The adults have had enough. The kids don’t want it to end. Not sure what age marks the switch of loving the cold and deep snow to longing for spring and warmth. Granted some adults are in their element with skiing and winter sports. When they were talking about the current winter storm yesterday my son was cheering and applauding. He’s nine. We could get 8-14 inches today and tonight. The kids are having a PJ day and just enjoying being kids.
I’m taking this day to try to catch up with everything. I haven’t posted in nearly two weeks and I miss it. It will probably be like this for another two months as I get through the tax season. The first peak is almost done so I hope to have time to actually cook different things so there is something to post about! That was the main issue. I’ve relied on the old tried and true recipes. The quick things that don’t take any effort. I did find at the co-op some pork belly so I’ll be making some soon as well as trying my hand at homemade bacon. That’s the plan anyway.
But I do love doing taxes. I spend most of the year nurturing my creative side but this allows me to exercise the math side of my brain. I love numbers. But I also find the people fascinating. You see the whole spectrum of life doing people’s taxes. Young people starting out not having any idea how their decisions affect their taxes, where they will go for jobs, kids having kids, the newlyweds. My favourite clients are the elderly couples that have been married forever. I have a few that are still sweet on each other and it’s so much fun when these couples come in. The tough ones are when they come in and they just lost their spouse. I wish the IRS would give them a year’s grace period but they don’t. You have to help them find their feet. As they continue to come in year after year you start to see them find their strength again and the smiles come a little easier. I hear so many fascinating stories. None of which I can share but I understand why the Humans of New York is so popular.
Even though I am not doing taxes today I’m not cooking because our daughter just turned 13 and we will brave the storm to take her to dinner tonight. It’s funny the reactions when I mention we now have a teenager. Those that currently have teenagers or who had them are wishing us luck and those that haven’t made it to the club yet are very excited for us. Fortunately she’s a wonderful kid. I know there will be bumps along the way but I’m sure we’ll come out the other side in one piece. 🙂
I did find the time to bake today. My husband’s favourite cookies are oatmeal raisin cookies. Since it’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow I thought I’d make him some. As long as he shares!
Pre-heat the oven to 375F/190C. I used the recipe from the Pillsbury Complete Book of Baking.
In a mixture add 1/2 cup of softened butter, 3/4 cups sugar, and 1/4 cup of brown sugar packed.
Mix together then add one large egg with a tsp of vanilla.
Add 3/4 cup of flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp of salt and mix well. If you use 1/2 tsp of salt like I did by mistake it still comes out ok.
Add 1 1/2 cup of quick oats, a little over 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, and a little over 1/2 cup of raisins. The recipe calls for raisins and nuts but my husband doesn’t like nuts in his baked goods so I use chocolate instead. So much better!
Spoon the mixture onto the cookie sheet and bake for 7-10 minutes. Let cool a minute or so before placing on the cooling rack. Quality check immediately of course. It’s amazing the number of quality checkers that come out of the woodwork. 🙂
Here is a view from our den window with the snow coming down. The wind has started to pick up so it could be a wild night.
