Applepalooza 2015

Well, that never happened on Applepalooza before:  it snowed on us!

Okay, more particularly, there were light and short flurries, but, still.  Snow.

It was a great day, even with the flurries and the chill.  The sun peeked out a few times.  And I'd warned everyone to dress warmly.  We also kept the fire pit burning (over its new bed of protective gravel and bricks.  Yay, Mama and kids!)

And, of course, if you give kids a campfire, there must be s'mores.  I think every child--and there were 23 kids (and 25 adults)--had at least one, if not more than one.  And more than a couple of the adults ate the extras.

Almost all of the rest of the food contained apples:  apple pies, apple crisp a la Paula Deen, apple cranberry walnut pie, apple walnut bread, two apple upside-down cakes, baked apple rings, caramel apple dip, salted caramel apple oat bars, apple doughnuts, my apple bourbon bundt cake from the NYTimes, even an apple/leek/cheddar quiche that disappeared so fast Mama never got any.  So many delicious, tasty, yummy (just add more adjectives here) foods!   Mama spent most of the party tending fire and making apple foil packets with caramel or granola to put in the coals.  The apples practically melted along with the caramel.  There were some non-apple items:  pumpkin bars, ghost sugar cookies, and  carrots and garlic dip, which Bud loved.  Plus mulled cider and hot chocolate, of which the kids drank something like 15 cups!

It was a wonderful group of people, some new to our parties but mostly veterans.  We were missing a few of our usual friends (we missed you, Mama Teacher!  And Miss S!) because there is just a plethora of fall activities--sports, scouts, birthday parties.  In fact, I was shocked that we still had almost 50 people.  There were neighbors, bus friends, church friends, playgroup friends, historic house friends, and a coworker of Mama's.  I tried to talk to everyone, but it's hard, especially as I spent extra time with two newcomers--the friend from Mama's office and my friend/ASL teacher and her family.  At one point I realized that we had people from China (not just Mama), Switzerland, Vietnam, (and people with ethnic backgrounds from Thailand, Italy, Ireland, Russia, etc) and, in the US, Texas (not just me!), NYC, and, of course, Connecticut.  Several UUs (obviously), culturally Jewish family (but not religiously observant), Catholics, Baptists (not Southern Baptist Convention), Methodists, Russian Orthodox, and who knows what other religions (I'll guess Buddhism), plus those who aren't.  Lots of bi-racial kids, a few children on the Autism spectrum, and two people who are Deaf.  And of course, lesbians (though, really, only Mama and me.)  There were even a few Republicans and a few men; sometimes the husbands--and the Republicans!--shy away.  I like that we have a variety of interesting friends who mingle so well together; it's always fun when they hit it off and enjoy chatting together.

The kids played on the swingset, climbed on top of (and jumped off of) the little plastic playhouse, played soccer, played chase, colored the driveway with chalk, and climbed trees when they weren't eating.  The tree climbing scared me because they got so high, but, since it wasn't my kids, and the parents were watching pretty diligently, I didn't worry too much.  It was a new sensation for me not to hover, but Sis and Bud fed and entertained themselves without begging or clinging to us.  I think they had a great time (and they had been amazing helpers in the days and hours of cleaning and cooking and setting up beforehand.)

I love these kinds of casual, comfortable family parties (I'm much less enamored of hosting more formal dinner or cocktail parties or luncheons, though I've put together numerous less formal gatherings for my friends.)  There were lots of impromptu parties in the neighborhood in which I grew up:  hurricane parties, crab boils, same big birthday parties.  They always seemed to be in our backyard.  I remember lots of adults, lots of food, and no supervision for hours at a time.  I loved them.  We kids would make up performances, play in the yard, eavesdrop on the adults (whose tongues were always loosened), wander the neighborhood (usually riding bikes in the cul-de-sac or walking to Target.)  There were lots of sleepovers with friends after these parties, too.  Later, the parties at the bay house were very similar, but with relatives not neighbors (we had moved from that neighborhood when I was 14 or so; no parties in the new neighborhood; we spent more time at the bay.)

My Aunt Sis had her own bay parties--big, weekend-long events with cultural or historical themes like the Renaissance or Pirates or King Arthur or France--which were attended by people from all over.  I only got to BayFest once, I think, for Camelot.  I spent most of the weekend with my cousin who has Down Syndrome; we made flower wreaths and baked shortbread from a medieval cookbook my aunt had.  Later, we stayed up late with other cousins, looking at the constellations with my uncle.

As for our own parties, they started in Chicago with our annual Christmas ornament swap and open house.  These were pretty much all-lesbian affairs (no one in our group had kids; partner pairings changed each year!), drawn from the coffeehouse and chorus.  Everyone brought an ornament and hung it on the tree and would then take a different ornament of their choosing home with them.  Once we moved to Connecticut, we had parties starting when the kids were little.  We settled into a cycle:  an indoor brunch for Groundhog's Day and then an outdoor celebration aka Applepalooza.  (We also host a small cookie-decorating party for a few of the kids' friends around Christmas; for a few years, we had a big cookie swap for my adult friends.)  At most of these parties, our dear friend Miss S would arrive first and early, staying until the very end.  But not today . . . .

Today, we dedicated Applepalooza to Aunt Sis and Miss S, both of whom died this year.  They both really loved a good party and so, with a small sign to that effect, we threw one today in memory of them both.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Apple Cheddar Leek Quiche

Single Pie Crust (prebake as per directions on box if purchased, or prebake weighted for 15 minutes at 350)

Leeks (I used 3) chopped

Apples (I used 2 Macouns - but would try granny smiths, mutsus, golden delish) peeled and chopped

Butter or Olive Oil (About a TBSP)

Pepper (we don't use salt)

Ground Nutmeg (I grate it myself)

5 eggs

1 c cream/half n half or your choice (I used light cream)

1 cup shredded cheddar (I used New York sharp shredded by Cabot - my favorite dairy company).

Bake your pie crust.  While doing that, saute leeks and apples with butter in frying pan.  While sauteing that, beat eggs and cream, add pepper and nutmeg.  When apples are soft, and leaks are browned, they are done.  Pie crust is done too by now.  Add apples and leaks and cheddar to egg mix, pour into pie crust, bake at 350 for about 40 minutes.  Quiche will be puffy when you take it out of the oven, then settle a bit.  I used a toothpick to make sure it was done in middle.

Apple Slices

Peel apples.  Slice and remove seed circle.  Put in ziploc/bowl and squeeze lime juice all over slices.  Oven at 350 (I had it at 325 and I think that was too low). Cover baking sheet with foil (spray or grease cause they will stick).  Prep a bowl of cinnamon sugar to your taste.  Take slices and dip one side in sugar mix.  Place sugar side up on sheet and back to your liking.  40 minutes would make the thin slices crispy.  Experiment with how your family likes them.  I prefer thicker and still a little juicy, but original recipe called for crispy (and no lime juice-I added that for more of a tart taste).  Also, next time I'll add some grated nutmeg to the sugar mix, and use big apples to make it easier to cut out the middle and make true circles.  

Relax this week, my friend.  Seems like you've been quite a busy camper!  Thanks again for your hospitality yesterday - the mulled cider was banging!

Judi


Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars

Apple Bourbon Bundt Cake

Paula Deen's Apple Crisp

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!

Pondering Halloween

The rain held off so that it was a dark but not stormy night.  In fact, it was quite temperate for a New England Halloween and the kids didn't even need jackets or long sleeves as they wandered out into the night.  They trick or treated alone this year, in that they didn't join any neighbor groups but went door to door together as we stood at the curb.  They did all the neighborhood houses--including the three near us that have been dark and candyless for the decade we've lived in Connecticut but are now inhabited by young families and Halloween participants--after first driving to a special chosen few.  Interestingly, few people tonight, or last night at Mama's office Halloween party for kids, recognized Sis's Quidditch robes or Bud's Camp Half-Blood shirt as belonging to Harry Potter and Percy Jackson respectively.  The few who did know, however, were appropriately excited.  Sis and Bud in turn were excited to see a colleague of Mama's in a T.A.R.D.I.S. shirt and Sis proudly told him that she was going to be the Doctor next year, the Tenth Doctor.  He approved.

Of course, their favorite part, both last night and tonight, isn't so much the gathering of candy, which is merely a means to an end, namely the eating of candy.  First, they sort their haul by type, then they engage in the all-important swap whereby one gives all of his Hershey bars in exchange for all of her Skittles and the other gives up all of  her mini-Crunch bars for all of his Whoppers.  It is a family ritual.  So is giving all of the nutty candies--Snickers, Almond Joys, peanut M&Ms, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups--to Mama and me.  We let them eat til they'd had their fill tonight and will be generous with the eating of candy for the next few days, until Mama does a candy buy-back program this weekend, another ritual.

I asked the kids about family rituals and traditions, as I was cutting out rounds of Soul Cakes this evening.  The spiced cookies were pretty good, actually, thicker and more tender than shortbread with a lot more spice (plus we used balsamic vinegar instead of white wine vinegar, which we didn't have.)  Anyway, I realized that oftentimes I don't repeat activities like Soul Cakes.  This year it's Soul Cakes (we played the song all afternoon); a few years ago it was roasted pumpkin seeds.  Next year, who knows?  Sis said she liked that we did new things each year as long as we kept some of the same traditions, like the great candy swap and drawing their costume for the year on their trick or treat bags and hanging up "Ghostie" in our tree.  For Thanksgiving, she said, we had to have turkey and gravy but she didn't feel like we had to do the same gratitude activity every year.  Christmas, among many other things, means the sock Advent calendar.  I'm glad we're all on the same page about holidays, with something old and something new.

Today during my (awful) school tour (I wasn't awful; the kids were crazed, as I expected them to be--my own Sis was, in her own words, "hysterically happy" about Halloween and Bud was dancing everywhere), I realized (again) how even a relatively widely celebrated holiday like Halloween can be controversial.  We were talking about fall and its holidays when a girl raised her hand and said, "Halloween is the Devil's birthday.  Christmas is God's birthday."  Gulp.  Of course, both personally and intellectually, I believe this is completely unfounded (see our research on Samhain here) and untrue.  But school tours are no place for theological discussions, especially with eight-year-olds, so I merely said that I understood that some people believe that but that the people who lived in the house in the colonial times wouldn't have believed that and nor would they have celebrated either one.  (No wonder our kids can't wear Halloween costumes to school!)  And then, true to form, I asked Sis and Bud what they thought of that later.  Sis said outright that she didn't believe in the Devil.  So I asked her how she would talk to a friend who said such things (and there are a few who would, as they are not allowed to celebrate Halloween because it's not in the Bible.)  "I have a different religion," she decided.  I told her that sometimes it was hard to disagree with friends, but she raised her hand for a high-five and said, "I'm a strong girl."  We also talked about how you can agree to disagree, how different people can believe different things.  And that belief and truth are not always the same thing, not by a long shot, regardless of how firmly someone (including us) believes something to be true.

On a lighter note, another girl on the tour asked if I would wear my colonial costume that night to trick or treat.  No, I said, these were my work clothes.  And she looked at me incredulously and asked, "This is your job?"  She was so shocked, so earnest, even though I'd already answered the question of how I'd learned all this stuff (years and years in school and then more studying afterwards!)  I do feel lucky to dress up in costumes for my day "job."  And in truth, my colonial outfit does make a great costume, but I leave the trick or treating to the kids.

Tomorrow is All Saints' Day and then All Souls' Day for some, Samhain for others.  And we'll be eating Soul Cakes and candy, singing a song used for both All Souls' and Christmas, planning our rituals and traditions (to express our beliefs, to overburden this wrap-up!) as we get ready for the trio of big winter holidays.  I love this time of year.

Happy Halloween!

Birthday Month

After almost a month of celebrating, the kids have finally finished their birthdays!  I might actually be relieved.  While my paternal relatives always applaud the stretching out of celebrations, it was almost out of control (in a good way.)  But, I'm not sure I can do what Shelley of Little Chickadees does, and stop the big celebrations when they turn 10, having only individual sleepovers or something with one friend.  Which tells me something about myself . . . .

It started way back before school was out, with a disco dance party with a luau theme and even a Tiki pole.  "Nikki Minaj" and "Psy" danced their hearts out with their friends to all their favorite Taylor Swift and Pink and Katy Perry songs and played various games such as Coke and Pepsi, balloon race, limbo, and this 1-2-3-4 cluster game.  They ate pizza and homemade chocolate-frosted vanilla cupcakes, with crushed vanilla wafers for sand under mini-umbrella decorations, and danced some more.  Once home, they opened lots of presents (no one up here seems to open presents at parties--I've never seen it done.)  Since then, we've written half the thank-you notes and I have since lost the list and the notecards!

Then one Saturday, Mama and the kids headed to NYC to celebrate all the summer birthdays, of which there are four, with Ma and Gong and Goo.  They had dim sum, ice cream from the truck, and special Japanese pastries, I believe.

We gave them each an early birthday present.  Bud got the first three episodes of Star Wars, which we promptly watched.  His favorite is #2; he really disliked Order 66 in #3.  Sis enjoyed them, too, and they've both been playing Jedi non-stop since.  Sis received two more American Girl dolls--the original Felicity and Elizabeth--which a teenager daughter of a colleague of Mama's was letting go of.  Sis has now named that Felicity "Martha" instead, because she had named her Make Your Own doll "Felicity" first.  Confused?  No worries.  We gave her the dolls early (and therefore Bud the DVDs) because Gommie was taking Sis to the American Girl doll store in Houston for a birthday treat and we knew she'd want to get their ears pierced. So we hauled all the dolls to Texas and she and Gommie had fun playing with them.

Then, as I mentioned in my Texas post, Gommie threw an impromptu party for them and invited all the aunts, uncles, and cousins for cake and ice cream  (why is it that no one up here every pairs cake with ice cream at parties?  It's the best!)  If I count correctly, there were 17 adults and 12 youngsters, almost all relatives (the kids were no longer overwhelmed by this, even if Mama will always be.)  There were cards, homemade ice cream (along with lots of Blue Bell), confetti poppers, kites, and water balloons, so of course they had a water balloon fight.

Later that afternoon, Great Aunt Sis and Uncle W had presents for the kids when we visited them--wonderful books, as always--as well as cheesecake and ice cream, fruit and cheese.  We also gave Aunt Sis, another summer birthday, a Tudor Rose suncatcher from the Pre-Raphaelite exhibition to put in her window since she spends so much time in bed.

On their real birthday earlier this week, Mama and I played "birthday fairy" and decorated the house with streamers and Star Wars birthday banners and left the last couple of wrapped presents on the couch with a clear warning "not to open without Moms!"  We could hear them crowing about it all at 6:40 the next morning!  More Legos and the complete Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? dvd set. And tickets for all of us to see The Lion King on Broadway (their first real Broadway show!) later this summer!  (I think this excites us more than them, even having seen it twice already ourselves.  But they'll love it and we've long dreamed of taking them.)  Needless to say, the Legos were done and the first disc of Carmen Sandiego watched before the day was out.  We made Rice Krispie treats as part of the fun.  Later, we went up to a little pool birthday party for them at babysitter M and Miss K's house in the afternoon, which was kind of them.  Dinner was Italian.

And finally, last night, original Beloved Babysitter M came over, having returned from a week in London and Paris (about which I was very interested and the kids not so much!)  She generously brought presents, the best being walkie-talkies which they've used non-stop since then, especially for playing a modified chase game outside.  And Babysitter--about whom it is as hard to believe she is 21 as they are 8!  She's been with us for almost 8 years!--then played their all-time favorite games of "Escape Zoo" and "Tickle Monster," just like they did years ago.  So, even if they are 8, it's great to see that some things just don't change and they still are, while much closer to 10 than 5 in attitude and activities, pretty much kids.

Happy Birthday, Sis and Bud!