Happy New Year from Amanda

Five pics that tell the tale of this past week. None of the cottage; we didn't make it up there - too cold and not enough energy to deal with all it entails. City-bound we were.  

On Monday and Tuesday this week, I enjoyed going over in the early morning to wake up Bella, Yvonne's dog, when Yvonne had spent the night with her mother in the hospital. It was cold and dark and the early morning walk was quiet and peaceful. Then Bella sprung into the day and got things going with a bang (and a bark). 

It was so cold on Saturday that I decided to try my hand at my mother's shortbread recipe. How hard could it be? Sugar, butter and flour. Mix. Voila. Well. I got distracted mixing the first half batch and put all the sugar into that half; then the second half got no sugar at all. It was hard to mix the two halves of dough together. That turned out to be a problem, because the bottom half cooked too hard and the top half didn't cook well at all - turned out doughy and undercooked. Tried a few pieces but couldn't get through more than that. Note to self: Don't get distracted next time! 

Baby, it's cold outside! Saturday morning we got a whack of snow, but then the sun came out and it has  been brilliantly sunny (and brutally cold) since. 

Yvonne and Chester: He climbed right up onto her one evening and claimed her. 

Val carving the Christmas Day turkey: That was an interesting cooking experience, also. We tried a new approach that came from The Science of Good Cooking book that Val had given me. It said to cook the turkey high and fast (short time). So we did. Val used the oven timer to set the first bit of cooking time; when it beeped, she turned it off. We turned the bird and I set the regular kitchen timer for the next cooking time. When we went to check the bird, the oven temperature registered only 191 degrees F (Accidental Tourist, anyone?). I shrieked, then we realized that, in turning off the oven timer, Val must have by mistake turned off the oven instead. Oh dear. Well. We jacked up the heat to 400 again and shoved in the bird again, and used the kitchen timer for a second round of cooking. The bird came out beautifully in the end, although it likely would have been that much more perfect without the timer fiasco half-way through. 

May the coming year bring friends - 2-legged and 4-legged - into our home, and may our days be filled with the love of community, connection and companionship. 

Happy New Year to you and yours!