December Daily 19 & 20 ~ Breaking Away for a Tiny Bit

Yesterday was a pretty rough day. It was the last day of the semester and I had to have my game face on at work while my heart was feeling very sad and anxious. The news that Don had been reclassified as a hospice patient began to sink in. Plus, I had not been able to get more than just an hour or two of sleep the night before. The kids were great, but I could not fake the excitement that most everyone else was feeling due to the winter break starting. I spent the evening trying to get my hands on a prescription medication that Don needed urgently. It took many phone calls about about 4 hours of waiting to finally procure what was needed.

Today was a much better day. Don was feeling a bit better and I had quick trip to Boulder with Natalie. We began our day by having brunch at the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse. We enjoy going to nice restaurants together. We started out with an order of Palatschinken (Austrian crepes, sweetened cheese, apple sauce, mint, candied walnuts) and house made Chai.

Natalie had a French Omelette and I had Honduran Beleada (tortilla, refried black beans, eggs (I had potatoes instead), cheese, plantains (I had them left out due to an allergy), avocado, crema, Aji red sauceO) which was fabulous. I saved a bit to bring home to the kids, both of whom enjoyed it.

Next stop was the Fjällräven store and the reason I needed to go to Boulder. Grandpa Don wants to give each of the grandchildren a special gift. Ethan has long wanted a Granfors Bruk Small Forest Axe, which are hand made in Sweden. It turns out that they are very hard to come by and they are also very desired. Larr and I contacted every single online dealer I could find. None of them had any and they were all back ordered until at least March. I had great conversations about the quality of the axe from abortionists, log home builder, tool collectors, etc. Then I recalled that Ethan had admired them at the Fjallraven store that is just down the street from Two Hands Paperie. I called them. They had been expecting their shipment to arrive for several days. I put a reserve hold and called them many days in a row. None had arrived. I explained the importance of the gift and they promised to help as best they could. One of them even called the stores in other states. In the end two axes were expedited to Boulder and I picked up mind today. Yeah and a great big shout out to those helpful folks!

And so since we were in Boulder, we had to stop by the Two Hands Paperie store, of course. I wanted to admire the Himmeli display that had been created at a community event that I missed due to conferences. They did a lovely job displaying them:

The display was really lovely. We spent some time in the shop and came out with some holiday gifts.

After that we headed back home. It was a short, sweet tonic to the stress of my life as it is right now. I am so thankful to have a wonderful friend to spend time with.

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On an entirely different note, here is a little (expensive) silliness:

December Daily 18 ~ Being Thankful & Being Conscious

Yesterday the doctors decided to put Grandpa Don on home hospice. Even though his condition has been bad for a while, that label hit all of us pretty hard. At first I was in a place where the cheery holiday songs where a hard discord to the reality of our life right now. Then I sort of had a talk with myself and decided that I needed an attitude adjustment. Being upset and unhappy was not helpful to any of us, especially me. Instead, I stepped back, took a few deep breaths and decided that I needed to find the positives in our situation. And so I find myself thankful. I find that this difficult emotional place has also given me some gifts. It is a gift to witness the kindness, the nurturing and the genuine love my two children exhibit for their grandfather. Each of them doing it in their own equally important ways. What a gift it is to be able to stand back and witness who they are as adults, separate from ourselves and the many strings we have attached to each other. What a gift it is to be able to be truly conscious of the time we have left to be with Don, to take in who he is, how he has enriched our lives and how parts of him will live on in each of us. What a gift it is to have a chance to have so many of our friends and his friends come forth with their own stories of thanks for how he has enriched their lives. What a gift it is to have a chance at having closure. I don't know if we are near the end, but either way I am thankful for all of those things and more.

I have also made a point of slowing down enough to notice the small joys that are easy to miss. I went to Whole Foods yesterday and was enveloped in the smell of Rosemary as I went by the displays of little Rosemary trees they well this time of year in the produce department. They stacked them in such a way as to make them look like a larger tree. The fragrance lingered as I picked up what I needed.

Outside the Allegro Coffee Company had its Flxbus parked out front. The festive crew was handing out free beverages and Christmas stockings they purchased to support a coop in Kenya. There cheer was genuine and warming both inside and out.

Perhaps you can find them in your area.

Once I was back home I made a nice, simple meal for Ethan. He was so exhausted from having been at the hospital until about 4 a.m. He just needed some time to relax and soak in some of the love you can only get at home. I made a lovely grilled cheese sandwich and paired it with really lovely tomato soup. I used a fresh sourdough boulle and cotswold cheese (similar to cheddar, but more smooth, embedded with chives). I also served up his favorite rootbeer. He was so hungry that he had two large sandwiches. Tummy satisfied, we watched a bit of television together befor he had to return home to Grandpa Don's house since he was going home.

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December Daily 17 ~ A Little Bit of Color

Even though I still have wrapping to do, I took the evening to enjoy a less hurried pace and I worked on a necklace that I have been commissioned to create since it was really just the pets and I at home last night.

Ellie and Kohlton spent most of the evening with Don playing card games. It was a nice distraction from his pain, even if just for a short while. Later in the evening, at around 11:00 p.m. Ethan noticed that Don was experiencing more trouble, so off to the hospital they went. Grandpa Don stayed the night. Larr and Ethan stayed as long as they could. It is really beginning to take a toll on both of them, the lack of sleep and worry. I feel at a loss as to what I can do to help. I keep my head in the game and a smile on my face at work, but I am distracted and unable to focus on planning for next semester when I have time to do that right now. After Friday I will have more time. Who knows whether I can add anything of benefit, or if I can relieve some of the stress by taking some shifts. This end of life stuff is just so hard.

December Daily 16 ~ Special (or at least fun) Delivery

It seems amazing to me that we are about a week out from Christmas. This month has flown by. Larr was home last night (most of the evenings he has spent his time with his father) and so we sat at the dinning room table and talked. I also addressed our Christmas cards. This year we actually have two different designs. I used to make them all by hand, but this year I knew I would not have time and Shutterfly had some amazing deals on cards right after Thanksgiving.

I had a blast making these fancy cards. They are full color, thick and lovely. I think they will be fun to receive.

I also ordered a set from Tinyprints, a sister company to Shutterfly. Many of their designs tend to be a bit more trendy or modern. I love this card, too. I am thinking about making a hand carved rubber stamp of the flourish image.They had an amazing deal, too. In fact, many of my gifts this year are coming from either Shutterfly or Tinyprints. I think those are fun things to receive.

It was nice to sit, talk and do a bit of fancy lettering. Surely these envelopes will bring a smile to those who receive them.

I also spent part of the evening cleaning and decorating Ellie's room. She usually decorates it right after Thanksgiving, but she had not done so. I think she was feeling overwhelmed by laundry. I wanted a little special Christmas cheer for her and this was just the ticket.

December Daily 15 ~ Sweets and Spice and Everything Nice + Chicken Bellagio Recipes

Grandpa Don is home and settled in. We have hired a person to watch over him as he sleeps (or attempts to sleep) so that we can make sure he is okay all night. Unfortunately, the pain medication that he is on effects the part of the brain that reminds you to breathe. This way we can make sure he is as safe as he can be 24/7 and Ethan can get some rest.

My help was not needed, so I spent the evening with Ellie. She loved the Chicken Bellagio that she had at the Cheesecake Factory on Saturday, so we tried out a copy cat recipe. The Parmesan Chicken was wonderful, but the creamy pesto pasta was not exactly what we were looking for. I've included the recipe we tried out below, as well as another one that might have a better pasta recipe.

I also finished up the gifts that I am giving to the people on my team at school. I am giving them a Christmas Potpourri and a jar of Spiced Cherry Jam. I think the presentation of both is lovely and they were fun to make.

Thanks to Pinterest, I was also able to find some nice labels. Here and here are the chalkboard style labels that I used on the top of the jars (as well as coordinating gift wrap, too). Here are the tags that I used to label the jam and the labels for the Christmas Potpourri.

I also worked on the gifts that I am creating for the kids. I'd love to share them, but I cannot at this time, of course.

Tonight I think I will try to find time to create a necklace for a person who has asked me to do a custom job for her. I need to get it done in time for Christmas. It will be nice to shift gears for that project. Perhaps I will get to the Christmas cards, too.

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We tried this for dinner. The chicken was great, but the pasta with pesto cream sauce was just a little off.

Copycat Chicken Bellagio
via: Confessions of a Foodie Bride

A copycat recipe for the Cheesecake Factory's Chicken Bellagio. Make it at home and skimp on the calories, not the flavor.

Ingredients

For the pasta:
8 oz uncooked thin spaghetti
1/3 cup pesto
1/4 - 1/2 cup cream, optional*
For the chicken:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 chicken breasts
1/2 cup flour
1 egg whisked with 1 Tbsp water
1 cup panko
2 tsp Italian seasoning
Salt
Pepper
2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
For the salad:
4 slices prosciutto
Your favorite dark salad greens (I had a baby spinach-kale mix on hand)
Olive oil
Lemon wedges
Parmesan
*I was looking to lighten the dish and didn't want anything as heavy as cream in the recipe. The restaurant obviously uses a cream-based sauce - so if you want to go big, stir in a bit of heavy cream.
Make Loaded Ranch Potato Skins for Gameday

Instructions

Bring water to boil in a large pot.
Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
Whisk egg with 1 Tbsp water and pour into a plate or small pan (I used an 8-inch sq baking dish).
Mix together the panko, Italian seasoning, a generous pinch of salt, pepper, and cheese in another plate or small pan (I used a dinner plate).
Slice the chicken breasts in half horizontally and place in a large zipper bag (or between sheets of plastic wrap) and lightly pound a few times to even and thin them out (thin enough so that they cook quickly but not thin enough that you can see through them).
Add flour to the zipper bag and shake to coat the chicken.
Shake off the excess flour and dip the chicken into the egg mixture, flipping to coat.
Press the chicken into the panko mixture and flip and press again. Transfer to another plate or pan and set aside, repeat for the remaining 3 pieces of chicken.
Put the pasta into the boiling water at the same time you start the first two pieces of chicken in the frying pan.
Cook the chicken two pieces at a time, for 2-3 minutes on each side, decreasing the heat a little if it browns too quickly.
Before draining the pasta, pull out ~1 cup of the pasta water and set aside.
Drain the pasta and return to the pan with half of the pasta water and the pesto. Toss until a creamy sauce forms, adding additional pasta water, as necessary.
Divide the pasta between 4 plates and top with the chicken cutlets as they come out of the pan. Season with additional salt and pepper.
Top each piece of chicken with a slice of prosciutto.
In a medium bowl, toss 4 handfuls of salad greens with a drizzle of olive oil, a pinch of salt, a squeeze of 2 lemon wedges, and a small handful of grated parmesan.
Divide between the 4 plates and enjoy. Without mascara. Pants also optional.

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Perhaps this one is worth trying for the pasta pesto cream recipe:

Chicken Bellagio ~ Cheesecake Factory
via: Oh So Deliciouso blog
Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Serving Size: 5-6 Adults

Pasta and Sauce
1 Cup Heavy Cream
1 tsp Minced Garlic
1/2 C Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese
5-6 Fresh Basil Leaves Minced
Juice from 1 lemon
salt and pepper
1 pkg. Spaghettini (thin spaghetti)

Chicken
3-4 Chicken Breast
1 C Flour
2 Eggs
1 C Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs
1 C Parmesan Cheese
Oil {Vegetable oil works great, but olive or grape seed oil is a nice alternative}
Garnish
Prosciutto at room temp.
Arugula Lettuce washed and dried (Pictured is baby Arugula)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1-2 Lemons
Instructions

Pasta and Sauce
Whisk heavy cream and garlic in sauce pan over medium-high heat until it begins to thicken.
Lower heat to medium-low careful not to scorch.
Add in Parmesan cheese and whisk til incorporated.
Add in basil, lemon juice and salt and pepper.
Whisk thoroughly and reduce to a low heat to keep warm. When ready to serve toss with Spaghettini that has been cooked at pkg directs.
Chicken
You will need 3 bowls. In first bowl place flour. The second whisk the eggs and third combine bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Set aside.
If chicken is frozen, allow to thaw completely.
Butterfly the cutlets, or cut them in half by cutting through the middle of the meat so you have 2 thinner pieces.
Then place in a large sturdy zip-lock bag and with a meat mallet gently hammer chicken so that the piece is an even and thickness.
About this time, begin to heat your oil in a large skillet over medium -medium/high heat. You will want to fill your skillet about 3/4 inch deep with oil. You will know when ready if you flick a few drops of water on the oil and it crackles.
Take each piece of chicken and first coat them with flour, then dip in the egg, then last coat with bread crumb mixture. Do this to each piece.
Then place 2-3 pieces of chicken at a time in skillet. This will depend on how big your skillet is. Don't over crowd.
Allow to cook a few minutes, sides will start to turn a golden brown. Then flip and cook the other side. When finished remove and place on paper towels to drain excess oil. Repeat with remaining pieces.
Assembly
To assemble this dish in true Cheesecake Factory Style..
Place generous serving of pasta in middle of plate.
Layer with two pieces of chicken side by side.
Ribbon 1-2 pieces of Prosciutto over top of chicken.
Then place a generous handful of arugula over prosciutto.
Drizzle a little evoo over arugula followed by juice of a lemon half.
Oh lovely lemons. Can't get enough!

December Daily 14 ~ Taking Care

Yesterday was a jumble of a day. Ethan and I had a nice breakfast together. I thought that we would have the entire day, but as we all know, plans often go awry. We all thought that Grandpa Don would stay in the hospital for a few days, but that was not the case. I spent a bit of the day doing some Christmas shopping for Grandpa Don. Some of my purchases were out of my usual realm, and so I tried to get advice from people I thought would have knowledge on the subject, but alas, I was unsuccessful at getting that advice. I had to go with my gut instinct.

I also started to prepare the small gifts that I will give to some of the people that I work with. I want to offer them lovely jars of Christmas Potpourri and containers of Spiced Cherry Jam. I am switching up the recipe for the Christmas Potpourri a bit. It contains an orange, Cranberries, some stick cinnamon, some whole cloves, ground nutmeg, star anise and small bits of juniper or pine. The sample that I am working from features a lovely presentation in a canning jar, of which I have many. However, my oranges will not fit in the jars like the ones I am inspired by, so I am thinking about cutting them up and putting them in a baggie in the jar. I could just layer them at the bottom, too.

In the afternoon it was announced that insurance would not allow for Don to be transferred to a skilled nursing home, so he would be discharged to home. Doug is in town, thankfully, so he went on Craigslist and purchased a hospital bed. Ethan borrowed a big truck and they got the bed taken care of. I cleaned up a bit. Larr arrived home with a very weary Don in the front seat. I wheeled out the wheelchair that Doug had gotten earlier in the day. I held it steady while Larr helped his father out of the car. Don cannot stand on his own right now so Larr had him put his arms around his neck while Larr maneuvered him gently as possible from the car seat to the wheelchair. All the while, Don cried and cringed as every movement causes new pains. The neighbors, Jill and Dustin, came over to help. Dustin and Larr managed to get Don and the chair up the two steps and into the house. While they got Don settled, I went to the pharmacy to pick up his medications. They are very controlled substances, so I had to wait for more than an hour for the paperwork to clear.

I had a chance to talk with Ethan about his role in caring for his grandfather. Ethan is newly 21 and he has a life to live. Being a full time care giver is very difficult. I told him that I am deeply proud of the young man that he is, that it warms my heart to see Ethan holding Grandpa's hand and helping him talk through the most difficult pains. I told him that we do not want him to feel like he has to do this for a long time, that he has a life to live. Ethan's reply was direct and honest. He said that he is living his life and that this is where he needs to be, that there is no other place he would rather be than with Grandpa. He says that helping him is his life's purpose for now, that he does not want anyone else taking care of Grandpa. He said this is his life, that he is not putting it on hold, he is embracing it fully.

I feel lucky to have such an opportunity to see the love, kindness and humanity that my son and daughter both exhibit. They are truly wonderful people.

December Daily 13 ~ A Special Dinner

This weekend has been a tempered one. I've worked presents while Larr had to take Grandpa Don back to the hospital.I would have been with them, but too many people waiting in the emergency room waiting and observation rooms is not helpful.

In the evening Kohlton picked up Ellie to take her out to the Cheesecake Factory for a nice dinner.

We took a few photos together, too, Ellie and I.

With 12 days until Christmas, I am worried that I will not get everything done in time. Right now our focus is on hoping that Grandpa Don will stop being in pain.

December Daily 12 ~ The Staff Christmas Party

After crazy week at school, we ended the work week with a staff party at the home of one of the administrators. It was a lot more fun that I had expected it to be. Our building is large and spread out. I don't even know the names of everyone on the staff. Last night I got to see a fun side of those who came out for the party.

We had an ugly sweater contest and some of the women in the Special Education department put in special efforts to have great, ugly sweaters. They made everyone laugh!

They took Steve under their wing and he took the grand prize, a stocking hanger with a photo of Deeble, one of the administrators. It is quite fun. I was amazed that Deeble was a good enough sport to allow that kind of silliness to happen.

We also did a white elephant gift exchange. The socks that I brought to the party were a hit and traded many times.

It was a great way to end the week. Here's a bit more fun, silly merriment for you:

Post by Doctor Who.

December Daily 10 ~ Small, Wonderful and Gratifying

During this time of year it is so easy to get sucked into the comparison game of who has more decorations, better presents, more presents, bigger parties, and so on. It is so easy to get so focused on checking everything off of the list, adding more and more to that list. It is so much easier to stress yourself out. However, I am making a conscious choice to try and step back, slow down and be grateful for the smaller pleasures. Here are a few of them:

* Last weekend I put the flannel pillow cases on the pillows. They are soft and warm. And one of them even has colorful snowflakes.

* Driving home from the dog park, Remmie and notice the brilliant colors of the sunset. It is glorious that we still have those colors (though falling snow is lovely, too.)

* Driving home from the dog park, we go through a neighborhood that is undergoing a big transformation where there are old Craftsman style bungalows next to very modern, geometric houses next to each other. On the corner there is a brand new modern home that is clearly loved. In each of the windows of the tall, thin three story house there are white wreaths with digital LED lights that blink in patterns that suggest a song. Each one is buffeted on each side by thin, tall, white, lit up triangles that are suggestive of Christmas trees. There are icicle lights that look like water is falling - lovely in a very fashioned, digital way. Next to it is one of those old homes with the crooked patio festooned with the old Christmas lights with bulbs that are almost the size of eggs. The lights are warm, inviting and old, their colors shifted to new tones over time. The red has settled into a rosey pink. The yellow has become a golden rod, mustard yellow. The blues have deepened so that they are almost black. It is a stark contrast between the two homes, each one inviting and lovely in their own ways. I doubt that Remmie notices those lights. I think about the comfort and joy that the lights from long ago bring each year, threading together memories. I think about the joy that must be in decorating a new home and the fun of fresh, bright, new decorations.

* I enjoy the lights on our own tree and take in the scent of the tree. I am thankful that Ellie made an effort to get it up and decorated.

* The lovely sent of using the Balsam Fir scented foaming soap - a silly thing to enjoy, but I enjoy it all the same.

Ellie spent the evening with friends exchanging gifts and watching holiday movies. I think they might have watched "Elf" and had some spaghetti with maple syrup and Pop Tarts, like he does in the movie.

I spent the evening watching, "Catching Fire" (the second book in the Hunger Games series) with Ethan who is home because he has a really yucky case of the flue. I am thankful that I had some relaxing time with him.

December Daily 9 ~ Christmas Fun with Aurora May Rose

Ever since my kids were little, we've been going to the Echter's Greenhouse at Christmas. They have such lovely trees, decorations, etc. I wanted to begin that tradition with Aurora May Rose, my tiny niece.

My mother and I both wanted to buy her special ornaments. Most of them were too breakable to consider, but we managed to find some fun ones. I gave her a blue, glittered snowflake. My mother gave her a few special ornaments including a few with colored babbles and a small wreath made of spools. I loved the one that looked like a plastic egg bird house.

We also took some photos of Aurora with her mother in the red sleigh. She also wanted to check things out for her self. Who knew toddling could be so cute!

And oh yeah, there were a few other fun things at the garden center.

December Daily 8 ~ Christmas Cookie, Round 1 + Sugar Cookie, Gingerbread and Frosting Recipes

Last night Ellie, Kohlton and I had our annual Christmas Cookie decorating evening, though we got a late start, so I did not actually decorate my cookies yet.

I have a new set of cookie cutters that I purchased from Crate and Barrel back in February. I was very excited to use them. I also noticed that they have a new kitchen towel with the same animals on it.

I also happened upon a lovely new cooper bear cookie cutter that I found on Amazon (it is funny to me that it is not from William Sonoma). I might have to get that one, too, although it is kind of expensive. I found another one that I like just as well that is half that cost. I also like this one. I love good quality cookie cutters.

Here are to recipes I usually use. I am going to include a new recipe for a Royal type frosting that is supposed to be good and tastey. I have not tried it, yet.

Sugar Cookie Recipe

2 1/2 cups butter (at room temperature)
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
seeds from 1 vanilla bean (or 3 tsp vanilla)
5 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

1. Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer on low to medium speed. (Use the paddle attachment). Mix until thoroughly incorporated – for about one minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a plastic spatula and mix again for a few seconds more.

Over mixing the butter and sugar in this step will cause too much air to be incorporated into the dough. If you’d like a light and fluffy cookie, that’s ideal, however the dough will spread more during baking; not ideal if you’d like the cookie to hold its shape.

2. Add eggs slowly and mix. Scrape down the bowl with your spatula at least once and mix again.

3. Cut open your vanilla bean and scrape the seeds out. Add to mixing bowl. Alternatively, add liquid vanilla extract. Stir briefly.

4. Sift your dry ingredients together. (Flour, baking powder and salt).

5. Add all of the flour mixture to the bowl. Place a large tea towel or two small tea towels between the edge of the bowl and the electric mixer so that the flour won’t escape. Mix on low speed for 3o seconds. Remove the tea towels and observe the dough mixing; when it clumps around the paddle attachment it’s ready. It’s also important at this stage not to over mix the dough (the glutens in the flour develop and the dough can become tough).

6. Roll the dough out between 2 large pieces of parchment paper. Place on a baking sheet and into the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour.

7. Roll out the dough further if you need to, and cut out cookie shapes. Place on parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Re-roll scraps and repeat.

8. Put cookie dough shapes back into the fridge for 10 minutes to 1 hour to chill again. They will then hold their shape better when baked.

9. Preheat your oven to 350°F or 176°C.

10. Bake cookies for 8-12 minutes or until the edges become golden brown. The baking time will depend on the size of your cookie.

11. Let cookies cool to room temperature and decorate!

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Royal Icing Using Egg Whites:
from: JoyofBaking.com

2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3 cups (330 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted

For Royal Icing with Egg Whites: In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the egg whites with the lemon juice. Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined and smooth. The icing needs to be used immediately or transferred to an airtight container as royal icing hardens when exposed to air. Cover with plastic wrap when not in use.

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Butter Cream Frosting
from:the Created By Diane Blog

1 cup butter
1 cup shortening (* I use all butter, and no shortening. The shortening makes a nice consistency, but a funky taste in the mouth.)
6 cups powdered sugar
2-4 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract. if you are making white frosting use clear vanilla.

Beat butter with mixer until pale and fluffy, add sugar and milk along with extract mix until smooth and creamy.

*If the weather is super hot, over 100 and I’m afraid the buttercream will be a mess, I sometimes use all shortening.

**If I want a very rich butter taste, I use all butter and no shortening.

*** for Chocolate Buttercream I use ½ to 1 cup of unsweetened cocoa in place of some powdered sugar.
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Gingerbread Snowflakes
via: Martha Stewart

* These cookies are excellent for decorating and hanging up. They are very hard and very spicy. We don't usually eat these cookies. They become Happy New Year cookies for the squirrels in January.

• 6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon finely ground pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup unsulfured molasses
• Royal Icing
• Fine sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Directions
1. Sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a large bowl. Set aside.
2. Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until fluffy. Mix in spices and salt, then eggs and molasses. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Divide dough into thirds; wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to a 1/4-inch thick. Cut into snowflakes with a 7- inch snowflake-shape cookie cutter. Space 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper, and refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.
4. Bake cookies until crisp but not dark, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.
5. Put icing in a pastry bag fitted with a small plain round tip (such as Ateco #7). Pipe designs on snowflakes; immediately sprinkle

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New recipes that I want to try from the Carrottopmom blog.

Classic Sugar Cookies

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours. Roll dough on lightly floured surface, until approximately 1/4 inch thick (for larger shapes, I prefer approximately 1/2″ thickness). Cut into desired shape, and place on cookie sheet with parchment paper. If you are going for a shaped cookie, place cookies in freezer for 10 minutes. This will help prevent the cookies from spreading, and will help maintain their cut shape.
Bake 10-12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until very lightly browned, and puffy in the middle. Let stand on cookie sheet three minutes before removing to cool on wire racks. Allow cookies to cool entirely before frosting.

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Sugar Cookie Icing

2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
assorted food coloring
In a small bowl, stir together confectioners’ sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. (See picture below, showing consistency.) If icing is too thick to spread, add more corn syrup.
Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity. Spread the frosting onto cooled cookies. Allow cookies to sit for 2-3 hours before stacking.

December Daily 6 & 7 ~ A Tiny Village

Although there were many holiday kinds of events and happenings going on this weekend, my weekend was pretty low key. Larr and I took over taking care of Grandpa Don on Saturday so that Ellie and Ethan could have some time together. I hung out with him during the day and worked on my Christmas presents. (I would love to show them to you, but then that might wreck the surprise, so I will not actually post them until after they are opened.) In the evening I made dinner for Grandpa Don, Ethan and Kohlton. Ellie spent the evening with Christy, exchanging Christmas presents.

On Sunday, I did my usual grocery shopping and cooking. I asked Ellie to put up the tiny village. I wanted to see how she would configure it. She had it on its usual place on the bookshelf, but decided that the size ratio was too small, so she moved it to the china cabinet on the opposite wall and that was just the ticket for making it look great. I knew she would come up with something wonderful and I was excited to see how she would do it differently than I do. I love the fact that our visions and artistic styles are so different.

My mother gave me the Jim Brickman "Christmas Romance" CD as a pre-Christmas present. It is nice, calm music and it puts Remmie to sleep right away. That part of it was kind of funny. There is an entire playlist on YouTube.com. You can access it by clicking on the title above.

December Daily 5 ~ For the Love of Grandpa Don, Ellie's Gift

One of the wonderful things about parenting is witnessing what our children are like in the world, how he/she blossoms with his/her own version of love. Friday evening I was privileged to witness such an act of love from Ellie to her Grandfather that I am in awe of her. Grandpa Don continues to grow stronger each day. He has been home from the hospital for about a week and a half. Ellie mentioned to me one night that in the time of crisis (which this is for Don and ourselves) people tend to just focus on the essential. But, she points out, it is the small joys that make life worth living.

Indeed Grandpa Don has Ethan at his house making sure that he can walk safely, that he remembers to eat and drink, that he takes his medicine. The holiday season is upon us and that was Grandma Eleanor's season. She worked in a green house and one of her chief duties was to put up and decorate all of the trees that displayed the ornaments, the lights, the bling. Some years there were upwards of 20+ trees that she would decorate; it often took an entire month to decorate them all. Then she lovingly picked out a real tree for herself and decorate it at home, as if it was the very first and most important one of the season.

{Here is the last Christmas tree that Eleanor decorated. I am so happy that I was able to find a picture of it.}


Over the years Ellie went from watching her grandmother decorate the tree to helping her. This year Ellie has been in charge of decorating our and yesterday she put up and decorated a tree for Grandpa Don. It simply would not be Christmas at his house without one. So, after school Ellie and Kohlton picked out a small tree and took it to Grandpa Don's house. After we had a family meal together, I put the lights on the tree.

Then Ellie and Kohlton decorated it. Choices had to be made since the tree is little. Ellie talked about her favorite ornaments, the gold tinsel balls. Once the tree was done, they would toss them at the tree.

Grandpa Don reminded Ellie that Angie needed to find her way to the top of the tree and have a light added to her hands.

Ellie and I made sure that each of the favorite ornaments made it onto the tiny tree. She also decorated in other parts of the house.

I had hoped to get a picture of Grandpa Don and Ellie in front of the finished tree, but by the time it was all done, Grandpa was too tired to stand up. However, he was not too tired to tell me stories, so I listened to stories about the ornaments and how they had taken everything, including all of the Christmas ornaments, with them when they moved to England, and then back to America again. He told me about the house that was so drafty that the tiny, painted ceramic bells actually tinkled. I thought of her and her stories that she would tell each year as she would pluck a beloved ornament from the storage box and find a perfect place on the tree for it. Decorating the tree, as close to Eleanor fashion as we can, makes me feel connected to her, even though she has been gone for so many years now.

I include the videos below because they make me feel connected to some of the things we enjoyed when our kids were small. I hope you enjoy them, too.