CALM juice

So at night, when I should be falling asleep I do this silly thing where I try to come up with fruit and veggie combinations whose first letters make a word. Today, without even thinking about it I made this CALM juice: Cucumber, apple, lime, mint. Ross and I both liked it. I wouldn't call it calming. I'd call it refreshing.

First Juice

So I got my juicer in the mail today. It's a juicer that I bought years and years ago off of ebay. It was filthy when I got it and frustrated that after all my cleaning efforts the thing didn't seem to work. I gave it to my dad, who said he didn't really have a problem with it. Fast-forward to last week when I decided I wanted to try a juice fast and asked my parents to send me the juicer back.

After lots and lots of scrubbing I got the metal filter clean-er. After dinner I decided to try out the juicer. Ross loves the apple, lemon, ginger juice from Central Market. I decided to throw in some pear to change it up.

We liked the juice. It was tasty and refreshing. I will continue scrubbing the filter with a toothbrush and scouring powder. I'll eventually get it completely clean.

Ingredients:
1 large granny smith apple
1 large jonagold apple
1 red pear
1/2 small lemon
1/2 inch piece of ginger

The only thing I peeled was the ginger. I've heard you can leave on the peel, but I really didn't want to try that the first time out.

Valentine's Day Lemon Biscuits

Because I had been craving Ginger Lemon Cremes and had trouble finding them I bought some lemons at HEB, thinking I could make some lemon cake or lemon cupcakes. Luckily I found my cookies at Spec's, and didn't have to try and make some lemon-ginger cupcakes that wouldn't quite satisfy my craving.

Yesterday I decided I wanted to make biscuits, and I thought I'd use the lemons I bought to make some lemon biscuits. I modified the Better Homes and Gardens Biscuits Supreme recipe my parents always used and came up with some tasty lemon biscuits. They are definitely lemony, but not tart or bitter. It dawned on me that I could use my heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut the biscuits: voila, Valentine's Day biscuits. These paired perfectly with cherry jam--and butter of course.

Lemony Biscuits
2 c sifted flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
3 Tbl sugar
grated lemon zest from 2 lemons
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 c butter
1/2 c milk

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Sift all dry ingredients together.
3. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients--add milk all at once.
5. Stir in milk until just combined.
6. Knead dough until smooth.
7. Pat or roll out dough onto floured surface until 1/2 inch thick.
8. Cut out biscuits.
9. Bake 10-12 minutes.

This recipe supposedly makes 16 medium biscuits. I think I got 14. When grating the lemon zest try not to grate the white pith--that's the bitter stuff.

Ross said the biscuits were better with the cherry jam. Gotta love Bonne Maman.

Austin Zoo

On Sunday we went to the Austin Zoo. I really wanted to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather. The Austin Zoo isn't a major zoo in any shape or form, but it has some big cats, and that makes me happy.

We spotted this tiger napping in the sun. I got a great photo with my real camera.

Unlike most of the other animals, the bear cubs were super active. They chased each other around  the enclosure and climbed the fence walls.

It was such a great day to spend outside, checking out the animals.

February Trip to Massachusetts

Wow. Where have I been the last month? It seems like it flew by. I can tell you where I was for the last week: Massachusetts.

I left warm, sunny Texas for cold, snowy Massachusetts.

I arrived just after a big storm hit. Another storm rolled through after I arrived. I don't think I've seen that much snow since Snowmageddon in 2010. The girls have had snow days the last two Mondays, and they might have another snow day this Monday.

The trip was to help out Valerie. I went last Wednesday and she had surgery on Friday, while Troy was out of town. I stayed for about a week, acting as nanny, chauffeur, and nurse. The snow looked pretty, from inside anyway. Driving around was interesting. The already narrow roads were made even narrower with snow banks.

The coldest part of my week was waiting at the bus stop for the bus. Luckily I bought a new, longer down coat before the trip. I also wore tons of layers.

I made the girls hot chocolate after they were done playing in the snow. I did NOT go out and tromp around in the snow.

The girls helped me make cake balls. I had never done that before.

As we were pulling into the driveway one afternoon, Evelyn spotted some deer. When we realized they were headed for the back yard we went inside and watched them from the window room. The snow was deep--up to the chest of the deer in some areas.

Valerie is doing well. Her surgery was successful. Her recovery will be long and uncomfortable, but I'm glad I was able to go out and help for a while. I just hope the next time I head to Massachusetts it is sunny and warm.