First Day of Spring?

We saw a high temp today of around 33 degrees. Then this afternoon it dropped to 28 and at 4 o'clock started to snow. The forecast is for about 4" by 8 o'clock tonight. Spring? Sometimes up here we just can't go by what the calendar says.

Last week when it was warm and melting, I decided the birds wouldn't be needing any more suet this year. By the looks of things outside right now, it's a good thing I changed my mind and filled the two suet feeders one more time this morning.

I volunteered to make goodies for a function in town tomorrow and one of the things I'm making are these cookies.

They're called Orange Oatmeals and are basically an oatmeal cookie with raisins jazzed up a little. With the bit of frosting on top, they come out looking and tasting pretty special.

It's a recipe I've had for an age and a half but haven't made for a long time. Somehow, the old standbys like Chocolate Chips, regular Oatmeal, and Peanut Butter cookies get made more often. These are even better the next day when all the flavors have had a chance to blend.

ORANGE OATMEALS

3/4 cups butter, 3/4 cups honey, 2 eggs, grated peel of one orange, 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 cup quick oat flakes, 1 cup raisins, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional).

Blend the softened butter and honey in medium mixing bowl. Add eggs and mix well. Stir in orange peel. Add flour, soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Then stir in the oats and raisins (nuts if you wish -- I don't usually add them when taking to a large group because so many people seem to be allergic to them).

Drop by tablespoonful onto greased cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Frost with simple Orange Icing: Put 1 to 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar in small bowl and add the juice from the one orange you grated. Mix well. This should be ample to frost all the cookies.

I don't take much time with the frosting. The cookies are lumpy-bumpy on top so I just plop a small amount on a cookie and push it around a little. Nothing fancy.

I'm glad I thought of making these cookies today. They have kind of a 'spring-like' flavor to them. (Even though it looks like I'll be driving through several inches of snow to deliver them tomorrow!)

Female Super Power

One of my favorite blog writers, Nature Knitter (click on her under "Blogs I Visit" over on my right hand side bar), recently asked her readers to share incidences of personal FemaleSuper Power they had used in their lifetime. I started to reply in her comment section but soon realized it was a "story" that would be too long for that spot.

After thinking it through, I'm not sure if the following is an illustration of Female Super Power . . . or stupidity. But here goes.

I painted the exterior of our house three times in the span of eight months. Let me explain. The year we built our house, we finished putting the siding on in late fall. An instructional blurb that came with the siding said that although the boards did come with a primer coat applied, a coat of paint was advisable before the siding was exposed to a winter in cold climates.

We were a little short of cash but our local lumber yard happened to be having a sale on "close out" colors of paint. It was very cheap (should have been the first clue) so I picked up enough cans of what I thought would be a nondescript beige color to paint the whole exterior. Then in the spring, I could put on a second coat of a color of my choice.

Since it was so late in the fall, and the paint couldn't be applied at a temperature below 60 degrees, you better believe I spent everywaking hour that it was warm enough painting, painting, painting. I finished the whole house. Only problem was after the paint dried on the siding, the nondescript beige had a horrible tint of . . . of . . . of what? Red?, maroon?, magenta? It kind of shimmered and glowed. Could hardly stand to look at it.

So first thing in the spring, I bought more paint and went at it. I was shooting for a gray/green but this one ended up much too green. Why didn't I stop when I saw that it was coming out too green for my taste? Good question. (I told you this tale involved a bit of stupidity.) I think I kept hoping when it was all done, the overall effect would look better. Didn't. (And the paint had been mixed so I couldn't return it.)

Back to the lumber yard paint section. I got it right the third time. By that time, I was reeeeally tired of house painting. But it was worth it because thirteen years later, even with a two-story addition that I put two coats on, I still like the final color.

Female Super Power? Dunno. Maybe the fact that I'm a Taurus (astrological sign: bull) and have a great deal of tenaciousness, stick-to-it-tiveness helped. 'Course I've also been called bull-headed, stubborn, immovable . . . and stupid.

I Hate Mud

I'm not a spring lovin' kinda gal. Lots of people say spring makes them come alive, feel energized, want to tackle new projects, take on the the world. What's wrong with me? I dread it like the plague. What a yucky time of year. Cold, damp, drippy, wet . . . and muddy. Ugh.

This is the part of our driveway just coming into the yard. No matter how much gravel we put on the road here, come spring it disappears. The mud eats it.

We've always had a dog and always lived in the country. No sidewalks or paved streets for our four-legged, hairy creatures to prance around on. They have always seemed to actually enjoy plodding through any part of the yard that has bare dirt showing. And, oh, it's always so interesting to check out all of the oozey, gooey garden soil as soon as it becomes uncovered.

You can see the toes of my shoes as I stand contemplating a rather large puddle out behind the house.

Our dogs have all been trained to know that when the spring melt and mud arrive, they come in the door but must stand on the rug until all four muddy paws have been wiped off with a damp cloth. There are even some days when all four feet need to be unceremoniously dipped in a small bucket of warm water, swished around and then dried before entry to the house is gained. I bet they all have learned to count to four because it's a routine we go through ("Okay, that's one foot, that's two, gimme number three, etc., etc.") several times a day. Multiply that procedure by three these days since we've been keeping our daughter and son's-in-law two dogs while they are in Arizona and I feel like I'm continually letting in a small troop of doggie soldiers who have been on a training hike through the mud flats.

That's Zoey in the background and our granddog, Tucker, in front sitting on some straw that we spread on an especially muddy path from the deck to the greenhouse door.

My birthday falls in the month of April and whenever anyone asks what I'd like for my birthday, I always answer, "Asphalt." But, let's face it (andkwitcherbellyakin , Mama Pea), mud comes with the territory. Would I want to live in suburbia, in a high-rise condo in Minneapolis, in a part of the country where we didn't have snow to melt in the spring and make mud. Nope, 'course not. I love living in the woods, away from sidewalks and concrete. I love watching the birds and squirrels (and yes, dogs, too) drinking from the mud puddles in the driveway, seeing the wet, soggy garden beds emerge from the melting snow. Being able to go outside without long underwear and wind pants and hat and gloves and a big, bulky coat.

A river runs through it . . . the small road going to our back wood working and storage area.

Hrumpf. Well, maybe spring isn't all bad. Who says it's not a perfect time to curl up on the couch and read? Maybe I'll avoid the mess and mud by staying inside and cleaning out my desk. Good time to cook and bake all day. I'll quilt in my cheery quilt room with some good music playing. Good grief, there's spring house cleaning to be done! I can easily occupy myself, so I'll just stay inside until the mud dries up and goes away.

Can you toilet train dogs?

Difficulties Yet

Yes, I'm close to throwing my computer out the window over my desk. As you can't help but notice, I'm STILL having trouble getting my blog posts to come out looking good. Font size and spacing changes on me mid-stream, spaces between paragraphs disappear, blah, blah, blah. I guess I should be grateful I can at least get something to post . . . which I couldn't do a while back. Please be patient. I know the text isn't easy to read and certainly doesn't look good. I'll keep trying to get the problem fixed. Some how. Some way. Some day.

Stocking the Freezer

Many of you know that our daughter and son-in-law are currently in Arizona where he's recovering from injuries he received when the front wheel came off his racing bicycle and he took a bad (understatement) fall.

I've been thinking that having their freezer stocked with some prepared foods would come in handy when they return home.

I'll make some hearty soups, breads, etc. as mainstays but thought a little sweet treat now and then would also be appreciated. So today I baked Berry Patch Coffee Cake which I know they both like a lot.

The original recipe calls for the batter to be baked in a 9 x 13" pan but I always use two 8 x 8" square pans. (I like to use these aluminum pans because I frequently give one coffee cake as a gift and then I don't have to worry about getting the pan back.) You can see by the above picture that the two smaller square pans combined are bigger than the one 9 x 13" pan, but I always do it this way and it comes out fine.

The batter will be stiff so you have to work a little bit to get it spread out evenly.

I don't pay too much attention to the specific amount of jam called for (one cup) in the recipe. I just take a table teaspoon and drop nine blobs of jam over the batter, kind of evenly spaced.

The cake on the left is the way I package it for the freezer. When I take it out of the freezer, I drizzle on a simple powdered sugar frosting. Or if I'm going to use the cake right away, I frost it as soon as it's cooled as I did with the one on the right.

(Blogger is being especially balky about printing anything out in recipe format - it's something still whacko with my computer, I think - so I'll try writing this one this way.)

BERRY PATCH COFFEE CAKE

1 - 8 oz. package cream cheese, 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 cup milk, and 1 cup jam (any flavor).

Combine softened cream cheese, butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in vanilla.

Sift dry ingredients and add alternately with milk. Spread into two greased and floured 8 x 8" pans (or one 9 x 13" pan). Dot with jam and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Drizzle with powdered sugar frosting when cool. Freezes well.

I remember when I first asked my son-in-law what his favorite kind of jam was and he replied, "Red." So today I made these coffee cakes for him with some of my raspberry jam. I've yet to find any flavor jam that doesn't taste good in this recipe so don't hesitate to use what you have if you want to give it a try.

Hot Heads

A short while ago, my daughter announced that she needed a new winter hat . . . a big, stretchy one preferably. She's growing her hair out into dreds. (Does one 'grow' their hair 'into' dreds? Forgive me, for I am out of it. Way out of it.) Anyway, the hats she has been wearing are becoming a bit snug and uncomfortable with her new hair style. She tried on a hat I had knit for myself a couple of years ago and requested one just like it, but in a different color.

I guess waking at 4 in the morning and not being able to fall back asleep has its advantages . . . I got up, stoked the fire, made my morning latte, sat down and finished her hat.

I've included this picture of my hat because I think you may be able to see the pattern better in the light color. It was an enjoyable pattern to knit. Once I got past the second cable twist, I didn't have to keep my eyes glued to the instructions; I could tell where I was by just looking at my work.

If any of you are interested, the pattern is in Charlene Schurch's book, 'Hats On!'