53 degrees in January! Yes, you heard me right!

It was beautiful today!  Had almost forgotten what warmth like that felt like!  It was glorious!  Made me happy to have my lunch job, so I get to stand outside for 25 minutes.  Was still pretty nice out, but cooler, when I left work at 8pm.

Tomorrow the snow is supposed to come.  We’ve also made it to January 11, 2012, without a major snowfall yet.  The most we’ve had so far, is about 2 inches and that was long gone already.  The weathermen tell us to expect 5-7 inches of white fluffy snow, that will be blown around like crazy, because of the wind.

So, no knit-night for us tomorrow!  We will be staying home!  Darn it all.  We went grocery shopping yesterday, so we don’t have to go shopping tomorrow.  I will probably have to work both my jobs tomorrow, because the snow isn’t going to be fast and furious. I’ll have to dig out the boots.

Back in November of 2010 (based on the comment I left on a blog post), Emily and I made Stuffed Acorn Squash and White Bean Chicken Chili.  I’ll be darned if I remember what recipe we used for the white chili.  I just remember it being good.  Then I remembered the yummy soup I made once for a Lenten soup and sandwich supper, that everyone liked and tried to remember where that was from.  Sheesh.  I googled chicken soup with spinach and rosemary and found this link:  Italian White Bean and Spinach Soup  Phew!

It will be fun to take pictures of snow, once we get it!  I took pictures of the yard, the other day, so I could document our snowlessness.  They are still on the camera, though!

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Too warm in January

Temps in the 40s and no snow on the ground?  What kind of January is this?  I’m sure it’s saving us a lot of money on heating costs and it sure is easy to not have to shovel, but this is not how January is.  Snow would sure be pretty!

Our Christmas tree from this year. It was a combination of a balsam and a fraser fir!  I’d never heard of that before.  My coolest gifts were a Mac Mini and a small 4-cup Cuisinart Food Processor!  The kids are having fun learning how to use the food processor.  Some day I won’t have to work so much and I can have a little more time to play with it.  I’m still working hard on getting my computer set up with my old files and trying to navigate a Mac.

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Summer Weather

The last few days have been so nice. Temps in the 80s and tolerable dewpoints. This past Saturday was my friend Edie’s daughter’s wedding. We had a beautiful day which was good, since all the festivities were outside!

Tomorrow the temps and dewpoints will go up again. Just in time for us to have to mow the lawn again! Ugh! Still it won’t be as hot as last week’s heat advisories. We might have to dodge some raindrops, though.

The flowers are blooming nicely. I should take some pics tomorrow. I have off tomorrow, so I will have time!

20110727-083031.jpg

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Spaghetti and Meatballs

Dawn’s Spaghetti and Meatballs

Sauce:
3/4 C chopped onion
3 T. oil
2 1-lb cans tomatoes (4 cups)
2 6-oz cans (1-1/3 cups) tomato paste
1 T. sugar
1-1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 bay leaf
1-1/2 t. oregano
1 cup water

Cooked chopped onion in hot oil until tender. Add next 7 ingredients, along with 1 cup water. Simmer 30 minutes. Remove bay leaf. After mixing and baking meatballs, add them to sauce and simmer another 30 minutes.

Meatballs:
1/2 c. bread crumbs
1 lb. ground beef
2 eggs
2 T. chopped parsley (or 2 t. dried parsley)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t. crushed oregano
1 t. salt
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix ingredients together thoroughly. Form into 1-inch balls. Bake in broiler pan for 20 minutes. Add to sauce.

We haven’t had this in a while, but I was reading this post, about saving money at the grocery store, and it made me think of this recipe.  This home-made marinara sauce is so much better than store-bought sauce!

http://morethymethandough.com/shop-smart

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Other 2010 knitted projects

Here’s some other things that I made in 2010!

Matching Hat
Basketweave dishcloth designed by Andi Worthy
Mason-Dixon Ballband – knit with ecru Sugar’n Cream and Premium Peaches & Cream in Spice (scroll down to pattern link)
Ho Ho Ho Snowman by Alli Barrett
Linoleum Dishcloth – another Mason-Dixon design

 

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Monthly Dishcloth KALs from Mid-July to December 2010

2010 Dishcloths

Mid-July – Ribbons and Lace – Janet Nogle
August – Starfish –  Elaine
Mid-August – Ice Cream Cone – Andi Worthy
September – Mouse (Do I Smell Cheese?) - Elaine
Mid-September – Lacy Leaves – Andi Worthy
October – Spider – Andi Worthy
Mid-October – Witch – Alli Barrett
November – Peanut the Elephant – Elaine
Mid-November – Snowy Drops – Andi Worthy
December – Christmas Tree – Frugalhaus
Mid-December – Fire and Ice – Janet Nogle

Geez, I’ve been a slacker.  I didn’t post all winter!  These dishcloths were all fun to make.  I just got lazy about posting them on here!

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Bonnie Butter Cake

Bonnie Butter Cake with Easy Penuche Frosting

Dawn's cake 2005

Dawn's Cake 2005

Cake:
1 3/4 c. sugar
2/3 c. butter
2 eggs
1- 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
2- 3/4 c. all-purpose flour or 3 c. cake flour
2 -1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. Salt
1-1/4 c. milk

Frosting:
1/2 c. butter or margarine
1 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 c. milk
2 c. powdered sugar

Cake:
Heat oven to 350^. Grease and flour 9 x 13-inch pan or 2 9-inch round layer pans, or 3 8-inch round layer pans. Mix sugar, margarine, eggs, and vanilla until fluffy. Beat on high speed, scraping bowl occasionally, 5 minutes. Beat in flour, baking powder and salt, alternately with milk on low speed. Pour into pan(s). Bake until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, oblong 45 to 50 minutes, layers 30 to 35 minutes; cool.

Frosting:
Heat margarine in saucepan until melted. Stir in brown sugar. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir over low heat 2 minutes. Stir in milk; heat to boiling. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm. Stir in powdered sugar gradually. Place in bowl of ice and water; beat until frosting is smooth and of spreading consistency. If frosting becomes too stiff, heat slightly, stirring constantly. Fills and frosts 2 8 or 9-inch layers or frosts a 9 x 13-inch cake.

My ALL-TIME favorite cake!!!!!

Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Kerrygold.
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Windy with a capital W.

So windy today – all day.  Still windy now. Will be windy tomorrow, too.  We have sustained winds that are 24-28mph and must gusts have been in the 40mph range, but there was one gust at 1pm that was 55mph.  Yikes.  There was a brief tornado in Racine county, but nothing like that here.  We did get some rain, but that was it.  The lake had crazy waves today.  I went down there twice today, to look.

Windy waves on Lake Michigan

Wind stirs up Lake Michigan on 10-26-10.

Emily and I made soup for supper, because with such blustery weather, what else would you be hungry for?

TURKEY VEGETABLE SOUP

1 1/4 pound ground turkey
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup sliced celery
6 cups water
1 can diced tomatoes with juice – 14-16 ounces
1/3 cup white rice, uncooked
1/4 cup ketchup
1 T. instant bouillon – chicken or beef
1/2 T. dried basil
1/8 tsp pepper
1 bay leaf

Crumble ground turkey into a Dutch oven. Stir in onion, carrots and celery. Cook and stir over medium high heat about 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Drain.

Return to kettle and add the water, tomatoes, rice, ketchup, bouillon, basil, pepper, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat. Cover and simmer 25 – 30 minutes or until vegetables and rice are tender. Remove bay leaf before serving.

I don’t know where my mom found this recipe, but I’ve had it so many times as an adult, I finally asked for the recipe. Tonight we served it with Pillsbury Crescent Rolls and salads we made at the grocery store salad bar.

I need to brave one more trip outside with the dog and then I can go to bed.

Oh yeah, diagnosed with bronchitis last Thursday, October 21st, after coughing for 1-1/2 weeks. Finished my Z-pak yesterday. I’m still coughing. I’m hoping for improvement by the time the full 10 days is up, which will be October 30th. Everyone, including me, is sick of hearing me cough. Coughing for 2 weeks is not my idea of a good time!

My new blue sweater has been keeping me nice and toasty all evening! I’m so glad I have it!

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My birthday sweater is done!

My mom wanted to knit me a sweater for my 50th birthday, which was back in March. She wanted me to have input into the pattern and the yarn, though, so she worked on it over spring and summer and it recently was finished. It took time, because she wanted to buy the yarn from Bahr Creek Llama and Fiber Studio down in Cedar Grove, about 15 miles away. Also, she started knitting one pattern, but didn’t like it, so she picked out a different one and made that one instead.

Carousel by Mags Kandis
Cascade 220 Heathers in 2447 Peacock – dark blue with hints of purple

Dawn's birthday sweater

Dawn's birthday sweater

I think it’s awesome and it fits beautifully. I think it’s a wonderful birthday present and worth waiting for. The thing is, it would have been too warm to wear during the summer anyway!

Also, at the ends of the triangular pieces on the bottom of the sweater, my mom put little gold beads in.  I think those are cool, too.  That was her own inspiration.

I wore it to my knit night last night and everyone thought it was pretty, there, too.

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Proud to be a Girl with Glasses!

A little girl needs your help.  She is 5 and just found she needs glasses.  She needs to know that there are lot of girls out there who wear glasses and are proud of it!  I myself got my first pair of glasses when I was 5, too. I really don’t remember a time, when glasses weren’t part of my life.  I’m 50 now, so I’ve been wearing glasses for 45 years now!

Girls with Glasses blog post!/

My childhood family has 4 girls with glasses and my current family has 3 girls with glasses! (Plus my dad wears glasses and so does my husband!)

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