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| Bud's own Nutcracker |
And so what have we done since then? Yep, Legos.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Lego Lovefest
And so what have we done since then? Yep, Legos.
Advent Activity: Our Candle Night in Words
Friday night at Old Sturbridge Village was superb, as their special candlelight program always is (we've been once before with the kids and a few times before them, once the night of an amazing snowstorm). We had a wonderful time:
- admiring the gingerbread house competition entrants (I got a great idea for half-timbering with licorice and thatching with shredded wheat)
- tasting fire-roasted chestnuts and hearing about a blight on the very tall trees that left them functionally extinct in the 19th century; the kids liked the trees but not the nuts
- sampling gingerbread (softer than a cookie, denser than cake)
- making their own paper cornucopiae
- helping whisk the ingredients of fruitcake and tasting the finished product (that only Mama and I liked)
- making real tinsel with the tinsmith
- hand-stamping Christmas cards
- watching the roasting and grinding of cocoa beans
- admiring the creation of realistic marzipan fruits
- talking to Father Christmas about the symbolism of holly and ivy
- drinking poker-heated mulled cider
- listening to carolers
- watching the bonfire and being entranced by the sparks flying into the night's sky
- perusing a porcelain historic village
- listening to Full Gael sing "Soul Cakes" accompanied by period instruments
- watching a model railroad train
- wondering at a detailed nativity scene
- riding a horse-drawn carriage
- eating dinner in the old tavern
- and finally, meeting Santa Claus and talking about his favorite chocolate chip cookies (and when Bud asked for "surprises," Santa teased that his muddy boot would be a surprise! They thought this was hilarious.)
Advent Activity: Mommy's Little Kiddos Love Shortbread
Vel’s Christmas Shortbread
This is my favorite shortbread. I don’t know who “Vel” is because I found this on allrecipes.com. It has a homey flavor because of the brown sugar. I usually halve the recipe.
2 cups butter
1 cup brown sugar
5 cups sifted flour
Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in flour and knead by hand until dough comes together. At first the dough will seem dry and crumbly but don’t give up, keep mixing. Roll out the dough to ¼” thickness and cut with cookie cutters or press dough into shortbread molds (be sure to lightly grease mold and sprinkle with sugar). Place cookies 2” apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 8-12 minutes in the preheated oven, depending on the size of your cookies. Do not let them brown. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.
allrecipes.com
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Shortbread
A good standard shortbread.
1 cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
2 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon lemon extract (optional)
1 tablespoon milk
Preheat oven to 325F. Cream butter and sugar with a fork until light. Add the lemon extract if desired. Delicately add flour and dribble in the milk. Knead the dough for a minute or two. Press the dough into a lightly greased pan that has been sprinkled with sugar. Prick the surface with a fork. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden. Let cool for ten minutes, then loosen with a knife. Invert the pan, cut into pieces, and serve.
Goddess in the Kitchen
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Shortbread
From the recipe book accompanying the thistle-decorated shortbread pan I received from Mom for Christmas 2001. It’s a very light, flaky, sweet shortbread.
½ cup butter at room temperature
1/3 cup powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
Cream the butter until it is light. Cream in the powdered sugar, then the vanilla. Now work in the flour. Knead the dough on an unfloured board until nice and smooth. Spray the shortbread pan very lightly with a non-stick spray. Firmly press the dough into the shortbread pan. Prick the entire surface with a fork and bake at 325°F for about 30-35 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool before you loosen the edges with a knife and flip the pan over onto a wooden cutting board. If the shortbread sticks, tap one edge of the pan. Cut the shortbread into serving pieces while it is still warm.
Brown Bag Cookie Art Shortbread Recipe Book
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Shortbread (or Burrebrede)
This is the first shortbread I made, from a book of medieval cookery. It was Aunt Sis's annual Bay Fest and the theme was Robin Hood. I adapted this recipe and made them as a treat for everyone. Pretty good. I don’t recall my changes and so include the recipe here, as is.
3 cups all-purpose unbleached white flour
½ cup superfine sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon powdered cardamon (I know I didn’t have this ingredient)
½ teaspoon powdered ginger (or this)
¾ teaspoon allspice (I imagine I used nutmeg)
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup butter at room temperature
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Combine sugar, spices, and salt evenly. Separate into two equal portions.
On strong, clean kneading surface, mix gently, by hand, one half the spice mixture into the flour.
Squeeze the butter in hands and bit by bit add spiced flour by working it into the butter on the board. Take time to thoroughly integrate.
Press batter into 8” square shallow pan.
Scaore the surface to make “fingers” (2” x 1”) of shortbread. Also make several shallow fork pricks on each finger.
With reserved spice mixture, evenly strew all cuts.
Bake 1 hour or less until firm and yellow, not brown.
Cool in pan; break into shortbread fingers and serve, tasking better several days old. This keeps beautifully if stored in an airtight tin or wrapped in tinfoil.
Madeleine Pelnar Cosman, Fabulous Feasts: Medieval Cookery and Ceremony
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Almond Shortbread
A recipe from a docent, brought to the annual docent Christmas party. Very good! I added extra extract when I made these. Better after a few days.
1 lb. unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
5 cups flour (or less—4 ½ cups works)
1 teaspoon almond extract
slivered almonds
Mix butter, sugar, flour, and extract. Spread thinly on cookie sheet. Score first and place an almond on each piece. Bake at 350°F until lightly browned.
a docent
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Chocolate Shortbread
I first made that around the Christmas holidays, substituting regular sugar for the powdered. It was a really spongy dough and the cookie itself actually rose. I didn’t think I’d like the graininess, but I did, especially because the chocolate flavor was so good. And then I lost the recipe and couldn’t find the ad (forgetting I’d typed it into the computer). So I logged on to tasteofhome.com and posted an ISO on the forum. I got several responses, including the second one below, which resembled the original (first one) and tasted just as good. And so now I have two good shortbread recipes. But don’t use a shortbread pan for these. They cookies are too soft, at least until they cool completely.
1 dozen
¼ cup butter, softened
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup flour
¼ cup confectioner’s sugar
1-2 tablespoons baking cocoa
In a mixing bowl, cream the butter. Add vanilla and mix well. Combine flour, sugar, and cocoa; add to creamed mixture. Beat until dough holds together, about 3 minutes. Pat into a 9 x 4 inch rectangle. Cut into 2 x 1 ½ inch strips. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Prick with a fork. Bake at 300°F for 20-25 minutes or until set. Cool for 5 minutes; remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Taste of Home ad
Alternate: Chocolate Shortbread
1 cup butter
¾ cup confectioner’s sugar
1 ½ cup flour
few grains salt
1/3 cup cocoa
Heat oven to 300°F. Soften butter to room temperature. Cream butter until soft and fluffy. Beat in sugar. Stir in flour, salt, and cocoa, and mix well. If very soft, chill in refrigerator for ½ hour. Roll out dough ½” thick and cut into shapes. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven, cool slightly and remove from pan.
Taste of Home internet forum
Chocolate Shortbread
From my shortbread book from Jessica’s Biscuit catalogue, this is a great recipe, very similar to Tex-Mex sheet cake but easier.
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
½ cup packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon almond extract
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup finely chopped almonds
1 cup flour
Preheat oven to 300°F. Lightly butter an 8” round pan, preferably one with a removable bottom, or use an ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheet.
In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer on low speed or a wooden spoon, beat the butter until light in color, about 1 minute. Mix in the brown sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, salt, and almond and vanilla extracts, and continue beating until the mixture is smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Gradually mix in the almonds and flour until just combined.
Press the dough evenly into the pan, and use the back of a soup spoon to smooth the surface of the dough. Or, pat the dough into an 8” round on the baking sheet and decoratively score or flute the edges. Prick the dough attractively with a fork.
Bake in the center of the oven for about 45 minutes, or until set and firm to a light touch. Place the pan on a wire rack and let the shortbread cool completely. Transfer the shortbread from the pan to a cutting board. With a sharp thin knife, cut into 12 wedges.
*To omit the nuts, add ¼ cup more flour.
Jann Johnson, Shortbread
Advent Activities: Pop! Goes the Cracker
As part of our busy weekend, about which I'll expound in a series of posts, we went to the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford. I attended a lecture on New England historical foodways presented by Kathleen Fitzgerald and Keith Stavely, authors of Northern Hospitality. They sought to revive understanding of 17th- and 18th-century Yankee cookery, which has been overwhelmed by 19th-century colonial revival favorites such as Boston brown bread and baked beans as well as clam chowder. My favorite parts: the slide-by-slide adaptation of historical recipes to a modern kitchen and the post-lecture tasting of plumb cake (fruit cake). I'm looking forward to perusing their blog, which continues the recipe updating.
Meanwhile the kids explored the galleries, particularly enjoying the hands-on activities including an assembly line of mess kits, mock-up textile factory work, and a colonial play kitchen with hearth, table, and yoke with water buckets, their favorite part. Mama was being quite the museum educator as she asked them to compare and contrast their morning at the Lego festival with their afternoon at a museum and then examined a wall of historical tavern signs and asked them, based on the signs, which inn they would choose. Well done, Mama! (Just please don't quit your day job!)
But best of all was the day's craft activity, which we actually arrived too late to participate in. But,this being a small institution, the wonderful educator heard that we had missed it (by about 10 minutes) and generously let us do the craft. She taught the kids how to make poppers, or English crackers, the tubes that go "pop" when pulled and release little trinkets and treats. She chatted enthusiastically and encouragingly as they worked and the kids returned in kind, being even more voluble than usual. We were so grateful and enjoyed it all immensely.
Meanwhile the kids explored the galleries, particularly enjoying the hands-on activities including an assembly line of mess kits, mock-up textile factory work, and a colonial play kitchen with hearth, table, and yoke with water buckets, their favorite part. Mama was being quite the museum educator as she asked them to compare and contrast their morning at the Lego festival with their afternoon at a museum and then examined a wall of historical tavern signs and asked them, based on the signs, which inn they would choose. Well done, Mama! (Just please don't quit your day job!)
But best of all was the day's craft activity, which we actually arrived too late to participate in. But,this being a small institution, the wonderful educator heard that we had missed it (by about 10 minutes) and generously let us do the craft. She taught the kids how to make poppers, or English crackers, the tubes that go "pop" when pulled and release little trinkets and treats. She chatted enthusiastically and encouragingly as they worked and the kids returned in kind, being even more voluble than usual. We were so grateful and enjoyed it all immensely.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Merry Family Christmas!
Today my extended Texas family gathers for their annual holiday fest, with barbecue, caroling, and lots of laughter. Have a wonderful day, y'all!
Friday, December 2, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Advent Activity: BINGO!
The Welcome Mat
It was a good day; it was a not-good day. I had friends over; I had extra aches and pains. The friends were great fun, gathering for a moms' morning coffee similar to our playgroup mornings of old. The discomfort came on gradually in the morning and increased, spasms in my glutes and tightness all around. The weather? My cycle? Just because? Who knows. (Not any of my specialists, that's for sure.)
And so instead of going to Daisies this afternoon, I stayed in bed crying and trying to regain some of my usual equilibrium (realizing that my mental suffering about the physical pain was the real problem here, but it had been awhile since I'd had a day like this and it was like an unexpected punch in the gut), while Mama took Sis (and Bud) and pinch hit for me in making chocolate-covered pretzels with the troop. Curled up in bed, stressing about missing Daisies and worrying about messing up our upcoming plans and fretting over how I felt, I listened to a CD I'd gotten a few weeks ago, Mindfulness Meditation for Pain Relief. After taking my go-to meds. Of course, I know some mindfulness techniques for addressing pain, such as those from How to Be Sick, but I was really rather hoping that the soothing calm of Jon Kabat-Zinn's voice would help put me to sleep. And it did, little bits at a time (valium helps).
I liked the CD: the notion of rolling out the welcome mat for "intense sensations" because, well, they're already there; realizing that if you are breathing, more is right with your body than wrong (perspective, no?); conceiving of pain by another phrase, like "intense sensation," can lessen its hold on you; the statement "your awareness of pain is not in pain; your awareness of sadness is not sad." There were also the familiar breathing exercises and body scan from Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), but also an exercise where you embrace yourself with loving kindness, including your fears and thoughts. There's more, but I wasn't taking notes.
Yep, it's Buddhism in secular robes, made more accessible to the American masses. And like my Buddhist practices, it works. Even on more challenging days like these.
And, yes, I'm feeling better already.
And so instead of going to Daisies this afternoon, I stayed in bed crying and trying to regain some of my usual equilibrium (realizing that my mental suffering about the physical pain was the real problem here, but it had been awhile since I'd had a day like this and it was like an unexpected punch in the gut), while Mama took Sis (and Bud) and pinch hit for me in making chocolate-covered pretzels with the troop. Curled up in bed, stressing about missing Daisies and worrying about messing up our upcoming plans and fretting over how I felt, I listened to a CD I'd gotten a few weeks ago, Mindfulness Meditation for Pain Relief. After taking my go-to meds. Of course, I know some mindfulness techniques for addressing pain, such as those from How to Be Sick, but I was really rather hoping that the soothing calm of Jon Kabat-Zinn's voice would help put me to sleep. And it did, little bits at a time (valium helps).
I liked the CD: the notion of rolling out the welcome mat for "intense sensations" because, well, they're already there; realizing that if you are breathing, more is right with your body than wrong (perspective, no?); conceiving of pain by another phrase, like "intense sensation," can lessen its hold on you; the statement "your awareness of pain is not in pain; your awareness of sadness is not sad." There were also the familiar breathing exercises and body scan from Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), but also an exercise where you embrace yourself with loving kindness, including your fears and thoughts. There's more, but I wasn't taking notes.
Yep, it's Buddhism in secular robes, made more accessible to the American masses. And like my Buddhist practices, it works. Even on more challenging days like these.
And, yes, I'm feeling better already.
Comments Again
Okay, I'm still having lots of trouble with the comments registration. If I put comments on Google ID, some people can't get them to work, even with a Gmail account. If I put comments on Open ID, other people can't comment. Sigh. I don't want to enable anonymous comments, so let's see if the current setting works. Again.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
The Restaurant on Memory Lane
Just looking at those images will trigger wonderful memories for my immediate family. Memories of scampi, escargot, sliced chicken salad with green peppers, garlic bread, Bolla Valpolicella, veal marsala, veal parmesan, fettucine alfredo, spaghetti with meatballs, spumoni, cheesecake, and coffee. Birthdays, graduations, homecomings, celebrations, and just because we had a hankering. The long drive down and back, tipsy parents, great conversations, the 2+ hour meals, feeling like a grown up, the paper placemats of Italy, the teensy bathrooms that were renovated, the tv in the lobby, the carts full of food, the restaurant's owners always greeting us when we arrived and coming to talk to us at our table, the same waitress for years, Pop's generous tipping, eating with "Champ" and Jeanie, always people waiting to get in, the wine cellar room, the room with mirrors, the wrought iron little fences, doormen who helped us out of the car, the narrow parking lot, weren't there mints?
Yep, Pino's. The restaurant central to our family for years. Nowhere has replaced it in our traditions or memories. So important that when Mama Hungry came to Houston for the first time, we took her there. But I think that visit with Mama might have been one of my last, as the restaurant inexplicably closed not too long after.
And today, in a nostalgic Google search, I came across the website! Complete with pictures. And a history. And jars of sauce for sale! Yep, you can buy Pino's sauce in stores all over Texas. I think I know what I'm adding to my Christmas list!
Even though there's no way a jar of sauce can compare with the memories.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
"I Kissed a Girl" Too
Loving "lady music" on Glee tonight (right now)! Melissa, k.d., Dolly, Cyndi...but where are the Girls?
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ERGH. Santana's abuela sucks. I hope nothing bad happens.
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Go, Shannon Beiste!
More Cat Drama
Well, Albus is home and happy, but Hermione is now at the vet's. She stopped eating and drinking when Albus went to the hospital and she sat in the same place downstairs on the couch for the 24 hours he was gone. But she was no happier when he got home because she didn't like his hospital smell (they recognize each other by scent more than by sight). She actually hissed and hid from him. And still didn't eat or drink. So this morning, after we spoke to the vet, Hermione went for observation and tests. Good news: it really is probably stress. Our poor sweet cat is totally freaked out. We're hoping that she'll be home from the vet later this afternoon. And that maybe her brother will smell more like himself and she'll calm down some. Yep, we'll be doing some play therapy with her tonight. And wishing for the best. I knew cats had separation anxiety when one died (and so they tell you to show the deceased cat to the living one because they understand death better than disappearance) but not when they were separated for a day. I guess next time, she'll just have to go with him to the hospital! And vice versa. It's like having another set of twins . . . .
Advent Activities: Getting Ready
- Make gingerbread houses
- Bake sugar cookies
- Go caroling on the phone
- Make teacher gifts
- Deliver treats to doctor/vet/etc
- Deliver Secret ELF gifts
- Make thank-you cards
- Mommy's birthday party
- Look at holiday lights
- Send Christmas cards
- Gifts for others (via church)
- Donate savings jar to an organization
- Make glug for Santa Lucia day
- Leave out shoes for Saint Nicholas day
- Watch holiday movies
- Holiday read-a-thon
- Write letters to Santa
- Go see the Nutcracker
- Make latkes
- Stay-up-late Solstice party
- Wrap presents
- Snow ice cream
- Play Christmas bingo
- Make Christmas candy
"Understudy" activities: make origami ornaments; have dinner by candlelight; donate food to food pantry; make birdfeeders with pinecones; NYC visit;
Monday, November 28, 2011
A Big Thank You
Here on Cyber Monday, I'm sending out a big thank you for something you can't buy: friendship. Our neighbors down the street have been so helpful this year. Their daughter comes over once a week to play with the kids while I cook dinner; they look forward to her arrival and are sad when she goes. Their son mows our yard (while his mom does the edging, etc) every week and makes it look better than the professionals ever did--and without cutting down our vegetable garden or sunflowers!! (And sure we pay them, but it's not near enough for what they provide.) The mom always waves and stops to talk, encouraging the kids, chatting with me. She works at the school they'll go to next. I love talking to her and we're finding that we have many commonalities. And always have a good laugh. She's one of the most jovial and generous people I've ever met.
Well, this weekend, they went above the call of neighborly friendship: they spent almost 6 hours getting all the leaves out of our yard. First it was the mom and her son, who finally went home with a fever! Then the dad came to help out. By dark, the leaves were finally all gone. It looks beautiful. Better than beautiful, as our yard went from fall to winter, with the Christmas decorations the only thing left in the yard. They even carefully raked out the kids' fort!
It was a long, hard afternoon for them, but we loved having them around (I bet we slowed down the work some with all the conversation!). We're even more grateful to have them as neighbors and friends.
Well, this weekend, they went above the call of neighborly friendship: they spent almost 6 hours getting all the leaves out of our yard. First it was the mom and her son, who finally went home with a fever! Then the dad came to help out. By dark, the leaves were finally all gone. It looks beautiful. Better than beautiful, as our yard went from fall to winter, with the Christmas decorations the only thing left in the yard. They even carefully raked out the kids' fort!
It was a long, hard afternoon for them, but we loved having them around (I bet we slowed down the work some with all the conversation!). We're even more grateful to have them as neighbors and friends.
DreamWorksop
A Little Cat Drama
Our cat Albus is at the animal hospital but should be home tonight. He had gotten out on the (thankfully) enclosed porch and was there long enough to eat a plant and perhaps other things. After we found him (his sister alerted us to his adventure by meowing at the door), he spent the evening throwing up and obviously feeling quite unwell. So he spent the night at the animal hospital, got some fluids, some tests that indicated he probably ate something he shouldn't, but is doing well this morning. We hope he has a good day and can come home tonight.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Next Up
Look! We have decorations. Early. And even more amazingly, we ordered our Christmas card photos and will do those for the first time in three years.
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