January is Almost Over!

Wow, January has been one long and cold month! We haven't done much but stay inside and try to keep warm, which doesn't make for very interesting blogging. We had one week of school that went like this: Monday - early release due to a snowstorm; Tuesday - late start due to the snow; Wednesday - normal day of school; Thursday - no school due to extreme cold; Friday - late start due to extreme cold. Kind of hard to get anything done at school, but it sure was a cheap week for daycare!

This last week, Phebe ended up getting the flu, which made for another interesting week, but I won't go into those details! Thanks to my wonderful neighbor, Judy, I only missed 1/2 day of school. She was here in 10 minutes when I called her (and woke her up) on Wednesday morning to see if she could stay with Phebe while I headed off to school. She came back on Thursday morning, and then I got a sub for the afternoon. Phebe is finally feeling better, and was able to return to school today.

We helped Sandy celebrate her birthday tonight (I won't say which one), and as you can see, Phebe definitely has her sparkle back. She didn't look quite that lively on Wednesday! Hopefully, February will be a much better month!

Bread Making 101

Joyce and I try to get together every Christmas to make our Grandma's recipe for Swedish rye bread. This year, we couldn't fit it in before Christmas, so we finally scheduled our session for last Saturday. Since it's an all-day process, I got up early and started the first step. The mixture of lard, sugar, salt, yeast, water, and flour had to sit for a couple of hours until it was light and fluffy. Joyce arrived at about 9:30, just in time to supervise the next step.

Time to add the molasses. Phebe was very interested in watching, and soon she was helping.
In with the raisins.

Next comes the bran.

Then, the rye flour.

Mixing was a real challenge!
"This is hard work!"

"But I can do it!"

Then comes the white flour. It was way too tough for Phebe to mix, now. She switched to taking the pictures!

Now it's time to knead the dough. Joyce always does the messy part.

But Phebe thought that looked like fun!

She also tried to keep the bread board from sliding all over the place.

We finally plopped it back in the bowl and let it rise for 2 more hours. This is our chance to do a little shopping, chatting, and eating. Jenna showed up in time for this part!

We finally got to shape it into loaves.

Once again, Joyce did the kneading. Then it had to rise for another hour.

Ready to bake!

After another hour, the bread was out of the oven and cooling on the counter.

Finally, it was time for a sample! Yum!

We figured our Grandma would be 120 years old this year, so that means this recipe has been around for a really long time. It was fun to watch Phebe help, and to remember how we used to do the same thing when we were her age. However, I also remember my grandma having short curly white hair, a plaid housedress, and an apron. Times have changed! What a great tradition, though, and the bread is sooooo good! I can't wait for raisin bread toast for breakfast this week, just like in the olden days!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! It was great to have a nice long vacation from school this year, with two full weeks off! With so much time on our hands, we had plenty of time after Christmas for some shopping, relaxing, entertaining, and a quick trip to Two Harbors.

Andy's parents and sister made the long trek to Minnesota from Pittsburgh to spend a week with Jenna and Andy, and we were able to get together with them several times during their visit. They came to Cannon Falls on New Year's Eve for some fondue. We started in the dining room with steak, chicken, wild rice, salad, bread, etc., and ended in the kitchen with chocolate and fruit for dessert. It was delicious!

Jenna and Andy had another party to go to, so after they left, we headed over to Stangler's just in time for champagne and more dessert. We missed Snyder's, who were celebrating in India this year!

I spent New Year's Day playing with Maddox while Heidi slept (after working all night) and Corey nursed a nasty infection in his foot. He had to keep it elevated, which made chasing a 2-year old impossible! Maddox took this picture - not bad, huh? Kinda looks like Corey has a serious case of pillow-head, though.

When I got home, Phebe wanted to celebrate New Year's with us (she spent Wednesday night at Kyle's and fell asleep at 11:00), so we donned hats and leis, got out the noise-makers, and ate cookies and juice.

We took off Friday morning for a quick trip to Two Harbors to visit Chuck's mom. We were supposed to go the day after Christmas, but put it off due to a predicted snow/sleet storm. We stopped for lunch at The Scenic Cafe, my all-time favorite restaurant on the North Shore. Phebe had worms and dirt for dessert, which we ended up sharing since there was no way she could eat all that chocolate ice cream and oreo cookie crumbs, although she had no problem finding room for the gummy worms.

After Phebe helped Great Grandma Flo open her Christmas and birthday presents (she turns 83 on Sunday), we ate again, and then we watched Mama Mia and played some games before bedtime. Another snowstorm was predicted for Saturday, so we left at about 10:30 in the morning. I really wanted to go up to Gooseberry to hike in the snow and get some winter pictures, but it's a good thing we took off since Two Harbors got about 6 inches of snow

later in the day.

So.....it's back to school tomorrow. It will be good to get back into our usual routine, and Phebe is very ready to see all her friends at school!