Rock Creek apples

There is nothing better then eating a juicy apple while the world is blanketed in fog.

Sad day

"Mostly it is loss which teaches us about the worth of things."




Arthur Schopenhauer,  Parerga and Paralipomena

Fun stuff

Our neighbour's holiday light display? No, apparently a backhoe working on the water line hit a gas pipe so we had a gas leak on our cul-de-sac. The firefighters were on hand in case we had to evacuate. The Fortis trucks lined our small street, some couldn't even make it up the hill since it had been snowing all day and the plows were not allowed through because of the gas leak. The gas problem has been fixed and now we are waiting for our water pressure to come back to normal.

Mini mini

I am a big fan of The Pioneer Woman (so is my Mom) so when her new book came out,  The Pioneer Woman Cooks A year of Holidays by Ree Drummond, I knew I had to try some of the recipes. I have been making fruit tarts for years, this is an old recipe from Mr. Cowboy's side of the family. So I used the Caramel Apples recipe for the filling from Ms. Drummond's book.

The tarts are made with lots of butter, eggs, and , milk but only two tablespoons of brown sugar. Buttery and flaky but not sweet. Which is a good thing because  the filling is a wonderful mixture of butter, brown sugar, cream and lots of cinnamon. Oh, and apples of  course.

These are a perfect two-bite mini mini apple pie.

Oh, Christmas tree

We recycled some old dowel and bits of wood to make a Scandinavian-inspired dowel tree. It was very quick to put together and once the holidays are over, as no glue, nails, or screws were used, this tree comes apart quite nicely for easy storage.

Sleep-over

Wish all our overnight guests were as little trouble as this guy was!

Feeding the birds

"Yes, in terms of biodiversity, we can think of saving all of the other species, but what we are really doing when we care for another creature, we are saving ourselves," Annan says.

From  Last Stand: Ted Turner's quest to save a troubled planet by Todd Wilkinson.

Work

The holly comes all the way from the coast giving our workspace a holiday feel.

For the bake sale I pulled out all my old recipes that I have been making for years. I packaged up Pecan Clusters, Snickerdoodles, Rolo Cookies, and Chocolate Chip Logs.

Had quite a few projects that I made last year so was glad to see that they all went in the Auction.

Warm

Finally finished the blue and white scarf I have been knitting for the longest time ( the pattern is so complicated-knit 1*-repeat from * for 235 rows). I now have two more on the go both half-way done; a little warmth for someone who is cold.

Cold

It is cold, very cold. Extra quilt cold. Furry moccasin cold. Big mugs of tea cold.

Knit scarf cold. Extra socks in boots cold.

Build a fire cold. Donate to homeless cold.

Thankful for my warm house cold.

Italian Tray Bake

I have resisted bringing Nigella home for several reasons which I won't go into right now but when she named her latest cookbook Nigellissima (making it sound Italian in order to increase sales) Easy Italian-Inspired Recipes, I had to have a look and see how Italian it really was. In order to be fair, I tried one of the recipes - Italian Tray Bake and everyone agreed that it is great and so Italian with the lemon, rosemary, and olive oil roasted potatoes, chicken, and Italian sausages.

Will I try more recipes from Nigellissima? Certo!

Deer waffles

It's usually pancakes on Sunday but I came across a waffle recipe in the 2012 issue of Better Homes and Gardens Our Best Comfort Foods magazine; this recipe is definitely a keeper. This recipe calls for a can of pumpkin but our freezer is loaded with roasted sugar babies which is probably why these were so scrumptious. Good thing our visitors weren't in the mood for waffles.  They helped themselves to the smorg in the backyard; cedar, apple leaves and bark, grass, and oregano.