January Weather

 Burrrr, it is cold here today!!!  Pets are piling up next to me to keep warm-- that's how cold it is!

They did enjoy suntanning for a bit too.

I've been keeping busy.  Among other things, I've agreed to help out with hosting an ice fishing derby. While I was in LaPorte, I noticed a hockey rink!  I love playing hockey.  I actually considered making a rink in the yard this winter.

I settled for taking the kiddies roller skating.
 

Janet and Little Robbie stopped in for a visit and surprised us with gifts:

I got these cool glasses:



The weather here started off with a freezing rain, and then went full out winter wonderland in the past few days.

I tried a new salad recipe. It starts off with caramelized onions, which I generally like.

A dab of olive oil, cook em up, and lightly salt-- done.

Set them aside on paper towel.

Next, get ya a plateful of almonds and chopped date.  Get ready to get CRAZY!

Toss em into the pan with a few strips of bacon and cook that bacon up.

 

Cook the bacon until crispy, then remove from pan onto paper towel. Next, add kale to the pan the bacon was fried in.  I only cooked my kale for a few seconds until it became tender and a very vivid green.

Top with the crumbled bacon, savory almonds and chewy dates.  I made a dressing of whisking together maple syrup and rice vinegar.

Then I topped it with shaved Parmesan cheese and the caramelized onions. Bon Appetite!

Besides salad, another popular food I have on a regular basis-- as of lately-- is a smoothie.

I have to say, I'm not a fan of salads or smoothies generally.  I'd much rather eat a Snickers and drink a Coke, but for the sake of avoiding Skirvey, I do try and eat my fruits and veggies.

 

Plus, this green concoction is a metabolism rever, and I can use that in effort to slim down a bit.

It looks disgusting.  It actually doesn't taste bad though.  Spinach, apple, frozen berries, grapes and oj mixed up is all it is.

The one nice thing about this bitter cold weather is the lakes are beginning to freeze up.  I'm totally hooked on ice fishing!

This bay had about 3.5 inches when I fished it for the first time this year.  I didn't catch anything huge, only a few small fish.

 

Take note of the ice fishing scene, it's on an ice island!  :)

  
It's the pretty village display at the Valparaiso YMCA.



Dontcha just find a good village scene fascinating?

 

Stay WARM!  ;)