What a beautiful day we had yesterday. The snowblowing was a quick and easy one with the fuffy snow. We received another half inch overnight and the temperature has moderated a bit. That works for me.
Willie had a blast in the snow and responded correctly to the "leave it" command every time he started to bark at the snowblower and me. It's possible he is learning that the snowblower is not meant to be herded.
Instead of baking another batch of cookies yesterday I made peanut brittle. I cannot eat anything made from corn which means no corn syrup. If you read labels, you will notice that corn syrup is in thousands of products, but most of all, most candies have corn syrup as an ingredient.
I had searched for recipes for a substitute, but learned that other syrups, such as agave or maple, will not work in candy making because they don't stop crystallization. Then one day I came across a blog discussing the problem and the recommendation was to use Lyle's Golden Syrup.
Lyle's Golden Syrup is made in the UK. It's a bit on the pricey side, but so is everything else that is gluten free or grain free. I decided I would give it a try because I would really like to make some peppermint candy or even butterscotch.
Yesterday, peanut brittle seemed a good one to try. I haven't made peanut brittle for years so I was a bit rusty. The recipe is from my very old, but trusted Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Buttery Peanut Brittle. The buttery part is right on. I told Jon that I needed to hide the candy container from myself or I was going to eat all of it.
Later last night I was watching a movie in the bedroom, enjoying some of the peanut brittle. Jon came into the room and I asked him to move the container somewhere else. He said, "You mean you hid it in the same room you were going to be in?" He laughed and walked back out of the room.
Willie Report:
He had what might be a turning point day yesterday and I have no idea why. Everything seemed to come together for him. He stopped jumping up on us and he went willingly into his crate many times during the day, even taking a nap there.
We have a set routine throughout the day and he now knows what his role is. When either of us say to him, "I need to go check the fire", he knows we are going downstairs to the basement to check the fire in the wood furnace and of course, he's right there with us. Jon has a game that he plays with him using a tennis ball while they are waiting for the fire to heat up.
He still spent a lot of time chewing on his leash even though I am trying to train him to stop. We'll see how it goes today. He doesn't chew on it while he's outside, but I don't allow him a lot of free run with the leash on outside because even though our yard is pretty big, it is surrounded by forest and other things in the yard that the dragging leash could get caught on.
Today's agenda still includes making another wreathe and also a trip to the Hope Marketplace Art Co-op. They are open Thursdays through the weekend with local artist's arts and crafts.
Paintings and books by Hope artist Shelby Young
Denny Gorup’s hand turned wood bowls, Bill Percy’s Monastery Valley book series, including his latest—The Fury Before the Fire!
Also on Tuesday they will be hosting a Winter Solstice Open House from 3-6:00 p.m. Celebrate the beauty of the the shortest day and the return to the light.
Enjoy your weekend.
The photo below was taken on December 20, 2011. Almost the solstice.
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