Happy "Birthday" Darling!

This is the day that James and I refer to as "Our Birthday." It's the anniversary of the day we met - the "birthday" of us. It's been 30 years today since that happened, and we still celebrate every year. This is the only photo we have of that day...

We met at a church picnic in Wisconsin - I had been forced to attend by my father, and James happened to be visiting his friend (the son of the couple hosting the picnic). We were introduced and chatted briefly. I thought he was cute, smart, and funny. Plus he had a nice butt (hey - I like what I like). After picnic food we were told we could ride the horses IF we could find them. They were nowhere around, so we decided to look for them. We had to climb through a fence to get into the pasture. Being a gentleman, he lifted the top wire of the fence and held out his hand to steady me. I took his hand and *ZAP* - instant electricity! We ended up holding hands for hours. We walked through the fields and woods. We walked along the road. We walked and talked all afternoon. At one point he picked a bouquet of wild flowers for me... I was hooked! I wanted the day to last forever.

Of course, eventually we walked our way back to the house - where we learned that the horses had found their own way home right after we left. We got into a bit of trouble for disappearing for the afternoon, but I don't think either of us cared. We rode horses for a while, just because... then he played his guitar and sang for me. I still remember myself as that young woman - completely smitten by this handsome "older" man who picked flowers for me and wrote songs and sang to me and made me feel like I was the most important person in the world...

...and to this day he's still that man. The man I started falling in love with on that sunny July afternoon. The man I married nearly eight years later. The man I miss even when he's only gone for an hour. The man I still want to fall asleep with and wake up next to. The man who still picks wild flowers and sings to me. The man whose hand I will always want holding mine as we stroll through life together.

I love you, James. Happy birthday to us!

Easy-Peasy Cheesecake

Ok - you can change the name if you like. But after you make it once you'll see that it fits (like the "Nummylicious Cheese Ball"). My older son and his friend wanted to make cheesecake last week, but none of us are crazy about the traditional recipe that uses 5 blocks of cream cheese. I thought maybe we could find a recipe that was at least AS good, and with luck it would use ingredients we already had in the house. After a short Google search we came up with three possibilities and combined them -- thus was born the following recipe.

Enjoy it - you can thank me later!

Easy-Peasy Cheesecake
Note: this makes a large cheesecake. I use an extra-big pie pan, but a springform pan would probably work well (although you might want to cut the crust back a bit). It would be deeper (and, thus, cheesecake-ier). Let me know if anyone tries it!


Crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
Crust: In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Add melted butter; stir to combine. Press crumb mixture into a 10-12 inch pie pan and chill for 30 minutes.

Filling:
12 oz. cream cheese, softened
2/3 c. sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 c. sour cream
1 tbsp. vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare crust, set aside. In large bowl stir together cream cheese and sugar until soft and creamy; then beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in sour cream and vanilla; blend well. Pour in baked crust.

Bake 25-30 minutes until center jiggles slightly when pan is gently shaken (center will set). Transfer to wire rack. Let cool completely, cover with wax paper and refrigerate for at least 8 hours. Cut into wedges and serve. Makes 10-12 servings.

Who knew?

I learned a very useful tidbitof information yesterday that I thought I'd just quickly pass on. As you know I've been crafting and sewing and painting and building and creating. Just as I finished painting a bench for my entry the other day it started to rain. My older son, ever the gentleman, helped me carry it into the house and out of the rain. In the process he got a stripe of white paint on his brand new jeans. YIKES! Here's where the "tidbit" comes in. Are you ready?

HAND SANITIZER REMOVES DRIED PAINT!

I know - I didn't believe it either. This was latex paint that had been drying for about 5 days. Squirt the alcohol-based hand-sanitizer onto the paint and scrub gently with an old toothbrush. You'll see the paint just dissolve and disappear. You might have to do it twice, and you're going to want to wash the item afterwards, but it took the paint right out of the jeans. There: now isn't that something you can use?

disclaimer: you might want to test for colorfastness (is that a word?) and potential damage before you use this on a silk blouse or a hand-knit sweater or something, but on jeans it was amazing.

Save money! Be healthy! Have fun! Make your own granola!

I found this recipe in the Sunday Parade magazine a few years ago. I literally never read that thing, but I was bored... or maybe it was fate? We used to actually mail-order granola from Hobee's in Northern California because it was just the best. Believe me when I say: this is better!

Granola

Excellent
275°/1 hour total

In a large bowl, combine:
2 c old-fashioned oats
1/2 c wheat germ
2-3 T dark brown sugar
1/4 t salt
1-1 ½ c “extra” ingredients (sunflower seeds, almonds, pecans, coconut, etc) (NOT dried fruit)

In a saucepan, heat to a simmer:
1/4 c maple syrup
3 T vegetable oil
1 T water
flavoring (I use 1T vanilla and 1/2 T cinnamon, but you could use different extracts for different tastes)

Drizzle the liquid over the oat mixture and stir to combine. Pour into a greased/sprayed 9x13 pan, then squeeze by handfuls to form small clumps. Bake 30 min at 275 °. Stir in dried fruit (if desired) (1-1 ½ c total of banana chips, raisins, dates, dried cherries, etc) and bake another 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Let cool – can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Note: I usually make a double batch of the dry ingredients and a triple of the liquid, because that’s how I like it. I also usually end up using about 1/2 cup of each of the “extras” – again, that’s our preference. With the bigger batch I use two large jellyroll pans for the baking (so it dries and browns better). As with most of my recipes, this one is pretty open to personal interpretation.

Latest recipe experiment - Cream Puffs

Cream Puffs (or Pâte a Choux) can be used for so many things. You can fill them with custard or pudding or whipped cream. You can top them with chocolate. You can use them as a main dish and fill them with crab salad or tuna or chicken pot pie... or you can butter them and just eat them. So versatile. So delicious. So easy... really!

Cream Puffs

Heat oven to 300 degrees.

Put one cup water, 1/4-1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp - 1 tbsp sugar (depending on whether they will be for dessert or not and how sweet you want them), and 1 stick butter in a large sauce pan, and bring to a rolling boil. Remove from heat, dump in one cup of flour, and stir and stir until everything gets smooth and pulls away from the sides of the pan into a ball.

Return to medium heat to dry the paste so it will have the maximum puffing ability - turn the ball around in the pan, pressing it against the sides and flipping it over, until butter starts oozing out and the paste no longer sticks to your fingers. Let the pan sit for about 5 minutes while the dough cools, then stir for another minute or so to cool it some more.

Add 1 cup eggs (thats 4, in case you've never measured them) one at a time, stirring each until it is completely mixed in. (note: you'll get more *puff* if you use egg whites instead of one of the eggs). Continue to stir until everything is all mixed together (you'll see it change from a lumpy mess to a smooth dough).

Drop by spoonfulls onto greased cookie sheet (I highly recommend parchment paper). Place in oven on lowest rack and turn heat up to 400. It's the heat from the bottom that allows them to *puff*, so this is important. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until they are puffed and browned. Decrease the heat to 200 and bake another 15-20 minutes to dry them more.

Remove from the oven and stab each one with a sharp knife. This puncture lets the steam escape so the insides dry as well. Now let them cool on a rack for about 30 minutes. At this point they can either be eaten or frozen. Don't try to keep them for more than a day, because they go bad pretty quickly.

Another Chicken Recipe

Apparently my family really likes chicken - it seems I'm always finding a new CHICKEN recipe to try...

Here's another one that they really liked. My darling husband says this one goes on the "make this again sometime" list. It doesn't really have a name yet, so if you have any suggestions I'm open.

unnamed baked chicken thing

Lightly grease/spray 9x13 pan
Place 4 or 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts in pan
Top with a bag of frozen broccoli
In a saucepan, mix 1 container of Boursin "garlic and fine herbs" or "onion and shallot" cheese (I used chive and onion cream cheese, and it was excellent) and 1/3 cup milk until creamy. (*note*: you could use the LITE cheese and skim milk, too, and lighten the dish up quite a bit)
Pour half the cheese sauce over the broccoli.
Top with thin slices of ham, then the rest of the cheese sauce.
Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of Italian breadcrumbs and 3 T of Parmesan cheese.
Cover and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake another 20 minutes or until the chicken is done.

I doubled the sauce recipe and served this with egg noodles. Even my younger son thought it was pretty good - and that doesn't happen very often!

Lemon Chicken and fresh Lemon Curd

Just a quick post - I made this for dinner this week. Everyone LOVED it...except for my younger son. He said it was "too lemony." Whatever.

I'm eating the remaining lemon curd for a snack as I post this. Yummy!!

Lemon Curd

3 oz. (6 Tbs.) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. grated lemon zest

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer, about 2 min. Slowly add the eggs and yolks. Beat for 1 min. Mix in the lemon juice. The mixture might look curdled, but it will smooth out as it cooks.

In a medium, heavy-based saucepan, cook the mixture over low heat until it looks smooth. (The curdled appearance disappears as the butter in the mixture melts.) Increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, about 15 min. It should leave a path on the back of a spoon and will read 170°F on a thermometer. Don't let the mixture boil.

Remove the curd from the heat; stir in the lemon zest. Transfer the curd to a bowl. Press plastic wrap on the surface of the lemon curd to keep a skin from forming and chill the curd in the refrigerator. The curd will thicken further as it cools. Covered tightly, it will keep in the refrigerator for a week and in the freezer for 2 months.


Lemon Chicken

1 1/2 pounds chicken breast or chicken tenders, cut into chunks
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Coarse salt
2 tablespoons wok or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon white or rice wine vinegar (a splash)
1/2 cup chicken broth or stock
8 ounces prepared lemon curd (1 cup)
1/4 cup hot water
1 lemon, zested
2 scallions, thinly sliced or 20 blades fresh chives, finely chopped

Coat the chunks of chicken lightly in flour, seasoned with a little salt.

Heat a large skillet or a wok-shaped nonstick pan over high heat with oil, about two turns of the pan. Stir fry chicken until golden, 3-4 minutes. Remove chicken from the pan and return pan to heat. Reduce heat to medium.

Add a splash of vinegar to the pan and let it evaporate. Add stock or broth to the pan and scrape up any drippings with a whisk. Thin curd by stirring in the hot water. Add curd to broth and whisk to combine. Add chicken back to the pan and simmer for 1-2 minutes to thicken sauce and finish cooking chicken pieces through. Remove the pan from heat, add the scallions or chives and zest and toss chicken pieces well to combine zest and scallions or chives evenly throughout the sauce.

note: I didn’t think this had enough “sauce” for my taste (and the rest of the family agreed). Next time I will double the amount – thus using the entire batch of lemon curd.

You can also BUY lemon curd, of course, and the lemon curd recipe can be used for a LOT of things besides this!

Making Caramels

Apparently, for some unknown reason, the month of February has been "let's make caramels" month at our house. We've made three different recipes and tried different methods of cooking and timing and temperature. Here's the best and easiest one. I'm not saying it's the BEST caramel recipe out there, but it has to be close.

Memorize this - impress the heck out of your friends!

Mix together in a saucepan:
1 cup sugar (white is best, but you can use brown,a mixture, whatever you have handy)
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup heavy cream (evaporated milk, 1/2-n-1/2, sweetened condensed milk - they all work)
1/4 cup butter (that's 1/2 stick)
1 dash of salt (that's about a shake from the salt shaker)

Stir well over medium/low and bring to a boil. Watch the heat and keep cooking, stirring often and watching so it doesn't boil over. Cook to somewhere between 245 and 250 degrees - lower is more like apple dip, higher is pretty hard. I like about 248. My candy thermometer says that's "firm ball."

Remove from heat and add 1 tsp vanilla (that's about a capfull from the bottle). Stir and pour into greased/buttered pan - 9x9 square or a pie pan will work great.

Let cool, cut, and eat (or just dip cut apples into it while it's still warm).

This takes about a minute to throw together and about 30-40 minutes to cook. If it's too soft you can throw it back into the saucepan and cook it again - just watch the temperature because it heats back up pretty quickly.

You could also get fancy - add pecans, make turtle candies, cook it to a higher temp and make toffee instead (note: I didn't actually try this, but it seems like it would work)... Be brave! Have fun! Enjoy -- that's what cooking is all about!

New Year's Resolution

I make a resolution (or two) every year. Unfortunately, every year - like everyone else - I break it by February. This year I decided to make a resolution that I can't possibly break. It's simple, it straightforward, and it will benefit me and everyone around me.

DO IT BETTER!

That's it. Three simple words. Easy to remember, simple to do, and quick to embroider on a t-shirt (if I have the time). But think about the words: do it better...

I resolve, no matter what I'm doing, to do my best to find a way to do it better. Cooking? Find a way to make it more efficient or tasty, or just to focus on putting more "love" into it. Cleaning? Same thing - find a way to improve the process (even if it means blasting the music just so I have more fun). Talking to my kids? Make sure to listen more and not be as quick to solve their problems for them. Running errands? Perhaps I could be more patient with the people who park their carts diagonally and block the entire aisle while they debate the merits of Skippy versus Jif...

Each day I'm going to strive to find at least one thing upon which I can improve (see - I used the correct grammar in that sentence. I did it better!). With a resolution like that I know I can't possibly fail, and that means when the end of 2009 rolls around I will have succeeded at the ultimate goal: 2009 will, at least in some small way, be better than 2008. ...and if everyone did that, found one way to make one thing better every day, just think about what an amazing life this would be.

2009: DO IT BETTER!

Christmas Brilliance

In case you didn't know, I spend a LOT of time in my kitchen. One of the things I complain about often is that my funnels are too slow - things don't move through them fast enough, and I tend to overflow the tops (thus making a huge mess and wasting whatever I'm trying to pour). My darling husband, who always listens (even when I don't think he is), solved my problem for me. He got me a "radiator funnel" -- designed with a very large opening for filling the radiator in a car.

This morning I made juice and everything ran right through just the way I expected it to, with no juice-mess on the counter or the floor or the outside of the container. I also made a fresh batch of all-purpose cleaner and more wet wipes, and still no spills!

Brilliant! Every kitchen should have one!

Brilliant Idea #1

I've decided, since I haven't felt like WRITING in a while, to shift the focus of this blog for a bit. I'm going to try posting ideas, tips, products, etc. that I come upon that seem to be helpful - sort of like Oprah's "favorite things" without the price tag.

The best idea I've had recently: when I fold my sheet sets, I put the set inside one of the pillow cases. The entire set is together, it's easy to grab when it's time to change the bed, I never have to hunt for a stray pillow case to complete the set, and nobody will ever know that I can't really neatly fold a fitted sheet.

There. That's one...

He's not my little boy anymore

Our older son is set to graduate from high school in about two weeks. I'm just not ready! I know it's part of life - part of raising children - that they will (God willing) eventually grow up. Still, I wasn't prepared for how quickly it would happen. To me he will always be that curious little boy (photo courtesy of my darling husband, James). The one with the pinchable cheeks and the enormous brown eyes. I look at the man he's become and I just can't seem to take it in. He's tall (5'9" and still growing), very handsome (dark brown eyes, slightly curly dark brown hair, slender, chiseled features), and extremely bright (heading off to college next year to major in mathematics). I'm quite proud, of course, that my husband and I made, created, and nurtured this fine person. I'm especially proud that he's learned it all so well. When he voluntarily helps around the house, or holds open a car door for a friend, or stands to offer his seat to a stranger it's all I can do not to shout, "That's MY son!" We've done a good job, and I know I have to let him go.

Still, nothing prepared me for how hard it would be. I see the signs of his pulling away, and I'm just not ready for it. His bedroom door is more often closed than open, hushed phone conversations or faint guitar chords on the other side. Time out with his friends has taken the place of time at home with the family, and more often than not he's gone on weekend evenings. He's got his own life, and it's no longer the same as mine. It's still there, still connected (of course), but he's becoming the adult he's supposed to be. In my mind he'll always be my little boy, but I know I have to start giving up control.

We've taught him to fly, and now it's time to let him soar.

Spring is here, spring is here……..

Last weekend, after more than a week of below-zero temperatures, we not only broke the “0” mark, but we blasted right through “freezing” and reached into the 40’s! It was glorious and uplifting… spring at last! I could hear the robins (in my mind, I suppose) and smell the daffodils – can summer be far behind?

I know that "technically" spring begins on March 21, and that makes it nearly two months off yet. I heard recently of another group, called 21st-ers, who believe that spring begins on the Winter Solstice (since the days are getting longer then winter must be over, hence: SPRING!). I tend to go more the the Pagans, who celebrate a holiday called Imbolc soon. Imbolc (literally in milk)celebrates that the animals are beginning to give birth and produce milk, thus showing the beginnings of new life -- could anything describe spring more perfectly? Plus, Imbolc is celebrated on February 2 (which just happens to be my birthday) and I've always loved a good celebration!

Sure, we only had the warm weather for 2 days before winter slapped us in the face again (45 on Monday, -40 wind chill on Tuesday), but the promise was there all the same. It might still be cold outside, but winter is losing its hold. We've seen a crack in the misery, and the promise is there that if we can just hold on a little longer the warmth will return - longer and longer each time until it STICKS.

In the meantime, keep thinking warm sunny thoughts and be patient just a little while longer.

It might also be about time to start those seeds...

Baking Bread

I’ve recently started baking bread. Not the “knead and rise and knead and rise” kind. I like to say I’m “ too ADD” for anything that takes that long for a result. This is the no-knead artisan bread. It’s easy to mix, easy to make, and it has an earthy, natural feel to it.

The basic recipe is, to make it easy to remember, 6-3-3-13. That’s 6 cups warm water, 3 tablespoons yeast, 3 tablespoons kosher salt, and 13 cups flour. You can cut that or increase it if necessary, but that’s the recipe. Mix the ingredients in a large bowl with a wooden spoon, cover loosely, and let it rise until it flattens on top. That’s it – REALLY! From there you can either cut off a lump (about the size of a grapefruit) and make bread or put it into the refrigerator for up to two weeks and make bread whenever the urge strikes.

So far, just from that basic recipe I’ve made bread, rolls, breakfast pull-aparts (twice), a baguette, and a loaf of “sandwich” bread. The rolls were just all right, and the dough isn’t quite sweet enough for the pull-aparts (I think more experimentation is required), but the basic bread is heavenly! It’s got a gentle, cracker-y crust and a slightly cakey crumb in the center. Warm out of the oven it’s nearly gone before I finish closing the oven door. In fact, I’d better get another loaf started right now – yummy!!

I'm back - for now

I know it's been nearly a year. I'd like to say I've been busy, but the truth is that I just can't write unless I "feel" it, and I haven't felt it for a while. Sorry, but it's the same reason I stopped writing poetry in high school. On the plus side, it means that I usually still like what I've written if I go back and read it again, even years later. On the minus side, it means that sometimes I write and sometimes I don't. Thankfully I don't do this for money - just for the pure pleasure I've always gotten from doing it. Anyway, I'm feeling like it again, for now. We'll see....

It’s our anniversary!

Today my darling husband and I have been married for 20 years. I can still remember so much about that day that it can’t possibly have been that long ago. I can remember looking out the church window and seeing him arriving, wearing tennis shoes with his tux, and sending a bridesmaid out just to make sure he had the “real” shoes. (Yes, I’ve always been the control freak). I remember not being nervous at all – right up until the second the Wedding March started. Then it was like I’d forgotten how to breathe. I remember every step walking down the aisle to him, and every step walking back as his wife. I remember the song he wrote (and sang) just for the wedding – how I was holding myself together pretty well until he finished and handed me a rose out of his guitar case… thank heaven for waterproof mascara!

Marrying this man has been the single best thing I have ever done in my life. I’m still not sure how it was that fate or God or the Universe managed to get us together, but I will be forever grateful. This man loves me unceasingly. He loves the things about me that I don’t like. He loves me even when I feel unlovable. He loves me when I soar, and when I crash helpless back to Earth. He spoils me shamelessly, and always makes me believe I deserve it..….

I’m not sure what I ever did to deserve him, but I know I try every day to prove to him that I do! Here’s to the next 20 years!!

How to plan for vacation

We're heading off for Spring Break. I know there are people who prefer to wait until the last minute, throw things into a suitcase, and just head out. I am not one of them. As with most parts of my life, I prefer to not only plan in advance, but I like to plan for every possible contingency and pack for it if possible. A few years ago I actually came up with a master packing list. It is an Excel spreadsheet, of course, making it easy to add, delete, change the font, reformat, and alphabetize as needed (and yes, sometimes alphabetizing is needed, just on general principle).

As part of the advance planning, I make sure my entire house is cleaned (vacuumed, dusted, dishes washed and put away, clean sheets, garbage out) before we leave. The way I see it, the end of vacation is stressful enough without coming home to a mess and a long list of work. I'd much rather come home and still be able to relax for a bit! To that same end, I like to try to plan for meals for at least the first day back. After one-too-many stops at the store on the way home from the airport I decided that there had to be a better way.

Today I picked up some milk (with an expiration date AFTER our return home). I also picked up some school lunch necessities. I've got a dozen fresh-baked cookies in the freezer waiting. I'm also baking and freezing some banana chocolate chip muffins so breakfast that first day will already be handled. I know it might seem crazy to someone who's never done it, but it makes my vacation better just knowing that I won't have to panic when we get home -- there's no milk! there's nothing for breakfast! what am I going to take for lunch?

If you just try it one time - just ONE vacation where you do a little advance planning - I know you'll agree with me. As with any thing else in life, a little planning and forethought can make all the difference.

Bon voyage!

Some days I am the Little Red Hen

One day as the Mother was standing in the kitchen, and she decided to bake a batch of Cookies.
"These Cookies will need some sugar and shortening," she said. "Who will measure them for the Cookies?"
"Not I," said the Husband.
"Not I," said the Older Son.
"Not I," said the Younger Son.
"Then I will," said the Mother. And she did.

Soon the Cookies needed eggs and vanilla.
"We’re getting closer," said the Mother. "Who will get two eggs for the Cookies?"
"Not I," said the Husband.
"Not I," said the Older Son.
"Not I," said the Younger Son.
"Then I will," said the Mother. And she did.

After the eggs were mixed in, the Mother said, "Who will get the flour out and help me measure it?"
"Not I," said the Husband.
"Not I," said the Older Son.
"Not I," said the Younger Son.
"Then I will," said the Mother. And she did.

When the Cookie dough was nearly done, the Mother said, "Who will measure 2 cups of chocolate chips for the Cookies?"
"Not I," said the Husband.
"Not I," said the Older Son.
"Not I," said the Younger Son.
"Then I will," said the Mother. And she did.

When the measuring and mixing were all done, the Mother said, "Who will help me put these ingredients away and wash these few dishes?"
"Not I," said the Husband.
"Not I," said the Older Son.
"Not I," said the Younger Son.
"Then I will," said the Mother. And she did.

She took the Cookie dough to the table and got ready to put it onto the pans. Then she said, "Who will help me put this dough onto the pans and bake it?"
"Not I," said the Husband.
"Not I," said the Older Son.
"Not I," said the Younger Son.
"Then I will," said the Mother. And she did.

She made and baked the cookies. Then she said, "Who will eat these cookies?"
"Oh! I will," said the Husband.
"And I will," said the Older Son.
"And I will," said the Younger Son.
"No, No!" said the Mother. "I will do that." And she did.

The Aftermath

We woke up to nearly 12” of fresh snow this morning (actually, we measured 11” in the back yard, but a FOOT OF SNOW sounds so much more impressive). Normally on a Sunday morning we hang around in bed, reading the paper and drinking our coffee, and listening to the “ocean waves” sound effect on my new sound machine. We call this “Coffee and paper on the beach” (joking, of course, since it’s below freezing outside). It’s lovely and relaxing, and I look forward to it all week.

Today that was not to be.... we woke up to this! I glanced at the paper, we downed a quick cup of coffee, and bundled up. Two hours and about a million shovels-full later we were finished. Our younger son shoveled the sidewalk for the young widow next door. We all then shoveled out our sidewalk and the driveway in the back. We were about 1/3 done with the driveway across the alley when the owner opened the garage door holding his shovel. I think he was surprised... so was the young woman my husband helped get her car dug/pushed out of the mess you see in the photo. She was also surprised when later we went to her door to warn her that her car was parked in an area that was about to be plowed. Everyone said we were such "nice neighbors" as if they just couldn't believe that people would bother to help them out.... but isn't that what we're supposed to do? I mean, if I'm supposed to "do unto others as I'd have them do unto me," then how could I NOT help? If I were the person in any one of those situations I'd certainly hope for the same help we gave today. Isn't it just what a person does?

.....maybe the really sad thing is that they were all so surprised by normal human kindness and consideration. What does that say about us?

The great blizzard of ‘07

This winter was almost perfect. We have had, at most, 2” of snow in any one storm. Our weather has been warm for most of the winter, too, so there wasn’t anything left on the ground. The sleds and skates and skis were sitting, alone and unused, next to the shovels. Our crocuses were even starting to peak out of the ground. All was ready for springtime!!

Until today. When you live in Minnesota, nothing weather-related is ever a sure thing. Today we’re getting, as the song says, “sno-o-o-o-w o-o-o-n snow.” (In the Bleak Midwinter – look it up)

Apparently when the weather turns frightful I turn domestic. I don’t mean the normal, time-to-dust domestic, either. I, apparently, lose my mind. Early this afternoon we AGAIN cleaned the younger son’s bedroom. It was much easier this time, since we spent an entire day doing the same thing not three months ago. Today we mostly just tidied things up and moved furniture around. It only took 2 ½ hours, and it looks pretty nice, so I guess it was a good idea.

When that was done, as I walked downstairs, I thought, “DONUTS!” For some reason I decided that THAT was the moment I’d been waiting for to make donuts. You need to know that I’ve never made donuts before, and that the last time I even ate homemade donuts I was probably pre-teen. Still, something somewhere inside said “donuts” so donuts it was. I found my grandmother’s recipe in our family cookbook. I found a pan that was deep enough. I found the oil and the candy thermometer. I started to look for the donut cutter (you know, the one with the hole in the middle so they look like donuts) and found, instead, a donut press! I didn’t know we HAD a donut press! Apparently I’m not the only one who thought, in a moment of madness, that donuts sounded like a good idea. The donut press was still in its original box and still sealed – never used (I guess the person who bought it had second thoughts). Price: $1.66 (current price on E-bay is $10) – does that give you any idea how long ago somebody else thought it might be fun to make donuts? I guess they decided not to make them after all… but it was nice of them to have the one thing we needed so I could make them and we could eat them on a snowy day.

Sometimes winter is really fun!

My best gift

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.

~Dr. Seuss

We always open our gifts, just the four of us, a couple of days before Christmas. This started a few years ago - mainly because the big "family" Christmas has gotten so HUGE that we want to save a little time. One year, for example, we got so exhausted after opening gifts on Christmas Eve for 3 hours that we took a meal break before we finished the other half..... and the family has GROWN since then!

So, we opened our gifts last night, on the Winter Solstice. My sons helped me light every candle in the house (part of the Solstice tradition -- a way of encouraging the light to return and summer to come once again). To the gentle strains of "Jingle Bells" and "O, Holy Night", basking in the glow of the tree and the Vikings/Packers game, we sat in our living room and opened gifts.

When we were all done and the boys had disappeared upstairs to play their new video games and call their friends I finally had time take it all in. I snuggled up to my husband, gave him a big hug, and looked into his eyes. In all honesty I said, "Do you know what my BEST gift this year was? It was getting to stay home and take care of you guys."

With tears in his eyes, my darling husband said, "I was going to say that was MY best gift!"

You can't do better than that!

Merry Christmas

Christmas Traditions #2

One of my most treasured Christmas traditions is one my husband and I started on the first Christmas after we were married. That year we went out and bought the prettiest angel we could find for the top of our tree. We also bought a pale pink glass heart -- appropriate for a young couple in their first year of marriage. At that time we decided that we would buy one special ornament each year (the next year we added "regardless of the cost" because the ornament we fell in love with was a lot more than it should have been).

Every year we pick one day and go ornament shopping. We always go alone together. We used to do it while the boys were in daycare, but now we just tell them where we're headed and off we go. We hold hands and wander the mall and look over several (hundred) ornaments until we find just the right one. There hasn't been a year yet when we haven't agreed on our purchase. Sometimes it only takes one stop. Some years it takes more than one shopping trip. There's no way to know how long it will take or where we will find it, but we always know it's out there -- we just have to keep looking.

This year by the time we got all 19 previous ornaments on the tree it was nearly full. Of course we found a place for the ornaments that were important to us (photos, an engraved heart, the pipe-cleaner snowman), but it made me think: some day our boys will have all of these... some day they'll be setting up the tree for the "family Christmas" and we'll be long gone, but they will pull out each ornament and line them up to put them on in order just like always... they'll argue over who gets to put on the seahorses and they'll reminisce about the year the younger one climbed the lilacs to retrieve the cardinals' nest after the babies had flown... they'll look at the ones that contain photos and remark, as we always do, that we sure have changed... and they'll remember all those Christmases together in our house full of love, and they will (I hope) continue those traditions with their families.

Christmas Traditions - #1

We got our Christmas tree on Saturday. Since we live in the heart of the big city, there was no tramping through Santa's forest to cut down a tree for us. It's always more like driving through Satan's traffic jam!

I have this "gift" for always finding the perfect tree. An example: one year I actually bypassed all the trees they already had unwrapped and standing for inspection and walked to the back of the lot where the trees-in-waiting are all bundled and piled up. I picked one off the pile and made the tree-lot-guy unwrap it so I could see it. He opened it up and - it didn't even move. It was so cold that the tree was actually frozen into shape. It didn't matter, though, because I KNEW this was the one. We brought it home and set it up to warm and "fluff" up. Not only was it the perfect shape (not even one bare spot), but there was a bird's nest in it! Of course, we left the nest as an ornament.

The perfect tree this year was probably only perfect to me. It looked like it had been forgotten in the back corner of the tree lot and cut as an accident. It was about 14' tall (we have 9' ceilings), spindly, and was obviously never shaved into the commercially-perfect triangle shape. It was, as the tree-lot-guy described it, a "Charlie Brown" tree. Of course we bought it. My husband has learned never to question my decision when I pick a tree; it wouldn't do any good. Once I get my heart set on a tree we could spend another hour and we'd still go home with that same one.

We had to take about a foot off the bottom and another 4 feet off the top just to get it into the living room. The angel will stand nestled in the upper branches instead of perched on the top. Still, it doesn't matter. For this year, at this time, this is the perfect tree. They always are.

Wretched Excess

Saturday morning, due to some unexplained burst of insanity, my darling husband decided it was the day to clean out the Toy Closet. To understand what a bad idea this is, you first have to understand that the toy closet is a walk-in closet in my youngest son's bedroom (you know the one - he's the one who has to save EVERYTHING, from the rocks he finds on walks to the cardboard packaging that comes with toys). This closet is the place that all toys get sent when they are not being actively used. Things don't get put away in this closet so much as they get THROWN, usually with force and a flip of the wrist.

When I first opened the door (believe me when I say I don't do that often) I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. The giant Rubbermaid tubs we used to hold all the stuff (several of them, originally each sorted by type of toy - sports stuff, guns and weapons, etc) had each been emptied onto the floor, then left sitting on top of the pile. It appeared as if a tornado had hit a toy store, and then left everything inside this closet and shut the door. If there hadn't been the four of us ready to work I would have shut the door and backed slowly out of the room.... but there we all were. No turning back, I guess.

I won't bore you with all the details - just a few of the highlights. We found a dirty sock and three pair of boxer shorts. We found candy wrappers. We found pieces for games we no longer have. There was one stray puzzle piece - plain gray, of course, so there's no hope of figuring out where it went. Oddly enough, we did not discover what was causing the place to smell like pizza. Even more puzzling, we did not discover any trace of insect or rodent infestation. You know it's bad when even MICE won't chance it!

When we finished (7 1/2 hours later!) we had filled 2 large yard garbage bags, 2 kitchen garbage bags, a big boxes, plus we burned several wood and cardboard items. We saved a large laundry basket full of things he thinks he can sell (or give away). Everything remaining fits in the front half of the closet (shelves, mostly), leaving the back half empty. We have a plan for that, but I think I'll save that for another day..... as my husband said once when I wanted to keep adding to a project like this, "The job is big enough."

They can't ALL be winners

Today I woke up feeling - icky. Nothing specific wrong, just kind of achy all over. I decided it would have to be a light day, because there was just no way I was going to get a lot done. So after making the bed, showering and putting on my makeup, and taking the kids to school I washed dishes and made a pan of each kind of Rice Crispie bar. After washing dishes a second time I decided to try a new recipe (Self magazine, December 2006 issue, lemon crisp cookies).

I should have used common sense while making it, but I usually try to follow the recipe exactly the first time and then get creative the next time. The recipe, which I will not list exactly, called for about 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder AND soda, salt, sugar, 1/4 cup butter, one egg yolk, and 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice (and the lemon zest). The dough was dry and crumbly, but I pressed it into a log as best I could, wrapped it in plastic, and put it into the refrigerator for the required three hours. At that point I dutifully sliced it into thin slices, brushed each with egg white, and sprinkled them with sugar.

The good news: they SMELL wonderful
The moderate news: they taste all right
The bad news: they are very very ugly to look at

The "log" I had to roll them into wasn't a perfect cylinder, so the cookies are not round. There isn't enough butter in them to cause them to flatten, so whatever you have when you slice is what you have when they're baked. They were still dry and crumbly, so they sort of fell apart when I tried to put them onto the cookie sheets. Oh, and the lemon zest didn't really cook so much as dry out, so they feel like they have coconut in them (which they do not). Like I said, they SMELL wonderful, and that smell is enough to make you want to eat one.


**UPDATE: after they completely cooled the lemon flavor got stronger. They're still ugly to look at, but I think I can get past appearances to have another one.......