Nothing new and exciting

Each morning before I take the dogs out to the woods across the road, I check the temperature outside to see which coat I should wear. I was shocked and a little upset to see that it was all of 4 degrees. Bummer. I bundled up in my big down coat that looks like a comforter with arms and donned my goofy blue hat with braided earflaps and out we went. Patch and Miranda made quick work of their morning outdoor time and came racing back into the house. Spinner took a little longer but that may be because his back foot is still healing and he has to wear a plastic bag over the bandages for outdoor trips. He finally made his way back into the house, but Blayze stayed outside. I don;t know if she was so cold she got disoriented, but she kept wandering further and further away into the woods. I was afraid I'd have to go in after her. Finally she emerged in the driveway of the house next to the trees and was sniffing around their garbage cans. I walked down the road and yelled for her to come back and she darted back to the house so fast it was difficult to keep an eye on her. That's why we call her Crazy Blayzey.

Winter Vacation

I've been slacking off and taking it easy for the last week or so. We've been trying to get everything settled and back in order after Christmas. The whole house transforms for one dinner and it takes a lot of time and energy to get it back to the way it was. -Energy that I just don't have. I've been slacking and enjoying it. Michael has been home for the last four days so I got to sleep in and he has taken the dogs out for their morning run to the woods. Just as I was starting to get used to it, he went back to work. :-(
Now it's back to the daily grind. Speaking of grind, Michael went to the dentist today and had a molar ground down and a crown installed. He said it wasn't too bad except that some of the dentist's tools felt like they were cutting into his gums. I assured him even the toughest guys are allowed to admit that some dentist appointments hurt.

Merry Christmas!

Winter Wonderland and Christmas Candy

It snowed this morning. We got about 2 inches of the heavy wet stuff. It looked really pretty as I let the dogs out this morning to go the woods.
This afternoon Michael and I made our annual Christmas Candy.
We made Peppermint bark: Mint supremes (which I sprinkled with nonpareils too late and they didn't stick. D'Oh!): turtles: mint chocolate candies:marshmallows:
and cherry snowballs:
(will post pics when they are completed!)

Krokaners and accidental art

An annual tradition in my husband's family are an old Scandinavian cookie recipe called Krokaners. They're commonly called, "Bracelet cookies". They're a rich yet delicate sugar cookie and always disappear quickly.
It looks as though I'll soon be adopting this annual tradition. The last 2 Christmases, I've been apprenticing. I'll post a recipe as soon as I remember to write it down.
...At least we don't have to learn lefse.

I was making pear-cranberry chutney the other day and as I was dumping the last of the ingredients into the pressure cooker, I looked down and saw a lovely kaleidescope of colors. The chutney turned out excellent. I may now be brave enough to try my own mango chutney, so we can rid ourselves of our dependence on the store-bought stuff, because goodness knows, it's a panic if we're ever out of the stuff.

Corned beef and Cabbage and a little handspeak

Having grown up on the east coast, I've always had a habit of talking with my arms waving about, gesturing and for emphasis. Some may call this, "Talking Italian", but it's been in my non-Italian family for generations with some of my uncles being experts. (Sometimes, I think this is a strategy for ensuring "personal space", because you don't want to get too close to them or walk up behind when they're telling a story, you might get bopped.) I used to get teased for it when I first left the safety bubble of Bradford County. Yesterday it came to my aid. I was walking into Target, reading my shopping list and determining if my items would fit in a hand basket or if I needed a cart. Once I decided I needed a cart, I walked up to the employee who had just brought carts in from the cold and was lining them up tightly into rows. There were none free, so I had to wait until he was finished and I asked him politely, in my usual half words, half gestures way if I could have a cart. He had a blank look about him and then quietly wheeled a cart towards me. I smiled and said "Thank You" and walked away. About 10 seconds later (my normal brain processing time) I remembered that I had met that employee in a checkout line before. He was behind me in line buying his lunch and the checkout girl was chatting at him rather oddly. She was using plain words and speaking slowly about his recent knee injury. His arms were full with text books and he dropped a soda, so I turned around and picked it up and put it back on the belt for him. He gave me that same plain look again and the check out girl said, "He says, 'Thank You'."
Ahh, now it all fit. He was deaf.
Good thing I talk Italian.

Dinner last night was a pre-seasoned corned beef brisket we picked up at Sam's Club. I simmered it for 2.5 hours and then added cabbage, carrots, potatoes and onions. Very yummy and the long simmer helped the tough cut turn out tender.

Spinach Salad with warm bacon dressing

I love this salad. It's got everything. Bacon, ...and...umm... bacon...
Well, what else do you need?
But really, the balance of sweet and salty and warmth of the dressing along with the crunch of the spinach and the smoothness of the eggs, makes this such a fun dinner salad.

Other than cooking, we've been getting ready for Christmas and just taking care of dogs. Spinner is back to his old self, including being a little snippy with the other dogs. I guess his complacent nature was enhanced by the pain he was in with his broken tooth. He got his first time-out when he snapped at Blayze. She was trying to steal some of the cuddling he was getting last night and he was a little too intense in telling her, "No!".

Doggy bath time and Martini fountain

Can't you just hear her say, "C'mon! Don't take my picture, I'm naked!"?
Miranda needs a bath more frequently than the other three dogs. We have no idea if it's due to her doggy genealogy or how she gets affected by stress, but she can put out a stink that'll make your eyes water. She gets bad B.O.
Here she is drying off with her super hero cape:
The wedding went well. Michael's cousin was married in Minneapolis. The reception was held at a very nice banquet facility above a jazz bar.
I have to say, this is the most ingenious way of utilizing an ice sculpture I have ever seen. Here my SIL is getting her Appletini chilled as it is poured through the ice sculpture.
The whole event was held indoors. I was frightened for a moment that they were going to have us throw birdseed outside the church. Considering it was all of 8 degrees, that would have been insane. Instead they opted for a receiving line after the ceremony. *phew*

Swedish meatballs

It's so tempting to eat hearty and rich foods on such bitter cold winter nights, and we've been having some bitter cold winter nights lately. We've had high temperatures in the low 20's. Even the dogs don't like going out and playing in the snow when it's this cold.
So I thought a nice warm dinner or Swedish meatballs would hit the spot. They're not that tough to make and I substituted venison for beef. I didn't follow the direction for making the sauce, because I had some of MIL's famous gravy in the freezer. I found the recipe here.

Borscht at last

At long last, I found just the recipe for Borscht that I was looking for. I followed the recipe to a "T". This was fantastic. It was a real effort to stop with only one bowlful. It took all day to prepare, but the wait was well worth it. It was a rich, hearty soup full of flavor. I think I'll need to start pursuing more Russian recipes.

In other news, yesterday Spinner and Blayze went to the vet to have their teeth cleaned. This is something they have to have done periodically because they collect tartar like crazy. Spinner actually had a broken tooth that needed to be removed as well. I dropped them off at 8am and picked them up at 4pm. Blayze was still in a daze from the sedative. She was wobbly on her feet. Spinner seemed to bounce back very quickly. We put water on his dry food and them put it through the blender so he wouldn't have any discomfort eating dinner. He wolfed that down with more enthusiasm than I had ever seen him eat with. This morning they both ate their breakfasts without any problems. Spinner seems to be a little perkier than I've seen him in a long time. I guess that tooth was hurting him more than he let on.
Here they both are recovering.

Blayze just wanted to sleep it off.
They're both back to 100% right now.

Well, we're off to wedding this afternoon. The temperature has climbed up to 1F. It was -5F when I woke up this morning. I hope the whole ceremony is indoors.