Okay, is it just me or has December been a little nutty? I mean, it's not like we even have very many people to shop for, and still somehow the month got away from me, with very few books to add to this list. Eh, well...we made it. It's almost a new year, with all the bright shiny blank pages that entails. Thank you, dearly, for being a follower/subscriber this year. I love you all!

xoxo,
E

Our nutritionist's first rule of thumb for her clients is, "Don't be the weirdo." I struggle with this more than I'd like to admit, since I'm an adamant rule-follower, but still, I get where she's coming from.

So when we were invited to our church's young adult pig-picking and told to bring a side dish, we knew we might not be able to eat everything (or anything) there. But there would be at least one item of food we had control over: the one we made.

B and I have what I consider to be a really great marriage. We just fit together so well, you know?

But everyone's got quirks. Lord knows I've got mine (and if you ask B nicely, or even not-so-nicely, he'll probably share them with you). But his is that he's always got to be watching something. Constantly. And it drives. me. batty. The TV is always on. Or he's watching YouTube videos. Or sometimes both at the same time. I just can't even. I loathe background noise. It's the holiday season. Can't we have a friggin' silent night?!

I don't think it was mere coincidence that, shortly after I was given my new healthy eating marching orders, I saw Nourishing Meals on Blogging for Books. Filled with an entire year's worth of gluten-, soy-, and dairy-free whole food-based meals, this cookbook might just be our saving grace.

Fairly certain God was sitting up there all, "Dude, I've got to send her some kind of book about this whole eating thing, because that's how she learns, and otherwise she's gonna starve to death."

Spaghetti squash is one of our favorite fall/winter meals. So easy, nutritious, low in calories, and tasty. But here's the thing about spaghetti squash. I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Lean in. A little closer. You ready? Okay, here it is:
 
Spaghetti squash is not spaghetti.

These came about the way the best things in life do: by accident. We had bought some green beans and were looking for a good way to cook them when I thought about sautéing them in butter with garlic. But then - then we found the half-used bag of pine nuts in the pantry. Things escalated pretty quickly. B toasted them lightly, and we threw them in with the beans once they were done. And just for funsies we grated some fresh Parmesan cheese on top. Holy mother of fattening vegetables. Highly nutritionist-approved, and highly amazing.
 
I may or may not be known for licking the spoon after we cook this, just to get all the crusty, buttery, garlicky, cheesy bits off of it. All I can say is, I'll never tell.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but Tours, France, may just be the love of my life. I adore that town. Paris is absolutely beautiful, and I love it in its own way, but Tours? Tours feels like home. So when we arrived, it wasn't so much showing up at a destination as returning to a sacred place inside us. It was also especially poignant, because we don't know when or if we'll be back. Then again, we said that last October. And, well, you see how that turned out.

While my trip to France ended about as cluster-y as is humanly possible, it didn't actually start off that illustrious, either. After the lengthy, overnight flight, I went into the restroom just past border patrol to change and put in my contacts. When I flushed my toilet, the water went...the wrong direction. My socks, shoes, leggings, and underwear were soaked. Thank God I'd only peed.
 
Luckily, I had brought jeans to change into, so I quickly changed into those, waddled out awkwardly in wet shoes to Brian, got some clean, dry footwear and underwear, and changed again. In a different stall. And laughed, and laughed, and laughed. Because what else can you do?

Literally half of what I do in my life, I do because I read about it in a book. Trying to run away as a kid? From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Visiting Santorini last year? Thank Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants for that. This cake? Eat Cake, of course.