Hi Everyone! 😊
How are you all doing today? In my neck of the woods, winter has shown her true colour - WHITE! It snowed SO MUCH the last week. The dogs love it!
💚 I'm sending lots of healing prayers to my Australian friends who are struggling with the fires over there.
I wish I could send you some of my snow. 💚
I wish I could send you some of my snow. 💚
On New Year's Eve, we had our traditional Raclette dinner. This was the first year we didn't have any meat with it, but I didn't really miss it with all of the delicious veggies I served!
I made tuxedo napkins! 😊 Or are they smoking jackets?
We used store bought Raclette cheese and the Raclette Cheese I Made. We mixed the two together because my homemade cheeses don't melt very well. We put my cheese under the store bought and they both kind of melted together, it was delicious! I figured out why my cheese won't and will never melt (until I get a few cows). If you want to read about it, take a look at the post on Rainy Day Cheese Making.
At midnight, we toasted in 2020 with some Brandy Alexanders, Rum Balls and Bailey's Truffles. We aren't much for bubbly, but we do love those cocktails! The Bailey's truffles were very good, so I'll include the link to the recipe I found online - but they were way too melty. I planned to coat them with dark and white chocolate, but they never set, even after leaving them overnight in the deep freezer. Anyone have any ideas as to why they didn't set?
On New Year's Day I made a Vegetarian Tourtière. Verdict? Too heavy on the lentils. Again, I'll include the link to the recipe, but I think if I make this again, I will cut the lentils way down and add more mushrooms and potatoes. It was still very good with mashed potatoes and my Homemade Fruit Ketchup.
For dessert I made individual English Trifles.
After all of the holiday feasting, it was time to bid farewell to excess (at least for a while!) 😇 On January 2nd we celebrated Yule's Twelfth Night. I made a Cream of Chicken Soup for me...
...and a Pasta E Fagioli Soup for Alex. We had some leftover Brie on my Homemade Bread to go with it. Dessert was leftovers.
The Pagan Twelfth Night celebrates the upcoming orchard season and closes up the Yuletide festivities. I dug up and lit my Ice Lanterns (they were under about 3 feet of snow); and we sipped on Apple Cider Wassail while relaxing and enjoying the quiet evening.
Alex and I have gotten used to eating one meal in the evening while we graze a little during the daytime, so we often miss the deliciousness of a good breakfast. Last night I made Toasettes (pronounced tow-sets). This is a traditional breakfast that Alex's French Grandma used to make. It's basically a take on a "toad in the hole".
There isn't really a French word for toast. You could say "pain grillé" (grilled bread); but most Quebecers simply say "toast" but don't pronounce the "t" at the end. That's why Alex's Grandma coined this dish a toaSette.
It's a slice of toast with Cheez Whiz spread on top (I used my Homemade Cheez Whiz), and an egg. We used to add slices of bacon, but this year we added tomatoes. It's all baked in the oven and oh boy oh boy! 😋 I served it with my Lacy Hash Browns and some Iced Coffees.
The husky gals LOVE this weather. They never want to come inside!
Jack loves to run in the snow, but not for too long. He's much happier inside our cozy home. Here he is with Marlene, getting very excited to get back to his warm cuddly bed!
I hope you're all keeping well! See you on Thursday for our art date, the theme is Snow Creatures!
