Tri-Tip Roast Experiment

I started back on a diet that will help my hypoglycemia and on top of it being a regimen of regular protein, it is low sodium. I decided to create a new crock pot recipe! First, I started out with pearl onions: I added potatoes (although I had to reposition them in the pot when I put the meat in:

Here is the tri-tip roast, which is a nice lean meat:

I added a low sodium vegetable broth (about 1 1/2 - 2 cups):

One can of tomato sauce (no salt added of course):

White pepper of course:

After I added the white pepper, I added italian seasoning:

Who could forget the garlic? I added about a tablespoon.

I also added some water so that most of the meat was covered:

Voila! 6 hours on low heat. It turned out really well. Maybe I would add another tablespoon of garlic next time. :)

Visit with Alice in Northern California

I stayed with my good friend, Alice, while I was up in Northern California. We had such a great time! My first night there we just caught up on all the goings on in our life. The next day I went to visit with Kristin and Lynn and when I came back it was Alice time! :) We decided to walk around the cute little town that Alice lives in-Walnut Creek. We ended up at McCovey's which is a baseball-themed pub for dinner. This is McCovey's number, which was painted on the ceiling (he played for the Giants): Here we are waiting for our table: Afterwards, we walked around and ended up at the grocery store to get cookie dough to make chocolate chip cookies. They were yummy. :) The next morning, we went to the Neighborhood Church, which is now Alice's church. I really enjoyed it and was impressed that they had a choir AND an orchestra! Wow! Afterwards we went to Pyzano's for pizza.

From there we drove to San Jose to go to the Winchester Mystery House. Here I am eagerly waiting for the tour to start.

I had been on this tour back in 1994 and I can tell you it was very interesting. This time, it was the worst tour both Alice and I had ever experienced! The guy was new so we tried to give him some grace, but he couldn't even pronounced 'mahogany'! It was frustrating because it was Alice's first time there and I felt bad that she didn't have a good experience. :(

Alice drove me to the airport after that! Despite the tourguide fiasco, I had a great time on my visit up north!

Visit with Kristn in Northern California

I made a trip up to Northern California on the weekend of March 26th. I stayed with my good friend, Alice. I had come to realize that an old friend from my Boston/Park Street Church days lived close by. Kristin and I met up for breakfast and had a fun time catching up!

Visiting Lynn in Northern California

My sister, Erika, always comments that whenever I fall, I fall gracefully. Well, she obviously did not see me fall when I entered Lynn's house! Well, it was actually a minute after I entered. Tim, Lynn's husband, introduced me to their 3-year-old daughter, Ivy, and she made a mad rush for my shins! I fell, and I fell in stages, too. Clunk....clunk, clunk! I was down for the count! After I regained my composure, Ivy got to open the birthday gift I brought her. Lynn and I went to lunch and had a great time catching up. When we got back, we had a grand old time playing with Ivy. She was great fun.

The next morning Lynn texted me that first thing in the morning, Ivy went straight to her new Little People Farm!

Here is a picture of me, Lynn and Ivy right before I left:

For those of you that don't know, Lynn and I were college suitemates. Lynn is the first person, besides my R.A., that I met in college. I introduced myself to her and because I looked so young apparently, she still thought I was the younger sister of her roommate (she thought it was going to be Erika). Haha....it always makes me laugh. Lynn is one of the nicest people I know. She is a treasured friend.

Nicole's Birthday Dinner

It was a packed room (The Pope Room to be exact), filled with Nicole's friends to celebrate her birthday. A few minutes after everyone ordered their drinks, Jenn approached me to tell me that everyone on her side of the table had decided that I should be the one to order for everyone, since we were at Buca di Beppo's and they serve family style meals. I quickly accepted the duty and got together a good order of 3 salads (including an antipasto salad), 5 main dishes and 2 orders of garlic bread. Lisa W. could only stay a few minutes, so James suggested that we wrap up any leftovers and bring them to her at church (she works in children's ministry and most of the group was planning on attending service after dinner). Isn't that thoughtful? The leftovers turned out to be perfect for one person! Perfect! Nicole asked for no gifts, but I couldn't resist getting something in the theme of her mission's trip. So I got her a "Missions Preparedness Kit". Nicole and Andrea (to Nicole's left in the picture below) are going to Mexico. The bag was so cute and I included a list of the contents in the card attached. Nicole read it aloud. My favorite item: imodium (you know why). :D Nicole inspecting the items:

After the glorious meal, our server and his server friends sang to Nicole and brought over a celebration cake (I ordered it beforehand). It was a buttercream and coconut frosted white cake, but the insides were colored in the italian flag colors.

I cut the cake, with James assisting me! It was so delicious!