Staying Indoors

An ever-so-beautiful snowfall is floating from the heavens this morning.  Could this be one of those surprise snowfalls that sneaks in without the weather forecasters noticing?   

We are having cranberry-orange muffins with our coffee.  Krusteaz makes the best muffin mix.  Just add water to the mix, open the included can of cranberries, fold them in, and voila, they're ready for the muffin tins!  Seems I find myself taking short-cuts wherever and whenever I can these days.  In fact, most of what I make in the kitchen is semi-homemade, and Sandra Lee on the Food Channel probably has had something to do with that.   

Nestles Toll House makes wonderful ready-for-the-oven cookies that can be found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store.  Heat the oven to 400 degrees, cut the cookie dough apart, put them on the cookie sheet, pop em in the oven, and 15 minutes later a dozen of large chocolate chip-pecan-caramel cookies emerge.  Positively decadent.  And, they also make perfect hostess gifts during this holiday season.

Wreath of Cards

Christmas cards are beginning to come in the mail.  I haven't started writing out ours, but hopefully I won't let it go till the last minute.  There is something warmly reassuring when one opens a specially-chosen holiday greeting, knowing that someone took the time to remember us.  The older I get, the more I want to cling to these old-fashioned traditions that carry with them the embrace of the human heart.