Random Ramblings

   The days are getting shorter, the weather is getting colder, and I am getting older. Here are some random basic things about my life these days. There are no photos that really go along with any of this, so this may be a bit of a boring post.

    The other week, I tried making this recipe for Chewy Granola Bars, courtesy of Lynn via Sally. They tasted delicious, but there was one slight
problem that Jason mentioned. When you bit into the granola bar, the part that was not inside your mouth exploded into a million pieces. He called them "Exploding Granola Bars." I just attempted to make a new batch with some tweaking to the recipe. (I did seek the advice of Sally while tweaking the recipe.) This batch turned out a bit better, but after they cooled, they again turned into "Exploding Granola Bars." I am looking for a remedy to this situation. Am I not using enough sugar, thus it's loosing some of it's stickiness? I have been cutting the sugar down to about an 1/8 or 1/4 of what the recipe calls for, however, I was using honey which is pretty sticky! I am still trying to determine the best way to package and freeze these  "exploding" granola bars, so any ideas or thoughts on the recipe or freezing method would be appreciated.

    Ever since I quit my office job and started my dog-washing job, I have lost my mojo on getting up at 5:30 every morning to take Gunther for a run. It doesn't help that it's dark and cold at that hour these days. And when it's cold and snowing outside, it really sends my desire to go running or bike riding out the window! It also doesn't help that when I am headed out the door with Gunther at 7:30 or 8, Jason is usually just getting home from work, so I just don't want to leave right away. So poor Gunther's exercise (and mine) has taken a toll with this job change.

    At my new job, I get to meet a lot of different kinds of dogs. Jason told me one day that he wasn't sure about me working there anymore, because every time I get home from work, I text him and ask him if I can get a new kind of dog. The first one I asked about was a Pit Bull. I got to wash two of them at work one evening, and they were just so cool! They are seriously all muscle and medium-sized powerhouses. The next one on my list was a bulldog. This little puppy came in to get his toenails clipped and he was sooooo stinkin' cute!!! However, after some checking around, I found out that they can have a lot of health issues due to their squashed noses and severe underbite. A couple of days in a row, I got to wash Akita's. I love the way those dogs look!!!! They are huge, furry, and look like a giant teddy bear!!! I really would like to have an Akita some day! One other day, a Keeshond puppy came in. I haven't seen full-grown one yet, but that cute furry dog might make the list, too. Most recently, I washed a Bull Mastiff. I think Mastiffs are cool, but I'm not so sure about the drooling part. I haven't decided yet if I can get past all the slobber being slung around whenever they shake their head. But they are still really big, muscle-ey, and cute! The list is still under construction, so beware of what dog might be on it next!

   Just some more random, snowy photos.

     Last week, Gunther started turning Asian. He has been eating rice with his food in an effort to become less smelly. He has always had some smelly problems, but for the last month, it seems to have gotten worse. Someone said that he may be getting to much protein in his diet, thus he is eating half rice, half dog food for a while. Hopefully it will make a difference. If it doesn't, I guess we'll have to try different dog foods. Or else he'll just always be a smelly puppy (I sure hope not)!

    I just made a batch of pasta tonight. I have never quite had my pasta dough turn out "smooth and elastic" like the recipes say after kneading it. Tonight, I was kneading away and it just wasn't working at all and I had the brilliant thought that maybe it needs kneaded like communion bread! So I changed my technique and viola! it kneaded into a smooth, soft ball! I was pretty happy with my new revelation which will hopefully make my pasta turn out better. This batch is just regular wide egg noodles, but I want to make and freeze some spaghetti and maybe some lasagna noodles. I don't have the fluted cutter though for lasagna noodles, so I'm not sure if I'll get those made right away.

     Over the weekend, I made a new discovery about Jason: he really, really likes Lasagna. And Breakfast Burritos. And Pizza. I have been trying to keep frozen burritos made for him to take to work. On Wednesday, I had made a new batch, but with sausage, potatoes, egg, salsa, and cheese. (Usually it's onions and peppers in the potatoes place.) I wasn't able to freeze them right away, so I put them in the fridge. Well, those burritos never made it to the freezer. He ate them for breakfast, lunch and dinner, all by his own choosing. He said for some reason, this batch tasted better then usual. I think the burritos were all gone by Saturday. Then on Saturday, I made two 8x8's of Lasagna. One to eat right away and one to freeze. I had no idea he loved Lasagna so much! The first pan was all gone by Sunday at noon!! Thankfully, the second pan did go into the freezer with his stash of frozen personal pizzas that I made for him to bake at a later date. He has always said that pizza is his favorite food of all time. But after this weekend, I think the burritos and Lasagna are up there pretty close, too!

   Ever since September, we have been wanting to go up to the Snowy Ranges. This past Saturday, we actually got in the car and tried to go. These photos are from that trip. I think the mountains looked like a scene out of the "Lord of the Rings" movies. And yes, it was snowing up there and very cold (even though it wasn't snowing in town) and Gunther absolutely loved it. He even swam around in the river multiple times, which had to be freezing. However, when he was finished, he ran to the car and acted like he couldn't wait for us to get there to open the door for him!

   Unfortunately, we were unable to go the entire way up to the lakes in the Snowy's, because the road was supposed to be closed. We "may have" gone around the road block anyways and gone as far as we could until the roads were too drifted with snow. (Hey, we saw some other people doing it, too!)