How was everyone's Christmas?
Our Christmas was really good. We went to Manitoba for Christmas to spend it with Jon's extended family. All his Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins live in the Portage La Prairie area. It was fun. We stayed with his Uncle Arch and Auntie Dianne. Jon and the kids enjoyed playing in the snow (which was waist deep on the kids). They loved it, since we don't get snow like that out here. Jon built them a little fort, tossed them into the snow causing them to disappear in a puff of white and pulled them around on a GT snow racer. Jon also did a little bit of rabbit hunting :), sledding and quading.
It's nice to be home now though. We had a New Years eve party at our house, and enjoyed food and games until the wee hours of the morning.
What did you all do for your New Years?? And do you have any New Years resolutions?

Smells like Christmas

Today I started doing a little Christmas baking with Brielle. I've been searching for a good recipe for Peppernuts for over a year now. The ones that I made last year were good but not what I was looking for. I remember them being tiny little cookies (nut size...hence the name) that were full of wonderful spices and were crunchy. I think I finally found that recipe. I found it in an old Mennonite cookbook so the directions are quite vague, but I think I have it figured out. Some of these Mennonite recipes don't list flour in the ingredients, they just say in the directions to add flour until dough is easy to handle. OK! What if you add too much or not enough? One persons description of "easy to handle" may not be the same as anothers. Whatever! Crazy Mennonites. :) Anyways, I thought I'd share the recipe with you. Remember this is a Mennonite recipe....so it makes an insane amount of tiny little cookies....

Peppernuts

2 cups White sugar
2 cups Syrup (I used Rogers golden...I know these are sounding extremely healthy already)
1 cup Butter
3/4 cup Milk
1 tsp. Baking soda
1 Tbsp. Vinegar
1 tsp. Pepper (freshly ground is ALWAYS the best)
1 tsp. Cinnamon (those that know me well, know that I doubled this)
1/2 tsp. Cloves
1 tsp. Nutmeg
2 tsp. Staranise (Impossible to find, I left it out)
8 Cups Flour

Melt Butter. Mix sugar, syrup, butter and milk. Add soda and Vinegar. Sift flour and spices. Add to first mixture. Mix well. It should be a fairly hard dough. Set in a cold place for several hours (I left it in the fridge overnight). Roll in thin rolls (approx. 1/4 inch - 1/2 inch thick) and slice into little squares (again around 1/4 inch - 1/2 inch thick). Bake at 425 F. for 10-12 minutes. (I personally found this to be too long, I think my oven is a little hotter than most. I baked mine for around 8-9 minutes).
Enjoy. They take a little while to make but are not difficult to make what-so-ever!

Merry Christmas everyone!

A little something to make you smile

Brielle recieved a magazine today which I was glancing through and couldn't help but laugh at these little poems...

CHEESE
Cheeses come in many types,
There's Cheddar, Swiss and Bleu.
To name all the varieties
Would take a week or two.

Cheese is often smelly,

On that everyone agrees.

No wonder when a person farts

They say he "cut the cheese".

MUSHROOMS

Mushrooms help to flavor things

Like pizza, meat and soups.

You'll find them growing in the dirt

In filthy little groups.

Mushrooms can be any size

From tiny to humongous.

They taste so good you'd never know

You're munching on a fungus.

CHICKEN

Chicken cooks in many ways

Like fried or grilled or boiled,

Creamed or baked or microwaved

Or barbequed or broiled.

People all around the world

Eat chicken every day.

Why'd the chicken cross the road?

To get the heck away!

FISH

Fish are slick and scaly.

They're bony and they smell.

In some ways it's a miracle

So many of them sell.

If fish are really brain food,

The way we've all been taught,

Then how come all the fish we eat

Could not help getting caught?

MILK

Milk is used in batter

And in cream cheese and in butter.

When someone milks a dairy cow,

The milk squirts out her udder.

But milking can be tricky,

If you tickle her, who knows?

The cow may start to giggle,

Making milk come out her nose.

EGGS

Eggs will make a perfect meal

When scrambled, boiled or fried.

They can be a good main course

Or just served on the side.

Eat them any time of day,

You can't go wrong with eggs,

Unless you crack one open and

You see a pair of legs.

Allow me to introduce you...

Baby Kehler @ approx. 18 weeks.



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