Today I'm up and running. Must say, I'm pretty much up and running all the time, but feel productive this morning.

It's Memorial Day weekend and should be warm and wonderful, and maybe it will be prior to the end of the day. But this morning it's just darn chilly. I woke up from being under the warmth of the comforter, and it hit me...the place needs some heat. So instead of turning on the heater and climbing back into bed with Roy and Guayo to keep me warm, I lit the oven. I then brought the chicken that had thawed overnight, out of the refrig and poured a wonderful olive oil, feta, and herb dressing over it, let it sit for 30 minutes, then transferred is to a baking pan. It's now sizzling in the oven and the heat from the oven is starting to take the chill out of here with a wonderful smell from the herbs and baking chicken filling the air to boot.

While it's chilly and since the oven will be all warmed up, decided to make some peanut butter cookie sandwiches and a rhubarb strawberry crisp (recipes below). We have 2 bbq/parties to go to today and tomorrow, so thought I'd bring something yummy. I was finally able to get some fresh ground peanut butter yesterday--the grinder has been on the fritz for about a month so when I heard it going as I walked down the organic food isle, a big smile came across my face. The pnut butter cookie dough has been made with the fresh ground peanuts and it's scrumptious right now, but I know it will be fabulous when baked. And the filling, a mixture of milk chocolate, dark chocolate and cream, will have these cookies tasting like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups...only better and crunchy.

I had to adjust this recipe...it was a bit too "rich"...very crumbly and difficult to stuff with the chocolate without breaking the cookie...so I added about 3 tablespoons of flour and that helped. Also, is substituted canned evaporated milk for the cream and the consistency and taste did not suffer.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

From Martha Stewart Living web page “Cookie of the Day”

Ingredients

Makes 15

· 1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

· 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

· 1/4 teaspoon salt

· 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

· 2 tablespoons heavy cream

· 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

· 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

· 1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2. Make filling: Place chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of simmering water; stir frequently until almost melted. Remove from heat; stir until completely melted. Stir in cream; set aside to cool and thicken, about 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter, peanut butter, and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture, and mix just until blended (do not overmix).

4. Drop dough by heaping teaspoons onto two baking sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart. With the bottom of a damp glass, lightly flatten each mound of dough into a 2-inch round. Bake until golden around edges, 12 to 14 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer cookies immediately to a wire rack to cool completely.

5. With a small offset spatula or table knife, spread bottom of half the cookies with 2 teaspoons filling each; sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing gently to spread filling to the edge. Let set for 15 minutes before serving.

Roy is a rhubarb fan, so I'll make the Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp with less sugar using stevia so he can have a nice helping. Being diabetic isn't much fun if you can't have something yummy once in awhile. And he believes in this whole heartedly, so I do try to compensate by inventing or finding recipes with less sugar and/or using stevia as a sweetener.

Rhubarb Raspberry Crisp

From Martha Stewart Every Day web site

INGREDIENTS

Serves 4.

1 1/2 pounds rhubarb, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
Zest and juice of 1 orange
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup hazelnuts, skinned, toasted, and chopped (optional)
1/2 pint fresh raspberries

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine rhubarb, granulated sugar, and orange zest and juice in a large bowl. Stir to combine.

2. In another bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Rub butter into flour mixture with your fingers until it is well incorporated and large crumbs form. Add oats and nuts and combine.

3. Turn rhubarb into a 1 1/2-quart baking dish, scatter raspberries evenly over surface, and cover with crumb topping. Bake until topping is brown and crisp and juices are bubbling, about 45 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

I used frozen rhubarb and frozen whole strawberries, substituted Splenda for sugar in fruit, and lemon zest with a ½ lemon juice in the fruit. I doubled the recipe, and used 1/8 c. rolled oats and the rest steel cut oats with 1/3 cup ground pecans in the “crips”.

Roy and Guayo have arisen from the nice warm bed, but alas have landed in the recliner, curled up and sleeping again. I am in need of some oatmeal (regular oatmeal, not the steel cut we have come to love for cooked cereal in the morning), an orange, and some heavy cream, so looks like I"m going to have to get dressed and run to the closest market. Rats! I didn't want to go until I finished going over the ads, pulling coupons, and getting the best deals possible. All in the plan to spend as little as possible on groceries, but alas, it doesn't always work. Hahahaha...are you not surprised!!!

I decided NOT to go t the store but make do with what we have. While I had only maybe 1/8 c. of rolled oats, so added our regular steel cut oats to the crisp topping to make up the difference and about 1/3 cup of ground pecans, and it came out crunchy and delicious. I also used frozen rhubarb and frozen whole strawberries and it was quite delicious.

A friend of mine had a stroke about a month ago. While the right side of her body was affected, and her right hand/arm is slow to come back, she's a fighter and she's pushing through. Her speech is much better, and she is able to walk with assistance from a cane/walker, so she is progressing. WIthout the use of her right hand, however, it's very difficult doing things that one takes for granted on a daily basis. And while I'm not a physical therapist nor nurse, I tried to think of something I could do to help now that she's home. She is also a diabetic and needs to watch her weight, so I told her since I cook for Roy and try to stay within certain parameters for his diabetes and heart disease, and because I ALWAYS make more than enough food (I just can't seem to get food to come out correctly trying to make it for 2 people), then I would bring dinner to her each night until June 10 when we leave for CA. Last night this consisted of roast chicken, Asian vegetables with soy, wasabi almonds and black sesame seeds, and cheddar broccoli rice. Night before was salad, ginger glazed carrots, and salmon with fine herbes and orange peel butter. I have chopped up the leftover chicken and mixed it with craisins (just a few), pecans, mayo, celery, onion, garlic chives, herbs de provence, and a little touchy of tangy sweet mustard, walnut oil, and fig balsamic. This mixture will go atop a bed of spring greens, with tomato wedges around it, sprinkled with dried edible flowers. A cool dinner for a day that's supposed to be warm. And since we're going to a bbq tonight, I don't have to worry about making sure the meal is hot...it will be a cold meal she can refrigerate until time to eat.

Boy I can smell the greek spices and the chicken cooking and it smells great. Even through my stuffed up nose. The grand amounts of rain and snow this winter have made for massive growth of weeds and underbrush, and of course juniper growth, which is all blooming now. And with the winds spreading the pollen high and low, everyone is suffering, and I'm no different. Yesterday I thought my eyeball was going to pop out of the socket and my teeth were going to be pushed out of my gums from the sinus pressure. Today, so far, it's just drip drip drip. Fear not...I blew my nose and washed my hands prior to cooking any of the aforementioned goodies.

Off to the showers so I can get myself to the store....hmmmm. A thought just occurred. If I make Roy breakfast and he eats, then I can get him in the shower and dressed because laundry needs to be done. I separated and put it all in baskets last evening, along with the bag of laundry products, so it's ready to go to the laundry mat. And if he goes to the laundry mat, then he can stop by the store first and bring me the orange, cream and oatmeal, and I don't have to get dressed until the cooking and house cleaning is done. Ooooh, I love it when a plan comes together. SO instead of off to the showers, I'm off to the kitchen to make breakfast for my man!!