Tag: summer heat

3D Christmas Cookies

On By Michel McDonaldIn ChristmasLeave a comment

3d-christmas-cookies 3d cookie cutter tree

Can you believe that it’s almost Christmas already?  I can’t because it seems like just yesterday I was sweating my Christmas ornaments off in the summer heat.

Even though I know I shouldn’t eat them because of how bad they are for you, I just love baking cookies.  I bought the 3D cookie cutters (left image) I want to say in 2005 or 2006 from Publishers Clearing House.  Yuk it up, I made 4 payments lol.  I wanted to make them with the cookie recipe the cookie cutters came with, but Darrin told me it was too much work and that I should just go ahead and buy a roll of sugar cookie dough already made from the grocery store, which I did and it was the biggest mistake because the dough rose too much and the pieces didn’t fit, so I had to shave it down where the pieces were supposed to slide together.  I also bought the powdered sugar and food coloring so I could decorate them in many different colors which was also a mistake because it looked like a pre-schooler decorated them.

This year I bought the 3D Tree cookie cutters (right image) from AVON.  I don’t know why but the set didn’t come with a cookie dough recipe, but I did buy Halloween cookie cutters which did, and I made them and they were very good so I will be using that for both sets this year.

Instead of decorating them with many colors, I will do them both just as they are in the image with white frosting made with the powdered sugar.  They have sprinkles in the holiday aisle at the grocery store with shapes which will add more color to the trees and the star and it will give eyes to the reindeer, angel and the snowman.

When I made the 3D cookie cutters, I gave them to family and I was very disappointed that they were still there a year later, and I believe the next year after that.  They said they didn’t eat them because they were too nice, but it’s insulting to give someone cookies that I worked hard on making just to see that they didn’t even eat them.  If you don’t want to eat it, then give it to a child, trust me, they will eat it lol.  If not, just throw it away.

But I digress…

I can’t wait to make these cookies again this year.  I was hoping to make the tree and decorate it with rainbow colors for the PFLAG Christmas potluck, but I wasn’t sure how I would do that.  Well, I think I might know how, instead of doing all the layers white, I could paint them in rainbow colors.  There are enough that I could paint 3 stars in red, 3 stars in orange… etc.  Who knows, I still have awhile, but whatever I do I will definitely post pictures when it happens.

So yay!  Christmas cookie time lol.

Hot Ride

On By Michel McDonaldIn CyclingLeave a comment

Today it was 100 degrees.  Yes, in April it was that hot.  Normally the summer heat begins on May 1st but apparently it was early.  The 5 day forecast says that it’s going to be in the 80’s – 90’s so hopefully it won’t be too bad.

But since it was 100 degrees today it was a test for me to see if I could take it or not.  Apparently I passed because it wasn’t really that bad.  However, there was cool wind so it wasn’t a fair test.  Normally when it’s hot outside the wind is hot so I’m not sure how good of a test it was.

I will find out in either May or June how bad it’s going to be.  But no matter what temperature it is going to be I’m going to tough it out because I really want to lose this weight.

I’m thinking about adding ice packs to the inside of the CamelBak so that it will keep me cool on my back at least.  That will keep me cool and so I won’t die of heat exhaustion and it will keep the water cold in the process.  Luckily there are a lot of shady areas that I can rest in along the bike path in the parks and rest stop at Manor Street.

I just gotta remember to keep sunblock in stock and in my frame bag.  Oh and I’m going to have to reinstall the water cage on the frame to carry an extra bottle of water because today I had to refill my CamelBak with water from a drinking fountain and it tasted like a freakin garden hose.  YUCK!  No thank you, I’d much rather have clean and filtered water.

It’s Too Cold

On By Michel McDonaldIn CyclingLeave a comment

I’m waiting for the heat to kick in lol.  I just went to my bike to the cyclo-computer to find out the temp outside and it says 49.5 degrees.  Hell to the no.  No freakin way am I going out bike riding when it’s this cold.  But I’m dying to get it over with lol.

Why is it either too hot or it’s too cold?  It’s never in between!  The only time of the year that it’s in between is 1 month before the summer heat which usually starts in May and 2 weeks after the heat is over in the end of September to the beginning of October.

Now, keep in mind that I love the cold.  I can’t wait for the cold every year but when it gets this cold and I have a purpose for being outside then I’m not so sure about it anymore lol.  I do know one thing is for sure, I’m gonna need some bike gloves.  I didn’t get them because they were a little much and I have bills to pay but now I think they are really important for my ride.  Especially when it becomes really cold and it hurts to hold the rubber grips on the handlebars.

Normally when I go bike riding I wear a regular t-shirt and a pair of shorts.  I don’t wear pants or a jacket because it gets too hot for that.  Even when it’s cold outside I still sweat in them.  And the ride is so long that my head is usually soaking wet.  Which is also not good when it’s this cold outside because it could cause me to catch a very bad cold.  I’m going to have to wait until it’s at least in the 60’s outside.  That’s what the temp usually has been the last few weeks that I’ve been riding and that’s ok.  And perhaps if I have to wait until noon for the temp to be up that high then so be it.  I just don’t want to miss out on riding because it’s too cold.