January days

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 Sunday afternoon muffins ~ to ward off hunger while dinner was being made.

 Gluten-free ginger and molasses muffins, dark and rich.  With a bit of whipped cream to top off.

 Yes, those two are sitting in the snow...

..waiting for the griller-men to be ready.

And it tasted so delicious-- roasted potato-fries and green beans with the steak.

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I have missed my blog recently, and I hope to be back with more words and pictures shortly.  Real life has a way of sweeping me away with it--not a bad thing--and I have enjoyed reading several real books lately (with hard covers, and pages that smell good & whisper as you turn them).  Our January is just beginning to be wintry, and I am enjoying the snow out the windows (I haven't been out in it much :).

Beneath the cold and quiet exterior, there is plenty to stay busy with in a winter home like ours.  There is the customary baking and cooking, along with the fact that now, most of that is gluten-free.  This takes more time and thought, but it is challenging and fun to learn the particular twist to cooking that way.  Music fills the hours: I will be practicing for both a choir concert and a piano recital in the next couple of months.  Studying and reading of all sorts fits into the cozy, lamplit corners of our days and rooms; as well as a few dreams about leafy trees, flowering window-boxes, and cheery migrating birds.  These thoughts are inevitable in the winter months, and should not be entirely extinguished, as they support morale.  Thoughts of crafts that get done on winter afternoons, and snowball fights that you remember with a grin, and hot chocolate and muffins, should also be encouraged.  Winter is indeed a lovely time--we shouldn't forget.

So enjoy your steamy mugs, bookstacks, and cooking pots, friends.  I hope to be back soon!