Dark Days

Since last week’s tragedy in Newtown, it's been harder to let the kids out of the house. The instinct is to keep them under lock and key, but every morning we have to open the door and let them go.  To the movies, to the mall, to walk to the bus stop in the dark.  Like many parents, I’m trying to wrap my head around this and figure out how it will impact my family.   At this age, it is less about trying to shield them from the news. It’s mostly about answering questions like “Why don’t they want to say the killer’s name?” "Why did that mom have a gun?"  “Would you ever get a gun?”   "Did he know any of those kids?"

These are the darkest days of the year, and this year sad circumstances have accumulated around me to make the days seem even darker than usual.  Long ago, the ancients thought the sun was leaving them, getting farther and farther away.  Each year they feared that it would never return.  It’s no coincidence that Christmas falls during the time when the ancients realized the sun was coming back.  Winter Solstice -  the day before the light starts to return.   Right now we are waiting, lighting the Hannukah and Advent candles.   

We spend so much time trying to teach our children that violence is wrong -- that loving each other is the reason we’re all here on this earth together.   We want them to know that love is our highest purpose.  That to feel  it is a blessing, and to express it is a gift, not to be taken for granted. Yes, we can teach them to accept that some people have disabilities that make it hard to cultivate love, or express it.  Acting out in anger is something we struggle with daily as a family.  But it’s impossible to explain  how someone could face a blackness as dark as what prompted last week’s horror.

Have you ever heard the saying that a broken heart is an open heart?   Right now it feels like the country is joining hands,  praying for the love in our hearts to pass from one hand to the next.  I’m hopeful that those grieving find their way out of the darkness and are touched by returning light and love in the coming weeks.

Please visit  The Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence 

My Black Friday Helper

Living so close to the second-largest mall in New York State just makes me want to hide in the house on Black Friday.  It’s hard for me to believe that people think it is fun to wait in line for a $12 popcorn popper.  An astonishing number of people even go on Thanksgiving night!    

After we spent Thanksgiving Day with our cousins in Brooklyn, they came and stayed with us here in Nyack for a couple of nights.  My 5-year-old niece Xeta and I spent much of Black Friday outside in the garden.  She helped me feed the chickens and rake leaves.    

Then she asked what we could plant.   All my flower bulbs and garlic were already in the ground, but it was such a beautiful day and I had such an enthusiastic helper.   The sun was shining and the temperature was in the low 60s.  We didn’t even have jackets on!  It definitely seemed like weather that could still germinate some cool weather crops, so we’re trying some kale, cabbage and lettuce.  I have a row cover that I’ll put over them and hope for a head start on some spring seedlings at the very least. 

One of the other fall projects that Xeta helped me with is building up the beds,  We put compost, chicken litter (wood shavings and chicken manure) and shredded leaves and grass on top of the vegetable beds.  Throughout the winter, the mixture breaks down and in the spring the beds are fertile and ready for planting. 

I can't believe this is my 400th post on this blog.  I started it in 2008 and still have ton of tons of things to write about -- the problem is finding the time.  When I look at my first blog post...oh my lord ....it was so pathetic...  I'm grateful for all the friends I've made through this blog, around the world and locally and hope to continue to write about everything under the sun. 

Getting Creative With Pizzelles

Grandma Rose was the expert pizzelle maker in our family, and she and my mom got together every year to make them.  My mom, in turn, became a pizzelle fairy, distributing them to friends, teachers, physicians, mailmen and anyone else lucky enough to cross her path during the Christmas season.  So of course, when I got married, a pizzelle iron was among the gifts.  

Here’s what my pizzelle iron looks like today. 

Mind you, I know people who would be horrified by this, but Grandma Rose would have said that the golden-brown patina caused by decades of burnt grease is useful for "seasoning" the iron and enhances the flavor.

Pizzelle recipes are fun to tinker with.  The basic recipe is:

1 cup (two sticks) margarine
6 eggs

1.5 cups sugar

2 t. vanilla

4 t. baking powder

3.5 c. flour

1) Melt and cool one cup of margarine (be sure to use margarine – it doesn’t burn as quickly, which is important in the iron)

2) In a large bowl, combine the margarine with 1.5 cups of sugar and 2 t. vanilla. Add the eggs one at at time.

3) In a separate bowl, combine 4 t. baking powder and 3.5 c. flour., and with a hand mixer, add to the wet ingredients, about a cup at at time and beat until smooth. 

4) Put 2 t. on each side of a hot iron and bake for about 30 seconds until golden.  (All irons are different!  Your mileage may vary).

The fun usually starts by substituting other flavored extracts for the vanilla.  Anise is popular, but I’ve also used orange and lemon extracts. 

     You can also add an additional  1/2 c. of cocoa, 1/2 c. of sugar and 1/2 t. baking powder to the dry ingredients to make chocolate pizzelles, then put a scoop of peppermint ice cream in between.   Move over Klondike.

     Pizzelles right from the iron are still pliable and can be rolled into tubes (for cannolis) and cones.   For my wedding, we filled pizzelle cones with Jordan almonds and gave them out as favors.  At Italian weddings five almonds symbolize health, wealth, happiness, fertility, and longevity.

     I tried something new this year with colored sprinkles.  These must be handled with caution, because if they’re applied too densely, they’ll melt into a big wad and muck up your iron.  I had better results sprinkling them onto pizzelles that were about 10 seconds from being fully baked, then reapplying the iron for the remaining 10 seconds or so.    The sprinkles stuck nicely to the cookie. 

    Chocolate chips can be melted in the microwave and spread on the back of a spoon, applied lightly to the relief pattern of a finished cookie, then, quickly before the chocolate sets, sprinkle with nonpareils. 

If you’re not feeling fancy, they’re wonderful just sprinkled with powdered sugar.   

Have you started your holiday baking yet?  What kind of cookies are you making?

See also:  Sandwiches and Santascones for Grandmama

 

On Mindfulness and Gratitude

"God is that personal journey we all want to be on -- to feel like we're connected to a universe that celebrates life."

"Nature's beatuty is a gift that cultivates appreciation and gratitude."

"If you do nothing else, at least respond to today's gift as if it were the first day of your life and the last day."

"Let it flow through you so that everyone you meet on this day will be blessed by you -- by your eyes, your smile, your presence."


Happy Thanksgiving to all!  And thanks to my friends Debbie, Amanda and Kathy who shared this video with me.

10 Halloween Food Ideas

Rather than a bag of that disgusting candy corn, bring one of these goodies to the party this weekend.  Some of these things we made ourselves, and some were discovered at gatherings when I was lucky enough to have a camera handy. 

1) Butternut Squash and Black Pasta:  Sautee garlic, olive oil, basil and steamed butternut squash, combine with cooked black "Squid Ink" noodles. Purty. 

2) Cheese Mummy - This idea came from our friends the Olsens.  It's made by forming a "cheese ball" into a humanoid shape, then covering it with strips of mozzarella and roasted red pepper.  Disappears fast.

3) Eyeball Appetizers-  Jaundiced deviled egg eyes look even more pathetic when surrounded with alfalfa sprout "guts".   Irises are made from sliced pimento olives.  Another colorful "eyeball" can be made with sliced carrot, a blob of cream cheese and a black olive. 

4) Fondue Cauldron - Cut vegetables into the shape of body parts and dip into cheesey witch's gruel.

5) Frankenmeat! - Why have a meat loaf when you can shape it into FRANKENMEAT? Make it even more gory with tomato sauce blood.  Cut a toothy grimace from zucchini squash slices.

6) Wormy Caramel Apples - Use twigs (washed well) instead of popsicle sticks, and cover caramel apples with gummy worms and candied sunflower seeds.  Garnish with colored leaves.

7) Graveyard Cake - a "Dirt Cake" can become a graveyard by turning rectangular cookies or Milanos into tombstones.  To ensure horrified, incredulous looks from the other moms, put the names of your guests on each tombstone.  Add worms and candy body parts.

8) Our friends Pat and Jeff made these kitty cakes using licorice shoestrings and dots on pumpkin muffins.

9) Eyeball Cocktail - Peel a radish in a way that leaves several red "veins," gouge out a space to stuff with an olive. Freeze in an ice cube so that it floats. 

10) Salted Pumpkin Caramels (via Food 52)- flavor caramels with pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice.  Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds and kosher salt. 

Happy Halloween!  Hope you're hungry!

The Joys of Summer

Orange palm trees against a lavender sky.

The smell of Hawaiian Tropic Dark Tanning Oil.

Jumping into an ice cold ocean on the hottest day of the year.

 

Carving the name of your crush in the sand.

Riding the roller coaster with your BFF. 

The Tilt-A-Whirl.

.

A row of stuffed puppies.

Have you been "On the Boardwalk" lately?

See also Theme Thursday: Summer

How Big is Santa? Shocking Images Revealed

Once upon a time, Santa was a wee little guy who couldn’t even look the most petite women in the eye.  He could fit in a stocking, and could barely reach the fireplace mantle.  The towering volunteer Santas showing up on our fire engines, and the giants that are employed as Old St. Nick in our local malls have broken with tradition – Santa is an elf, people.

It’s well known that many of our Christmas traditions having to do with Santa were invented by Clement C. Moore whose poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (a.k.a. “The Night Before Christmas) dictated many of our current rituals.  Thomas Nast was an illustrator in the late 1800’s who came to fame by drawing political cartoons – in fact, he is also responsible for creating the image associated with Uncle Sam.  Nast played the greatest role in creating the image of Santa that we recognize today.

Nast’s employer, Harpers Magazine, asked him to compile his collection of Christmas drawings, and it’s here that the truth is exposed:

Just doing my part to set the record straight.  

And now….

BREAKFAST FOR A TIRED MOTHER

You may do this all by yourself—and surprise Mother. 

First get out the tray.  Then a plate.  You’ll need cup and saucer, knife, fork and spoon.  Don’t forget the salt and pepper.  Does Mother use cream and sugar?  Oh, yes, -- a napkin.

Decorate it with a sprig of evergreen.  Maybe a small tree ornament?  Whatever you think will make it pretty for Mother. 

NOW

Does she like juice?   Orane, tomato, grapefruit, tangerine, prune, apple – what do you have on hand?  Cranberry juice mixed with pineapple jusice tasts good and it looks gay and Christmasy. 

Put water on to boil for tea or instant coffee.

SCRAMBLED EGGSACTLY

Eggs must be scrabmled eggsactly to taste good.  Break 2 eggs into bowl.  Beat with fork.  Add 2 tablespoons rich cream.  Beat again.  Melt 1 tablespoon butter in frying pan.  Pour in eggs.  Stir over low heat.  Do they look thick?  They’re done. 

 From A Child's Christmas Cookbook with recipes by Betty Chancellor, Illustrations by Thomas Nast.

Capote's "A Christmas Memory"



Buddy and Sook



Although I’ve had the book for several years, last night I finally sat down to read the incredible short story by Truman Capote “A Christmas Memory.”   Capote, a.k.a  “Buddy” in the story, lived with some distant elderly cousins when he was young, and this autobiographical tale is an account of the special relationship he had with one eccentric relative, Miss Sook Faulk.   As they do in other Capote stories, such as “The Grass Harp, “ the family misfits bond and become each other’s closest friends, along with their little dog Queenie.  Together they undertake the baking of 30 fruitcakes, and we see them foraging for ingredients together (including moonshine), finding a Christmas tree in the woods, and crafting gifts for each other.  

It didn’t surprise me at all to learn that the story has been adapted for the stage by Ira David Wood of Raleigh, NC’s Theatre in the Park.  Wood also plays Scrooge in A Christmas Carol every year.  “Doing A Christmas Carol   is like playing a Super Bowl game; “ he says, “doing A Christmas Memory is like taking a quiet walk in beautiful winter woods.”  In an interview about the production he says “The wonderful thing about the work is that it becomes something very personal to each audience member. We all have a special Christmas locked away in our hearts — complete with close friends, pets, sights, and smells of the season. The story is merely a key we use to unlock the door that takes us back to our own past.” 

The story brought me to the present in much the same way.  On a Christmas morning kite-flying outing, Buddy’s friend “sees the Lord” in the ordinary, prompting her to say that she could “leave the world with today in my eyes.”

The story can be read on line here, but you’d be depriving yourself of the charming drawings in the edition illustrated by Beth Peck. 

A true gem and one of the most beautiful stories I’ve ever read.   Do you have a favorite holiday book that you like to read every year?