Happy New Year!

Only a month late, right?   So, here's some catching up:

We have a new dog named Lucy.  We got her on October 5th.  She's just over a year old and the most wonderful dog anyone could ever ask for.  She trains easily and amazes me with her loyalty and devotion every day. There is a lot to be said for 'Pound Puppies'.  They seem to know that you rescued them.  I swear to you, she smiles!   In less than 4 months now (and it was actually after less than a week) I can't imagine not having her in my life.  I tell her that almost every day. =D

 I've been doing more cooking than I usually do.  Well to clarify, more new cooking.  I cook every day, mundane, 'same old-same old' kind of cooking but now I'm looking up more recipes, trying new things and using new techniques.  Nothing fancy, mind you. I'm not that adventurous!

For Christmas I got a cast iron enameled dutch oven and a new cook book: The Pioneer Woman cooks!  Excellent source for good food, tips and tricks.  I also love her website and the Tasty Kitchen website.  That book and those websites are my staples in the kitchen now.  I usually have the book open or the laptop on the counter when I'm making dinner.    I'm one of those people who usually needs a recipe and I tend to follow it pretty near to the letter, at least the very first time I attempt it.  (Is that typeA?) 

Another thing I've been obsessed with is baking and or 'caking'.  I havent actually done anything fancy except my daughters fondant hippo cake.

But I really want to take a Wilton decorating class.  I've made cake pops (see bakerella.com) and those are a blast and I've bought a lot of cake decorating gadgets to make cakes someday.  I mostly use the tips to decorate Christmas cookies.  I have 4 kids, I really need to put those gadgets to good use and make birthday cakes, darn it!  =D    I love the look of fondant, but not everyone is a fan of the taste.  I really like buttercream and would love to learn how to work with it, even if I use fondant for accent pieces. 

So that's life here for now.  Got a busy week coming up with music concerts, sports practices, Season 6 of LOST starting (Yay!) and of course Super Bowl.  Hopefully I'll have another update before the next decade starts.  Till then.....