Sunday Update - Week 17

The last week of April.  Not sure where the first third of the year went.  Bleh.

I got a lot accomplished on this phase of editing.  Finished it yesterday morning.  And now I have pages and pages of edit notes to input and an ending to rewrite.  Once that's done, I hope to get back to writing new words again.

The sale for Accidental Death finished up on Monday.  This ended up being the second best April I've had.  Which isn't saying much, but hey, it's something.

Not burning up the pages on reading, but I did get two books finished last week.  I'm 7 books ahead on my Goodreads goal.  Yay.

I started back on my walking routine Friday.  We'll see how that goes.  With that, I managed 5 out of 7 days being active.  The scale's still not being friendly to me.  But that's the way life goes sometimes.  On the positive thinking side, I haven't put back those 14 pounds I lost last year - only the weight I lost so far this year.  I'm trying to get back on the wagon with both my activity and my eating.

Which brings me to...  I made another batch of cookies.  Oatmeal Walnut Caramel Chip.  So good.  And oats and walnuts are good for you.  I also made a batch of lemon bread.  (Recipes at the end of this post.)

Hubs and I went fishing one afternoon.  He caught two bass and I caught three panfish.  All of them were too small to keep, but it was nice to have some outside together time.  And we saw two ospreys circling each other in the sky over the river.  One was holding a fish.  I assume it was some kind of mating thing.  Him: "Hey, baby, look what I got you."  And her: "What, you couldn't get me a bigger one?"

Okay, I think that's all I have for you today.  What have you got for me?

And here are the recipes I promised:

Lemon Loaf with Lemon Glaze

½ cup butter (softened)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 ½ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

½ cup milk

Glaze:

2 tablespoons lemon juice

½ cup confectioner’s sugar.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease one 8x4” loaf pan.  In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter.  Beat in eggs and lemon juice.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.  Add flour mixture alternately with milk until all ingredients are combined.  Pour into prepared pan.  Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Remove from oven.  While loaf is cooling in pan, combine glaze ingredients – stirring until smooth.  Once bread has cooled for approximately 10-15 minutes, turn bread out onto a plate and drizzle with glaze.  Allow to cool completely – so glaze sets.  Slice into ¼-½” portions and serve.

Oatmeal Walnut Caramel Chip Cookies 

1 c caramel chips
1 c walnuts
1 ½ c flour
1 t baking soda
¼ t salt
½ c butter (softened)
1 c sugar
1 egg
 ½ c milk
1 ½ cup quick oats

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease or line baking sheets with tinfoil. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Add egg. Beat until fluffy. Alternately combine flour mixture and milk with wet ingredients until smooth. Stir in oats, walnuts, and caramel chips. Drop by heaping spoonfuls on prepared sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Makes approx. 3 dozen.