Unshelved by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum
comic strip overdue media

Thursday, November 27, 2003

By the way...

Obviously, I got back from spending Thanksgiving day with my family. I had a really good time. Momma sent an entire Splenda™-rather-than-sugar-laden pumpkin pie back with me which is very nummy and I yes, I plan to share. It was a pleasant trip, despite the rain. I also got to go down to the Knobs (a little south of Danville) and the horizon was smoky, rolling earth with fog and clouds brushing the hillsides like some sort of gentle watercolour. I discovered that the car's cruise control works very well.

My grandmother went ahead and gave me my Christmas card and some money and made me promise to spend it on something for me, rather than on some bill or on presents for people and my mom and she said I shouldn't worry about giving gifts since they knew how tight money was for me these days. Sweet. I'd still like to give them something; maybe bake something diabetic-friendly for the holiday. I wonder if there's any way to make a diabetic version of baklava? Does Splenda™ melt? It looks like it, although there are tips to allow for some of the differences between it and sugar. Hmm...this one is at least close. It uses sugar rather than honey, and each piece is about 85 calories. If you use Splenda™ (which doesn't have the aftertaste of some sweetners and can be baked and used in the same proportion as sugar), it would have even fewer--and 5 g of fat is a lot less than regular baklava. I'd probably want to add a little vanilla to boost the flavour and a little cocoa in the margarine to give it a browned look. I've used walnuts (and, for one person who was allergic to nuts, peanuts), but pistachios would be very tasty. Yes, I think this is doable, and I can test it out at our holiday potluck at work first. There are several of us with sugar issues, so I think it would be appreciated.

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