T Stands for More Cold Weather

 Hi everyone. Another T Day has rolled around over at Bleubeard's and Elizabeth's blog, and this is the last one for January. Weren't we just wishing each other a happy new year?

There's been  some cold weather this past week at my house, with mornings below zero  degrees F (or below -17 degrees C). According to the weather people, there are more cold mornings to come this week. That means the ice on the sidewalks, driveway and my road won't be melting anytime soon.  I am missing my  walks, but I don't want to risk a slip while walking on ice. 

Above is the ice on the back sidewalk. After our snow and rain event last Monday, the sun came out and warmed up for just a couple hours. Even though the side walk was cleared with the snow blower, there is always a little left on the ground. This time that little bit melted, but it didn't have any place to go as the ground is frozen. When it got cold that night, it froze and turned to this disaster. It's been a mess like this all week. I keep waiting for a warm day for it to turn back to slush so I can clear it.

Even the UPS guy slid off the driveway one afternoon. Luckily my husband was around and the 2 of them managed to get his truck  unstuck. That took about an hour. 

In the meantime, my slide over my boots ice grippers are my best friend.

Last week I showed you the puzzle my husband and I entertained ourselves with on the weekend. We worked on it some more this past weekend, and it's definitely coming along.

Some of you asked what the picture on the puzzle is, and you might be able to make out that it is inside a Costco store. (I know the glare on the right side makes it hard to see that.) Here's a photo of what the finished piece will look like, with a bit of glare too, but I think your can see a little more of what the finished puzzle will look like.

If you aren't familiar with Costco, they are a buying warehouse. Most items are sold in large quantities, but not all. I think we are both getting a kick out of this puzzle, except there are packages of toilet paper on so many pieces. Tricky.  The toilet paper must be a big seller.

You might remember that our T day friend Carola had us vote on her 3 favorite photos. She chose 1 name as the winner of 3 cards with those photos on them.  I won the three cards from our fellow T friend. Today they came in the mail, and the photos are even more beautiful then they appeared online.

There are 4 cards because Carola because one of them was a lovely note and the other 3 are my winnings.

Thank you so much for these beauties Carola.

I also did a bit of baking last week. This time I tried an item on my baking bucket list.  I never seem to complete my  baking bucket list because there are so many interesting things to bake.  I add new baking treats to my list every now and again so that my list seems to stay between 10-15 items all the time. I keep the list in the front of my yearly journal so I can check off and add items as the year goes on.

Jeanie, at the Marmalade Gypsy posted her madeleine cookie-cake recipe, and they looked much easier to make than I expected them to be.  Some people call them cookies, but I read online that they are technically small butter cakes. Last year I bought a madeleine pan, so it was time to give them a try. I used Jeanie's recipe.

You have to chill the batter, which you can see in the plastic container (no room in the fridge for the bowl) and my pan.

As this was my first time making madeleines, I wasn't sure how full the molds were supposed to be filled, which accounts for the uneven edges. Those little bumps on the edges were easy to snip off and next time I won't fill the pan quite so high. You can tell they don't lie flat and that's because I did get the nice rounded backs you are supposed to get.   However, for some reason I got these holes in mine. I know they are air pockets but I'm not sure what caused them. Very strange. Anyone have any ideas why that might be?

I made mine with lemon zest. To cover the holes I dusted them with powdered sugar.

It's a great recipe, and they tasted delicious, especially with a cup of tea. The link to Jeanie's blog earlier in this post has her recipe.

This is my ticket to this week's T where we share our drink related posts.

And I think I've babbled on enough also. Have a wonderful T day and week ahead.

And as always, I appreciate your visit.