hello!

The holidays are almost over and as of the day after Christmas, the baking has ceased.  Well, not entirely. I still make bread weekly and sweet potato bran muffins, but that's it! Because too much of this....

I'm getting fat.

Recipe here

The first time I made this pie I found that I couldn't get the lemon slices thin enough, so when I set the lemon slices aside to soak the sugar for the suggested 24 hours they got a bit tough and chewy. That said the flavor was so amazing that I had to try again. When I made it the second time, I zested the lemons and cut off the pith instead, then sliced the lemon. I also squeezed the juice of an extra lemon in the sugar lemon mix. I took this to my BIL and SIL house for a Christmas gathering and it was a huge success. My FIL said it was the best lemon pie he had ever had. No joke. 

I hope everyone has had a lovely Holiday! 

Snow Day

It snowed last night. I know I know, it's December, but I live in the desert so it's a treat when it snows. High desert by the way. Way different then the low kind. I worked in a tourist spot once, and people from cold places would say, "I thought it wasn't supposed to be cold in the desert?!?" I'd smile and inform them that they were thinking of Phoenix, not Albuquerque. It gets cold, but we don't get much snow.

The boys were so excited! they had to make a snowman and have a snowball fight. I made them warm biscuits and hot cocoa.

They had a two hour delay, but we kept them home anyway. It's the last day before Christmas break and we figured why not? 

They were so happy!

Birthday Cake

I made a cake for my mother in law.

It was her birthday.

It was a delicious cake.

I got the recipe HERE

I"m not saying how many candles were lit.

But it looked like a forest fire.

Let me introduce you to my Grandma

Grandma has dementia. She thinks it's funny to flip the bird.

She likes my boys. She eats a tub of margarine a week. She used to smoke.

Once upon a time she was sharp as a tack. She was one of the first females to be ordained an Episcopal Priest in the 1970's.  

Now she sits in her room and knits all day long while watching TV.

She lives with us. It's not easy sometimes.

Sometimes she is like a broken record.

Sometimes she can carry a conversation. 

She can't remember that conversation for more then 5 minutes.

Incontinence is a bitch.

  My house smells funny now.

But mostly, 

I'm glad she is with us. 

I'm glad we can take care of her now. 

We might not be able to do it forever, but we will do it as long as we can. 

A rock and a sleigh bell

My children have a lot of stuff. Their rooms are littered with Gears, action figures, crayons, etc.  They have so much they don't play with, it's hard to think of things to get them for Christmas. Other then games for the Wii and DS, I was at a loss when family asked what they might like for gifts. The other day I asked them what they would like for Cristmas, their reply... Chad my oldest would like a rock. A big one from the mountain. David my youngest (making his Pop-eye the sailor man face above) wants a sleigh bell. Not just any sleigh bell, one from Santa's sleigh. This is what they asked for. Boy did I luck out this year.