2011 year in review

Thought it would be fun to look back on all my milestones from the past year.  The great thing about blogging is that I can look back and remember all the fun times I've enjoyed.  It's amazing how much I forget, even in such a short time.

Here are a few of my favorite accomplishments in 2011:

1) I got to milk a dairy goat & drive a team of draft horses.

2) I ended up growing a huge batch of banana peppers, which I canned as pickled banana pepper rings.

3) I ran 10 road races this year and rode a half-day of RAGBRAI on my old Huffy bike.

4) I checked out several new bike trails, including the High Trestle Trail in central Iowa.

High Trestle Trail

T-Bone Trail

Raccoon River Valley Trail

Grant Wood Trail

Wabash Trace Trail

5) I took two non-work-related trips -- one to Arizona and the other to Colorado.

Apache Junction, Ariz.

Golden, Colo.

6) I baked a lot of bread & cookies!

7) I made a lot of good memories with my family.

8) I saw the craziness that was the Ames straw poll.

9) I tried new foods at the World Food Festival, Greek Food Festival and Iowa State Fair.

10) We brought home our first real Christmas tree!

I'm excited to see what adventures await in 2012!  I just want to thank all of you for following my blog over the past year.  I definitely appreciate all your comments and encouragement. And I enjoy learning from all of you, too. Have a great 2012!

Making lefse: A flour-covered kitchen

I spent an entire day making a batch of Norwegian lefse for our family's Christmas dinner.  Lefse dough is very sticky to work with, so I had to use a ton of flour to keep it workable.  The goal is to roll out the lefse as thin as possible, but not so thin that the dough tears when you lift it from the cloth-covered board.

Before the day was done, there was dough and flour everywhere.  And I mean everywhere!

But all the mess was worth it in the end.  I ended up with a nice batch of lefse to send home with my family at Christmas!

If you're interested in my grandma's lefse recipe, check out my earlier lefse post.

Cookie Friday: Peanut butter blossom cookies

When Christmas rolls around, I get a little obsessed with cookie baking.  I pour through all my cookbooks, trying to find a new recipe that will wow my family.  But I always crave my old favorite, Peanut Butter Blossoms, with the Brach's chocolate stars, just like my mom made when I was a kid.

I've tried a couple different recipes for this cookie, but my favorite so far is the peanut butter blossoms recipe from Land O'Lakes.  Be sure to eat one of these cookies fresh from the oven, when the chocolate star is melting on top.  Yum!

We'll be leaving out a plate of peanut butter cookie blossoms for Santa this year!

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, all my blog friends!  Wishing you all the best and brightest of the season.