Hi, everyone!
The end of January wasn’t much busier than the beginning! I helped Grandma pack the Ground Hog Day cookies into mailing boxes. This year, we’re sending a big box to Uncle Bill’s former squadron and two smaller boxes to other Air Force Academy cadets. I made sure the cookies were lined up snugly in the boxes so they wouldn’t shift around and crumble! Grandma had other things to send to Uncle David and Great-Aunt Betsy anyway, so we made some sampler packages to go along. Then everything went back into the freezer until time to mail!
We still haven’t had very much snow! The television weather people say we’re about to break a low snow record that’s seventy years old! Two Sundays ago we got a little bit of snow. Grandma invited Uncle Steven’s family to come for homemade pizza dinner. I made sure everybody got their favorite toppings — even the gummy bears for James and Thomas! After dinner, Uncle David’s family Facetimed. We had a good time seeing each other!
The Wednesday after that, we got a little more snow! Grandma said it was a good day for baking! She always likes to have an AWACS cheesecake in the freezer, just in case somebody needs it. There was eggnog left over from making stollen frosting, so she wanted to use that up, too! First, I helped with the AWACS cheesecake. We needed to make a new batch of chocolate ganache. I was very careful to keep my paws clean while I stirred! I was careful, too, when I marbled the batter before the cheesecake went in the oven.
We started the eggnog cake while the cheesecake was in the oven. We had just enough eggnog left for the recipe! After Grandma greased the bundt pan, I put the almonds in the bottom. We had to wait until the cheesecake got out of the oven before we could finish mixing the eggnog cake. The cheesecake had cracks all over the top! I was afraid the eggnog cake might get cracked too, after it baked.
We had more snow while we were baking — just enough for our plow contractor to clear the driveway for the very first time this season! I was happy when the eggnog cake came out of the pan in one piece!
After the cheesecake chilled in the refrigerator overnight, I helped Grandma fix the cracks in the crust. We filled them with ganache! Then we spread the rest of the ganache over the entire top and put the almonds and coffee beans on top. It’s in the freezer now!
Last Monday, it was time to take the cookie boxes for the Air Force cadets to the post office. I helped Grandma put the address labels on. Grandma took the small hand cart with her to the post office, so we could get the boxes from the car to the mailing desk in one trip. The clerks were very friendly and made sure the boxes were coded to the proper addresses.
Grandma and Grandpa decided they needed a new mattress for their bed. Grandpa did a lot of research and decided to buy a bed in a box! Actually, it’s a bed in two boxes. I helped Grandpa open the box that contained the support for the new mattress. He built that right in the bedroom and replaced the old support. The new mattress will be bigger than the current one!
The box with the new mattress came yesterday. Grandma and Grandpa aren’t quite ready to put it on the support yet, so they opened it in the living room. The mattress came tightly rolled in plastic wrap! Once it was unwrapped, it opened itself up!
The inside wrapping was air-tight and kept the mattress compressed. When Grandpa made a hole in wrapping, the mattress started to expand. I got to be the first family member to sleep on it last night!
Today is February 1st, and we had sunshine this morning. I practiced looking for my shadow! The television weather people are saying that we will have very cold weather the end of this week, and maybe our first heavy snowfall.
Happy February!
Love,
Lion-san