Everyone, welcome to the new year! Can you believe it? 2024 - where are the flying cars and jetpacks?
I’ve decided to make a few changes to this website. As many of you know, each year I either continue the diet I’m on or start a new one. This year, I’m going to be keeping a record of my journey – but on my new Substack newsletter – Lighthearted by Jennifer.
Why a Substack? That will give me the opportunity to tailor the content for a special group of readers. In my newsletter, I’m going to share my thoughts on my weight loss (35+ pounds so far) what’s working and what isn’t. And I’ll pen a few posts on how I’m keeping my sense of humor through it all.
Lighthearted by Jennifer is where I’ll write about Keto, cooking, nutrition, and exercise. Here at Notes from Aunt Gem I’ll post my book reviews and miscellaneous essays. Who knows – maybe this year I’ll make the garden bloom!
I’ll post once a week on my health journey at my new spot. For the select few – those who elect to become paid subscribers – I’ll send at least one more post per week, and that one will have:
My actual measurements
My actual weight – the good, the bad, the ugly!
More info on what I’m finding that works
Come join the Lighthearted crew and lose weight with us!
This year’s Thanksgiving, I’m keeping it minimal. No two main dishes of both Turkey and Ham, no 12 side dishes, no pie and cakes (plural) for dessert.
It’s a bare-bones Thanksgiving dinner: ham, one side dish of green bean casserole, and one recipe inspired by something I read: Bourbon-Berries. The recipe I got years ago from Gabriel Mallor’s recipe exchange on the Ace of Spades website. Sorry, no picture of that – but it looks delicious! I’ve already made it in advance of the holiday and it is chilling in the fridge.
I smile and shake my head thinking about the Thanksgiving extravaganzas I’ve put together in the past. Last year I brined the turkey for the first time ever, taking the recipe from the Pioneer Woman’s wonderful book: The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays.
That lovely book, a gift from my sister-in-law (who knows me well) helped me create my aforementioned Thanksgiving extravaganza. There were so many dishes on the table that as we were finishing, I exclaimed: “I forgot the carrots!” Or some such extraneous side – I can’t remember now. Everyone looked around and laughed. And Dad, ever the wit, said, “Well, Thanksgiving is ruined!”
Cookbooks – books that please twice
Anyone who knows me knows I love to read and I love to eat. It’s just too bad for my waistline I also love combining the two. Reading cookbooks is one of my favorite pastimes too – if you truly want to learn the history of American food, how it developed from the colonial days, suffered through the “better living through chemistry” boxes and cans of the middle 20th century and has enjoyed the renaissance since the early 70s of Alice Waters and other chefs, NEEDS to read’s James Beard’s classic: American Cookery.
I bought this book from a kiosk in the old Dutch Square Mall in spring 1985 – the year James Beard died. In a fit of religious zeal I had just decided to do a Lenten fast from Diet Coke and sweets – I was so ambitious those days! Therefore, I was hungry. So naturally I had to buy a cookbook. But this cookbook – it was an inspired choice. If I had to save one cookbook from my house in a fire, it would be this one. All the beautiful illustrated cookbooks by Susan Branch, the Moosewood Cookbook, the Pioneer Woman, *even* The Joy of Cooking – I’d leave all those to burn up if it meant I could save this book.
Beauty in the word and image
I adore the writers of cookbooks who not only write delicious recipes, but also illustrate them with beautiful artwork they’ve created. I love both cooking from and just admiring the ones I own by Susan Branch, an artist/writer/cook who lives on Martha’s Vineyard. I started with her first book, Heart of the Home: Notes from a Vineyard Kitchen, and now with the change of the seasons, I’m cooking from her aptly named Autumn. Just look at these beautiful covers and pages – all hand-drawn:
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, and may you cook something special this year!
Being on keto makes me miss certain things. I have missed the crunch of toast, the glories of brioche, and the lovely smell of pancakes. So it was time to hunt for a keto-friendly recipe for pancakes.
I had to print it on paper because I’ve come too close to tragedy before in the kitchen. I wasn’t about to risk my phone near sloppy pancake batter.
The recipe called for both almond and coconut flour. Luckily, I had stocked up on both from Amazon. I was anxious making the cakes, because nearly everything I’ve tasted from a store that was “keto-friendly” was garbage.
Happy to report – this was NOT garbage. The pancakes definitely tasted different from regular pancakes, but I enjoyed the slight nutty flavor. (I just realized, duh, they’re made with almonds, of course they’re nutty!)
I’m not sure if it was the recipe or my stove, but the cakes seemed to come out browner than usual. And I was so hungry I only got pictures of the first one on the plate! I definitely ate more than one.
A gallery of goodness
Just starting to bubble.
After the flip.
Topped with butter, the foundation of the short stack contrasts beautifully with a blue plate.
Lately my work schedule has been so vigorous that I’ve come home exhausted from the office. On work-from-home days I’ve trudged wearily down the hall to the kitchen at dinnertime. Tonight was a good example; fortunately, I had leftover burger patties with cheese melted on top. But sometimes, you’re just too tired to cook. I’ve done deviled eggs to death; I’ve snacked on hunks of cheddar cheese, and when I’m tired, I don’t even have it in me to pull together a salad.
Readers: What do you suggest?
Perhaps ham and cheese rollups for supper?
What are your quick Keto go-to’s on those days when you’re too tired to cook? How do you keep from scarfing down potato chips or anything else full of carbs? I’m at the point where I’m starting to think skipping dinner is good – and I’m sure that will just cause me to overdo at the next meal. Please let me know your suggestions for very quick keto-friendly dinners in the comments.
Keto living means upping your fat intake – and that’s easy to do when you love cheese as much as I do. (One of my friends is giving up cheese for Lent – he’s made of stronger stuff than I am.) I’m eating slices of cheese by themselves, when I’m not grating or shredding cheese into every dish I can. What’s an omelet without cheese?
To make my dishes sing, I’ve been looking for the right tools. That old-fashioned box grater I was gifted from my mother still works beautifully, but it is a pain to clean. After a little looking around on Ebay I found the answer: a Holland cheese slicer, with painted scene on the handle. Both functional and stylish. In the words of William Morris, “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” It doesn’t so much slice the cheese as grates it in thin strips.
I love the handpainted scene of the windmill.
And then there’s the ultimate shredding tool: the Microplane grater. Could I have shredded Parmesan before I got this? Yes, but it was large strips, not the fine shreds I wanted. And zest – forget it. My grocery story zester smushed every peel I tried to zest. If you want quality, yes, you will have to pay for it. But this tool has paid for itself. I love finely shredded Parmesan over salads, soups, and in so many dishes. The Microplane makes it happen.
The perfect shredder/zester, lying against the perfect block cheese slicer.
It’s that time again … time to set myself up for a good week of Keto Living by planning ahead and shopping conscientiously. It feels like I do this all the time! Now that I’m doing Keto, I’m cooking at home more than ever. So, time to plan out some menus. As always, I’m turning to my new favorite cookbook, Simply Keto.
Shopping my freezer
I’ve got so much meat from my last Butcher Box delivery that I need to use up. More filet mignons mean I’m making Filet Mignon with Gorgonzola Sauce! Other dishes I’m going to re-make this week:
Keto Crackers
Twice-Baked Cauliflower Casserole (it’s the faux potato dish I love so much)
Sometimes, you just have an itch that fat or protein won’t scratch. Another fat bomb won’t do. And eating yet another devilled egg doesn’t appeal either. Sometimes, you just want a cracker. To the rescue – once again, my new Bible of Keto cooking, Suzanne Ryan’s “Simply Keto” cookbook. (Seriously – go buy this book!) I found her Keto crackers recipe – and it offers two ways of making these wonderful snacks. I choose the cheese cracker option. They don’t even need dip. They’re delicious all by themselves. See below for my photo essay of my first attempt to make these crackers.
The ingredients
Garlic powder, almond flour, cheddar cheese, salt. Oh, and you’ll add an egg yolk.
My lack of prep forced me to use the wrong type of paper. You need parchment paper!
As you can see, no parchment paper meant using Pam. And my squares don’t look anything like the book!
But the crackers turned out beautifully – only six minutes in the oven.
Ah, the cauliflower. As writer Rod Dreher once said, it’s the “Sansabelt slacks of vegetables” fit only to scoop up dips. But to someone following the Ketogenetic way of eating, the cauliflower is a lifesaver. With just a little prep, you can fool yourself into thinking you’re eating mashed potatoes! Let me show you how my attempt at making Faux Mashed Potatoes – from Suzanne Ryan’s Simply Keto cookbook, turned out. Spoiler: It was delicious.
Measure out your “mash” ingredients (beside cauliflower)
Three cheeses: cream, parmesan, and cheddar.
Time to cook!
Like boiling potatoesFry up the baconThey mash so nicely
I love devilled eggs for many reasons: 1) they’re delicious 2) I’m a Southern lady and I’ve grown up on these and 3) they’re Keto-friendly! Staying with the ketogenic diet after the first flush of enthusiasm is hard. In my search for snacks I could eat without fear (oh, how I miss popcorn and chips) I found that devilled eggs were a good bet. (And pork rinds, but that’s another story.)
Everyone loves it when you bring devilled eggs to a party. They’re one of the first things to disappear, and you never have to worry about carrying home any leftovers. At one of the Christmas parties last season, I took “Secret Ingredient Stuffed Eggs” from the Taste of Home website. They were delicious, if not exactly keto-friendly; the secret ingredient was mango chutney, along with pecans and goat cheese.
I had to get a picture before they were all gone at the party. The eggs went fast.
Eggs everywhere
When I was looking for more devilled egg recipes (you can never have enough) I found entire blog posts related to the history of devilled eggs. Turns out scholars trace them all the way back to the Romans. While I was out looking, I found other bloggers who were coming up with their own wonderful recipes. I can’t wait to try Bandriachuk’s Devilled Eggs (Harissa Option) from the site “A Runny Egg on Top.” Love that name!
Stuffed eggs are associated so closely with death that any time you see the lady of the house getting down the egg plate, you might well ask, “Who died?”
-Being Dead is No Excuse, page 77.
I tried the author’s Sweet Stuffed Eggs (page 81) with the secret ingredient of Durkee’s Famous Sauce. Yum! Another time I was making just ye old standard stuffed eggs with mayo and Dijion mustard. I found out at the last minute I was completely out of paprika for that time-honored topping. But – I had a bottle of Tajin in the cupboard – and soon I had wonderful spicy eggs!
I went light on the Tajin the first time – next time I’ll add a little more.
I love how Keto keeps you full and satisfied, but my sweet tooth is the one thing that can cause me to fall off my Keto plan. This past weekend I knew I’d have more time to cook, and I also knew I’d be hungry for dessert. Good thing that Suzanne Ryan’s cookbook Simply Keto has a good dessert section in it. This weekend I chose to make Chia Seed Pudding, Chocolate Chip Mug Cakes and Keto Hot Chocolate.
Chia Seed Pudding
This one didn’t look like much in my dessert dishes, but it tasted spectacular. The key is preparing it the day before; you have to let the chia seeds soak in the almond milk and Swerve (sugar substitute) overnight. When you pull the container out of the frig, the plump chia seeds have settled to the bottom. I put the mix in my Nutribullet jar, so after a quick stir 30-seconds in the Nutribullet made this a creamy, thick pudding. The recipe made two servings, so I have one left in the fridge.
It matches the granite countertop! Not a look you want, but it tasted delicious.
Making homemade mug cake
I love how easy this cake is to make. I pictured most of the steps below. I forgot to take a picture of adding the Lily’s Baking Chocolate Chips because I was hungry and ready to get this in the microwave then in my mouth.
Dry ingredientsAnd all stirred up!
Just add butter, avocado oil and an egg, then the chocolate chips (not pictured!) and microwave for one minute
Finished Cooking! The mug was so big it makes the cake look small.
Lovely
Delicious hot cocoa
This was the perfect comfort food for a cold, rainy winter night. Definitely my favorite of the three!
Started by stirring the Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa into the almond milk.
This is the result on the stove – doesn’t it look wonderful!
I added a little whipped cream to the top. Delicious!
Notes from Aunt Gem 