It doesn't look like it's -12.8 out there, but...

 at 6:00 a.m. it sure was.  Lady and I were out there, before the sun was up.  The stars were twinkling through the treetops when I looked up at the sky.  It was eerily quiet except for the loud snapping sounds every once in awhile.  Our trees in the woods are rebelling.  They don't like the sub-zero cold temperatures anymore than we do.  Thus, the snap, crackle and pop sounds. 

Our mini-split heater is working overtime and we have also cranked up the baseboard heaters.  It's just too cold without them.   All of the windows are freezing up.   I've placed towels and/or cloth placemats on the sills to soak up any moisture.

My attempt at Kolache was a failure.  They looked good, but did not taste like my Grandma Ella's.  My cousin, Judy Simpson, who lives in Burwell, my home town, says she has a family recipe for them and she is going to share it with me.  I will give it another try.  It is tricky baking yeast breads with gluten-free flour.  The absence of gluten is hard to replicate, but I'm going to try.

Yesterday was a productive day though.  I made GF Chex mix and mixed up my dough for gingersnaps. Today I plan to mix my dough for Chocolate Mint Cookies.  They taste similar to Girl Scout Chocolate Mint Cookies.   I use Bob's Red Mill 1-1 flour whenever I bake cookies or cake.  Most recipes usually turn out well. 

Yesterday afternoon as I was baking I watched Volodmyr Zelenskyy give his speech to congress.  His authenticity was there for all the world to see.  The Ukrainian people are lucky to have such a courageous and honorable leader.   Not only that, the entire world is fortunate to have him as a leader, fighting for democracy.

 It breaks my heart to think of all the people in Ukraine without electricity, water or heat during the winter. All because one man wants to take their country away and he doesn't care how many lives are destroyed to do it, both in Ukraine and in Russia.  

When will we ever learn.

Later in the evening I watched the tribute to Paul Simon.  The music was wonderful and his songs were performed by so many talented artists.   The program ended with Paul Simon singing several of his songs.  

The final song was, "Sounds of Silence".  

So beautiful.