More recipes and what's up with this wind!

I just couldn't turn down a picture of the beautiful sunrise, this morning! It's bad enough dealing with frigid cold, but why, oh why does the wind have to blow ? The water troughs were frozen about 4-5inches thick this morning and that wind, coming out of the south west doesn't feel any to warm either, Brrrr.... This old house has, of course old windows, and when the wind blows it's a challenge to keep our inside temp. above 65F. Even stoking the stove a couple of times last night, our inside temps fell from 72F to 63F. Now the challenge is to get that back up into the 70's before tonight or we'll just continue to regress in degrees and the real cold is coming Sunday night, Monday and Tues. Our fore casted highs are in the single digits(3-5F) and of course the evening lows are well below 0 and if the wind continues the the windchill temps. will be in the double digits( -15 to -20F) Mike is preparing to crawl under the house and check on the milk house heater( under the bathroom, which is close to an exterior foundation wall) to make sure it's clean and the cord is in good shape( you never know what mice will do*sigh*) . Then once that is all checked we'll get the natural gas furnace set at 55F, this way it will help to keep us from falling below that point. Last winter we had drain pipes freeze, because the natural gas furnace has a condensation pump, that only pumps small amounts of water every so often, this is why our drain line froze up, thus the heater underneath in the area of those pipes.
Here is a wreath we bought. It's much prettier than ones I've bought from the same people. I think it's the ribbon, it's not a cheap red plastic. We don't get to lavish in decorating outside, but do like to have a wreath of sorts by our door. We're thinking about placing the artificial wreath on the front door, wrapped with leftover bright white LED lights. We never use this door, so having the light cord in the way, won't be a bother and there is a plug in to the left of the front door, so it will be convenient to plug and unplug.

Well... I better get a move in it, we need to make whole wheat bread( a weekly batch) and two of the items from our goodies list. Here are a couple more recipes from those who want to try something new.

Peanut butter snowballs

1c. powdered sugar
1/2c. creamy peanut butter
3Tbsp. butter, softened
1lb of white almond bark or white choc. chips

In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, peanut butter and butter, mix well. Shape into 1" balls, placing on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Chill( we freeze them) for 30 minutes. Meanwhile melt white choc. or almond bark in double boiler or microwave safe bowl. Dip balls via spoon or fork and place on wax paper, chill to coating. They are extra pretty if you drizzle them with melted milk choc. chips or white choc. split into two batches one with green food coloring added and one with red food coloring added and then drizzle one color in one direction, let harden, then drizzle the other in opposite direction. Some colored sugar added when the balls are original dipped, letting it cool for a few seconds, then sprinkle.

Best Ever Caramels

2c. sugar
1c. brown sugar
1c. light corn syrup
1c. heavy whipping cream
1c. milk
1c. butter
1-1/4 tsp vanilla( extract, not imitation)

Combine sugars, syrup, cream, milk and butter in a sauce pan. Mix well. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally over med. heat until it reaches firm ball stage( on candy thermometer), 248F. Remove from heat, add vanilla. Pour into a well greased 8x8x2" pan. Cool. When firm, turn out of pan onto a cutting board, cutting into 2" squares or smaller with a heavy knife( Mike gets this job, it can be tough to cut) Now wrap in each piece in wax paper, or separate layers in a storage container with wax paper. This recipe WILL add to your backside, LOL! Not good to eat if you have lots of dental work either.

Gingerbread cookies

1c. softened butter( no substitutes)
3/4c. sugar or 1/2 c. honey
1c. molasses
1/4 c. water
5c. flour( we use 2-1/2 c. whole wheat and 2c. unbleached, adding more if needed)
2-1/2tsp. ground ginger
1-1/ tsp. baking soda
1-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. salt
Frosting:

3-3/4(1lb powdered sugar)
1/4c. water
1-1/2 tsp. light corn syrup( I'm going to substitute Agave syrup, to stay away from corn syrup
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

In a mixing bowl cream butter and sugar. Beat in molasses and water. Combine the flour, spices, salt and baking soda, gradually add to creamed mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easily handled. On a lightly floured surface roll out dough to 1/4" thickness. Cot with cookie cutters dipped in flour. Place 2" apart on baking sheet and bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes. remove from baking sheets and cool on wire racks.

In a small bowl mix frosting ingredients, beat until smooth. Transfer to a plastic bag. Cot a small hole in corner of bag; pipe frosting onto cookies. Use your imagination and be creative.

Enjoy!