A Day in the Life of a Shopper

We found ourselves in need of several things recently and decided to have some fun acquiring them. Baby girl and I had a day out on Friday. Here it is relived in snapshots. 

You may notice her outfit is different in the last picture. She just had to put on her new clothes. 

Big girl and I had our day on Saturday. Here are a few glimpses of our day. 

She also had to don her new duds. Can you spy a subtle furry vest?

Lemon Ricotta

I'm feeling a little sicky right now. Ugh. Too many cookies. Mmmm...cookies. Maybe I could eat one more without vomiting.

Seriously, I stumbled upon the yummiest lemon ricotta cookie recipe.

First, make lemon ricotta. I used...

2 qts. whole milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

In a large pot, mix milk and salt. Heat until boiling. Reduce heat and add lemon juice. Simmer and gently stir until milk curdles, about two minutes. Line a strainer with cheese cloth. Pour the curds into the cheese cloth and let drain for about an hour. Refrigerate up to two days. Or...

Make lemon ricotta cookies!

I used this recipe by Giada De Laurentiis.

I had to halve the recipe because I only had enough ricotta for a half batch, and I omitted the zest from the glaze, because I accidentally added it all to the cookies themselves (oops), but otherwise, I followed the recipe. Amazing, right?!

2 1/2 c. AP flour (Oh, I did use whole wheat pastry flour.)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
15 oz. whole milk ricotta cheese
1 lemon (zest + 3 Tbs. lemon juice)

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each one. Add ricotta, lemon juice, and zest. Beat to combine. Then stir in dry ingredients.

Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Let cool for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, make glaze.

Glaze:

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 lemon (zest + 3 Tbs. lemon juice)

Mix sugar, lemon juice, and zest in a small bowl until smooth. Spread about 1/2 tsp. glaze on each cookie. Let cool and harden for about 2 hrs. Store in airtight container.

Then try not to make yourself sick on them. I failed.

P.S. Yesterday's chili was made with venison. I had eaten deer meat before but I had never cooked with it. Yum! Really couldn't tell much difference in the chili. It ground up finer when it cooked, but no great difference in taste. I expected game-y, but I got yummy. =) I could totally live on deer meat. Someone buy me a bow!  Ha. Like I could really shoot it.

SNOW DAY!!!

I absolutely LOVE snow! And now that my kiddos are in school, I love it even more! A day to sleep in, lounge in PJ's, play in the snow, come back in, slip on those PJ's, drink hot chocolate, watch movies...

Yes, please!!!

The forecast was calling for 3-5 inches of snow and the girls and I went to bed, hoping, maybe even praying. At 5 o'clock this morning - 5 o'clock! - the girls came running into our room...

"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!"

"What?"

"It snowed! The roads are covered!"

I gave a thumbs-up.  "Okay. Go play."

Then I looked at my phone. Good grief. They must love snow even more than me! I love snow, but c'mon! I also love sleep. I told them to go back and lie down for another hour. That lasted about thirty minutes.

When I finally got up, the girls were hardly able to wait any longer to get outside, but I remembered that we had to deliver our Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes to the church.

PJ's? Sipping coffee on the couch, under a cover, by the light of the Christmas tree? Oh, well, maybe later.

We suited up because we were going to just drop the boxes then go straight out to play when we returned. And in the process, we realized that big girl's snow boots no longer fit. Sad face.

We dropped our shoe boxes at church, ran to Wal-Mart to buy snow boots made in China (deep, deep frown), and came home to play.

After lots of tracks, snow angels, and rolling down the banks of the ditch, we came in cold and wet. While the girls changed into PJ's, I threw our wet clothes in the laundry and heated milk for hot chocolate.

We ate oranges and pop corn and drank hot chocolate while watching Lady and the Tramp.

I've started cooking beans for chili, and now it's nap time.

Now tell me, what's not to love about snow?

Beautiful whiteness. Christmas tree lights. Hot chocolate. Soft powdery ground cover. Snuggy blankets. Chili. I'm in snow heaven.