Yesterday five of us took two short hikes in the Hill Country. One was to a moss covered grotto. The geology of the area was fascinating. It was also interesting how the plant life on the canyon rim was totally different from the plant life below under the ledges. The second hike was to a pool at the base of a waterfall. We had barbeque for a picnic by the pool. Then we climbed back behind the waterfall. I hope my pictures capture the beauty of the place.

Bread is such a big deal to Os. How many blogs have I written about not eating bread in a sandwich or substituting different flours in bread recipes? How many e-mails have I gotten from those of you who miss bread? Wheat bread makes us gain weight and makes our stomachs hurt, yet we yearn for it.

Today in church we sang a song. Part of the words were:

"This is my daily bread

Your very word spoken to me"

I thought about how when he was tempted Jesus quoted Moses saying, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."

For this O, the best bread is not wheat to put in my mouth, but the Word of God to hide in my heart.

Tonight was the Fall Festival at our school. It's past 11:30, and I've been on my feet since 6:00 taking yearbook pictures and collecting tickets at the moon bounce. I'm tired! So this will be a short blog.

I had already planned to eat my dinner before we left, my usual strategy for gatherings where I know that junk food will be the only food available. (Tonight I had left over pumpkin, turnip greens with grilled onions and tuna) My husband worked late and planned to pick up a sandwich at Subway on the way home. The surprise was my daughter's strategy. She used to love all of the carnival food. But tonight she said, "I was helping with posters for the concession stand. They don't have anything that's good for me. I'm going to fix myself some dinner before we go."

Outwardly I was calm. "That's cool," I said. Inside I was leaping up and down saying, "Yes! She's getting it, she's taking responsibility for her own blood type diet, and she's only 15."

If there is any place where we can accept, even celebrate differences it should be the Blood Type Diet website. Not only do you find four totally different diets, but different subgroups under each of the four.

It's been interesting to me, as I've read posts on the BTD Forums how even within the same blood type different people feel quite differently about foods. For instance someone had bought liver because it was supposed to be good for her and she wrote asking how to cook it. I replied with how I fix liver & onions. I would put my liver & onions up against any restaurant, but she fed it to her dog! In the same thread there were Os who loved liver and Os who couldn't even stand to be in the house when it was cooking. We're different.

Someone posted that they made fries from beets. A few years ago I would have thought that was really weird, but I eat fries from jicama and fries from sweet potato all the time, so why not beets? So I tried beet fries…once…that was enough.

There was a thread on the best way to cook winter squash. I like butternut, acorn, and spaghetti squash baked whole in the oven. When they are soft, I cut them, scoop out the seeds, season, and serve. I think cutting the squash in half first and then baking it dries it out, but lots of people wrote that they preferred that method. Our tastes are different. Last night, I decided to cook a pumpkin in the oven. I learned that pumpkins are different. Pumpkin cooked in my pressure cooker is smooth and creamy. Pumpkin in the oven is stringy. Different types of squash even cook differently.

There are many absolutes in this world; issues that are black and white. But taste in food is not one of them. I may blog about something that you try and don't like. That's ok. We can both be the same blood type and have very different tastes. You may even like beet fries.

Before I started the Blood Type Diet, my husband had been eating a cardboard breakfast cereal because it was high fiber and was supposed to be good for him. OK, it wasn't really cardboard, but that's what he told me it tasted like. When I compared the ingredients with Type A food lists, it wasn't good for him at all! It had several avoids and not many beneficials. I bought a cooked cereal that was wheat free and had lots of Type A beneficials. The first day he tried it he smiled and said, "I want this every day."

I should not have taken him so literally. Now after having that cereal 4 days a week for almost a year and a half, he is burned out on it. I'm now cooking oatmeal for him two mornings a week, cooking the former favorite one morning, and giving him what I fix for my daughter two mornings. (He's on his own with

Type A cold cereal for weekends!)

My daughter has never liked cereal - hot or cold. She likes pancakes, waffles, muffins and other pastry type breakfasts. I have been adjusting all my old health nut breakfast recipes to be Type A recipes for her.

My old favorite carrot cake recipe called for whole wheat flour and wheat germ. I didn't see how I could make enough changes for it to be good for Type As and still taste good. So I went in quest of a new recipe.

I found one that had potential. I liked it because it had 4 eggs and pineapple. I substituted 1 cup rye flour, 1 cup spelt flour, and ¾ cup kamut flour for the 2¾ cups wheat flour. I cut back on the sugar and baked it as breakfast bread. Both my husband and daughter loved it. The irony is that my husband hates carrot cake, but he liked this.

The next time I make it, I want to use more beneficial Type A flours. I'm thinking 1 cup rye, 1 cup oat, and ¾ cup buckwheat. That would still be neutral for me in case I wanted a piece for a snack. I'll put the whole recipe on TYPEbase4.

Susana wrote this after yesterday's blog. "Is it too much to ask for details on how you overcame temptation after the birthday cake? What you went through is what I generally go through every week end…if you do not mind sharing. Did you take something? Motivational thoughts?"

I laughed when I read it. I wish that I had done something unique or that I had a motivational thought, but to tell the truth I just toughed it out.

What I've learned on the BTD made me aware of what was happening. The wheat, coconut and way too much sugar that made me want more of the very foods that hurt me. It's the pesky Type O characteristic of not being able to handle wheat, yet craving it

We had the birthday cake at an intermission in a video we were watching after dinner. It was fairly late, so I was fortunate in that I didn't have to fight temptation all day. I just had to make it until bedtime.

Whether you've been on the BTD or any other diet, you have had those moments when you threw caution to the wind and ate whatever you wanted. I know you do because I do. When I wake the next morning, I feel bloated, the scale says I've gained weight, I lack energy. And I say to myself, "How could I be so dumb? Why did I do that?" etc. etc.

On the night of the birthday, every time I headed for the kitchen to scrounge for avoid carbohydrates I said to myself, "If you do this you will hate yourself in the morning!" Normally I might have eaten a high fiber beneficial food, just to give myself a little satisfaction. But so soon before I went to bed, I did not need to eat anything at all. I did drink a lot of water which possibly diluted the bad stuff and helped flush it out of my system. To my delight when I woke the next morning the craving for carbohydrates was gone.

So Susanna, there is my motivational thought, "If you do this you will hate yourself in the morning!" Not profound, but it did keep me out of trouble.

Thunderstorms have been rolling through the area most of the afternoon and evening, so the computer has been off. If I type fast, perhaps I can blog about the weekend's food before I hear the next roll of thunder or I start yawning, whichever comes first.

I was at school most of the day Saturday. We print the October student newspaper this week, and I needed to get ahead. I packed my lunch: sliced brisket, steamed broccoli with olive oil, acorn squash, and fava beans. The irony of this lunch is that I was so excited when I found canned fava beans at my regular grocery store. They are beneficial for my As, but my As don't like them. They are neutral for me, and I enjoy them.

Saturday was my husband's birthday. He requested a casserole for dinner that is definitely a Type A casserole. The only ingredient that is not a Type O avoid is ground turkey. My husband and daughter enjoyed the casserole. I made a salad with romaine lettuce, spinach, carrots and some of the ground turkey. He requested a cake that has no redeeming value for any blood type. I ate one piece in honor of the day, and spent the rest of the evening fighting the urge to eat anything with sugar. I won the fight, but it was not easy.

Sunday lunch was at a barbeque place. I had beef, my daughter had chicken, and my husband had turkey. There were several side order choices for the As. The only side for Os was green beans cooked with tomatoes, onions and lots of spices. The spices were what made it good. I wish I knew what they were.

Dinner tonight was a la carte. My husband had lentil soup and salad. My daughter had a dish of carrot salad, a dish of tuna salad, and a bowl of grapes. I had a salad made with shredded carrots, fresh spinach, and tuna, plus a bowl of the best Swiss chard I've ever cooked. I made it the same way I usually do, it must have just been really fresh.

My husband's grandmother lived to be more than 100. In the 90s when they were selling her house, we were given several items. Among them were two antique finished brass lamps. For 10 years one has been on my son's desk and one on my daughter's. I've dusted them every week.

The painters have finished in my son's room. Before I moved all the knick knacks back, I thought this would be a good opportunity to oil all the wood and thoroughly clean the hard surfaces. I had in my hand a paper towel that was wet with glass cleaner. Instead of getting a dry rag, I began to wipe the lamp with the wet towel. The lamp began to get sticky. I sprayed on more cleaner and wiped with more paper towels.

The lamp did not have an antique finish. It was a beautiful bright brass lamp covered with years of grime. A few minutes of scrubbing and it was shiny and beautiful.

What does this have to do with the BTD? I'll tell you. Sometimes when I look at my legs I see years of eating whole wheat and dairy products. Though I ate what society said was a "healthy" diet, and though I exercised regularly, I was building layer after layer of lumpy fat on my legs. I seemed powerless to stop it.

From the first week I started the Type O diet, it's as if I've been removing the buildup of avoids one layer at a time. It's a slower process than wiping a grimy lamp with cleaner, but the improvement is no less obvious.

I admire friends who plan their menus a week in advance and go to the store with an organized shopping list. I'm not like that. I'm an impulsive cook and an impulsive shopper. Don't get me wrong, I'm not lured away by fad foods or processed food in fancy packages. But I am influenced by what's on sale. If it's a good price, and it's on the BTD list, I'll buy it and figure out later how and when to cook it.

Every week I make one trip each to a health food market, a regular grocery store, and a wholesale club. I take a list of things that I'm out of and special requests from the family. Other than that, I browse around looking for bargains or waiting for inspiration.

The vegetable prices have been really good this week. Fruit prices are up from the summer. But the stores are practically giving winter squash away, and the displays are full of a variety of beautiful greens. Okra and asparagus have been on sale, so have onions and sweet potatoes. When I came home from the store yesterday, I realized my refrigerator was full.

Bargain or not it wouldn't hold any more vegetables. I began cooking and we began eating fresh vegetables as fast as we can. I have not fixed fancy vegetable recipes - I've just steamed them or baked them and served them with olive oil and salt.

Tonight I served with the vegetables cod baked in lemon juice and ginger juice. It was very tasty and very filling.

My class is starting the production phase of the October issue of the student newspaper. Painters arrive tomorrow to repaint the inside of our house. It's going to be an interesting two weeks, with quite a bit of disruption from normal routines.

Today I ran at the park with the hill. It was a warm, foggy, morning which meant a muggy run. Because of that I didn't run fast today. But I'm pleased with the way I ran.

The first time I ran at this park was about a year ago. I had been on the BTD only 4 months. I went to the park to climb the hill, thinking that would be more strenuous than walking. I had no intention of running; I was much too self conscious - a 50 year old woman who hadn't run in 20 years. But when I saw how the path wound through the trees, and realized that no one could see me, I broke into a light jog.

I didn't run far that day. I was way out of shape. But I ran far enough to remember how much I had enjoyed running back in my 20s. I thought the dirt path would be fairly easy on my knees, and I made the decision to come back and run again the next week. It took a while to be able to run a mile, and a while longer to run a mile and a half. Then I began working on a steady pace and a smooth style.

I'm no longer embarrassed if someone sees me running. In fact I enjoy passing walkers on the trail. Even more I enjoy seeing muscles in my legs where a year ago there were none.

We had computer trouble yesterday, so I didn't get to blog. It was after midnight by the time it was up and running. By then sleep was more important.

Saturday night my husband and I went to a going away party for some friends. Our host grilled chicken breasts outdoors. They were fabulous. The host said he would be fixing pinto beans. Everyone else was asked to bring another side dish that would go with grilled chicken.

Pinto beans are beneficial for my Type A husband, but I needed to make sure there would be a vegetable for me to eat. I decided to do cottage fries. I made two batches: one with white potatoes and one with sweet potatoes. They were a big hit. At the end of the party, the white potato bowl was empty (hurray, no avoid leftovers) and there were only a few sweet potato fries left.

I was glad I had looked out for myself. Except for the host's pinto beans and my potatoes, there were no vegetables! Everyone else brought bread or dessert. I have grumbled before in my blog that vegetables seem to be out of favor right now. That's not a good trend for health, and is somewhat ironic given all the news articles about an epidemic of obesity.

I refer to the Type O Guide every day, but Live Right 4 Your Type sits on the shelf with my other nutritional reference books. This morning I looked something up in the index, and as I was thumbing through, the headline on page 26 caught my eye, "Blood Type and Stress."

The fact that I quickly got back to feeling normal last week does not mean that my stress has gone away. The three things causing it will be around for a while, possibly forever. So I began re-reading about Type O and stress.

" Type Os require a lot more to knock them off kilter in the face of stress. However, once they are pushed to the point of dramatic response, it usually takes them longer to recover." That is ME - that is my life right now! I kept reading.

There was a lot of information about dopamine, adrenaline and nonadrenaline; then I came to this sentence on page 35, "This link may explain a curious circumstance that I've noticed over the years. Many Type Os crave either wheat or red meat. Wheat is one of the highest plant sources and red meat one of the highest animal sources of L-tyrosine, the building block of dopamine and the catecholamines."

I have been incredibly hungry ever since these stresses started. I tried to stay close to the recommended Type O guidelines, but by late afternoon I have been frantic. I thought it was blood sugar plummeting, and have been eating dried fruit and nuts. They gave me a feeling of fullness, but did not satisfy. I began drinking more fluids, but I was still hungry. My weight has bounced up and down 2-3 pounds, something it has not done since I started the BTD.

My body wants more meat. It doesn't want fruit, nuts, or water. For lunch today I fixed ground beef and ate as much as I wanted (with vegetables of course). I feel better this afternoon than I have in several days. I also bought some rhodiola and some lipoic acid (other LR4YT recommendations for Type O stress).

I'm wondering what other interesting things I've forgotten since I first read Live Right a year and a half ago. I think I'd better re-read the whole book.

I needed a fast lunch. I grated a carrot and half a kohlrabi in the food processor. I put them in a bowl with fresh spinach. I added a can of tuna and doused the whole thing with olive oil. Topped with a generous sprinkle of Trocomare seasoned salt, it was delicious.

Three fresh vegetables - two of them beneficial - combined well with 6 ounces of protein. My stomach was happy, and I was out the door, headed for school.

Last week Priscilla wrote asking what I ate for dessert. It is my opinion that dessert is one of the areas where in order to live a healthy life you have to retrain yourself to think a completely different way - a paradigm shift, to use current terminology.

Refined sugar was the big "NO" food when I was in my health nut years. (Even though sugar is neutral for Type Os, I still believe that an excess of refined sugar contributes to a lot of health problems.) This was a big issue for me because in the Southern US where I grew up, dessert after every meal is a mark of hospitality. I tried fruit as a dessert, but frankly I like fruit better as a salad or a snack. I tried desserts with other sweeteners (fruit juice, honey, raw sugar), and some of them are delicious. But I finally decided that the best thing was to get away from the idea that dessert is part of a meal.

I have raised my kids that way. When they were little, I noticed that if we were away from home and they were expecting dessert, that they would eat less dinner. It was important to me that they ate an abundance of protein, fruit & vegetables. I didn't want them taking small servings of real food to "save room for dessert."

I bake cookies and cakes, but they are eaten as after school snacks, not dessert at the end of a meal. If we have company for dinner and I fix a dessert, we don't eat it at the end of the meal. We clear the table and visit for a while, and then I serve dessert.

Now that I am on the Type O diet, wheat has become the big "NO". Instead of substituting other sweeteners for sugar, I'm learning to substitute other flours for wheat. When I adjust a recipe, I find that I can cut the sugar by 1/3 and no one notices. I think that is better for all of us. I substitute butter or oil for shortening and margarine. Again I find that I can cut the fat in a recipe by 1/4 to 1/3 without anyone complaining. I find that for cookies, cakes, and breakfast breads; rye, spelt, and kamut flours can be substituted and the recipe turns out the same. Rice flour alone has a different texture, but I often mix rice with other flours. (Yeast breads are another matter, I'm still not happy with my results, but I found a couple of new recipes on the internet that I'll be trying.)

This week I baked gingerbread with Type A beneficial flours. My daughter has eaten it for both breakfast and snack two days in a row.

My daughter has a cold. Nothing serious - a sore throat on Sunday and feeling tired with a scratchy throat on Monday. Fortunately Monday was a holiday, so she got lots of rest. However, since she's not running a fever, missing school today was not an option.

Yesterday she was able to drink lots of fluids all day, and keep a steady supply of herbs and vitamins in her system. School rule is no pills - that means no illegal drugs, no prescription drugs, no over the counter drugs and no vitamins - in the possession of students. If she was seriously ill I could take medication or supplements to the nurse's office, and she could go there to take them, but this is just a cold.

So this morning we were talking about what I could pack in her lunch and what vitamins & herbs she should add to her breakfast. She said that the high school teachers have agreed that students can have water bottles in class. (I guess they get tired of interruptions for trips to the water fountain.) She said I think I'll take a water bottle. That way when my throat gets dry, I can just take a drink. I said, put Echinacea drops in your bottle, that way you will get a steady dose all day.

When school was out this afternoon her water bottle was empty and her cold was much better. She had felt good all day. Tomorrow she will do the same thing, and that will put an end to this cold.

Echinacea is good for Type As, but would not be good for me. I started thinking about what I would do if I caught this cold. According to The Blood Type Encyclopedia I could put elderberry (proberry) drops in my water bottle. I'll put that on my shopping list. I think I'll put astragalus on the list also, as it is good for both As and Os. Unfortunately, I don't think astragalus comes in drops, so it wouldn't work in a school water bottle.

My stomach is much improved in a very short time. I would say that I'm 90 - 95% back to normal.

Food was not the main culprit. I had not drifted into eating avoids. I did however make an extra effort to increase beneficials, and to serve meals on time. Before the BTD I would have smothered my stress with wheat and potato snacks. That would have made my stomach worse and started a vicious cycle. Because I did not fall into that trap, I was able to heal faster.

No doubt I feel better after vigorous exercise. I did fall into a trap here. Stress made me lethargic and I neglected the exercise that would have best dissipated stress from my Type O body. Not only have I exercised every day, but I have selected more physical chores. Saturday I disassembled and scrubbed the lawn furniture - nasty, sweaty job. Today I'm washing windows. Desk work and sewing projects are on hold for a few days.

The emotional/spiritual part of me was where the biggest adjustment had to come. It is popular today to say "look inside yourself for answers and strength." HA! Inside myself is selfishness and worry. But when I look outside of myself to the creator God who though he is all powerful wants to have a personal relationship with me, that is where I find answers. I can rely on the promises of scripture: God's plans for me are good, though I'm going through a rough time right now; blessings come from serving others, not being self-serving; God is in control and I can trust Him.

I took my eyes off Jesus for a few days, which led to fear, which led to a stomach ache. My focus is back, my faith is renewed, and I'm beginning to be curious about how God will work through these problems to bring about good things.

When I look at the Type O beneficial vegetable list, there are a high percentage of greens. Until I started the Blood Type Diet, my greens were limited to salad and an occasional serving of spinach. Now I have greens at least once, often twice a day. This week I've had turnip greens, beet greens, spinach, and bok choy, plus several salad greens.

Spinach is my favorite. I like it raw, I like it cooked. I like it plain or with butter or olive oil or raisins. I like it fresh or frozen. I even eat it canned if we're picnicking.

My second favorite is beet greens. I once wrote that the only bad thing about beet greens was that they came attached to beets. I really don't like cooked beets - fortunately my husband does. So he eats the beets and I eat the greens. We were made for each other.

I like Swiss Chard a lot. Last spring beautiful fresh Swiss Chard was in all the stores. I didn't see it all summer. I'm hoping it will be back this fall. It would be a shame if it were only a one season green.

Collard greens and turnip greens are next on my list. I can eat them plain, but they are much better with grilled onions or ground beef or spicy seasoned salt.

Kale I just can't eat alone. If it was not on the beneficial list, I probably wouldn't eat it at all. Kale cooked with black eyed peas and onion is good. Kale with butter and fruit only preserves sounds weird, but is quite tasty.

This week was my first time to try bok choy. My vegetable guide suggested that I fix the bulb and the leaves as separate vegetables. I put the bulb in stew. I thought it was good, but my husband did not care for it. The vegetable guide said the leaves tasted like spinach. That probably made my expectations way too high. I cooked it today with butter and salt. It was good, but - in my opinion - nothing like spinach.

It's been a rough two weeks. My husband has a genetic eye condition which suddenly got worse. The company my husband works for was sold, and we don't yet know what changes will be coming. There has been a disagreement in our extended family which has affected our lives even though we live many miles away. Without ever meaning to, I let worry and anger creep into my thoughts. I knew I had let it go too far when on Monday I began to feel rumblings in my stomach that I haven't felt for a year.

I share this with you because it underlines the different facets of living right for your type. I can't blame this relapse on food. There have been two occasions when politeness dictated that I eat avoid foods. I'm sure they didn't help any, but when everything else is normal a piece of cake or a spoon of pasta doesn't set me back this much.

Exercise is part of the problem. My running and swimming days have continued as usual. But the weight work I do at night has been neglected. Several times I have dealt with the stress by playing cards on the computer. Card games do not qualify as intense physical exercise. Part of what I feel in my stomach is a build up of stress that my Type O body would have liked to release by exercise.

There is also the emotional/spiritual side of life. The Bible says, "Be angry but sin not," and "Have no anxiety about anything." I have ignored both those principles. I have let my imagination run wild. I have worried about things I have no control over. I began yesterday to take those kinds of thought captive.

I saw the pictures of my red irritated stomach in the spring of 2003 before I started the BTD. What I feel now is nowhere near as bad as what I felt then. But after more than a year of feeling great, even a little relapse is uncomfortable.

What am I doing? Yesterday I turned off the news and turned on music. As much as I enjoy current events, I don't need to take on the worries of the whole world until I get myself back in balance. The soothing effect is already helping. I have ginger juice in the refrigerator and I'm taking that as well as peppermint. I've increased DGL licorice, bladderwrack, bromelain & quercetin. And as soon as I post this blog, I'm going to swim ¾ mile - fast.

They say that when politicians get a letters from constituents they know that each letter statistically represents many other people who feel the same way. When they get several letters on the same subject, they know there is lots of interest. I've received several comments and e-mails about two recent blogs. If the politicians' rule of thumb is correct, there are others wondering the same things. So I'll answer in today's blog.

After I wrote about Ezekiel Bread, I got inquiries about the recipe. I have never made Ezekiel Bread myself. I buy it often at both my grocery store and my health food market. Before I wrote the blog I Googled "Ezekiel Bread Recipe" and got hundreds of web sites. I glanced at them quickly - enough to know that recipes were out there.

After getting requests for a recipe, I went back to Google. As I began to read in detail, I realized that finding a recipe wasn't as easy as I thought. The Bible lists the ingredients, but not the instructions. Though the Bible strongly implies that the grains were sprouted in a pot, many modern recipes just grind all the grains together to make a multi grain flour. Of the recipes that do sprout the grains, most add extra flour to give the bread a better texture. Neither of those options are acceptable for the Blood Type Diet.

I cannot tell you how many recipes I read, rejecting them for one reason or another. The one I found that looks to me as if it follows the Biblical formula and doesn't add BTD avoids is on this website:

http://www.wild-roses.com/bread.htm

I have not tried it. I any of you bake your own Ezekiel bread, please write and tell me how it comes out.

Several on you asked where I got the information that "Cans of cheap light tuna are safer than cans of expensive white & albacore tuna." The answer is from Dr. D'Adamo. There is a behind the scenes information exchange for bloggers. One of the other bloggers got a scary e-mail about contaminated fish several months ago, and asked if anyone could verify whether it was true. Dr. D'Adamo wrote a response and I hope he won't mind if I quote him here.

"Do not eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel, or tilefish because they contain high levels of mercury. Eat up to 12 ounces a week of a variety of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury. Five of the most commonly eaten fish that are low in mercury are shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish. Another commonly eaten fish, albacore ("white") tuna has more mercury than canned light tuna."

There is a hint of cool in the air, and it gives me hope that someday soon I might get to wear long sleeved shirts again. The weather made me think of stew. My husband loves stew, and I like coming home from school to find dinner waiting in the crock pot.

Last winter I was following the BTD, but he was indifferent. If I fixed a stew with a few Type A avoids, it didn't matter to him. Now he is much more aware of what foods are beneficial and avoid for him. Though he may eat avoids in restaurants, he assumes that food I serve at home will be good for him.

I didn't realize until today how hard it is to make a stew that both As and Os can eat. I can substitute for Type A avoids, or I can substitute for Type O avoids, but it is hard to make stew without beef, potatoes, tomatoes, wheat, barley, corn, OR peppers.

I started with a Greek Chicken Stew recipe which had avoids for all blood types. I left out the A and O avoids, then I tossed in other vegetables that I had on hand. When dinner was over my husband said, "I'll have some for lunch tomorrow, but after that maybe it should be a long time before you fix this again." Silver-tongued talker - he could have been a politician.

Now that the freezer is back on, I can shop at Sam's again. I don't go there often during the summer because the quantities are too big for the little freezer in my refrigerator. There are lots of things I like to buy at Sam's, but perhaps my favorite is lamb. The lamb in other local stores is over priced and mostly fat. Sam's lamb is lean and no more expensive than a roast.

This afternoon I cooked a leg of lamb. To go with it I fixed parsnips (flavored with buttery spread and a little maple syrup) and spinach (flavored with raisins and a little olive oil). Spinach prepared that way is one of the dishes my son always requests when he comes home.

The As couldn't have lamb, so I fixed fish for them. No mercury, but probably some polyamines. (That's a joke - read yesterday's blog) I also fixed a rice and broccoli dish that they both like.

We had a long lazy dinner and laughed a lot. Right now I can hear my husband in the kitchen unloading the dishwasher. That means it's my turn to load.