As December Ends

Well, I don't think anyone will be sorry to see this year end.  It's been a strange one for certain.  But then I have to remind myself that almost every generation has strange years.  Black plague? World wars? And on and on.  So, we count our blessings, keep moving forward and remind ourselves of what's truly important. And I'm sure it's not "stuff", but people that count.

We've been inundated with snow today.  Lots and lots of snow, and wind, so it's hard to tell just how much snow has actually fallen.  Dan plowed this early evening and now we've settled in for the night beside the fire. We are supposed to get more snow overnight so we'll see what the morning brings.  I made a big ham and split pea soup for supper in the Instant Pot, just the thing for a wintery day and there's lots left over for the next few days.  

When I was downstairs earlier I realized I didn't take any pictures of the family room to share so here's one:

That's the sewing machine I learned to sew on.  I haven't tried it since bringing it up when we cleared out Mom and Dad's house, but one of these days I will.  I probably need to take it out of the cabinet and have it gone through first, though. 

Happy New Year to one and all!! ♥

Sunday Evening

Well, I just remembered that I'd better pop on and at least say I'm here! It's been a lovely, relaxing day with snow falling throughout.  They said we'd maybe get half an inch, but at least three are down, and since it's still snowing, maybe more by morning.  Dan plowed this afternoon and I napped.  Sounds like a good balance of effort, doesn't it?  :-)

We stopped at Subway to grab a couple of subs for lunch after church. I've found a new one I really like--teriyaki sweet onion.  I get a foot-long and save the other half for lunch the next day. Rats, now that I'm thinking about it, I want to go and eat it now.  Must.Be.Strong. Must.Be.Strong.

Tomorrow I need to get serious about beginning my Christmas baking. Think I'll start with a couple of cookie recipes, one that needs refrigerating, and one I can bake right away.  Now that I've written that, I'll have to be accountable.  

Here's a closeup of the top of the china hutch featuring a little counted cross stitch scene, also designed by The Prairie Schooler. 

Stay warm out there!  Winter seems to have arrived in all its icy beauty. ♥ 

And the Snow Came Softly Down

The view at dusk this evening

They had forecast snow for today and they were right.  I woke up to hear my phone signal a text and found one from Ann saying too much ice, no school today. Apparently there was black ice everywhere.  Dan said he had trouble even in the gravel while getting the paper when he got up. And it was starting to snow.  A day to spend in the kitchen for certain as the snow continued to fall. At first I thought I would begin on my Christmas cookie baking, but then I remembered a recipe I've been wanting to try.

A little back story:  When my brother and I were kids, as in grade school, my mom, who was not a baker, would very occasionally make a sweet roll she called orange kuchen rolls. Oh, were they ever good! For whatever reason, she only made them during a short season of a year or two. They had a crunchy topping of butter, sugar and grated orange peel and the bottoms were gooey with the same ingredients.  

When we were cleaning out my parents' house, one of the things I searched for was that recipe. As I looked, John came in and asked if I'd found a recipe for "those orange rolls Mom made when we were little." He'd never forgotten them, either!  I never did find it.  I searched the internet and came up empty.  I looked through her old cookbooks. Nothing.  And then one day this past year, I was looking through her Electric Bread cookbook which I had kept and spotted a picture that looked like those orange rolls I remembered. The recipe was called Orange Kisses, and from the description, sounded like it came from the same era Mom made hers.  

Today was the day.  I texted John and told him my plan to try and began.  I did use my Zojirushi bread machine to make the dough and then finished up in the oven.  I seemed to remember that Mom made hers in an angel food cake pan, so I dug out mine and used it.  That was mistake number two.

Mistake number one you ask?  Well, I've used the same brand of yeast for ever and a day.  It's Saf-Instant Red and it's great stuff.  I opened a new package about the time the virus became known and everyone was buying up all the flour and yeast in the land.  And a strange thing happened the first time I used it.  My bread rose twice as high. What? So I tried again, with the same results.  High is nice, too high, not so much. As a result, since then I've used half the amount of yeast a recipe calls for.  Until today.  Um hum, I used the full amount and my dough was very soft and puffy.  

Back to the pan.  The  butter and sugar/orange peel mix leaked out the bottom of the pan, all over the oven I just cleaned a few weeks ago. 

I know what I'll be doing tomorrow!  Running the self-clean program again!  

Meanwhile, the rolls.  The verdict?  I think I've found the right recipe! I'm so excited! I just ate one, and despite the "fluffiness" of it, the taste seemed to be what I remembered, with the crunchy top and the gooey bottom.  Bruder Bear will be thrilled!

I made supper in the crockpot, potatoes, carrots and hamburger in white sauce, but I just may eat my way through these rolls instead.  Oh, and about the yeast.  I think it's been a gift to me that it's, for some reason, double strength, because it has been impossible to find these last ten months.  I've made all our bread and I still have so much yeast left. I'm thankful. ♥

And the Snow Came Down

 

And I'm thrilled I'm finally getting the camera figured out and was able to capture the snow as it fell.  It was so beautiful!  And yes, I had Christmas music playing.  ♥

A Tale of a Rotisserie Chicken. . . and Stew

I mentioned that we went to Costco a week or so ago. One of the things we purchased was a rotisserie chicken for the amazing price of $4.99.  I meant to have it for dinner that night when we got home, but we were later getting to Costco than I had anticipated, which meant we were later leaving, so we popped into Taco Time and got a bite.  Which was interesting because they served it to us in a bag, which we carried to an available table and unpacked.  Such strange times. . .

Anyway, the chicken became our Saturday night dinner, and then again on Sunday.  And there was so much left!! A day or so later, I decided to chop some up and make chicken and black bean enchiladas.  The recipe said it made four or five, but I ended up with a dozen!  I froze six and we ate the other six that night and the next. And still there was chicken left, so I chopped it up and froze it.  Saturday night I decided to make pizza and opted for white sauce and the frozen chicken, along with a little Canadian bacon, red peppers and olives.  We ate the pizza for two nights and I ate the rest for lunch today. (Dan was so kind to let me have it!) And we still have those six enchiladas in the freezer.  That $4.99 chicken has already fed us numerous meals with two still to go. I feel kind of like it was the loaves and fishes!  I think I'll be buying another soon.  

And stew?  We have had a very cold November.  We have snow again, with more forecast for tonight and tomorrow night.  I love cold weather cooking--soups, stews, breads, muffins.  Right after breakfast this morning I pondered supper.  I knew I had some potatoes and celery in need of using up, so I thought of stew.  I have a recipe I clipped from the paper years ago called Five Hour Midnight Stew.  It's fairly simple, but you have to remember to get started early as it bakes in the oven for five hours as the title states.  

It tasted so good!  I had some leftover muffins from a couple of weeks ago in the freezer so I zapped them to complete our dinner.  There's lots of stew left, so I'm good to go for a few nights.  ♥

Snoctober!

Well.

I took some photos of our beautiful leaves last Thursday night.  The yard and the trees were so beautiful!

And then Friday came.  And so did the snow.  

This was just the beginning.  We ended up with about four inches.  And it's still here!!  I feel like it must be December.  (I have refrained from playing Christmas music, however!) Five days of snow and cold in October.  Tomorrow is supposed to finally be above freezing and then maybe the snow will melt.  

We stayed in and cozied up to the fireplace and I've been knitting away on those brown socks.  Good news!  I should be done tomorrow.  I was able to get away with undoing just the toe of the too-short-sock and I'll be the first to say how amazed I am. I'm just glad it worked!  Time for a new color of yarn!

I'm also getting the Christmas wall hanging quilted, a little at a time.  I finally decided to just stitch in the ditch using my Bernina 830 and a walking foot.  I'm so thankful for a machine with a large throat space and my nice sewing cabinet so that everything is level with room to spread out.  Spoiled, that's what I am.  

Well, that's the latest here at the Resort.  Just trying to stay warm and get a few projects done. I made a yummy ham and pea soup in the Instant Pot this week and that's kept our tummies warm, along with muffins.  I do love winter cooking!  ♥

Snow!!

Wow!  Winter has arrived!  As I type (I'm old school, I don't think I'll ever use the term key-boarding), Dan is out on the 4-wheeler plowing at least 8" of the white stuff.  It's been coming down heavily as he's plowed so I'm sure it's continuing to pile up.  As this storm winds down sometime later today, another is slated to arrive tomorrow, followed by much colder temperatures.  

Plowed and already turning white again. . .

Brrrr. . .

As I sit warmly inside, I've found this to be perfect knitting weather.  I'm currently working on a doll sweater set for my American Girl doll.  I've finished the front and back, and am alternating between the sleeves (almost done) and the scarf.  With this weather, the doll is in need of some warmth.  :-)

Oh, and I need to show another potholder.  I found the snowman fabric and matching snowflake design in my stash.  I had no idea it was there, but then I remembered back and realized I'd bought them to make a table runner.  Well, potholders seemed to be a better idea.  I was only able to make three because of the amount of the snowman cut, but they turned out so cute!  I gave two away, and still have this one.

The red/white stripe was just the perfect choice for the bias tape and was leftover from a pillowcase project from last year.  I love puttering in my sewing room and knitting in my living room! ♥

It Snowed, I Sewed

And the snow came down!! And down!!  We got up to another four inches yesterday morning and it continued to snow throughout the morning adding another couple. This was the lacy view out our bedroom window:

So what's a girl to do when she's caught up on her housework (miracle!!) and has leftovers for dinner? Why she sews, of course.  My longtime pal, Kathy, and I have been in conversation about our dolls this past week and she tipped me off to a free pattern on the internet for my 10" Tonner Ann Estelle doll.  I made a test run of it on Tuesday and it turned out to be a good fit.  It's a sleeveless dress so here's Ann Estelle modeling it with her white sweater turned back into a cardigan:

I learned a few things as I made the blue dress, so yesterday I headed straight down to my sewing room (see paragraph above) and decided to make another.  I rooted around in my stash of doll fabrics and came up with a odd shaped scrap someone gave me years ago. Would it be enough?  Yes! By making the skirt a little less full and shorter, I decided I could squeeze out a dress that would be perfect for the 4th of July.  And here's AE modeling it for you all.  I think she'll need red sandals to really set it off.

This pattern has many possibilities and I'm looking forward to trying out some more ideas.  Meanwhile, I'm perusing adorable shoes in AE's size (which, unfortunately are not cheap!) because cute dresses need cute shoes.  

I have yet to get started cutting and stitching on the Snowy Day quilt, but maybe today?  ♥

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

We were forecast to get between 1-3 inches of snow last night. I awoke early this morning to the sound of the snow plow and thought they must be desperate for a little work.  When I got up, I opened our bedroom curtains to this:

It appears when all is said and done (it snowed for a few more hours) that we have about seven inches! 

See that dark spot on the lower middle left?  That's our well which normally sticks up about two feet. It has a lovely mushroom cap of snow.  :-)

What a beautiful day!!  Now if only our 4-wheeler wasn't in the shop!! Normally we have a plow attached to the front so Dan can do our driveway.  Maybe it'll be ready today?  She said hopefully. ♥

In Case You Were Wondering...

We woke to snow this morning!  

It was beautiful and we actually still have some of it since the high today was a cool 35 degrees! And we may get more tonight and tomorrow.  It always seemed to me that when I was growing up, the first snow came around November 4th so this seems right on schedule.  Dan is changing out the tires as I type, so we're ready!

Winter Beauty...and an Almost Done Quilt

The days have been so gorgeous!  Winter, wearing her most beautiful lace dress, has graced us with her presence for days and it's been so lovely.  Here's a shot of morning breaking a few days ago:

In the dark days of January, having snow on the ground makes the days so much brighter.  Today it's been snowing the type of flakes that make us feel like we're in the middle of the snow globe and it's making us smile.  

Meanwhile, Hard Candy Christmas finally made it to the quilting machine and all that's needed now is the binding! I'm debating between the same fabric as the last border or using the green from the sashing.  I want to get started this afternoon so I'll have to decide soon.

Right now I'm leaning toward the green as I think it will give it a nice finish.  I'm a very pokey hand sewer, so it will be a day or so before I'm finally done, but done I should be by Tuesday night!  (And since I still have all my Christmas decorations up, I can put it on our bed and it'll fit right in!)

Snow!

Yes, the storm that we were supposed to get this week actually came.  It's beautiful, but I'm not sure how Dan is feeling about it as he's out plowing once again and also contemplating shoveling the roof.  There's been no school for the last two days, and even the universities shut down, which never happens.  We were without power last night for about five and a half hours, just in time for me to have to throw out a loaf of partially baked bread in the bread machine.  

Here's a little look-see from our house:

Looking east:

The snow has stopped and the sun is trying to come out. Rain is forecast, but I'm hoping not as that would be a fearful mess.  For now, I'm enjoying the beauty.

Thankful for a Winter Wonderland

My favorite time of the year is here. The addition of a winter storm has made the beginning perfect.


The picture above is of our back yard taken from the deck, and the one below was taken from the front porch.


The snow is still falling and weather.com says it will continue until tomorrow morning when the temperature will fall to a high of 13. I heard on the television that it's been twenty years since we've had such weather at this time of year.

My iPod is attached to its docking station with Mannheim Steamroller Christmas albums playing, and a sugar cookie scented candle is burning in the kitchen. We went to the grocery store over the weekend and stocked up on holiday staples, so I'm set to make pies, rolls, and a salad to take to Ann and Eric's for Thanksgiving. They are having all of Eric's family in for the day and we've been invited to join them. My parents are driving to Lewiston with a friend to enjoy the wonderful buffet at Meriwether's at the Red Lion. It's a holiday tradition they really enjoy.

The basement wood stove is blasting away adding to the cozy day here at the resort. When I finish this, I'm planning to go down to my sewing room and work on a Christmas project I started last night. What have I been working on lately, you ask?

This runner was quick and fun, made with Moda's Fruitcake by Basic Grey fabric. The pattern is from Gudrun Erla's book, Fast and Furious Holiday.


Another fun project I've been working on has been candle wraps. I've made smaller ones, but this is a large one I made using a current free design from the Bernina site.


I'm currently stitching out a 10" square wreath in machine embroidery. When I decide what I'm going to do with it and then do it, I'll post a picture.

As we approach Thanksgiving, we send wishes for a blessed Thanksgiving day with those you love. God is good!