DD just finished basketball and is now happily playing volleyball. Last night she served for ten points in one game.
She’s our most athletically inclined child. Three of our four older children participated in soccer and volleyball, but DD can’t get enough. She would like to be on every team available. 🙂
~~Rhonda
Buttercup’s favorite winter napping spot is on the heating vent in the kitchen. She was totally asleep when I took the picture.
~~Rhonda
The branches we are forcing are beginning to blossom. They are like a breath of fresh air, especially after a week of snow, sleet, ice, and cold weather.
Forsythia
Lilac
The lilacs probably won’t do anything more than make pretty green buds. But the forsythia should be a burst of yellow in a day or two.
~~Rhonda
Supper last night was salmon, accordion potatoes, corn and coleslaw. I added peanuts and apples to the coleslaw, which was tasty. The salmon was baked with honey and dijon mustard brushed on it. Very good! I had planned to make corn pudding, but decided against it, as I was already using the oven to bake the salmon and the potatoes. The accordion potatoes recipe came from the What’s for Dinner? blog.
I used five medium Yukon Gold potatoes, and, after slicing them, covered them with a paper towel and baked them in the microwave for six minutes.
I didn’t have fresh thyme, so put fresh rosemary on them, along with the olive oil, salt and pepper. I then baked them in the oven with the salmon. They took a few more minutes than the salmon, so were probably in the oven about 20 minutes at 400*. If supper hadn’t been so late (didn’t eat until 7:30) I would have put the potatoes under the broiler until they crisped on top. As it was, everyone was hungry, so supper was on the table as quickly as possible.
They turned out well and DD thought they were “cool.” 🙂 ~~Rhonda
I’ve been hankering for some homemade Oatmeal Raisin Cookies for some time. Today I made a batch using this recipe. I halved the recipe and added 2 T. of honey. Here’s the recipe, as I tweaked it.
Cream together:
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 cup butter [I used one stick of unsalted butter and one stick of Parkey margarine.]
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 2 Tablespoons honey
Add the dry ingredients and mix well:
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 2 cups flour
* 2 1/2 cups rolled oats (regular)
* 1 1/2 cups raisins
* 1 1/2 cups nuts [I omitted these.]
Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. I used a small scoop to put the dough on the cookie sheet. Easy and quick.
Bake at 375* for 9 minutes. Check you own oven after 8 minutes. Temperatures will vary from oven to oven and the time should be adjusted accordingly. Don’t let the cookies over brown or they will be hard.
Let the cookies cool for a minute or two before removing them from the cookie sheet to the cooling rack. They will hold their round shape better, if allowed to cool slightly before moving.
This recipe made 7 dozen cookies.
DD thought the house smelled pretty good when she walked in after school. 🙂 ~~Rhonda
Last Saturday, DH cut some branches from the yard for forcing. The forsythia will take 10-14 days to bud out. It’s beginning to show signs of life. See that green peeking out?
The purple lilac buds are plump and dark…
…while the white lilac are bright green and slender.
We like to force branches every January/February. They are a sweet reminder that spring is coming. In about a week, we should have forsythia blossoms brightening the kitchen table. Perhaps DH will brave the snow in the west yard and cut some quince in the next day or two. They bud beautifully, too.
You can try just about any shrub or tree. Some work better than others. Forsythia and quince flower well. Lilacs may make a small green bud of a flower, but won’t make a large blossom. Their bright green leaves are beautiful, though. The star magnolia makes a blossom, but it doesn’t have any scent, which is surprising considering how very heavy the scent is when the shrub blooms in the yard. You can try red bud trees, fruit trees, dogwood, honeysuckle, etc., anything that blooms in the spring.
Smash the ends of the branches, if you like, to make them take up water more easily, though it isn’t necessary. We never bother doing that. Keep the branches in a vase of fresh water and watch them bud. Even if you get only leaves, they will be a welcome splash of spring green, all the more lovely when it’s cold, snowy and dark outside!
~~Rhonda ::waiting for spring::
With all that snow on the ground, we had to make snow ice cream, didn’t we?? Yes! I perused several recipes and decided to give this one a try ~ Snow Ice Cream.
DD measured one cup of heavy whipping cream.
We whipped it until it held soft peaks, adding two teaspoons of vanilla and 1/4 cup of powdered sugar.
The blue bowl holds one gallon of snow, and we used all of it for this recipe (a lot more than the recipe called for). The snow was folded into the whipped cream, a large spoonful or two at a time.
Almost done…
Ice cream!
Now, doesn’t that look good?
And even better with chocolate…
Then I added coffee crystals to my bowl…instant frozen mocha latte (my favorite Dairy Queen treat)!
We don’t get enough snow at one time every winter to make snow ice cream, so seized our opportunity. It was fun to make and was a great end-of-the-snowy-day treat.
~~Rhonda 🙂
Supper was yummy. Tilapia, baby baked potatoes, corn, stir-fried sugar snap peas with tomatoes, and cornbread.
DH loves these baby baked potatoes. To make them, you need:
small red potatoes
olive oil
fresh rosemary
salt and pepper to taste
Wash the potatoes. Slice the top off each one. Place in a saucepan and add enough water to cover. Boil the potatoes until just tender (10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes). Drain.
Place the potatoes on a baking sheet, lined with aluminum foil.
Pierce each potato with a fork, five or six times.
The next step is to squeeze the potatoes so the inside is pushed up. You can let them cool until they are comfortable to touch, but I usually bite the bullet and do it in a hurry because I’m wanting to get supper on the table. 🙂
Pour a little olive oil on each potato. Sprinkle with freshly grated sea salt and freshly grated black pepper.
Mince about a tablespoon of fresh rosemary and sprinkle over the potatoes. Yes, you can used dried rosemary, but it isn’t going to taste anything like fresh!
Bake the potatoes in a 375* oven until the tops are lightly browned, about 20 minutes.
Oh, so good! Give ’em a try. 🙂 ~~Rhonda
We had four or five inches of snow over three or four inches of sleet. I don’t plan to go out and measure it myself, I’ll have you know. Inside is the place for me. But DD is having lots of fun out there.
This AM she went sledding with her dad. Then he pulled her behind his bike on her sled. And we have the obligatory snow angels around the yard, as well.
The cold temps are supposed to last for a few days, so this stuff isn’t going anywhere for a while.
But do you know what’s hiding under all that stuff? I promise…it’s there…waiting for late February or early March…
~~Rhonda ::trying to wait patiently::