Look What You Can See When The Leaves Are Gone

One nice thing about winter… no leaves on the trees. You can see the folks who usually are hidden from view. I spotted this owl along the road on my way home from work. He did not seem the least bit bothered by all the cars whizzing by.

Ok...Back To Winter

I don’t know if you can see how amazingly huge this ice wall is, but it’s HUGE. We went to Governor Dodge State Park, near Dodgeville, Wisconsin to do a little hiking. This is Stephan Falls. In all the visits I’ve made to the park I had never been to the falls. I hate to admit I really hadn’t paid a lot of attention to the fact they were even there. Boy did I make a mistake! We hiked over to the falls, which was a really easy hike on the packed snow. And then wandered along the valley trail until we reached another cross trail. If your close by swing by the park and take a look. Even though the temperature was only +5 we were not really cold, because we were down in the valley so there was no wind to contend with.

For a little perspective, you can see my Mom standing in front of a wall of ice facing Stephen Falls. She’s 5 foot 8 inches tall.

A Break From Snow

I thought it might be a nice time to look at summer!

Christmas Went To The Dogs

Both Lacy and Gus must have been really good dogs this past year! Santa brought 2 really big bones for the girls.

Nothing funnier than a 8 pound dog dragging and protecting a bone nearly as big as her!

Lacy is sampling the sauce the bone is basted in. Sort of a Juila/Martha special treat.

The Longest Night

For the longest night of the year we attended the service at Middlebury Chapel near Barneveld, Wisconsin. Wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but it was awesome. I don’t think any cathedral service had music as moving as this simple service.

PW's Dinner Rolls

I am sooo making these to go along with the other tasty goodness that I am making for dinner courtesy of PW.

Dinner Rolls

Prep Time 4 Hours

Cook Time 20 Minutes

Ingredients:
* 4 cups Milk
* 1 cup Sugar
* 1 cup Vegetable Oil
* 9 cups Flour
* 2 packages (4 1/2 Tsp.) Active Dry Yeast
* 1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
* 1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
* 2 Tablespoons Salt

Directions:

Pour 4 cups of milk into a stock pot or Dutch oven. Add one cup of sugar and 1 cup of vegetable oil. Stir to combine. Now, turn the burner on medium to medium-low and “scald” the mixture/lukewarm (between 90 and 110 degrees).

When the mixture is the right temperature add in 4 cups of flour and 2 packages of (4-1/2 teaspoons) of active dry yeast. After the yeast and flour are nicely incorporated, add another 4 cups of flour. Stir together and allow to sit, covered with a tea towel or lid, for an hour. After about an hour it should have almost doubled in size. If it hasn’t changed much, put it in a warm (but turned off ) oven for 45 minutes or so. When it had risen sufficiently add 1 more cup of flour, 1 heaping teaspoon of baking powder, 1 scant teaspoon of baking soda and about 2 tablespoons of salt. Stir (or knead just a bit) until combined.

Butter 1 or 2 muffin pans. Form the rolls by pinching off a walnut sized piece of dough and rolling it into a little ball. Repeat and tuck three balls of dough into each buttered muffin cup. Continue until pan is full. Cover and allow to rise for about 1 to 2 hours.

Bake in a 400-degree oven until golden brown, about 17 to 20 minutes.

The Blind Side

I can hardly WAIT to see this movie, totally based on a true story. It seems like it will be a good one...from the trailer's at least. I'm off to pick up the book, The Blind Side in a little bit.