Brazilian Caipirinha Recipe

My niece recently returned from several months in Brazil.
Last night she taught me to make this marvelous cocktail.
Wow!!!!!

Ingredients

• 3 limes
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 quarts ice
• 1 cup cachaca (Brazilian brandy made from sugar cane)

Instructions

Cut the limes in half, and then cut each half into 8 pieces. Place 12 pieces of lime in each of 4 double old-fashioned glasses (or other 12-ounce glasses.) Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of sugar into each glass. Using a muddler or the butt end of a large wooden spoon, mash the limes into the base of the glass. Try to dissolve the sugar as you do this, and stir occasionally. Fill each glass with 1 1/2 cups of ice and 1/4 cup of cachaca. Pour the contents of the glass into a shaker, and invert the glass into the shaker to act as a lid. Shake the glass and shaker to combine the sugar and cachaca for several seconds. Lift the glass from the shaker, and pour the contents back into the glass. Repeat the process with the remaining 3 glasses.

Yield: 4 caipirinhas

Chicken Salad Recipe

We're having a singing at church tonight. We're expecting about 500 people from all over the southeast. What fun it will be for our little country church! Here is the recipe for the chicken salad I'll be taking. We sing really well, but we eat better!

Provisions Market Chicken Salad

1 ¾ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, grilled

½ cup slivered almonds, toasted

3 green onions, sliced

3/8 cup green seedless grapes

3/8 cup red seedless grapes

6½ tablespoons mayonnaise

½ cup sour cream

3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon honey

Salt

Ground pepper

Cut chicken into ½” cubes. Place in a large bowl. Add almonds, onions, and grapes; toss.

In a separate bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, sour cream, honey, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour over chicken mixture.

Enjoy!
Ruth Ann
http://www.r2swanger.etsy.com
http://www.raggbaggs.blogspot.com

Loveland

The 2010 Loveland Valentine's Card Remailing Program

Each year, thousands of people bundle up all of their Valentine cards and send them to the Loveland post office, where they're stamped with a special poem and cancellation mark (this year's stamp is at left). This is the 64th year of the program!

If you want to get in on this neat event, send your bundle of cards and letters to Postmaster, Attention: Valentine's Postmark, 446 East 29th Street, Loveland, CO 80538-9998.

For cards within U.S. and outside of Colorado, your cards should be in Loveland by Feb. 9; for within the state of Colorado, your cards should be in Loveland by Feb. 12.

Show your Valentine how much you love her with a special piece of jewelry from
http://www.r2swanger.etsy.com

Have a great day!
Ruth Ann
http://www.r2swanger.etsy.com
http://www.raggbaggs.blogspot.com

Groundhog day

Thank you, Phil!

Yesterday Phil said there would be 6 more weeks of winter and I'm so greatful! Not that I like the cold weather, but I do love snuggling down in front of the fire instead of mowing the lawn!

I love spring and fall, but we only get about a week of each here. Not enough! If it were dry enough, we could mow today, but we keep hoping for another freeze.

Knitting socks and playing with beads in front of the fire really suits my life style.

Enjoy it while it lasts!
Ruth Ann
http://r2swanger.etsy.com
http://www.raggbaggs.blogspot.com

The Weather

HOW COLD IS IT?
An annotated thermometer (degrees Fahrenheit)

+50
* New York tenants turn on the heat
* Minnesotans plant gardens

+40
* Californians shiver uncontrollably
* Minnesotans sunbathe

+35
* Italian cars don't start

+32
* Distilled water freezes

+30
* You can see your breath
* You plan a vacation in Florida
* Politicians begin to worry about the homeless
* Minnesotans eat ice cream

+25
* Boston water freezes
* Californians weep pitiably
* Cat insists on sleeping on your bed with you

+20
* Cleveland water freezes
* San Franciscans start thinking favorably of LA
* Green Bay Packers fans put on T-shirts----Hell YEAH!!!

+15
* You plan a vacation in CANCUN!!!!!
* Minnesotans go swimming

+10
* Politicians begin to talk about the homeless
* Too cold to snow
* You need jumper cables to get the car going

0
* New York landlords turn on the heat

-5
* You can hear your breath
* You plan a vacation in Hawaii

-10
* American cars don't start
* Too cold to skate

-15
* You can cut your breath and use it to build an igloo
* Miamians cease to exist
* Minnesotans lick flagpoles

-20
* Cat insists on sleeping in your pajamas with you
* Politicians actually do something about the homeless
* People in LaCrosse think about taking down screens

-25
* Too cold to kiss
* You need jumper cables to get the driver going
* Japanese cars don't start
* Minnesota Twins head for spring training

-30
* You plan a two-week hot bath
* Bock beer production begins
* Minnesotans shovel snow off roof

-38
* Mercury freezes
* Too cold to think
* Minnesotans button top button

-40
* Californians disappear
* Car insists on sleeping in your bed with you
* Minnesotans put on sweaters

-50
* Congressional hot air freezes
* Alaskans close the bathroom window
* Green Bay Packers practice indoors

-60
* Walruses abandon Aleutians
* Minnesotans put gloves away, take out mittens
* Boy Scouts in Eau Claire start Klondike Derby

-70
* Minneapolis residents replace diving boards with hockey nets
* Ridgeway snowmobilers organize trans-river race to Buffalo, WI

-80
* Polar bears abandon Baffin Island
* Girl Scouts in Eau Claire start Klondike Derby

-90
* Lawyers chase ambulances for no more than 10 miles
* Wisconsinites migrate to Minnesota thinking it MUST be warmer

-100
* Santa Claus abandons North Pole
* Minnesotans pull down earflaps

-173
* Ethyl alcohol freezes
* The University of Minnesota (Twin Cities Campus) closes

-445
* Superconductivity

-452
* Helium becomes a liquid

-454
* Hell freezes over

-456
* Illinois drivers drop below 85 MPH on I-90

-458
* Incumbent politician renounces a campaign contribution

-460 (Absolute Zero)
* All atomic motion ceases
* Minnesotans allow as to how it's getting a mite nippy
* The University of Minnesota-Duluth is closed

Winter and Deer

Winter seems to have finally arrived here. We've had colder days, but today is our first snow. There was a beautiful deer just outside my office window early this morning. The crows have gone into hiding.

We have a pot of fiery hot chili simmering away on the stove and logs are ready to be put on the fire. Life is good!

Ruth Ann
http://www.r2swanger.etsy.com
http://www.raggbaggs.blogspot.com

Happy Lazy New Year

Good afternoon, all!

It's a beautiful, sunny day here! Ray is out chopping wood from our forest to provide for the cold weather to come. It's glorious to snuggle down in front of the fire with a cup of hot cider, a good man, a good dog, and a good book.

I've been diagnosed with severe anemia and I can't take iron in any form. While I was at it, my thyroid decided to die. I have to have help to walk to the bathroom, so I've decided to learn to do something new. I have a new kumihimo disk and an assortment of threads from Primitive Originals and am having a great time playing with them. I wish I could say that I made the cords below, but the photos are from Primitive Originals. I'll get there!
Happy New Year and Happy Beading to one and all!
Ruth Ann
http://www.r2swanger.etsy.com