The Return of Winter

Well, winter has returned here in mid- Missouri with -1 wind chills tonight.  Brrr.  Good excuse for a warm blanket, a good book and a cup of hot chocolate.  While I still go through the seed catalogs at a slower pace, my focus is moving towards making pots of home-made soups and chili to freeze.  It's still soup weather and time for my 20 quart stock pot.  I made a pot of Fagioli (similar to Olive Garden) and it was great!  I didn't add the noodles since I was freezing it but they can be added once I make individual pots.  Chicken noodle soup works out great too- just cook the chicken, carrots, celery and onions and freeze it in 2 quart containers.  When you are ready to eat it, heat it up and add a package of pre-cooked noodles.  Its fast! 

I am thinking about a winter trip to Houston to visit warmer weather but the gas prices recently shot up again.  That could put a damper on things. I haven't been down there in a while and I'm itchin' to go see my sister! 

I am still playing with the new computer but I have found there are issues with the new programs (64 bit) and older files.  Seems I am still spending time upgrading all of the old-old pattern files but it's a labor of love.  I'm updating the graphics also and they all look much better.  I have had a lot of requests for PDF's and hope to offer them on the website soon.