And We're Back!

It's been an exciting few weeks full of drama, holiday celebrations, guests, and snow! I have a lot of catching up to do so I will start at the beginning and with the snow, because weather is the most exciting!

First, notice that I've switched the blog back to the old template. Sorry for everyone who liked the other one, but it was giving me a lot of trouble and didn't allow me to post my own banner (I have a new banner!). I'm attempting to bring some of the nicer features into this layout (like the larger images and cleaner text), so we'll see how it goes.

Ok, the beginning. Exhibit A:

SNOW!

For a few days now the forecast has been calling for snow on Thursday. We didn't want to get our hopes up, but we kept checking the reports, and the likelihood just kept rising. First 30%, then 50%, then 60% was reported yesterday. Still, we didn't want to get too excited, but I admit that I kept checking the radar to see when/if rain clouds were coming our way.

We began the day, Jake going to school and me sitting down to do some work, but with a careful eye out the window every few minutes. Some of us were lazy and just trying to stay warm.

Fading Fall at Lillie Park

We had a quiet day on Saturday, staying close to home and enjoying each other's company now that Jake's barrage of tests has past. The weather has been so nice and we wanted to get some fresh air, so we went for a hike through Lillie Park.

The last time we visited this park, in August, we were attacked by mosquitos, even though we were covered in repellant. But the park was very beautiful and we were looking forward to a visit sans bugs. Lillie Park in the fall, though, was very different from Lillie Park in the summer. Still beautiful, but no longer lush.

Halloween Happenings

On Monday I accompanied Veronika and Sonya (and later Freddy) to a fun Halloween event held in downtown Ann Arbor. Children were invited to Trick or Treat at the local businesses—there were many children and many cute costumes. I thought this one was the best:

Weekly Wonders: GF Jalapeno-Cheddar Sourdough

I usually try to post Weekly Wonders later in the week, but I was too excited to share this new recipe. This week I'm going to tell you how to make gluten free jalapeno-cheddar sourdough bread!

Changes and Photos

If you've visited the blog you probably noticed that I changed the layout. I'm not 100% satisfied with this look, but I think it will allow me to publish larger pictures and will also give the viewer more control over how the blog is accessed. You can play with the settings by clicking the drop down menu in the upper left corner, it currently says "Magazine". I've had a few comments that it would be nice to be able to see all the images at once instead of having to scroll, so you can choose the "Snapshot" option and see what you think. If this view doesn't work out I can always change it back.

In any case, I have some nice photos that I've been wanting to share, so let's see how they look!

With the cold and crisp weather, the park has offered up some gorgeous coloring.

Weekly Wonders: Secrets to Perfect Applesauce

A few weeks ago Veronika and I made big batches of applesauce for my first experiment with canning. 

The recipe for the applesauce is one I've been using for a few years and it is surprisingly delicious. Last year I brought some of this applesauce to our potluck-holiday party at work and it was gone in just a few minutes. Everyone wanted the recipe. So today I thought I'd share it with you.