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A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

winter weather

The winter isn’t so bad after all

January 8, 2013

The winter isn’t so bad … for a short while.

Last year, my area was odd in the winter.

No snow. Warmer temps. And, well, the ability to head out and do non-winter things during the winter months.

For those who dislike the harsher winter weather, it was a slice of perfection. Well, kind of.

Though this year started out that way, winter has shown its face. And it’s been a bit ugly. In the week between Christmas and New Year’s, I used the snow blower three times — that’s two more times than last year. That one time last year probably didn’t even need to be done, but we got a wet snow and the plows pushed it all in the driveway. It was much easier to snow blow than shovel.

For those who don’t know, I recently interviewed for a job in the south. Despite high qualifications and, what I thought, was a pretty solid interview, I didn’t make it to the final round. Some day I’ll truly share that experiences, but for now, I’ll leave it be. Anyway, when I get deep into the job process, I’ll often research the place where the job is located.

After all, you want to know what you’ll be dealing with, right?

The place where I was looking had some long and hot summers. I can deal with weather as it comes, but it made me realize there would be a chance I wouldn’t experience four full seasons. It’s one thing I think some take for granted when we live in the Northeast. We get a healthy spring, a variety in the summer, usually a colorful fall and then winter.

Winter can truly be beautiful … at least for a little while.

We see it all.

During those seasons, we have the ability to go see different things — wildlife, nature and the such — that goes with each season. And, it also allows us to do many things. For those who are into it, there’s four-wheelin’ and snowmobiling. You can hike in different weather.

For me, I can play softball in the summer, disc golf in most seasons, geocache all year and get out and experience different things. A couple of years ago, I even had the chance to do some snow shoeing. I’d actually like to do that again, someday, but need to be able to get shoes that feel comfortable and work on my feet better than the ones I used.

As a photographer, it’s great, too.

Winter is actually, to me, the hardest season to shoot in. With bright white snow or whatever else, it can make it tough. But some of the images you can come away with are incredible.

Also, it’s quite nice to drive on some back roads after a fresh snow and see it sticking to tress. It’s a beautiful thing.

This area is expecting some warmer temps this weekend, so some of the snow we have might be looking to disappear. And, for all I know, most of the winter might be leaving. But no matter what, we got a bit of it this year and it’s not a bad thing.

Turns out, winter isn’t so bad after all.

I don’t know where life will eventually lead me, but I do know that no matter what, I’ll cherish some of these winters. The path I end up following might still take me to a warmer climate, so I might not always get the four seasons. Don’t get me wrong — the long winters are tough. But a decent winter isn’t too bad as it truly gives you a highly enjoyable slice of life.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Filed Under: My world, Photography Tagged With: brrrr, cold, experiencing winter, fall, four seasons, hiking, ice, northeast, seasons, snow, spring, summer, weather, winter, winter weather

6 Comments

Warming up on a snowy night with some real hot chocolate

December 27, 2012

Hot chocolate, anyone?

With snow in our local forecast for Wednesday night into Thursday, I knew it would be a night of not doing much outside of catching up on some television and maybe some blog posts.

I don’t know what made me think of it — maybe the first significant snowfall we’ve seen in two years — but I got the urge for some hot chocolate. I’ve never been a coffee drinker (I know, odd for somebody who worked in newspapers), so my “cold weather” drinks of choice have always been hot chocolate or tea.

Getting the necessary ingredients.

One thing I miss about not living in a place bigger than my current town is the ability to run to the local Dunkin’ Donuts to grab a hot chocolate. I may not always look to go to those places for the unhealthy (but yummy) food, but I love the hot chocolate. I would rather a sugar free version, but sometimes you have to splurge.

I wasn’t about to brave heading out for a 20-mile ride over curvy and hilly roads for hot chocolate from Dunkin’ Donuts, however. That meant I was looking at the sugar free Swiss Miss I have handy. But I wanted a bit more.

Google saved me.

I did a search for a single-serving of hot chocolate to see what I could come up with. Most of the recipes I saw were quite easy, so I needed to dig around to see what was available to use. It turns out I needed a few things, so off I went to the local grocery store. As I was sweeping off the car, I figured we were just shy of two inches of snow and it was still coming down.

Looks like a little snow this year.

The forecast is calling for anywhere from 4 to 12 inches, depending on the area and the source — the National Weather Service, The Weather Channel or the local television news. Turns out we got about 6 or so inches. At least that’s what it seemed like when snow blowing this stuff.

I intend, at some point in the future when I’m a little more on my feet and back working and such, to do some “foodie” things with this blog. Believe me, it won’t be a food blog by any means — but it will be more along the lines of things I’m eating and such. But that’s in the future.

This post is something along those lines as I want to share this hot chocolate experience and my thoughts.

I ended up buying the Hershey’s cocoa because it was only 40 cents more expensive than the store brand. It also had a similar recipe on the container to the one I had found online.

Score!

When I got home, I opted to use the recipe on the Hershey’s container, with some slight tweaks.

Here’s the recipe:

  • 2 Tbsp. sugar
  • 2 Tbsp. cocoa
  • A dash of salt
  • 1 cup of milk
  • 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix the sugar, cocoa and salt in a mug. They say to microwave the milk on high for 1-1 1/2 minutes or until hot. However, I did it the old fashioned way — on the stove. Then slowly add the hot milk into the mug and stir well. Stir in the vanilla extract.

The finished product.

I used Equal instead of sugar and it was fine. I also probably had 9 ounces of milk, rather than the cup (8 ounces) it called for.

It wasn’t a bad recipe. I think it could actually be good, pending some tweaks. Tasting it, I thought it was extremely chocolatey.  I liken it to a hot chocolate I got at Starbucks a few years ago. It had an extremely strong chocolate taste, almost making it a big stronger than needed.

I will be trying this again soon. The tweaks I will make include:

  • Likely 1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp. of cocoa
  • Likely a cup and a half or so of milk — I want to fill the mug

In the end, it was pretty successful. Using the Equal helped me cut down on the sugar, which I’m always looking to do. I think if it has a slightly lighter taste, it will be a definite keeper.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Filed Under: My world Tagged With: chocolate, drinks, hot chocolate, hot chocolate recipe, hot coco, hot cocoa, recipe, snow, snowy, warm drinks, winter, winter drinks, winter weather

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For those who like to be outside … give a read!

Michelle Marine@SimpLiveLove

Tick season is coming!! If you are bitten by a tick, here's how to remove the tick properly & clean the bite; where to send the tick for testing; signs of tick borne illness; and how to find a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor if you get sick!
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New blog post: Photo Blogging Challenge (April 2022): Enjoy life #photoblogchal #photography https://hoohaa.com/?p=15638

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When these boxes come, there usually some excitement. But this one ... is the ultimate unboxing! 

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I hate being in front of the camera, but also realize sometimes it's not the worst thing in the world. So, I'm getting better with it. Week 4's theme was all about us and having us in front of the camera, so I tried to come up with a creative way to do it. 

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The theme for Week 3 of the 52-week video challenge was "Show your process of making something." Alas, I didn't get the time to do what I wanted to do, so I attacked something I filmed over the summer that I kept putting off. 

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