Snow Ice Cream

This is for Yuji! :)

I had snow ice cream on my Winter Fun To Do List

and forgot to post about it!  I'd never had it before

and was curious as to how it would turn out.

There are lots of recipes posted online and I picked

the easiest one. 

 You whisk sweetened condensed milk

into a bowl of clean, fresh snow.  Add as much milk as

you need to get the right consistency. 

My snow was the light, fluffy kind.  6 cups of snow

took about 1/3 can of the milk.

The taste was like vanilla ice cream.

The texture more like a snow cone.

I'd say this is certainly done for the novelty 

of it and not the quality of the finished product.

But it was fun and I think kids would think it

was an awesome thing to do.  

And it would make a very fun winter tradition! 

♥

Baking Bread

One more thing crossed off my Winter Fun To Do List!

Baking bread was one enjoyable thing I did today!

And I left the bread machine in the cupboard and

did it the old fashioned way!

Have to get the last few done by next week!

Although, since it snowed today, it still feels

like winter is still here! ha.

♥

The Last of the Snow Flakes?

It almost looks like a milk weed pod opening up, doesn't it?

But it's a leaf holding a cluster of snow flakes!

Too bad I couldn't capture the detail of the flakes as good

   as Wilson Bentley.  He was an American farmer

and snow crystal photomicrographer who

captured over 5000 snow crystal images and ultimately

published 2000 of them in a book in 1931.
I have to write a post about him every winter!
It's tradition! haha...and since winter is almost over, here it is!

The detail of his photos is really amazing considering

the primitive instruments he had to work with

between 1890 and 1930.

A camera hooked up to a microscope,

laying the flakes on a black board outside, and

working quickly before they were damaged or melted.

Wilson Bentley

1865-1931

• Sparkly
• Nippy
• Occurrences of
• Winter.
• Frozen,
• Light and
• Airy
• Kisses on my
• Eye lashes 

 ♥

More Snow Is Coming!

the backside of mr. cardinal as the snow falls.

We're perfectly centered in the path of the upcoming 

snow and ice storm that is forecasted for Saturday through

Monday!  As long as the power doesn't go off, I'm fine with

a little more winter weather!  It will give me some time to

get a few more things done on my Winter Fun To Do List!

I haven't baked bread or had a new flavor of hot 

chocolate yet!  I still need to do my snowflake post

and made suet! I put snow in the freezer weeks ago

but haven't made that snow ice cream!

 Three more weeks until the Spring Fun To Do List starts! 

 I better get busy with my winter fun! ha.

♥

Old Fashioned Gingerbread

I had only had gingerbread once that I can remember and

it was years ago.  So when I made up my Winter Fun To Do List,

I thought it would be fun to try baking some for myself.

Last week I tried this recipe and it was exactly what

I was hoping for ~ spicy and moist!

I baked it in a 9" pan, but next time I think

I'd prefer it to be in a bread pan.

Gingerbread

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c butter, softened

1 egg

1 c unsulphured molasses

1 T vegetable oil

1/2 c apple sauce

2 1/2 c flour

2 t cinnamon

2 t ground ginger

1/2 t ground cloves

1/2 t salt

1 1/2 t baking soda

1 c hot water

With mixer, cream butter and sugar.  Add egg, molasses

oil and apple sauce and mix well.

In a separate bowl, whisk the flour and spices.

Dissolve baking soda in the hot water.

Add the dry ingredients to the mixer on low, alternating

with the water and mix well.

Bake in 9" prepared baking pan or bread pan

at 350 for 35-55 minutes.

Toothpick test.

Cool before cutting.

Serve with whipped cream. 

♥ 

A Little Winter Theme

My table in the foyer of our home is the only thing that

changes with the seasons.  It lets me have a little fun

with the seasons while keeping it simple and in one

place as opposed to going crazy all over the house.

So, down came Christmas and up went winter!

Mr. Penguin got to stay, since he's so icy.

The chalkboard saying turned wintry, too!

I decided to do something fun and display my vintage

snowflake brooches.  The old frame is from the auction trash,

and the mat is from an old white sweater.  When I got the idea

just before New Years, I thought I'd look on ebay to see if 

I could find initial brooches to spell out winter.  I got lucky

and found all 6 letters in one evening.  So fun!

I love how it turned out!

The crystal bowl and scale stayed.  I pulled out the things that

were definitely Christmasy and let the snowy pine cones

and snowmen hang out for the winter.

I tacked crocheted snowflakes around the cork frame of

the chalkboard and a few snowy themed pictures.

This one is of my great grandma, sledding with her two boys,

taken in the 1920's.  My grandpa is the boy on the right.

This pretty frosty hobnail dish was in the auction trash, too!

I love to have a candy dish to greet visitors.

I picked these chocolates for their silvery wrappers, 

but they're quite tasty, too! 

So, I guess the decorating is done until March 21st,

the first day of spring!

♥

Always Be Prepared

I got a couple more things done on my Winter Fun To Do List.

Well, these two might not exactly be fun, but if I was

stuck out in the cold with a broken car or out of the car

I would be glad for these things to be in my glove box

or in my coat pocket!  

I put a bottle of water, granola bar, gum, and foot warmers

in the glove box.  I already had wet wipes and hand sanitizer

in there.  I also added a blanket and a roll of toilet paper

to the trunk.  Now I feel prepared for anything. ha.

To my coat pockets I added tissues, lip balm and gum.

Three things I always like to have with me!

♥

Lists

I was out and about today and picked up a new little

journal for myself.  I like the cover, and that it has a 

magnetic closure to protect the lined pages.

I'm a list girl!  Lots of lists.  ha. They keep me organized and

motivated!  And they record my dreams and progress.  The only thing

more fun than making lists is crossing things off the lists! haha. 

I had a lot of fun making Fun To Do lists for the past two

seasons and after taking a break in December for the holidays,

I'm ready to make a Winter Fun To Do List!

1. organize my sweaters, donate ones I don't wear
2. buy some new woolly socks
3. try a new flavor of hot chocolate
4. make a meal of comfort food
5. make bread from scratch
6. watch the snow flakes fall
7. do my annual snow flake post
8. make peanut butter suet for the birds
9. give my hands a 'facial'
10. soak in a hot bubble bath
11. shop the holiday clearance shelves
12. continue to think healthy...water, weights, walking
13. change my foyer table and chalkboard to a winter theme
14. fill out my 2014 calendar
15. make inside s'mores
16. put a tissue pack and lip balm in all my coat pockets
17. stock the jeep with water, snack, hand warmers, blanket
18. make snow ice cream
19. organize the coat closet
20. bake gingerbread