The sun came out today, so we went for a little drive to see the ice. It's beautiful out in the country, but the trees in our subdivision suffered some major damage, esp the old aspens....

Well, back to baking. I've decided to try another apple tart. That first one was just too unpresentable.  And then if there's time, I hope to take some dollie photos.

It's Christmas Eve and I thought I'd get an early start on my last baking. I was really far with everything yesterday but the lights started flashing, so I was afraid to continue. But the power stayed on. So this morning I had to tackle the gluten-free apple tart. I've been experimenting for years to get it right, with mixed success, so last year I made a gluten-free trifle instead, but hardly anyone would eat it. So this year it's back to experimenting with the apple tart. 

My husband went shopping and chose a gluten-free cake and cookie baking mix. He couldn't call home to see if it was the right thing because the cellphone servers were still down. 

Okay, so I had to make do. The crust looked and tasted good, and I put together a great-looking tart with a lattice top. Into the oven it went, and I turned on the timer. Then went to melt chocolate for cream puffs, forgot the timer was going, and didn't check first to see how long the tart had been in the oven. So, erased the tart timer by accident. Okay, will have to guess and just keep checking.  

Then I notice smoke coming out the oven exhaust. Check inside, and the tart dough has liquified and is dripping all over the inside of the oven. So, put a small cookie sheet under the tart to catch the falling dough.

A few minutes later I smell something burning, and there's major smoke coming out of the oven. Look inside and there's big orange flames from the burning crust all over the bottom. The smoke alarm didn't even go off!  I quickly pulled the tart out of the oven, grabbed the box of baking soda and doused the flames. Phew! Fire is out. But the tart is barely half baked, so back in the oven it goes, on a fresh, larger cookie sheet.  I watched carefully, and finally it looked "done"

It sure doesn't look very appetizing, but I can't start over. Hope it tastes okay, and not like smoke.  So now my one cookie sheet is badly burned, and the house smells like smoke, and it's just 9 am. Oh well. They say it's the thought that counts, and I did try. Hopefully there won't be too many candles on on the table at Christmas dinner tomorrow, and people won't notice.

Hope had more success with her baking earlier in the week. She made a gluten-free fruitcake which turned out just fine. Miki doesn't care for fruitcake - like most people - so barely gives it a glance, as she's busy cutting paper snowflakes. But she does admit it looks very nice.

Slogging through the storm, in a two-mouse open sleigh

Over ice, and through the woods, struggling all the way....

"Are you sure it's this way?"

Jan and I ventured out into the backyard to take some photos of my girls with the ice-covered branches.  Normally the trees and bushes are way over my head, but now they are all hanging down at photo level.  It wasn't too bad walking on the ice-covered snow, but the sidewalks were another matter, even with the salt.  Here's a few of my favourite photos....

Note the bent icicles in many of the photos. After a few hours of freezing rain, the branches got so heavy, that they bent down, and any icicles that were first hanging downward, are now on an angle, and they just continue to grow downwards. 

Woke to an icy wonderland this morning, the likes of which I've never seen before. We are among the lucky ones, as we still have power, and most of our trees are still standing, although many are severely weighed down with all the ice. Many other people are not so lucky. Hundreds of thousands are without power, and trees and power-lines are down everywhere. Many of the trees along the boulevard are ripped to shreds. The aspens have been especially damaged. I didn't dare venture out of the house, so took some photos from my doors and windows......

...and the freezing rain isn't over yet......

Found a cute little snow globe with a Teddy Santa earlier this week. The girls love 
watching it snow in there, as they dream of a white Christmas outside.

I don't know about a "white Christmas" anymore. Earlier this week they were forecasting 20 to 30 cm of snow with the storm coming in tonight, but now we are in for a major ice storm instead. We had a bit of freezing rain last night already, and everything was covered with a thin layer of ice, so we went out to do all our last minute Christmas shopping right after our granddaughters left at noon. Good thing too, as by two the roads and malls were PACKED. Got everything done though, and now we are all set to see what happens with this big storm. They are forecasting 20 to 30 mm of ice on everything by the time it's all over. Hopefully we don't lose too many trees - or power. It could be a sparkly diamond wonderland out there by this time tomorrow - or at least on Monday when we are back in the deep freeze and the sun is supposed to come out again. 

Today is "Go Caroling Day", and all my little Iple girls are dressed in their warm sweaters
 and hats, along with their new colourful scarves and mitts, to go out and entertain busy 
holiday shoppers and other passers-by, with some festive holiday songs.

With a nasty three-day storm upon us, it's time to catch up and finish all those loose ends. There's still last-minute shopping to be done, but with freezing rain forecast for the next three days, we'll see when it's safe to go out. Maybe my girls will finally get the chance to decorate their tree. I bought three rather skimpy, but very realistic, trees at Michaels on super sale. Yesterday I finally had time to take them all apart and rework them into one tree. Now it needs a sturdy base, and then the lights and decorations can go in. But first there's some last minute costuming work to be done, so the new outfits can all be packed up and put away. I had to redo the waistband on one of my Summer Goddess slips, as my iron made a mess of one of them. I don't know where it's coming from, but my iron seems to have a mind of it's own and will melt brown spots onto the fabric from time to time. I have no idea what's causing it, and there's no way to remove it. I try remember to use a pressing cloth, which is a total pain, and then just when I think it's safe, there's the brown spots again. I think I need a new iron!

The other day was "National Chocolate Covered Anything Day", the day to find something, cover it in chocolate, and eat it. I had to dip some cream puffs, so let the girls have the rest of the melted chocolate. Byuri rolled up her sleeves, and got busy.....

Elin came to join in the fun, and together they found all kinds of things in the kitchen to cover with chocolate. They dipped Teddy Grahams, cream puffs, and even some of Layla's ginger sparkler cookies. Then they drizzled chocolate all over some of Dad's fruitcake. Elin decided to mix assorted nuts into her last chocolate. Bonnie came to see what was going on,  and asked them to cover a large almond for her.    Altogether they had a fun and very tasty afternoon!

Layla is baking some fresh cookies today. They are one of my favourites - ginger sparklers!
She shapes the dough into balls, and rolls them in coloured sprinkles.

Into the oven they go.....

Layla's sister, loves ginger sparklers too, but she'd rather eat them than help make them.....

"I wonder if she'll miss a few more?"

*This recipe is from the Robin Hood, Canadian Flour Cookies Cook Book

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon (I use a heaping tsp)
1 teaspoon ginger (I use a heaping tsp)
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (I use heaping)
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
granulated sugar - or sprinkles

Measure flour. Pour onto waxed paper or into medium sized bowl. Add soda, salt and spices: stir well to blend.
Cream brown sugar, butter, molasses and egg together thoroughly.
Add flour mixture to creamed mixture. Mix well.
Shape dough into 1" balls. Roll in granulated sugar or sprinkles, and place 2" apart on greased baking sheet. *to reduce the amount of sugar or sprinkles, just drop the dough balls into the sprinkles, but don't roll them to cover.  Press the cookie flat on the cookie sheet.
Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes. *See below. Let cookies cool slightly before removing from pan.
Yield: about 5 dozen cookies.

Notes:
  *My first batch almost always burns, so try baking at 350 instead of 375. And make sure to preheat the oven, so it's not too hot at first.
- Use a double thickness cookie sheet - one with air between the layers. If you don't have one of those, nest two regular single thickness cookie sheets inside each other.
- Grease with Pam or butter.
- Set timer for 8 minutes, check cookies to see how they are doing.
- the cookies need to set for a few minutes after they come out of the oven - they are very soft at first, then harden up as they cool. Don't let them cool too much or it will be hard to remove them from the cookie sheet
- wash the cookie sheet between batches and re-grease

* click on photo to download Recipe document

Well, Tillie and Cinnamon are in their elf outfits again, and are helping out Santa 
at the North Pole. This afternoon they went out with him, to help feed the birds.

Tillie especially enjoyed scattering the seeds and visiting with the birds.

*Santa is a soft-sculptured cloth doll I made for a doll club challenge several years ago.

A week today is Christmas Eve, and there's still WAY too much to do; shopping, baking, decorating, wrapping gifts (that still need to be bought) food prep, dusting, vacuuming, more food prep, more baking, knitting doll scarves (still a few more to go) doll photography, and maybe, just maybe, if I get all that done, then start some new doll clothes. Maybe.