L'hiver..Winter.

 

Winter is acting differently this year..some. ..few ..days are glorious with sunshine and blue skies..but many are very dull and monochromatic..snow seems to hit in fury..  here and there..

I do love winter but I must preface by saying..sunny winter;)

I need it all.

Perfect you know..

Nothing ever is..  but one can lean towards preferences I think.

I have been baking but apart from a new cookie recipe..I have had some misses.

Twice I tried muffins that never ever ended up looking like the original poster showed..LOL I asked a few questions..no answer.

Then I made that beautiful Excellent White Bread recipe and tried shaping it like this..

I gave my shape a 2/10.

To the salon..  oops..to the drawing board;)

So in short nothing to write home about.

Soups are one of my favorite food groups.I love having one for lunch..any warm kind in winter..and gazpacho in summer.

You can whip up a soup avec  presque rien.(Almost nothing).

I used 3 very large carrots.. sliced

1/2 head of caulflower,broken up

1 onion chopped

3 garlic cloves

Chicken stock

s and p

milk or cream.

chipotle chili pepper seasoning.

Hot sauce.

Just sauté onions and garlic..in some butter and evoo.. add veggies and toss to coat well.. add enough stock to cover veggies..  cook until fork tender.

Use a blender or a hand held blender until smooth as silk.

Adjust your seasonings add a bit of milk or cream..

Add croutons or puff pastry hearts;)

LOL on two of the same;)

Winter was not my fave season as a realtor..

Every Tuesday we had caravan.. visiting the new listings.. so we traipse around in boots..  then take our boots off upon entering the homes..always..our feet ended up in puddles of wet feet.

Back into cold boots with freezing wet socks..for ap 2 hours plus. in and out.

I was always shivering at the end of the day.

Open houses..Sundays 2-4.. stopping the car to put out heavy sandwich boards.. directing people to the open houses having to stop traffic ..oh I loved that.Wind..snow..snowstorms..

The ads went in newspapers days before.

I retired 11 yrs ago..there was no IG for ads..no Tik Toks..no Facebook..

All newspapers.

Some homes were empty..relocations.. so they were so cold when we would arrive..

2 hrs..waiting for people.. keeping our coats on..

Those are the things I do not miss.

Driving clients in horrendous road conditions..

Those are the things I do not miss lol.

Now I appreciate winter.

I don't mind it like I used to.I am not fond of cold but very fond of getting out there.. walking..snowshoeing.. shovelling is not my fave..My face hates cold.

But I get such an amazing feeling in white snow with blue skies.

So I do it.

My husband is intrepid.I mean it.

I think he appreciates the maintenance more now.He sees it as great exercise.

He never bemoans it.

That helps..if he crabbed about it all the time I may not be so ok with it.

Picture postcards some days.

I swear as awesome as walking the beach.

Have a great weekend.

 

Just chatting..:)

Present state of affairs

Christmas has been put to sleep..It takes a day..a long day..but it is worth it..

A different Christmas..looking forward to next yr.

We will be home in Nov..Less rush about..

I am considering a buffet for brunch..That long table I bought..for the kitchen for us all to sit comfortably is already a tight squeeze..

These boys..

I am telling you..

Sooo talll..

And they do gym..

so all bulked up too.

So I watched The Menu..am I ..the only one that hated it? No my husband did too.

Rave reviews..

I like dark..

But this was a satyrical horror ridiculous concoction of awful ingredients.

I like dark..

I like happy.

I love a great ending.

I love to smile..

I love to cry watching a movie.

This did nothing but make me wonder what are we coming to?

I mean it's not a biography like Dahmer..for the horror of it all (Only watched one..) a true story..

It's a flight of unappetizing fancy.

Give me all my fave shows and forget about this.

Have you seen Hidden Figures?We loved that.We loved it because the women become victorious.

I hope to God this kind of racism does not exist anymore.

We got mad like we always do when we see this horrible racism.

I still like Yellowstone..and yes Kevin Costner is in the above mentioned movie too.

He's a great... natural ..well aging actor.

All Creatures Great and Small back on:)

The Bear was great..season 2 coming..

Ted Lasso coming also..

Dopesick was amazing.

Elvis ..that Austin Butler..WAS Elvis.Kudos..and Poor Lisa Marie.

Tried to go see The Whale..my fault.. I didn't know movies changed over so fast.

Anyway speaking of The Menu..I saw a very neat tip.. you know your whole head of garlic? Mine is still so fresh that dividing and peeling can be a tiny chore..But if you need the WHOLE head..microwave 15-18 seconds depending on size and you will not believe how easy it makes the task.

However if you need only one or two..better to not do that keep the remaining head intact and fresh and pull apart and peel as needed.

I have a new BFF in my kitchen..

It's a cordless hand mixer..cordless!

Here it is.....

Mine is white and I bought. it on sale.

I would have bought one yrs ago..had I known.

I don't always need my almost 30 yr old KA stand mixer.It's out and available..Bt sometimes i need smaller.

This is it.

It's great!

I have been painting..but I can't share..  as they are gifts:)

That's about it..Take care..stay well..

A beautiful winter wonderland outing..

 

Numerous luminaries are shaped like houses.. :) So beautiful..

Little areas to sit..enjoy the fire and sip hot chocolate.

To the left all the houses..middle the lit balls hanging above our heads..to the right the circular luminaries and the photographer's tunnel

 Many picnic tables so you could bring food too..

A waterfront village of luminaries..house shaped or round.. to the left and right of these huge globes..

Someone may recognize this coat:)I used to always be in beige and white..now black and white..This is J's fave coat ..RED.

I grabbed a paintbrush:)

She was kind because she had way better pics of her but let me pick:) This was the photographer's tunnel.

My hair turns to fur lol in dampness..or humidity..Check..:(

A wonderful outing.Winter wonderland.

A few weeks ago one of my daughters asked me if I would like to go with her to this Luminart expo..She went last yr and loved t..She suggested dinner at their home after..I said yes:) Last night was the night.

A tiny amount of freshly fallen snow.. freezing rain before.. helped cover up our quite unwinterlike landscape of uninteresting browns..

One of the 5 warmest Januarys in decades ..decades..

So the whole weather system made the show even more magical.

Music plays.. hot chocolate is served..

We started at her home..left the boys there.. we went because we love things like this and came home to a great meal and a board game.

I loved it all.:)