Curse that Weather Curse!!!

Don't you just long for some Disney Magic to take you away to warm places, when you've had 25" of snow, and days on end of 30 below zero weather?

But darn that weather curse, whether it's mine or Doug's! Perhaps you noticed that Florida had the worse weather in 10 years this past week. . . and iguanas were getting so cold they were falling from the trees. . .

. . . and then the astute reader of this blog would have figured out where Doug and I were!

Last Friday (Jan. 8th), after checking the forecast, Doug and I scrapped the snorkeling excursions, and packed our winter coats, gloves, and long underwear for a Western Carribean Disney Cruise.

And we had a blast anyway! We got up at 2:45 am in Grand Forks, with the temperature literally at 30 below, windchill -57. We dropped off our luggage at our itty, bitty, little frozen airport, and the next time we saw it, it was delivered to our room in Saratoga Springs hotel at Disney World.

I love you, Disney, even at 27 degrees! (Normally, Orlando is around 72 degrees this time of year. . . "normally" as in when Doug and I are not there!





Look! Water in the winter, and it's NOT FROZEN SOLID!

We spent the night in Orlando, and on Saturday, we climbed aboard the Disney Express headed to Port Orlando and embarked onto the Disney Magic!

Only Doug and I were on this trip, which made for a dramatically different trip than all our vacations of the past, which included our children. But even more extraordinary than being sans offspring for this trip was the fact that neither of us got food poisoning or needed to spend the evening in the ER before the trip!

Who knows? Maybe one day we'll even break our Weather Curse Tradition as well!

The Ice Man

I told Doug that it was not a good day to gambol and frolic in the sprinkler in the yard. . .


. . . but he just wouldn't listen! (windchill: -35)

My Very Own Parking Space

It's true. I have my very own parking space at work. Under this.

And check out the weather pixie in the upper right corner of my blog. Last I looked, she was at -27 degrees. . . .without windchill! I also noticed she was carrying a sign that said "Adopt Me! Please!!!!!!"

Tough to See Them Go So Soon

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Elfification

I've Created a Monster: The Photo Bomber

I've created a monster! Every family may have one: the Dreaded Photo-Bomber-- that drama queen who leaps in front of the camera every chance she/he gets, regardless of what you really want as your subject or focus.

It started innocently enough. Occasionally I would give my model a reward for successfully accomplishing a pose--often a tasty treat: lamb & rice biscuits, or lamb and rice sausage chunks.

But then the monster surfaced. Now, it seems like every time I pick up my camera, Drama Queen awakens from her slumbers, with every bit of her narcissistic personality demanding to be "fed", and proclaiming, "Me! Me! Take a picture of me! It's all about ME!"



The above photo was suppose to be about Dianna (Who is NOT the photo bomber!) But Bonnie sprung into action, practically salivating when she saw my lens cap come off, and positioned herself directly in my line of focus.



And this photo was going to be a close-up of the Nativity Scene. Before I could compose the photo, Bonnie Photo-Bomber leapt into action, wiped out a few sheep and Wisemen with her tail, and got herself center stage.

It's the drool on the lens that really does me in, though.

Next time, A Little LESS White Christmas, Please!

Apparently, someone was dreaming just a teensy bit too strongly about a white Christmas around here. We got 25.1 inches, and this is the stuff Brian drove home through on Christmas eve, saying things like the drive was "Not bad." He did acknowledge there were a number of cars in the ditch.

This next one is through a window screen, and there really are two cars under all this!



One dug out, one more car to unbury:

The mailbox is not quite buried, but close:

After two of us using brooms to start the snow removal on this car:



Unfortunately, a lot of this stuff will still be here come April. It's not like it usually warms up above freezing before then, so what we get now, we might as well "adopt" and name because it's going to be with us a long, long, time.



Brian was suppose to leave on Saturday at noon, by bus, leaving his car here. But the bus service was cancelled. He was able to get a seat on Amtrak at midnight. At least we got to see him a little longer!

We Interrupt This Scattegories for Caramel Pots de Creme

Thanks, Maria! I received these wonderful red wavy ramekins from my sister-in-law, Maria, and they've given me an excuse to launch into another whole new realm of desserts!

Everyone was only semi-cooperative to interrupt the game of Scattegories. . . and the eating of Caramel Pots de creme. . . .for this photo op!

And here's the recipe:

3/4 c sugar
1 c whipping cream
1 c milk
1 t vanilla
5 large egg yolks
1/4 t salt.

1/2 c whipping cream
1 T sugar
1 T rum

Preheat oven to 300. Cook 1/2 c sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, without stirring, until sugar is carmelized and golden brown. Swirl pan, dissolving unmelted sugar; reduce heat to low.

Slowly whisk in milk and 1 c cream. Don't freak out too badly if this instantly turns into a hard clump in your pan. Don't throw pan out either. Keep heating and stirring milk, with happy thoughts intact. Increase to medium high and bring to a boil; once it really does dissolve again, remove pan from heat.

In a bowl, whisk 1/4 c sugar w/egg yolks and salt, until pale yellow. Add hot cream mixture to eggs, whisking. Put mixture through a sieve into a large measuring cup; throw away glumpy stuff in sieve.

Skim bubbles off top and pour 1/2 cup each into ramekins.

Place ramekins in a large roasting pan, and add enough boiling water so that ramekins are immersed up to within 1" of tops. Cover roasting pan tightly with aluminum foil, but then punch a couple of holes in the aluminum to allow it to vent. Put roasting pan in oven and cook for 35 minutes.

Remove foil and cool ramekins cooling racks. Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour , up to 2 days.

To serve, whip 1/2 c whipping cream with 2 T sugar, 2 T rum and top each ramekin with whipping cream.

Merry Christmas! It's a Wonderful Evening. . .

. . . because the middle child is now home! He got in around 9:30pm this night, said that he "took it slow" on the interestates, saw many cars in the ditch, and now the rest of us are all breathing a sigh of relief. My fear (other than accidents and what I wish was unimaginable) was that he would be stranded in a gas station for the next three days, as interstates closed.

He's much more handsome than this photo suggests, but some of his first thoughts were of food!



I DID keep busy by baking this afternoon, and here's a "sweet" shot:



Now, we're busy eating it, and watching Muppet Family Christmas. We couldn't bear seeing Ms. Piggy struggle to get to Fozzie's Mom's home, through the blizzard, until Brian was safely home. . . .

Merry Christmas every one! I hope you're all having a wonderful evening and that you have a chance to be with your loved ones. Just thought I'd post this, as I listen to Ms. Piggy singing "There's no place like home for the holidays. . . " and hope your time is equally heart-warming. I cherish these moments, knowing that we just can't take these times with loved ones for granted. The only thing that would make it better for me would be to get to spend it with more of my family, like Maria & Lee, MaryAnn & Bill, Rina & Bob, and Laurie & Jimmy in the Chicago area, and Barb & Robert in Texas, and Ronnie & Linda in Washington.

Another of My Chicks is Home (It's a Mom Thing)

Scott's home for Christmas! It's so wonderful to see him; we haven't seen him since last Christmas, and no matter how old they get, there's something very intense about getting to gather all your young-uns together at once, especially at Christmas.

So, this is 2 out of our 3; one more to arrive home. Did you ever get to see Muppet Family Christmas, back in the late 80s or 90s? It was when Fozzy went home to surprise his mother, who had actually been planning to go on a trip. Fozzy brought all the Muppets with him, and the Sesame Street characters. Miss Piggy braved all kinds of terrible blizzard conditions, trying to join them, fairly oblivious and unphased by all the obstacles. The whole show was filled with Christmas songs, the mom finding food for a huge crowd of "people", and the emphasis was on being together for Christmas.

This Christmas feels a little bit like that, although not really in a good way. Brian isn't home yet. He won't be able to leave Minneapolis until after 2 pm, and then drive 5 hours northeast. . . .through a predicted, mammoth blizzard.

As much as I want to see him, and he wants to see all of us, I just want him to make a wise decision about this, and not risk his life! Tomorrow, most likely I'll alternate between being glued to the weather channel, and distracting myself, probably with baking.


(Scott has a rather wide range of humorous "looks" that he adopts in the blink of an eye.)