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Monday, December 10, 2018

Mahem, pretty much as expected.

I was diligent last week, making cookie dough on allotted nights, so that I could spring into action Friday night and have everything set by Saturday morning.  Too bad I can't live totally in my mind, that place where everything goes so swimmingly.  The reality was a bit different.  *cough*  By Friday night I am toasted.  Every fiber of my being wants to vege out with a glass of wine, nachos and the dogs (and cat).  Having set myself a lofty goal in the opposite direction of 'vege', every fiber in my body revolted.  Well, at least every fiber in my brain.  I had put the Molasses Crinkles and Oatmeal cookie doughs to gradually creep towards room temperature in the guest room cum root cellar that morning and, not surprisingly, they were 'solid'.


*A little aside here - the Winter room temperature inside the estate house of the LLF, is a balmy 58 degrees Farenheit.  I am also notorious for using as little light as possible.  I don't know why and I am sure it is safer not to dive into that particular pool.*


After a brisk round of chores and bribing the dogs with duck jerky to leave me alone in the kitchen for a nanosecond, I preheated the oven, pulled up my BGPs, poured a glass of wine, put Christmas carols on the CD player, plugged in my fairy lights, rolled up my sleeves, put on my apron - and was exhausted.  Carrying on bravely (after all, this was for MARIANNE), I carved out the dough balls and baked the molasses cookies.  After vaguely sensing they might be more done than I could see (see aside above), I pulled them out just shy of overdone.  Next, the oatmeal cookies went in, to be frosted in the morning.  When those were done, the mixer bowl was washed and the coup d'gras, the Soft Pfefferneuse dough was mixed.  These are like a spicy, fruit cakey, moist dollop of deliciousness.  However, after mixing in the raisins, currants, golden raisins, chopped pecans, and candied lemon and orange peel, something seemed 'off'.  Hmmm.  I checked the containers for the candied peel, as I knew they had been lounging in the cupboard for a while.  I didn't see any expiration date (I again direct you to the aside).  As I walked the containers to the recycling bin, I caught sight of some very tiny printing on the outside rim of the lid.  Glasses donned, I read:  Best used by July 2011.  WTH?  Really?
Is that Mom I hear in the kitchen,
using bad language?
I sat down and contemplated my options.  It was now almost 10PM, which is past my bedtime and I did not have the ingredients for a second batch, anyway.  I decided to try some of the candied fruit, write my last will and testament (just in case) and leave the container lid on the counter, in case evidence was needed.  Or....I would live through the night and briefly contemplate actually baking and serving innocent people these expensive duds.  The good news was that I suffered no ill effects and decided not to experiment on the innocent citizens of Marianne's home town.  I made sugar cookies instead.
Some of the leftovers for
my neighbor - sprinkle sugar cookies
and frosted oatmeal.
I dropped off my cookies after my haircut and visit with my parents, but did not get to stay for the main event - which went without  a hitch and was a community hit.  There was the official tree lighting in the town square, followed by a school band playing carols, with a sing-along, followed by the arrival of Santa on an antique sleigh, pulled by a tractor - and then the whole kit and caboodle paraded after Santa to a local restaurant for cookies and hot chocolate.  It even snowed.  I have vowed to go next year.


Sunday arrived with .... hold onto your socks .... SUN!  Of course, it was brutally cold, but SUN.
SUN on icy trees.
I made another batch of sugar cookies for the barn, fed the farm cats and then mixed up some dog treats.  I got so tired of tripping over Lovey, that I lured them away with marrow bones (what would I do without them???)  I got a lot of little jobs done - none of them on The List, of course - and then binge-watched a BBC program on Wartime Farm.  It was a quite satisfying evening.
If you bigify, you can see all the bird feeding
stations - deck feeder, large hanging feeder, smaller
hanging feeder, two suet holders and a
thistle feeder.  We're covered.
I'll leave you with some lovely things and some chicken videos.
My lovely surprise card from
Margaret


Fritz, in all his frizzle glory.


Morning coffee catch-up


Big Red
P.S.  Llamas and sheep love Pfefferneuse cookies, dodgy peel or not.

18 comments:

Theresa said...

Oh my, you have such interesting mayhem and always so productive! I can't tell you how often I pull something from the pantry only to find an expiration date we passed years ago...YIKES. Glad the llamas liked the cookies. They did sound delicious.
Hopefully you can get your rest at work! ;-) Hugs to all!

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Your cookie adventures made me laugh (with sympathy, of course)! Glad everything turned out well in the end.

Susan said...

Theresa, what is worse, is that I probably had it since 2010! Holeymoley.

Debra, so am I. So am I.

Rain said...

LOL...I'm still using that Vicks inhaler tube for my sinuses and it expired in 2007. ha ha...still works though!!! :) Love the cookie story, you always tell stories of your life in such a way that makes me keep reading, that's a great skill Susan! :) I loved the videos, do you have ducks too?

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Oh my goodness, what a crazy cookie fiasco. Glad you got more made though. I have not even started yet either. Love that card you got, and I enjoyed your videos too.

Lynne said...

You seem to have the patience of Jobe. I think I would of probably cave in. You keep pushing til the job gets done. That takes a lot of gusto. Liked the film with the Chickens and Rooster, he was really something. Love the ducks also. Didn't realize you kept duck too! Take care! I'll be waiting to see what happens next week-end!!

ellen abbott said...

I'd have gone for the glass of wine, nachos, and the dog (I only have one) and the cat and to hell with the cookies.

jaz@octoberfarm said...

who knew that stuff could ever expire!

coffeeontheporchwithme said...

That's the thing with ingredients you don't use all the time. Sometimes you don't use them for a really long time - I realized that I hadn't purchased sweetened condensed milk for a long time and all I had was quite expired. Yup, I used it anyway. It was fine. It's canned, right??
A glass of wine and nachos sounds pretty good! -Jenn

wyomingheart said...

You are really tough! I'd have gone for one batch and then wine a lot, and flip a coin on the rest of the night...lol. Big Red made me laugh out loud! Thanks.

Donna OShaughnessy said...

For me it is whiskey and ...never mind, just whiskey. And as far as expiration dates go, they are in my opinion, merely suggestions.

tpals said...

What a lot of trouble when already tired!

Lovely chickens. :)

ElaineChicago said...

Is that a lake behind your house or just a snow-covered field? You cookie escapades are hilarious!! Happy to hear that the llamas and sheep enjoyed them!!

AnnieK said...

just LOVE LOVE your chicken videos !!!! We have five hens here, one dog, two and a half cats, and beeeeeees.....

Michelle said...

You are nobler than I, who would have SERVED THOSE $#$^&^ COOKIES. (Hey, my mom is a dietitian and I learned from her that VERY few things are actually dangerous if consumed post-date.)

Elaine said...

I made a similar mistake with glace cherries. I blamed my spectacles! The hens look beautiful. Best of all, though, the dog snoozing on the sofa, bliss.

Goatldi said...

Are you sure it didn’t say 2111?

Sandy Livesay said...

Merry Christmas Sweet Angel!!! Give your furbies a scratch behind their ears!