Continuation of Presidents' Day Weekend

I began my Saturday making "tapioca" pudding. Instead of tapioca, I used Miracle Noodles "rice." It's konjac shaped into rice bits. The pudding was good, but next time I have to cut down on the Swerve because I was beginning to get a bit of after taste. I used Maria Emmerich's recipe.

After breakfast, I went to the Farmers' Market (indoors, natch -- it was -9 F.!) and bought the carrots and daikon you see below. I cannot believe that I bought baby kale. I'm going to try to make kale crisps and see if I like them.

It was a good day for soup so I added the carrots and other veggies to some homemade chicken soup. I used "ziti" Miracle Noodles and they are great in soup.

On Sunday I went to church and was able to get a key so I can get in for my party on the coming Saturday. I was making a lamb burger with the ground lamb I had bought at the Farmers' Market when the phone rang. It was Yaoyao.

She drove from Boston to visit and we went to Costco. Not only did I get to buy BIG FOOD, but Yaoyao asked my opinion on what to buy. This is what she got:

The picture doesn't do it justice because the diamond is blinding! Yes, she is engaged but her fiance is out of state so she got to choose her own ring. We had a fun time shopping and we went to two stores, ending up in Enfield, Connecticut. (It's not really very far from Springfield, Massachusetts where we started, but Yaoyao was impressed that we were in another state. Actually, I think it was the state of euphoria because I had never seen so many diamonds before!) After a yummy supper, we headed back to my house.

The following day, Monday, was Presidents' Day and we were determined to find a ring guard for Yaoyao's ring. It turns out, the ring is four sizes too big! She will get it sized when she gets back to Boston. We ended up at a jewelry store in Northampton because they said they would put the ring guard on right away. Boy, was it ever cold! It was a good week for Northampton to have ice sculptures!

To be honest, I didn't think this dude looked much like Buddah. Can you see the Buddah in the store window on the right? I have to admit, though, the sculptor certainly did a lot better job than I could have. I just wish he had made Buddah's jaw a bit smaller!

And then we rushed off and got our hair cut! Coming home, we were hungry and I made lamb curry. It doesn't look like much -- I used up the carrots in it -- but it tasted good!

I finally finished the red, white, and blue quilt so Yaoyao got it while it's still cold weather. I took a picture of her holding it up but I used her phone and she hasn't sent me the picture. I'll have to ask her again.

And that was our weekend!