superb views everywhere

It was such a gorgeous day yesterday, it's really hard to pick which pictures to post.

ooh, brrrr!

It was fairly windy up at Brainard yesterday. Funny how that works: last time we snow-shoed there, it felt much warmer, despite the fact that it was only about 20 degrees. Yesterday it was nearly 50 degrees, but windy. So we had to really bundle up to stay warm! The cool part was that there were very bizarre snow-formations that had been carved out by the wind.

well worth the trek

Yesterday, Tom and I wanted to go snow-shoeing. First, we tried to go to Caribou Ranch. However, that's only at about 8,500 feet -- and there wasn't quite enough snow. So we continued 15 miles up the road (literally UP the road) -- to Brainard Lake, which is at 10,000 feet. We trekked 6 miles (round trip); we were exhausted at the end. However, as you can see, the end result was WELL worth the work.

Tom's idea of Christmas

Our Christmas was pretty low-key this year. I had to work, but only day-shift, so not too bad. Tom made orange rolls; the recipe has been in has family for a long time. Tom's "big" present will be enjoyed in a few weeks.
My "big" present was very cool & creative, I thought: Tom had our blog printed & bound. So I now I don't ever need to worry that all of my blogging work will mysteriously disappear into cyberspace.

aftermath

Tom decided recently that we needed to host a cocktail party. So we did... and tried our best to pull out all the stops (particularly where the cocktail bar was concerned). We were remiss when it came to taking photos during the party (all that good company, drink & food was far too distracting!) but Tom took some photos of the aftermath. I will admit: this shindig took a bit of recovery-work!

yummy treats

For our cocktail party, besides a stocked bar, I made a couple of tasty drinks. There was a spiked apple cider, and a champagne punch. We asked our guests to bring either an appetizer or a dessert. The best appetizer (which was devoured prior to photo-taking) was our next-door neighbor's Clams Casino. The best dessert was our friend Jeff's cheesecake. Mmm.

Tom's after-party view

A good time was had by all...

Sweet!

The snow is back for the holidays. the big resorts

on the divide are getting hammered with snow lately,

and my little local ski park (Eldora)has about half its

runs open. because it is located on the east side of the

range it typically gets less snow than the others but a

couple more good storms and we will have as much

powder as the big boys and only 35 min. from

the house.

finished product

Voila! The tree is done.

Shadow helps decorate the christmas tree

We are in Phoenix, visiting Tom's parents. We helped Tom's mother decorate their tree. Of course, Shadow was a big help.

Jennie Creek Trail

We had our first real snow of the season on 11/28, and our next real snow last night. We probably got about 3 inches. So after shoveling the driveway (which took all of about 20 min, since the snow is so nice & light here -- plus, our neighbors did our sidewalk with their power-shovel), we took off for the hills. We had such a perfect day for snow-shoeing! All blue skies, and plenty of the fluffy white stuff.

more turkey goodness

Last night Tom got creative with the leftovers. He made "dressing-cakes" (he patted the leftover dressing into crab-cake sized patties, and fried them) and served them with tomato and smoked turkey. Of course, you can't have turkey without cranberry compote....

early xmas present

When my parents were here last week, they bought us an early Christmas present. We'd had our eyes on these wall hangings for many months... we couldn't be happier with how they look up on our walls.
We considered hanging them in the dining room -- but decided the light wasn't good enough to show them off. We also considered the kitchen (the light is better) but decided that the kitchen decor wasn't "nice" enough. So they are hanging in the basement -- where they look PERFECT on the light-brown walls, and the lighting shows them off quite nicely.
Thanks, Mom & Dad!

Mmmmm..... leftovers

Last night we had dinner at our next-door neighbors' house (it is their tradition to have turkey pot-pie with their leftover turkey on the Saturday after Thanksgiving). Tom came up with a creative & tasty use for our leftovers: Turkey Balls. He ground up some of our leftover turkey, and rolled them into balls using the leftover dressing as a binder. Then he topped them with leftover cranberry compote. Of course, since the turkey was smoked, it was a delicious result.

Teller Farm revisited

Tom and I took my parents out for a walk at Teller farm on Tuesday (before Merry arrived). Since it snowed last night, we decided to return to enjoy the new views. What a difference! Tuesday it was all grey & brown; today it was a fresh, new look.

we got snow!

Last night we had our first snow of the season. It was only one or two inches, and is mostly gone already, but it sure was pretty....

turkey, turkeys and turkeys

The top photos shows the lovely smoke rings that Tom's smoked turkey had (prior to devouring).
The bottom photo is my mom and her "twin" sister...
the middle photo is the biggest bunch of turkeys: our entourage heading out for a walk between dinner and dessert.

a feast fit for kings

Tom really did a fantastic job on our Thanksgiving feast. He brined the turkey the night before, and smoked it. Of course, he made fresh cranberry compote (my favorite). He also made fresh dinner rolls, steamed asparagus, beets, and dressing. (He has taught me that "stuffing" cooks INside the bird, while dressing is something similar, but cooked outside of the bird's cavity). The dressing was fantastic: french-bread bread-crumbs, sausage, goat cheese, and I don't know what else...