Advent Activity: Cookie Party

So, Friday was our annual cookie decorating party, where the kids invite some of their friends over after school to play and decorate sugar cookies.  Sis and I had spent most of Thursday night making dough, cutting cookies, and baking them off.  The first batch--of 6+ dozen!--was tough and seemed to foretell difficulty work ahead--everything stuck and the dough kept tearing when we tried to transfer them to sheets for baking.  I have lots of tricks up my apron strings to remedy that and we even managed to save the very first batch.  So, that's 75 sugar cookies and about 60 small gingerbread pieces.  See, I had this new cookie cutter that made all the pieces for a mini-house in one cut.  Unfortunately, the dough we used--frozen from IKEA--was not great, in that it puffed and then shrank, distorting the pre-made house shapes.  Still, it's a great cutter and we'll try again with a better batch of gingerbread dough.  

Friday, their bus arrived home early and soon their were eight screaming fourth graders and one exuberant first grader (our little bus mate from down the street, whose grandparents didn't meet her off the bus on time because it was early so we just invited her into the party, with their permission when they finally arrived.)  They built their houses, ran around outside for a long time (it was a relatively warm day for December in CT), decorated their houses, ran around again playing Zombie tag and other things, decorated some cookies, snacked on Chex Mix, Smart Corn, and homemade hot chocolate, and then decided to go caroling!

They all have the same music teacher and know the same versions of the same songs, so after a little practice, they headed off to various obliging neighbors' houses, where they sang and danced to "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and "Jingle Bells." It really was quite precious.  We even got all the way down to the 5th-grade teacher's house--yes, Miss K--but she was still at work!  So they sang for her husband and daughter instead.  It really was a marvelous addition to the party--better even that it was their idea--and I'll probably make it more official next year (meaning only I'll tell them all to wear real coats, which they weren't yesterday--and they were in pajama pants for dress-down day at school!)

Soon parents arrived and whisked their cold, sugar-ed up, and merry kids home for the start of their own holiday vacation.

The first graders's model of how to build the house.

Sis's house.  I told her she seemed confused about which holiday it was!

This one turned out the most stable and well built.

It was dress-down day at school so they're all in pajama pants!

Advent Activities: Holiday Party

For the fourth year in a row, we have all gone to the children's holiday party at Mama's office. And, as usual, it was a delightful affair. Lots of activities for the kids, including 3-D paper gingerbread houses to decorate with stickers, foam gingerbread people ornaments, gingerbread house placemats to decorate with stickers, a gingerbread man beaded necklace, a large cardboard gingerbread playhouse to color, and best of all, our all-time favorite party activity, cookie decorating! (Yes, the theme was gingerbread, on a day that I had helped construct the bases off 80 gingerbread houses for the kindergarteners to decorate next week!) Not gingerbread but it mattered not at all to Sis or Bud who carefully painted rainbow-colored royal icing on angels, trees, stars, and snowmen, and then decorously applied sprinkles (as opposed to the so-called shotgun approach they've used in previous years, when the decorations were twice as thick as the cookie!). They had their picture taken with Santa, warily, but gladly hugged the walking snowman (but not the walking gingerbread man). And we all ate and ate and ate: dino nuggets, fried macaroni and cheese (!), hot artichoke dip, a delicious pesto/cream cheese/pine nut layered torte with amazing 7-grain fusilli bread, plus brownies, cookies, cake, and lots of fruit. We hadn't really had lunch and didn't need dinner. And like previous years, they didn't fall asleep on the winding way home, instead waving their glow-in-the-dark party-favor wands, our own glowing Rudolphs in the backseat.

Advent Activities: Gingerbread Houses

'Tis the season for making gingerbread houses, real or graham cracker. And yesterday the kids made both. Sis went to her second gingerbread house tea party, the event that occasioned so much sadness for Bud last year, this time for her Daisy troop. But I was prepared this time and supplied Bud, his friend, and their babysitter with gingerbread house kits and the same snacks the Daisies would have for their own party. Both were a success. I mean, how can you go wrong with candy, frosting, and rice krispie treats??

Our Holiday Express

We had a great Christmas at Ma and Gong's house, along with Goo. We spent Saturday morning atthe New York Botanical Garden, where we saw the Holiday Express Train Show. 140 famous New York landmarks (thanks for finding the list, Mama!) constructed of natural materials such as bark, leaves, seeds, and flowers, were surrounded by living plants and, best of all, several running train lines. Bud and Sis were fascinated, mostly with the trains and bridges overhead, while we adults admired the craftsmanship of the various and sundry buildings. Bud and Sis did like Yankee Stadium, about the only NY building they vividly remember. My favorites included the Van Cortlandt Manor, with its little twiggy porch, and Olana, with its amazing architectural detail. There were also several houses I'd never heard of--the Old Stone House, Kings Manor, and several 17th- and 18th-century NY structures. The newest building was a replica of the old Penn Station, a gigantic reproduction of the Beaux-Art building.

Once we'd walked around the train show twice, we headed over to the special Thomas the Tank Engine show, which turned out to be not so special. They were obviously set up for crowds, with lots of space for lines, and not much else. First stop, they write your name on a certificate. Second stop, pictures with Sir Topham Hatt (or not. Kids don't like characters. We won't be going to DisneyWorld anytime soon). Lastly, you got to see Thomas. Thomas himself was a small--half-life sized version, not nearly as impressive as the real working steam engine Thomas that we'd seen at Day Out with Thomas. Even the kids noticed and were underwhelmed. So we took a photo or two and headed to the holiday-themed Gingerbread Adventures, which was fantastic. There were several stations, including a places to grind and experiment with the different ingredients of gingerbread, mainly cloves, cinnamon, wheat, and of course ginger. They even got to plant their own wheat grass. And then we went to a special cookie demo, including another discussion of gingerbread ingredients (during which Sis volunteered several of the answers!) which ended with the kids decorating their own gingersnaps (which then Sis undecorated to eat plain). We made a quick stop at the shop, for postcards and books about the trains, plus some Chocopologie chocolate with rose and also with salted caramel, we snagged at the register.

Off to dim sum we went, Sis's personal (and repeated) request. And boy did she eat! Numerous custard buns and don tot. And she watched: everytime a woman with a pushcart went by, Sis's head would turn almost all the way around as she evaluated the offerings. More than once she asked Gong to find one of her favorites at the stations along one wall. She's got dim sum down. Bud loved the shumai. We think he had 8 of them, which he impaled on a chopstick and ate in the round, as did Sis. Mama was incredulous until Ma said that she head eaten them the exact same way as a child. We ate and ate and ate. Sauteed greens, bacon-wrapped shrimp, tripe with turnips, scallion pancakes, bbq pork buns, noodles with chicken, ha chung or shrimp crepe things (Mama's favorite!), waterchestnut cakes. Then desserts, always my favorite: coconut custard cubes, almond dofu with fruit, green sesame seed paste buns, custard buns, lotus seed paste buns, brown sugar cakes, mango dofu. And I had a pearl tapioca coconut bubble tea! Can you say stuffed to the gills? The kids even fell asleep on the way home, which is unheard of these days.

But not for long because second Christmas beckoned. We had to do a few things before we could open presents, including decorating Ma's tree with piles of Hallmark ornaments, a collection she's been growing for years, and the candy canes we'd brought specifically for that purpose. In Mama's family, all gifts are distributed to the recipients, with a pile growing by each person; then everyone opens kind of simultaneously (well, for the kids anyway). In fact, they usually exchanged all the presents Christmas Eve, staying up until the wee hours of the morning playing with the new toys. Mama remembers just falling asleep amid her loot as she played! Sis received two Barbie dolls and Bud got a humongous remote-controlled car (yes, gender stereotypes are alive and well with the grandparents, but protesting has no effect and so is no longer even attempted. Besides the kids were thrilled. And both Mama and I had Barbies. And nothing as cool as Vet Barbie. And we survived. Neither one of us had such a car and the only downside there is that it will be an outdoor only toy. It's that big). The kids played and played and played ("Yook, Mommy, I got a Swyinky!").

And played and played and played. Then it was dinner (with the Bread Pudding I brought) and Bud was so wiped that he excused himself . . . to go to bed! Sis followed about 15 minutes later. We were shocked. But then they didn't sleep. And played and played and played. At one point, I popped my head in their space (in the living room, which is pretty much its own contained room) and they were both standing up sprinkling torn of tissue "snow" on their critters singing, "Oh, I wish it would snow!" (from the storytelling we heard at the Pequot last week, from Rabbit's Wish for Snow). I thought it was funny and endearing so instead of chastising them, I beckoned everyone else to watch! And they played and played and played. We finally had to insist on their trying to sleep as it got closer to 11:30. It's the latest they've ever stayed up.

And they still woke up at 6:30 a.m. The least amount of sleep they've ever gotten. But then, I guess, that's partly what the holidays are for. Sunday found the adults conferring about our planned trip into midtown to see the Rockefeller Tree and other traditional stops on our holiday tour: Teuscher's Chocolates, the Sak windows, the Cathedral with its creche, and, of course, FAO Schwarz. But the windchill was below zero, with some snow showers expected. That's not just uncomfortable weather; that can be dangerous. So we opted to cancel the field trip and stay home, much to the kids' delight. They played more and then decided they wanted to go outside. They ran Bud's car in the driveway, not noticing the cold that was driving the adults to distraction. Then Sis wanted to walk to the beach. The beach! (Ma and Gong live 9 houses from the Atlantic). And we said yes. So we quickly hauled down the street and walked on the frozen sand--frozen sand!--and looked at all the seashells no one has been picking up (there were lots that had washed onshore, including two huge complete horseshoe crabs). There was neither snow on the sand nor ice in the water, but the wind was bitter. We rushed back home.

And decorated a gingerbread house, complete with tree and people (from another kind of kit, which comes with a special base that the gingerbread fits in--neat idea, really mediocre pre-mixed icing). And then we made the Christmas tree kit that we'd brought, along with lots of extra candy. Everyone had fun decorating what I think was our fourth or fifth set of gingerbread this year (we now have a village, complete with lighthouse, on our front porch! Not including these new ones which we left in NY).

Lunch, more playing, and then exhaustion and more snow arrived. It was time to go home. The kids were bereft and hard to wrangle in the car, even more upset when we dropped Goo off at his house, which sadness made for a long drive home--because Sis didn't sleep (Bud did but woke up crying). No sense dwelling on the goodbyes. There was so much fun--and that's all we're remembering today.

Except when the kids were talking about having been to the beach to their school teachers today, no one believed them!

-=-=-=-=-

Bread Pudding and Rum Sauce

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 ½ cup sugar

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

½ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ cup butter, melted

2 ¾ cup whipping cream

4 cups cubed French bread

¾ cups raisins (or less)

Combine first 4 ingredients. Stir in butter and cream. Gently stir in bread and raisins. Pour in lightly greased 2-quart deep dish. Bake 375°F for 50-55 minutes, shielding with foil after 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Southern Living magazine

Bourbon Sauce (we used rum)

3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon flour

½ cup sugar

1 cup cream (whipping, heavy, half-and-half)

2 (or 1) tablespoons bourbon

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon nutmeg

Melt butter in a small saucepan; whisk in flour and cook 5 minutes. Stir in sugar and cream; cook 3 minutes. Stir in bourbon, vanilla, and nutmeg, and simmer 5 minutes.

Family Circle

One More Meal Together

There were royal icing, sprinkles, gum drops, Tootsie Rolls, Necco Wafers, and a dozen other ingredients all over my kitchen when Mama and I left the kids with Gommie and Pop this evening. They were decorating the graham cracker gingerbread houses I had pieced together earlier today (which was followed by my disgruntled phonecall to Kraft/Nabisco who say they had manufacturing problems, but seem to have intentionally shrunk the size of their Honey Maid graham crackers, which are now too crumbly and taste like cardboard to be good for anything, much less constructing delicate gingerbread houses. So I called and got my money back!). Including one hexagonally-based lighthouse. And they were all having a ball!

Mama and I had our own kind of ball, celebrating my 39th birthday and our first wedding anniversary at a fondue restaurant. And it was perfectly charming, especially because we got one of the secluded booths aways from all the rowdy celebrants elsewhere and there were cards on the table when we got there, one for my birthday and one for our anniversary (we'd made reservations). Our server was attentive and informative without being suffocating or officious. And we just got to eat some fun food: a Riesling spritzer with lemon and elderflower and a blackberry-sage lemonade; hunks of bread and crudites dipped in a blue-cheese tinged Wisconsin fondue; vegetables and surf and turf boiled in a coq au vin-inspired burgundy/garlic/mushroom/spices broth; and, best of all, pound cake, Rice Krispies, brownies, strawberries, cheesecake, and marshmallows dipped in our own selected dark chocolate-Grand Marnier combo! All that we kinda cooked or prepared ourselves in a big pewter pot with these handy-dandy colored-coded sticks. And the waiter comped the dessert as a gift! (and thanks, Miss D, for the gift card!)

After our indulgent two-plus hour meal, we drove home leisurely, reminiscing about other great or interesting meals: tea at Fortnum & Mason and the Palmer House and the British Tea Shoppe and Polly's in Marlborough and Betty's in York and Alice's Tea Cup and Silver Tips; ice cream at Wilson's in Door County and another old-fashioned parlor in some small town in WI that I can't recall (frozen custard too), the dairy farm in CT, Edie's (NYC), Margie's (Chicago); amazing locales such as the cafeteria-crypt at St. Martin's-in-the-Fields and the Cheshire Cheese, rebuilt after the fire of 1666 and Randall's Ordinary, a 17th-century inn, and City Tavern in Philly; and just fun or good meals at Berghoff's in Chicago (German), all the places in Andersonville in Chicago from the Middle Eastern to Japanese to Swedish to lesbian hangouts!, Davis Street Fish Market and the Cajun places and BBQ joints in Evanston, everywhere we went in New Orleans, Ethiopian at Lalibela, Vegetarian at Bloodroot; and all the small or nameless places on our travels that stick with us because of the fried pickles or lemon fish or Beef Wellington or fried cheese curds or shrimp po'-boys or Grape Nut Pudding or microbrewed root beer or samosas or shabu-shabu. That's not all we've enjoyed or even all we remembered tonight, just all I can recall right now. But it was fun to add a new experience to the list and to reminisce about almost 16 years of meals together.

And many more . . . . I can't wait to see where we go next!

(many thanks to Gommie and Pop for making the night possible with the free babysitting!)

Party On

There for awhile I didn't think our decision to split the kids for the girls' only Gingerbread Tea Party was going to work: Sis was dancing around with excitement the house four hours early while Bud cried and kept hitting pillows, inconsolable. And I was torn--I wanted Sis to relish the anticipation but I didn't want to unduly torture Bud; it was a long afternoon.

But we persisted and Bud was soon bundled off with Mama to the restaurant where Babysitter was working last night, as an added bonus.

And Sis and I dressed in more pretty pink party clothes and headed to our party, finally able to discuss in detail and with abandon how exciting it was going to be. Apparently, it had been the talk of the playground, with the little girls taking roll call of who was going to be there and who wasn't. Which might explain why Sis was playing with the girls when I got there and not digging in the sandbox with her usual trio of boy friends (I will NOT combine those words at this age!!). And it was to encourage her to bond with her playmates (it just happened to be the girls) that was a major impetus in going to an evening party without Bud, besides, of course, the fun factor.

And it was so much fun! The host family had gone to great lengths to create a warm and inviting child-friendly Christmas fantasy. There were nametags to set at a place where all the goodies were set out for decorating after we read Jan Brett's Gingerbread Baby. Sis even volunteered to be the Baby puppet and sang out her line when it was time. Then we set to work on our graham cracker houses with:

• miniature cookies shaped as wreaths, stars, and trees
• Santa cupcake toppers
• coconut for snow
• Twizzers and these rainbow striped candies
• candy canes and many colored candy canes
• SweetTarts and Necco Wafers, gumdrops (and other gummy things) and non-pareils
• Hershey's kisses and Tootsie rolls and red and green M&Ms
• red hots and these flat red Twizzler-like squares
• ice cream cones and green frosting for trees
• marshmallows, toothpicks, and food writer markers for snowmen, complete with fruit leather scarves!

Sis was very deliberate and independent, so I just watched as she created her little house. Then she walked around telling her school friends how nice their houses were, which we all lined up on the counter to admire. Right before heading to the food table for soft gingerbread cookies and hot chocolate (I had fudge and egg nog), all on gingerbread-themed plates and cups and napkins. Then we played "I Spy" with their huge Christmas tree filled with ornaments and admired the family's large collection of nativity scenes, Sis's favorite.

Sis couldn't wait to get home to tell Bud all about it. Though, he wasn't entirely receptive: he saw her cute house and wanted to have his own gingerbread party right then, at 9 p.m. last night! (Bud and Mama had a nice time at dinner, arriving home after us, even, though apparently Bud was too shy to talk to Babysitter much. But he did buy Sis her favorite chocolate cake dessert. Sis brought him a gingerbread cookie).

But he was on to something. So we're having an impromptu gingerbread house party on Monday morning since there is no school next week. It adds several things to my holiday to-do list, but I think everyone will have a great time.