Baking bonanza

Christmas time always meant baking in our house. My Gramma used make homemade peanut brittle, and eventually passed the recipe and the tradition to my mom. We’ve made dozens and dozens of batches over the years. If you’ve ever made peanut brittle, you know it’s quite a process. You have to stir constantly, use a candy thermometer, and then quickly spread this gooey mess on pans. My mom has all of this down to a science. My sister and I had certain jobs to do when she was baking this – it really does take more than one person to do it. Every time, without fail, one of us drops a blob of it on the floor. It’s not easy to get up, it typically leaves a sticky spot. My dad always joked, “I know it’s Christmas time when my socks stick to the floor.”

Since I’ve been on my own I’ve never attempted to make peanut brittle myself. I just feel like it’s something that the three of us should do together. Instead, I’m working on my own little set of Christmas goodies. I baked up a storm Sunday. I made fudge, chocolate covered chex mix, sugar cookies, and peanut butter cookies. Of course, I burned a batch of peanut butter cookies (Jason’s favorite) They were hockey pucks lol. But everything else turned out well, so watch your mailbox for some holiday treats from MN!

You've gotta see it to believe it

A police officer was about to finish up his shift this Saturday morning, when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. It was this large, furry creature running around in the woods about a mile from our house. The officer was able to get a little video of it on his dash camera, they had some experts check it out and you'll never guess what it is. It's a cougar! Yea, a cougar. No one knows where it came from, where it went, or what to do with it if it pops up again! Check out the video the officer shot!  Crazy huh?

A winter classic

It's that time of year.  It's cold, wet, and snowy.  You know what that means?  It's time for my favorite winter story.  You know the one where a reporter stands outside in the snow and tells you how to prepare for the cold weather - as if no one has ever experienced winter before.  Yea, we know we look stupid.  I have no idea why producers love that story.  I think it's revenge.  They want to get back at us for something we did to them lol.  Revenge or not, I just about guarantee I will do this story at least once this season.  Here's hoping my live shot goes better than this girls though....

Welcome to Rockefeller Center

On Saturday the three of us set out to cut down a Christmas tree.  Josh, Jason's twin brother who is visiting MN, came along to experience 'the Joy of Christmas' or so it became known as throughout the day.   We all piled into Jason's Dakota, made a pit stop at Taco Bell where Josh introduced us to cheesy gorditas, and headed to a tree farm near by.

We roamed around the forest, freezing our butt off and every time one of the guys thought the entire thing was crazy they would say "Ah, the Joy of Christmas."  Well, we may have out done ourselves this year.  We wound up cutting down a 12ft tree!  That's not a typo, it really is that tall.  We have really high ceilings in our den and we wanted a tall tree to sit in the corner.  Well, we got a tall tree alright.  We had a hard time getting into the house and standing it up right, we had to lay it down in the den and figure out a strategy.

How big is the tree at Rockefeller Center in NYC?  They use a crane to haul in that sucker!  We could have used a crane as well!  All we need is an ice skating rink lol.  We had to stand on a ladder to decorate the thing.  I know, we're nuts. 

After several hours of decorating, it looks pretty good.  Massive - but good lol.  

Timber!

Christmas has always been a big deal in our family.  For me, getting a tree has always been my favorite.  I am like a little kid roaming around in the woods looking for the perfect evergreen.  Now the tradition has added meaning since Jason proposed to me last year while we were cutting down a tree. Well, this year I'll get a triple dose of tree chopping lol.  While I was home I went with my parents and my sister to cut down two trees - one for my parents house, the other for my sisters apartment.  (Jason and I still have to go get ours lol.)  The weather was pretty nice when we went.  As usual we found a few trees we liked, but then couldn't find them again in the maze of look alikes.  We finally found two good ones, sawed them down, and loaded them in the truck.  We decorated both trees - they look nice.   This Saturday its our turn.     

A blast from the past

While I was home, I got a chance to hang out with my sister and her boyfriend.  They live about 30 minutes from our parents, in the small rural town of Croghan.  It's the kind of town where time has stopped.  Old brick buildings and a small train station decorate the main street.  It's a town where Tim really does own Tim's market.  He and his wife run the store and know everyone who walks in by name, including my sister Ashley and Jeff.

It's a town where you can still find a soda fountain, where a small candy kitchen churns out all your holiday goodies, and a maple syrup museum holds the pride of Upstate NY.

Top left: Wishey's Soda Fountain * Top right: Croghan Candy Kitchen

Bottom left:  Maple syrup museum   * Bottom right: Ashley and I outside of museum

It really is a cute spot.  No bright lights.  No traffic jams. Just honest hard working people. But in a small area like this, there are still a few things that make me chuckle.  Among the the buildings dating back to the early 1900's is this sign  'Cows are us.'  Between that and the one stop shopping experience at 'Stumps' you can't but laugh. 

Let's be honest...

I hate flying.  I went home for Thanksgiving to see my family and to do some wedding planning.  I was supposed to land around 1:30pm on Thanksgiving.  My mom was hosting the family get together this year and planned on eating around 6:00pm, giving me plenty of time to get home - one would think.  Well my first flight was canceled. My connecting flight was delayed three times.  I missed Thanksgiving dinner.  I got in at 7:30 only to find my luggage was lost.  Yea.  I hate flying. 

Aside from the rerouting, delays, and eating a Thanksgiving chesseburger at Chili's bar, I had to deal with an anal flight attendant.  This woman woke me up because an inch of my purse wasn't shoved under the seat in front of me.  And then she checked on me twice to make sure I was buckled up. Now, let's be honest -buckling up on a plane is the stupidest thing I've ever heard.  When was the last time you heard of anyone surviving a plane crash because they were buckled up??  NEVER.  And using your seat as a floatation device is even more comical.  No one has ever been found floating in the Atlantic after a plane crash because they hugged their seat cushion. 

Let's just say I'm glad to be home.

(The whole trip wasn't bad though...more upbeat posts to come)