Homemade granola

This weekend I have been making some good food.  I made a second batch of Homemade Granola, that I have been eating every day for breakfast along with my homemade yogurt.  It is really quite tasty, and full of good stuff!!  The recipe is top secret!!  My good friend Sheril shared it with me, and I have been playing with the ingredients a little.  I also made heart cut out cookies for Deb, who I work with.  It was her birthday, and we bring treats in to work.  I thought with Valentines day coming up, that hearts would be fun.  I frosted them with tinted cream cheese, butter frosting.  Now for my birthday, I made anise seed biscotti.  I will bring these to work on Monday.  Also I made some home made Rye bread, which is my mom's recipe.  She used to make this when I was a kid.  It would smell so good through out the house.  I enjoy it most warm, with honey and peanut butter.  Baking is fun to do.  I like to make good food, and especially like to eat good food! The picture with the biscotti, looks like I made a mess on the counter, but there is waxed paper under the biscotti of course.  I drizzled melted chocolate on the top, and was letting it air dry.  Are you getting hungry just looking at the pictures?  I hope so.  Come on over and share a snack with us!  :)

I have recently finished a book called "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle"  It is by the author, Barbara Kingsolver.  The book is an account of Barbara and her families year of living/eating locally grown food.  Her family consists of herself, her husband and 2 daughters.  They had a very large garden, of which they grew most of their food, and canned, froze, dried, etc a lot.  They did not eat any food that was shipped in more than a 250 mile radius from their home.  They also had chickens, for their eggs, and raised Turkeys for meat.  It is a very informative book, that is well researched.  It makes the reader think hard about where the food you eat comes from, and the hidden costs involved.  As well as the health benifits of organic local food.  I found it to be an enjoyable read!   It made me excited for us to plant our garden this spring! 

AjJourney begins with a single step

Winter is a lovey time of year here in Wisconsin!  The snow is beautiful, and the air is crisp and clean.  I really enjoy getting outside every day that I am able to.  Snowshoeing is the usual way that I enjoy the snow.  I went for two walks today, and it was sunny and clear, and cold.  It was about 18 degrees F.  The cold air feels good!  I dress in warm layers!  I saw 20 deer today on my first walk.  They have very good hearing, and are very cautious, not wanting me to get too close.  They are fun to see.  A few weekends ago, we had a very pretty coating of frost on everything outside.  It is called "Hoar Crystals"  You can see it in my picture.  It looked like long filaments of ice on everything.  Very Pretty!!!  I was so glad to be able to go outside and witness it, as it is a rare occurance.