I've blogged briefly about cravings, the big one being homemade stuffing with gravy.

When the cravings first hit two weeks ago, I tried to cheat: I bought boxed stuffing and bottled gravy. The dried bread in the box was completely pulverized and unrecognizable as bread cubes. More like corn flakes!

Needless to say, it failed to satisfy.

So today, I bought a loaf of bread, ...

used my electric B&D kitchen knife to cube it, and dried the cubes on a cookie sheet for a few minutes in the oven. Meanwhile, I got the onions and celery cooking in hot, melted butter in the Calphalon dutch oven, added the mushrooms, seasonings, eggs and dried bread cubes.

I almost freaked because at first glance in the spice drawer, I didn't find enough poultry seasoning. Recently, we had grilled some Cornell chicken which put a dent in our supply of poultry seasoning. But, I found another bottle ... already open of course, no surprise ... and so I was able to put in the full, required dose.

My casserole dish could not accommodate everything from the dutch oven ... there was a small bit of stuffing left over. So, I was able to sample and it's all I can do to wait until dinner without dashing back into the kitchen and sneaking some more from the casserole in the fridge.

I got some screening numbers back yesterday from some blood work the day before. My odds improved significantly from the standard odds based on age alone.

I'm talking about the odds of genetic defects or whatever you want to call it.

Instead of 1:133 for Down's, the odds are 1:2641 and instead of 1:243 for chromosome 18, the odds are 1:4841. The first is 90% accurate and the second is 97% accurate. And the doctors performed a nuchal translucency (NT) ultrasound at the same time as the blood was drawn and said that everything looked ok.

These early tests are new to me. But there's always something new. The OB's office is located in the Med. Arts Building of CentraState Hos. in Freehold and her practice works with a team from Robert Wood Johnson (RWJUH) in New Brunswick which also has offices in the Med. Arts Building. So far, things have been very convenient but sometimes getting a close parking space at the hospital is difficult.

Alright, I give in ... I'm gonna swipe another spoonful of homemade stuffing.