Extra-Ordinary Saturday

When you can't start planning your next vacation with certainty, you have to make the best with what you've got. Last Saturday we did things right. Started our morning with fresh French pastries, even if we had to go through the drive-thru and sit in our car to enjoy them. Since we didn't have 20 mph wind, we took a walk out to the lakeshore. This time the wave-washed sand beach was frozen, like lava rocks. 

For dinner at home we ended up with a fancy restaurant meal: morel mushroom soufflé (so I could use our new ramekins), venison backstrap with green chili and blue cheese, and oven baked potato wedges served with tomato salsa. We were reminded that it is fun sometime to try new recipes even slightly out of our comfort level... especially when we aren't cooking for a house party! 

Apple Creek in January!?

This winter so far has been mild for us. We decided to take a hike into Apple Creek this weekend. Joe's truck made it to our normal spot we park for trout season,  but Joe took a precaution and drove backwards the last 1/4 mile stretch... in case the truck got stuck trying to turn around. 

Snow-covered trails are always fun, filled with all sorts of animal tracks. We weren't particularly thrilled to see otters' foot prints by the river bank. They eat our fish. It was weird to be on Apple Creek without a fishing pole (like in summer) or snowshoes (normally required in winter). I guess it's still the continuation of NOT normal 2020.   

Another thing we've been wanting to do was a gyoza dumpling party. We can still have a party for two at home. As usual Joe rolled out the dumpling wraps while I filled and shaped. The good thing about not throwing a real party was that we ended up with more leftovers!

Here Comes 2021

Happy New Year! We hope everyone had a good first few days of the year so far. I had 3 days off from work, so we visited Ironwood for the New Year's, celebrating a bit of normalcy.

Saturday we took our first stroll this year along our favorite lakeshore, rock picking. The weather was so mild, it was pleasant out there! 

One good thing about the beach in winter is that we have no mosquitoes! We will see how much longer we can walk on the beach before it gets covered with ice and snow....