Pomegranate season

Well, the goings on since thanksgiving:

We had thanksgiving # 2 at the school on friday. It was a community-wide potluck, or "feed"as they call it around here. Dave roasted a turkey and made mashed potatoes and gravy and everyone else brought something to share. It was a nice event, and Julia was happy to have another turkey leg to gnaw on.

We had a couple days of rain, which turned all the snow into 6 inches of slush. That was kind of gross, but it did crazy things to the ice on the river. It wasn't yet formed all the way across, and somehow the thick slabs of ice that were there got shoved up on the shore. so now the river is back to small ice flows floating down. Today it's a little below 0, so maybe it will freeze up quicker. Lots of people wait impatiently for the freeze. Several families and individuals live across the river, and principal Susan's husband Doug is upriver at his lodge, waiting for the ice to freeze so he can come back on his snowmobile.

this used to be walkable shore

We've got some fresh snow too, which is really good as the roads were solid sheets of ice. Now there's some traction. This weekend Dave and Julia and I went and cut ourselves a little christmas tree. Since we got married, we've lived in tiny little apartments, so we have to have tiny little trees. In some fit of madness, I didn't pack any christmas ornaments, so I'm making the decorations this year. I'll post more photos of the tree as I get it a little more decorated.

I found a recipe for White Chocolate Pomegranate Cookies on the blog Two Peas and Their Pod
I've never before seen a baking recipe that involves pomegranate seeds (or arils, is what they are really called. ) and I love an unusual recipe...
here you go:
1/2 cup butter, room temp
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup white chocolate chips or chunks
1 cup pomegranate arils
Cream the butter and sugars until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Seperately stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Combine the flour mixture and the sugar mixture. Stir in the oats and chocolate. either gently stir in the pomegranate or roll tablespoon sized balls and gently press about 10 arils in to each cookie. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes, until edges are brown and centers look barely done.
Next I'll be trying them with regular chocolate instead of white chocolate. And maybe some cocoa in the cookie too.

Over at the school, the kids are all in excitement because the salmon eggs have arrived! they are now resting happily in the fish tank and are due to hatch any day. You can see the little salmon eye and tail sliding around inside each pink egg.

and I am typing away here on my brand spankin new Macbook Pro laptop! sweet technology!