Oh Spring, where for art thou?

I am tired of it already...the cold and ice that is. It is 10 am and 14 degrees. The worst part is there is another layer of ice on the roads. This summer when it is 100+ degrees, please remind me of this winter. I know I will forget by then. My memory is short when it comes to temperatures.

Modern Lady - Vintage Lady

Cookies!

Let me just say, I am not known for my fine cooking skills. I can cook well enough to keep a body from starving. I have watched enough people cook that I have picked up some tips and recipes that I can reasonably reconstruct. The problem is that I do not really enjoy cooking, therefore, I just do not practice it enough to gain any expertise at it. BUT...I can bake. I can bake because it is fun and I so love to eat the finished product! I most particularly love to bake cookies!!!!! I can bake some good cookies. I love to bake cakes too but cookies are really my specialty. You can peruse my pantry and you might not always be able to find a sack of beans or a can of corn but you will always be able to find the rudimentary makings of cookies. A girl just never knows when she might need to bake!

I have been entertaining myself inside this week with baking. My sister gave me this book for Christmas.

The first recipe I made from it were the cookies pictured on the front. They are so, so good! I told my sister I am making every single recipe in that book this year. All of the recipes are good ones.

My very favorite cookie of all time is called la madeleine. You need a pan like this to make them. They are buttery, light little bits of scrumptiousness. They will melt right in your mouth. If you have fresh strawberries in the summer to put on them, so much the better. You can dip them in chocolate too! The recipe may seem a little complicated at first for cookies but after you make them a few times, it becomes second nature.

I first ever ate these in England but obviously, they are a French confection. I have a proud English-Scottish ancestry. For me to say that la madeleine is better than the shortbread cookie ( or biscuit as it is called there) is quite astonishing but yes, to me, it really is better. I do have a fabulous Scottish shortbread cookie recipe too. I make the  shortbread cookies in little balls then stamp them with this Scottish thistle cookie stamp.

It is a close call but la madeleines are better in my humble opinion. For a little piece of heaven on earth, make yourself a la madeleine with a hot cup of tea on a cold, winter night. Just the thought of it sends me straight over the edge! I am going to go do that very thing right now. If you (my reader) were here, I would offer you one too!

Must Be Butterflies! Nope, Just Snow.

My cats love to watch the butterflies (snow). You can just see it in their fascinated eyes, the excitement of the butterfly invasion! If they could only catch some of those butterflies, they would run right back in the house when their little paws hit that cold snow! I went to work yesterday and I am glad because I needed a break from this cabin fever.

A little glare from the whiteout.

The Tempo of Winter

Brrrr. It is a wee bit chilly here. Tonight, it is supposed to get to around 8 degrees. That is cold for this part of Texas. It is not unheard of though but those kind of lows do not happen every year. Maybe they happen every 6 or 7 years but not every year. It is a good thing when it does get that low though because it kills a lot of stuff that needs to be weeded out like fleas, ticks and those such things that infest my cat colony. Oh dear, now I am referring to it as 'my' cat colony. I probably should not do that. On such a cold night, Sugar is a guest in the bathroom. He is not happy in there but it is good for him. I view that sort of thing as a learning moment for myself. Maybe God does that to me. Things I do not like, He makes me do anyway because it is for my own good. Something to think about, huh? The wind is blowing like a banshee outside. The wind chill is far subzero and I can attest to that. I had to deliver my hand made birthday card to my neighbor earlier and I almost froze just walking down to her house.