I'm on a diet.

So my friend, Dottie, called me up one day in early November and asked if I wanted to be on her team for the "Biggest Loser" contest at her work. It didn't start until the second week of January, so I said "sure!"

January came quickly and it was time to face the music.

I know she's been praying for me and boy-howdy has it helped.

As of Tuesday's weigh-in, I've lost SEVEN pounds. Yippee! Granted it's just a drop in the bucket, but still it's a great start.

What does all that have to do with the cookie picture? My lovely daughter has been on a baking kick lately. She made these beauties last week. They are Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cookies. Melanie found the recipe last winter. If you like Chocolate-Covered Cherries, then this is the cookie for you. Unless you're on a diet. Then forget I said anything and stay FAR AWAY from this recipe. I'm happy to report that I did not partake of my daughter's baking skills and eat two dozen of these little beauties. I didn't even taste one. I didn't even lick my fingers when I was helping her make them. Aren't you so proud of me? :)

I bet you're wanting the recipe now, huh? Okey-dokey:

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

INGREDIENTS:
· 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
· 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
· 1/4 teaspoon salt
· 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
· 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
· 1/2 cup softened butter
· 1 cup sugar
· 1 egg
· 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
· 1 (10 ounce) jar maraschino cherries
· 1 (6 ounce) package semisweet chocolate chips
· 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
PREPARATION:
Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl, set aside.
In another bowl, beat butter and sugar on low speed until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla, beat until well blended.
Gradually add in the flour mixture and blend well until smooth.
Shape into 1 inch balls by rolling a small amount of dough between the palms of your hands.
Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Using thumb, press down center of ball making an indentation.
Drain cherries, reserving the juice. Place a cherry in the center of each cookie.
For frosting: In a small saucepan, combine chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk. Heat over low heat until chocolate is melted. Add 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon reserved cherry juice and stir.
Spoon about 1 teaspoon frosting over each cherry, spreading to cover cherry. If frosting gets too thick, add a little more cherry juice.
Bake in oven at 350° for 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack.
Makes 48 cookies (there are 30 cherries in a jar, so some will need cut in half)

I'm beginning to see a pattern here.

It snowed last night. And again today. Are you surprised? Don't be.

Just so you'll know...the big talk around town is that the weather forecasters are saying that a huge storm could hit us Monday. It didn't take me long to make the rounds around a town this small--but trust me...that's what everyone is talking about. Not that the 3+ inches of snow we got last night ON TOP of the 6 or 8 we already have wasn't big news, either. They predicted 1 inch by tonight. They were off just a *little* bit.

So anyway, I thought I'd show you a couple more pics of the snow. There are some that my daughter took yesterday. She's really good at photography, too. I like her closeups:







The sun came out and she caught it glimmering through the iced-over tree limbs. Gorw-geous!

Day 1...finding something to say

Hi guys. Thanks for visiting my blog. I started it on a whim....and you know what? Now that I'm looking at this blank page, my mind is following it's lead. Blank.

I fixed meatloaf with all the trimmings tonight. Actually, I prepared the meatloaf yesterday when I had 4 pounds of ground beef that needed used or frozen. Today I fixed the mashed taters (and a baked tater b/c I don't eat mashed ones), green beans, corn, and fluffy warm homemade biscuits.

Are you getting hungry yet?

Well, here's something to get your mind off food. Snow.

My 16-year-old son took these pictures yesterday. We had snow, then during the night it rained and all the trees and ground had a thick layer of ice when we woke up. Then it snowed. And snowed. All together there is 5 or 6 inches of precipitation on the ground.

So, with all that heavy "global warming" on the tree limbs, they're getting mighty heavy. Here you see our Blue Spruce. It's not very blue, is it? Actually...now that I take a closer look at these picture...they're all in shades of grey. Such is winter.



And here's a small glimpse at our little town. As some of you may recall, I affectionately refer to it as "Mudville." When all this "global warming" melts, it will be apparent why I call it Mudville. Here in Eastern Ohio, there really isn't much flat ground. Most of it is hills. Lots of up-and-down hills. I plan on getting some pics to show you later. I know, I know...you can't wait. {snicker} Anyway, any time it rains all that water follows gravity and runs downhill. This could create problems...and often does. Such is life in our part of the world.

So there you go...my first day's ramblings. Aren't you glad you came by to visit?