, I made sure to tell the cake lady to use vanilla extract NOT almond every single time I talked to her!!! LOL
Thank you for sharing the video, amazing idea and I also had tears. Also I look forward to your Friday Things so I can see your adorable babies. Agree on the almond extract.
My dog always stands beside me when i’m eating and pretends she’s not watching me by sleeping standing up. Its funny because as soon as I move, her eyes snap open. It kind of looks like Einstein is doing the same thing lol
I don’t know how you can resist those sweet faces……..they are so cute!
Love your mantel!
LOVE the mantle! I hear you on the fantasy football pain! I also missed the playoffs — one player needed 1 more yard! Agh! It’s just not the same playing in the “toilet bowl” bracket. Happy weekend!
Love your Friday posts….
Good job on the healthy eating. I have done the same thing in the last 6 week…pretty much eliminated flour/wheat (gluten) and all my cravings have disappeared. I also lost weight. I do feel that after 4 weeks it became habit!
Although I still LOVE your posts I have started to bake gluten free (and sometimes refined sugar free)….maybe you can start adding those kinds of recipes :)
Merry Christmas!!
Maggie
I love your Friday Things! Glad Duke did well and I can’t believe he’s growing like a weed. Love seeing them together.
Your mantel looks great1
I love your Goldens! My Maggie Mae died almost ten years ago. I’ve got a JRT and a “brown” dog now. ZuZu and Blue. Both great girls– but I miss that Golden personality!
Oh my Lord…thank you so much for sharing the video (#3) wow. I was crying by the end too. Beautiful!
WestJet is adorable!
Yay!! Go you and eating healthy! Keep it up =)
And I despise almonds and almond butter but I adore almond extract. I’m pretty sure almond extract is not related to almonds AT ALL!
I think the only new food I “embraced” from the food craze was quinoa…it was okay, but it was a sticky mess. But, I do want to try a cronut, they really are a craze and so many people gush about how delicious they are. I absolutely love your mantel, it’s so gorgeous and the stockings for Einstein and Duke made me go “aww!” Wow, 4 pounds in 11 days, you should be really proud of yourself! Maybe you can share a recipe or healthy snack that you really enjoyed with us. When the cravings for sugar or junk stop after adopting a new food change, it’s the best feeling.
Your caption for Einstein and Duke’s pic had me laughing out loud! Sooo cute!
I with you on the almond extract – it makes me gag:) but I LOVE almond and almond butter. I love to watch Giada and every time she pulls out the almond extract (which is often) I cringe!
I pretend that almond extract is actually cherry extract and I love it :) It’s how we make things cherry flavored.
Duke and Einstein are so adorable! I’m so glad Duke had a speedy recovery from his surgery. My little dog Freckles had a bad ear infection and I took him to the vet yesterday, he was so nervous. I wished I could have told him that going to his doctor would make him feel better but of course they don’t understand that. The good news is I can tell he is already feeling so much better, he got a treat last night when I came home and he was running around with it like a little puppy. They are just so adorable those little furry guys! Michelle I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVEEE YOUR MANTEL!! You must have a gorgeous home, from what I’ve seen of it in the pictures you posted, it looks so beautiful! You did a great job decorating. What time is Christmas dinner…LOL! As far as extracts go, I don’t really venture outside of vanilla. I don’t think I’d like almond extract for sure, now real almonds in a recipe, that would be great. I hope you have a great week and in the meantime, I will keep trying to win something on your site, it’s so much fun to see what you’re going to post next!
My husband and I get a big kick out of your Friday dog pictures…especially the begging one today…our Buster died almost a year ago…
Your fireplace & mantle are gorgeous! BTW the comment section is still holding name & email info of other readers.
Those faces are so sweet. Love ’em
Can’t get over how much Einstein looks like my Derby! Unreal! A little story:
had a Lab many yrs ago that I picked up from being neutered. Upon arriving home, she jumped out of the window of the truck when we pulled in the driveway…..so much for recovery from surgery!!!! She was a wild woman~ Glad to hear that Duke is back to his old self
I am so glad Duke’s surgery went well!! You have two beautiful dogs and I always look forward to Friday things just to see the cute new doggy photos you’ve posted!! Thanks for always being a bright spot on my friday!!
I’m right there with you re: almond extract! I love almonds and almond butter but I can’t stand the sweet almond flavor in baked goods!
So glad Einstein and Duke are doing well. Buddy, aged 9, had to have 5 teeth pulled a couple of weeks ago and he’s doing great! He is a chow-golden retriever mix, so looks a little like your two. Merry Christmas and thanks for all of your wonderful recipes.
I feel the same about almond extract.