Hopes

I hope all of you, my blog readers, had a merry Christmas (if you celebrate), with friends, family, food, generosity, hospitality, conviviality, and joy.  I also hope for you a wonderful 2013 filled with all of that and more, but most specifically PEACE.

Christmas 2012: Christmas Eve

Just 24 hours later, Christmas Eve is a blur.  I know Mama and I spent most of the morning prepping the house, the gifts, and the food, while the kids did some wrapping and last-minute card-writing.  Gommie and Pop showed up mid-morning, after their own wrapping marathon, and then there was a little Christmas gift:  Pop helped Bud ride his bicycle!!!  Yep, after practicing and being discouraged, Bud figured it all out and rode back and forth on the cul-de-sac, while Mama, Gommie and I hid inside to give them privacy but meanwhile stared out through the windows to watch the progress.  Yay!!!!

We had pizza for lunch, after picking up our special deli platter for Christmas Eve, and then Goo arrived!  The kids were ecstatic and swamped him, much to the relief of the other four adults.  They immediately decorated gingerbread houses, taking lots of time to put the finishing touches on their houses.  

We had muffalettas and shrimp remoulade for Christmas Eve, plus the deli platter.  We opened the Christmas Eve traditional gifts of new books and pajamas and then headed to church services.  The service was predominantly a carol-sing, which sounded wonderful with a couple hundred congregants, the choir, the pianist, and the member orchestra!  I like singing with a big group--I'm not self-conscious about my own singing and I sound good!  There was also a short pageant and a homily, followed by treats in the social hall.

And then on the way home it started to snow!!  Light at first, like flurries, but then definitely real snow.  Merry Christmas, Pop!  You got the one thing on your list.  We stayed outside quite awhile enjoying the snow, with the kids trying to eat it and the rest of us marveling that it would be a real white Christmas.   After  sprinkling some (expensive, organic Bob's Red Mill oatmeal) "reindeer food" with green sugar on the ground, we got the kids into bed in their new red-striped reindeer (Sis) and black-and-white polar bear pajamas.  They actually fell asleep really, really fast, especially considering that earlier in the week they'd laughed at the idea that Christmas would come sooner if you feel asleep.  Apparently, they changed their minds and told Mama that maybe if they pretended to be asleep that they might actually fall asleep.  It worked.

Of course, we didn't get to go to sleep.  Goo, Mama, and I had a good time staying up chatting and went to bed early on Christmas morning, much later than we should have with little kids desperately excited about waking up to Christmas!

Best Cookies Ever

Pop's Christmas Wish

Santa delivered early:  SNOW!

Advent Activities: Gingerbread Extreme Makeover

Advent Activities: Gingerbread Surprise

Christmas 2012: Sunday

Here we go, yesterday . . .

• Gommie, Mama, the kids, and I went to church, where we participated in a spiral "dance" reflecting the cyclical nature of time (later the kids walked a spiral and lit candles in Children's Chapel); the sermon was powerful, touching, and, to me, right on--about darkness in the light . . . and how 26 isn't the right number.  We lost 28 souls in Newtown.   And as a spiritual person, it's my path to show compassion not only for the children and teachers but also for those despised, hated, ignored last two. More on that after the holidays, when I have time to blog.
• Then we went to brunch at Bloodroot.  Yes, two meals in a row.  But Gommie wanted to try their poached eggs on a spinach nest with Hollandaise--and she loved it!  We also had omelets, pancakes, muffins, and a delicious carrot-orange frosted walnut cake.
• While Mama and I did yet another last-minute shopping run, both groceries and gifts, Pop (who'd enjoyed a morning by himself) and Gommie took the kids swimming.  Bud even went down the Super Slide!   And both Sis and Bud stood on Pop's shoulders (only Bud actually jumped in.)  Later, they hit the drugstore and got containers of Flarp!  And they've been "farting" ever since.
• In the evening, the kids went to visit the babysitter down the street while we cooked.  Then we had round steak with rice and gravy, also Bloodroot burgers (which you can buy frozen) for me and Mama.
• Gommie and Pop went off to wrap presents when the kids went to bed.  Mama and I stayed up watching Patrick Stewart in "A Christmas Carol," our favorite version.

Next up, Christmas Eve!

Christmas 2012: The First 24 Hours

Gommie and Pop always hit the ground running, so to speak, and this trip was no different, except that they should have been exhausted from a long day of delayed flights and traffic.  But they weren't.  We went straight from the train station (where Sis and I had waited expectantly through a few trains before theirs finally arrived, much to Sis's relief and excitement--it is as disheartening not to see your people on the platform as it is heartening to see them!) to Bud's kung fu class, where Pop and Gommie got to see him perform his "slappy" form (he does a lot of arm movements and body slaps) and his team basic form (or whatever they call this).  Then we all came home and had snacks around the table ("Trash" Chex mix, peanuts, a variety of cookies), while Gommie and Pop had homemade chicken noodle soup.  Eventually we put the children to bed under the Christmas tree for their Winter Solstice celebratory camp out.

Saturday morning without kung fu for almost two weeks found us all (G & P slept in, too, but at their hotel, where they sleep more comfortably) sleeping in.  And then we watched "Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas," which songs struck me as more spiritual, even sad, this time.  "When night lays sad upon you/go watch a simple sunrise."  

Gommie and Pop showed up soon after and everyone headed outside for bike riding (Sis got to show off her new skill) and then archery (I hit the arrow through the hole in the target!  And Pop was impressed with my strong pull on the 28 lb draw).  But the cold blustery wind sent us inside soon enough for a few games and more cookies!  And then a deli lunch.

And then we watched Brave, my early Christmas present (G&P are leaving the day after Christmas so if we want to enjoy these things together, we're opening them early!  Which is why I gave Gommie the variegated red Merino wool scarf that I just finished knitting and tassling yesterday afternoon.)  It was good if not better than the first time we saw it.

Afterwards, all rested, Pop and Gommie took the kiddos swimming at the heated hotel pool and Mama and I went shopping for Christmas groceries.  On Christmas Eve, we're having shrimp remoulade and then gumbo, muffalettas, and bread pudding on Christmas day (after a corned beef hash and also orange biscuits and/or monkey bread breakfast!)  

Finally, wonderful Babysitter, being home from college, came over to watch Sis and Bud for the evening while we all went out to dinner.  They were so excited to see her (and to give her fuzzy socks, nail polish, and body "butter") that they didn't notice we'd left for Bloodroot!  We like going to Bloodroot with my folks--good food, relaxing atmosphere, great conversation with each other and with owners Selma and Noel.  MMMMmmmm, Czech cream of mushroom soup, Cambodian  kanji, three salads (tossed, arugula, and marinated tofu), oatmeal bread, black bean and butternut squash chili, three mushroom stroganoff, Solianka (cabbage and onions with tomato sauce), and Kulebiaka (a Russian cabbage and wild mushroom pie), plus cranberry kissel and chocolate pudding with coconut cream.  Mmmmmm!!

Gommie and Pop are back at their hotel and we're settling in for a long winter's nap.  Or not.  The kid will be up in less than 8 hours, I'm sure, ready for another great day with the grandparents.

They're Here!

It's officially the holidays!

The Grandparents have Landed!

Now just a cab, train, and automobile to get here.  With rush hour, I'm going to guess 7:30.  Long day for them (that's 14 1/2 hours after they left home), but we're glad they'll be here soon.

Christmas 2012: Safe Travels

Wishing my folks a safe journey from Houston to us, in this rather Apocalyptic weather.  It's blowing and raining so hard I had to bring in the Christmas decorations from the yard!

UPDATE:  The flight has already been delayed an hour.

UPDATE #2:  Now the flight is delayed two hours.

UPDATE #3:  Three hours.

UPDATE #4:  3 1/2 hours.  And they are leaving Houston when they should've arrived in NYC.  It'll be after dark before they are here.  The kids are going to be stir-crazy and my parents exhausted.

A New Blog to Read

Looking up alternate recipes for pounded cheese, which we had at Sturbridge Village--their online recipe has curry and mustard and pepper, but the pounded cheese they served taste of farmer cheese, cloves, and orange peel--I came across a new-to-me blog, Historic Cookery.  Historic foodways are my favorite part of living-history museums (I think that might be one of my dream jobs!), so I really enjoyed reading about the experiences of the blogger and professional historic foodways historian/culinarian, Carolina.  She posts about her experiences cooking and interpreting at historic houses in New Jersey.  I think we'll have to catch the Essex County Holiday Historical Houses Tour next year and see Carolina at work!  Until then, I've put her blog link in my blogroll.

Advent Activities: Fridge Art

Advent Activities: Home Stretch

We've taken brownies to school for all of the teachers and staff.  We've made ornaments out of Sculpey using cookie cutters and a pasta machine to give away as gifts.  We've packed up tins of cookies for the vet and pediatrician.  We've prepared cards and gift cards for bus drivers, postal worker, babysitters, and others.

And now there are just a few days until my folks arrive and then just a few more until Christmas.  I don't know how many more of our activities we'll do, but that doesn't really matter.  The ones we've done have kept us in the holiday spirit and helped us countdown to the big day.

Advent Activities: Last Batch

Advent Activities: Making Gifts

Thoughts on Newtown

"There will be many explanations but none will fully explain."

It is a different experience living so close to such a national tragedy.  Sure, I mourned the victims in Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, and elsewhere, but here and now I feel like I know them.  At most I am two degrees of separation from the victims, survivors, and first responders. Friends of friends.  A friend's brother-in-law was on the scene as a firefighter; another friend's sister-in-law was one of the school psychologists working with the families at the firehouse on Friday; our teacher knew the teacher who died while hiding and protecting her students; yet another teacher texted a friend who teaches at Sandy Hook and reached her during lockdown unsure of what was unfolding.  It's not just national news here; it's local and personal and immediate.  

I went to church yesterday, looking for some time and space to sit with my thoughts and feelings.  It was the music service, with some additional readings and meditations.  And while I had perhaps looked forward to a whole, thoughtful sermon, the music was perfect, allowing me the chance to sit, hug Sis and Bud, put my arms around Mama.  Once the kids went to class, the assistant minister rose and spoke briefly, giving a uniquely Unitarian Universalist take on the Newtown shooting.  She said that there would be many explanations but none that would fully explain why Adam Lanza killed so many people at Sandy Hook.  And then she talked about the shooter, how he was so divorced and disengaged from comprehending his own worth and dignity that he couldn't begin to perceive it in others.  His only answer to the precious gift of life that he could not understand was to end it for others and then himself.  

We can't know, ever, I believe, what triggered him that day to shoot and kill people, to go to the school of all places and end young lives just at their very beginnings and those of the adults protecting them.  And for me, the specific "why" of Lanza's motives doesn't matter because it doesn't change what happened (and beyond that, I accept the fact of human suffering, in all it's incarnation, even the most incomprehensible and tragic; it's not rational, it just is).  I have compassion for him, for the isolation he must have experienced that led to his separation from his humanity.

And I have compassion for his victims:

Charlotte. Daniel. Olivia. Josephine. Ana. Dylan. Madeleine. Catherine. Chase. Jesse. James. Grace. Emilie. Jack. Noah. Caroline. Jessica. Benjamin. Avielle. Alison.  Dawn Hochsprung.  Mary Sherlach. Vicki Soto. Lauren Rousseau.  Rachel Davino.  Anne Marie Murphy.

These are the names to remember, the lost children and teachers.  

But I do believe change needs to happen.  Change in our treatment of people with mental illness (for a touching essay on this, see here).  Change in our laws controlling guns and ammunition, and I hope Obama follows up and is able to help us change our answer about protecting our children from "no" to "yes" (see here for President Obama's speech at the memorial service; here for a thought-provoking essay on widespread and public gun ownership as the antithesis of a civil and free democracy.)  Change in the sensationalist media that thrives on such news (and some believe--though NOT Morgan Freeman originally--that the media is one of the culprits by canonizing evil-doers and creating one-upmanship.)  Even change in our support (financially and morally) of teachers and schools.

I have to admit to some pessimism that we will reach a compromise on these issues, particularly when FB is full of posts quoting Mike Huckabee who believes the removal of prayer in school led to the uptick in school shootings, other posts saying we deserve it because of abortion deaths, even others saying that if there weren't laws banning carrying guns in schools those teacher would've shot back and no one but the shooter would have died. I'm waiting to see the quote that says Connecticut deserves such murders because we have same-sex marriage (Falwell said something similar about Florida and Hurricane Andrew).  Of course, the liberals have their posts (and can be just as intractable as conservatives) about gun control stating guns do kill people (as opposed to the Chinese school tragedy, where the 22 children stabbed all lived) and the importance of mental health initiatives.  Clearly we are a house divided, very much along the same geographical lines at almost 160 years ago.  

But we'll try, in memory of those named above and in honor of our children and teachers and first responders still living, so that perhaps no one will go through this again anytime soon.

Because today, right now as I type, they are burying Noah Pozner.  I don't know Noah or his family.  When I first heard about the loss of the kindergarten class, I thought, "If it were our school, our family would be gone," because our twins are in the same class.  And I hoped twins weren't killed.  Well "twins" weren't, but one twin was.  Today as Noah Pozner is buried, his six-year-old twin sister Arielle will be at his funeral.

And so I make prayer shawls and huggable monsters, sign petitions and make donations, hug my children and pray:

May the souls of the victims be at ease.
May their family members and friends be comforted.
May the survivors be comforted.May the firefighters and other first responders be comforted.
May their Newtown neighbors and community be comforted.
May their fellow Nutmeggers be comforted.
May those who have lost loved ones to gun violence be comforted.
May those who have been survivors of gun violence be comforted.
May other people who suffered loss, pain,and  illness during this holiday be comforted.
May people who suffer loss, pain, and illness be comforted.
May the people who help and care for them be comforted.
May those who struggle with the challenges of mental illness be comforted.
May those whose loved ones struggle with mental illness be comforted.
May we all be at ease and come to the end of suffering.

A Party Goes On

Last night was our cookie exchange, which Mama Teacher and I had been planning for weeks, if not since last year's aborted swap.

And then Friday.

Because the guests were all close and/or long-time friends and because we thought we might all appreciate the chance to gather in mutual grief and support, we decided to go on with the party, recognizing that some people would not feel up to coming and that it wasn't going to be a light and festive occasion.

About half the originally-RSVPing people came (but not my poor co-host, Mama Teacher, who has pink eye!) and we did share our thoughts and feelings about Newtown throughout the evening; all other threads of conversation came back to the shooting, but we did talk about other things.

And we ate, eventually just moving the entire spread to the coffee table in the living room as we cozily gathered around it to chat.  Chips and salsa.  Brie baked in crescent rolls.  Cream cheese and chutney on crackers.  Mini quiches. Texas "Trash" or Chex Mix.  And Texas Black-Eyed Pea Dip, which was the most popular dish of the night, with the recipe unanimously requested.

I include it and all the cookie recipes below.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Texas Black-Eyed Pea Dip

1 stick butter

5 scallions, chopped

8 oz. Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded

2 cans black-eyed peas (I used Sylvia's Specially Sesasoned Black Eyes, at Shop and Stop in the "Southern" section; Trappey's is traditional but not available here), drained 

1-4 oz. can green chilies, chopped (like Old El Paso)

1 clove garlic, minced, or garlic powder to taste

Heat butter in saucepan until melted, adding all remaining ingredients.  Heat through, stirring occasionally.  Mash beans to desired consistency (I like to leave it half-chunky).  Serve immediately with corn chips.  Can be reheated in microwave if it gets too cool.

Holiday Cookie Exchange Recipes 2012

K.J.’s French Cookies

1 stick of butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup half & half

3 cups crushed graham crackers

2 cups chopped walnuts

1 bag mini chocolate chips

Hershey bars

Pre-heat oven to 350.  Cream together butter, brown sugar and half & half.  Mix in 3 cups of crushed graham crackers, chopped walnuts and mini chocolate chips.  Stir well. 

Grease mini muffin tins or use mini papers.  Fill cups with cookie mixture.  Bake for about 8 minutes.  These cookies have the tendency to stick, so use plenty of grease and don’t let them cool in pan for too long.

Frost cooled cookies with melted Hershey bars! J

K.S.'s Italian Cookies

5 tsp baking powder.   
2 stocks butter
1 c. Sugar               
5 c. Flour.               

1/2 tsp. salt

6 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 Sambocca.

Melt butter. Beat eggs  than add sugar, cooled melted butter, salt, vanilla, b. powder and Sambocca. Mix well.
After mixing add flour 1 c. @ a time. Then roll in hand into a ball1 inch in size. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with thumb . Bake @ 350 for 12 minutes bottom should be golden brown.... Not top.

ICING
2 c. Powdered sugar
1 tsp. Sambocca
Boiling water as needed

Mix to paste. Put on cooled cookies and sprinkle with colored dots Let dry completely( 1 hr) then can be packaged and frozen until ready to serve.

W.Y.'s Cinnamon Tea Cakes

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon , divided

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar , divided

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Makes:  About 3 dozen cookies.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In small bowl, combine flour, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and salt. In large bowl, beat butter, 3/4 cup sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add flour mixture; mix only until combined. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets, placing 2 inches apart.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until bottoms are golden brown. Remove to cooling grid; cool 5 minutes. Combine remaining 3/4 cup sugar with remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Roll warm cookies in sugar mixture; cool completely.

Miss J.L.'s Peanut Clusters

12 ounce bag of peanut butter chips

12 ounce bag of semi-sweet chips

1 tsp. vanilla

1 12 ounce jar of roasted peanuts

Melt both chips in micro. Stir in vanilla and peanuts. Scoop spoon full of mixture onto wax paper. Chill.

Miss K.K.’s Peanut Butter Bars

2 sticks of butter, melted

3 c. powdered sugar

1 c. smooth peanut butter

1 sleeve of of graham crackers, crushed

12 oz. package of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Melt butter in microwave. Stir in sugar, peanut butter and graham crackers. Spread and press into 9x13 dish. Melt chocolate in microwave. Spread evenly over peanut butter mixture. Place in fridge until cool enough to score. Score slices and return to fridge to harden completely. 

Shelley's Oatmeal Scotchies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or grated peel of 1 orange

3 cups quick or old-fashioned oats

1 2/3 cups (11oz package) butterscotch flavored morsels

Preheat oven to 375F

Combine: flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in small bowl.  Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract in a large mixer bowl. Gradually beat in flour mixture.  Stir in oats and morsels.  Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake: for 7 - 8 minutes for chewy cookies and 9 - 10 minutes for crispy cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Mama Teacher’s Soft Almond Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 C white sugar

2/3 C butter (cold)

2/3 C shortening (room temp)

2 eggs

2 tsp almond extract

2 3/4 C cake flour

1 C all purpose flour

1 Tbsp cornstarch

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

sugar in the raw (I like raw sugar for this, but any coarse sugar would work)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare baking sheet.

Cream sugar, butter and shortening.  Stir in eggs and almond extract.  Combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt and add to butter/egg mixture.  Use electric mixer to ensure dough is thoroughly combined.  Chill dough in fridge for 30 minutes.

Roll 2 tsp of dough (I used a small cookie scoop) into a ball and roll in raw sugar.  Place on prepared pan.

Bake cookies for 7 minutes.  Remove from oven and gently press rounded tops of cookies flat with the back of a spoon while the cookies are still warm and pliable.  The cornstarch will keep the dough from spreading, so this step just makes them look better!

Return remaining dough to fridge in between baking each batch.

Allow to cool on pan for 1 minute.    Remove to cooling rack.  Allow to cool completely.

A tip:

~DO NOT bake longer than 8 minutes!!  They may seem under-baked, but when they cool they will firm up.

J.D.’s Russian Tea Cakes

2 sticks softened unsalted butter

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups flour

3/4 walnuts, finely ground in food processor or blender

2 cups confectioners' sugar for coating

Heat oven to 400 degrees

Beat butter, sugar, vanilla and salt until blended

On low speed beat in flour and walnuts until blended

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets

Bake 10 min (cookie may crack slightly)

Roll hot cookies in remaining 2 cups sugar until coated and cool on cookie rack.  Once cooled roll again in confectioners' sugar.   Enjoy!!

Mommy Hungry's Irish Cream Delights (from Penzey’s)

1/4 Cup butter, softened (1/2 stick)
1/4 Cup shortening
1 Cup sugar
1 TB. Irish cream liqueur (more if you like)*
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. CREAM OF TARTAR
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. PURE VANILLA EXTRACT
13/4 Cups flour

Frosting:

3 TB. butter, softened
2 TB. Irish cream liqueur*
3 Cups powdered sugar
3 TB. half & half

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl combine the butter and shortening and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugar, liqueur, baking soda, CREAM OF TARTAR and salt and beat until combined, scraping often. Add the egg and VANILLA and mix well. Stir in the flour. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and bake on ungreased cookie sheets for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

Frosting: Mix the butter and liqueur until combined. Gradually add the powdered sugar. Beat in the half & half until smooth. Frost the cooled cookies.

* Feel free to use whatever coffee-based liqueur you like. We mixed our own with 2 TB. strong coffee, 1 TB. cream, 1 TB. whiskey and 2 tsp. VANILLA SUGAR. You can also leave out the whiskey, if desired.

Yield: 4 dozen

Miss J.S.'s Chocolate Crinkles Recipe 4 tablespoons (56 grams) unsalted butter 8 ounces (230 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar 2 large eggs, room temperature 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking powder Topping: 1 cup (110 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted Chocolate Crinkles: In a heatproof bowl, placed over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. In the bowl of your electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer), beat the eggs and sugar until thick, pale, and fluffy (about 3 to 5 minutes). (When you slowly raise the beaters the batter will fall back into the bowl in slow ribbons.) Then beat in the vanilla extract. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and beat until incorporated. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to shape into balls (several hours or even overnight). Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the sifted confectioners sugar in a shallow bowl. First, form the chilled dough into 1 inch (2.5 cm) balls, and then roll each ball in the sugar. Make sure each ball is completely coated, with no chocolate showing through. Place the sugar-covered balls on the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Bake cookies for about 8 to 10 minutes or just until the edges are slightly firm but the centers are still soft. (For moist chewy cookies do not over bake. Over baking these cookies will cause them to be dry.) Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. These cookies are best eaten the day they are baked. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Advent Activity: History by Candlelight

 
On a whim, we headed up to Old Sturbridge Village this afternoon for their evening candlelight event, which we've attended several times (for instance, 2010 and 2011.)  Amazingly, we got a table for dinner in the tavern, lit by candles and fireplaces.  We munched on pounded cheese (which tasted subtly of cloves and orange peel) and crackers while waiting for lobster pot pie (Bud!), turkey dinner (Sis), clam chowder and roasted beet salad (Mama), and a cheese sampler to share as well as mushroom ravioli (me).

Then we headed into the Village to all the familiar spots.  We immediately realized that OSV would have been a great place to have watched the meteor shower--dark and with an expanse of sky.  It is dark and the kids marveled that the real 1830s would have been much darker still.  We sampled fruitcake and gingerbread and candied ginger and sugar plums (this time, candy-coated fennel--ugh!), watched cider being caramelized with a hot poker, made tinsel and cornucopiae and a mulling spice sachet, rode in the horse-drawn wagon, played with a Jacob's Ladder and whirligig, listened to singers and musicians (one on a bowed psaltery, of all things), admired the creche, and learned about the history behind traditions such as fruitcake, candy canes, the Yule log, Christmas stockings.

We had thought it would be hard to go tonight.  Mama couldn't even listen to carols earlier in the day, thinking of presents under the tree for kids who will never open them.  Those kinds of thoughts just up and smack us in the head at times.  But in the end, we welcomed the distraction and enjoyed the familiar festivity.

But we held a moment of silence before dinner and wished for all beings to be comforted.  Isn't that what this time of year--be it Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice--is about?  Remembering the light will return even during our darkest of days?

Something To Do

For my crafty friends looking for some small way to help and for something to do with themselves instead of watch the news, I'm posting this link to a Ravelry group that is collecting handmade "monsters" to give to the survivors of the Sandy Hook tragedy.  I've never knitted or crocheted anything that wasn't a rectangle, but I'm going to try crocheting a monster to send along.

UPDATE:  The Prayer Shawl Ministry is collecting prayer shawls.  See here for details. This I can definitely do.