What's up?

Hello. :) What's up? Well around here it's either nothin' at all, or everything at once. Thanks for sticking around even if I get lazy and don't post according to my regular schedule. Things have been crazy around here! There are quite a few posts in the queue, but I must skip around to keep it interesting. I think if everything here was posted in the same order that it took place in real life, you would be hearing about our "Christmas" on Valentines Day. Anyways, without further ado, here we go.

We've had snow here. A LOT OF SNOW. I think we got about 12-14 inches, which is a lot for us. There's enough snow that I haven't driven the car in two weeks nor have I been for groceries so the cupboards are fairly bare. My Saskatchewan relatives will be snickering, but it's true, things really do shut down here when it snows more than just a sprinkling. We even saw a Starbucks that was closed and it was one that was usually open 24/7. Crazy, eh? You can see some of the snow if you go here and look out my window. :) Or you can just look at the photos below. I have plenty!

Close to the beginning of the storm.

The streets were really icy under the snow so we were glad for the 4x4.

A sad, cold lonely blue heron.

The pond out back was frozen solid and a few skaters and booted ice hockey players made use of it. Once I counted 11 people on the ice. I don't think the "private property no trespassing" sign works, what do you think?

Where's the patio? Not even Petra has made her marks in this snow yet, she must be cozy and warm in her dog house. This is her first snow!

So what do I do when I am stuck inside? Puzzles! This is one that my relatives might recognize as we all completed it together at a relatives house after my Aunt Glenna's beautiful wedding.

1000 pieces? What did I get myself into?

Almost there. (Isn't this so exciting?)

Voila!

Another one I did, a 300 piece borrowed from Mom J.

Another thing you do when you are cooped up inside is bake. I gave most of the baking away to neighbors because I either can't eat it or don't want too!! I used up all my butter, all my peanut butter and all my powdered milk in the baking but it was fun! These are my mom's amazing melt in your mouth Whipped Shortbread, which I may post on here someday and link to. They are basically butter, flour and icing sugar whipped to smithereens! The chocolates are Peanut Butter Balls. :)

All ready to go, but kinda ugly.

Free printable baked goods gift tags from here.

Much better!

What do you do when you don't have a turkey in the fridge and a fancy meal planned and it's December 25th? You scrounge! Below is almost all the food we had in the house other than some cereal and canned goods.

Mock Turkey Dinner for Two:

Dessert- Make crustless pumpkin pies out of pureed pumpkin left over and frozen from October. Follow your favorite recipe for pumpkin pie filling.

Turkey- Throw a handful of carrots, 1/2 a cubed onion and two chicken breasts into a casserole dish. Coat the chicken breasts with 1/2 tsp Better than Bouillon chicken flavor, rub in a generous coating of thyme, celery salt, onion powder and garlic powder.
Sweet Potatoes- Cube three of whatever you call those orange potatoes. Whether you call them sweet potatoes or yams I don't really care, just throw 'em in a casserole dish. Cover generously with real maple syrup and dabs of butter.
Vegetables- Use what you have. Stir fry or boil them together till done. I used carrots and cabbage.
Cranberry Sauce- Make it up as you go. Take about 1 1/2 cups of Craisens. Cover with water in a glass dish and microwave till dried fruit is no longer dried. Mix in some corn starch and microwave. I think I used about a tsp but I was just eyeballing it. Let sit. This actually was so similar to the real thing I don't think anyone would know the difference.
Mashed Potatoes- Peel and boil potatoes. Mash with salt, pepper, butter and some sort of milk product. I used heavy whipping cream because that is all I had! Place into casserole dish and add dabs of butter on top.
Salad- Romaine lettuce, sliced almonds, Craisens and feta cheese if you have it. I didn't. The dressing is equal parts white sugar, white vinegar and vegetable oil. This tastes just like the Parisienne salad mix from Costco.
Gravy- 2 cups water with 2 tsp Better than Bouillon chicken flavor. Seasonings of choice- I used the same seasonings I rubbed into the top of the chicken. 1 Tbsp Corn Starch. Mix it all together when cold, heat, simmer 1 min till thickened.
Put lids on all the casserole dishes and put them in a 375 degree oven until done. About 40 mins. The mashed potatoes and veggies just went in for the last 10 minutes to keep warm.

We were so full but we still had room for dessert. I scooped the crustless pumpkin pie into crystal goblets and topped them with a dollop of whipped cream and a shake of nutmeg. Then my mom's amazing almond roca topped it off. YUM!

I hope everyone had lovely holidays!
xoxo