Whew! The holidays are over and inventory is finally done, freeing me up to blog again! The uncertainty of the past few months has cleared somewhat with the knowledge that there is a buyer for the mall in which our 2nd store is located. They are hopefully going to make some nice improvements. This should help if we choose to remain in the mall. This December was the worst in our history. Unexpectedly so, considering that we've been creeping back up (albeit in very tiny increments) over the last several years since the recession first hit. I think I attribute this to too much big box shopping, since they are all claiming record sales! Small business Saturday did not have a good showing here, but I am encouraged by the trending mind-set. This kind of promotion may yet pay off in the long run.
At home, (where I have not been spending much time yet) all our holiday decorations remain. We vowed to keep the tree up until our new babies come home for good. Yes, we're adopting! Bunnies, that is. A bonded pair. Lot's of preparation going on. We've cleared out a major section of our family room downstairs where it stays consistently cool all year. Now I'm hard at work creating a bunny condo with the grid panels that we used to use in the kid's rooms for storing all their toys! I'll post more about that later, with some photos. We go down Sunday to meet and get matched with our rabbits. They are currently residing at a House Rabbit Society bunny rescue. http://www.coloradohrs.com/
Once we get all our bunny prep done, I'll have some time to get back to my pine needles. Cal informs me that he's had customers complaining that I don't have enough miniatures in my inventory! I sell my baskets at the original Mad Moose since there is better foot traffic there, and at the moment, I really don't have enough inventory to split up. Here's a miniature I made several years ago. With any luck, I'll have some photos of new ones to post soon.
I've been dealing with an abundance of winter squash lately, donated from a friend who found herself with more than she could use. Baked up a bunch and when I got a little tired of the old butter and s&p routine, I made this awesome soup.
I googled several recipes to which I did not have all the ingredients, and decided to wing it. I sauteed some chopped onion in butter, and then I dumped the cooked squash into the food processor and processed in batches with the onion, evaporated milk, chicken broth, salt, pepper, and a little nutmeg. Heated, with some additional salt, it all added up to big ol' yummmmmm! And probably much lower in fat and calories than all the recipes calling for 8 oz of cream cheese! Yikes! Sorry I can't give exact quantities. I just threw some stuff in and hoped for the best. I'll definitely make this again... who knows if it will turn out the same.
Until next time…
