Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Too Cold! Had to bake to keep warm!

I know, I know... Its been a few days! The weather here has been terrible. Once the cold front hit the state, we have been setting new record low temperatures at many places. Yep, it has been really, really, REALLY cold! It actually got above zero (barely) yesterday, and today the high is supposed to get all the way up to 14! Tomorrow we are supposed to get more snow and a tropical high of 17. Then another cold snap is expected to hit dropping us back into below zero temps for the weekend, as well as more snow.
On a good note, even with the temperatures dipping down to -27 last weekend, my little Rav-4 started for me. It doesn't even have an engine block heater installed! I was impressed.
Since it was SO cold, I stayed at home all weekend, leaving only for a few hours each day. Krystle didn't want to drive to work so I was a nice, caring mother and drove her into town both mornings. It wasn't all good-heartedness, I admit. I did have to go to the grocery store on Saturday and Joe and I usually meet up for brunch on Sundays. It wasn't like I was going out of my way to be nice.... Shhh, don't tell her that! These days, I hardly ever see her so it was nice getting to spend that little bit of quality time with her.
When the weather turns this cold, I really like to bake. It warms the house, not to mention the awesome smells! I had only planned on baking some bread. Not in a machine, but the REAL way... mixing, hand kneading, rising, shaping, rising, then baking. Now, there is a strangeness in my house that a full loaf of bread will turn green before it gets eaten. I didn't want that to happen with all my hard work, so instead of making two regular size loaves, I made six small ones. One went to mom's while it was still hot, one was devoured by me and Joe. Krystle started into another one when she got home from work. The rest are in the freezer. I don't expect them to be around very long!
Once I got myself into the baking mood, I just kept on going. I made zucchini bread, pumpkin bread, date nut bread, Noel pound cake (cake with red and green Maraschino cherries) and gum-drop cookies. I do plan on making more Christmas cookies this Saturday. The oven was on all day and kept the house toasty warm.
On Sunday, I decided to put up my tree. I usually opt for a real one, but with no one home most of the time I am sure it would have been neglected and become a fire hazard. The fake one is pretty nice, and as a plus, it already has lights on it. I always add one more strand with a flasher just to make it prettier (IMHO). I decorated it differently than the normal multi-colored ornaments I have always opted for. This year the tree is decorated with a multitude of crystal icicles, crystal ornaments, and gold balls, and colored lights. It turned out very nice. Now that the tree is up and I have been able to do some shopping and cooking I am finally in a Christmasy mood. I even wore a holiday sweatshirt yesterday! I am going to finish my shopping this weekend, probably on Sunday. Then I will be all ready for the Holiday... I hope!

2 comments:

OHN said...

Just getting caught up with you. I hope you had a nice Christmas.

All of your baking sounds sooooo good. I am sitting here with a weight watchers membership trial in my hand....I love baking too :)

tz said...

I love baking! and thanks for the comments on my blog, although terrifying that it might be that the kiddos still won't cooperate for pics when they're in their teens and twenties ;)