Has it really been TWO Months

Holy smokes...it's been two months since my last post!  Again, no excuses other than the holidays grabbed me, then the frigid arctic air.  Quite honestly, I haven't feel like doing diddly at night other than hibernating and watching Netflix. 

Let's start with the holidays.  We did something this year that we have never done - we drove to Minneapolis to have Christmas with my sister (staying there while she was undergoing radiation) and her daughters' families.  We had a most wonderful time and I can for see this happening more in the future.  The girls were lovely hostesses.  Of course, the star of the show was little Iris Grace.  That little girl has wormed her way in to my heart.  I love ALL of my nieces and nephews unconditionally, as well as my great nieces and nephews...but lil Iris ...well....my heart strings tug every time I see a picture of her or a snapchat (her mother sends).

We came back and had Christmas Day festivities at our house with Tom's brother Wayne and his family.  Last year  Wayne was in the hospital, so this year was truly a great Christmas for him. 

New Years.....once more, Robert and his family came over and we boiled Maine lobsters flown in special for the event.  Every year I say I'm not going to stuff myself, but dang....it's a once a year treat!

Since New Years, it's pretty much been survival mode.  My moods have been all over the place this winter and I attribute it to the nasty weather.   The frigid temperatures and endless snow has taken it's  toll.  I go to work, go to the gym, teach classes, come home and jump in to my jammies and huddle underneath blankets.  Not much living going on when the air hurts my face when I go outside.  My moods have started to tank though, as they do this time of year every year.  So, I upped my doses of Vitamin D, and started getting some artificial sunlight at the tanning salon. I know...skin cancer....but  right now my well being is my priority.  If it helps me to keep from crying at the drop of the hat, or going turbo on some poor unsuspecting soul, then a few minutes once a week or bi-weekly is worth it.

One plus to the weather is that I've started going through my house - organizing things, and purging (donating or discarding) items that my hands haven't touched in 2.5 years (when we started moving in to town.....has it really been almost 3 years already?)   Today it was my office/yoga room.  We all have that one room that is a catchall....and this room is mine.  So much so that I couldn't lay down a yoga mat in there if I wanted to.  So, I tackled it.  And in the process, priceless memories came flooding to mind, causing tears to fall.  Hand written notes from my mother, pictures from the past. 

As I'm going through things of sentimental  value, I'm trying to determine what to do with them.  I have no children to leave these things to.  Blankets knitted by my mother, quilts made for me in the 60's by my Grandma Olga.  Do I  hold on to them and make those, tasked with clearing out my house upon my death, deal with them?  Do I ask my nieces/great nieces now if they want them?  Or do I quietly donate them to the local safe shelter?  There are only so many that I can use.  

Maybe I will hold on to them a while longer.   The Universe will whisper to me what  I should do. 

I'm planning for Spring and the goals that I want for myself.   I want the indoor projects to be done, so that when the weather is nice, i.d snow melted and it's warm enough to layer up and be outside, I actually BE outside!   I dream of the fire pit, sunshine, flowers, and sunlight on my face.  

Which leads me to tonight.  It's 8:23 wine glass poured and I'm sitting here writing and listening to Jann Arden.  It's a rather melancholy album, but it's a "go to" when I'm in a reflective state.

I hope this finds you, my blog stalkers, doing well this winter.   Stay strong, the days are getting longer and the sun is gaining power.  Spring WILL be here soon,.

Namaste'

~Sherry~

 

Treasures

 

These are my new fuzzy socks, aren't they wonderful?  I've grown quite fond of fuzzy socks, they make my feet feel so cozy in the winter time.  We have hardwood and tile floors in the house, and sometimes they're not so warm.   They were given to me by my work Secret Santa...obviously they know me!  LOL   I've always had a Can Do attitude and Believe that nothing or no one can stop me....except me.  I have Girl Power, I am Strong, I am Confident, I AM Powerful!

With the Christmas holiday in full force, it's always good to remember the Christmas rules.   I saw this on Facebook and couldn't help but save and repost it here.  My perso!  nal favorite....#3.  I've been doing really good on my eating....obviously as there are still baked goods still chilling out in that garage.  However, I'm on my 2nd batch of chocolate chip cookies because somebody (named Tom) ate the first 6 dozen in a week and a half!   We had a discussion and he assured me that he would leave this 2nd batch alone. 

It' OK though.  He deserves a few extra cookies.  He had some excitement last Monday.  He walked in on burglers at the farm house.  Without going in to a lot of details, T was incredibly lucky that he was not harmed in any way.  My heart went to my toes when he called me and told me the news.  The culprits were caught largely due to T and his insane heroics!  (He chased them down, with the aid of a neighbor). 

I had friends over on Saturday for some drinks, good food, conversation and friendship.  I'm incredibly lucky to have great friends in my circle.  After the holidays I want to do something more for a wider circle of friends...maybe an open house of some type.  Maybe for Valentines?   I want to celebrate women, our strength, and our sisterhood.  

Soooo, getting back to #3.  I have 5 days to eat and excercise "good"....cuz come the 21st - 25th, all bets are off!   lol

Love Can Be Found in the Kitchen

This is my mother's recipe box.  It's filled with love - all the recipes that she accumulated in her life time.  Her treasured "go to" recipes for the delicious meals and morsels of goodness that she placed on the supper table  every day, every week, month and year.   As I read them, I smiled.   They're in my mother's handwriting....a lasting memory of her...Bernice.  

You could tell the ones that were her favorite for they are the most worn and stained.  I knew these dishes for I ate them often; the hamburger hot dish (top L) was a weekly staple at our house.  To this day it is a favorite of mine, although assuredly it does not taste "like Mom's".  

The molasses crinkles were cookies that Mom made only around the holidays; they were Dad's favorites, and my  Grandmother Jongewaard's too.  I never much cared for them as a child, but I'd give anything for a batch of Mom's right now.  

I pulled out a few cards that had notes on them; "Good" or  "Double Batch", "Use more Salt" or "Mom's" (referring to my Mom's Mom).  

Mom  loved to cook....or maybe she didn't?  I don't know, exactly as I never asked her.  It was just something she did for her family - and she did it very well.  If you went away hungry after eating at our table, it was your own fault.

She did tell me once that she learned to cook from my  paternal Grandmother - Blanche.  Grandma and Mom would cook for the thrashing crews at harvest time.  They'd put out elaborate breakfasts the Dad and Grandpa Schulz as well as the hired hands and neighbors.  As soon as they were done and in the field, Mom and Grandma would do the dishes and set to making lunch for the noon meal.  Can you image it in a time where everything was made from scratch and limited cooking appliances?  I can't.  I can barely pull off a Thanksgiving feast.

Mom would bake every Thursday so that she'd have treats in the cupboards for any visitors that may grace our doorstep on Sunday.   That's what people did on Sundays; they'd go for Sunday drives in the afternoon, check on crops and go visit neighbors.   We always had Sunday visitors; Art Sperger would generally  stop a few Sundays a month.  I remember him because he always had a quarter for me and Mom would always have chocolate cake or a cookie for him.  Art was a bachelor (one of three bachelor brothers) that  would do anything for my Dad, as my Dad did for them.  Then there was Uncle Bobby - who actually was my grandfather's hired man - who was sweet on my Aunt Delores (Nannie) and married her.  He liked my Dad and would come around on Sundays for a cup of coffee and shoot the breeze  with Dad.  He liked my Mom's baking powder biscuits, said they reminded him of home (he was from Mississippi).   It wasn't lost on me that both Art and Uncle Bobby had birthdays within days of mine and my brothers.  :)

Everything Mom made was made with love....she was the epitome of Love.   I miss her terribly, especially this time of year.  Her apron dusted with flour, the counter tops filled with Angel food cakes resting on top of Coke bottles to cool, rosettes cooling on the counter  and Mom laughing  in the kitchen over something that Dad said as he tried to sneak a  a fried potato from the frying pan as Mom was making supper.

Life was simpler, life was easier, life was treasured....Love was found in my  Mother's kitchen.

Christmas Baking 101

I scoured my mother's recipes, sorted through some of my own, scrolled through Pinterest and came up with the winning list of tasty treats that  were going to grace my holiday baking list.

It was an ambitious list.  My sister Peggy's chocolate chip cookies (with pudding in the mix), cinnamon candied pecans, caramel puff corn, peanut butter blossoms, double chewy bars (new), salted chocolate pretzel bark (new), and peanut butter delight bars (new), praline Chex mix (new).

Rules to successful Christmas Baking

1.  don't be ambitious with the list.
2. when trying new recipes for the first time, do not multitask and make two at the same time.  Invariably you'll forget an ingredient one recipe or double up on an ingredient in the other.
3. remember to set the timer and make sure the temperature on the oven matches the one listed in the recipe.  
4. measure the ingredients correctly.  Don't mistake 1 tsp for 1 tablespoon, or vice versa.
5. Baking powder is not  the same as baking soda
6. referring back to #3, remember to take baking item out of the oven when the timer goes off, not 15 minutes later
7. open windows to let the smoke out of the kitchen
8. open wine bottle, pour a glass.
9. scrape charred remnants of recipe in to garbage, set pan to soak.
10. pour another glass of wine
11. remember that caramel is hot and can burn fingers
12. find Band-Aid in medicine cabinet for blister on finger
13. pour another glass of wine
14. assure yourself that even though the final product looks nothing like the pictures, it will still be edible (hopefully).
15. finish off wine