Once Upon A Time, a princess woke up in a magical kingdom.....the kingdom of FOG!!!!! Actually it was me last week and it was AWESOME!!!!! I love fog. I think it's like getting a big hug. There are lots of different kinds of fog. I've had the privilege of living in several places that offer fog ---
Arizona, where it sits on the mountains (hills really) and all you want to do is ditch school to go hike them and play hide and seek....but by the time you get your boots on and your water bottle filled the fog has dried up and it's just another disappointing day for weather.
San Diego (not live, but visit) has it's daily morning fog which gives you false hope for the day....then burns off just a couple hours later....total disappointment (you may still think it's foggy, but it's just smoggy) :D
Alaska offers up fog almost every day too...only this, you quickly learn doesn't burn off...instead it gets thicker and thinner and thicker and thinner depending on...well no one knows for sure....but fog can mean one thing....a WXCL ---- weather canceled day!!!!! Which means you get up, you get ready, you get to work, and find out you get to go home and have the day to yourself!!!! (unless you work in the office and then you get a day of angry passengers and catch up work :) Now, if you're an Alaskan (legit or honorary) you've quickly adapted to live with the fog and the weather so you don't even notice it...you go fishing, you go camping, you go hiking, you go crafting, or you go drinking....that's really all you do in Alaska whether the weather be fair or not :)
Idaho - Most of the time I've found the fog to be similar to Arizona fog. It doesn't disappear quite as fast, but it's almost as rare and just as motivating and inspirational. It's a change from the sun and blue sky (which many appreciate, I hear) But it does tend to disperse as the day drudges on....you'll keep your clouds, but the mysterious fog...it drifts back to it's hole.
A couple of weeks ago we were blessed with one of those all day kind of fogs, though :) And as I mentioned - it's inspirations to me :) I took hold of it with both hands and poured myself into my projects that day - in the kitchen! I wanted to accomplish something very domestic, but still be able to watch out the windows. So I cooked and baked all day :)
Of course I had to start the day with Edna Mae's Sour Cream Pancakes (thank you
Pioneer Woman). Kattie and I have tinkered with the recipe a little to make it more WW friendly, but surprisingly it's not that bad originally. But the best part is the taste!!!! These are, by far, the yummiest pancakes I've ever had! So I make a bunch to have on hand. I can throw them in the toaster in the morning and munch a couple before work...always a good staple with which to start the week. (Not sure why I just reverted back to college grammar and could not bring myself to end that sentence with a preposition no matter how uptight and formal it sounded hahaha....but I am happy to supply with you constant horrid punctuation.....and run on sentences.)
Next would be some
Pioneer Woman meatloaf! Once again, I had to tweak the recipe to suit myself....most important change - Elk burger!!!! A) It totally leans it up. B) It tastes delicious! C) I had it on hand...or rather...the parents had it on hand and since I'm house sitting for a month I helped myself :D...and yes...that is bacon on top....ok, so probably not the best on a "diet" but I'm here to live baby, and bacon on meatloaf just sounded way too good to pass up :) Now obviously one person cannot consume this much meatloaf in a healthy amount of time so I've frozen some to feast on later...dinners forever!
Something that is becoming quite a bi-weekly ritual for me is baking bread. This is the easiest bread in the world to bake and it is delicious! In 1 hour (start to finish including baking and clean up!) you can have 4 gorgeous loaves of bread! I have a tendency to get distracted and let mine raise a little too long :) which means they don't fit in the toaster so easily, but they make a mean french toast! hehehe. This recipe comes from
Pantry Secret and is so easy...the only weird thing is you need soy lecithin (which you actually find in the ingredients of a ton of products) but is not so easy to find in a grocery store. I found me some in a kitchen store in Ogden, UT....pretty obscure....but I bet if you look in a whole food type place you can pick some up...Idaho Falls doesn't believe in whole food type places......meh.
Ok, so I'll admit this one is not too healthy either, but it's a necessity on a foggy day baking frenzy :) And to be honest I actually did pretty well with these guys...I put most of the dough in logs in the freezer for another rainy day and the rest of the cookies I took to work :) But man, did they smell good ;)
Last, but not least, I made me a shrimp quesadilla that was AWESOME!!!!! But I was so hungry from all the cooking that I devoured it before I thought to take it's picture....but it was awesome....I promise :D...thank you Super Bowl leftovers!
Anyway, I had a very productive and successful day. I'm still eating off meatloaf and bread....and that's even after giving Nikki and loaf and the dogs shared a loaf.....yeah....don't get me started. They survived both the digestion and the scolding :D So thank you, Foggy Day Off. You are awesome too. And I miss you.
