A little dream of mine

It's not a life long dream, like having a cottage on three (must be fenced in -- but nicely done) acres on the coast of Maine with 12 rescued dogs who live together in harmony with Robin and me and a penthouse in Manhattan for long weekends when we need a break and/or when my publisher wants to see me with news so good that it must be shared in person. (Check my yearbook - living in Manhattan really has been a lifelong dream of mine. It was easier to dream that before turning into a crazy dog lady, but hey, where there's a will, there's a way.)

This dream is rather young. About an hour and a half young, born this afternoon when we took our first batch of homemade bagels out of the oven. The dream grew roots when shortly thereafter we made a jalapeno popper dip. I hadn't intended for the bagels and dip to go with each other. They were both recipes that were introduced to me this week that I simply wanted to try. But when Robin walked around one corner gnawing on a bagel and I rounded the other corner testing the jalapeno dip, we collided and this creation simutaneously combusted. So did my dream. OK, well I stole that visual from the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup commercial, but this combo is equally as good. (Oh that reminds me - their Easter eggs should be out soon! Yay!)

So here's what. I am going to find a pink vintage Shasta (ham can looking old trailer for those who don't know), hopefully redo it to complete adorableness under the guidance of our friend, Kat, whose fault it is that I want one of these in the first place, and travel from Asheville to the NC coast to the coast of FL, selling fresh homemade bagels and schmears in a pink outdoor cafe setting. We'll be like hot dog vendors or lunch truck people! We'll stay as long as we want in an area, then move on to the next town. The town folk will HATE to see us go and word of mouth will spread faster than, oh wait, no more Iris jokes.

Do I have some details to work out? Sure. Should I put some more thought into it before we quit our day jobs? I guess. But a girl can dream and I think this is a swell idea. Right up there with opening a worldwide chain of tanning salons in airports. (Think about it. You want a tan before you go on vacation to get a base. And on the way home, you can get that extra boost of sun that you're not getting naturally because you're now flying back to Detroit. It's a good plan. Seriously.)

Here are the recipes. Hope I wasn't not supposed to share. If so, oopsy.

BAGELS: Go to allrecipes.com and type in Boiled Bagels. Per my friend's suggestion, we made six instead of whatever they said and boiled them for two minutes on each side.

JALAPENO POPPER DIP: I don't usually measure when cooking. Just guesstimated the following. Used reduced fat cream cheese and mayo and it was still delicious.

2 pax softened cream cheese
1 C mayo
1/2 C shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
1/4 C canned chopped green chili peppers
1/4 C diced jalapeno peppers
1 C Parmesan cheese
1/2 C Panko bread crumbs

Mix and bake in a shallow dish for 30 minutes at 40*

One step forward, two steps back ... used to be my way of life ... not any more.

I'm just going to ignore the fact that (again) I haven't posted in months and pretend that I haven't horribly ignored my blog.

Last year was my personal best. I accomplished a lot. Lost a chunk of weight, walked like a mental patient (as in a lot , not as in around in circles while drooling) and got a jay oh bee. But those things added together and multiplied by a bazillion don't begin to compare with giving up drinking. Enough about that. To me it's the best and biggest thing I ever did. To someone else it could be like not ordering fries with that.

Robin and I went for a little walk today. Not a long one. Not a hike. Not a short but intense walk. Just a normal walk around a small lake a few times at the Carl Sanburg Estate. The point is that we got out and got moving. Then we went to a highly recommended bakery and got something that a friend had recommended to me earlier this week...a big warm doughy pretzel wrapped in BACON and barely drizzled in a light maple syrup. Been thinking about it all week and prepared myself not to get my hopes up. Was so happily satisfied that I almost smoked a cigarette afterward.

So the little walk didn't offset the bacon salty doughy little touch of maple deliciousness. Not my goal today. Today, I did take one step forward and two steps back. But if I strive to, on most days, take two steps forward and one step back, then next year at this time I will be as happy with myself for personal accomplishments this year as I am now for last year's. (Huh?).

On one hand, 2013 is when I made up my mind to quit drinking. It was the ending of a too long chapter in my life, so the year is notable. (BTW, that is what anything boils down to...making up your mind.) April 8, 2013, to be exact. But I made up my mind not to drink on April 9th, June 18th, August 2nd, December 24th, today, and every other day between then and now, so every day is a victory since I choose it to be. THAT is a feeling better than any buzz I've ever had.