Snow, Football and Cooking

It's snowy here.  The world is white and it's absolutely beautiful.  I would love it a bit more if I was  snuggled up in front of a fireplace with a warm blanket and hot drink, perhaps later...I missed the snow.  We had a warm spell a little while ago that did away with a lot of the white snow, and left a lot of the outdoor sports I like at a standstill, but baby, we are now back in business. 

This past weekend was fabulous.  I've been having a few issues with the apartment I'm currently living in, so I decided to pack-up my things and stay with my lovely aunt and uncle for the weekend.  They live close by buy out in the country, so I can get my fix of the slower paced country life whenever I need it.  It was nice to just relax for a bit, sleep in have a breakfast and just sit around and read.  Saturday night I once again headed over to watch the Packers with some friends.  I whipped up some fruit salad and caramel brownies (which are to die for, at least in my opinion, I had gotten the recipe from a friend in college but couldn't find it amongst my boxes so I ended up using this recipe, which I'm pretty sure was the same).  It was lovely to watch the Packers win, yet again and proved to be the perfect ending to the day.  On Sunday it was off to Mass, back to my aunt and uncle's to watch most of the Bear's/Seahawk's game and then out for some shopping (has anyone else noticed that EVERYTHING is on sale right now?  It's both fabulous and a little terrifying...).  The rest of my day was spent at home, listening to the Patriot's/Jet's game, reading (right now I'm working on Christy by Catherine Marshall which is fabulous) and making dinner (have you seen the "Hungry Girl" cookbooks? if not you should check them out, they've got some pretty great recipes).

Bring it On! The Playoffs are Here!



Williams' Interception! (www.packers.com)

 I grew up in Illinois cheering on the Packers with my dad.  Which wasn't easy, considering we were in Bears or Rams country (depending on who you talked to).  In high school I was one of the few on our football cheerleading squad who actually knew what was going on, and I'll admit that there were times that I would have much rather been watching the boys play then facing the crowd "cheering".  So anyways, I went off to college (also in Illinois) and was surrounded by, yep, you guessed it, bears fans.  Well I've lived in Wisconsin for a few years now, and let me just tell you that it is wonderful watching the Packers play with people who actually want them to win.  It's still a bit strange for me.  So yesterday I went over to a friends to watch the Packers WIN against the Eagles.  It was glorious.  See this was a hardcore football fan only party.  It was serious.  There was lots of yelling.  Lots of edge of your seat silences.  Lots of high-fiving.  A bit of smack talk, just a little.  Lots of good food (hey every party needs good food).  It's a party that will be repeated on Saturday when the Packers beat the Falcons.  Oh how I love football season in Wisconsin!