alapaa.

alapaa is the eskimo word for cold. 

it's been around 40 below again this past week. 

but the sun is hanging out with us a bit longer each day and that is so refreshing.

for the love of bread.

my bread machine went kaput...it broke and died on me. it's quite devasting. a loaf of bread here in the village is around $6.00..that's for one loaf people. so i've been on a mission to find a bread recipe that works for me. you see.. i LOVE bread. i love bready things. i can not go with out bread... and we use a lot of bread in this household. so. this past week  i've made about 6 loaves of bread... a trial and error process. i think i may have found a recipe i like..we'll use it just until i find another bread machine.. cause man. it's a heckofalot more work to do it all by hand than to just toss it all in the machine and press a button.

i used this recipe.

 

and while searching for a bread recipe.. i came across these and HAD to make them!

 

the envy cowl.

knitting cables use to intimidate me.. i'd made a couple pathetic attempts at them in the past.. but this time i was determined to succeed .. so i choose a super easy, super chunky project.

the envy cowl.

cousins in the city.

while i wait for my camera battery to arrive...i was going through my photo archives from christmas break.....our time in the city was filled with snow, cousins, sledding, and lots of silly, fun, crazy times.

some christmas pillows i made for the cousins.

the glad game.

the village is out of eggs...i've gone to the store three times in the past week for eggs...they said they'd be in two days ago...i just checked.. still not here. it's 38 below again today. i bundled up my three lovelies to walk to the post office.. you see we are expecting a box full of things we forgot in the city.. important things..my camera battery, my eye glasses...the box was sent priority (3-5days) nine days ago from just one zip code away.. one flight away...and so i bundled my girls up, and at 40 below this is not an easy task...it takes approximately 20 minutes to dress them so that there is literally no flesh exposed. so then we walk a good 1/2 mile to the post office.. only to discover a completely empty mail box.. *sigh* i think the last time i felt that depressed to find no mail was back in my college days! i suppose this is the nature of living in the village in rural alaska...but adii! (adii is an eskimo complain word, kinda like 'gee whiz')
so... no eggs. 40 below. no mail. and it's only 10:00 am. maybe it'll warm up later today.. maybe the freight plane will come.. it's at times like this that i force myself to play the glad game! so i pour myself a hot cup of jo (trying hard not to think about the cinnamon rolls i was going to bake this morning)... breath deeply, and head over to my yarn basket. thankful for a warm house, wool clothing, healthy babies, internet, homemade soup, and the time to enjoy the simple things in life.

what we do at 40 below....

 it's been cold... quite frigid really.....for many days in a row now. it's the kinda cold that takes your breath away and freezes your nose hairs instantly. the sharp and stinging kinda cold. the kinda cold that makes everything still and quiet. it's the kinda cold that keeps you inside and stirs you a little crazy!

 

and so..what do we do at 40 below zero??? 

-we drink tea, and play inside, we watch movies, and knit, we play music and dance, sometimes we dress in our warmest furs and go for a walk for sanity's sake, and we bake...a lot.. 

in the past few days i've made:

-cookies

just your plain jane awesome chocolate chip, with a few white chocolate chips tossed in

-calzones

i used this pizza dough recipe.

-rhubarb apple custard pie

i used this scrumptious pie recipe again..but i added apples tossed in cinnamon and nutmeg.

-buckeyes

first time making these sweet treats. here is a recipe a bit different from the classic buckeyes.

-cranberry cinnamon chip bars

my cousin sent me some mini cinnamon chips and i found this recipe to try 'em out ... these bars are incredible. super simple and really really tasty! a new favorite..a perfect go to recipe for potlucks or parties... i used my frozen cranberries i picked this fall instead of the dried cranberries or craisens that the recipe called for.. and man.. they were yummy!

what do you do at 40 below??