It is a cold morning, 26° and still windy.  We are supposed to warm up toward the end of the week.

I was  up at my normal 4 AM this morning so I think my body is finally getting back  to normal....I  think I just have one more month on Prednisone which is a very good thing.

I don't make New Year's resolutions formally, but in my mind I have general ideas of  what I want to do better in the coming year. 

I  started our New Year this morning (I don't count yesterday with company still with us) with biscuits and eggs. I still haven't perfected my biscuits using coconut oil.  I need to cut back the oil even more.  I did do a test on something.  I have always read and believed that once you add the liquid to a baking powder recipe you should bake it immediately to get the best rise because the baking powder starts acting as soon as the liquid is added.

Well, I have been watching a new cooking show with Chef John Besh from New Orleans and he just  said it is best to let your biscuits set at least 15 minutes (30 is better) before baking!  I held back two this morning and let them rest 15 minutes before baking.....they rose just fine.  How on earth can there be two such opposite directions out there.

All I plan to do today is take down the small tree....and then re-organize my pantry storage shelves.  My daughter gave me a set of glass storage dishes and she also brought back a shopping bag of my old containers.  I always load them down with food when they go home.  I need to find a good way to store all these things.

Now is a good time to talk about one of my first home projects for 2012.  I have several but I think we will do (correction:have done!) this one first.  I want a shelving system for the back porch from floor to ceiling and the length of the porch which will be about 10 feet taking out the freezer width.  This will include building a closet around the electric water heater with room for brooms and with a shelf overhead.  The good thing about having electric is I can safely store things  around it without fear of fire.  I want the shelves to be 15 inches deep and maybe have box like dividers.  I will store things like my Foodsaver, the crock pot, the maslin pan, and some other odd size pans and less used utensils where I can just look at open shelves and get what I want.  I want them out of pine and I will just clear varnish them, ala, Williams-Sonoma Swedish shelving.  I will be drawing up 'to scale' plans before talking to anyone.

I am happy to report the chickens are finally laying pretty well. We are getting 5-7 eggs almost  daily.  We must have a new chicken laying because we are getting a very dark brown egg and the shell is like cracking iron.

From Fall 2011

We have also lost an old chicken; she just died....a very normal thing with older birds.

This winter we are not using lights in the chicken house to stimulate laying, but we may when the temps drop way down at night.  It gives some additional heat to the girls as they roost.

I don't milk while company is here so we are down to just one quart so I will be going to the barn this morning.

Remember my new Jersey heifer I bought this summer?  Well she is just a delight.  She comes to us for a head scratch and wants to lick us....my SIL and GD were just really surprised.  Rodney is just a little intimidated by the cows.  He is definitely not a farm boy.  He was excited because she let him feed her right at the gate.  I have decided to call her Jewel.  That is part of the  name of the farm where I bought her and because she is just that "a jewel".  Her personality is so different from the Angus and Shorthorn cows who keep their distance from you at all times.  I hope  she stays this way forever.  I will  try to take some pictures of her this morning.  When her horns get about 3 inches long, we will have her dehorned.

I have bought a Kindle!  More on that whole topic next time  around....