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Ho-Hum......

I’m not depressed or otherwise seasonally affected, but this winter is really starting to drag on. I know it won’t be “spring” for 2 more months and I try to not get too excited about spring and the idea of spring gardening.

I looked through local CSA websites trying to pick the best business to buy from. I worry, though, that having a CSA will negate the need to go to the Farmers Market on Saturdays and Wednesdays.

I guess the one “good” thing about the extremely frigid weather is that it means that winter is moving on and soon it will be warm, right?
You have to weather a few -20 days before it can be warm, right? Right?

I just don’t want to go outside until it’s warm again.

Taking my Dutch Oven Out for a Spin

I got a dutch oven for Christmas and I’ve been looking for the perfect recipe to try it out. First.. wow, this thing is HEAVY, and it’s imperative to wear my oven gloves the entire time I’m cooking because it heats up quickly and stays hot. Carelessly touching the pan could result in the sort of burn you’d get sticking your hand in a hot pan!

Anyway, chuck roast, onion, carrots, mushrooms, celery, garlic, red wine and beef broth turned into a pretty decent stew. It could have used less meat and way more veggies, but it was still really tasty!

If anyone can suggest a good 1-pot meal type cookbook, I’d appreciate the recommendation.

On Internet Addiction and Neti pots

As was alluded to, we were missing our Internet and phone access the last couple days. Despite my best efforts to connect to our neighbor’s network (with their approval, of course), I couldn’t connect and I eventually gave up. For 2 nights we suffered at our technological misfortune. Now we’re back and I can’t think of a single thing to do with our restored connection. Sure, I’m checking progress on an upgrade at work, and I caught up on LOLcats and some web comics, but I’m just wasting this connection…

K.U.I

Tonight for dinner we opened a bottle of New Zealand Pinot Noir. It was tasty.
We finished the bottle.

We ate some chocolate bits and opened a bottle of Australian Merlot. It’s antipodean wine night at the Bloy house.

After I finally got Adam to bed, I sat down with iTunes playing all the songs stuck in my head, my wine, and my knitting.

Intoxication + (The Fratellis, The New Pornographers, Neko Case, and HelloGoodbye) = super awesome knitting ability. My hands seemed more fluid and less clumsy. The music with something interesting to sing along to made the task go faster, too.

The Guilt, The Angst....... The Omnivores Dilemma.

Earlier this year I read “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” which I thoroughly enjoyed and finished feeling inspired to eat more sustainably and locally.
For Christmas I requested “The Omnivores Dilemma.” This is not a warm, fuzzy book. This is a depressing book. I don’t want to be a “Corn Person.” I don’t even ever want to eat fast food again. I feel sick just thinking about burgers and chicken from places like McDonald’s, Wendy’s and even gasp Culvers. I loves the Lemon Ice, but I’m sure it must be loaded with HFCS.

Bourbon Balls with a Bite

During our cookie baking extravaganza on Saturday we made bourbon balls.

I am a 70's music Wonder Woman, R U?

I scored a Far Out
95% on the
SheGoddess – for Quiz Takers

We're Geeks -- Are you one, too?

	I received 85 credits on The Sci Fi Sounds Quiz How much of a Sci-Fi geek are you?
Guess the Sci-Fi Movie Sounds hereCanon powershot

Stuff and Junk

We got the dam removed and the adjuster came out to assess our damage.
I don’t know what his assessment in $ will be, either it will be worth the insurance claim, or it won’t. sigh

I realized today at work that suddenly, without warning it was Thursday. Christmas is in 4 days. I haven’t baked a single cookie, wrapped a single present, or even finished my Christmas shopping. Stupid Amazon.com said it shipped my packages via USPS and helpfully provided tracking numbers that the USPS never updates. For all I know, my packages could be in New Jersey and my gift recipients will received a wrapped envelope with the name/description of their gift.

Busy Weekend - Saturday

Saturday was an incredibly busy and fun day.

We saw the trains at Olbrich Gardens, the giant festive pine tree in the Capitol building. and we bought a Christmas tree. Yes, we’re tree killers. We know. I can’t quite bring myself to buy a fake tree yet, though.

After our full day out, we came home and had the Rupperts over for a delicious dinner of Picasso’s pizza. Then Erin showed me how to knit. I was doing OK for a beginner until Sunday morning when I completely forgot how to do half of what she taught me. Fortunately, she was able to point me to a great link and talk me through some of the bits I’d forgotten. Yay!