Christmas decorating, roses and a cookie recipe too

Decorating


I work in retail and am responsible for the Christmas tree decorating in the store. It's a huge undertaking. This year there are more than 30 themed trees. I touch every single ornament many times over from mid-September when I start sorting them, until I go to the gift market in Atlanta in January at which time, those that are left, are 75% off and I'm pretty sick of them.

Many comment that I won't want to decorate my own home.  It's very different.

I tell them that my tree is simple, doesn't have a theme and is a hodge podge of memories.  Many memories.  Some years it's really hard to get through decorating my tree without a few tears a good old cry.  I cherish the many memories. Like my sister who loved to give ornaments;  my parents, my dad also deceased and my mom so far away and old now. Ornaments from travels in the US and abroad abound. More memories of happy times. There are White House ones with lovely presidential stories given by our late neighbors each year.  There are many bisque angels from my ex-husband and I still put them on the tree because I still love them. Oy, and all those memories.

But the ornaments that separate my tree from the trees at work are the ones my children made and the ones with their little faces on them.  I can't pay money for anything as dear to my heart.

This year, I'll be in Portland for Christmas with Matt, my son, so I don't even need a tree but it's a tradition, something I do every year.  A comfort.  I actually didn't cry this year.  Don't know why.  I have a good reason with my house on the market now and this likely my last December here.  Perhaps I'm reconciled and ready for a simpler Christmas away.

Roses

In all other years, by this time I've pruned back my roses and taken out the thorny branches with the leaves.  This year they are tall and lanky, but for two weeks in a row, I've cut lovely bunches to bring into the house. I may not have said how much I love fresh flowers in the house.  {I adore them.}  I've been given roses in December before, but not these quaint old fashioned ones from the garden.

Today I did some more holiday baking for colleagues, friends and neighbors.  A few weeks ago I tasted some ginger snaps at a neighbor's house. She commented that they were made from a mix.  I was amazed, so I looked for a recipe online.  I've tried three recipes and have found a good one this time.  I also quite adore the Martha Stewart bags with a little snowflake box/base.

Easy Ginger Snap Cookies

18 1/4 oz spice cake mix

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground ginger {I used more}

1/4 cup water

1/3 cup molasses

2 tbsps vanilla extract

	Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheet.
	In a large bowl, stir together the cake mix, baking soda and ginger. Make a well in the center and pour in the water, molasses and vanilla. Mix until thoroughly blended. Roll into balls  Flatten slightly. Dip one side in sugar and place them 3 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheet. {I used silver and gold sugar for holiday sparkle.}
	Bake for 13 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the tops are cracked and cookies are firm. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. Here is an example of a tree I decorated at work: the Santa tree. I had the idea to make the boots into a tree topper.  I stuffed a Santa hat into each boot to give it a furry cuff.  Then I stuffed red fabric into the middle of the tree, supposedly for the body {but all the ornaments pretty much hide that now.}  Then a day later I spied the Santa head, and put it upside down.  It's been a humourous tree for many, and bit troublesome for a few children who asked some cute questions.  It's my favourite tree {at work} this year!

Pizza on the grill

Yep, you heard right – pizza cooked outside, directly on the gas grill grids, no stone or cookie sheet.  Let me tell you, it’s fabulous, delicious and a different social thing to do with family or when you have friends over.  By some miracle, the crust doesn't stick!  Last night was the 6^th time I’ve done it; the crust was perfectly crisp and the toppings gooey and melty and flavourful and simply the yummiest!

I’ve discovered Fleishmann’s Pizza Crust Fast and Easy yeast.   I’ve been using the recipe on the pouch at the back, starting with one cup of all purpose flour, and then adding the yeast, salt, sugar, oil and warm water.  I mix it up quickly and add enough flour so that it’s not sticky.  Then I knead it for a couple of minutes.  This is where I detour from the pouch recipe {which is not necessary, but I'm having better results doing this the last 2 times.}  I divide the dough into 2 balls per recipe, and let them rise for an hour in a floured mixing bowl with plastic wrap over and a towel to keep it draft free.  Then it goes in a warm place until it’s time to have the fun.

The toppings take a while to assemble.  Decide on a base sauce – a tomato base or a pesto base…last night my friend just brushed olive oil on hers, which was simple but looked really good too. Caramelized onions are something that hands down, simply make a yummy pizza, and lots of garlic too – so I definitely have those as a topping.  Sometimes I lightly cook mushrooms, other times I have them sliced and raw.  Gosh – really it’s whatever floats your boat.  I’m not much of a meat eater, so shrimp or prosciutto or chicken - that would be up to you.  Here are some ideas:  olives, buffalo mozzarella, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, torn fresh basil leaves, shredded cheese.

When you’re almost ready to cook, it's time to take the dough and flatten it out into personal pizzas.  I get 2 out of each pouch of yeast/recipe.  They are bigger than a dinner plate, so about 12 inches I’d say.  You’ll know how big to make them as you can’t make holes in the dough by stretching it too much {or else you’ll have a difficult time – that’s why!}  Place each ‘pizza’ on a plate or cookie sheet, and brush the top with oil.  This will be the side that you put face down towards the flame on the grill.

When the grill is ready {last night it was set on low, said 500°F and was perfect}, carefully turn the blank pizzas over onto the grill.  They may lose their shape. Yep, that’s just the way it goes.  With grilled pizza, they aren’t all round, and you just gotta get over it!  Close the top of the grill but don’t go away!  Peek in after 5 mins and lift up a corner.  You definitely don’t want to char your pizza at this point.  When it’s nicely browned, use a spatula – a nice big one really does help  – transfer to a plate and you’re ready to put the toppings on.  If you’re making more than 2, go ahead and start the other pizza’s on the grill.

Sauce goes on the cooked side, then cheeses and then toppings.  When the grill is  ready for these to cook, using your spatula, transfer them, close the lid and bake for about 5 to 10 minutes.  It varies, but do watch like a hawk.  

Your family and guests will have their own ideas of how to do it, and how much they like to pile on, and this is definitely the fun for them.  I love watching them enjoy the novelty of making their dinner....and then eating the results. 

I just remembered this!
                                 - have yeast will travel!


Last year I took some pizza yeast with me to South Africa when I knew I'd be staying in a self catering B&B with Shannon, my daughter.  We were in the gorgeous Golden Gate National Park's traditional Basotho village, staying in a little mud hut, and having a blast waking up to a host of zebra grazing down below us on a verdant pasture.  One night we had delicious pizzas, cooked over the coals that Shannon artfully prepared from firewood on a very windy night.  We waited for what seemed like utter ages for the coals to "cool down", and even so, the crust got a bit charred.  {Okay, it was bloody black on the bottom waiting for the cheese to melt!}  We enjoyed them and it was memorable mother-daughter evening with a daughter who lives very far away!

More on yogurt cheese

As I wrote recently, I’m back into yogurt making and yes, more yogurt cheese making.  This time around I’m loving the results more than I ever remember.  Last weekend I needed to make an appetiser so I made a smoked salmon pâté.  I didn't have a recipe, but I remembered how we used to make smoked snoek pâté in Cape Town, and I basically did the same thing, except I used yogurt cheese in place of the creamy cottage cheese we use there. 

This is how I made the pâté :  I flaked some wonderful Norwegian smoked salmon from Costco, mixed it with wasabi, a squeeze of lemon juice and dumped in all the yogurt cheese* I had on hand.  *{made with 2 containers of yogurt}  To serve it, I formed it into a little patty, dusted it with black pepper and served it with baguette.  It was very good and so easy.  I forgot to take a photo of the finished product but the next day for lunch I made myself an open face sandwich with avocado. Yum-yum-yum!

I baked banana bread and discovered how divine it is with yogurt cheese.  Ditto on baked potatoes - it has a sour cream taste, but it's so creamy and yummy.

Almost every weekday I take fruit to work for lunch and a container of home made yogurt. I’ve been reveling in summer’s bounty – peaches, berries, and cantaloupe with yogurt is a match made in heaven.  {Just thinking out loud here, but melon, yogurt cheese and prosciutto would be extremely light and summery and....mwah!}

Independence Day

Lemon cheese tart with star spangled fruit :)

Tonight I had some neighbors over for a 4^th of July cookout.   I planned  a pretty traditional menu – hamburgers and hot dogs with all the trimmings. Even though I don’t eat much beef these days, they were  - delicious!

Planning dessert, a lot of options ran through my head.  It needed to be easy because I worked today. Luckily I remembered this easy, almost cheesecake-like tart.  It made me wonder why I ever go to the trouble of making the real thing when this is all one really needs.  Here’s the recipe for Lemon Cheese Tart.  Of course you can heap on any fruit your heart desires.  Warning: there will be oohs and ahs when you pile on red, white and blues on the 4^th of July!

Centerpiece

We ate in the dining room because one, it was so hot and humid.  And two, it began to storm, so it was a very sound reason to be indoors and to be comfortable.  The table looked festive and patriotic. During dinner, I couldn’t help but eye my little flag and know what it represents. Ladies from the DAR presented it to me at my Naturalisation oath ceremony on December 3, 1982. “My” little flag has never left the pencil holder on the desk, except to grace the odd Independence Day table as it did today.  It is a fit reminder of how amazing it is to be an American citizen – what an honor, what a privilege.  I am well enough traveled to be adequately aware of how precious my freedom is.

Today, I thank all the men and women who have given of themselves and I am humbled by those who made the ultimate sacrifice for this freedom.  

Oh, and I'm just loving my hydrangeas this year. I've been picking bunches,
sharing them and keeping them on the kitchen table too.

A good start ... again

It’s been a long time since I wrote. Four days ago I returned from my 16-day trip to South Africa, mainly to see my mother.  I don’t know if it was the nature of the trip being that my mom will be leaving her little cottage on my brother’s farm and moving into a nursing home in 3 weeks, so there is much anticipation on the horizon, or if it’s just happenstance, but my trip was fraught with niggly things that went awry along the way, both there and back.  


The day I left, my flight couldn’t land in New York because of dense fog {at 7:30 in the morning} so we were diverted to land in Baltimore.  By the time we returned to JFK, we had missed our flight. There were 8 of us on the South African flight so we were in this together, getting rebooked for the next day, waiting hours for JetBlue to find us hotel accommodation and in the meantime, I was making a really lovely friend. She’s a young woman from Asheville, similar age to my Shannon. She and I had the best adventure.  We took the train from our hotel into the city that night, and had a whole boatload of fun seeing the lights of Times Square.  Then the next day, we sat together on the plane all 16 hour flight long. Since I’ve been home, we’ve emailed and talked on the phone and are making plans to see each other – so, really I take that and think: Lord, in your grand scheme of things, you meant it to all shake out that way, didn’t you?

When I arrived in Johannesburg, a day late, I made a Plan B as far as my car rental went, abandoned my connecting flight and drove to where I was meeting Shannon, who lives and works in South Africa. More on that in another blog one day. We had a fabulous reunion . The mother-daughter kind that warms the very cockles of the heart after a long absence. It was short; 2 nights and a day. The main purpose of my trip was to see my mom who was so unwell when I made my travel plans, so on I pressed. While America baked in the heat, I drove in my miniature rental car through sheeting rain, and then… yes, snow for a brief period, on a mountain pass! The rest of my time, several tall mountains in the area remained snow capped and the temperatures were frigid every day. I wore all my layers as South Africa presented one of its 3 coldest winters in history for me!

The shoe was on the other foot for the mother-daughter reunion with my mom. There are no adequate words to describe how special it was to see her doing so well after her poor health in March. And what unadulterated joy to be received with such love and happiness! There is no one else on this earth who loves to see me more than that precious lady and I have to treasure each and every nanosecond in her presence.

I intend to share some more about my trip, but for now this is a good start. I came home to a neighbor hosting a party last night. I took an appetizer and I have the recipe for Layered Spinach and Basil Cheese Spread to share here. It’s a recipe that I like to take to Christmas parties because of its festive colors, but since the basil I left growing in a pot desperately needed plucking, this was a very appropriate use.

Late night tea and madeleines

Susannah came home from college for the weekend.  I have been SO excited about this since I found out because I haven't seen her for two months. I love it when my children come home. I love to make them their favorite foods, have their rooms ready with fresh flowers and offer to help with anything I can do to make their lives easier. Sus' request for dinner last night was my oven fried chicken and "please can we make madeleines together?"

Yesterday I woke to my brother's email news about my mom and her health.  It was not good. It's possible she's had a small stroke.  I felt on the verge of "breaking down" several times and had a good cry after I spoke to her when I came home early in the afternoon.  I hung up wondering how many more times I'd have the joy of hearing my beloved mother's voice like that and at a gut level tried to grasp the knowledge that I'm still someone on earth's child.  Foremost on my mind is that I need to plan a trip over to see her, but how to time it right? 

So yesterday was a day of emotional ups and downs. It was great to end it on a happy note, welcoming Sus home and opening our birthday presents {first time we've been together since our mutual birthday apart}, sharing fresh cheese crackers with a beer, hearing about her semester and Spring break trip to Alaska before a yum dinner and then....baking those fresh little French, orange tinged cakelets together.

 I do declare that I have never before had a tea party at 11:30 at night, but when the madeleines came out of the oven we put on the kettle, made a pot of decaf Earl Grey in a girly teapot, and we had the most delightful and unexpected tea party for two!

Crisp and cheesy!

These are a lot like crispy cheese straws, but you don't have to make dough.
Check out the recipe - it's made with Saltine crackers!

The baked cheese crackers I served on Friday night were an overwhelming success. I made 3 batches last week.  Each time they got better!  The first batch, I put too much cayenne pepper on so they had a real bite.  The next batch probably had too much cheese, and the third batch was perfect!  My pottery friends snarfed them down though.  It's always satisfying when your guests like something you make that much!

I didn't find my camera cord, but I did find my card reader.  Yay! my new Canon card fits in the same slot as my Olympus card which is awesome because it's something I love having and I won't need to buy a new card reader for this camera. You might have noticed I went back and added pics to my previous posts, and I have some I took of the cheese crackers too!