Sushi Rolls & Last Snow Storm

Almost forgot to post our first sushi rolls of the year... now a week ago. Since I started to feel ill on the New Year's Day Eve, I didn't even touch the special sake Joe opened for the occasion. Good to be healthy again to be able to enjoy tasty things in life.
Then, another snow storm last weekend brought us over a foot of snow. At least it wasn't as gusty, and snow was nice and fluffy.

This week after work Joe removed snow off the roofs again... I only wish we didn't have to go to work and could play in snow all day! Despite the fact that it warmed up to the 30's and switched to a mix of sleet and wet snow today, we are hoping to enjoy our 3-day weekend.

The Makings of New Year

There are certain things that need to happen to welcome a new year... A proper pint at Blackrocks is one of them for sure. Saturday night we were invited to an annual New Year party Japanese style... probably continuing 10 years or so.  And on Sunday we paid our belated Christmas visits to Joe's aunt and uncles. 
Then, we took a short but FRIGID walk near the lakeshore to say hi to the big lake. Oh, that east wind!! This stretch of the shore is where we used to pick rocks on sandy beaches... but no more after a couple of bad storms. These trees are frozen at the edge of the road. We hurriedly admired a few big waves before seeking a shelter at our favorite brewery for the first time this year. Packers winning later in the evening completed our good Sunday off.

Happy New Year!

We hope everyone is having a happy healthy start to the New Year.... Unfortunately we both were gifted and shared some Holiday sickness. More reasons for us to make up with small doses of celebration. Our usual cheese and meat platter dinner (when we don't have other dinner ideas) even feels festive enough.... Especially after Christmas brought us this sharp looking Vitamix, it's more fun to blend dips and such. Of course, we already made a batch of pina colada as soon as we felt healthy enough!

Christmas Eve

Sometime during my six-day stretch of work, I managed to bake a small batch of cookies. It just doesn't feel right with Christmas without making spritz cookies using my antique cookie press. I found out though I'm not much of a cookie decorator.
At last, I got everything I needed to complete at work done on this Christmas Eve, racing with time after a UPS drop off. So that's how an elf feels on every Christmas Eve! But within an hour of me getting off work, Joe had our special shrimp and steak dinner ready with a special bottle of wine. 

 It was also worth having whipped up homemade tiramisu yesterday morning as special dessert. Everything tasted so good that we didn't mind doing the dishes. Now it's time to sit and relax and watch "A Christmas Story." Merry Christmas to all!

It's Cold Outside!

It has snowed on and off since last post, but nothing major. Under 6" at a time, mostly an inch or two. Still, the temperatures have stayed cold enough that our massive snow banks are staying impressive. When it's REALLY cold, like today's high temp was 7 degrees, a hearty venison stew dinner with homemade dumplings feels just right.
This month of December is disappearing fast. I managed to rush to print our holiday cards the other day... but ink is still drying! 

Asides from finishing up the greeting cards to be mailed out, I am all done with my holiday gift giving preparation. I am hoping to make some cookies, but today was my last day off before Christmas. I hope to survive the next 6 days of work. Oh Boy. Wish me luck.

Yet Another Snow Storm

I survived another Black Friday weekend at work. When you work in retail, you have no desire to participate in such events. The only purchase we made over this weekend was a brand new snow blower. After 10 plus years of heavy use, it was time to replace ours before it died completely, and definitely before this winter storm started last night.

As they predicted we received another foot and half of snow over night. Simply impressive. (Disclaimer: the picture below was taken this morning, not recycled from the other day)

Thank goodness, I had this Sunday off from work. We had a lazy morning, letting it snow (the storm continued). Except I had picked out a new faucet for our kitchen for my birthday and patiently been waiting for Joe the plumber. Cooped up inside the house on this snowy morning, I couldn't wait anymore. Joe had to install it for me, and I tried my best assisting him. I love my new kitchen faucet to fit our retro (more accurately "just plain old") sink!

And guess what? It's still SNOWING!!

Thanksgiving!?

Happy belated Thanksgiving to you all!
We received LOTS of wet heavy snow on the day before... about 1 1/2 feet in 24 hours, during which we removed snow at least 3 times. All of the snow in the pictures came from one storm. And we are expecting another foot of snow later tomorrow, if you can believe it.

We ended up hosting a Thanksgiving gathering at our house. Since there were only four of us, Mom and brother Mark and us, it was easier to do an unorthodox no-turkey dinner at our place, including popcorn and toast (with homemade grape jelly) after Charlie Brown.

For the main feast, we had venison and salmon tacos with our usual Mexican fixings plus cranberry salsa and wild rice with morel mushrooms. We thought the original pilgrims would be proud of our table filled with our own catches (venison and salmon) and gatherings (grapes and mushrooms). But to be honest, we were most thankful that we never lost power at our house and that Joe's snow blower worked hard to clear our driveway.