Chilly Rain, Cooking, Baking

It was a foogy, rainy, chilly, blustery day 

and I loved it!!!

I went for a walk in the drizzle to explore my parents' new neighborhood, and before I got back home, it had turned to a steady rain.

I didn't mind!

Today I wore jeans and a great big fuzzy sweater (with sparkles!)

It felt like that sort of day.

sweater: Kensie
camisole: Target
jeans: Forever 21
socks: Target

Here's my walking uniform:

moccasins did not go outside!
they are from Minnetonka Moccasin
coat: Target, gift from Dad & Mom
hat: WalMart, gift from Juildeen and her Grandma, Elaine

I love my parents' new house!

It's a quiet enough neighborhood that I can take a picture right in the middle of the street!

This "park" was a little space of green grass.

I thought it was strange that it was called a "park,"

but in Arizona, parks don't always even have grass!

It started to rain and I need my borrowed umbrella

(with chocolates all over it!)

And it was getting quite dark, so the photos got a little blurry.

Can you see my silhouette?

Wet leaves in the street:

Such a pretty vignette!

Lightning and thunder:

By the time I got home, I was dampened and chilly, 

and it was time to make dinner!

We had decided that it was the right night for sweet potato stew.

My parents' kitchen is well-outfitted and there's a TV in the seating area so I was able to watch Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel while I was cooking.  Yay!

We had the stew over fluffy brown rice:

Yum!

This stew has peanut butter in it and it's meant to be served with peanut sprinkled on top.

It's the first time I've made this recipe.

It wasn't as flavorful as I had expected, but I think I will try it again with some adaptations.

Isn't it pretty?

Then I decided to make muffins!

Apple cinnamon muffins.

The house smelled wonderful!

It was the first time I tried this particular recipe, too.

The muffins were delicious, but crumbly.  The recipe said to not use muffin liners because the muffins would stick to the liners, but I think tin foil liners would be a great choice.

Next time that's what I will do!

And I definitely will make this recipe again.

During the quieter parts of the day, I started reading this book, another one by the author I mentioned in my previous post.  It's great so far.  And the front is gorgeous!

Mom slept a LOT, which is great!

Today is the second day after surgery, so it's a little rougher pain-wise,

but we're on top of the medication, so she's doing okay.

Hope you are cozy wherever you are!