Ankle Update

I didn't think I would need to do another one of these. I am constantly frustrated at how long this injury is taking to heal. I am still at physio...I've been a total of at least 28 times. That's at least 16 hours of physio appointments, 28 hours of driving, another 20 hours of finding a parking spot and walking to the hospital, for a grand total of 64 hours of just physio related time. Then there are Dr's appointments, emergency visits, specialist appointments, pain clinic appointments...all too numerous to remember. All for a stupid broken ankle! It's insane.

My physio therapist is going away in April. She wants me done by the end of March. I'm trying my hardest, but set backs are a bit of a worry for me after the last time. The last one I had took months to settle down. I'd irritated my Achilles tendon. I'm now finally back on track, starting with jumping again - the first step in dynamic movements to enable me to jog again. I am able to hop on two legs with no pain. I am able to hop on the bad foot with some pain, about 6-8 times before I need to stop.

This week I am supposed to go for my first jog! Albeit, and VERY small one. The first time I will be allowed (and able, hopefully) to JOG. Wow. It'll have been 432 days since I was last able to jog.

My flexibility is seeming to level out about now. I still feel like I am just stiff, and that I should be able to keep pushing it, but it's so hard. And discouraging. I keep reminding myself it could be years, if ever, that I am able to walk up and down hill normally. I am a steady 9cm knee-to-wall, sometimes 10. But those last 3-4 cm are huge in reaching fluid movement, I'm finding. My balance and strength are almost perfect. I can now balance on my tippy toes on my bad leg for 20 seconds, 30 on a good day. Same as my good foot. Single leg heel raises are the same too. Even with that, it took a year to build up that strength again (including set-backs).

Through all this, I am incredibly grateful for physiotherapists. I just can't sing their praises highly enough. If I can offer one word of advice from all this, if you injure yourself, do whatever you can to get a Dr's referral for physio. I went to see specialists who didn't think I needed physio, but I insisted (having needed physio in the past a few other times, I already knew the importance). I shudder to think of my progress had I not had instruction on how to go about stretching and exercising my ankle this past year. Even if you have to pay for it, go a few times and get them to write down your exercises. Then go back as often as possible, doing your exercises diligently. I was lucky to be referred by the specialists to the physio centre at the hospital, so I've had my physio sessions included in my general heath care.

Being away on holidays with my sister and brother-in-law for the past 11 days has had some ups and downs with the ankle. We did a lot of swimming, some minor hiking and walking, but it's been enough to cause some swelling and soreness. Nothing too major, but I see that returning to normal is still a little way off yet. I had to force myself to do some things, but it was good to see that I could do it. I'm just so glad I was able to do just about everything everyone else could, and didn't miss out on anything major.

I'll share some holiday photos later...

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Animals

I can't resist my little furry Monster! I've always been a huge cat fan. I love dogs too, but there is something challenging about a cat - it takes a real effort to get to their little hearts of stone. Even then, I don't think they actually like ME. They like that I feed them. Though, I do tend to have a connection with Seti (at least I have talked myself into that idea). He will actually come when I call him! That almost never happens with cats. I had one other cat about 10 years ago who came when I called him...until the neighbour started feeding him...Ok, I guess I must concede that cats do not actually care about me, but rather care about the fact that I am the one who gives them treats and chin rubs.

As soon as we live in a real house, I cannot wait to get a cat! Until then, Seti will be my substitute. He pretty much lives here now anyway. He seems to only go home to eat, as far as I can tell. Lately we've been watching storms together, so these photos are from the past few storms we've had:





And this is what he likes to do to let us know he wants some milk:
Yet he never jumps on the counter top. What an irresistible little monster.

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Now for another type of animal. This one, also furry, likes to get in out of the rain too. This one I do not like one little bit. I couldn't care less about their little hearts. This one get the shoe treatment, not the spoiled rotten treatment. This ones make me not be able to sleep at night, and keeps me on edge all the time.

This one has 7 legs, and that white dot on its head? That's its eyeball cluster reflecting the light from my camera flash. *SHUDDER* It looked to be about 3.5" or about 9cm

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Mocha Brownie Cheesecake

I kind of made this one up; it ended up being pretty good. All I did was mix a few recipes together, no real improvisation here.

I used my new favorite recipe, Cappuccino Brownies, from The Essential Dessert Cookbook. The cheesecake part is from Women's Weekly Cupcakes, Cheesecakes, Cookies cookbook, except I simplified it. Then I added chocolate covered coffee beans on top.

Method:
1. Make cappuccino brownies (recipe here) and cool. I baked these in a round cake tin, and then transferred it to a spring form pan once it cooled. I had extra brownie mix (I didn't want the base too thick on the cake), so I baked the left overs in a small cupcake tin.
2. Make Cheesecake (recipe below), and add on top of cooled brownie base.
3. Make chocolate covered coffee beans (instructions here). Or buy them. But making them is SO easy, and cheap. Granted, they are not quite so pretty as the ones from Starbucks, but they do the trick :) Sprinkle some on top before serving.


Tips:
I lined the base of the springform with baking paper so I could slide the cake off for serving. I also lined the sides so the cheesecake wouldn't stick to the pan. This worked really well.

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Tiramisu Cheesecake

Ingredients:
2 tsp gelatin
2 tbsp water
125g cream cheese (about 4.4 oz, no huge need to be that accurate)
1/4 cup icing sugar
250g mascarpone cheese
2 tbsp Marsala (I used Kahlua, since it's all I had on hand)
300mL cream, whipped

Method:
1.Sprinkle gelatin over water in small heatproof bowl, or double boiler. Stand in a small pan of simmering water and stir until gelatin has dissolved. Cool for a few minutes.
2. Soften cream cheese to room temperature and add icing sugar in a bowl. Beat until smooth with an electric mixer.
3. Add mascarpone and Marsala (Kahlua) and beat until combined.
4. Stir in gelatin mixture.
5. Fold in whipped cream

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Now, for the cutest little mini versions!

Like I said, I had left over batter, so I decided to try some bite sized cheesecakes (of course, my inspiration for mini desserts comes from Bakerella).

"Ingredients":
Brownie mixture
Cheescake mixture
Choc covered coffee beans
baking paper
tape
mini cupcake tin & liners

Method:
1. Line mini cupcake tin with liners, and put a small spoonful into each liner. Bake as per recipe, but for less time.
2. Allow brownies to cool. Take off paper liners.
3. Cut small strips of baking paper, or waxed paper, about 2 or 3 times the height of the brownies.
4.This can be the frustrating part: form tubes around each brownie and tape closed. I rolled my mini brownies on the paper, as if I was wrapping a present. I had tape pre-cut so I could quickly secure the paper.
5. Stand brownies on a plate, etc, and pipe or spoon cheesecake mixture into the tubes.
6. Chill and top with coffee beans. Unwrap baking paper, and enjoy :)

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GOLD!

Oh my goodness, I can't not say anything - THAT WAS INCREDIBLE! I'm by no means an Olympic fan. I didn't even see one lick of coverage during this Olympics. Not because I didn't want to - afterall, I am from Vancouver (or just outside of it), but we don't have a tv. And I couldn't find live internet footage. Not to mention we have to pay per MB used (online video = $$ down the toilet). I did manage to see the OT period of the US vs Canada men's hockey game for Gold though, and, like all the other Canucks abroad, I am so proud to be a Canadian! That was incredible! And I can't imagine a better competitor than the US. It was a game to be proud of for both sides! Nothing better than a worthy opponent, especially for a game like this. Congratulations Canada! And Congratulations USA!

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Valentine's Day

Well, once again, WAY late. I will have to learn to accept the fact that I can never be as organized as I would like. I've been so busy again! Work has been really busy, and we've also been making travel plans, so there has been a lot of internet flight bookings (it's a confusing flight path we're taking), seeing travel agents, renewing passports, renewing other immigration crap too. I think I should become an immigration agent. I am now quite accustomed to filling out forms.

Anyhow. We did nothing for Valentine's Day! How sad. But I actually don't really care. I'm not one who puts huge emphasis on those holidays, though I love to get in the spirit. And we're going out this week sometime instead :) I made cards to send to my family, and also made treats to give to my in-law family too. But of course I was a week late, since I had to work all Valentine's Day weekend. I made the Oreo truffles I posted about earlier, and did some alterations :) I placed an order a few weeks ago for some fun new baking supplies and they arrived just in time for me to make treats a week late.

I put the Oreo Truffles on lollypop sticks, and tried out a few new flavours too. I did 2 batches of the recipe , and divided them up. I kept one batch normal, and flavoured a 1/2 batch with cherry, and the other half Kahlua, using LorAnn flavouring oils.

I covered the cherry balls with dark chocolate and red sprinkles.
I covered the kaluha balls with white chocolate and chocolate sprinkles.
I covered the plain balls with white and milk chocolate, and decorated with random sprinkles.


I put some on sticks too. Fun experimenting. They didn't look the prettiest, but next time I'll be prepared. I made little packages to give to my in-laws, wrapped up in baking paper. I had ordered some cellophane bags in my baking supply order, but they didn't get included. I had high hopes of wrapping them up all cute-like. No such luck.

I made some cards from a cute free printable. I added doilies for some fun cliche kitsch and tied them up with ribbons. I wrote cheesy mini love letters on the back to my family; things like "Will you be ours? Love, your Secret Admirers". As cheesy as they are, it's still fun to get cards in the mail :)

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Cappuccino Brownies

This is a new favorite for me! From The Essential Dessert Cookbook.

(oops, labeled the photo incorrectly)

Cappuccino Brownies

Ingredients:
150g butter
125g dark chocolate
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa
2 tbsp instant coffee powder (I think they mean those cappuccino pre-mixes - this is what I used and it worked great)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180ºC (350 ºF) and grease or line a 11 x 7 cake tin.
2. Melt butter and chocolate in a double boiler over water just off the boil. Stir until smooth and melted. Cool slightly.
3. Whisk eggs, sugar and vanilla together in a bowl. Whisk in chocolate mixture.
4. Stir in dry ingredients until combines. Do not over beat.
5. Pour into cake tin and bake for 40 minutes.

I make a simple chocolate icing for on top. Take a 1/4 cup of butter and a few tbsp of cocoa and beat until smooth (you can do this by hand). Add icing sugar and milk as needed (about 2 cups icing sugar, and a few tbsp milk).

The recipe book has more instructions to make ice cream sandwiches with this recipe - looks delicious!

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Chocolate Mousse, Hamburger Patties & Wedges

Chocolate mousse is a favorite around here. I usually make it once a year, for a special dinner. Hubby is not a huge fan of sweets, so I offer to make any dessert he might like, and he usually picks this one. I cannot argue - this is right up there. And the possibilities of chocolate mousse being used with other desserts is endless. This keeps well in the fridge, and so it's also a great dessert if you need to make something ahead of time. Since you use separated eggs in this recipe, I sometimes also time it with making a pavlova - another great recipe to make ahead of time, and it will also keep for a good few days in a sealed container (without the fruit and whipped cream added on top).

For our "special" Christmas dinner, with just the two of us, I made hamburgers (ha! So Christmas-y, but you'd understand, if you had to cook a turkey, veggies, buns, etc, that hamburgers are much more comfortable to do in 30 degree heat if you live in Oz). And for dessert, Chocolate Mousse, from Betty Crocker. I've made it in the past with nice chocolate decorations, but this year it was kept very simple.

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For the Hamburger patties, I've worked out this recipe through a little trial and error, which we like the best:

Ingredients:
500g ground beef
1 egg
1-2 piece(s) of bread, see how the consistency of the mix is before you add more
onion, diced
garlic, crushed
1-2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
salt & pepper
(you could also add Italian herbs too)

Method:
Moisten bread with water, and squeeze out excess. Mush between fingers so there are no large lumps (I have a soggy bread phobia, and cannot stand to see/taste noticeable lumps). Dice onion and garlic and add everything into a large bowl. Add all other ingredients, approximate measurements. Blend everything together with your hands, and shape into 4 balls. Flatten balls into patties. I always make them a little larger than I would want, since they tend to shrink a little when you cook them. BBQ patties with some cheese on top, using BBQ sauce to taste. Makes 4 large patties.

For a special burger, try the Paul Newman Southwest style dressing on your burger - amazing!

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Ingredients:
potatoes
oil
herbs
garlic
(mustard powder, paprika, chicken salt, etc)

Method:
Wash potatoes thoroughly, and chop into wedges. The smaller, the better. Pat potatoes dry with paper towel. The drier, the better. Put potatoes into a bowl, and add oil to the bowl to coat the potaoes. Add spices as you see fit. I like crushed garlic, Italian herbs and rosemary. But you can add whatever you want. I sometimes add a little mustard powder, paprika, etc....It's best to keep a thin layer, if possible. Maybe do two separate batches in the oven, as needed. Bake at 425º for about 30 mins.

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