Kris and I went for a walk with the dogs when he arrived home this evening. I had intended on being out and about this evening, but cancelled my plans as the day wore on. My legs were tired from PT this morning, my stomach ached, my shoulder hurt, I was tired, and just wanted to go to bed. As we walked, Kris had to listen to my lamenting for more blocks than any normal person could stand.

Kris, however, has the patience of a saint, and let me talk.

All the way until I asked, "What is it that's going on that every part of me seems to be falling apart at the same time?" I have these stupid carcinomas, my knee is killing me, I can't walk, I can't run, I'm exhausted al the time, and I just want to stop complaining all the time and start enjoying life again.

Never one to hold back when I ask an earnest question, Kris turned to me and stated flatly, "It's your diet. It's crap."

Momentarily surprised into silence, I recovered with a denial just about out my lips, before Kris continued.

"Sure, you eat lots of vegetables, and not a lot of meat, but you also eat a ton of sugar. I won't mention the chocolate. You don't eat enough vegetables even though that's all you eat sometimes. You think that a big salad is enough, but you're not getting enough protein. It's your diet."

We walked together in silence for a couple blocks, the dogs tugging on the leashes before Kris brought them back under control. I thought about what he said, that maybe I could eat better, maybe, just maybe I shouldn't assume I was eating well, and maybe I should pay attention better to what I eat.

The silence grew long enough that Kris had to ask, "Are you mad at me?"

"For telling me the truth? No," I responded, "Just thinking maybe I shouldn't have eaten that box of Girl Scout cookies this afternoon."

Oh, boy! Oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy!

At my request, Kris ordered a few boxes of Greenies online for the girls. You remember the Greenies, right? Doggie Crack®?

Yeah, well, Kris ordered the Greenies and forgot to tell me he had ordered the Greenies. Thinking he had forgotten to order them, and having a dangerously low supply of Greenies (we have one, as last night), I ordered another batch of Greenies online. I hate buying them in the store. They're about $2.50 each if you buy them in the store and $0.89 each if you buy them online, $0.94 if you include shipping and had to pay for it by not ordering enough Greenies to receive free shipping (usually not a problem in this household).

Bella was happy for the delivery today. If only she REALLY knew what is in those hermetically sealed boxes. Of course, if she did know, I suspect she'd go rabid and kill both Kris and me on the way through the boxes.

Bella and I went for a walk today. We went to drop off a book.

I've started cleaning up items that I don't want and piling them up for Freecycling. One of the items was the cookbook, "The Vegetable Dishes I Can't Live Without," by Mollie Katzen, of Moosewood Cookbook fame. The problem with this book is that none of the dishes were interesting. Not one. They may have been vegetable dishes Katzen couldn't live without, but I certainly could.

I registered the book at Book Crossing, and decided to leave the book at the Charles Street Garden. Driving fewer than two miles to drop it off at the garden seemed like a waste of gas and time to me, but I didn't really want to walk for two hours to drop off the book either. Bella solved my dilema by harrassing me for a half hour, begging me to play with her, play with her, play, play, play.

I offered a walk, and she accepted.

So, off we went to walk.

She did well. She shifted into her "I'm on my own hike" pace and walked pretty much straight over to the garden. Maybe she sensed we were on a mission, since I wanted to finish my hour of walking in only an hour, not two by dragging the dog. I don't really know.

She was, however, a trooper, walking the whole way with a nice, crisp pace. We dropped our book off and left. Here's hoping it finds someone who enjoys it.

Why yes, slaving away in the kitchen IS what I like to do on my Saturdays. Why do you ask?

What? What?

Why, yes, I did use another four of the thirty eggs.

Andy came over this evening. He was following my milkshake thoughts and was out wandering the world, searching for the perfect chocolate milkshake. He failed, but was willing to stop by and play Settlers with Kris and me.

I had started making brownies, which I don't believe influenced his decision, but did use up eggs 11, 12, 13 and 14. Since I found my favorite hot chocolate recipe in the chocolate cookbook we received at our wedding, I've been more willing to try the overly complicated recipes in the book, these brownies being the latest recipe.

Other than the fact I burnt the brownies, clearly because I was so engrossed in playing Settlers that I forgot to check on the brownies (with that cursed oven which can't keep a steady, calibrated temperature for anything - if nothing else will push me into rebuilding the kitchen, that oven will), the recipe was amazing, and the brownies were incredible. It's a recipe I'll make again.

Oh, and Andy and I need to play WAY more Settlers. Kris beat us three games to zero. Sigh.

Well, look at that.

Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian should be titled, "How to Cook Everything except Orach Vegetarian," as it has no recipe for orach in it. Hell, I barely know what orach is, so surely this expert should know more, right?

Well, here, you become more of an expert: orach is a purple, leafy and somewhat stemmy, vegetable similar to spinach in texture, taste, and, hence, uses. It came in this week's CSA box

I chose Bittman's Rich Spinach Gratin recipe to use up three more eggs today. Gratin that tastes more like a custard? Really, sign me up.

I was entertained with the purple water that washing the orach produced, almost like purple beet water. I'm sure the compost heap enjoyed the extra anti-oxidants from the colored water.