Keeping NY resolutions

So far it's been amazingly easy to keep my New Year resolution. Not exactly a hardship to cook and eat!

The chicken tortilla soup came out great. I decided a breakfast food should come next so dug out a raised/glazed donut recipe. The recipe was easy to follow (KAF Baker's Companion) but the yeast flavor was more pronounced than I liked. Not sure if it was the overnight rise in the fridge or what. Well worth trying again though so I'll be tweaking the recipe to my taste. I also need to be a bit more careful about the frying time; some of the donuts came out a bit tough which indicates I left them in too long. Since you cook them less than a minute per side, it can happen wicked fast. 

Much better tasting than they look here

I also tested a CI recipe. Turkey meatballs that came out fantastic. Not sure when this recipe will hit the magazine, but I hope they don't change a thing (okay, it needed more sauce, but the flavors were wonderful).

Incredibly tender and flavorful

Then of course life happened and two weeks ran into each other so I made two recipes the same day: the seeded mega crackers from KAF Baker's Companion and Hummus from BHG 15th edition. Served up with veggies and fruit it made a nice meal.

Making the crackers (wine required)

The crackers were easy and really tasted great. The hummus was okay - Chris like it a lot, I thought it was just so-so.  I did three versions - original, Sriracha, and EVOO with fresh parsley.

They're huge - about 7 inches across

The recipe made eight crackers and we had three left over. I crisped them in the oven the next morning and put peanut butter on them for a quick breakfast. Yum!

Some desserts coming up (Dream bars, Almond Toffee bars) and an oxtail soup that looks interesting (yes, I have oxtails in the freezer, don't you?). 

I'm loving the time spent reading through my cookbooks. I'd forgotten how fun it is to just peruse the recipes, marvel at how things change (in 1987 BHG didn't even mention Hummus in their cookbook), and figure out whether a recipe will be worth it or not (so far, so good). 

It's cold out; no wait, it's warm; what is it??

The weather has been topsy-turvy the past few weeks. Freezing, warm, raining, snowing, etc. Minus 20 one night, 50 and sunny a few days later. We've been mainly working on finishing up the mudroom built-ins but there's always time to fit in fun with Cooper.

Agility class has kept us active.

So fast we're a blur

And morning walkies are beautiful with all the ice.

This root amazes me

 Cooper can be very demanding when she's bored.

This is what she does when she want attention.

 Hardly any snow, but just enough to play in.

She's so fast!

And then the thermometer broke

We've had such a mild winter. Little to no snow, lots of sunshine, and temperatures that seemed downright balmy at times. Chris hasn't had to use the snow thrower at all this year and only back-dragged the driveway a couple time (mainly to run the tractor I think). Sure, we've had ice to contend with and the wind has been high at times but overall it's been quite pleasant outside.

And then this weekend hit. February decided to nail us with sub-zero temperatures. How cold? Not sure - the outside thermometer broke. The weather station says it's -16 in our nearby town but we're often colder than them. So I'm going to guess -20 (why not?).

Poor Cooper is making quick work of her morning potty break - outside, go, inside, curl up by the wood stove. Looks like it's going to be a good day to do inside stuff.