Glazed Sugar Cookies

As I have previously mentioned, my family has been using the same Christmas sugar cookie recipe since 1966. Today, I made them again.

GLAZED SUGAR COOKIES
adapted from American Home, December 1966

3 1/2 C. FLOUR
2 1/2 TSP. BAKING POWDER
1/2 TSP. SALT
1/3 C. SHORTENING
1/3 C. BUTTER
1 1/2 C. SUGAR
1 TSP. VANILLA
2 EGGS
1 TBS MILK

SIFT FLOUR, BAKING POWDER AND SALT TOGETHER. CREAM SHORTENING, BUTTER AND SUGAR IN BOWL UNTIL LIGHT AND FLUFFY. ADD VANILLA AND EGGS; BEAT UNTIL SMOOTH. ADD MILK; BLEND IN FLOUR MIXTURE. CHILL DOUGH SEVERAL HOURS FOR EASIER HANDLING. ROLL OUT A QUARTER OF DOUGH AT A TIME ON LIGHTLY FLOURED BOARD TO 1/4 INCH THICKNESS. CUT OUT COOKIES WITH FLOURED CHRISTMAS-MOTIF CUTTERS. PLACE 1 INCH APART ON UNGREASED COOKIES SHEETS. BAKE AT 400 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT FOR 5 TO 6 MINUTES OR UNTIL EDGES ARE SLIGHTLY VERY LIGHTLY BROWNED. REMOVE COOKIES FROM COOKIE SHEETS WITH SPATULA; COOL ON WIRE RACKS. MAKES 6 DOZEN.

ALTITUDE ADJUSTMENTS: ADD 1 TBS. MILK FOR 2 TBS. MILK TOTAL. DO NOT CHILL DOUGH PRIOR TO ROLLING AND CUTTING AS, AT ALTITUDE, THIS DOES NOT MAKE THE DOUGH EASIER TO HANDLE.

TO FROST, MIX CONFECTIONERS SUGAR, FOOD COLORING AND WATER TOGETHER UNTIL DESIRED CONSISTENCY AND COLOR. WE MAKE A BOWL OF WHITE, RED AND GREEN. DRIZZLE OR SPREAD FROSTING OVER COOKIES AND TOP WITH SPRINKLES.

Photo at top is a double batch.

A fine day of skiing

The expert skier on Kessler's

Since we had another powder day and since I haven't been out to Highlands yet this season, I loaded up my new powder skis and went out to Highlands by myself this afternoon to ski a couple of runs.

Days like today are my favorite conditions to ski Steeplechase and my favorite run, Soddbuster. Since I'm still a "beginning" expert, it's hard to call what I do skiing, especially when compared with all of the real experts who ski Highlands. So, I call what I was doing flailing.

There was some great flailing to be had. I had a giant grin on my face the whole time.

I had so much fun on my first run down Soddbuster that I took my second run down Kessler's which runs right under the lift. Runs which follow the lift line are called showcase runs since you're almost guaranteed an audience. Skiers of my caliber generally avoid such runs since we know that the ski instructors on the lifts are using us as examples of what not to do and that cocky teenagers are laughing at us.

But I didn't care. It was just too good out there.

I'm gonna be rich!!

GABINO S. Y. SOCIO
Solicitor y Notario Publico
Francisco de Rojas 2,
28010 Madrid, Spain
Tel: +34-627-048-443
+34-627-047-930
Fax: 0034-912-919-688

Our Ref:
MH/ASSO/POI/7367/11/07

FECHA: 10/12/2007

BUSINESS PROPOSAL

Dear Bridget XXXXXXX,

Firstly, I must solicit your confidence in this transaction; this is by virtue of its nature as being utterly confidential and top secret. Though I know that a transaction of this magnitude will make any one apprehensive and worried, but I am assuring you that all will be well at the end of the day.

Let me start by first introducing myself properly to you. It may surprise you receiving this letter from me, since there was no previous correspondence between us. My name is Gabino Sancho. Esq. A Spanish-national and personal Attorney to Late Mr. Dunant XXXXXXXX, a national of your country who was hereinafter called my client.

My purpose of contacting you is for you to help secure the funds left behind by my late client, to avoid ti being confiscated or declared serviceable by the Bank Where this fund valued (5,600,000.00) Five Million Six Hunders thousand Euros, deposited by my client before his death.

This Bank has issued me a notice to contact the next of kin or the account will be declared serviceable and the fund diverted to the Bank treasury. So far all my efforts to get a hold of someone related to this man has proved abortive. Hence, I have contacted you. I am actually asking for your consent to present you to the Bank as the Next of Kin/beneficiary of my late client's fund, since you have the same last name, so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to your account, then we can share the fund on a mutually agreed, based on percentage.

All the legal documentations to back up your claim as my client's Next of Kin I shall provided them. All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us achieve this transaction. The intended transaction will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any infraction of the law. However, if this business proposition offends your moral ethics, do accept my sincere apology.

If on the contrary you wish to achieve this goal with me, kindly get back to me with your interest for further explanation. Via: Tel: +34-627-048-443 / +34-627-047-930, Fax: 0034-912-919-688 E-mail: gabinosanchoesq@aim.com

Kindest Regards
Gabino Sancho. Esq.
(LLB HONS)

How lucky am I??

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

In the world of thumbs up, thumbs down, this gets a thumbs up.

Elizabeth Gilbert writes of her quest in the aftermath of a difficult divorce to find the balance between devotion and pleasure by traveling through Italy, India and Indonesia for a year.

It wasn't so much that I wanted to thoroughly explore the countries themselves; this had been done. It was more that I wanted to thoroughly explore one aspect of myself set against the backdrop of each country, in a place that has traditionally done that one thing very well. I wanted to explore the art of pleasure in Italy, the art of devotion in India and, in Indonesia, the art of balancing the two.

While I found the author annoyingly self-indulgent at times and while I couldn't really relate to her whole spiritual quest, I did find her voice candid and her observations witty. For the most part, I enjoyed tagging along with her on her journey as she explored her chosen environs and herself.

I did relate to what she had to say about happiness:

Happiness is a consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it. If you don't, you will leak away your innate contentment.

Gilbert's willingness to forthrightly share her quest with the reader (the price of admission for her remarkable year abroad) results in an engaging tome.

I'm sick :-(

It's a godawful virus that hangs out forever. Yuck.

I have a pretty bomber immune system so I don't get sick often.

It takes a pretty heavy duty virus to permeate my defenses so when I do get sick, like once every couple of years, it kicks my ass.

I know, I know, wahhhhh.

Instead of going to my snowboarding class yesterday, I took lots of drugs and slept all day. Then I took lots of drugs but slept sporadically through the night.

I was supposed to meet two friends for skiing today (it's gorgeous out!) but got up this morning and burned through what little energy I had just making breakfast (that and over-reacting to the fact that all of my yogurt was gone).

Migraine + godawful virus + that time of the month = very grumpy girl.

So, with the thought that it's better to miss skiing today than to miss work tomorrow ('cause I'm just responsible like that and, oh yeah, the paycheck is what makes it all possible), I'm spending the day wallowing.

How pathetic am I?

Out, damn'd virus! Out, I say!

I'm thinking I'll be about as successful as Lady Macbeth was . . .

Welcome home!

Ellie welcoming Steve home after a 3 month absence

Level 4

Fanny Hill

I'm learning to snowboard.

I'm not sure why I'm doing this but I am.

Today was my second day snowboarding. Last Sunday (less than a week ago) was my first.

We have a wonderful resource here called Local's Clinics. You either pay $60 for a lesson or for $153 for a season pass which gives you free access to 45 different clinics (a clinic is basically a ski, snowboard or telemark class). Now, you can't do all of them since some of them are scheduled for the same day but still . . .

On Sunday, when I took my first Local's Clinic, a beginning snowboarding clinic, I was a never-ever. As in, I'd never ever been on a snowboard. Luckily for me, it was the day after a big dump (something like 9 inches) so the conditions were conducive to frequent falling.

Snowboarding is freaky. As bi-peds, we're used to our legs operating separately. Not so with snowboarding. I was cool with it when we had only one foot strapped in and were learning to skate and slide on our boards.

All that changed when we strapped both feet in.

Whole different world.

But, by the end of the first day, I was linking turns. Not very many turns, but more than one turn. That's what makes it linking.

I quit a bit early since I wanted to end on a positive note.

Today, after yet another big dump (14 inches this time), I went out for beginning snowboarding Local's Clinic #2. Only I was too good for the beginner class. Who knew? As the instructor sent me over to a different group, he mentioned that they were all level 3.

Level 3? Wait a minute, I'm no level 3. This is only my second time out.

Well, little did I know. I was in fact a level 3.

And now I'm a level 4. Had an awesome morning in soft, forgiving snow. Successfully linked 9 turns. That's quite some linkage.

Went in for lunch and came back out to an entirely different snowpack. Hard, compressed, really slippery snow. Couldn't do anything right. Flailed. Felt like I had forgotten everything I had learned so far.

Persisted and did two more laps. Regained a bit of ground and got to a point where I wasn't totally disheartened. This time, I decided to quit early so that it didn't get any worse.

There's another clinic next Saturday and I'll be there. As a level 4 snowboarder. After just two days.

But tomorrow, I'm going skiing.

Heck, I've already spent (wasted?) two powder days falling on my ass.

I'm back

Did you miss me?