Finally Feeling Better

The weather is back to clear, sunny skies. If you look out the window, you can actually convince yourself that it's Spring, already. Then, you step outdoors and you're welcomed with the harsh reality that winter is still, very much, in full swing. Last week, I really wanted to post, but it was one of those weeks. I was really looking forward to Thursday, because I had a girl day scheduled with my dear friend. We both look forward to those days and will often go for long stretches, in the school year, without one. When the day finally arrives it is long overdue, badly needed and at the end of the day we feel refreshed. So, Wednesday night there was a dark cloud, the car got a booboo. This was rather stressful, but the Mister hatched a plan; we found a temporary solution and got through it. However, when Thursday morning arrived, I'd barely slept a wink. I spent my girl day consuming more than my regular dose of coffee. All the while, worrying about the car, and the Mister, and the car. I had a fantastic day with my friend and she was even able to make me laugh and my mind was away from worries, if only temporarily.
When I got back home that afternoon, I prepared coffee, got supper started and resolved myself to not let it get me down. We borrowed my parents car so that we could go grocery shopping and then I was a bit less stressed. Sadly, when Friday morning came, I was exhausted. It isn't unusual for me to get tired after a girl day. I tend to push myself more than I should on those days, but I get so excited, I can't help myself. Having slept rather poorly Wednesday night, I was that much more exhausted.

On Saturday morning, as tired as I was, I decided to perk myself up with chocolate chip/ peanut butter pancakes. They were light, fluffy and very tasty- exactly what I needed. It seemed as though I'd never catch up on my sleep. Yesterday, I finally relaxed and after making certain that all my work was done, curled up for a nap. Today, I am back on track and I no longer feel like I'm dragging my heels. I am currently curled up on my love seat with one dog at my side, while another dog is dreaming away in the recliner, five feet away. I'm watching Agatha Christie on Hulu.com and I am fighting a nap. I shouldn't, but I want to get some writing done before I crash. I'm still recovering from last week, but I'm feeling tremendously better.

These little hiccups in life are hardly problems. Rather, they are mere inconveniences, but sometimes those inconveniences lead to other inconveniences and it develops into a very ugly snowball. Fortunately, we are surrounded by good friends and family -that makes all the difference.

One thing that I'm really looking forward to is my garden. I found that the Dollar Tree was selling seed packets 4/$1.00. I snagged several vegetable packets while they still had them, some things sell out quickly there. I think I'll get more at a later time, as long as they're available. Just having seeds is exciting enough for now, It won't be long before we're starting our seedlings! The month is nearly done and it seems like it went by quickly. One more week until March; I hope that Spring does come early, I can't wait for flowers! Until next time~ Toodahloo!

Remembering To Rely On Trusted Cookbooks

I like to cook and I love to bake. Baking is where I find my happy, relaxing place in the kitchen. When I was a little girl, I learned to bake chocolate chip cookies, using my mother's Betty Crocker cookbook. When the internet became a cultural thing, I was in college; I remember my first online recipe came within a viral e-mail that one of my high school friends had sent. It was the notorious fake cookie recipe from a mall bakery. After that, I thought that it would be tremendously useful to find recipes on the internet. I've had good luck with recipes from brand sites, sites of famous cooks and allrecipes.com. What is great about allrecipes is that people with rate the recipe and write in the comments what worked and what didn't work in the recipe. Often, when people share how they improved upon the recipe, I'll use their addition(s) to make a better treat/meal. This method has never really failed me, as far as I can remember.
Then, there's Pinterest, my favorite site. However, it's also the worst site when it comes to recipes. There are so many recipes that look amazing and people claim them to be amazing, but it's such a guessing game. I've found some good recipes and some horrid recipes. Today, for instance, I was in the mood to make some cinnamon rolls, because it was rainy today. I thought that it would be great to warm up the kitchen and make the house smell like baked goods. I went to online and found what was supposed to be an amazing recipe. The recipe (initially) claimed to take 20 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to bake, with a total of 40 minutes. I thought that it would be wonderful to throw together some pastry just in time for the Mister to come home for his lunch break and enjoy some freshly baked cinnamon rolls. Once I got 3/4 of the way through the recipe, with dough half-way mixed, the directions said to let the dough rise for an HOUR! Then further down, the recipe requires the rolls to rise for an additional 30 minutes. It would have been great if this little note was included at the top of the page, where it claimed to be a 40 minute project. I was thoroughly annoyed, to say the least.
The rolls, two hours later, came out great and were very much appreciated when the gentleman came home for the day; it was a welcome treat after being out in the rain. However, the experience has left me a bit jaded.
 Lately, I've decided to stop the game and just rely on my cookbooks. I have a wonderful cookbook collection and those recipes have never failed me. I even have a spiral bound version of the same Betty Crocker cookbook like my Mum has. I rely on that book, still, to bake excellent treats. I've gotten into the habit of grabbing a small stack of books from my cookbook library and finding good recipes to meal plan for the week. The most surprising thing is, I'm now discovering recipes from cookbooks that I overlooked for years. One year, I received the "Desperate Housewives Cookbook" for Christmas. It was a gift, because I was so addicted to the show. I never took the book too seriously. After a recent meal planning session, I discovered that the cookbook is actually pretty great! It has a nice variety of recipes and they are all very easy to throw together. So, for now on, I'm going to take a more old fashioned approach to cooking and baking, and hopefully I'll have more success and less frustration.
Until next time~ Toodahloo!

A Snowy Week

This week has been filled with snow storms, and apparently there's more on the way! Last Thursday, I took a photo of the sun setting and you can see the yard had very little, to mostly no, snow cover.

 However, the next day, the snow began early in the morning. By noon time the roads were terrible and the kids were released early from school. The snowfall was great and the snow fluffy. It didn't take long for the yard to look like a winter wonderland. As soon as the snow came, it began to melt away again. Just when I was seeing more of the ground exposed, it snowed...again!

This isn't at all unusual for February. Ever since high school I can remember that the week before my birthday, it gets very warm and then, right before or even on my birthday, we get hit with a snowstorm.

It's very pretty, but it's also a mess. We were quite lucky with the snow and the cold this winter, as compared to last winter, which was horrid. I am not complaining too much; especially when Spring is a month away. We had it pretty good this year. We rarely dipped below freezing (this morning it was -6) and we didn't have too much snow to cause trouble. I really am looking forward to Spring, though. It will be fun to be outside, in the garden again.

Today, I am relaxing with the pooches and making chocolate truffles for a Valentine's treat. It might be terribly cold outside, but at least the sun is shining and I'm warm and snug inside. I know that another storm is coming next week, but that is just part of winter in New England. I will find a way to make it fun. I'll keep you posted...Until next time~ Toodahloo!

Getting My Baking Mojo Back

Fresh baked blueberry muffins, right out of the oven!

You might have noticed over the previous months a lack in baking posts. There is a very logical, if not sad, and slightly funny story behind the reason why. At least, in the end, there's a happy ending. Back in November, I was looking forward to the holiday season. I couldn't wait to bake Thanksgiving pies and I was anticipating all of the festive treats that I could bake in December. Thanksgiving arrived and I found myself baking pies the night before, then getting up early on Thanksgiving morning to bake homemade cinnamon rolls. It was all very delicious and I felt like I was finally making my kitchen my own. Then, the Friday after Thanksgiving, in the wee hours of the morning, something very strange happened. Around 1 o'clock in the morning, I woke to hear a faint beeping sound coming from downstairs. This is odd, because I am hearing impaired, however I can still hear high pitched sounds very clearly. I woke the Mister and asked him if he could hear it too. He got out of bed, went downstairs and discovered that the noise was coming from the oven.
I quickly shot downstairs to investigate. The oven display was showing an error code and the oven was very hot. (No, the oven had not been left on earlier in the evening.) The Mister tried to hit cancel, but the oven would not shut off. Strangely this very thing happened to my parents the year before. A few days after Thanksgiving, while my Mum was roasting a turkey, the oven shot up to 500 degrees F. The only solution that my Dad could find was to unplug the oven. I decided that we needed to immediately unplug the oven in order to prevent any sort of major problem. So, the oven was unplugged and it began to cool down. After the Mister returned to bed, I couldn't rest until I researched online any possible cause and/or solution to our problem.  I narrowed it down to either a problem with the temperature sensor or the control panel. Once I saw that there was at least a solution, I was able to go back to bed and get some rest.
The next morning, we plugged the oven back in, hoping that the problem went away, but the problem was still there. So, the Mister discovered that it was most likely (hopefully) a problem with the temperature sensor. So, he was able to make it so that the oven was no longer in use, but the stove could still function.
Christmas came and went, and we were able to improvise and had a lovely holiday meal with the family. However, January arrived and that month is full of birthdays, not to mention that February has my birthday and Valentine's Day. I really, really wanted my oven back. I went online and did some research, I found the type of sensor that I needed for my oven and ordered a replacement on ebay. When the Mister replaced the old with the new and oven was working again. I was beyond happy. Since then, I've been baking up a storm. I made homemade bread, cookies, birthday cakes, and the other day, I made blueberry muffins. Not to mention, that I can cook more versatile meals for supper again. Life is back to normal. I know that it seems like such a small thing, and compared to other much bigger problems out there, this is rather silly. I never saw this situation as a problem, I understood that it was nothing more than an inconvenience; nevertheless, I am very grateful to have my oven back. Now, You'll find more baking stories coming your way! Until then~ Toodahloo!