jenh526

I suppose I've been thinking about this because of The Great British Bake Off, and how much I would like, every once in awhile, to have a decent-sized piece of cake (for example). Then I was thinking that if I were to eliminate the everyday small sweets I could instead have a normal-sized indulgence every couple of weeks or so. I wonder how some of the contestants on that show stay thin with all the baking they do.

So, I've lost a total of about 35 lbs over several years. I've managed to keep it off by weighing myself daily and being careful about what I eat. And walking everyday. I still have a few pounds left to go - around 7 lbs, and I can't seem to get them off. I think sweets are what's holding me back. For whatever reason, I can't seem to forego the habit of having something sweet to finish a meal. Usually I just have one or two Hershey nuggets. Sometimes at night I might have a brownie or cookie or a bit of ice cream. I don't think I need to completely eliminate sweets but I'd like to make it a once-in-awhile thing instead of a daily thing. What do other people do to satisfy sweet cravings after a meal? I'm thinking something healthier like some fruit and yogurt might be a way to go, although I notice that yogurt can have quite a few calories also.

John Denver at the San Diego airport in the mid-80's. He drove up in a rental car and his two kids were with him. He was yelling at one of them to stop fighting with his sister. Then he turned around to a group of us with a big "greet my public" grin and came over to (presumably) sign autographs. But unfortunately no one asked - we just politely said hello. He had his guitar with him. Most recent sighting was Hilary Swank in a bookstore. She was in town shooting a movie. She chatted with the employees a bit and seemed friendly and pretty but relatively average-looking. I didn't immediately recognize her, just thought she was another Santa Fe hippie type. She sat down at a small table and started reading with a big grin on her face. I read afterwards somewhere that she's an avid reader. Sat at a table in a restaurant next to Randy Travis. He was engaged in a conversation with someone and completely ignoring his (much older) wife, from whom he is now divorced. Also "met" Mrs. Fields of cookie fame while I was buying a cookie at the Salt Lake City airport (late-90's). A beautiful petite blond came up and chatted for a minute with the counter person, and when she left the employee told me that was Mrs. Fields.

A theater professor I had in college was actually in the movie - Eric Christmas. He played Terry Hoskins' father. He was also the priest in Harold and Maude (another oldie but goodie - Harold, eat your beets!). Glad to know others loved this movie too.

I've always had a thing for Steve Martin. I loved his movies All of Me and LA Story. There are many good scenes in All of Me, but I particularly love the physical comedy of Steve Martin when he is learning to control his body with Lily Tomlin inhabiting half of it. The Prakha Lasa character is hilarious, and the end scene with Tomlin and Martin dancing is a joy to behold. LA Story is great too - there is one particularly lovely scene where the two main characters are walking through a beautiful garden and when the camera pans back to them they are two small children. There's another movie I've seen many times called Fandango starring a young and handsome Kevin Costner. It's about a college graduation trip in West Texas. The wedding scene at the end is one of my favorite scenes in any movie, with Costner taking one final dance with the Suzy Amis character. And I love the real Texan at the Sonic saying "gimme two chili dawgs and a malt". I love that several people have mentioned Sooner or Later. I was about fourteen when that aired on tv and it was a great fantasy at the time for me - oh, so you just put on some makeup to look a few years older and then catch a great looking older man. I found it on YouTube awhile back but haven't watched the whole thing. And Truly, Madly, Deeply - one of my favorites, although painful to watch. To the person who mentioned Them! - my mom took my brothers and me to see that at the one movie theater in our tiny town. My brother was about three years old at the time and I remember him crawling under the seats to hide when the giant ants appeared on the screen. I always wanted to see Foxes because I was too young to see it when it came out. I'll have to look for that one. I do remember The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane. Creepy but good. Anyone remember After Hours? The Land that Time Forgot? (1975) American Werewolf in London? There was another one I saw called It Must Be Love Cause I Feel So Dumb, about this nerdy little kid with glasses who was in love with a cheerleader and then his dog got run over and I felt so bad for him. I think it was an after-school special.

The scene in Kill Bill where Uma's character is buried alive always makes me feel like I'm suffocating.

I was intrigued enough to go to Trader Joe's tonight and buy this. I'm going to save it for Valentine's Day though! I wanted to check out a couple of other things too. The contestants on the Great British Bake Off have made a couple of things that Trader Joe's sells - kouign amann and steak and ale pie. Decided to pass on these for now but I really would like to try the kouign amann - if anyone has had this, would it make a decent coffee cake for breakfast or is it strictly a dessert item? The steak and ale pie looks a bit too high in calories for me, although I guess I could cut it in half. I gotta say, I'm getting some great food ideas from these threads. :) I recently bought some mini-phyllo shells and am trying to figure out what to fill them with. I'd like to try a s'mores thing with them, maybe with some marshmallow fluff under the broiler. Hope I won't be posting it in the disaster thread...

Stir-fried shrimp and broccoli with homemade toasted coconut gelato for dessert. Got the recipes out of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. It was fun making the gelato but the downside of homemade ice cream is that it gets ice crystals and I don't know how to prevent that. Anyway it's tasty, and I plan on eating it while watching the Great British Bake Off tonight after an afternoon of US Nationals figure skating.

This year for Christmas dinner we're having roast beef tenderloin with new potatoes. For dessert, it will be a Pink Adobe French apple pie with hard sauce. I also made some Toll House cookies over the weekend just for the heck of it and because I was a having a craving for them.

Tori must be holding something over Dean's head to get him to put up with this humiliation. I don't buy that it's he's so in love with her and doesn't want to lose her (I'm thinking specifically of the first episode where he says he loves his life while his whole expression looks like a soul damned to hell). I still think it's money. Money from the show, but also perhaps part of the Spelling fortune. Maybe Tori and Dean won't get much but their kids will surely get something? Maybe that's why they need to keep pumping out more of them.

Who could it be? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U1Jv5JoxaM

Dunkin Donuts. Sometimes I get their Egg McMuffiny thing for lunch. Whataburger's chicken strips are good. Other than that, I very rarely eat fast food (or even eat out). The last time I was pressed for time and decided to stop at Wendy's to try their Pacific cod sandwich, I was sick for two days afterwards (even though it tasted good at the time).

Sara Lee coffee cakes (butter streusel and pecan) - I guess these are still available somewhere but I can't find them anymore. There was a Dove (?) ice cream that came out a few years ago that had a chocolate ganache layer on top of it. Can't find that anymore either. But someone started a petition for out-of-production Dove ice cream: https://www.change.org/p/restart-production-of-dove-ice-cream-pints-unconditional-chocolate-vanilla-chocolate-chunk-and-mint-chocolate-chunk-ect

I started cracking up when the two of them were in the kitchen having another Very Serious Conversation, and the lizard Dean was holding was just staring at him while he was blabbing on. I started imagining the lizard saying, "what you on about mate?" in the Geico Gecko's accent. Then the lizard started staring at Tori when she was blubbering back. They should give the lizard subtitles.

Maybe it's my eyes but to me it looked like they did some digital blurring around the erm... frontal Speedo area. And hey, if Bear Grylls can show his naked bum on tv, I guess Ramsay can too.

There are wineries in the area. In fact, The Bistro restaurant across the street from Meson de Mesilla is run by the St. Clair Winery. They serve French Country paired with wines from their vineyards. They do a very good business.

The good steakhouse in town was Cattleman's. They had really nice prime rib. Gone downhill in the past decade or so. Tegmeyer's was decent - good place to get a soup and salad, and I loved their chocolate muffins. No longer in business, sadly. Las Cruces has attracted a lot of chain restaurants in the past few years, probably since they passed the 100,000 population mark. People tend to either go to those or to their favorite Mexican restaurants. There isn't a whole lot of wiggle room for much else. Garduno's (chain Mexican) lasted about 2 seconds. Meson de Mesilla, in its glory days, used to serve filet mignon, lamb, fish. The previous owners were in the wine business, so they knew how to pair a good wine with good food. Cali is wise to be selling the place, in my opinion, if she can find a buyer.

I think this is a probably a lack of understanding of Southwestern culture on his part. The locals will go to Mexican (or New Mexican) restaurants that have been around for GENERATIONS. It is truly impossible to compete with them. Meson de Mesilla used to be the place to go (late 80's - mid 90's) when you wanted to go somewhere for a special occasion. The food was very good there. I don't think the hotel was ever anything much to speak of, and I remember seeing the pool with leaves in it even back then. Haven't been there since Cali took it over.

My worst hotel stay was at a motel (does that count?) in San Diego. But I have very fond memories of it, because of the person I was with. He was my first real boyfriend, and I was madly in love with him, and we couldn't afford very much since he was 19 and I was 18. It was called the Best Rest Motel. It had a neon sign and a desk clerk who had his feet up, smoking and watching a portable tv, when we came in. The first time we stayed there we got a pretty good room. It had a small kitchen with pots and pans, and a shower with really good water pressure. The tv took forever to warm up - I think it was one of those old vacuum tube tvs (this was the 80's). The second time we stayed there, the room we got had roaches - even in the bed. And yeah, we still stayed there, after we had shooed the roaches away. The things we do for love (or lust, as it were)...

Yeah, I second this. In some ways, I do feel some empathy for Tori, given that sociopaths can be very charming and are extremely good at telling you exactly what you want to hear. Given her past history with emotionally abusive men, he must have seemed like her salvation. I get it, but I think if Dr. Wexler was really worth her salt, then she'd be telling Tori to move on... fast.

Maybe he makes her dress up like Aaron Spelling?