meet our neighbor, maxx

That's our neighbor, Maxx. He was poking around across the street when Johnny took out the trash this morning. J. called the pup over to read his tag, then invited him into our backyard while he called his owners. It took them a good while to call back - long enough for Johnny to give Maxx several bowls of water, throw a tennis ball around, and for both of us to become smitten. I went outside a few times to scratch behind Maxx's ears and discovered that he loved to hug. As we crouched down, he put his sweet head right against our legs prompting a big hug around his stocky body. He was very obedient, too, which surprised us since we were strangers. He obeyed the commands of "sit", "stay", and "shake hands." We felt badly that we didn't have any dog treats on hand.

I love our two cats something fierce, but I started my earthbound life with dogs, so I have to say, it's a good thing Maxx's teenage owner retrieved him a few hours ago. I was getting rather attached. However, Harley and Milo are a big enough pet-adventure for now.

In other pursuits, I baked a loaf of Simple Bread last night (accidentally missing my beloved Radiohead on the Grammys) which turned out very well and smelled amazing in the process. I highly recommend Elana's Pantry to those of you who are also eating yeast-free, or sensitive to gluten (Elana's target audience). Many of her recipes call for Honeyville blanched almond flour which I'm happy to report is way cheaper than the Bob's Red Mill brand.

But back to the bread.... I used erythritol instead of agave and added a heaping teaspoon of cinnamon. It's a yummy, hearty loaf similar to Ezekiel bread. I'm planning to bake Simple Bread again with a bit more erythritol and Ghirardelli unsweetened cacao chips. I'm already drooling. Next, I'll try Elana's biscotti, flapjack, and Thai iced tea recipes with my special tweakings. I'm thinking fresh blueberries will go nicely on top of those flapjacks.

Also, it occurred to me that I ought to shop around for a yogurt maker - to make coconut milk yogurt! Any suggestions? And purchase hazelnut butter to use with those Ghirardelli chips + erythritol (or liquid vanilla stevia) - to make yeast-free "Nutella." Look, I eat lots of vegetables, fruit, legumes, and healthy meat, but I was born with a sweet tooth. I'm afraid a systemic yeast overgrowth can't stop me. Plus, I like that such a medical condition has taught me to cook from scratch since I'd like to pass that skill along to my future children (as we play in this little wooden kitchen, of course).

Lastly, I'm on a big Tim Keller-listening kick. The man has some wisdom for sure. Click here for several free sermons; I listened to "Praying our fears" yesterday. Seeing as I'm a fairly fearful person by nature, I scribbled down notes the whole time. I was advised to listen to "Praying our tears" as well, and I've been told that Keller's series on Hebrews is worth every penny.

....Does tending to Maxx count as #13 on my list?