Tea and Cake and Sympathy

Been a quiet couple of days around here.  Mama back at work; kids back at school.  Chores to do but not much else.  So I sit and drink my favorite Taylor's of Harrogate Rose tea in my new-to-me "vintage" 1988 Japanese Shafford creamware teapot and my NYC Starbuck's mug, both of which I got this weekend.




And notice that my sweet couch buddy, who kept me company everyday after my surgery, is gone.

Thankfully, Mama Teacher came for a visit today and we had a wonderful, comforting chat . . . and cake!  This delicious Orange Marmalade Cake from the NYTimes (I'll grab the recipe another time.)  It was even better than the Orange Poundcake I like so much (that was definitely fine, dense poundcake; this was coarse, buttery yellow cake.)  It was great to try the cake and have such a good friend with whom to share it.  A recipe for healing, for sure.


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Orange Marmalade Cake
adapted from the NYTimes (I changed the zests)

2/3 cup coarse-cut orange marmalade, divided (though plain ol’ Smuckers Sweet Orange Marmalade is what I had and it worked)

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus 1/2 tablespoon for glaze

¾ cup granulated sugar 

2 ½ teaspoons orange zest

3 large eggs, at room temperature

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour 

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder 

¾ teaspoon fine sea salt 

4 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.

Beat together softened butter, sugar, and orange zest until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Beat in 1/3 cup marmalade and the orange juice.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Fold dry ingredients into wet until just combined. 

Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake until surface of cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer pan to a wire rack.

Cool 10 minutes; turn cake out of pan and place on rack right-side up. Place a rimmed baking sheet under rack to catch the glaze. 

GLAZE:

Heat remaining 1/3 cup marmalade in a small pot over low heat until melted; whisk in confectioners’ sugar and 1/2 tablespoon butter until smooth. Slather warm glaze over top of cake, allowing some to drizzle down the sides. Cool completely before slicing. 

Delicious Dinners

Our friends have been so generous with meals.  We have been gifted with more than 21 weekdays of dinners!!  That's more than four weeks that we don't have to worry about shopping and cooking, which take so much energy.  It's so very kind of my friends--friends from old and new church, the neighborhood, Girl Scouts, and my old playgroup; knowing they're thinking of and helping us means so much.

And the food has been pretty good!  Sure, it's a lot of pasta, but we really like pasta and it's easy because it reheats well and can last for a couple of days.  I've taken batches of baked spaghetti or ziti to dozens of people myself (for the last 8 or 9 years, beginning when all my friends started having second children!)  And they're bringing dinner in disposable or non-returnable dishes which makes it so easy (otherwise, I'll inadvertently never return the right casserole dish.)  It's funny how many vegetables we're NOT getting.  A bag salad once or so, and a few roasted vegetables, but otherwise, we get a lot more bread and dessert.  I usually take a bag salad (plus bread and dessert, sometimes a bag of oranges or clementines), unless I make the pasta with the broccoli in it, but I'm starting to rethink that--I'm not sure people really eat bag salad.  I wonder what else I could take?  My roasted vegetables (green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, kale, butternut squash, or brussel sprouts) just don't travel or reheat well.  Hmmm, will give it some thought.  

So a HUGE thank you to all of my local cooking friends, especially Miss B who organized the meals through the meal-sharing website our group always uses.  

For my own meal sharing tips and recipes, see here. 


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I'll add meals as they come.  This week:  meatloaf, French lentil stew, a TBD slow cooker meal, and a lemon chicken bow tie pasta dish.

Miss BA's Turkey Meatballs

It’s my chicken meatball recipe & I think I put one piece of pork sausage in yours, (took it out of the casein).

It differs every time, but here is the basic recipe.

1 lb of chicken

½ cup of parmesan cheese

½ cup of bread crumbs

2 cloves of garlic

½ tsp. salt

2 tbsp. grape seed oil (or olive  oil)

2 tsp. oregano (I usually use Emeril’s Italian  dry mix)

1 egg

And a trick my father in-law taught me to keep the meatballs round, roll them lightly in flour before putting them in the hot oil.

Miss LS's Turkey and Fixin's

"As to the gravy, I use lots of herbs on the turkey itself, so the drippings make amazing gravy. Sometimes I use apple or lemon in the cavity, but I used celery this time. Also sage, rosemary, and paprika on the turkey skin. I can take no credit for the stuffing--it's the only one we could find without chicken stock, organic, too. The veggies were cooked together with butter and basil paste from the produce section. It comes in a tube and is expensive when not on sale, but a great time saver and the kids love it, so we stock up at sale time. The trick to them is all in the size of the cut on each one. Squash has to be pretty large to avoid the mush. We like them close to raw, so I tend to err on that side. I'm sure you'll be cooking again soon!"

Miss JD's Lasagna

 "For the sauce I just roast tomatoes, garlic, onion, with some seasonings...salt, pepper, basil, oregano,  for about 45 min at 375...then I just mash all together with a potato masher...I like it chunky but you can certainly puree if you like it creamier.  

The lasagna is just ricotta and mozzarella and I added spinach ....I always wing making lasagna...never comes out the same.  Sorry I don't have a "real" recipe."

Miss RZ's Butternut Squash Soup

coming soon

Miss PD's Ricotta Dumplings

For dumplings

1 pound whole-milk ricotta, drained

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving, if desired

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 eggs

Baking powder

1½ cup flour, sifted

Kosher salt

For sauce

1 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup pecans, roasted

1 cup diced pumpkin, roasted, or 1 cup frozen cubed butternut squash, defrosted

1 tablespoon thinly sliced sage leaves

Freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a simmer over medium heat.

Combine ricotta, parmesan, lemon zest, olive oil and eggs in a large bowl. Fold in a pinch of baking 

powder, flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt untnil just combined. Transfer mixture into a piping bag or large 

zip-top bag (with one corner cut off to make a quarter-sized opening). Pipe out 1 inch of dough and 

cut with a knife or kitchen shears directly over the water. Repeat until bag is empty. You also can 

roll it out by hand -- it makes for a prettier dumpling.

Cook dumplings for about 1 minute on each side. Drain and set aside.

In separate saute pan, heat butter and pecans over medium heat until butter starts to brown, about

 2 minutes. Add cooked dumplings, pumpkin (or butternut squash) and sage. Season with salt 

and pepper.

Serve with more pecans and parmesan.

Serves 4.

-- Adapted from Janine Booth and Jeff McInnis, Root & Bone, New York City 

Miss LL's Quinoa Stuffed Peppers 

In Freezer Bag:

3 large carrots, grated (about 1 ½ cups)

2 tbsp Wildtree Roasted Garlic Grapeseed Oil

1 ½ tbsp Wildtree Cajun Seasoning Blend

1 tbs Wildtree Garlic Galore

1 package fresh spinach (or frozen), 10 oz

2 cans black beans, 15 oz, drained and rinsed

¾ cup quinoa, rinsed

1 can diced tomatoes, 14.5 oz, drained

1 ½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

2 cups water

At cooking time:

4 large (or 6 small) bell peppers, any color, halved lengthwise, ribs and seeds removed

1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese

Combine all ingredients in a gallon size freezer bag, “smush” to allow seasonings to distribute.  Place bag in freezer.

To prepare: Thaw in fridge.  Pour bag contents in large skillet, cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 20 – 25 minutes or until quinoa is tender. Preheat oven to 350. Stir in 1 cup cheese, and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Fill each pepper with quinoa mixture, and place in a baking dish with ¼ cup water in the bottom of the dish. Cover with foil, and bake 1 hour. Uncover, sprinkle each pepper with remaining cheese. Bake an additional 10 minutes, or until the cheese is brown and bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes. 

Miss R's Meatloaf
She uses the pre-made meatloaf from the Big Y butchers!!!  And bakes it with sweet barbecue sauce.  Yum!

Miss Jen's Turkey Meatball Orzo Soup

• ground turkey
• egg
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small white onion, peeled and diced
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 1 cup diced celery
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 1/2 cups (about 8 ounces) orzo
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 4 cups loosely-packed spinach
• salt and black pepper

Combine ground turkey and egg.  Make into little meatballs by hand.

Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute for 4 minutes, until soft. Add carrots, celery and garlic and saute for an additional 3 minutes. Add meatballs, chicken stock, orzo (pasta), thyme, oregano, rosemary and stir to combine. Bring soup to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is al dente.

Stir in the spinach and cook for 1-2 minutes until it is bright green and wilted. Season with salt and black pepper to taste (if needed). Serve warm.

adapted from Gimme Some Oven

Miss LC's Creamy Lemon Chicken Bow Tie Pasta

• 12 oz dried pasta
• 2 chicken breasts, sliced into small strips (uncooked or precooked)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 tsp dried Basil
• 1 lemon, juiced (or if you use bottled lemon juice, use whatever is equivalent to 1 lemon.  I originally recommended 1/2 cup, but different lemon juices may be more concentrated...)
• 1 cup of half n half or heavy cream
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus a bit more to top the dish after cooking
• Salt and pepper
• additional adobo and sazon, for flavor
• 1 cup of reserved pasta cooking liquid
• 1 tsp of cornstarch (if needed)

1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water.  When draining the pasta, reserve about a cup of the pasta cooking liquid.  Keep pasta warm. (To keep the pasta from sticking together after cooking, you can mix in about 1 tsp of olive oil.)
2. While the pasta is cooking, season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet over medium high and add 3 tablespoons of olive oil, chicken, garlic to a saute pan with. Cook until chicken is golden and completely cooked. (If using precooked chicken, saute the garlic about 3 minutes before adding the chicken, then cook a minute or to longer until the chicken is thoroughly coated and hot.)
3. Add about 1/2 cup of pasta cooking liquid, lemon juice, Parmesan cheese and cream to the chicken mixture.  Cook over medium heat until the sauce has thickened.  If you want a little more cream sauce, add the rest of the reserved pasta cooking liquid.  (If you want your cream sauce thicker, add a tsp of corn starch to 2 tablespoons of water and mix into the sauce.  Continue cooking until desired thickness is achieved.)
4. Add the cooked pasta to the skillet and turn heat off.  Mix everything together until pasta is thoroughly coated.  Top with dried basil, cracked fresh pepper and additional Parmesan cheese.

Serve and Enjoy!

adapted from Scattered Thoughts from a Crafty Mom

Miss KMc's Chicken and Broccoli Pasta

I'm so glad they liked it! It is a huge hit in my house too
Ingredients: a lb of chicken,3/4 lb of pasta, 1 tablespoon of oil, 2 tbsp of butter, garlic to taste (I don't use too much as my kids will get suspicious if they smell it), 1 chicken bouillon cube, chopped onions (again I only use a little- not even a quarter of onion),1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup of heavy cream, 3/4 cup milk, 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, scallions and 2 bunches of broccoli crowns.
Heat the oil and butter with the garlic. Add the cut up chicken and cook on medium until browned.
Remove the chicken but leave the oil.
Add the onion and cook for about 3-5 minutes.
Add the crumbled up bouillon cube and water.
Bring to a boil for 5 minutes.
Stir in the cream, milk, finely chopped scallions and Parmesan. Simmer until heated through and thickened then add the chicken back to the sauce.
Cook the pasta- I add the broccoli in the last 5 minutes. Then drain and mix all together!
Enjoy!!

Whew!

What a wonderful, exhausting, frustrating, fun first 24 hours.

• Kids' Service Team event.  The kids' service team is a great combo of community building and helping others.  We shared pizza, salad, and brownies at church, and then the kids made fleece blankets and the adults tried their hands at knitting.  Sis and a few of her friends joined us and we practiced casting on and knitting . . . and fixing our mistakes.  I learned a few new techniques--the one needle cast-on, how to prevent curling edges in an all-knit piece by dropping the first stitch of each row, how to rework dropped stitches with a crochet hook (over-under, over-under), and how to pull stitches off a needle and put them back on (very carefully, making sure stitches are facing the right way)--with the help of one of the experts.  It was all fun.  But now I have a scarf to finish!  
• Ice skating!
• Kung fu!
• Cookie booth--oh, the stories I could tell.  And so I will.  Of course, the GS cookie booth troubles started a couple of weeks ago when the store that had agreed to host several troops selling cookies changed their minds and we all had to scramble for new times and places and reschedule everybody!  Then today, we our people showed up at a different store, they said we weren't supposed to be there, though we had registered and our contact was on her way to smooth it over.  Well, don't mess with Cookie Moms!  And so we stayed put.  Until we had to move--our shifts were split between two stores because of the aforementioned schedule change.  THEN, a GS mom stationed at the store we'd just been at came over and harassed us for being at our store, saying we were competing with them and ruining their sales and that wasn't supposed to happen (though, there had been another troop at the store all morning--the troop of an older sister of one of our girls.) It happens every year.  EVERY Year.  Novice.  Again, don't mess with Cookie Moms!  But all of our girls worked their shifts, even in the cold, and we sold 40 cases of cookies, which is excellent.  We are very proud of our troop and very grateful to all of our volunteers.
• The VAGINA Monologues:  Our old church sponsored a fundraiser reading of the Eve Ensler play this evening and I went with a bunch of friends, who first gathered for dinner together.  Veggie lasagna, salad, garlic bread, flourless chocolate cake, and almond cake.  Yum!  And the show, oh, the show was amazing.  I'm ashamed to admit, as both a feminist and a lesbian, that I had never seen it.  But this production was perfect because I knew 95% of the cast, from old church and around town, and there they were saying things like vagina, cum, cunt, orgasm, hair, coochie snorcher, folds, clit, lips, wet, etc etc outloud in public!  And talking about rapes in Kosovo, female genital mutilation, repression, and even dry cotton tampons and cold duck lip specula!  We laughed riotously--at the Angry Vagina and the dominatrix who curated moans of her female clients (and demonstrated several of them, like the WASP moan and the exhausted Zen moan!)--and sighed at the "cellar" and "tulip" and lack of self-awareness (and cheered at the painful, glorious discovery of such), and choked up at the memories of violence.  It really was a wonderful evening.  So proud of the cast of wonderful, talented women, and of the UU church community that brought them together to benefit a women's outreach center nearby.  Well-done!  (It was also great to see so many old church friends, whom I miss often.  Took me awhile to hug my way out the door.  Haven't felt that much love and support and energy in a space, like that, since lesbian coffeehouse in Chicago.)
• I got home to discover that my BIL had been called back to work a hospital shift tonight.  He was with the kiddos and his sis for about an hour.  They were very sorry to see him go and quite subdued when I got home.  We know he'll try again soon and we'll have a good time and besides . . . . . 
• It looks like the weather is turning ugly earlier tomorrow than we expected, with anywhere from 1-6" coming (depending on whom you believe) plus ice, and so it is probably best that he won't be on the road tomorrow night.
• And so we'll see what tomorrow brings weather-wise, along with church, Soup Sunday, and the arts and crafts party.

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Solo Almond Bundt Cake

Almond Glaze Topping
1 cup confectioners sugar
1⁄4 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoon light cream

Cake
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 1⁄4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
3  eggs
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 can Solo Almond Cake and Pastry Filling or 1 jar of any other fruit filling
1⁄4 cup milk

Chocolate Glaze Topping (no chocolate on the one at church)
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoon Dutch-process cocoa
1⁄2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoon buttermilk or low-fat milk

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour 10-inch tube pan or 12-cup Bundt pan and set aside. Beat butter and granulated sugar in large bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in almond filling until blended. Stir flour, baking powder, and salt until mixed. Add to almond mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.  Beat until blended. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on rack. To make glaze, combine ingredients in small bowl, and stir until blended and smooth. Spoon or drizzle over top of cake. Let stand until glaze is set. Or top with fresh fruit and whipped cream!

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Catching Up

Advent
For whatever reason, we have fallen behind in our daily Advent Activities.  I don't know if it's because we are distracted by and focused on the new cats (more on that in a bit), or because we have lots of activities--cookie decorating with GS troop at senior center, piano performance at nursing home, Piano Guys concert, various office parties, two friends' birthday parties, birthday lunch at German restaurant with visit to British grocery store, our annual cookie decorating party, and other things, plus are regularly scheduled activities.

Cats
We've had first contact!  We couldn't tempt the new boys upstairs after we locked up our original cats last night, so we let our cats visit them in the basement.  We were ready with treats, which worked very well--Albus and Hermione approached Mojito, but nothing happened as they all munched away. Later, Hermione and Mojito hissed a bit at each other, but separated.  Mojito even went to eat while Hermione was still hanging around.  We ended it soon after, since it had been pretty promising.  And no one seemed the worse for the wear last night or this morning--no hiding, no litterbox accidents, no obvious stress.  We'll try again.  We realize the basement isn't the best place for them to live, but under the circumstances, Mojito (Mojo) and Patron (Tabby or Petro) are pretty lucky.  And it is temporary.

Colonial Lecture
I gave that lecture to a local AAUW (American Association of University Women) chapter last weekend.  And it went really well!  My light beige body sock arrived the day before so that I didn't feel quite so exposed in my chemise.  'Cos I started out in nothing more than my shift, which is a very flimsy nightgown (and would've been used as such), and stockings.  I then tied on garters, slipped on my leather Merrills (the most obvious anachronistic bit I have--reproduction colonial shoes are too expensive for my needs), and kept going.  A volunteer helped me lace up my stays/corset, skipping every other hole to make it go faster--she used my spiral bobbin to help thread it (the spirals help twist the bobbin through.)  Then pockets, petticoats, bodice, cap.  They couldn't believe how many clothes I had on--are you hot?  can you breathe?  can you bend?  I'm pretty comfortable in my colonial clothes, even the corset, which is a nice brace for my back.  I spoke a bit about the development of the corset as a foundation for heavy petticoats and as a way to achieve the straight silhouette they desired (their clothes were much more fitted than now, tight, and so you really get these amazing lines, esp if you have wide skirts, a bum roll or panniers, an early side hoop.)  Since it's all cotton--the other main anachronism, for it would've been mainly wool, linen, or a combo linsy-woolsey here--I don't get as hot as I could (though I get warm faster than usual), and, of course, now the historic house has AC and heat; it would've been so much colder in the 18th century and you would've needed the wool, quilted petticoats, and numerous layers.  The talk was short, only about 20 minutes, and I could've covered a lot more.  I would definitely do it again, longer and more detailed. And when I changed back into my civvies, I just felt ordinary again.  I like the way I feel, physically (the corset, the change in how I move--sit, walk, even gesture) and mentally (i.e. thinking about the past, getting a different perspective.)  Regular clothes just don't do that for me (mind you, if I wore colonial clothes more often, I probably wouldn't feel that way anymore, either.)

Birthday Celebrations
Mama set up this great present for me--a Lyve app that allows me to manipulate all the digital photos we have in chronological order, updates any of our new photos, let's me share them.  So, I can look back on all the photos we've taken on my birthday through the years.  Or, look at all the photos in a month or year.  And she bought this digital frame that scrolls through them.  Right now, there are pictures of us at Mystic Seaport going past.

Mama went into work late so we could all have breakfast together--egg sandwiches she fetched from the deli!--and treats (yummy pastries from a special bakery she'd snuck home.)  Sis had hung up a birthday sign telling me I was awesome.  Feeling lots of love from my family today.

And family and friends, far and wide.  Gommie, Aunt Banana, and Lambeth and Mrs. Lambeth have called--it definitely sets the day apart and makes me feel special.  And several of my local friends came over for coffee and cake this morning, bringing treats to share (and some gifts, though I had said not to, which was sweet and appreciated.)  We chatted for two hours, having not gotten together in awhile.  I never get to talk to everyone as much as I'd like, but they're all interesting and seemed to enjoy getting to know each other (there are definitely different spheres, like a Venn Diagram of my life, and they crossed over today.)  I even played a few songs on the piano to show off my new skills!

Tonight, Mama and I are going to a big holiday party and tomorrow we're meeting up with my in-laws to do holiday things.  And Sunday, the kids have another piano performance.  So, all in all, a very special birthday.

The Old Guard

It was the mixing of the old playgroup, in part, and new friends at a Lunar New Year celebration today.  I rarely see the friend who hosted the party anymore--her children go to a different school--after almost five years of weekly encounters.  The same with most of my old playgroup--we might run into each other at the store or at extra-curricular activities, but nothing matches the intensity of the toddler years.  So it was delightful to spend time with some of them (not nearly all and I missed the ones who would have been there if it had been a playgroup.)  And, while we greeted the others and even conversed (some even knew each other!), we congregated together, catching up . . . . while eating wonderful food, as usual (indeed, my fourth post ever mentioned all of the food)!

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Hello Ladies----
It was so great to see everyone today, thank you so much for such a lovely afternoon.  Here is a link to the cake recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Flourless-Chocolate-Cake-14478

The only thing I would say is that when it calls for wax paper I would use a layer of parchment instead (with the buttered parchment layer on top of it), I don't think it's great to bake with wax paper. 

Anyway, I felt fed on many different levels today, so great to catch up with you all!  

xoxoxoxo

Flourless Chocolate Cake
4 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened)
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus additional for sprinkling
Accompaniment if desired: Coconut Lime Sorbet
preparation
Preheat oven to 375°F and butter an 8-inch round baking pan. Line bottom with a round of wax paper and butter paper.
Chop chocolate into small pieces. In a double boiler or metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate with butter, stirring, until smooth. Remove top of double boiler or bowl from heat and whisk sugar into chocolate mixture. Add eggs and whisk well. Sift 1/2 cup cocoa powder over chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined. Pour batter into pan and bake in middle of oven 25 minutes, or until top has formed a thin crust. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes and invert onto a serving plate.
Dust cake with additional cocoa powder and serve with sorbet if desired. (Cake keeps, after being cooled completely, in an airtight container, 1 week.)

Month of Gratitude: A "New" Friend

Today I am very grateful for my friendship with Karen, of Sew and Sow Life.  We have only known each other online, though through a mutual friend, but have been reading each other's blog and FB updates for years now.

And today we met in person, for lunch--you can guess where!  Yes, Bloodroot was the perfect place.

I'm still smiling with the warmth and connection of the almost-three hour lunch (yes, we both can talk!  I think I did more than my fair share.)  I really really enjoyed meeting her in person and look forward to more connections in person and, in between, online.

And so, Karen, thank you so much for being the wonderful you I've come to know.  Thank you also for the lovely sachet, a delightful, homemade piece of your "little bit of earth."  The picture below doesn't do it justice, but I thought you'd like it better than something staged.

Until we meet again . . . hopefully sooner rather than later.

Albus loves the woodsy scent (and the string! No worries, I got it away in time.)  

It's a Small World

Ever since I saw the NPR bit on Texas homecoming mums, I've been nostalgic for high school and college and my days in Chicago.  And, with the help of FB, I actually located some of the friends I've been most curious about.  They all said they'd been looking for me years ago but gave up with no luck.  Well, one friend connection led to another, and I found several of them:

• the boy who sat at my table in kindergarten and was in class with me through senior year;
• the boy who was good friends with the boy from kindergarten and whose mom threw great New Year's parties; I went with him to homecoming--and wore one of those big mums (though, they were smaller then);
• the girl who sat behind me in English seminar, who liked theater and football;
• my fraternity (APO, the service org) sister and college roommate in sophomore year;
• a fellow officer in said APO who was an education major;
• a few other APO members;
• my boss at the museum in Chicago;
• and five or six other Chicago museum colleagues.

It's been fun connecting with them all, catching up.  Many are married; many of them have kids, but not all.  Most look pretty much the same--more grey, less hair.  

And then Gommie called me from Austin.  Someone had called out to her at the farmer's market.  And it was that boy from kindergarten through high school, who recognized her, saying she hadn't changed at all.  

The very same week we became friends on FB after 25+ years.  

Fruity-licious

Going to a coffee morning with some of my dear playgroup friends today, but I didn't bake.  I'm thinking of taking fruit and a dip--caramel and apples and/or fruit and one of these creamy, sweet dip.  Sure, fruit this time of year doesn't need dip, but it's a special gathering and these are all yummy.  Now I just have to choose.

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Sour Cream and Cinnamon Fruit Dip

Using Penzey’s cinnamon makes this an almost spicy dip, which I first served for Applepalooza 2008.

8 oz. carton (1 c.) dairy sour cream

2 tbsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

Combine in a small bowl. Cover. Refrigerate 1 to 2 hours to blend flavors. Serve with fresh fruit (1 cup).

cooks.com

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Mama Teacher's Famous Fruit Dip

I love, love, love this dip.  And finally got the recipe for it on the last day of the year 2008!

2-6 oz containers Yoplait Light Yogurt, Very Vanilla

2 tablespoons fat free cream cheese

1 teaspoon cinnamon

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine all ingredients.  Heat for 45 seconds in microwave.  Stir an dmicrowave an additional 40 seconds.  Serve with fruit for dipping.

Mama Teacher

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Patricia’s Fruit Dip

I tried my first nectarine with this dip—and now I like nectarines a lot!  From that trip to San Antonio with my friend Sharon.

8 oz. block of cream cheese, softened

1 jar (16 oz.) marshmallow cream

            Blend and chill.

my college roommate