Gator Pam

Good to know!

Question for y'all... I'm planning on making some posts of foods I prepared over the last week for Passover. I had started a couple of Passover threads in the Lounge before this more general topic thread was started, but they don't seem to get very many views. I could post in the What's for Dinner thread, but I plan on posting various foods, not just dinner. Since this is a general topic thread, would it be all right to post them here? I'll warn y'all, there will probably be a good 20 individual posts, and some of them will be long... What say y'all?

Rabbit! Rabbit!! Rabbit!!!

*spew* This is great! I purposely didn't include the link to the shirt, as the shirt is not why I'm posting this...

Thank you, Reinholt1! LOL!!!

So, last night at the more intimate than usual seder at Chabad, the rabbi was asking participants to speak on "freedom." No one really volunteered, until a more elderly than me gentleman spoke. He said some typical platitudes, then took his seat. The rabbi than looked at me and asked if I had anything to say on freedom. Not prepared or expecting that at all, I declined. However, would it be totally inappropriate in such a setting to talk about "freedom from cancer?" I would give a brief history of losing Mom and Daddy to cancer so young, and then talk about my own diagnoses and victories. I might even briefly slip in that my treatment has all been thanks to Medicaid, and how single payer would bring health care freedom for all. If asked again next year to speak on "freedom," or heck, if it happens at the next seder tonight, would that be totally inappropriate? The speakers always appear to be spontaneous, and I think being asked to speak is considered an honor, similar to opening the Ark or carrying the Torah during services is an honor. So, asking the rabbi if speaking on it is appropriate would be paramount, in my eyes at least, to asking for an honor, nu?

Chag Pesach Kasher v'sameach again. And... Hosanna Hey-sanna Sanna Sanna Ho Sanna-hey Sanna Hosanna...

For those more shomer than I am and who will be offline for the next three days, as well as those who will be around... !שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם !חַג פֵּסַח כָשֵׁר וְשָׂמֵחַ Have a Joyous Shabbat and Kosher and Happy Passover!

Fun and gorgeous!

Purple apparently is now gone and Thermoworks have put the orange Thermapen MK4 on the same closeout for $69. I'm starting to wonder if the MK4 is being completely discontinued, or if they're just going to offer it in one basic color.

I debated putting this in the Low Carb Cooking thread in The Lounge, but decided the Club is a general discussion thread so decided to put it here. I went ahead and wrote my full story for another forum. I know I've shared bits and pieces here before, as well as the photo. And those who have been Facebook friends with me throughout will recall each step happening. But, I don't think I've ever told the whole thing in one go before. I'm sharing in hopes some will find it encouraging, and possibly inspiring. Why I started keto and chose it as a lifetime woe: In May of 2018 I was diagnosed with Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS) in my left breast. This is after already having my thyroid removed in 2011 due to Stage 3 thyroid cancer, and being diagnosed with chronic (lifelong) myeloid leukemia in 2017. After doing tons of reading, I was hopeful of having a lumpectomy of the area affected, even though as Stage 0 breast cancer there was no lump to remove. However, when I met with my cancer surgeon, she informed me that the DCIS was spread throughout 75% of the milk ducts in my left breast, and it would have to be removed. My mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer and had the one breast removed at the age of 42. The cancer reappeared in the other breast and metastasized seven years later, leading to her death on her 50th birthday. In 2018, at 58, I had already outlived both my parents ages at their deaths due to various cancers. I decided to go for a double mastectomy, to hopefully eliminate a recurrence, which was done at the end of June that year. Prior to surgery, I was told I should start thinking about reconstruction. My cancer surgeon waa hopeful to have both the double mastectomy and reconstruction done at the same time. However, that usually occurs with implant reconstruction, and hearing many horror tales regarding implants, plus the implant surgeon telling me my skin was too thin to cover the implants in an appealing manner, I decided to pursue DIEP FLAP Reconstructive Surgery, which involves removing fat from the stomach, basically referred to as a tummy tuck, to rebuild the breasts. When I met with the reconstruction surgeon, she pinched my tummy fat and said I was definitely a candidate for the DIEP FLAP surgery. However, at the time I weighed 250 lbs. on a 5'3" frame. She flat out told me she would not put me on an operating table until I got down to 200 lbs. Then she suggested doing keto. I told her I wanted to discuss it with my primary care physician (who had me on two blood pressure medications as well as a statin), as well as my endocrinologist for my thyroid cancer and type II diabetes (for which I was on medication), my oncologist for the breast cancer, and my hematologist for the leukemia. She told me to do so, and *if* I reached 200 lbs. to contact her office again. I suspect she has a lot of overweight patients she never hears from again. All of my specialists and my primary care physician were in favor of me giving keto a try. So, I started keto the day after being released from my mastectomy surgery in June of 2018, and started a twice a day walking regimine when I was given clearance to do so. In mid December of 2018, five and a half months later, I returned to the reconstructive surgeon's office weighing 196 lbs. The first words out of her mouth was, "Give this girl a goal!" We scheduled my reconstruction for April of 2019, but there was a cancellation and my reconstruction was done in January of 2019. Even at 196, on a 5'3" frame, I wanted to aim for my high school weight of 112. A bit extreme, and if I hit 125 I'll be happy. I made keto my lifetime woe choice, and while I have a long way to go to get to the weight I want, I have had other benefits in the meantime. I have been taken off one of my blood pressure medications, and since my A1C has been hovering at 5.4 for over a year, I am no longer on any diabetic medication as well. At 61 years old, I'm feeling the best I have since my weight gain started in my early 20s. Keto for Life! Here is a side by side photo of me before my double mastectomy and at my current weight. As I said, I still want to lose another 70 lbs., if I can, but I'm on my way.

Thermoworks has noworries put the purple Thermapen MK4 on close out at the same deal.

I agree with bluebear. That is awesome!

Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit!

Just checked on the sale. The gray Thermapen Mk4 is still on closeout for 30% off, i.e., $69.

Apparently the white Thermapen Mk4 sold out, so Thermoworks has decided to close out the gray Thermapen Mk4 at the same price. Same deal, offered for as long as there is a supply.

Only for the white colored model. This brings the normally $99 Thermapen Mk4 down to $69; which is as low as I've seen new-in-box nonrefurbished models. One thing I love about the Thermapen Mk4 is the flippable digital read out. As a southpaw, this is really handy. https://www.thermoworks.com/Thermapen-Mk4

*cross posted* Friday was a day I spent doing a couple of low carb experiments. First, I took a keto recipe for pizza crust which supposedly requires prebaking before topping and returning to the oven, and using it in place of a standard dough to make a star shaped pizza. Similar in construction to a star babka, it's more a stromboli, in my opinion. But I decided to give it a try. This is post assembly and second rise. As you can see, the star is assembled without prebaking the crust. I used 1× recipe for the keto pizza crust. The regular dough produces twice as much volume, I believe. This is on a 10" dinner plate, so it's not huge. But, it was a late lunch for three, and was plenty. The construction calls for three filled layers and a top sealing layer. Only the top filled layer is sauced. I'm going to change that in the future, as well as serve some additional sauce on the side for dipping. The next experiment was trying to make a keto challah. I've made this coconut flour flaxseed brioche before, and find the taste and finished crumb really reminds me of a good egg challah. But the dough is far too soft to braid. I consulted with the recipe creator, and we decided I would try using the small silicone challah mold offered on amazon, as it's listed dimensions are similar to the size loaf pan recommended being used in the recipe. Unfortunately, I think those dimensions include the rim, as the mold itself was far too small for the entire recipe. So, I split the dough in half, covering the second half with plastic wrap and setting aside while I rose and baked the first half of the dough. Half the recipe was a bit shy to properly fill the mold, so it didn't rise as much as I hoped. However, they did take on the shape nicely! The second loaf had already risen while the first one rose in the pan and was baked. So, I'm pretty sure it over proofed. Maybe I should have put it in the refrigerator while working on the first one. We went ahead and cut in to both loaves, to see if the less rise affected taste or texture. Other than appearance, we didn't notice much difference. Erev Shabbes dinner Friday was Showtime rotisserie chicken, creamed spinach, and a couple of slices of "challah." Overall, I would say they were fairly acceptable experiments.

Having not worked since schools shut down here in the State of Washington, I've been living off of my credit cards and the balances are our of control. Kohls spending is on hold for the future, so I won't be using any of my codes for awhile. I received a 20% off offer I won't be using, if anyone is interested. Will we use this thread to offer Mystery codes as well?

Speaking of Groundhog Day, I'll be making keto buns for our bratwurst tonight for dinner. Sausage...ground hog... Yeah, my landlord goes there. Oh, and Happy Happy to bluebear's GS!

Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit

I spent the last two days making a new-to-me keto vanilla blackberry cake for my birthday.. Everything was made from scratch, including the sugar free blackberry jam. It came out decent.

Ooo... Last year was my bedian birthday. This year it is special for everyone!

Back from the hematologist. Huzzah! The increase is so small, she says to stay the course on the dose of walking chemo I'm on, and follow up in three more months.

Finally received test results from the biopsy done at the end of December, while a different area, results were the same as the other biopsy I had done last August on the bladder: precancerous lesion. So, no treatment on either area for now, but annual follow up required for both. Follow up with hematologist today, so I'll learn if my walking chemo is going to be increased, or what the next step is.