Weird Weather

This is what my drive to Algona looked like today although part of the drive home was worse than this. Luckily about half way home, I saw the sun through the fog and then suddenly drove out of the fog. I'm wondering if Algona is still fogged in.

I had gone to look at upright freezers at the appliance store and found what we're looking for I think.

The temp. got up to right at 50 today so three fourths of the snow in our yard melted, and we can see the dirt in the fields (last picture). This is unusual - usually it stays white here all winter.

Since it was so warm when I was leaving for Algona, I decided to hook the hose up to the hot water spigot and hose off the garage floor which had lots of gravel and dirt on it. Bill happened to stop by and got to help with that. Then when I got home later, I pulled onto the concrete pad and hosed off the Pilot before pulling into the garage. When the gravel roads are squishy like they were today, the vehicles can get pretty nasty. Now the roads will freeze tonight, and it may look good for quite a while. I hope the garage will too!

The temp. has dropped very fast all day and tomorrow we're supposed to have maybe up to 1/4" of freezing rain.

Babysitting

This is what I was doing Monday and Tuesday. Diane's babysitter is off this week.

Our tree.


















Lacey decided to wear the baby's hat! She's crazy!

We went to Jerry's funeral and lunch today. It may seem boring after this past month, but we're looking forward to a quiet start to the new year.

Click on the arrow below to see a cute video.

Christmas 2010

We had Bill's family (mom, brother, Aunt Bette Jo & Uncle Tim) over on Christmas Eve. We had wild rice & chicken soup and potato soup, ham sandwiches and misc. Aunt Delrae wasn't able to make it due to the snow.

Then Christmas morning, we headed up to Blue Earth along with Bill's mom to Bill's sister's. She and Dave have 3 kids so it's always fun watching them open all their presents. Last year we just did gifts for the kids but this year Dave wanted the adults to have some fun too so he came up with a gift exchange for us which even involved stealing from each other. Bill ended up with his own gift which makes you think that you should always buy a gift you wouldn't mind ending up with yourself! (he had bought an Alvin & The Chipmunks CD, M & M's and 2 cans of canned air) I got a marshmallow shooting gun (which I donated to the kids) and some chip clips.

The roads weren't bad going up with almost no other cars out and about, it snowed lightly all day and the roads were better on the way home.






All of these pictures were taken at Karen & Dave's. They always have the house decorated so nice. She and Ryanne do a cookie walk every year so always have a big variety of Christmas cookies to look at and sample. I love her snowman stainless! You can see that Dave's a big Nebraska fan.

It's Back!

I was happy to see this beautiful hoarfrost all over this morning! It doesn't happen a lot but did quite a bit here last year. It snowed lightly most of the day. We're at 10 degrees so far tonight going down to about 4.

Peggy & Bill's brother came over for lunch today. We had leftover soup & ham from Christmas Eve.

We got some more sad news this morning. Jerry, who Bill & Tim have farmed for for 20 years, passed away on Christmas. His wife Bev's funeral was this past Wed. His will be this Wed. There have been so many deaths of friends' family and others we know just in this past month. Thinking of them all this holiday season.

Snowing on Christmas Eve

It's been snowing almost all day - my kind of Christmas Eve! On the noon news, they said our area had 7 1/2" and it's been coming down harder since then.

Bill got a call to go hunting with some guys and even skipped lunch! He'll be good and hungry for soup with family here tonight! I'm hungry just smelling it. He has just gotten back and has quickly shoveled the sidewalk and is getting ready to use the loader to clear the driveway.

Today, I've made toffee (my favorite Christmas treat), baked some bars, put one soup in the crock pot and have chopped the onions, carrots & celery for the other one.

Will kind of wait to cut cheese, beef stick, etc. until we know everybody can get here. The snow isn't blowing this time, it's just getting a little deep. So far Christmas Eve services haven't been canceled. This time last year, we were in Indiana but everyone here had to stay home for Christmas. They had a blizzard on this day.

Have a fun and happy Christmas and take time to remember that Jesus is the reason for the season!

PS - leave a comment with what you're doing for Christmas! I've heard that you like reading the comments as much as I like getting them!

Christmas Cards .....

Making Christmas cards - have about 25 more to do and get in the mail tomorrow! We send out around 80 since I send to several of my customers and downline with Stampin' Up! along with family & friends. Plus this past week I've needed to send about four sympathy, three thank you's for gifts and a get well. Unfortunately, I always shop, wrap, bake - saving cards till last which isn't the best. Someone please tell me in July to make my Christmas cards!

I've mostly made them all one design but two different color combinations to make it faster. The two pictures show some fairly quick, miscellaneous ones I did using some of our pretty Christmas designer papers.

Christmas Eating Tips

Saw this on a friend's Facebook post last night. Always think these types of things are funny this time of year. Enjoy!

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare. You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it.

Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read these tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner. Remember this motto to live by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Have a wonderful Christmas season!!

In the Kitchen

A reminder today to be very careful on ice this time of year. My minister, Richard, from Carmel has been in Virginia since Mon. in the hospital with his dad. His dad slipped on ice going to church Sunday and hit his head, had to have brain surgery, got sepsis, had to be put on a ventilator, his kidneys are not working and now they're saying their goodbyes this afternoon. How quick things can change. . .

Seems like I've been in the kitchen a lot lately. Yesterday and today I've been thinking of aunts as I use their recipes. I'm lucky to be from a family of lots of good cooks!

Yesterday for lunch we had Aunt Lois' barbecue hamburgers. Today I made Aunt Dana's caramels and with lunch, Aunt Jan's corn pudding! All so good!

Since it's the season for cookie baking and candy making, I'll share the recipe now for Caramels and maybe some of you will also still have time to make them. These taste like the best soft caramels you've ever bought at the apple store or at the Cracker Barrel check out.

CARAMELS

2 lbs. brown sugar (original recipe says dark brown - I use the light)
1 lb. (4 sticks) butter (not margarine)
2 cans Eagle Brand milk
2 c. white Karo

Melt butter, add the rest of the ingredients and mix all well. Stir constantly over medium heat until it reaches 238 degrees. Remove from heat. Let cool to about 190 degrees and then pour into buttered 9 x 13 pan. Let stand overnight in a cold place. Cut into squares and wrap individually with waxed paper.

** My comments - I normally cut this recipe in half but if you want to give these as gifts, the whole recipe makes lots. I have found at Hobby Lobby some already cut waxed paper for wrapping candy. They seem to be there just seasonally in the candy making supplies aisle. They are called Confectionery Twisting Wax Paper and there are 100 in the package. This makes the wrapping part so much nicer, trust me!

How Do Moms Do It??

This little girl was at our house the past two days. Diane's babysitter has been sick. It's good for Bill and I to have the kids once in a while. It reminds us how easy our life is with just the two of us and not having kids!

And this is a good baby! But seems like you're always changing a diaper, giving a bottle, trying the pacifier (or maybe a rattle or teething ring), or maybe a little rocking - or the vibrating, bouncy seat. I don't know how moms get everything done, take a shower or eat!

Camry has just recently started eating baby food so it was comical to feed her! The tongue action is so funny! I'm glad I was able to get a video of it. She's usually smiling and making cute noises until I bring out the camera when she starts watching the red light and gets serious. (yes, I did have a wash cloth handy to wipe her mouth occasionally!) Today's new food was sweet potatoes. She liked them and ate all of them! Yesterday I gave up after about half the container of carrots. By the way, carrots cause really bad diaper messes! Click on the arrow to watch the video. She was kicking one leg most of the time while eating.

After the Blizzard

We had the blizzard with 50-60 mph winds for most of the day yesterday and through the night but woke up to bright sun and a temp. of zero this morning. The only real drift we have is this one at our front steps! I think ours all blew south! Bill's mom though has a 5' drift all along the south side (front) of her house! Bill is there moving snow now.

Our normally burgundy porch swing is all white.







The screened porch has some snow in it but you can see that the field beyond is pretty bare. The wind just really blows it out here in the open. Yesterday all of the screens of the porch and our other windows on every side had snow plastered on them.



I made thumbprint cookies last night. They were kind of a pain to make with rolling into balls, rolling in egg white and then nuts. We decided they're much better without the nuts so that would save a lot of time and mess. Will make a note on my recipe. This is one that I have maybe never made but had them years ago and thought they were good.

Hay & Straw

I had a request for the Hay & Straw recipe I mentioned making a few days ago so here it is. Easy and leftovers heat up in the microwave well.

HAY & STRAW

1 package (16 oz.) linguine
2 cups julienned fully cooked ham
1 T. butter
3 cups frozen peas
1 1/2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Cook linguine according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute ham in butter for 3 minutes. Add peas, heat through.

Drain linguine; toss with ham mixture, Parmesan cheese and cream. Serve immediately. Yield: 8 servings

** Like Pioneer Woman, I substituted the Kraft grated Parmesan for shredded since our little grocery just has the basics. I also kind of cut this recipe in half for just the 2 of us. And I always add some pepper to most things. This would also be good with some garlic.

Dec. 2010 Blizzard

We're having a cozy day at home today! We've been in a blizzard warning since 6 am and it's until 6 am tomorrow. When we got up, it was still 35 degrees and nothing happening but about 10:00 it started. At least we didn't get a lot of ice first.

Glad that Diane got most of the mail delivered and home before visibility got as bad as it is now. She said the paved roads were slick. We've heard the plows have been taken off the roads.

Bill has been home today (bored, but he still has a cold so it's good for him!). I made chili for lunch and have wrapped gifts. May make caramels and toffee.

Wondering if we'll have church tomorrow and Lacey's Christmas program. Kind of doubt it. So many things in winter get canceled here. We really have to get out and go and do things the rest of the year when we can. You hate to make winter travel plans since we're so far from any airport.

I made this ham, Swiss cheese & broccoli ring for lunch yesterday (Pampered Chef recipe) - something different and fun.

Not Much Happening Here

There's really not much going on here to write about - or take pictures of. It's still mostly white outside with snow on the way Saturday. But, I did see 40 degrees at lunch time today so took advantage of the nice day and grilled hamburgers. Appreciated the deck Bill built this summer to put the grill on!

I've been trying new recipes lately. I've always cut out recipes from magazines and now Bill's farm papers, but usually just make my old standbys. I've decided that now that I have a great kitchen and someone to cook for that I should try more new recipes! And because winter's kind of boring.

One recipe I recently tried was called Hay & Straw. It was linguine, ham strips, peas, Parmesan cheese and cream. We liked it and it was quick and easy. Also made split pea soup another day. Will leave out the barley next time.

Today I made Pioneer Woman's Chex party mix recipe except I didn't have Tabasco. She uses fresh minced garlic which is different from the original recipe.

Bill and Tim bought a new trailer and Bill picked it up today. By the way, Bill now has THE COLD.

I had a dr. appointment in Humboldt Tues. and finished my Christmas shopping while there. Bill bought his adult Kemna Christmas gift today so I think we're done shopping! Now to wrap (and make our Christmas cards).

Christmas Time

It's starting to feel a little more like Christmas. Friday night we went to the Firemen's Christmas Party at The Beachhouse in Humboldt.

We were going to have some helpers on Sun. so Saturday night Bill brought up the Christmas tree - not his favorite thing to do. He really can't complain too much though. This tree is in just 3 sections and has the lights already on it. The branches just fall into place and need fluffing (my job).

Lacey was a good helper. We did what everybody does and put the ornaments that weren't our favorites on the back. With every one she would ask me "pretty or not pretty"?

We also made a Christmas treat. I don't know what they're called but you put peanut butter between 2 Ritz crackers and then dip them in white chocolate. For more fun, we added sprinkles to the top.

When Diane was little, we always made cut out cookies. One time she dumped over a whole jar of sprinkles that went everywhere on the carpeted dining room floor! She was pretty worried about it but I told her it wasn't a big deal (while saying to myself "great, what a mess"). We will probably neither one forget that but I bet the people that live in that house now still find some around the edges!

It's still white out from past snow and there have been flakes flying around most of the day today. Our temp. got down to 3 last night.

Snow

The above blog header is the picture outside today. The snow was coming down pretty good when we got up but has stopped now.

Yesterday I made this loaf of bread. This time I tried a bread machine mix. It was Krusteaz brand, Honey Wheat Berry. I had to add quite a bit of flour but it turned out fine. Also made spaghetti sauce. Like to have it in the freezer.

We've both been doing misc. stuff the past few days. Bill's working on farming bookwork. I got our medical and charitable entries caught up in Excel for taxes and some Stampin' Up! paperwork for taxes done.

We ran the dehumidifier in the basement all last winter but seems like the humidity is finally down to a normal level now. Upstairs has gotten really dry so I brought the humidifier upstairs and got it going yesterday.

I've gotten out some of the Christmas decorations. Will be doing the tree Sunday with Lacey's help.

Elf on the Shelf

While at Mom's, we had the girls open their gifts from us so that Mom could see them open what she got for them since we won't be together for Christmas this year. Camry liked the purple squishy ball we gave Lacey. (click on arrow for video below)

An Elf on the Shelf came for Lacey! I hadn't heard of them but wow, what a great idea! The elf watches the kids to see if they're being good (or not) and then goes to the North Pole every night to report to Santa! In the morning when Lacey wakes up, the elf has come back and is somewhere in the house! A book came with the elf to explain all of this. Lacey named hers Ollie. At first as Diane was reading the book to her, she did NOT seem happy to have an elf watching her behavior, and we thought it looked like she wanted it to get lost! But she ended up being excited to find him every morning and was anxious to see if Ollie would find her at home in Iowa - and he did!

I Googled it tonight and have read some interesting things you can do with the elves for more fun (click HERE), and one woman said her kids are delighted when their elf shows back up each year.

We're Back

We got back last night from a quick trip to Indiana for Thanksgiving. We had planned to drive halfway Wed. night and stay in Moline, IL, but we had freezing rain all day Wednesday. We decided to try for leaving at 6 am on Thanksgiving.

Since we were delayed, we had a nice, but short, visit Wed. night here at our house with Bill's cousin Kelly, her husband and son who were visiting her parents, Tim & Bette Jo. They hadn't been to our new house yet since they live in Kansas.

Diane and girls went with us to Indiana. They hadn't been to Mom's since Dad died in the fall of '07 so Lacey didn't remember Grandma Dunk's house or anything - she would've been 2 then. We had good roads Thurs. morning so headed out and got there about 5:30. Mom had our yummy Thanksgiving meal ready.

Both girls were really good on the long trip even though Lacey had a bad cold and Camry has an ear infection. (I had a cold too) Uncle Bill was the only guy on the trip - he is still healthy so far!

Diane and I did a little Black Friday shopping Thurs. at midnight. She and the girls visited their other Grandma & Grandpa on Sat., and we all met Aunt Jan, Uncle Neal, Aunt Dana, Uncle Dale and cousin Jodi and her family at Mongolian BBQ Sat. night. Then Uncle Dale took us to the fire station to see Carmel's new $1 million ladder truck which Bill and Lacey were really wanting to see. (Uncle Dale was on the fire dept. for many years) Diane was also interested in the new ambulance they have since she's been an EMT.

After a nice time, too soon we were back in the Pilot for the return trip (yesterday). We did get home in time that I got to watch the Colts on Sunday Night Football. Even though they're not playing well at all with so many out with injuries, I'm always glad to get to watch a game since they're not all on here.

We were tired and sleeping great when Bill got a fire call at 1:30 am this morning. A drunk guy had wrecked and didn't know where he was but had started out from the bar here in our town. So lots of firemen were out looking for him. He ended up being just outside Gilmore City so their fire dept./ambulance took care of him.

There was another wreck tonight. A single car had missed a curve and gone off the road. One woman with a broken ankle on one leg, the other leg was broken and her car was totaled. These things seem to come in 3's . . .