It is officially “winter butter” time at our house. New loyal readers may asking what in the world is she talking about with that statement. We keep our house on the cool side in the winter and that is 65 degrees daytime and 60 for bed time hours. Those temperatures keep regular butter in a very firm state and also makes bread making a challenge. To have spreadable butter, we buy the non-real butter in the tubs to use during the cool times. The microwave is used for making “soft real butter” for baking during these times. The Instant Pot is the hot tip for bread dough prep. I use it for making sourdough bread year around. Yogurt can be made in the Instant Pot year around also. The Instant Pot gets a workout with soup making. I love the French onion soup that I make in it and I can saute the meat for chili and make the chili in only one pan and it’s fast!

We will need that spreadable butter for Thanksgiving Day rolls. I almost like the “leftovers” better than the original meal. The dark meat of the turkey is my thing and I could pick a turkey of its skin in record time if asked to do so. I pile all the leftovers on a crispy bread and warm it a bit in the microwave. A wonderful blending of the turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy and cranberries is created. I will have the pie for dessert by itself. Hopefully this can be repeated a number of times. (The pie usually runs out first). Loyal Readers, do your own thing and have a safe holiday in this so very unusual year of celebrating.

I have another installment in the red-yellow car story. The dead red Mustang was hanging out at the Ford garage and needed to have plans made for its removal. We asked around for ideas on what to do with it. Maybe we could get a junk yard to take it or we could donate it to a charity. We probably would have had to pay to get it to a junk yard but most donation sites said they would pick it up. I did a lot of research on charity donation and found that most of them are not really that honest in what they do with the money they make from the donations. The Kars4Kids is among the lowest rated places even though they advertise a lot and say they help so much.

During this searching time I get a call from neighbor Tony asking if we really did just want the car taken away and he had a DEAL for us. He had sold a parts washer to a person that came to Tony’s work place to pick it up and during a conversation he found out he was a master painter and his buddy was a A.S.E. Master Mechanic. Thinking maybe the mechanic guy might be interested in “fixing” the car, he asked if they would be interested in a dead red Mustang, free of charge; just tow it away. Great excitement took place as these guys were from Sick N Twisted Customs. This translates into hot road builders. My dead red Pet is going to come back to life as a HOT ROD. How hot/cool is that? In almost a wink of an eye, the transfer papers were done and the car rushed of to Rockford for a new life. I totally do not mind that we will not get a tax deduction if we had a charity take it. It has to be a car’s biggest dream to come back as a hot road and we were able to direct it to car heaven. Also exciting is that they will bring it back for us to see after the rebuild which may be early spring.

Christmas baking is going to be totally different also this year. How about a quick easy no-bake cookie recipe called No-Bake Cookie Butter Blossoms? In a large saucepan combine 1 cup Biscoff creamy cookie spread and ½ cup corn syrup. Cook on low heat and stir until blended. Remove from heat. Stir in 3 cups Rice Krispies until coated. Shape into tablespoon sized balls, place on waxed paper. Immediately press a chocolate kiss in the center of each. Let sit until set. End of Baking Story. P.S. I got the Biscoff spread at Walmart so most other places should also have it.