COFFEE BREAK B8 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD TuESDAY, DECEmBER 14, 2021 Wife’s outdoor activities exclude disabled husband home alone five days a week, and sometimes the entire weekend. His mother thinks I’m a terrible person for doing this, but I can’t just sit home with him after I get home from work because he falls asleep watching TV. We both know this will be the situation for the rest of our lives. This self-care is very important to my physical and mental well-being, as the finan- cial stress is also overwhelming. How do I continue to live an active life and still be the wife he needs? — SAD FATE IN PENNSYLVANIA DEAR SAD FATE: If the sit- uation were reversed, is this the way you would like your hus- DEAR ABBY: My husband is in his 40s and permanently dis- abled from injuries received in a recent automobile accident. He is in pain, on pain medicine 24 hours a day and basically sleeps his days away. His pain and immobility make intimacy impossible. He doesn’t object when I go out with friends or participate in activities he is unable to do, like hiking, biking or kayaking, yet I feel guilty for leaving him 3 inches apart. Scrape down the size of the bowl occasionally to ensure even distribution of the chocolate chips and nuts. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges begin to turn golden brown. To ensure even baking, toward the end of the baking time rotate the pans from top to bottom and from front to back. Do not overbake. 7. Cool cookies on baking sheets for 2 minutes. When they are firm enough to handle, transfer to cooling racks. Per serving: 204 calories; 13g fat; 4g saturated fat; 17mg cholesterol; 3g protein; 21g carbohydrate; 7g sugar; 1g fiber; 50mg sodium; 17mg calcium — Recipe from “Great Cookies” by Carole Walter COOKIES Continued from Page B2 chocolate, cut into ¼- to ½-inch pieces 1½ cups coarsely chopped macadamia nuts 1. Position the shelves in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 2. Place the brown sugar, oats and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process 2½ to 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to pulse. The oats must be finely ground. 3. In a medium bowl, sift togeth- er the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. 4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the butter and corn syrup together on medium-low speed, mixing until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the oats-sug- ar mixture in 3 additions and beat for 2 minutes. Add the egg and va- nilla and beat for 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl as needed. 5. Reduce the mixer speed to low, add the dry ingredients one-half at a time, and mix just until blended. Using a large rubber spatula, fold in the white chocolate pieces and macadamia nuts. 6. Drop 1½-inch mounds of dough (about the size of a large walnut) onto cookie sheets, about band to treat you? This is an honest discussion you should be having with him. I will be frank. Leaving a disabled spouse five days (nights?) a week or for an entire weekend on a regular basis seems excessive. You promised to love, honor and cherish this man in sickness and in health. Would it be pos- sible to include him on an occa- sional outing — if he can handle it — so he can have some fresh air and a change of scenery? If you must go out to preserve your sanity, it would be compassionate to arrange for someone to stay with him so he’s not alone in case there is some kind of emergency. DEAR ABBY: I’m a woman Rice Krispies cereal 9 ounces milk chocolate 3. Return the heat to medi- um-high and bring to a hard boil. Cook to 242 degrees. Pour into a container. Do not stir at this point. Allow to cool to room temperature. Set aside for at least one day. 4. Make the hazelnut crunch: Line a 9-by-13-inch pan with parchment paper. Spray the paper and sides of the pan with a non- stick spray. Set aside. 5. Add the cooled, toasted hazel- nuts to the bowl of a processor and process until fairly finely ground. Do not overprocess or you will make a paste. Remove to a large bowl and add the Rice Krispies cereal. Mix well and set aside. 6. Spray the back of a large spoon with nonstick spray, and set aside. 7. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave at half power. Pour it over the hazelnut/cereal mix and quickly mix all of it together with a large spoon or a gloved hand. Pour into the prepared pan and immediately smooth it with the back of the sprayed spoon or a gloved hand. If it sets up too quickly, place it in the oven on the lowest setting for a few minutes to loosen. 8. Add the caramel: Microwave the caramel or heat over a double boiler until spreadable. Do not stir any more than necessary. Pour it over the hazelnut crunch layer and spread evenly. Set aside. 9. Make the marshmallow: For the marshmallow 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin ¼ cup cold water 3 large egg whites 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup granulated sugar, divided ½ cup water 2 tablespoons corn syrup For the dark satin ganache ½ cup heavy cream ¼ cup light corn syrup 5 tablespoons unsalted butter 10 ounces semisweet chocolate broken into small pieces Note: The caramel must be made at least one day and up to a week before making the bars. 1. Make the caramel: Place the water, sugar and corn syrup in a 2-quart saucepan. Stir over medium-high heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Bring to a boil, and wash down the sides of the pan with a natural bristle pastry brush dipped in water. Boil without stirring until the mixture becomes a medium golden color. 2. Take it off the heat and immediately add the butter; stir until it is melted. Pour in the cream all at once and stir. Don’t worry if some of the cream forms lumps. If possible, clip a candy or frying ther- mometer onto the side of the pan. HAZELNUT CRUNCH BARS Yield: 24 bars For caramel (see note) 1 cup water 1¼ cups granulated sugar ½ cup corn syrup 4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter 1 cup heavy cream 2 teaspoons vanilla extract For the hazelnut crunch ½ cup hazelnuts, toasted (60 grams, 2 ounces) 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons weather | Go to AccuWeather.com Astoria Longview 37/43 Kennewick 36/43 St. Helens 37/41 Baker City 10 27 22 Comfort Index™ La Grande THU 29/39 32 17 0 1 Condon 29/39 37/42 14 30 29 Comfort Index™ Enterprise 1 8 Comfort Index™ SAT A bit of ice in the a.m. 30 20 30 15 Eugene 35/43 1 0 39 24 33 25 34 28 2 1 0 0 36 15 33 18 38 29 0 1 3 0 0 TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin NATION (for the 48 contiguous states) High Sunday Low Sunday High: 88° Low: -15° Wettest: 2.47” 47° 25° 44° 31° 40° 34° Trace 0.08 0.34 5.09 8.55 0.10 0.32 0.80 10.30 16.32 0.64 2.02 1.57 24.06 23.75 PRECIPITATION (inches) Sunday Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Normal year to date AGRICULTURAL INFO. HAY INFORMATION WEDNESDAY Lowest relative humidity Afternoon wind Hours of sunshine Evapotranspiration 55% SSE at 10 to 20 mph 0.6 0.03 RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Monday) Phillips Reservoir Unity Reservoir Owyhee Reservoir McKay Reservoir Wallowa Lake Thief Valley Reservoir 38/47 0% of capacity 18% of capacity 15% of capacity 13% of capacity 12% of capacity 11% of capacity STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Sunday) Grande Ronde at Troy 1170 cfs Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder 0 cfs Burnt River near Unity 14 cfs Umatilla River near Gibbon 219 cfs Minam River at Minam 153 cfs Powder River near Richland 16 cfs Brookings TUE. Sunrise Sunset Moonrise Moonset 7:24 a.m. 4:10 p.m. 1:50 p.m. 2:58 a.m. WED. 7:25 a.m. 4:10 p.m. 2:12 p.m. 4:02 a.m. MOON PHASES Full Last New First Dec 18 recliners Dec 26 and Jan Jan 9 Mayfair offi 2 ce chairs Silver Lake Jordan Valley 14/30 Frenchglen Paisley 15/33 14/33 Klamath Falls 13/32 Hi/Lo/W 43/38/sh 39/32/c 35/28/pc 47/40/r 30/21/sn 46/44/r 43/38/c 27/25/sn 31/29/sn 43/39/r 43/32/c 39/34/sn 34/28/c 36/36/sn 27/23/sn 43/33/c 32/24/sn 30/21/sn Hi/Lo/W 47/37/pc 41/24/c 38/24/sn 50/36/sh 36/15/sn 52/37/c 48/33/c 35/18/sn 39/27/sn 49/37/c 44/30/sn 44/36/sh 39/22/sn 39/31/sn 34/14/sn 43/27/c 37/17/sf 36/11/sn ENDS JANUARY 17! 21/40 McDermitt 7/29 RECREATION FORECAST WEDNESDAY City Lewiston Longview Meacham Medford Newport Olympia Ontario Pasco Pendleton Portland Powers Redmond Roseburg Salem Spokane The Dalles Ukiah Walla Walla WED. THU. Hi/Lo/W 33/30/c 43/38/sn 32/29/sn 38/35/r 46/41/sh 41/35/sn 38/32/c 41/31/c 40/32/sf 42/41/sn 47/42/r 40/28/c 44/38/r 46/42/r 32/26/c 39/33/sn 33/29/sn 40/31/c Hi/Lo/W 38/28/sn 46/34/pc 38/24/sn 40/31/c 49/38/sh 42/34/pc 41/22/c 41/26/c 41/32/sn 46/38/c 47/36/sh 44/24/c 47/36/sh 50/38/sh 32/18/sn 44/35/sn 38/20/sn 39/29/sn Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice OFFER Grand View Arock 15/32 Lakeview 8/30 REGIONAL CITIES City Astoria Bend Boise Brookings Burns Coos Bay Corvallis Council Elgin Eugene Hermiston Hood River Imnaha John Day Joseph Kennewick Klamath Falls Lakeview Diamond 15/32 14/32 Shown is Wednesday’s weather. Temperatures are Tuesday night’s lows and Wednesday’s highs. THU. Boise 20/35 Fields 29/38 WED. Juntura 20/35 11/33 15/31 Medford 37/47 Ontario 22/38 9/30 33/41 Ontario Crater Lake Eugene SUN & MOON 34/44 Chiloquin OREGON Snowfall on Dec. 14, 1967, set records in Heber Ranger Station, Ariz., for greatest 24-hour snowfall in state’s history (38 inches) and single-storm total (67 inches). Brothers Beaver Marsh Grants Pass Huntington 19/34 Burns 19/35 12/32 Roseburg 12/27 11/29 23/39 Oakridge 38/46 WEATHER HISTORY 17/36 Seneca 29/43 Coos Bay Plant City, Fla. Crested Butte, Colo. Blue Canyon, Calif. High: 54° Low: 23° Wettest: 1.30” 21/40 Council 10/27 John Day Bend Powers 11/28 8/25 21/43 Elkton SUNDAY EXTREMES ALMANAC Sisters Florence 39/49 Halfway Granite Baker City Redmond 37/46 Comfort Index takes into account how the weather will feel based on a combination of factors. A rating of 10 feels very comfortable while a rating of 0 feels very uncomfortable. Monument 18/38 34/43 Newport Enterprise 8/30 14/30 31/44 37/46 Corvallis 36/45 30 23 12/31 La Grande 24/40 25/41 Idanha Salem FRI 0 Elgin Pendleton The Dalles Portland Newberg Cloudy and chilly A little A bit of morning afternoon snow snow 26/40 23/40 36/44 Lewiston 23/33 Hood River Maupin WED Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021 Walla Walla 30/43 Vancouver 35/41 TIllamook Partly cloudy and colder Cool completely. 15. Make the ganache: Heat the cream, corn syrup and butter in a small saucepan until steaming hot but not boiling. Submerge the chocolate in the hot cream and let sit for a few minutes. Gently whisk until smooth; do not whisk too enthusiastically or you will have air bubbles in the ganache. Pour the ganache over the marshmallow and smooth it out. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight 16. To serve: Loosen the edges with a small flexible spatula and turn out onto a cake board. Turn right side up and cut 6 rows across and 4 rows down with a hot knife. The knife must be dipped into very hot water and quickly dried with a paper towel between each cut. Let the knife melt through the ga- nache, which will be cold and firm, and then cut straight down. 17. To store, keep in a closed container at a cool room tempera- ture for a day or two. For longer storage, refrigerate. Per serving: 314 calories; 15g fat; 9g saturated fat; 22mg cholesterol; 3g protein; 44g carbohydrate; 41g sugar; 1g fiber; 36mg sodium; 32mg calcium — Recipe from “Craving Cook- ies” by Helen S. Fletcher Sprinkle the gelatin over the ¼ cup cold water. Stir to moisten all of it; set aside. 10. Place the egg whites and vanilla in the bowl of a mixer. Using the whisk attachment, beat to soft peaks on medium speed. Slowly add ¼ cup of the sugar and beat to stiff peaks. 11. As soon as you begin beating the egg whites, combine the ½ cup of water, the remaining ¾ cup of sugar and the corn syrup in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, washing down the sides of the pan with a brush dipped in cold water. Boil to a temperature of 240 degrees. 12. If the egg whites are stiff before the sugar syrup comes to temperature, lower the speed of the mixer as low as possible and keep mixing the whites. Do not turn off the mixer. 13. As soon as the sugar syrup comes to temperature, slowly pour it into the mixer bowl. Try to pour the syrup between the bowl and the whisk so it goes directly into the whisk or bowl. Liquefy the gelatin in the microwave for a few seconds and pour it over the egg white mixture. Beat until cool and stiff. 14. If the caramel has hardened, heat the top of the caramel layer with a blow dryer so the marsh- mallow can adhere to it. Immedi- ately pour the marshmallow over the caramel and smooth it out. AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION 36/46 TONIGHT got cold feet, and I’m not sure what to do. I love her. I want to make this work between us, but I feel unwanted and unloved. What should I do? — STARTING TO LOSE FAITH DEAR STARTING: What you should do is recognize that you and this young woman are in very different places in your lives. You are ready for a serious commitment to someone. She’s a college student who isn’t yet out of her teens. If she needs time to herself so she can figure out whether she is ready for the kind of relationship you have in mind, give it to her. Do not force it. If that means postponing your visit, so be it. of 28. I have started falling in love with a girl I met recently. We talked for a while, expressed feel- ings for each other and decided to start dating. She lives in Minne- sota and I’m in Texas. She’s also in college. I think she’s 18 or 19. I know our age span is a little wide, but we didn’t care about that. Things were going OK, but recently she’s gone quiet and hasn’t been talking to me as often. She said she just needs some time to herself and that she’s having some second thoughts about all of this. I talked with her about it, and she told me she still loves me and wants me to come visit her, which I’m plan- ning to do soon. It feels like she’s ANTHONY LAKES PHILLIPS LAKE A bit of p.m. snow Afternoon snow 14 14 27 21 MT. EMILY REC. BROWNLEE RES. A little p.m. snow A little p.m. snow 23 21 31 24 EAGLE CAP WILD. EMIGRANT ST. PARK Snow, up to 1” A little p.m. snow 15 15 29 26 WALLOWA LAKE MCKAY RESERVOIR A little p.m. snow Afternoon fl urries 27 23 39 34 THIEF VALLEY RES. RED BRIDGE ST. PARK A little p.m. snow A little p.m. snow 27 22 30 29 GIVE AND RECEIVE. Donate $50 or more to charity and get hundreds off.* Mayfair recliners ® and offi ce chairs Help others, then help yourself to $ 200 off Stressless recliners. See stores for details • Free Delivery • InStore Credit • 70 Store Buying Power • Decorating Assistance Stressless ® Mayfair shown in Paloma Vanilla HOURS: MON-FRI 9:30 AM - 6:30 PM SAT 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM SUN 12 NOON - 4 PM 541-963-4144 888-449-2704 1520 ADAMS AVENUE LA GRANDE OREGON 97850