Reality Sinking In

 Tucked back in a corner of my brain is the fact that I will be having posterior cervical fusion surgery May 26th. Yesterday it came to the forefront. I picked up my Aspen neck brace which I will wear home from the hospital and wear for at least 2 weeks post-op.

I did receive a little bit of encouraging news. I am allowed to take the brace off when I eat. I am to sleep in it for two nights in a recliner; then I can try sleeping without it. If the pain level ramps up I will have to continue wearing it for more nights. The muscle fascia that supports the head will be cut during surgery. I will have to come to a point of head support without a lot of pain before I can sleep without the Aspen collar. 

Next Monday I will have the pre-op testing (blood draw, EKG, MRSA swab). I don't have to go to Fort Wayne; I can have it done at the Parkview facility in Warsaw. So the thoughts of surgery are now intruding in my routine days. 

We did receive snow yesterday afternoon and night. When I left choir practice a little before 5 p.m. after about 80 minutes of rehearsal, I had to brush away the snow on the back window of my car. The windshield cleared off using the wipers and the defroster running. As darkness fell, the snow was starting to stick to the grass. The roads stayed clear though. This morning I woke to snow-covered roofs and vegetation.

I think my plants are going to survive OK. Not sure about the quince blossoms. We are going to have a hard freeze again tonight. Today's weather was crazy. Sunshine with enough warming to melt snow this morning, but then at 2 p.m. we had a real flurry of flakes, followed by sun but only around 32 degrees, then a few more lighter snowfalls. I'm not sure we even hit 40 degrees today. 

I mostly stayed in my warm condo. I got some frozen grated zucchini out of the garage freezer last night and put in the refrigerator to thaw. I baked zucchini bread this morning. When I went to add the walnuts to the batter I discovered I had none. So I used pecans. I haven't eaten the bread yet, but I think I will like pecans though this is the first time I have not used walnuts.

My loaf of bread tends to sink in the middle. I cut it in half, putting one half in the garage freezer, the other half in a plastic freezer bag but on the kitchen counter. We are going to Cerulean for lunch tomorrow which means soup for supper with zuke bread.

After a soggy Saturday we should start warming up until Monday we will be in the 70's. Such is spring in Indiana. 

Hungry?

I baked some zucchini bread yesterday. I did freeze some grated zukes for a future baking. Take advantage of their availability and bake a loaf today. Here is a recipe a neighbor gave me more than 25 years ago which I still really like.
Zucchini Bread
Cream together 3 eggs, 2 cups of sugar, and 1 cup vegetable oil. Add 2 tsp. of vanilla.
Add to the creamed mixture, 2 cups grated zucchini (grated unpeeled)
Mix together 2 cups flour, 1/4 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. salt, 2 tsp. baking soda. (I add about 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon because a cafeteria in Dallas, TX had cinnamon in their zucchini muffins and I liked that touch.) Stir into liquid mixture.
Add 1 cup chopped walnuts. Pour into prepared pan(s).
Bake in pre-heated 325 degree oven for 1 hour or until bread comes away from sides of pan and inserted toothpick comes out clean. (I use a silicone baking pan and spray with Pam to get loaf to come out without sticking.) Cool about 10 minutes on a wire rack before removing from pan. Makes 2 smaller loaves or 1 large loaf depending on pan size. Freezes well.

Two blog sites that have recipe suggestions that I am currently visiting on a regular basis are La Table de Nana and Rattlebridge Farm which is a collecting spot for links to other recipe blogs. I haven’t tried any of the recipes, but I did save a few to try later.