We almost missed our church Christmas party the other night. I'd volunteered to decorate a table and had forgotten all about it until my daughter got a FB message reminding her of her commitment to set up for Santa. Fortunately I had some Christmas decorations in a bin in the back of my car. (The rest of them are unreachable in the garage.) It wasn't the best centerpiece I'd ever made, but for throwing it together in a matter of minutes, not too bad.

I've been staying out of the stores, avoiding commercials, and relinquishing my usual way of doing things so the season has gone by almost un-acknowledged. We still don't have a tree! I wanted to install the flooring in the living room first. Joints and diet hi-jacked my plans and I haven't really gotten back to them. Guess I have some catching up to do.

Happily, the pain in my left knee is completely gone! Not sure if it's the diet or staying off of it that helped most. It was always intermittent. Some improvements I know I can attribute to the diet are certain flakey skin patches which are gone, and an acne outbreak which is much improved. I'd say that's pretty good considering it hasn't even been a full week!

I wasn't going to do any Christmas baking this year but changed my mind when my daughter expressed some dismay. I made an apple crisp last night which we all enjoyed. Oats ground in a food processor thickened the mixture of apples, water, and cinnamon. About 7 or 8 dates were used for sweetening the mix, and binding the rolled oat and walnut topping.

Soon I will be making a pie using ground almonds for the crust, dates for sweetness, and almond milk and fresh pumpkin for the filling. Can you tell we love desserts? We'll try to keep it to once or twice a week. The rule is, no processed fats or sugars. I'll let you know how it turns out. Making it through the season without feeling too deprived is crucial to our ability to stay the course!