Snow Day

Just when I thought we were going to cruise through the rest of winter with 40 degrees and sunshine, a storm hit. Not a storm in the sense of a blizzard with angry whirling winds, but the quiet consistent snowfall that makes you want to get outside.

 The kind of snowfall that allows you to see each flake individually!

I may hate winter, but I love snow! If it's going to be cold and gray, at least give us a snowfall to make things prettier.

As of last night, it had been snowing for almost 24 hours straight. Yesterday morning, I had to get out and walk around in it, even if I didn't have anyone to play with.

That's right, I willingly went out in the cold. Snow is magical like that.
 

Snowball Donuts

When my brothers and I were little, we always looked forward to the first snow of the season. Even if it wasn't enough snow to cancel school, it still meant our mom would make snowball donuts! Mmm little bites of heaven. I'm pretty sure we ate them just as fast as she pulled them out of the fryer and powdered them. I introduced Ross to the concept of snowball donuts when we moved here last year, and he's hooked.  Starting in November, I made sure to have the necessary ingredients on had so we'd be able to celebrate whenever the first snow came.

Thankfully, it's been a mild winter and we only had our first real snow last week. But it accumulated, and that's enough to justify donuts!

Snowball Donuts

Ingredients:

1 can buttermilk biscuits (not the 'Grands' rolls, just plain buttermilk ones)
1-2 cups Crisco
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar


Directions:

1. Scoop Crisco into a sauce pan and turn burner to medium-high.

 
2. While Crisco is melting, cut biscuits into quarters and mix the two sugars together in a bowl.

 
3. When Crisco is fully liquid, drop 1-2 dough balls into the hot oil at a time, turning quickly. If they brown almost instantly, turn the heat down to medium.

4. Remove from fryer when balls are browned on both sides. Place on plate lined with paper towels.

5. Every so often, dump all the "snowballs" from the plate into the bowl with sugars and roll around to coat. Repeat until all the donuts look like snowballs.

Pretty unscientific, I know, but so fun and easy to make!

Let it Snow

*Oh the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
And since we've no place to go
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!*

My dad, his mom, and his siblings on Thanksgiving

The same spot in the backyard, one month later on Christmas!

Apparently, this snowstorm was kind of a big deal. The Omaha World-Herald stated, "The Christmas blizzard that left all that snow will be studied by meteorologists for years because of its unusual aspects."

For example:

*Instead of one storm center, there were multiple waves moving around each other in the middle of the main storm system.

*Blizzard conditions stretched from Oklahoma to the Dakotas.

*Snow and wind lasted at least 48 hours. Typically a winter storm blows in, then out.

*A tightly wound storm center produced intense winds, brought in a lot of moisture and played havoc with temperatures.

*Finally, this storm system was so strong and so large, it pulled moisture in from the Atlantic, which is extremely rare.

Christmas Blizzard

I love the dazzling white of a good snow. It can even make the naked trees look a richer shade of brown. Ross and I left Kansas City in the gray rain on Christmas Eve and arrived in Omaha with the whirling snow and wind. Ross greatly enjoyed employing the 4x4 drive in his truck, that's for sure!

Christmas Day, we were very lucky in that we really didn't have any place to go, so we enjoyed being snowed in!

Standing in a snowdrift up to my hips!

My brothers' annual igloo

Snowfall on the previously clear street

White Christmas 2009

We had Christmas as my Grandma and Grandpa Schekirke's house on the 26th and got to see (almost) the whole family.

My cousins Jimmy and Tommy love Ross!

On Dec. 27, Ross and I drove back to Kansas City (this was Christmas Travel Plan D, I believe) and we're still adjusting to the snow, cold, and dry air! I guess Mother Nature heard me complaining about how I didn't see any snow last year. Boy, have I seen some this winter! (Now, before you go blaming me for living in Texas, let me say that it ALSO snowed in Fort Worth and Amarillo this Christmas. So there.) If only we had been snowed in at the farm, I bet it's beautiful there!

In closing, I hope you had a blessed and warm Christmas season, filled with joy. Sweet baby Avery (daughter to our awesome Texas friends Brittnye and Evan Hartfield) certainly did!

*I hope you never lose your sense of wonder* -LeAnn Rimes