There is something so peaceful about waking up on a snowy morning.

Don't get me wrong. I have been longing for blue skies and sunny weather as much as anyone. Probably more than many. I spent last summer in Virginia, which basically equates to no summer.

Virginia summer = boiled people
Utah summer = baked people

What is a summer without being baked? Not really a summer at all.

But it doesn't matter what time of year it is, what the weather has been like, or what the weather is expected to be. You will never find me unhappy to wake up to find the clouds low and grey and the trees frosted in white.

Snowy mornings resonate with something deep inside, something I forget until I wake up to a quiet world covered in snow and find it there inside of me. It is the very me-est part of me.

It is easy to get a little off balance with this crazy life pushing and tugging and swirling me around in whirlwind of fabulousness.

All I need is a snowy morning.

It brings me back to me.

How To Change Your Life Forever

Raspberry Bread Pudding

• 1 1/2 loaves white bread, aged

Tear bread into 1 1/2 inch chunks. Set aside in large bowl.

• 1 quart half & half
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla

In a medium bowl, whisk together the half & half, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Continue stirring until sugar is dissolved.

Pour half & half mixture over bread. Stir gently to coat all bread chunks. Let stand for half an hour stirring every 5 minutes.

• 5 cups raspberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup apple juice

In a medium mixing bowl (I rinse out and use the same bowl from the last conglomeration), gently stir together the raspberries, sugar, and apple juice until the sugar is dissolved.

Fill a 9x13 baking dish half full with the bread mixture. Spread the raspberry deliciousness over the bread. Top with the rest of the bread mixture.

Bake 40 minutes in a 375° oven.

Vanilla Cream Sauce

• 1 1/3 cups butter
• 5 tbsp flour

Melt butter in medium saucepan. Stir in flour. Cook over low heat until it starts to smell a little nutty. Do not cook long enough for butter to brown.

• ½ salt
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 2/3 cups sugar

Add salt, cream, and sugar. Stir continually until mixture thickens to a nice saucy thickness. (This is personal preference. Some people like their sauce thin and runny. I like my sauce thick enough that it stays where I put it.) Remove sauce from heat.

• 2 tsp vanilla

Stir in vanilla.

Books 3-5

2 – 5/200 OR 1/40 complete

Is there anything better than a biscuit?

Nope. Definitely not.

Which is why I will be doing this in the coming weeks.

This is gonna be good.