I’ve finally gotten my NEW SITE up and running. It feels like me, looks like me and–one of my favorite things–it’s Mobile friendly. For most of you. I hope.

If all of my loyal, lovely readers (all six of you) could update your beautiful blog link lists, I will buy you a big ol’ margarita to show my thanks, the very next chance we meet for Happy Hour. Which should be soon.

OK, that is all. See you on the flip side, right over HERE!

She taught me everything I know, more or less — at least the basics — about baking. And why everything tastes so much better when made a little slower, with more care, without paying so much attention to exact numbers, and without so much modern technology. I’ve adjusted my own style of baking since she passed away many years ago now, but I can still feel her with me when I’m making her recipes. Which is less frequent as I get older, as day to day obligations take up most of my free time.

But it feels good to get back into baking…and with a new twist. I’m a big fan of the Slow Food movement championed  by Alice Waters (who was recently a guest on Real Time with Bill Maher). Not slow as in “slow” but slow as in purposeful. Knowing what you’re putting in your body before you throw it into your pasta or on your pizza or into your shopping cart. It’s taking the time to make better choices (which does not mean super-expensive choices) about what we eat. And taking the time to enjoy what you are eating. As in, avoiding food that is not only pumped with additives, preservatives, sugars, fat and artificial flavoring but that doesn’t light your mouth afire.  Why waste those calories on something that tastes meh and is hurtful to your health?

So I’ve applied that to my renewed baking adventures. Last night I found a great Nutella cupcake recipe, and through a little research devised a way to make them health-friendly and organic. If you’re interested in the recipe, email me and it’s yours.

I spent some time today fleshing out my baking pantry. I weeded out any leftover bleached flour, refined salts, granulated sugars and expired extracts and spices. I restocked with a visit to my favorite quaint organic store in Appleton – The Granary Bulk Foods at 2125 North Richmond Street. My friend Jess over at Black Cat Kitchen steered me there for some extra virgin organic coconut oil earlier this year, and I’ve been hooked since. My grocery list:

• Extra fancy Durum Flour (for pizza dough and fine breads)
• Sweet cream buttermilk (key in frostings)
• Real Salt
• Evaporated Cane Juice (organic)
• Organic corn flour

For a few things they didn’t have in stock, I headed to Woodman’s Food Market:

• Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (15 oz on sale for $7.99!)
• Lighter Bake (butter & oil replacement made of pureed fruit) by Sunsweet
• Organic Coconut Flour
• Shelled Hemp Seed (natural, sustainable, no pesticides)

Really hoping that keeps the cubby stocked for at least the summer. Along these lines, if anyone in the Fox Valley area is interested in getting into a local baking exchange, let me know. I’d love to organize a quarterly Ladies Night Wine Bake, of sorts.

P.S. Missinsidegirl is Moving! Stayed tuned for the official “You must go here” post directing you to my new site!

Looking for commentary? You’re in luck. Here’s my second Vlog documenting the (I know) really exciting process. Cough.

That is all for now. Check back tomorrow for a stimulating review I’ve been meaning to post that could empower you to make new makeup choices, ladies. (Or at the very least, it’s something to pass the time.)

“Why?”

“There is like 3 inches of snow covering everything.”

“No way.” My face crinkles up in disbelief, challenging him to prove it.

“Look!”

I lift the blinds.

Gasp.

“Oh. My God.”  A tree directly out our bedroom window jumps at me in all its white glory. There’s at least 4 inches of snow clinging to every crevice of every branch. It’s a lot like being in an alternate universe at this moment — that’s how unexpected this April snow-covered world is.  In the driveway, his car is covered in heavy snow. Chunks melt and slowly slide down his defrosting windshield, kerplunking on the drive way.

“I need my camera!”  I run for the office, find it, resurface and for some reason my face lifts in a widespread grin.

He glowers. “Why are you excited?” he asks, leery. “This is not good.”

“I knoooow. But…oh my gosh.”

April snow. It’s apparently a big enough deal that I’m blogging about it. And offering photo evidence, because in about 24 hours the world will be completely green again.

Happy Hump Day!

Guys, I get that you don’t comprehend the weight of this breaking news. Ladies, you know what I’m talking about.  But let me put this in an analogy that both sexes can understand: You may only need them a couple times a year (or less for lucky folks), but when you do, you don’t trust your plumbing to just anyone. And, let me tell you, it’s hard to find a quality plumber/gynecologist. When you find a good one, you never want to use anyone else. Am I right, girls?

So I give her the news today, after we wrap up business in the stirrups. And it’s not my choice. It’s strictly economical.

If this great ole American health insurance system we supposedly have made individual insurance available to everyone, no matter what, right now, I wouldn’t have to look for more affordable (out of pocket) options.

I’m embarrassed, even though I know I shouldn’t be. I have to tell my doctor that, while I appreciate all the guidance and information and whatnot of late, I have to make a cut. Student loans and all that jazz to think about. Who can shell out a few hundred bucks every visit up front? (If you can, I will not be opposed to your sending me a check to share your good fortune. Wink.)

So I’m talking to other clinics behind her back. I know, it’s like I care a wee more about this than she would. But anyway, I get the chills just thinking about going back to lower-cost service clinics. Mainly because I’ve probably been guilty of making judgments about the people sitting in the waiting rooms of those places. (These girls’ boyfriends look scary, and some of the girls scarier.) I’ve stepped into Planned Parenthood exactly twice, in my college years when oral contraceptive prices went sky-high under my parents insurance plan. And it was uncomfortable being in there, mostly because I wasn’t sure if any of the people there cared. They didn’t know me. They hadn’t worked on health plans with me or gotten to hear stories about my family or boyfriend or whatever else.

And it might be lame and jumping the gun, but I always envisioned the doctor I’m about to leave as the one who’d deliver my babies some day. So maybe I’ll go ahead and just hope for a miracle. Maybe I’ll come upon a great insurance offer on the way there or I’ll get word that health care is suddenly free to everyone.

I trained Elmer to do Puppy Push-ups today; who knows what else could happen.