Samson

We put to rest our dearly beloved St. Bernard mix dog today. We are at our family's house and the trip out here was hard on Samson. 

He had begun having accidents here and there in the house. He was deaf as a post. He had a large non cancerous tumor on his leg and he was having a hard time getting up and down and walking around because of hip dysplasia. 

We adopted him seven years ago. Shelby and I found him at the pound. We took him to the common area and we fell in love with him. We were just going to "look" but ended up adopting him on the spot. Dan was a bit surprised when we showed up at his work with a big dog slobbering out the window. 

He had had a tough life being abandoned twice before we took him in. He was a mere 90 Lbs when we adopted him and he was 150 Lbs at his glory. 

We took him home and he fit into our family immediately. He was a watchful gaurdian over the triplets when they were small and went outside to play. If they got too close to the road he would herd them back toward the house. He was always protective over the kids. He was a constant companion and friend. 

He didn't like men with ball caps and the UPS trucks or delivery men. 

It's not suppose to hurt this much to lose an animal but it does. I can't even imagine daily life without him. His memory will live on in our hearts forever. He is missed deeply by our family. RIP Samson. 

Baking

The smells of baking are wafting through the air. The snow is piling up outside. Pandora is playing Christmas music on the computer. How I love this time of year. I have been busy in the kitchen baking this-n-that. We started on Sunday when some friends joined us to do some baking. 

We've made peanut butter kiss cookies, lady fingers, Mexican wedding cake cookies, roll out cookies, soda cracker toffee, pumpkin bread and zucchini banana bread. 

I've had my hands full trying to keep large and small fingers out of everything. 

Most of the stuff I've baked so far is pretty much common Christmas goodies. If something I've listed peaks your interest and you don't have the recipe just respond on my blog and I'll get it to you. 

I'm a toffee addict. I had the soda cracker toffee and would have never guessed the base was crackers. 

Here's the recipe. 

Soda Cracker Toffee 

1c brown sugar

1 c butter

Sleeve of soda crackers

Chocolate chips

Nuts - chopped 

Using a 9x13 baking dish line the bottom of the pan with soda crackers. In a sauce pan combine the butter and brown sugar and boil for 3 or so minutes. Pour the syrup over the crackers. Bake for 5 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Pour chocolate chips over the top of the crackers mixture. Spread chocolate. Last layer is the nuts. Use whatever kind you have around the house or better yet, any kind you like. 

Let the toffee harden a little. Then, go ahead and try not to eat em. I dare you. 

A few things

I had an MRI last Thursday and I'll have a PET scan on Wednesday and combining the two scans will let them see how I'm doing head to toe. 

I've been feeling well. I like that things are returning to normal. Whatever that is, right? 

We put out tree up last week. Wouldn't you know it that every single strand of lights we had had something wrong with it. We ended up scrapping them all and getting LED lights. I can't say that they are my favorite. Super bright and the blue is so bright it'll burn holes in your eyes if you look at it too long. 

Things are looking mighty Christmassy around here. This is my favorite time of year but that's not telling you much if you know me.

 I don't want to get so wrapped up in "commercial" Christmas that I forget the real reason why we celebrate. It's amazing to think that just a few thousand years ago our Savior was born in a stable in Bethlehem. 

May you know the real reason for the season. 

Uuuh It's A Little Chilly....

It was suppose to be -18 below last night. Instead, when we got up this morning it was almost -30. That's a bit chilly - even up here.

 

Dan and Kylie are headed to her basketball game this morning. Guess -30 below is not too cold to play. :)

I Made These...

I went to a women's group at church last night and we completed our mittens made from recycled wool sweaters. This is the pair I made. What a great gift idea!

Turkey a la King

I love the time after Thanksgiving. You know. Leftovers, specifically turkey leftovers. I had a bag of turkey left over and I was wondering what to fix with it. I went to one of my favorite food websites and this recipe looked interesting. I didn't fix it exactly as they said and I think it's better. 

Try it and see what you think. If you don't have a leftover turkey, FIX one so you can have leftovers. :)

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

1/2 c diced onion

2-3 sweet mini peppers or 1 green bell diced up

1/2 bag of frozen peas

2 c chicken broth

1 c half and half or heavy cream

1 1/2 tbsp cooking sherry

2 c turkey (you could even use a rotisserie chicken if your in a pinch)

I browned the butter in my cast iron skillet. After it was a toasty color I added the onions and peppers. I cooked these until they softened a bit. I added the flour sprinkling over the mixture and stirring until I had a nice roux. I added the chicken broth and then the milk a little at a time so it didn't curdle. Then I added the cooking sherry. I seasoned it with salt and pepper to my liking. Then I put in my leftover shredded turkey. 

I was going to serve the whole hot mess over pastry puffs but I bought the mini ones on accident so I used leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving and served them over that. 

I've licked my plate clean. I thought it was delicious. Maybe I just have a palate that is easy to please. 

Tinker with the recipe as you choose. Hope you like it. 

New Mantle

While my brother-in-law was here for Thanksgiving, he and my hubby built me a mantle for the fireplace. It's so beautiful! It's made from old barn wood. It makes the fireplace in the front room take center stage. I can't wait to hang our Christmas stockings. Love it!

It's Snowing - Finally

It's snowing! It's snowed here and there but never enough to amount to anything. It was snowing when I got out of bed and it's continuing. Yay!