Category: General

Tonight I made hot cocoa.  Not just ANY hot cocoa.  This hot cocoa was a little bit of heaven in a mug.

It's a recipe that came on the back of a package of vanilla beans that I bought from Costco.  My first use of a vanilla bean wasn't great.  I was making vanilla bean ice cream for my wife's Birthday.  The recipe I have is a custard-type ice cream.  I tempered the egg yolks and added them back in to the pot, but I think I had the burner on just a bit too high.  I was supposed to cook the mixture until it coated the back of a spoon.  When it hit that point, I was just about to take the mixture off the heat and it started to boil, and the custard separated.  It was beyond salvaging.  A broken custard never ever recovers.  I'll try that recipe again in a few days.

When I got the vanilla bean out for tonight's hot cocoa recipe, I found out that something was missing!  It told me to split the vanilla bean and scrape out the insides and put it in a food processor and add sugar.  The problem?  The recipe on the package didn't say how much sugar to add!  A bit of a search on the Internet and I found the recipe in its entirety.  So here it is for you:

Ingredients:

• 1 vanilla bean
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa (Dutch-processed is best)
• 1/2 cup water
• Pinch of salt
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1 1/2 cups half and half
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup chilled whipping cream

Directions:

Scrape seeds from the vanilla bean into food processor.  Set aside vanilla pod.  Add sugar to processor and process for 10 seconds.  Reserve 3 tablespoons of vanilla sugar.  Transfer remaining vanilla sugar to a medium saucepan.  Add the unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/2 cup of water, pinch of salt, and whisk until smooth.  Whisk over medium heat just until bubbling begins.  Whisk in whole milk and half and half.  Add reserved vanilla bean pod.  Bring mixture to a simmer.  Remove heat and whisk in vanilla extract.  Discard vanilla bean pod.  Beat whipping cream and reserved vanilla sugar in a medium bowl until firm peaks begin to form.  Divide hot chocolate among 6 mugs and top with whipped cream.

It's really good.  Really REALLY good.  The cocoa is dark and chocolaty.  The whipped cream adds a creamy richness that cools the cocoa as you sip it.  It's the best hot cocoa I've had since I left Apeldoorn where the lady that owned the house we lived in would make hot cocoa for us pretty much every night.

It's definitely worth the effort to make it.  Enjoy!

I went back to the Nephrologist today.  I was really hoping that the tiny pill I take every morning would cause less calcium to be excreted and therefore be a "cure" for my kidney stones.

Nope.

So they're going to double the dose.  The doctor also said that my sodium level is high, and that can also contribute to high calcium levels.  That means I'm supposed to watch my salt intake too.

Great.

So I get to do it all again in two months.  I get to do a pair of 24-hour urine studies and go back and see Mr. Nephrologist again.

Yippie freaking skippie.

I'm working out every day now.  Yep.  Every day, I'm working out.  Doctor's orders.

I've worked up to 3 lbs.  I'm sure you would be impressed.

It's amazing how sore I'm getting from 3 lbs.  THREE FREAKING POUNDS!

But now, if I don't "lift" every day, I can tell that I'm regressing.

So please don't mock me as I lift my tiny little dumbbell and hope for continued improvement.

I went back to see my Orthopaedic Surgeon on Monday.  He said that things are looking very good and he's pleased with the amount of flexibility I have.  The residual soreness is normal and should fade over the next two months.  I'm now lifting light weights a few times a day.  Physical therapy fortunately won't be necessary, at least, not as long as I continue to work on things myself and make progress.  I still have to take it easy until the pain is completely gone and strength is being restored.  But in a couple of months, I could be completely back to normal!

As I left UVU on Thursday evening, I watched a young man sitting in a commons area with his adorable baby daughter.  He had a blanket spread out on the floor and was sitting directly behind his daughter and he was attempting to get her to sit up--a feat that she was just barely too young to accomplish.  As I walked towards them, I watched him sit her up, and she'd balance for a second and start to fall over.  He'd catch her and repeat the process.

And then I had a "Jenny In the Glass" moment.  It's an old LDS "Homefront" commercial that they used to show on television, where a young father is viewing his newborn daughter through the glass in the nursery at the hospital and he sees her growing up before his eyes.

It doesn't seem that long ago that I was balancing my oldest son, trying to help him reach that next milestone, and now I feel like I'm digging in my heels, trying to hold back the inevitable.  He's fifteen years old and driving and before I know it, he'll be out on his own and I'll be wishing he were still around because I'll miss him.

His younger brother isn't far behind him.

I wanted to tell this young father to just let her lie there or roll over and do what she was already doing.  I wanted to tell him that he needs to enjoy every stage for what it is and not to rush things.

But he probably wouldn't have listened anyway.  He wouldn't understand any better than I would have at that stage in my life.

There's a distinction to be made there.  I'm a good cook, but I'm not a chef.

I can follow a recipe.  I have even learned quite a few techniques from The Food Network, and I can employ these techniques correctly.  I even understand the "why" behind a lot of these techniques.  When I follow a recipe, it turns out well way more often than not.

This makes me a good cook.  It does NOT make me a chef.

I watch competitions on The Food Network like The Next Food Network Star, or the Next Iron Chef.  Even watching competitions like Iron Chef or Iron Chef America make me realize that I'm not a chef.

The people in these competitions take ingredients and from them, synthesize new culinary creations.  They take the ordinary and make the extraordinary.  They don't need directions to follow.  They don't need a specific set of measurements and directions to create something delicious.  They have the education and experience required to be able to create something new.

They have learned through education and through trial and error what can be combined to please the palettes of most people.  They know how to add herbs and spices in the right combinations to make something that tastes "right" to most people.  They understand which seasonings complement which foods.

So no, I'm not a chef.  But I'm content to be a good cook.  I like being able to replicate what culinary minds greater than mine have invented.  I like being able to RE-create delicious things that others have invented.

No more, please!!

My younger son hasn't been to school since he came home after half a day on September 2.  We were reasonably sure that he had the flu.  He was feeling better for a couple of days, but today, he took a turn for the worse again.  We took him to see our family doctor.  He doesn't have the flu, swine or otherwise.  He doesn't have mononucleosis.  He has some sort of virus that is just beating him down, and with his poor, tired immune system, he just isn't getting better.

My older son has had a dry cough for several days.  On Tuesday, we went to an activity up American Fork Canyon.  On the way back, he complained that his ear wouldn't pop, and when it finally did the next day, it was painful.  Today, we took HIM to the doctor too.  He has a cold with a pretty bad ear infection.  Ugh.  At least that's treatable with antibiotics.

Add to that my wife's still-unknown kidney issue and my continuing medical saga, and you can probably imagine how fed up I am with doctors.  But I'm more fed up with people not feeling well.  I want my son to be able to go back to his life again, even if that means lots of make-up work at school.  I want to know what is causing my wife's kidney pain.  I just want us all to be healthy again.

ENOUGH ALREADY!!!

I love music.  It's deeply entwined in who I am.

On Sunday, I played my guitar again.  I haven't played it at all in the last 5 or 6 weeks.  I picked it up once a little more than a week before Sunday, and it hurt too much to play.

But on Sunday, I was able to play for a little while.  I could finger pick without any pain at all, and strumming was a little bit sore, but it wasn't painful!

My arm wore out pretty quickly, which was fine, because the fingers on my left hand were getting sore already.

I'm going to play a little bit every night now.  I'll bet it's actually good/therapeutic for my elbow because it's not load bearing, it doesn't flex my wrist, and it's decent exercise for a stiff joint.

But I was able to play music!  I missed that SO much!

Today I got to see the "Operative Report" from my Orthopaedic Surgeon.  Here's what it said:

Date of Service:  8/12/2009

PREOPERATIVE DIAGNOSIS:  Right elbow chronic lateral epicondylitis.

POSTOPERATIVE DIAGNOSIS:  Right elbow chronic lateral epicondylitis.

PROCEDURE PERFORMED:  Right elbow extensor tendon aponeurosis debridement -- repair.

SURGEON:  <Surgeon's Name>

ASSISTANT:  <Assistant's Name>

ANESTHESIA:  General.

COMPLICATIONS:  None.

DRAINS:  None.

OPERATIVE NOTE:  The patient was taken to the operating room.  After induction of general anesthesia, the patient's right arm was prepped and draped in sterile manner.  The right arm was elevated, exsanguinated, and tourniquet inflated to 250 mmHg.

An incision was made over the lateral epicondyle.  Sharp disseciton was carried through skin and subcutaneous tissue.  Extensor carpi radialis longus was divided and, beneath that, there was degenerative torn extensor carpi radialis brevis which was debrided back to healthy tissue.  The lateral epicondyle was lightly debrided, and several small drill holes were placed.  The tendon was then reapproximated and sewn with 2-0 figure-of-eight Vicryl sutures.  The skin was closed with 3-0 Monocryl subcutaneous sutures and Steri-Strips.  Marcaine 0.5% was injected in the wound.  A sterile compression dressing with sugar-tong splint was applied.  The patient was taken to the recovery room in stable condition.

So that's what happened.  It's nice to see again that "there was degenerative torn extensor carpi radialis brevis,"  meaning that yes, the tendon WAS torn, and that this wouldn't have gotten better by itself.  No, not good that I had to have the surgery, but it IS good that the surgery discovered exactly what was expected and the surgery wasn't for nothing.

Interesting to me was that my right arm was "exsanguinated."  This means that they used a very tight compression wrap to force as much blood as possible out of my arm.  Then the tourniquet kept as much blood as possible from returning to my arm.  Doing this results in a nearly bloodless operation.

"Several small drill holes were placed."  It's no wonder that I'm still aching.  It's no wonder that there's still a tiny bit of swelling.  One of the extensor tendons was split and the other was basically scraped until all of the "degenerative" tissue was gone.  It's no wonder that the tendons are still tight and hurt when I stretch them.

Actually, it's amazing that I'm doing as well as I am at this point.  I'm just over 4 weeks post-surgery and I feel like I'm making good progress.  I still get frustrated now and again.  I still get tired of the pain.  But all things considered, I'm doing very well.

I certainly am!  The withdrawal symptoms that started setting in in January are starting to abate, because this opening weekend of College Football, I watched...

• Oregon at Boise State - Yes, I saw the punch and followed the controversy.
• Navy at Ohio State - A lot of Buckeyes were biting their nails until the 2-point conversion attempt.
• Nevada at Notre Dame
• BYU at Oklahoma - WOW!  Things might have ended differently if Sam Bradford hadn't been injured.  Regardless, BYU was hanging in there even WITH Bradford in the game.
• LSU at Washington - Looks like Sarkisian's Huskies are going to do okay this year.  They played LSU respectably.
• Miami at Florida State - A knock-down, drag-out back-and-forth game from start to finish.

I think I watched all or part of a couple more games too, but these were the fun ones for me.  I would have watched the Gators play had it been televised in my area, but there's not much I can do about that.

Aaaah...  Another season of College Football is upon us!