Like Cold Molasses in January

I feel like I've been moving in slow motion since the New Year.  The Christmas decorations are down, but not all put away.  The house looks a little less heavy--like it's undertaken a New Year's weight loss plan.  The lighter, less-cluttered space would normally prompt me to start some fresh projects.  It's just been so C~O~L~D here the past three weeks, all I want to do is just curl up on the couch, by the fire, under a warm quilt, with a cup of hot tea and a good read.  I feel about as sluggish as a bottle of cold molasses in January.

Not that there is anything wrong with relaxing a little after a busy holiday season.  We had lots of company, so there wasn't much time to be lazy.  I'm just making up for it now.

January is a good month for hand-quilting.  I started this quilt a few weeks ago, before the company started arriving.  It was super simple to cut out the five inch, mostly flowery squares from my stash and piece them together in rows.  When I started, I had no idea if I would machine or hand quilt it.  I wanted it to be the perfect cuddle quilt, and machine quilting is stiffer.  So I opted to hand quilt it, one quarter inch from all the seams.  Easy peasy.  Just time-consuming.  But, that's ok.  'Cause I have all winter!

So did you make New Year's Resolutions?  I never do, really.  However, the girls and I have "resolved" to take an afternoon walk each day that the weather is above 40 degrees and it's not raining.  And I've started B90X, reading the Bible through in 90 days.  It sounds like some heroic feat, but really, it's very doable.  So far, I've been able to do the daily readings in just under an hour.  I'm really looking forward to moving along at a fast clip, because I've never read the Bible through in one grand sweep.

What else...

I've made lots of soup so far this winter.  I'll post one of those recipes soon.  Oh!  And I baked the BEST bread the other day.  My sister-in-law, Beth, shared this recipe for Orange Oat Cranberry Bread.  Oh my goodness!  Baking this made the kitchen whole downstairs smell heavenly.  (There were more cranberries than this picture shows. )  This one is going straight to the inside of the cupboard door, where I tape my favorite recipes so I can see them at a glance.

Give this one a try!

Orange Oat Cranberry Bread

• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 tablespoon grated orange peel
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 egg

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl.  In a separate bowl, combine the milk, orange juice, oil, and egg.  Add to the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened.  Bake in on 9X5 inch loaf pan, or two smaller loaf pans for 50-60 minutes.  Cool in pan.  Remove from pan to rack to continue cooling.  (Bake for shorter time is using two smaller pans.)

Love,