Why Do They Call It The Cold Sump of Oregon?

Soooo..... Why do they call it that?

sump (sump) n. 1. A pit or hole that receives drainage. 2. A cesspool. [ME sompe, marsh.].

Well, Seneca really isn't too much of a swamp or marsh - though it does have a river that runs through it which tends to flood in the spring. A lot of people might lovingly refer to it as a cesspool, but most the town folk might disagree.

A cold sump is the lowest point in an area, and since cold air is heavier than warm air, it tends to settle there. Throughout the winter it is usually always foggy when you are driving across the flats coming into Bear Valley. I always think of the ocean when I am driving home in the early hours of the morning just as the sun is starting to peek out. Seneca is unique that it is a valley, but it is a valley that sits at nearly 5000 ft in elevation. We get the cold and snowy mountain weather that the whole county gets, but the cold settles in early and stays late. Last year we had a week straight of about -30 degrees that never rose above 0 degrees during the daytime. Seneca holds the record of -64 degrees back in the day (I believe that's right it might've only been-54, but I'm pretty sure it's -64).

This year has been odd. We didn't really even start getting "winter" until about 1 1/2 weeks ago. Now it's in full bore and we have already reached -20 a couple days ago. This year is different though, the rest of the state, including Portland have been getting snow as well and freezing temps. It was colder in Bend this last week than it was in Seneca! We had our Mules (Harley and Rusty) at Josh's Aunt and Uncle's house in Redmond last year because it gets so cold in Seneca. This year we kept them here and are having a very hard time keeping water to them. Their water freezes as soon as we give it to them. Josh says they will just eat snow to get water, but I feel really bad. We have no way of getting electricity to them to put a heater-thingy in the water to keep it thawed. At least this year they are in a pasture that has a loafing shed so they can get out of the storm.

The dogs have been getting spoiled this winter though. Since the cold hit, they have been sleeping inside every night. The first couple nights they were confined to the laundry room, but it has slowly ebbed out so that now they walk right in and spread out in the living room, our room, etc. I love it, and Josh has surprisingly accepted it. Our house is so small, and they are so big though that it's hard to get around them.

Well, I will take some more pics of the aftermath of the storm later. I'm at work now and we just got a storm warning from the weather service that said we could get up to 18 inches by Monday! I know other areas have already gotten that much and more.. (Spokane, Wa), but we will batten down and get ready. With our recent wind/snow storm earlier, the tarp ripped and blew off our house. Let's hope it stays really cold so we can continue to shovel the snow off the subfloor and not have it soaking in.

The pictures are from one of the warmer nights in our house. I'm very grateful for the house we are renting right now - but it is very old. Very thin, single-paned windows that the grout has all loosened from, drafts, etc. The windows are from Bridger's room (that has plastic on the outside!), the kitchen window, and the laundry room window.

Stay warm everyone! It's just getting started!!!

Christmas "program"

Ms. Darla and Audrey and Bridger... Audrey was reading him a book beforehand... The kids in mid-song..... from left - Lauryn, Sage, Billy, Shawn, Audrey and Gracie.

Audrey had her Christmas "Program" at preschool today..... Her preschool is held in one corner of the city hall in Seneca. They only have room for 6 kids (or else Bridger would also be in it this year), and it is held on Tues and Thurs from 9am-12pm. Audrey was very excited and got all dressed up in her "santa" dress which is still too big for her this year. We fixed her hair with lots of ribbons so she looked like a present (this is probably the last year she will ever let me do stuff like that), and was ready to go! All of us parents all piled in and watched the whole class all dressed up in their pretty holiday dresses sing a bunch of songs (such as Jingle Bells, I'm A Little Snowman, and also Itsy-Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Little Star, and a few others). It was cute as ever with the kids not knowing the words, looking at their respective parent the whole time or being sidetracked with other things (like Bridger who was sitting in front making faces the whole time). Audrey was one of the loudest who sang most of the words (not always the right ones) Billy pretty much whispered hers and grinned at her momma, Lauryn didn't sing half of it and crossed her arms (but when she did sing she was very good :), Sage mumbled and then shouted out the last word of every sentence :), and Shawn and Grace just kind of sang along quietly. All in all, good program - an exact replica of last year's and will be an exact replica of Bridger's next year (with different kids).... yay for Christmas "programs". Sorry, just tired. Got home at 6:40am from work, slept until 7:30am, fixed Audrey's hair, got the kids dressed and breakfast, then Josh took them and I slept from 9:40am until 10:15am, then got up and went to the "program" (yes - I am going to continue to use the "" ), then came home, got lunch for the kids (after their crack overload of cookies and fudge), then went back to bed around 12:40pm. Got up several times but finally for good at 5:30 or so.

The kids getting their crack fix.......

I never appreciated a full-night's sleep until recently. Ok, when the kids were babies - but it 's been a few years since I've been taking it for granted that I could get more than 1 1/2 hours of constant sleep at a time..... Alright - Off my pity rant. :)

The whole gang....

Cookies! Cookies! Cookies!

Yay! I'm so proud of myself :) I love to bake, but try as I might, I have never been able to make soft cookies (with the exception of the cake mix cookies). I love making sugar cookies, especially around this time of year, but avoid it because they always turn out crispy. Well, this year I found a recipe that swore it was the best recipe, guaranteed to be soft. I was very skeptical at first.... half of the reviews said it was an awful recipe (mostly because the dough was too sticky and hard to handle) and the other half gave it an enthusiastic 5 stars. I tried it, added it something, omitted part of something and they turned out GREAT! It's been 3 days, and they are softer now than when I baked them :) I ended up putting butter cream frosting on them - which I would definitely suggest. They are not very sweet cookies (but that also is what makes them good), so a layer of frosting makes them just right! I took a tray of these to Audrey's preschool Christmas "program" (I say "program" because it was pretty much just 6 kids singing about 10 different little songs, and then it was time to stuff them all full of crack .. a.k.a.. sugar). The kids and adults loved them. One of my friends was there and she ate three while we were standing there talking and made herself leave so she wouldn't eat anymore :)

So, for any of you out there who have been searching for a soft sugar cookie recipe, here it is! For all you other skilled bakers who are reading this saying "sheeesh, who CAN'T make soft cookies? I mean really, it's easy..." well, pooh on you and you can just ignore this :)

Soft, Yummy Sugar Cookies!

1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup shortening (substituting butter might work, but then again, it might not)
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp distilled white vinegar (I know.... just trust me)
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour (I packed mine)
1 tsp nutmeg (I cut this down to about 1/2 tsp - next time I will probably just omit it completely)

*I also added about 2 tsp butter flavoring and about 3 Tbsp corn syrup

1. Combine milk with vinegar to make sour milk. Let stand for 5 minutes.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine white sugar, shortening, eggs, and vanilla. Add flour, soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg (if you are adding it). Last, stir in brown sugar (this is also where I added my corn syrup and butter flavoring. I hand-stirred this rather than using my mixer.)
3. Stir in sour milk and mix well. NOTE: Dough will be very sticky and hard to handle. You could refrigerate it for a few hours, or just use plenty of flour when rolling out. (All the reviews suggested refrigerating does not help.)
4. Flour your surface very well and keep extra flour at hand. Drop dough onto floured surface and begin to knead. I ended up kneading 3/4 to 1 cup more of flour into the dough before it was to the correct texture and not sticking to me. Keep the surface floured to avoid it sticking to the counter.
5. Roll on well floured surface to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutters to desired shapes. (lg cutters work best).
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly brown on bottom. (I used a silver baking tray covered with tin foil and ended up baking the cookies for approx. 12 minutes - we also sit at almost 5000 feet. I cooked them until they were just BARELY browning on the bottom).
6. Frost with frosting (Butter cream is soooo yummy on them) and decorate. Or you could brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar.


(I also made some peanut-butter chocolate bars...)

Audrey's 5th Birthday Party

Yes! It's over and done - and I think the birthday girl really enjoyed herself :) We had it at the Outpost in John Day downstairs in their arcade/pizza room. I like having it there because I don't have too much clean-up afterwards, and the kids have fun running from one end to the other non-stop. There was plenty of that this year! We had 8 little girls and one boy (Bridger) there. They thoroughly enjoyed Bridger playing shark and chasing all the little girls around while they screamed...er..no shrieked at the top of their lungs. The cake was a hit, the pizza was good, and the pinata did it's job - for the most part. The top ripped off before it got broke by the bat, so I ended up just dumping it all out -which they all thought was very cool. Audrey got more barbies and polly pockets than she could have ever dreamed and was very thankful for everything! Now to do the thank-you cards...

Festival of Children

Yes, I am going forward a little. I will be catching up sometime. But you know, I guess I can do whatever I want on here.... OH! How refreshing! :) Wah ha ha ha.... {evil laugh}.

Now, onto the blog. So in John Day, Oregon every year they have the usual holiday activities. They have something called The Festival of Children. It's at the fairgrounds, and a whole bunch of volunteers set it up with tons of tables of different craft items for the kids to do. The cost is either $1 per kid/$2 per adult or 1 can of food per kid or 2 per adult. There's painting a various amount of ornaments, making cards, drawing-glueing-sparkling-glittering-and every-other little messy fun thing they can think of. They have snacks catered towards children (popcorn, juice, cookies and pb & j sandwiches). I took the kids last year. It... was....ok. I had Bridger in the stroller who didn't really want to do anything, Audrey who wanted to do everything with her cousins (they were there this year too :), and I had Maddie in a backpack. If you are/were a mother of 2 or more kids you'll understand when I say I was experiencing that uncomfortable hot-ness you get when you are chasing around a bunch of little kids in a public place with a bunch of other little kids, you've got both hands full, each one wants something different, and you are overdressed because you haven't gotten the chance to layer down yet. Well, in the midst of it all, I was standing near a table watching Audrey and I feel an alarming amount of very warm liquid go down my back and soak through my layers. Um,huh.... Maddie peed all down my back. I changed her right before we got there, but apparently it went out the leg-hole or something. Needless to say - fun was over and we left in such a hurry I forgot the stroller with my backpack in it in the parking lot after buckling all the kids in. Luckily it is JD, and after I figured it out (when I was looking for my wallet), some nice soul had taken it inside and kept it safe for my return.

This year's was MUCH better. Josh was there and Maddie was not with us (I do love having her though). Here are some pictures from this year. Audrey had a blast making things with her cousins (Andrea and Leah - oh how she adores them!), and I enjoyed talking with mom, mark, my cousin Sheila, and some other friends I saw there. Bridger made a birdhouse (his highlight of the last two months), he was so excited he couldn't even stand still!

Ahh, now to wait for next year's!

Ooey, Gooey, Fondant....

I think I will write about Audrey's party later, but I've been wanting to get the fondant recipe on here for awhile. I searched out several different sites on-line for the recipe and taken tid-bits from each of them....


For about an 8 X 13 inch cake, you will need:

• 1 bag of large fresh marshmallows (approx 16 oz.)


• 1 bag of powdered sugar (about 1 lb should be plenty)


• lg. microwavable glass bowl (or if you do it on the stove, a large pot)


• shortening or butter


• 1/2 cup water


• any food coloring you might want

1. Start off by preparing your surface. I've found that a large counter spread with either powdered sugar or crisco (butter) will do. Also grease the insides of your glass bowl.



2. Pour the whole bag of marshmallows into the bowl and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds.


3. Meanwhile, I've found that if you sift your powdered sugar, this saves a lot of lumps and unevenness in your fondant. I don't have a sifter, so I just rolled my sugar very well with my rolling pin to try and remove any lumps.
4. Test your marshmallows -hint- they won't even be close to being done. Put them in for another 30 seconds.
5. Gather your sugar in a large, round mound on your prepared countertop. You might grease or sugar your rolling pin at this point if it's not a no-stick one (like my old wooden one).
6. Remove the marshmallows (they won't be ready) and sprinkle them with approx. 2-3 Tblsp of water and return to microwave for another 30 seconds.
7. They should be getting closer now, remove them and stir them with a spoon. Return for another 30 seconds.
8. Remove, it is at this point that I add my food coloring. Stir it in very well. Your marshmallows might need another 20-30 seconds at this point to ensure every last bit of the marshmallows are melted.
9. Once fully melted, spoon the marshmallows out onto your large pile of sugar (hopefully you've made your circle of sugar large enough to hold the marshmallow w/o it spilling out over the edges).
10. Grease or sugar your hands well.
11. This is where you start to feel like you are actually making something! Start by moving the sugar around so it covers the entirety of the marshmallow - it's a lot easier to maneuver if you get it coated with sugar before you get your hands in it (believe me!!)
12. Start kneading the sugar into the marshmallow as you would bread dough.

13. Continue kneading until it is no longer sticky to the touch, is pliable, even and smooth - kind of like a loaf of bread dough before you bake it.

14. Ok, now put it in a ziplock baggie (you can grease this beforehand to make it easier to remove later) and place in the fridge for 8 hours or so (so hopefully you read this far enough in advance you don't need it the same day!).

15. When you are ready to use it, remove it from it's shackles and be prepared to roll, roll, and roll. This stuff likes to return to it's original mound - so a lot of rolling is needed. It will eventually give in and slowly start spreading though. You can heat in the microwave a little to help, but be careful!!!
16. Viola! roll onto your cake, and pat into place.

My small little hints that work for me:

• Ok, I said grease the counter... I greased it and it helped a lot, but it also kind of turned my fondant slightly pock-marky. I would suggest NOT using Pam spray, this seemed to really mar the surface. If you can help it, only grease the bowl, your hands, and the counter slightly. If you can, try just sugaring the counter and this will help keep it very smooth, though it WILL stick to the counter.


• A lot of the sites suggest adding your color to the fondant after it's refridgerated and before you use it. This is because the color can deepen or change slightly while sitting that long. I personally don't care - it's much easier to stir it in when the marshmallows are melting than when they are already hardened.


• Since the "dough" is so hard to roll out after being in the fridge overnight, I thought I would skip the refridgeration part this last time. Not such a good idea. It is not nearly as smooth when you do this. The surface of it looked like a pubescint boy's face with a very bad case of acne - only it never smoothed out with time or as much as I rubbed and brushed it. Just suck it up and refridgerate it.


• Heating it up to help make it pliable - I did this, it does help, but if you aren't careful, it doesn't heat entirely even - it "burn" little holes in it, or weaker, thinner spots. Microwave it for like 4-5 seconds at a time.


• Ice your cake with buttercream frosting or something similar before putting the fondant on. It will help it stick better and it tastes a whole lot better.


• Lastly - you are going to be a huge sticky-sweet mess no matter what you do, so have fun! Your cake will be so sweet that your teeth will start aching when you look at it -- enjoy!

side note: If this doesn't work for you - it's not my fault - must be user error... ha ha!!!! jk - but seriously, practice helps.

The Cake is Done!

Wow! Isn't it strange how a little thing like a birthday party in the middle of an already very-busy schedule can put so much added stress on somebody?

Tonight I finished Audrey's birthday cake, and so now we are completely ready for her party tomorrow. After I wake up, we just have to grab the big, huge box (full of decorations, party favors, pinata, presents, etc.), the cake -oh, and the kids - and head down to J-town. {long sigh}

The cake didn't turn out like I was envisioning, but Audrey will love it. I've learned that if you want your homeade fondant to be perfectly smooth, it is vital to follow some particular steps in making it, and NOT follow some suggestions made. I will put the recipe and directions in my next blog (or shortly thereafter). For now, I am going to finish this up and relax for the last 1 1/2 hours of work. My fellow workmate (whom I share the EXACT same radio and phone voice - no, seriously, it's eerie) loaned me the book Twilight. I'm sure you've all heard of it. I am thoroughly enjoying it. I think it's the first fictitious book i've read since The Dark Tower series was published by Steven King. It's easy, simple, and I don't have to concentrate at all while I'm reading it -- I'm almost half-way through with it and I only started reading it off and on maybe 2 hours ago.

Anyway, I will post some birthday pictures tomorrow if I get a chance. Happy Saturday everyone!!

Blah, blah, blah, and more blah....

I know, I still haven't got pictures or anything up. I started on the fondant this afternoon, and learned even more valuable tips that I will post when I post the recipe and the pictures from it. I think her cake will turn out, just not the shining picture of perfection I was hoping for.

Josh got home tonight exhausted from only sleeping 1 hour in the freezing weather out in the field last night and then driving the whole way home. He is leaving again in about 7 hours to head to Bend to meet with his uncle to look at some prospective land that we might be able to use for some of our courses. He will be home tomorrow evening, and then Sunday is Audrey's party! Monday after I get home from work in the morning we are all heading back to Bend and meeting with one of our friends and colleagues that will be taking over the books for us for our business. She is flying in from Indiana and going to go meet with our accountant with Josh. Tuesday we will head back home. Looks like we might be just buying a Christmas tree this year from a stand in Bend. We really look forward to going out and cutting one down with the kids, but we are rapidly running out of available time this year!

I got some exciting news yesterday :) We have been talking back and forth with a college up in Montana for awhile now about doing a 21 day course for them... well, we finally have started planning it, and it looks like it may be a go. Of course, it's not going to be for quite a while down the road, but they are wanting a female lead instructor and are very impressed that we have one that can teach the entire course. {smile} It's going to be a kick in the pants because it will be focused more on survival skills, outdoor living skills, and self-reflection and not just outdoor leadership. Let's hope that it actually pans out.....

Tomorrow is going to be spent trying to finish Audrey's cake, clean, work on business stuff and oh yeah, sleep sometime in there. Now, back to work... weekends are always a little more busy here:

Not to rush into it, but since I've been on the topic of cakes lately, let me steer you to this awesome blog I found... http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/ This is a great blog if you want a laugh. If you want to laugh really hard, start looking through a bunch of the past posts and makes sure you read some of the reader comments. This site makes me feel oh so much better about my cakes, and makes me remember some that would surely make it on here!

Today I will be finishing baking Audrey's cake and starting on the buttercream that goes underneath the fondant. I will post the recipe for my homeade fondant in the next couple days if anyone wants to brave it. I think it tastes a lot better than the store-bought stuff, and plus, what's better than making it yourself?



Since I am going home in about an hour, here's my list of stuff I think I will try and get done today:



1. Sleep until the kids let me (since it's my day off, that means probably 7)



2. Make the rest of Audrey's cake (with three little kids all pulling their stools up to the counter saying, can I stir it? can I taste it? and sticking their hands in the bowl.... yes, three.... I have Maddie for half the day today)



3. Make a huge (2 doz) batch of deviled eggs for tonight's Christmas party...mmm... won't the house smell good with a mixture of cake and boiled eggs? Honestly, I love deviled eggs, but the thought of them right now make me want to vomit... maybe it's because I just brushed my teeth {ugh} maybe I will save that for later in the day.



4. CLEAN the house/kitchen esp. (of course, in our house with the three kids, this is like shoveling the sidewalk before it stops snowing - what's the point??)



5. Shower at some point....... I could just not sleep and not have to fix my hair or change my clothes....hmm... that's something to consider :)



6. Oh, get gas on my way home (it's down to $2.14 a gallon here! - which means it's probably down to around $1.50 a gallon in the real world), see if the mini mart has eggs and mustard. It's either wait in town until the store opens to buy overpriced eggs and mustard or buy them at the gas station for twice that. Let's see......nope, i'm not waiting in John Day for an extra hour or so to save a couple bucks, sorry, not worth it this morning.



Maybe at some point I can take the kids out for a walk or bike ride (hopefully it will get above freezing today!) My body is in some serious need of exercise!!!

So, sorry to bore you, but I will leave it at that, and it's almost time for me to head home!!! Hope your Monday is grand! Josh is heading to Prineville today to meet with his uncle and the son-in-law of Les Schwab about using his ranch for some of our training. Cross your fingers. I hope he makes it back in time for the Christmas party too, I don't really want to show up without my date! I guess it will probably be worth it if he doesn't though, usually the longer it takes, the better the outcome with stuff like this.

Cheers!