Snow Snow Go Away

It's snowing.  Again.  Another 9" of frozen, heavy, wet crud.  Lovely.

Don't get me wrong, I love winter in New England, but it has been exceedingly cold this winter and I'm more than ready for signs of a crocus or two poking up!

For the Crumbs part of this week...I know I swore off baking for a while, but my hubby and I were watching America's Test Kitchen (one of our favorite shows!) and they were making Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Bread.  The finished loaves looked so amazing, that I finally caved and made some.  Ok, these things aren't exactly a quick, pop-in-the-oven, kind of thing...they took 3 hours!  But, they are truly the most amazing loaves of cinnamon bread I've ever made and I think they look as good as the professional ones!  They also made some darn good french toast!  I can't tell you just how incredible my kitchen smelled.  I really wish we had smell-a-vision so I could bottle that wondrous smell up and have it for a really crummy day.  I'm certain it would fix everything in this world!

After the first rising.

After filling the dough and braiding it.

Proofing in the pans.

The finished product.  Looks pretty amazing, right?

And for the Crafts part of this week...we got a big box delivered.  The only thing in it?  A pair of Carhartt pants for me!  I'm not that big!  But, it did provide a solid hour of fun for the boys while I got dinner fixed!

For the Kiddos part...I did say I won tickets to the NH Farm and Forest Expo, right?  Well, my good buddy Julia and I took our 5 kiddos and spent a very enjoyable 2 hours exploring all things NH.  All kinds of exhibits on agriculture, forestry, fish and game, 4H, etc.

Kiddos coloring "chicks on a stick"

Learning how to card llama wool.

Riding the tractor.

Somehow we managed to get all 5 kids on the gator.  I didn't say they were all happy about it!

Off to dig out...