Limbo

We liked the new UU church we tried yesterday--the flow of the service, the adult and children RE programs, the social and social justice activities, the reading of the ministers (neither preached as it was a music service).  Still, thinking of leaving our current church is painful.  We know it's not meeting our spiritual or educational needs  anymore, but we still value and enjoy the people.  It reminds me of divorce, stories I've read about wanting to separate from your spouse but not his or her family.  I don't want to attend our current church anymore, but I'm not ready to not see the people every week. It feels like a betrayal or something.  Definitely a loss.  And while the new possibility is alluring, I know it too will present all the challenges of a typical church family.  I'm just hoping the positives outweigh the negatives.  So, we're in limbo for awhile.  We want to go to the new church a few more times, especially to hear the minister preach.  But in truth, the decision is made.

Advent Activity: The Weekend

The weekend was full of activities, Christmas related and not.  On Saturday, as I posted here, I worked on Christmas cards.  But I didn't mention what Mama and the kids were up to:  they were doing Christmas in the city with Ma, Gong, and Goo, the annual pilgrimage to the Rockefeller Tree, Teuscher chocolates, FAO Schwartz, the creche at St. Patrick's Cathedral, the windows at Saks, and everything else that makes the city wonderful this time of year.  Then they went for Korean barbecue in Flushing and home to their grandparents to play and decorate their live tree.  They got home late, but I was not here.  I went to our playgroup's holiday Christmas party (formerly the cookie swap, and it will be a swap again next year!) which also doubled as a surprise 40th birthday party for one of our number.  We ate, talked, ate, laughed, ate, shared, and then ate some more!  Yummy Mexican dips, stuffed mushrooms, iced sugar cookies, birthday cake, Christmas punch (pineapple, cranberry, gingerale maybe, sherbet, and some almond extract), and, my favorite, Mommy Goose's spinach bites (I thought I had the recipe--I don't--but she said she'd give it to me).  I managed to stay for almost three hours, mostly on the couch, enjoying talking to all my friends, or even just listening.

Sunday's Advent Activity was actually completely unexpected:  a new train set!  Gommie and Pop sent us a battery-operated (perfect for the cats with no wires), holiday train set to go under the tree.  The kids were thrilled as Mama set it up and got it started!)  It fits perfectly under the tree and is fun and festive.  The kids enjoy watching it go around in circles, especially if the cat is standing there getting agitated.  The only downside is that it sings!  Oh, the music.  Bud loves the music and wants it on all the time.   Mama is going to find the speaker and cover it, at least to dampen the sound.  Still, it's fun.  Thanks, Gommie and Pop!  It was a great surprise and addition to the season.

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Mommy Goose's Spinach Bites

2 10-oz. packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed

4 eggs

1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 c. Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing mix

1/2 t. garlic powder

1/2 t. dried thyme

1/4 t. black pepper

10 T melted butter (1 stick + 2 T)

Squeeze water out of spinach through a colander until just about dry. Beat the eggs in a bowl, then dump rest of ingredients in and mix. Cover bowl and refrigerate for an hour.

Heat oven to 350. Shape mixture into 1-inch balls and bake on lightly greased cookie sheet until browned and cripsy, 30-35 minutes.

YUM!

-=-=-=-=-=-

Christmas Punch

1 (48-ounce) bottle cranberry juice drink
1 (48-ounce) can pineapple juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 (2-liter) bottle ginger ale, chilled

1. Stir together first 4 ingredients until sugar dissolves. Cover and chill 8 hours.
2. Stir in ginger ale just before serving.

Makes 6 1/2 quarts.

Be Well

Get well soon, CJ!

And I hope you don't catch it, Mama Teacher!  We'll be thinking of you tonight.

The Score

Check back for the Christmas card update:

@ 10:13, 32 down
@ 10:53, 46 done (yes, that's slow, but I write a note in each one)
@  11:27, taking a treadmill and then pizza break; about 2/3 finished
@12:21, 59 done, about 20 to go

@ 12:50, 72 cards done (still need to fill with photos and legend, address, and stamp), 7 more to write if I can find addresses, and 10 for the kids to do, which brings us to a final card count:

89 cards!!

Right Now

Writing my first batch of Christmas cards in three years!

Good Night, Bright Prince

I've been thinking about Christopher Hitchens frequently these last few days.  I should start by saying I haven't read but one article by Hitchens--that on his own physical decline from esophageal cancer that defies the maxim and does not make him stronger--plus a review of his last compendium, then the NYTimes obituary and a eulogy and a few other reminiscences (and here and here and here and here).  He seems a brilliant man, and not just because I neither recognize authors he quotes, speak languages he dissects, nor grasp history as broadly or deeply as he does.  There is a wit about him, a clarity, a frankness.  Or I should say was, for he died earlier this week at MD Anderson in Houston, aged 62.  It is a loss I didn't fully realize until after the fact.  I'd say requiescat in pace, but as he was a renown atheist, I'll hold his surviving family in my thoughts.  And perhaps best of all, read more of his works (a selection of his Vanity Fair columns is here).

Advent Activity: Chalkboard Decorations

By Sis, Young Babysitter, and Sis again (Bud did the decorations on the tree and an igloo with penguins that were too hard to photograph):

Not Lovin' It

We're trying not to "love" things these days.  We noticed that culturally the word "love" is tossed around very casually--as a nation, we love shoes and movies and chocolate and toys and clothes and celebrities.  But that's not love at all.   And so now, we're trying really hard in our house to save the word "love" for special relationships with people.  Like "I love you."  Otherwise, we really like things a lot or they're our favorites.  And I'm the biggest offender, using "love" in my usual exuberant, hyperbolic way.  But I'm working on it.

And yep, we don't "hate" either.

A New Theory

Twice this week medical professionals have questioned my accepted narrative about my back injury, which we've always thought, and doctors have concurred, was primarily a herniated disc, L5-SI1.  But on Tuesday, the pain doctor said that the herniated disc was resolved and the pain was a secondary injury in my coccyx, though he doesn't know how the two are related.  Last night, my new physical therapist said she even wondered if the second incident, in April, when I ceased entirely being able to sit, wasn't a disc herniating that I felt, but my SI joint popping out somehow.  I know they've done studies where something like 20% of a random sample of people have herniated discs but are asymptomatic, i.e. without back pain.  Is it possible that the pain wasn't originally or always the disc?  Hard to say now, but apparently it isn't my current trouble.  And, I must say, that is quite a paradigm shift for me.  Just thinking about another kind of injury, though it's 9 months past, gives me the heebie-jeebies.  I mean, who wants to think of their pelvis getting out of joint?  I had gotten comfortable, so to speak, with having a herniated disc, even if it didn't always make sense experientially.  Now I have something else to wrap my mind around.

But I'm trying not to think on it too much, since it doesn't actually change what I'm going through.  In fact, the notion that it is something else gives us a new path to follow after 18 or so months chasing the disc.  And this new physical therapist has some ideas how to help.  And all without the painful internal tailbone manipulation of the last therapist (whom she used to work with)!  Anyway, she practices, if I have this right, Integrative Manipulative Therapy, with techniques derived from the French osteopath Jean-Pierre Barral.  Plus a sprinkling of cranio-sacral, energy healing, biofeedback, and chakra work.  I know, it sounds like magic.  But, she watched me walk with pain in my c-section scar and tightness in my back, laid me down, popped my sacrum painlessly, and had me walk again . . . with none of the symptoms of a few minutes earlier (though, she said for awhile it would pop back . . and that's just the beginning of the work to get me to sit, but she thinks I will be able to).  I told her that 400 years ago, they would have burned her at the stake!  It was amazing.  Then she did some soft tissue, visceral work (something about fascial envelopes connecting parts of our bodies) that was so gentle but released energies, she said, that clearly made my legs shake.  She even touched my head and tailbone alternately and said I had no spinal blockages and that she wouldn't have known I had a herniated disc.  All I have to say is that if it works, I'm a believer.

Which might take me further along in my project to understand the idea of  prayer and  spiritual energies, for sure.

Advent Activity: Reindeer Droppings

Lambeth sent me this recipe a few years ago and, this year, we're going to try them:

A recipe for Christmas, the kiddos may be able to help. 

2 cups of sugar
1/2  cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup cocoa (powder)
2 cups quick oats amd 1 cup of desicctaed coconut 

US or UK cups will do, or even Lapland. 

Boil the sugar, milk, butter and cocoa together.  Remove from the heat and 
add in the oats and coconut.  When cool enough to handle let the kids mix 
together to form a homogeneous mass.    Then , with a table spoon, let them 
make their own 'sweets' with the mixture on some wax paper.  Let it set.    
To add texture put some chocolate raisins into a few. 


The name for this delicacy, chocolate reindeer droppings. 

Go wild, put it on your blog with acknowledgement to The Childrens Society 
of England. 

The Straw

My church is not having a service for Christmas.

This was always my favorite service of the year--candles, singing, community.  We even got married before the Christmas Eve service in 2008.

And so I think this might be the straw--either the last one or the one that broke the camel's back.

It just doesn't feel like church anymore, after years of money woes, divisive politics, the loss of our minister, the loss of our building, and now the loss of Christmas service.  It's not the kind of church I want for myself and my family, even though I love many of the people and treasure the memories we've shared.

So this Sunday, we'll be going somewhere else to see if we can find a church home elsewhere, still Unitarian Universalist though.  At the very least, I need a break, especially because I have so much trouble attending late afternoon service.  It's not officially goodbye to our old church just yet, but I'm sad to say it is a start.

Advent Activity: Right Now

Partying with Mama, the kids, and  Santa....

More Holiday Humor

If you have an Elf on the Shelf and have ever forgotten to move it, read "Overachieving Elf on the Shelf Mommies" at People I want to Punch in the Face.  It's hilarious!

My New Project

About a year ago, I was deep into research on the history of slavery in Connecticut, as part of my work on the education committee of a local historic house.  I learned how this state was the "Georgia of the North," with more slaves than any other New England colony, and also how slaves continued their West African religious practices such as hiding minkisi under floorboards for protection.  I also spent some time looking into pirates and privateers who operated in the waters of Long Island Sound.

Now I'm beginning research on Native Americans in colonial Connecticut, in the 18th-century.  It's just the beginning of my research, but with both the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and the Institute for American Indian Studies here in the state, I know I'll turn up some interesting information to share with the fifth graders come April.  But one statistic strikes me:  there were approximately 30,000 Native Americans here in what is now Connecticut when colonists arrived.  By 1762, there were less than 1,000.

We're also going to be including some discussion of archaeology, essentially how we as historians and docents learn about the ordinary people who didn't make it into the written historical record.  There have been thousands of artifacts discovered at our site, which should make for wonderful discussion, even if we can't show the classes anything more than pictures of objects or replicas.  Of course, when I was in elementary school, Indiana Jones popularized archaeology.  I hope our tour will be able to do the same and get the students excited about our local history and how we learn it.

God, the "God Particle," and Me

I've just completed a UU course in prayer, participating in inner and outer prayer practices such as meditation, using a finger labyrinth, a universal rosary, and guided imagery, as well as discussing readings and our own experiences.

And so, with this in mind, I've been talking with many of my spiritual friends, asking, particularly, "How do you think prayer works?"

One believed in a universal consciousness, with energies directed through prayer that could directly reach their intended recipient.  Another believed in an intercessory God but also said that the prayers were as much for her own mental and emotional focus than for direct effect.

As I've mentioned several times before, I don't believe in an intercessory, omnipotent, omnipresent deity.  And so I can't conceive of prayer as being directed to God like a phone call is routed through a telecommunications satellite, but I'm learning that you don't necessarily need a deity to pray.  My friend, the one who believes in the universal mind, believes my skepticism is a childhood trauma, something that I need to heal from, an energy blockage that needs to be worked out.  And so I ask her--in all seriousness--how that energy works, how prayer energy and spiritual blockages work, what part of the body makes that energy?  It doesn't work that way, she said patiently, mentioning qi and other metaphysical ideas about spiritual energy.  But I asked for evidence, proof, scientific explanation and she said it can't be tested that way.

Just because it can't be tested by traditional scientific means doesn't mean it doesn't exist, she says.

That would be faith.

I take certain things on faith, things I don't understand but can accept, knowing that other people have the answers.  Like a car engine.  Or particle physics.

Except I'm beginning to understand that, as scientists dig deeper at the far reaches of our knowledge, the questions and answers are as murky as theology and the nature of prayer.  I recently read, though I recall not where, that biologists looking at cells in the human body now believe that mitochondria function like viruses, which surprised them.

And then there is the so-called "God particle," or the Higgs boson, that may or may not exist but is central to the Standard Model of understanding the Big Bang and how particles of energy gain mass.  (Okay, remember, I'm not a scientist, so I only think I have that correctly).  I've been reading several articles about the announcement this week that physicists have tantalizing evidence but no real proof of the Higgs.  In one article, which I cannot locate now, a scientist quoted the "unknown principle" in physics--sometimes things happen for reasons we don't understand, in ways and at times we don't understand.

That sounds a lot like prayer.

Oddly, I'm also a skeptic about science sometimes, feeling that science often labels events and systems without actually understanding it.  They can call it the Higgs boson without knowing if it is real, how big it is, and where to look for it.  Naming something, though, gives you a sense of power over it. (I've long wondered that we can put a man on the moon but can't tell if a woman is pregnant for weeks and weeks after conception.)  Still, as Mama points out, science focuses on quantifiable, predictable, reproducible theories.

Prayer is none of those.

My religious friends acknowledge that there is no 1:1 correlation between prayer and outcome.  There is always an effect, though, either on themselves or on those for whom they pray, the latter usually being as amorphous as "what is best."  In other words, if I pray for a sick friend and the friend dies, some people would say that was the best outcome, even if I don't like it, or that it's part of a larger picture.  But if you draw the effects of prayer so broadly and randomly, it seems to water down the power, no?  Clearly, prayer doesn't follow scientific principles, even if science has started to study it.  There is an oft-referred to study that shows people who are prayed for heal faster, with lower mortality rates, even when they are unaware of the prayers.  (Though, a recent article in Woman's Day, given to me by Mommy Goose, says a Harvard study recently refuted that.)  There again, I'm focusing too much on proof and evidence and control and rationality.

If I can allow myself to accept the murkiness of biology and physics and to be comfortable with my not knowing the intricacies of said disciplines, why not prayer?  Is it possible that spiritual energies exist but that we can't understand how they work?  Is prayer the Higgs of the spiritual universe, giving mass to our deepest joys and concerns?  Why do I need the proof?  Or do I have proof?  Lots of people from a variety of religious backgrounds--New Age, Judaism, Baptist, Catholic, LDS, Buddhist, UU--have prayed for me.  True, I haven't had a remarkable, miraculous healing, but I am better and it could be worse.  Has prayer worked on me?  I know it helped me emotionally to know that people were keeping me in their thoughts and so there is a demonstrable effect.  And when I pray for others, or even myself, I know that at the very least I remember to do things for them, check in, make a meal, or treat them or myself kindly and compassionately, and so there is an effect, even if it isn't miraculous or divine.

I guess I'm like those physicists looking for the Higgs--I've got tantalizing information about prayer but I need more time to think on and study it.

Advent Activity: The Countdown Continues

Slowly, the Christmas cards we receive are replacing the Advent Activity stockings we've removed as we're more than halfway to Christmas!

Advent Activity: Santa Lucia Day

Yesterday we learned a little about Santa Lucia Day, or Saint Lucy's Day, a holiday observed mainly in Scandinavian countries on December 13.  Traditionally, the eldest girl in the family dresses in a white gown dons a wreath of greenery and lit white candles and serves her family coffee and Saint Lucy buns in the morning.  Some towns also have processions.  Bud was very hung up on the fact that it was the eldest girl, sensing, I think, that he was excluded (though,  now I understand boys are more involved in the rituals).  Sis was curious about the candles, which gruesomely refer to the failed attempt to burn Saint Lucy.  And so, when we got home from NYC with our bottle of Kinder Punsch non-alcoholic Gluwhein (similar to the Glögg we knew from living in Andersonville, the Swedish and lesbian neighborhood where we lived in Chicago), we made a toast to the holiday season.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Virgin Glögg
a recipe from the Swedish Museum's Jamarkand in Chicago

Glögg spices (cinnamon, raisins, almonds, cardamom)

2-12 oz. cans frozen cranberry juice concentrate

12 oz. can frozen purple grape juice concentrate

12 oz. can frozen apple juice concentrate

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Thaw and mix juice concentrates together with vinegar and keep refrigerated.

Simmer 1 package glogg spices in 1 cup water in tightly covered pot for one hour. Add boiled spices and water to glogg liquid. Bring to a simmer and turn off heat. Let cool and leave in room temperature for one day. Strain and pour back into bottles. Save the drunken raisins to serve with the glogg.

Heat with water in a 2:1 ratio and serve

The Christmas Marketplace

As I've posted before, we always try to add some fun to our NYC doctors' visits, like checking out a specialty shop or going to a museum.  Yesterday, we didn't really have a set destination but knew we'd wander the area around Union Square.  Upon exiting the parking garage, we immediately spotted the telltale kiosks of a festival and I remembered that it was the Christmas Market.  For the time we had before our appointment, we wandered among the stalls:

• sampling salsas and chocolates
• ordering Belgian waffles with gingerbread sauce (speculoos) from Wafels and Dinges and also a variety of Persian soups (vegetable, lentil, and chili), plus the best cookies ever from Rubyzaar (Kashmir with almonds and cardamom: HoiAn with chocolates and espresso) and chewy sweet pastel French macaroons.  
• drinking Gluwhein and hot chocolate
• selecting a precious, brightly-colored, whimsical print of two children flying over the Chrysler Building by an artist named Edie (you can purchase prints at her site)
• having a mini-hand spa treatment with Israeli Dead Sea Salt that left my hands feeling so soft (we bought the scrub because it helps with psoriasis and dry skin)
• and just wandering through stalls of knit wear, teas and spices (laid out just like a Silk Road merchant), Celtic and also Tibetan tchotchkes, puppets, toys, jewelery, and so much more, while also people-watching, which is a wonderful sport in NYC

Just a wonderful reminder of why I love NYC (besides, it makes going to the doctor just so much better).

All Bud Wants for Christmas . . .

. . . is to lose his front tooth!

Bud is eagerly, and albeit a little nervously, waiting to lose his first tooth, right up top in the middle.  It is very wiggly, especially with all his attentions.  He's so excited that he's even written a letter to the Tooth Fairy to tell her it's coming soon.

I hope so.

I Have a Golden Ticket!

"Mommy, Charlie found the golden ticket!" was the first thing said to me last night by the kids after we got home late from NYC.  They've been listening to their teacher read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.  I get periodic updates on the plot (I read it years ago and mostly know the story from the original Gene Wilder film, not liking the Tim Burton version as well) and they have been eagerly waiting to see if Charlie would get to go to the factory (being young, I guess they didn't just assume from the title).  And one day, when they told me about the workers in the factory that people had only glimpsed in the windows of the factory and I called them Oompa Loompas, they got mad at me because that hadn't  been mentioned in the book yet!  The kids have even taken to making paper Wonka Bars and hiding golden tickets in them.  But in their candy factory, everyone is a winner!

Mommy's Magic Bean Pot

I'm the New England Strega Nona!

I picked up a redware bean pot at Sturbridge Village two weeks ago, wanting to make my very first batch of Boston Baked Beans after attending the New England cooking lecture.  So, after prepping the navy beans and mixing in the ingredients sans salt pork, I put my big pot in the oven and left it there for most of a day, just like Yankee goodwives would've done after a day's bread baking (as the hot oven cooled overnight).

MMMMmmmmm, so much better than pork 'n beans in a can!  Not too sweet, not too sticky, just right.  And it makes a lot.

Even better with cornbread!

-=-=-=-=-=-

Boston Baked Beans
*I halved the recipe.  And I imagine, should you not have a magic bean pot, you could bake this in any covered   dish.

1 lb dried  navy beans, sorted, rinsed, and pre-soaked using your favorite method (overnight or boiled and simmered), retaining soaking water
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 cup molasses
1 medium onion, sliced

Preheat oven to 300F.

Mix brown sugar, mustard, and molasses with 1 3/4 cup reserved soaking liquid.  Then alternate layers of prepped beans with sliced onions and "sauce,"

Cover and bake for 5-7 hours.  Add more liquid if needed.

Boston Beanpot Cookery

The Glee Saga

Tonight's "Glee" special was fun, but Artie was right--the Star Wars holiday special in 1978 was fantastic!!!!  And I absolutely remember watching it, Wookiees and all.

Today's Specialist

Today, we ventured down into NYC--near Union Square, this time--to see a pain and palliative care specialist who is a neurologist by training.   We got to town early and had a wonderful time cruising the Christmas Market in the square, but more on that later.  I don't think I've ever seen a more depressing waiting room before--discomfort, pain, suffering, and all the attendant emotions clear on their faces and in their postures.  I felt healthy in comparison.

The nurse practitioner saw me first, performing all manner of neurological and physical diagnostics and taking a very complete history after reading the various papers I brought along.  Then we met the doctor, who performed even more diagnostics.  And said he doesn't believe the pain is from the disc.  He thinks the disc pain has pretty much resolved itself (which he said right after I managed to touch my hands to the floor!).   He believes the pain is in the coccyx.  Though, he isn't sure what the relationshipof the herniated disc and the coccyx pain is though they happened together, saying it was a very good question.  He had some ideas for prescription medicines (pain killers and nerve blockers) and wants me to see his colleague who specializes in injections (I have an appointment at the end of January).  I'd been pretty conservative about what I'd take (so far, no opiates this year), but I'm ready to try something.

So, I'm supposed to see how the pain meds work and to try a bit of sitting, if I can find a comfortable position and don't hurt (i.e. he doesn't think I'll hurt the disc).  I'm not exactly cautiously optimistic, just glad there is a new path to try.

A Huge Thank You

A big grateful thank you to Miss R who babysat the kiddos during a holiday playdate that lasted three hours (about an hour longer than expected, because we got stuck in traffic).  My two and her three (well, probably not the baby) played outside, played inside, ate dinner, and watched holiday specials.  The kids said it was the Best.  Playdate.  Ever.

A big thanks also to Mrs. S who met them after school and drove them to the playdate and who stood by in case we might need more help.

Thank you both for making today possible!  

Right Now

Sitting in traffic on the way home from a long day in the city.

I Love NYC

Right Now

Defrosting ice off windshield so we can head to NYC to see pain and palliative care specialist.

Advent Activity: I'm a Super Dude

As befits my love of stretching out celebrations, we've been celebrating my birthday for days now, especially if you include parties last Thursday and Friday, cookie baking and ballet on Saturday, and then yesterday and today!  Yesterday, the kids decorated the house with lots of "Phineas and Ferb" decorations and even gave me a button to wear proclaiming me "Super Dude."  Yep, I'm a cool mom.  Then we had an elaborate tea with ham and cheese sandwiches, curried egg salad sandwiches, and several little cakes from the bakery.  Mmmm, chocolate truffle and also gingersnap with cream cheese frosting and a fruit tart!  We hung out making our new Lego holiday village, part of my birthday present.  Actually, the kids worked on the Legos while I perused my new books Harry Potter: From Page to Screen and Homesick Texan, the cookbook.

Today, I had a special birthday lunch at school with the kiddos, which was an extra treat for me because I hadn't been to school in a long while.  We all sat together at those long cafeteria tables--I brought a cheese sandwich and chips from the deli, Mama got chicken nuggets in the lunch line with Sis.  I had brought them both cookies to eat with their lunches.  School lunch sure has changed--they eat off styrofoam trays that get thrown away (oh, the waste!), but not by them--they raise their hands and the lunch ladies toss their trash and give them a coloring page or word search to complete while they wait for lunch to be over.  And then, if they are still hungry at the end of lunch, they can rush up when their class is called for a snack to eat then and there--chips or ice cream!!  I guess I can see not wanting your entire first grade getting up, but it seemed a bit much considering they could easily bus their own stuff, and the need for a coloring sheet to fill the time (maybe they should try talking to one another!  Or gasp, shorten lunch and add it to recess!!!!!) and the extra snack is ridiculous (though Sis's tray with 6 tater tots and 6 nuggets and a chocolate milk was hardly a meal; she opted out of fruit . . . and they let her!  That'll keep us from letting them have school lunch more than a couple of times a month as is our current custom).  Still, it was great fun for me and I hope for them; having Gommie to lunch was very special to me when I was in elementary school.

I fielded calls from England (Hi Lambeth!  Thanks for calling!), Austin (Hi Aunt Banana, sorry I missed you!), Houston (Gommie and Pop together), and, the biggest surprise of all from Dallas from my close friend from high school!  She's still practicing law and still has the thickest East Texas accent I ever hear.  I hadn't talked to her in three years (she says congrats on the baby, Aunt Banana!) so we had a good time catching up.  Also, thanks to everyone who emailed (Hi cousin S and Mrs. S!) and who helped me celebrate last week.

Later this afternoon,we had fondue with bread and apples for after-school snack.  So tasty!  And then they did Legos again, while I napped on the couch.  Finally, we ended my birthday extravaganza with pizza and ice cream and called it quits.  What a great way to celebrate!  I do just love having birthdays.

-=-=-=-=-=-
UPDATE:  I totally forgot some of the most touching highlights:

• The first present I got was actually a "How Much I Love You & I Love You Because" book made by Sis and Bud.
• Sis had made me two great cards all on her own, with the sweetest sentiments--that I'm the best mom (remember, Mama is a "mama") and she loves me with all her heart.
• Neighbor Boy came back to wish me happy birthday when I told him the kids couldn't play because we were doing birthday things.
• Miss K's daughter brought fudge crinkles and Lindt candies as a birthday present.
• The kids in their class wished me happy birthday (some sorta sang), as did several of the teachers  . . . because I was wearing my "Super Dude" button at school!

Advent Activity: Spreading the Cheer

We combined two of our Advent activities, wrapping presents for the child for whom we signed up to get toys.  The kids even gathered a bag full of candy to send along with the set of Hot Wheels cars and a track.  Then this morning, we piled a huge pan with a variety of cookies and made a card for the teachers and staff of their school, which Mama and I deposited in the teacher lounge today.   Later, probably tomorrow, we'll drop off tins of cookies for the vet's and the pediatrician's offices, again with cards from the kids.

Finally, we might even be delivering a few Secret Santa surprises today!

Right Now

Heading to have my birthday lunch at school with Mama and the kids. 

Baking the Day Away

Before the ballet yesterday, Mama Teacher came over and treated me to a birthday baking extravaganza.  We made six kinds of cookies, some double batch:  oatmeal with craisins and white chocolate, pecan sandies, chocolate orange dreams, gingersnaps, fudge balls, and cranberry-orange-walnut cookies (those last three using the versatile Domino Sugar 1001 Cookie Starter).  The house was redolent with the warm scents of sugar and spices. And the kitchen was filled with dirty bowls, sloppy measuring spoons, damp towels, and little drifts of flour!  (All of which Mama Teacher cleaned up as part of her gift while I rested on the couch! Mama Hungry says a big thank you!)   Mercy, we had a good time, eating lunch and opening some birthday presents (thank you!  Blog readers, you'll hear more about The Happiness Project later) between batches.  It was extra-special because I can't really bake that much on my own (and it's not Mama Hungry's favorite activity) and because we didn't have a cookie swap this year (but we will again next year, I promise!).  I bet we made over two hundred cookies.  And so now we'll have them for teachers, the pediatrician, the vet, and visitors during the holidays.  Oh, and for breakfast this morning!

Thanks so much, Mama Teacher!

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I'll get Mama Teacher's recipes later.


Chocolate Orange Dreams
These taste just like those Pepperidge Farm Orange Milano cookies.

4 dozen cookies

Cookies:
1cup Butter flavor Crisco
1 cup sugar
1-3 oz. pkg cream cheese softened
2 eggs
2 t. grated orange peel
2 t. orange juice
½ t. salt
2 cup flour
1 cup chocolate chips

Glaze:
½ cup powdered sugar
2 ½ t. orange juice
1 ½ t. orange liqueur (Grand Marnier)

Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Grease cookie sheet.
Combine crisco, sugar, and cream cheese. Beat on medium. Beat in eggs, orange peel, orange juice, and salt. Add flour. Mix well. Add chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoonfuls two inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes or until edges are light brown.
While baking, combine powdered sugar, orange juice, and liqueur. Stir. Brush on cookies immediately upon removing from oven.

American Cookie Celebration II

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1001 Cookie Recipe Mixture from Domino Sugar
The mix makes 10 cups, which usually can cover 3 different kinds of cookies.  For more recipes for this mix, see here.

5 cups flour
3 ¾ cups sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 ½ cups plus 2 tablespoons butter, softened

Spoon flour into measuring cup and level with spatula. Put in large bowl with at least 4 quart capacity.
Measure sugar, baking powder, and salt into flour. Stir until thoroughly blended.
Add butter and use pastry blender or clean hands to work into dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Makes 10 cups. Store covered in airtight container in fridge or freezer. Use mix at room temperature.

Domino Sugar


1001 Fudge Balls

2 cups 1001 Cookie Recipe Mix
½ cups plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
powdered sugar
***we added  1 teaspoon cinnamon and pinches of black and cayenne pepper to make these Tex-Mex

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Mix together in large bowl all ingredients except powdered sugar.
Shape into 1” balls and roll in powdered sugar to coat lightly. Place 1” apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake at 375°F for about 8 minutes. Cool on wire rack.
Makes about 36 balls.
Domino Sugar

1001 Ginger Snaps


4 cups Domino Sugar 1001 Cookie Mix
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
1/4 cup dark molasses
Granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease cookie sheets.  In large bowl, mix together all ingredients except sugar.  Drop dough by slightly rounded teaspoons into small bowl of sugar.  Roll to coat lightly. Place 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet.  Bake 12-15 minutes. Do not brown. Let cool 2 minutes and remove to rack to cool. Makes 48 cookies.

Gingerbread Men: Prepare Gingery Snaps dough. Divide in half. Cover and chill 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle. Roll dough, half at a time on floured board to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into Gingerbread Men using cookie cutters. Arrange cutouts 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375°F for 8-10 minutes. Do not brown. Cool on wire rack. Makes 48 cookies.


1001 Cranberry Nut Cookies

3 cups – Domino Sugar 1001 Cookie Mix
1 tablespoon - grated orange rind
1 teaspoon - cinnamon
1 - egg
1 cup - fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup - chopped nuts
Domino(r) Granulated Sugar

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Grease cookie sheets.  Mix together in large bowl cookie mix, orange rind, cinnamon, and egg.  Stir in cranberries and nuts.  Shape into 1-inch balls and roll in granulated sugar to coat lightly.  Place 3 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet.  Bake for about 12 minutes or until lightly browned around edges.  Remove at once to wire racks.

Makes about 48 cookies.

Advent Activity: Best. Show. Ever.

Yesterday, we took the kiddos to see the New England Ballet Company's performance of The Nutcracker, only their second live theater performance (after a puppet show of Goodnight Moon; concerts of Laurie Berkner and Imagination Movers don't count.).  They'd seen part of the ballet in school and watched some of Pacific Northwest's version on dvd.  And so, after talking to to them about theater culture (blinking the lights to send you to your seat; intermissions) and etiquette (no talking or getting up; go to the bathroom beforehand), we dressed in our holiday best--Sis in her new red tulle over black skirt tutu-like holiday dress and Bud in a button-down shirt with reindeer sweater--we headed to the theater.  Yep, me too.  Because this particular theater has boxes set aside for people with disabilities--large empty spaces at the back of the theater with movable seats primarily for people using wheelchairs but perfect for me to pace in with no one behind me and lie down in the extra seats pulled together.   Sis, Bud, and Mama sat in real seats right in front of me.  It was beyond perfect and I sniffled through the whole first act, having never thought I could go to the theater again in the near future, which was a loss because Mama and I love musicals.  It was perfect.

I also sniffled for other reasons, being a sniffler.  I remember the last time I went to The Nutcracker, the only other time actually.  I was probably 7 or 8.  Gommie and her friend, dear Miss Betty (who died a few years ago), and maybe another adult though I'm not sure, took me and the other neighborhood kids (Aunt Banana, do you remember this at all?  Was I older?  Were you there?) to Houston's fancy Jones Hall to see the ballet.  I felt so grown up being in that big theater and the performance was beautiful and magical.  I bought a small red Nutcracker to hang on the Christmas tree that I still have.

And I was so glad that the kids were getting to see the show.  They're interested in the story and love to dance around the house.  More than that, I hope that going to the ballet (though, it's our least favorite performing art), musicals, the opera, plays, the symphony become a regular part of our lives.  Especially with Broadway, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall not so far away.

This production was perfect for us.  Small, local, child-friendly.  Colorful, vibrant costumes.   Loud, fast-paced score (Tchaikovsky on speed!).  And with a large children's cast, including two of their little friends from Daisies, that they could identify with.  Bud liked the Mouse King best, and even bought a Mouse King nutcracker.  Sis liked the finale when they all danced together.  I liked the Waltz of the Snowflakes and the Waltz of the Flowers.  Basically any scene with the corps de ballet and a principal.  And the whole score.   Mama, well, I think Mama was caught up in all the body and gender issues inherent in the art art form.

When it concluded, Sis yawned and stretched (she was bored by all the Sugar-Plum Fairy and her cavalier), but Bud proclaimed it, "The best show ever!"

We celebrated afterwards with a run to Pinkberry, the tony frozen yogurt place. Chocolate with M&Ms, peppermint with chocolate, mango with fruit, original with fruit, almonds, and mochi.  And then we danced and hummed the rest of the evening away . . . .

Next year, Lincoln Center and Balanchine.

Advent Activity: Deck the Tree with Paper Chains

From Friday:

Right Now

Gawking at "crazy big" moon rising.

Right Now

Fabulous, warm scents of chocolate, cinnamon, orange, walnut, cranberry, and molasses wafting through the house as Mama Teacher and I bake cookies.

Our Fifth Year

• muffalettas (so good I quit being a vegetarian for a few hours!!)
• cavatelli with wild mushroom cream sauce
• wild mushroom truffle pizza
• prosciutto and pear pizza 
• spinach and cheese empanadas
• spinach souffle
• parmesan fried bow ties
• garbanzo "bar nuts"
• pulled sauerbraten with spaetzle (for Mama)
• roasted vegetable salad
• saffron couscous with curried chickpeas
• macaroni and cheese
• steak frites
• artichoke dip puffs
• lobster grilled cheese (Mama again)
• braised short rib with chimichurri on polenta puff (Yep, Mama)
• paella (ditto)
• pastrami on rye with mustard and a half sour (mm-hmm)
• a coffee bar with all the fixings--whipped cream, hazelnut cream, shaved chocolate, peppermint sticks, caramel syrup, marshmallows, and two kinds of biscotti (which substituted for dessert because I couldn't make it to 11:30)

Guess where we were?

Right Now

Two warm cats, one soft blanket, and me ....

A Zen Short

There is a well-known story in Zen Shorts about luck and perception.  You've probably heard a version of it.  A horse wanders up to a man's farm and his neighbors say he's lucky.  Maybe, he says.  Then his son breaks his leg trying to tame the horse.  His neighbors say he is unlucky.  Maybe, he says.  Then soldiers come to draft all the young men but don't take his son because of his broken leg.  He is lucky.  Maybe.  Things change.  A lot of life is how you look at it.

Today was like that for me.  I had an ultrasound appointment, ordered by my concerned gynecologist because I've had cramping for more than a week (not severe, just long lasting, constant, and more intense than usual).  Well, the first radiology office couldn't accommodate my back issues and I couldn't climb up and use the awkward pillow they had in lieu of the usual exam table with stirrups (TMI, I know).  I got achy and uncomfortable just trying.  So they transferred me, sending Driver and I to a totally different town which could squeeze me in.  Achy, I was also discouraged.

But at the second place, the tech was more chatty than she was probably supposed to be and, after examining my ultrasound from two months ago, told me she saw nothing new, different, or alarming.  I hope she's right.  Especially because it always takes almost a week for the doctor to get the report.  But I was glad to get any feedback.  She also had back issues and so we could commiserate about injections, therapies, specialists, and such.  In the end--though, I'm sure it's not the end (because, of course, all things change!)--it was a good, if exhausting, morning.

Good for a Laugh

Holiday preparations getting to you?  Have a laugh over at Toni Bernhard's blog, Turning Straw into Gold.

Touched

Tonight, at a holiday party for the historic house association on which education committee I sit, I was surprised to be thanked for my work on the 3rd and 5th grade curricula!  My friends, the director and education coordinator (the wonderful Mrs. S about whom I've written frequently) had encouraged me to stay to have fun when I said I could only stay a bit.  But I thought they were just being nice, you know, wanting me to enjoy myself since I don't get out much.

Yes, I can be dense.  Then, when the dedicated and hard-working director, Mrs. A, stood up and thanked the illustrious guests as well as the long-standing house docents, she also acknowledged me!  I couldn't have been more surprised.  Seriously.  I thought she was talking about my two other main colleagues on the committee who had been there much longer.  I had no clue until she looked at me and mentioned my work in Chicago.  And then I think I blushed deeply from my spot in the back of the room where I had been comfortably pacing on the rug. I shook hands, we took pictures, and I went back to my spot in the back, this time with people smiling and nodding at me.  And I could barely contain my sniffles.

I can't begin to say how touched I was.  See, the historic house and these wonderful women (it's mostly women) have been such a light in what has been not exactly a dark but definitely a gray year.  Because while they supported and accomodated me in my health struggles, they also allowed me to do what I love to do, which is engage children in learning about history through material objects, interactive tours, and hands-on experiences.  It was an intellectual challenge (learning colonial history) and professional challenge (stretching my museum ed legs again but in a new living history as opposed to art museum setting), in an inspiring, open-minded collaborative environment, so far from my "sick room" that it was a wonderful distraction, even when I couldn't participate as fully as I'd like.  It was--they were, and still are--a life line for me, for which I will always be truly grateful.  So the honor, the gratitude, the appreciation were all mine.

But it was really wonderful to be recognized.  (In fact, I'm not sure how much that ever happened in my professional life--people are always nicer to volunteers!).  And I will always treasure the paperweight with its hand-drawn depiction of the historic house.  (When we met up right afterward, Sis and Bud oohed and aahed over it.  Bud said, "Congratulations, Mommy!  That's cool." And Sis offered me a tissue!)

And I'm rearing to go for the spring tour season!

Thank you so much.

Advent Activity: Candlelight Again

Today's Advent Activity was looking at lights, not because I knew that our area is fully decorated but because I knew that we would be out after dark.  We had Daisies this evening and then another party; more on that soon.  And so we made a point of noticing the lights as we drove home.  And then, as we approached our house, Mama suggested I lean up to look and I thought it was because our lights look so nice.  But no, it was because we had new lights:  there were flickering candles in every window, my favorite holiday look!  Sis and Bud knew in advance (Bud had helped while Sis and I were at Daisies and then he told her immediately in a hurried whisper) but pretended they were surprised.  "Oh, lights!"  "Where did the lights come from?"  "I don't know."  Me thinks the kids doth protest too much.  (But I'm glad they can't lie convincingly.  Yet.)  There were even a few pillar candles inside on the tables.  (All battery powered, of course.)  It was a wonderful effect and a lovely surprise.

Right Now

Happy tears of gratitude for my friends at the historic house.

Right Now

Listening to the sound of cheerful Daisies at our Nutcracker party.

The Great Worm Rescue

It dawned on us gradually--first one, then  two, then more and more--that there were worms all over the driveway.  After 2 1/2 inches of rain last night, we found dozens of worms on our new driveway.  I guess they washed down with the torrents, even with the blocks edging the driveway.  Some had clearly perished, but many were wiggling on the asphalt with little hope of making it across alive as the sun rose higher in the sky.  And so, as we waited for the bus, we relocated as many as we could find, carefully scooping them up and putting them in the grass, glad to do what we could, even for worms.  And thinking all the while of Diary of a Worm, as the worm says at one point that rainy days are one of his biggest enemies.

Right Now

Listening to the complex melody of the pouring rain.

Healing Thoughts

To my neighbor, Neighbor Boy's mom, who had surgery Monday for a torn ACL and is starting to feel the pain now that the initial drugs have worn off.

To my church friend, Miss M, who would visit the kids on Fridays last summer, who is in a rough patch with Non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Advent Activity: The Magic of Christmas

I think we might have rather inadvertently started a new holiday custom:  Saint Nicholas visited last night, bringing the "Phineas and Ferb" holiday CD and two nutcrackers, Clara and the Mouse King.

From my quick reading, I know we should have actually put our shoes out the night before (in honor of the Bishop of Myra who secretly gave gifts, like coins in shoes left out), but this was just an experiment to show how kids in other countries celebrate (or at least used to, in that I'm not sure if there are any Christians, of those who celebrate holidays, who now don't do Dec. 25; I'll have to check.)

Bud pondered the experiment later as we waited for the bus, "Is magic real in the world?  Or it is all just a cartoon?"  Which I took to mean, "is it all not real?" since we often contrast live action with "not real" animation.  He moved on before I could address his mature musings.  Thankfully, because I'm not prepared to define magic.

There have been lots of questions this year about whether Santa is real.  Not real questions, not direct, just indirect musings that I have answered just as indirectly.  "Someone brings the presents."   Though, I did completely dispel the whole Elf-on-a-Shelf thing, because I don't like the tattling and material reward focus of that story, and told the kids outright that I was the one who moved the Elf and I'd be glad to keep moving it for a fun game as long as we understood that the story about flying to tattle to Santa so kids can or cannot get good gifts is made up.  I told them not to tell their friends, though, because some families like the Elf story and we wanted them to have that magic. I know, playing with fire. And they understood and are still perfectly happy to play with the Elf.

And just when I think, because of their questions (and my risky Elf move), they are toying with belief, they really truly embrace that Saint Nick was here last night, happening upon our shoes out in the rain even though we'd never put shoes out before, moving them indoors, filling them, and even loading our iPod with the new CD immediately so we could play it this morning.  It's the faith of childhood.  And it's beautiful.

Yes, Bud, magic is real in the world.

Here It Comes

30 Day Vegan Workshop leader Heather Bruggeman, of Beauty That Moves, is set to offer a new three-month course, Whole Food Kitchen.  Registration begins very soon.  And I'll be signing up!  The last workshop effected me immensely, even though I couldn't participate fully.  I'm ready, ready, ready for this one.

Right Now

Watching a red-tailed hawk devour a tasty morsel in a tree outside my window.  Too far for a picture and not such a pretty subject.

Advent Activity: Behind Already

Well, it didn't take long for us to fall behind.  Yesterday's activity was "write a letter to Santa," but they didn't.  Instead they played with Neighbor Boy, whose mother had had ACL surgery that morning.  for 1 1/2 hours, they fought with lightsabers, spun Ninjagos (Ninjagoes?  Ninjagi? Ninjagoi?), and ran around outside in the dense, wet fog.  But since they were getting along beautifully, I didn't interrupt.

They remembered the activity this morning before school but didn't have time to write them.  They won't this afternoon either, as we have another friend coming over for a visit.

Which means we're behind two days, both yesterday's activity and then today's ("learn more about St. Nicholas's Day").  At least it's because we're having fun!

Right Now

I am hugged by the fog.

Kidbits

Actually, the first one is a "mommy bit."  Having read all 307 pages of The Wizard of Oz, using special voices for every speaking part, I now have a much deeper appreciation of audiobook readers, particularly Jim Dale, who did all seven books of Harry Potter.  Remembering each voice (regular for Dorothy, growly for Lion, country for Scarecrow, whispy for Tin Woodman, and all the others), keeping straight alternating lines of a conversation, and having the vocal stamina to read two or more chapters a night is more difficult than I imagined.  But I think it made it all the more enjoyable.  And it was a great and not at all scary story, which I highly recommend for kiddos.

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The kids are playing rhyming hand games like "Miss Mary Mack" now.   And so I contributed the only one I know, "bobo skee watten totten" (more commonly called "bo bo skee rotten totten" online).  I learned the words thus (but can't begin to describe the above and below slapping and clapping):

"Bo bo skee watten totten
eh, eh, eh, eh, boom boom boom.
Eeny meeny watten totten
Bo bo skee watten totten
Bo bo skee watten totten
BOOM!" (at which point both players try to slap right hands)

Bud learned both words and movements quickly and gets a huge laugh out of it.  Sis, who is left-handed, is also catching on and laughs just as hard.

-=-=-=-=-=-
They also love a new game called "push the kid."  Okay, it sounds violent but is actually very sweet.  It starts with a kiddo standing on the bed giving me a big ol' hug (my favorite part) and then ends with me tickling them and letting them fall backwards onto the bed (their favorite part).  Sometimes I prolong the hug or the tickling which just heightens the hilarity.  Oh the games kids will play.

Lego Lovefest

Bud's own Nutcracker

On Saturday, while I rested in the hotel from our long OSV excursion and rested up for our afternoon trip to  the historical society, Mama and the kids headed to the Lego KidsFest (and another coincidence:  My Little Chickadees' Shelley was there with her children!  You can see her pictures of the event there.).  And they had a very grand time building tall towers, constructing pieces of a mural, admiring models of various pop culture icons such as Chewbacca and Hagrid and Lightning McQueen (which weighed in at 3 tons!!!), being awestruck by a huge Hogwarts Castle and amused by an igloo with bits of lots of other sets altogether, making and racing cars on a ramp (just like the one at their birthday!), being mesmerized by a Rube Goldberg-esque soccer ball machine, creating something to put on the large map of the USA, and getting freebie after freebie--Ninjago spinners, Ninjago wristbands, Christmas tree sets, mini-Night Bus, pamphlets with instructions for other sets, etc etc etc.  And they weren't even there the whole time, coming back to the hotel early to have lunch (takeout from the incomparable Black-Eyed Sally's, including fried pickles, fried catfish, jambalaya, red beans and rice, collard greens, and cheese grits, all the best I've had here in the North, for truth be told, traditional New England cookery is not all that tempting) and go to the historical society.

And so what have we done since then?  Yep, Legos.

Advent Activity: Our Candle Night in Words

Friday night at Old  Sturbridge Village was superb, as their special candlelight program always is (we've been once before with the kids and a few times before them, once the night of an amazing snowstorm).  We had a wonderful time:

• admiring the gingerbread house competition entrants (I got a great idea for half-timbering with licorice and thatching with shredded wheat)
• tasting fire-roasted chestnuts and hearing about a blight on the very tall trees that left them functionally extinct in the 19th century; the kids liked the trees but not the nuts
• sampling gingerbread (softer than a cookie, denser than cake)
• making their own paper cornucopiae
• helping whisk the ingredients of fruitcake and tasting the finished product (that only Mama and I liked)
• making real tinsel with the tinsmith
• hand-stamping Christmas cards
• watching the roasting and grinding of cocoa beans
• admiring the creation of realistic marzipan fruits
• talking to Father Christmas about the symbolism of holly and ivy
• drinking poker-heated mulled cider
• listening to carolers
• watching the bonfire and being entranced by the sparks flying into the night's sky
• perusing a porcelain historic village
• listening to Full Gael sing "Soul Cakes" accompanied by period instruments
• watching a model railroad train
• wondering at a detailed nativity scene
• riding a horse-drawn carriage
• eating dinner in the old tavern
• and finally, meeting Santa Claus and talking about his favorite chocolate chip cookies (and when Bud asked for "surprises," Santa teased that his muddy boot would be a surprise!  They thought this was hilarious.)

Advent Activity: Mommy's Little Kiddos Love Shortbread

Yesterday's advent activity was purposefully low-key and easy.  We made shortbread, which we all really like.  Our favorite recipe, included here first among all my shortbread recipes, has brown sugar, which gives it a tasty flavor.  And this time, at least, it came out of the well-greased mold beautifully.








Vel’s Christmas Shortbread
This is my favorite shortbread.  I don’t know who “Vel” is because I found this on allrecipes.com.  It has a homey flavor because of the brown sugar.  I usually halve the recipe.

2 cups butter
1 cup brown sugar
5 cups sifted flour

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until smooth.  Stir in flour and knead by hand until dough comes together.  At first the dough will seem dry and crumbly but don’t give up, keep mixing.  Roll out the dough to ¼” thickness and cut with cookie cutters or press dough into shortbread molds (be sure to lightly grease mold and sprinkle with sugar).  Place cookies 2” apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 8-12 minutes in the preheated oven, depending on the size of your cookies.  Do not let them brown.  Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

allrecipes.com


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Shortbread
A good standard shortbread.


1 cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
2 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon lemon extract (optional)
1 tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 325F. Cream butter and sugar with a fork until light.  Add the lemon extract if desired. Delicately add flour and dribble in the milk.  Knead the dough for a minute or two.  Press the dough into a lightly greased pan that has been sprinkled with sugar.  Prick the surface with a fork.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden.  Let cool for ten minutes, then loosen with a knife.  Invert the pan, cut into pieces, and serve.

Goddess in the Kitchen
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Shortbread
From the recipe book accompanying the thistle-decorated shortbread pan I received from Mom for Christmas 2001.  It’s a very light, flaky, sweet shortbread.

½ cup butter at room temperature
1/3 cup powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour

Cream the butter until it is light.  Cream in the powdered sugar, then the vanilla.  Now work in the flour.  Knead the dough on an unfloured board until nice and smooth.  Spray the shortbread pan very lightly with a non-stick spray.  Firmly press the dough into the shortbread pan.  Prick the entire surface with a fork and bake at 325°F for about 30-35 minutes or until lightly browned.  Let cool before you loosen the edges with a knife and flip the pan over onto a wooden cutting board.  If the shortbread sticks, tap one edge of the pan.  Cut the shortbread into serving pieces while it is still warm.

Brown Bag Cookie Art Shortbread Recipe Book

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Shortbread (or Burrebrede)
This is the first shortbread I made, from a book of medieval cookery.  It was Aunt Sis's annual Bay Fest and the theme was Robin Hood.  I adapted this recipe and made them as a treat for everyone.  Pretty good.  I don’t recall my changes and so include the recipe here, as is.

3 cups all-purpose unbleached white flour
½ cup superfine sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon powdered cardamon (I know I didn’t have this ingredient)
½ teaspoon powdered ginger (or this)
¾ teaspoon allspice (I imagine I used nutmeg)
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup butter at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Combine sugar, spices, and salt evenly.  Separate into two equal portions.
On strong, clean kneading surface, mix gently, by hand, one half the spice mixture into the flour.
Squeeze the butter in hands and bit by bit add spiced flour by working it into the butter on the board.  Take time to thoroughly integrate.
Press batter into 8” square shallow pan.
Scaore the surface to make “fingers” (2” x 1”) of shortbread.  Also make several shallow fork pricks on each finger.
With reserved spice mixture, evenly strew all cuts.
Bake 1 hour or less until firm and yellow, not brown.
Cool in pan; break into shortbread fingers and serve, tasking better several days old.  This keeps beautifully if stored in an airtight tin or wrapped in tinfoil.

Madeleine Pelnar Cosman, Fabulous Feasts: Medieval Cookery and Ceremony


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Almond Shortbread
A recipe from a docent, brought to the annual docent Christmas party.  Very good!  I added extra extract when I made these.  Better after a few days.

1 lb. unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
5 cups flour (or less—4 ½ cups works)
1 teaspoon almond extract
slivered almonds

Mix butter, sugar, flour, and extract.  Spread thinly on cookie sheet.  Score first and place an almond on each piece.  Bake at 350°F until lightly browned.

a docent

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Chocolate Shortbread
I first made that around the Christmas holidays, substituting regular sugar for the powdered.  It was a really spongy dough and the cookie itself actually rose.  I didn’t think I’d like the graininess, but I did, especially because the chocolate flavor was so good.  And then I lost the recipe and couldn’t find the ad (forgetting I’d typed it into the computer).  So I logged on to tasteofhome.com and posted an ISO on the forum.  I got several responses, including the second one below, which resembled the original (first one) and tasted just as good.  And so now I have two good shortbread recipes.  But don’t use a shortbread pan for these.  They cookies are too soft, at least until they cool completely.
1 dozen

¼ cup butter, softened
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup flour
¼ cup confectioner’s sugar
1-2 tablespoons baking cocoa

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter.  Add vanilla and mix well.  Combine flour, sugar, and cocoa; add to creamed mixture.  Beat until dough holds together, about 3 minutes.  Pat into a 9 x 4 inch rectangle.  Cut into 2 x 1 ½ inch strips.  Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.  Prick with a fork.  Bake at 300°F for 20-25 minutes or until set.  Cool for 5 minutes; remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Taste of Home ad

 
Alternate:  Chocolate Shortbread

1 cup butter
¾ cup confectioner’s sugar
1 ½ cup flour
few grains salt
1/3 cup cocoa

Heat oven to 300°F.  Soften butter to room temperature.  Cream butter until soft and fluffy.  Beat in sugar.  Stir in flour, salt, and cocoa, and mix well.  If very soft, chill in refrigerator for ½ hour.  Roll out dough ½” thick and cut into shapes.  Bake for 12-15 minutes.  Remove from oven, cool slightly and remove from pan.

Taste of Home internet forum


Chocolate Shortbread
From my shortbread book from Jessica’s Biscuit catalogue, this is a great recipe, very similar to Tex-Mex sheet cake but easier.

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
½ cup packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon almond extract
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup finely chopped almonds
1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 300°F.  Lightly butter an 8” round pan, preferably one with a removable bottom, or use an ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheet.
In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer on low speed or a wooden spoon, beat the butter until light in color, about 1 minute.  Mix in the brown sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, salt, and almond and vanilla extracts, and continue beating until the mixture is smooth.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Gradually mix in the almonds and flour until just combined.
Press the dough evenly into the pan, and use the back of a soup spoon to smooth the surface of the dough.  Or, pat the dough into an 8” round on the baking sheet and decoratively score or flute the edges.  Prick the dough attractively with a fork.
Bake in the center of the oven for about 45 minutes, or until set and firm to a light touch.  Place the pan on a wire rack and let the shortbread cool completely.  Transfer the shortbread from the pan to a cutting board.  With a sharp thin knife, cut into 12 wedges.
*To omit the nuts, add ¼ cup more flour.

Jann Johnson, Shortbread

Advent Activities: Pop! Goes the Cracker

As part of our busy weekend, about which I'll expound in a series of posts, we went to the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford.  I attended a lecture on New England historical foodways presented by Kathleen Fitzgerald and Keith Stavely, authors of Northern Hospitality.  They sought to revive understanding of 17th- and 18th-century Yankee cookery, which has been overwhelmed by 19th-century colonial revival favorites such as Boston brown bread and baked beans as well as clam chowder.  My favorite parts:  the slide-by-slide adaptation of historical recipes to a modern kitchen and the post-lecture tasting of plumb cake (fruit cake).  I'm looking forward to perusing their blog, which continues the recipe updating.

Meanwhile the kids explored the galleries, particularly enjoying the hands-on activities including an assembly line of mess kits, mock-up textile factory work, and a colonial play kitchen with hearth, table, and yoke with water buckets, their favorite part.  Mama was being quite the museum educator as she asked them to compare and contrast their morning at the Lego festival with their afternoon at a museum and then examined a wall of historical tavern signs and asked them, based on the signs, which inn they would choose.  Well done, Mama!  (Just please don't quit your day job!)

But best of all was the day's craft activity, which we actually arrived too late to participate in.  But,this being a small institution, the wonderful educator heard that we had missed it (by about 10 minutes) and generously let us do the craft.  She taught the kids how to make poppers, or English crackers, the tubes that go "pop" when pulled and release little trinkets and treats.  She chatted enthusiastically and encouragingly as they worked and the kids returned in kind, being even more voluble than usual.  We were so grateful and enjoyed it all immensely.

Merry Family Christmas!

Today my extended Texas family gathers for their annual holiday fest, with barbecue, caroling, and lots of laughter.  Have a wonderful day, y'all! 

Advent Activity: Candlelight Continued

From Mama's smartphone:

Advent Activity: Evening by Candlelight

At Old Sturbridge Village (from my smartphone):

Advent Activity: BINGO!

We're off to a great start with our Advent Activities socks this morning, the kids rushing down to find out what we were going to do today.  Which is why I was playing bingo at 7:05 a.m. today!  I made the game with a stamp set I had purchased, giving it a Christmas theme.  Oddly, each card has every stamp--24 in all!--just in a different order.  It was a long game, but the kids seemed to mind losing less than they would if they'd not been able to cover each selected picture.  But, obviously, you can't play blackout.  Maybe I'll design smaller cards so there's a bit more variety.  Still, it was a win-win morning and a great way to start December.

The Welcome Mat

It was a good day; it was a not-good day.  I had friends over; I had extra aches and pains.  The friends were great fun, gathering for a moms' morning coffee similar to our playgroup mornings of old.  The discomfort came on gradually in the morning and increased, spasms in my glutes and tightness all around.  The weather?  My cycle?  Just because?  Who knows.  (Not any of my specialists, that's for sure.)

And so instead of going to Daisies this afternoon, I stayed in bed crying and trying to regain some of my usual equilibrium (realizing that my mental suffering about the physical pain was the real problem here, but it had been awhile since I'd had a day like this and it was like an unexpected punch in the gut), while Mama took Sis (and Bud) and pinch hit for me in making chocolate-covered pretzels with the troop.  Curled up in bed, stressing about missing Daisies and worrying about messing up our upcoming plans and fretting over how I felt, I listened to a CD I'd gotten a few weeks ago, Mindfulness Meditation for Pain Relief.  After taking my go-to meds.  Of course, I know some mindfulness techniques for addressing pain, such as those from How to Be Sick, but I was really rather hoping that the soothing calm of Jon Kabat-Zinn's voice would help put me to sleep.  And it did, little bits at a time (valium helps).

I liked the CD:  the notion of rolling out the welcome mat for "intense sensations" because, well, they're already there; realizing that if you are breathing, more is right with your body than wrong (perspective, no?); conceiving of pain by another phrase, like "intense sensation," can lessen its hold on you; the statement "your awareness of pain is not in pain; your awareness of sadness is not sad."  There were also the familiar breathing exercises and body scan from Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), but also an exercise where you embrace yourself with loving kindness, including your fears and thoughts.  There's more, but I wasn't taking notes.

Yep, it's Buddhism in secular robes, made more accessible to the American masses.  And like my Buddhist practices, it works.  Even on more challenging days like these.

And, yes, I'm feeling better already.

Comments Again

Okay, I'm still having lots of trouble with the comments registration.  If I put comments on Google ID, some people can't get them to work, even with a Gmail account.  If I put comments on Open ID, other people can't comment.  Sigh.  I don't want to enable anonymous comments, so let's see if the current setting works.  Again.