Monday, February 20, 2012

I Got Plenty of Nuthin' . . .

Last night I decided to make today a marathon baking and cooking day while getting the laundry done. I feel like I put in a marathon all right but didn't get as much done as I had anticipated. (One of these days I'll have to start living in reality.)

Although I pulled recipes for five different kinds of cookies, I only got two made.

A batch of good, ol' Chocolate Chippers.

I also made a batch of Molasses Refrigerator Cookies which I haven't made in a coon's age. Maybe longer. You form the dough into "logs," roll them in chopped pecans and refrigerate them overnight or put them in the freezer for a couple of hours which is what I did.

Then they get sliced and baked. They have a cup of molasses in them and I just love 'em. But if you don't care for molasses, run the other way.

I got two different batches of soups made, packaged in quart containers and squirreled away in the freezer. I still have a big pot of Navy Bean Soup simmering on the stove right now.

Laundry is all washed and dried. It isn't folded or put away yet, and ironing needs to be done also. Maybe yet tonight. Maybe not.

Long about two o'clock this afternoon I was ready for a fresh air break so hubby and I hiked the loop up in our woods in back of us.

Normally at this time of year the snow in the woods would be measured in feet. About half the trail has no snow as shown in the picture above.

We saw some wolf scat which I decided not to take pictures of (you're welcome), but I couldn't resist showing you these deer droppings. The whole loop trail was littered with them! I don't think I've ever seen so many deer droppings before. Geesh. We must have a huge population of the critters in our woods right now.

Along with the wolf scat, we saw many wolf prints in the snow. The one above is next to my boot for size comparison.

Weather Bulletin: The good news is that the forecast is for a 100% chance of snow tonight. However, total accumulation is only to be 3-5". But we'll take whatever moisture we can get for the ground in the way of spring melt. We sure are going to need it.

19 comments:

dr momi said...

Good grief....do you pack a gun when you walk among the wolves????

Carolyn said...

Lookie at all those COOKIES!!! I think I need to jump on the treadmill just look'n at 'em!

So neat to see wolf tracks. I've never seen a wild wolf. Just them mangy coyotes around here.

Judy T said...

That wolf track is HUGE! If you see someone unfamiliar in your bed wearing a nightcap be sure to call the woodsman for back up.
I'd say you had a quite productive day! Only marred by unrealistic expectations.
Judy

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you had a productive day to me:) That wolf print is huge!

Erin said...

I sure hope you are enjoying some snowfall right now with one of those cookies!

Tombstone Livestock said...

hmmm Laundry, cookies, soup, walk in the woods ........... that's more than I got done today, but I do have a new baby goat tonight.

Anonymous said...

You accomplished so much, the molasses cookies sound great. Recipe please? Hasn't this been a strange winter. You normally would have a number of feet of snow, and we'd have rain and wind enough to blow away Oregon. It makes me kind of nervous. Instead of thinking about you didn't do, focus on what you did...

Sue said...

It's scary how big those wolf prints are. I hated hearing them when we lived in the U.P. ---I'm sure they don't go around randomly attacking people, but I always got so scared when we were out on walks and heard them howling. Don heard a commotion on the porch one night and there was a wolf after ?? we don't know what.
And after all that--GLAD you took a break from working. So important to fit it "you" time in the day!!
:)

judy said...

What a busy bee you've been. me too-I have been getting inventive for Jerry's sake-made him chicken so tender ,it could melt in your mouth,almost so I put it in the food processor ,now everyone thought grandpa was having tuna salad [ I added some country gravy to it ] now the remaining piece I will do the same except add egg,gr. pepper.rice-what do you get? fried rice.That wolf looks like it could be the size of one of those bigger than life ones that have been circulating the internet.talk about laundry -just quadruple that for towels in my place. and snow youbetcha [ sorry ,my mn. accent is very gregarious this morning [ must be from looking at all that snow on the deck,must be 3" ] ha,ha,ha

Jane @ Hard Work Homestead said...

Ha, that cracked me up. Yep, I would be a run the other way gal. I just can not develop a taste for molasses. I think laundry and TWO kinds of cookies in one night is quite a marathon.

2 Tramps said...

Will you share the molasses cookie recipe? They look amazingly delicious - just begging for a cup of coffee.

Impressive to get baking and laundry done. I did seven loads of laundry yesterday and still have more to do today. But I will be baking some cookies too - thanks for the inspiration. No looking for wolf tracks here - but Chucky dog is about as big as a wolf...

Anonymous said...

Yes Mam, you just proved that you are a superwoman--albeit a very busy one! And you'll be able to take on any wolf you encounter on the trail.-"M"

Susan said...

Hello, Mama Pea? This is the voice of reality...just how much were you planning on getting done to make it a "good" day??? Good lord, woman! Cookies, laundry, soup, walk, photographs. Yeesh. I would say you got plenty of plenty going on!

Mama Pea said...

dr momi - Do you know, we have never seen a wolf in all of our walks in the woods? We've seen them trotting around outside when we've been in the house though. I'm thinking they see us in the woods, and make themselves scarce! (Does that mean we're scary looking?)

Carolyn Renee - When you do see a timber wolf, there is no question as to whether it's a bona fide wolf or coyote. They are majestic!

Judy - I love your phrase "only marred by unrealistic expectations." I keep thinking I'll get wiser as I get older, but so far, no luck. Sigh.

Stephanie - We could tell it wasn't a fresh print, but it was huge all the same!

Erin - Did get some snow overnight. Short post coming up!

Tombstone Livestock - I just checked. I see no pictures of the baby goat. Pictures, please.

Ruth - I will post the recipe for the molasses cookies for you and 2 Tramps. Comin' up!

Sue - Because we haven't heard the wolves howling this winter so far, we were kind of surprised to find as many tracks in the woods as we did. Must be the Year of the Silent Wolves.

judy - You're quite a bit farther south in Minnie-soda than we are so I'm surprised you got the snow, too.

You can put just about any meal in the blender and Jerry will get all the nutrients. Might not be as appetizing to look at but the nourishment is what counts. You're doing a great job!

Jane - I was always short on iron when I was menstruating so I consumed a lot of molasses then 'cause it was a good way to get it into my system. I used to mix it in with cold milk . . . chocolate milk? No, molasses milk! Does that make you wanna gag? ;o}

2 Tramps - Will post the cookie recipe soon! When we had our Bouvier (90 pounds at his peak) we always had a hard time telling his tracks from the wolf tracks.

(I don't think I've EVER done 7 loads of laundry in one day. You are Super Woman!)

"M" - My taking on any wolf I encounter on the trail would be me begging him, "Shoo now, Wolf. Go away like a nice little wolf! Please?"

Susan - Although I didn't get as much done as I had hoped (while living totally out of reality), my title of this post referred more to the fact that it contained nuthin' much of interest. It certainly wasn't a burning philosophical dissertation. (Wait, I've never posted a burning philosophical dissertation.)

Karen L. said...

Great, you had to post cookie photos, didn't you? Now I am going to have to get a towel and wipe down my keyboard. hehehe Cannot believe your lack of snow. We finally got our first for this winter ... it was 3 - 4 inches on Monday morning but our temps. are now up in the 50's on Tuesday so it's melting like the Wicked Witch of the West. And WOW, what big feet those wolves have. Yikes! Hope you walk carrying some sort of "protection" ..... or, can you run faster than Papa Pea?

Leigh said...

offlesag pizzle,Wow, that wolf print is huge! I'm really impressed with your marathon. Can't wait until I can have one too!

Mama Pea said...

Karen L. - I KNEW this cookie post would get to you! I couldn't help but think of you all the time I was baking yesterday!

We don't really worry about the wolves although we would if conditions were so that they were starving for some reason. THAT would be different!

Leigh - You haven't had the luxury of taking a break from your remodeling as I have. There's no way you can set up and do a cooking/baking marathon in the midst of all that disruption. But hang in there, Friend. Your time is coming!

country life said...

Cookies look great! You have been busy! :)

Mama Pea said...

Country Life - I found one more quart of defrosted beef broth in the refrigerator today (whoops!) so made one more big pot of soup (Black Bean) for the freezer. Feels good to have the soup ready as "convenience" food! Now if I could just stop people from eating up so many of the cookies . . . ;o}