We survived!

Give yourselves a pat on the back, we've survived the first winter storm of 2024.  We didn't get the two feet of snow that Bryan's family in Michigan got but we were in below freezing temps for four days straight.  At the barn, the auto waters froze on the first morning and from then on, the horses were drinking from their heated buckets.  Even with the light dusting of snow we woke up to last Monday morning, I was able to get the horses out of their stalls for at least 15 minutes a day to stretch their legs and get some wiggles out.  Of course on the first day of the freeze, Dalton broke his leather halter, pulling the lead rope out of my hands and tearing around the arena like a nut.  There were a few days last week and this past weekend that were warm enough for a ride but the horses were all incredibly fresh, which is my favourite kind of ride (said sarcastically).  Freezing wind blowing up their tails and flapping things all around - what could go wrong.  Amazingly, no one died and no one was injured.  The ponies all kept their sht together for the bit of time we were out there, and I'm so very proud of them for that.

And now we're into rain, rain, and more rain this week so the ground will know go from frozen to soggy.  Temps are going to be back up in the 60s and I'm sure it'll start to even sort of feel like spring.  Just typical for a Texas winter.

Since the weather has been freezing, most of our other activity has been restricted to the indoor kind.  I've cooked and baked and cooked some more.  I won't share some of my "healthy" bakes with you as those were not tasty and honestly not even worth the calories.  But I did make some baked treats that we gave away and got rave reviews.

Orange Ricotta Pound Cake - I had a bunch of oranges and ricotta leftover from the holidays and found this recipe that ended up helping in that endeavor.  This pound cake (like most pound cakes) is very satisfying and dense, however it does need to bake over the suggested bake time.  I recommend checking it every 10 minutes or so (past that time) if your batter isn't cooked all the way through, until a toothpick comes out mostly clean

Fudgy Homemade Brownies - I don't think you can go wrong with anything from Sally's Baking Addiction.  I was asked to bring a dessert to a dinner at my aunt's house at the last minute and these were very quick to whip up with ingredients I already had at my house.  The 9x13 pan was almost entirely cleaned by everyone that night.  My little cousins particularly enjoyed the "chocolate cake" 

I hope y'all survived the ice and cold and snow and whatever else January has decided to throw at you.  Stay warm!