Missin' my babies

I have been so busy with work and life that there is no time left to blog. I have missed blogging and setting memories to ether. One of the good things I have been doing is quilting and making some sweet little things for my grandchildren. This Granna makes sewn gifts for them to reach out and touch them when I can't be there. My most recent gifts are called placemats 101. They are placemats in kid prints - think snakes and flowers in bright colors. Appliqued on each placemat is a plate with a cup and knife, fork and spoon. The notion is they can help set the table. A very important job to help the family when you are a little guy or gal.

I now know how lucky I was to live so close to my grandparents that we saw them regularly and shared their lives and happy times. When I plant seeds to start veggies for the garden I think of my Oechsler and Henry grandparents and their gardens. Patty pan squash is not merely squash but a trip to a Toledo farmstand to see the vegetables in bulk that made it to the table. I spied the little scalloped squash and grandpa bought some for our dinner. I will never forget eating the vegetables steamed with a little butter and seasoning.

I will send some seeds to my babies so they can plant some of Granna's plants and we can share the growing experience. I am excited to have a great home vegetable garden to amaze my grands. I have my grandma's garden basket and we use that to "pwuck" vegetables together. Pwuck is three year old talk for pluck. In addition to regular crops we are planting scarlet runner beans and golden pea pods. Grandma Lee received a pyramid trellis for Christmas so the plants will grow up the trellis and their veggies will be easy for the little people to reach. The peas have bright yellow pods. The beans have scarlet flowers and deep purple bean pods. The beans inside the pods are black and red and could easily be Jack and the beanstalk beans. That should be fun. I'll also attempt a five hundred pound pumpkin. I know it won't be five hundred pounds by August but it should be on it's way.

I'm also trying to create a teepee out of some long wood tied together and a canvas tarp. I am hoping we can paint symbols of fun and love on it and spend the night in the teepee. Uncle John has agreed to sleepout with us so it will be an amazing night of fun. WooHoo!! Maybe even Doris will decide decide to keep company with us. Every indian needs a faithful animal. We'll pretend she is a tame wolf that looks out for us. In most cases it may be Dude who loves new people and will do anything for attention. We probably won't last all night but it will be fun and we can cook breakfast on the grill.

Granna's have to plan the magic ahead of time!

Granna also made a Rick Bayless salad to share at a friendly dinner with some great people last night. My recipe is a simple one for a great spicy dressing. I made it to dress spring greens topped with strips of roasted poblanos and red pepper. Two large poblanos to one red pepper. I used six total for eight people and had a little left over. I sprinkled the salad with thin slices of red onion - about one-fourth of an onion and three tablespoons of toasted sunflower seeds. for eight people.

The dressing is based on a bottle of ranch dressing but if I had time I would have made a homemade ranch dressing.
I added 1 chopped jalapeno - chopped very fine.
1 tablespoon of lime zest and the juice of a fat half-lime
1 avocado pureed

Stir together and serve.

It's a great dressing and really different.

A unique recipe

Today there is no traditional recipe. I am just going to spend some words talking about my beloved Dad. Before I go further I must remind folks that the other half of the dynamic duo has previously been lauded in this blog so don't think I am ignoring Mimi. She remains and always will be the very best Mom ever.

So what prompted this outpouring of affection...a valentine gift from my Dad. The gift was a box of two dozen delicious Cheryl's frosted chocolate and sugar cut out cookies with pink frosting. YUM! I adore these cookies and they are a real fave. The scent of vanilla and chocolate the way the cookie feels when I bite through the frosting into the tender cookie. The taste is incredible and makes we think of all kinds of wonderful, homey things. Despite all of this wonderfulness the most endearing part of the gift was the sweet gift card from my Dad proclaiming love from my very first love - my Dad.

I have always adored my Mom and Dad for the great parents and wonderful people they have been and continue to be. As a child and a teenager and college student they and Dad in particular went to great effort to assure each of us would be "good people" and have a way to make a living and and an ongoing commitment to integrity and a purposeful life. I cannot judge their success with me. I always feel like a work in progress. My sisters are awesome and a real credit to our family.

As a parent of young adults Dad switched gears from being a parental unit to being more of a guide and supporter. He cautioned us about some decisions - some advice was taken and some was ignored much to my eventual chagrin. See Dad you are right a lot of the time! Well most if truth be told. He supported us through graduate school and early career moves.

When things went awry he wouldn't spend a lot of time feeling bad about your situation or commiserating with you. Dad is the person who got you up and moving and pushing forward no matter what. He is always interested in promoting planning for the future and making great financial decisions. As a person who chose a career path that was less financially rewarding I didn't know at first just how valuable Dad's teaching could be especially for those with less funds. But I learned they were probably even more important to someone in my position. I do know that it was a challenge for Dad to see the way of the not for profit in terms of retirement and benefits when they differed so much from the for profit world. Dad was a great businessman when he was working and in retirement he continues as a wise counselor and investor. Some of my happiest times have been talking to Dad and looking over my retirement. I often see how much people are missing who don't have a person like my Dad to go to to discuss financial concerns.

While Dad has had many great achievements I think the best lesson he and Mom taught all of us is the value of family and the importance of commitment to your family through thick or thin. It's easy to be a happy family when times are good but to be a strong family when things are rough takes some guts and compassion. I think one of the best tributes to my Mom and Dad and their commitment to family came when we were celebrating one of their milestone anniversaries. Dad had engaged a table at a very nice restaurant overlooking Grand Traverse Bay. There were flowers and champagne on the table and the meal was wonderful. After dinner the sisters and a granddaughter each wrote and read their tribute to my parents. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. After dinner several of the people at surrounding tables asked to be adopted into our family.

One of Dad's many contributions has always been his steadfast hand on the tiller of the family. Always keeping his eye focused on the end result of a strong family unit as he refers to it. If things weren't quite right he could always bring us back to what was good about the circumstances and never let us stumble over the missing piece. He intuitively showed us survival and moving forward while working never to alienate those who were not always in sync with the group. Having sometimes been a person out of sync I can attest to the warmth and love that was unending. I can also speak to the power of a voice that could firmly work to help you realign your stars.

My sisters and I feel such good fortune and gratitude having these parents. After all birth is your first piece of luck or not being lucky and we know how grateful we are. So I was one lucky girl to have such a wonderful person who was my very first love. He set a high bar of excellence and as a role model in the love and devotion area of relationships. So Dad here's to you on Valentine's Day. You were definitely our first love and that was your first most wonderful gift to each of us. We return that love to you on Valentine's Day and every other day.

Be Our Valentine!

This one's for Mimi

Today is Super Bowl Sunday. It is almost a national holiday for some given the parties and festivities attached to the game. Celebrities gather and party in preparation to watch the big game. At my house we have no celebrities. Just the average football fans looking for some fun. Part of the fun is the commercials. I still remember the donkey aspiring to be a Clydesdale. So if the commercials are as good as the game food needs to be hot and ready at the beginning of the game or warming for the half-time - whoops they have a show at half-time can't miss that! So this all comes together like a well oiled machine.

Lee as always wants chicken wings with blue cheese dressing. I will make carmelized onion dip and another dip. This dip is actually for Mimi. She is a huge fan of the Buckeyes and is passionate about their games. Dad says she can get pretty worked up. Yes she can about a number of things. One thing Mimi can get pretty worked up about in addition to football is the players. This year she has a sympathetic favorite in Drew Brees. She thinks he is a fine person who has done much for New Orleans. She would like New Orleans to win. She worked me over about my appreciation for Peyton Manning.

So I decided to bring something for the game to appease my mom. She would like nothing better than to savor crab cakes and I found a recipe to rock her socks - Crab Cake Dip. Kelly at Evil Shenanigans created this dip based on her own love of crab cakes. So Mama this one is just for you!

Kelly's Crab Cake Dip

3 ounces of cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 mayonnaise
1 T. lemon juice
1 T. butter
1/2 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 tsp. dry mustard powder
1 T. butter
1/2 C diced onion
1/4 C. red bell pepper diced
1 clove of garlic minced
salt and pepper
6 ounces lump crab meat
1/4 C. panko
2 T. parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a small casserole dish with PAM. In a small bowl stir together cream cheese, mayonnaise Old Bay Seasoning, mustard powder and lemon juice.

Melt 1 T. butter is a saute pan. Add onion and red pepper and saute until soft and cooked through. Season with salt and pepper and add the garlic. Cook 30 seconds.

Add the vegetable mixture to the cream cheese mixture and stir to combine. Add the crab and stir gently. Put the mixture in the casserole. Mix together the panko and parmesan. Cover with the panko and parmesan.

Bake until brown and bubbly about 45 minutes.

Serve with baguette slices.

I've been up to.....

It's been a month since I last posted. After the recovery from surgery I went back to work and have been working a challenging schedule. I started working on a new lap quilt for me. I usually make quilts to give away but I decided to be selfish. Like many quilters I have a stash of fabrics and items I picked up here and there. One of the items in my stash is a quilt kit. The kit is in the Jacob's ladder pattern and is done in 48 squares. The fabric in the quilt is Wyndham reproduction of fabric from the 1870's. The colors are beige and pale roses, dark reds, browns and grayed greens. I've wanted to make a Jacob's ladder quilt for a long time and when I saw the kit it was like a voice saying sew me. Well not quite but it certainly beckoned to me.

One of the pleasures of quilting is my new Viking Quilting machine that makes sewing easier. It's very quiet and is so accurate and easy to use. I have my machine set up so I can watch football or movies while I quilt. Another pleasure is pairing fabrics to make a light square and a dark square out of each pair of fabrics. It takes a while to really look and see what goes with what given the variety of patterns. I try to keep things complementary and watch how "busy" the paired fabrics are. Part of the square is two fabrics cut into two squares each and sewn together to make a larger square. I do chain piecing for this step and when I sew the squares in a long chain they form a line that reminds me of Tibetan prayer flags. Well they are quilter's prayer flags.

It's been so cold and snowy I've been making foods that are braised in a sauce and served with a starch and a vegetable. Today I chose a recipe for chicken paprikash from the Saveur magazine. My aunt is a world traveler. On her last trip abroad she brought me a trio of Hungarian paprikas. I used the sweet paprika for this recipe and made homemade dumplings tossed in butter and parsley and carrots as the sides. Leftovers are always available when you cook for two so reheating chicken paprikash brings out even more developing flavors. I've missed blogging but have been too busy with work and other duties and hope this recipe will elicit some forgiveness from those who have missed these posts.

Chicken Paprikash

1 cut up chicken skin removed
1/2 C flour
pepper to taste
1/4 C canola oil
2 T sweet paprika
2 large tomatoes peeled, cored and seeded
1 large yellow onion chopped
1 Italian frying pepper chopped
1 1/2 C chicken broth
3/4 C sour cream
2 T flour

Heat oil in a large dutch oven. Season the flour with pepper and dredge the chicken. Place the chicken in the dutch oven and brown turning once. Remove the chicken and set aside. Add the paprika, onions, peppers and tomatoes and cook 5 minutes until the onion is transparent. Place the chicken back in the dutch oven and add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and let simmer until tender about 20 minutes. In a small bowl mix the flour and sour cream together. Add 3/4 C of sauce from the pan and stir well to combine thoroughly. Add the sour cream mixture back into the dutch oven and stir gently to combine well. Serve the paprikash hot over noodles or spaetzle.

A Bark for Becky

Today's blog doesn't focus on a cookie - more on a holiday confection. The person who loves this is quite a confection herself. This would be my niece Becky Ford. Becky Ford is a teacher for special needs children who recently received a promotion in the Denver Public School system to a manager of special needs teacher. This promotion is well deserved for someone who loves to teach and loves her students. In this job she'll have the ability to bring a better learning environment to many students and teachers and she is just the person who can make it happen. Becky is passionate about people and children. She cares deeply about the quality of their lives and that they have an opportunity to live to their potential. When she first started teaching she saw the hard lives her students had. They came to school hungry and tired and not ready to learn. Becky worked to make things better for them so they could learn. I believe she worked hard to make innovations so school was a more supportive environment for the students as people and that school could be a home away from home for them.

Becky loves her family and for her brother's wedding made a collection of family recipes from members of the family combined with candid pictures of family and our times together. What a great gift. It was meaningful to everyone in the family and very exciting. For Christmas, Becky changed some of the pictures and had copies printed for those who hadn't received the earlier version. I was one of the proud recipients of that gift and it is something I will always treasure. I will cherish it especially as it really demonstrates the true nature of Becky as well and the thoughts of her are as dear as the collection of recipes and pictures itself.

Becky is one of the three March girls in our family who share many traits and being the babies of each of their families. All are passionate, loving people with wicked senses of humor and devotion to those they love. Like all the members of our family their have personality traits that render them vulnerable to teasing. She is incredibly fun but her passion for life makes her a little less vulnerable. She is lovely in so many ways in person and personality both. Becky Ford our family is blessed to have you.

Becky's choice is Peppermint Bark made with white chocolate. It's a casual fun food with many variations. You can use any kind of chocolate for the base. You can multiple layers of chocolate as the base and while peppermint means that you top it with peppermint you can also use almonds or other toppings.

Peppermint Bark

When I make peppermint bark I have about two pounds of chocolate. I line two half sheet pans with parchment. I melt the chocolate slowly over simmering water. I stir it to help it melt and become smooth and creamy. When it's reached this state I add a half teaspoon of peppermint extract. I then divide the melted chocolate between the two pans. Spreading it out to the edges yet maintaining about 1/3 to a 1/2 inch of thickness of the chocolate.

I crush 3 C of candy canes or peppermint candies and strew half over the top of each pan. Press the candies lightly so they will adhere to the chocolate. Allow the chocolate to cool and set until firm. Break the bark into irregular pieces and store in a tin between pieces of waxed paper. It's a true winter treat.

Thoughts of cookies and Cardamom Butter Squares

Today, I am not blogging about one person's favorite cookie. I decided to give family hearts a break and just blog about a cookie I happen to like. My cookie favorite would be a molasses or gingery type cookie or a cookie that's based in butter with frosting. Nothing fancy or sophisticated there. Just full of taste and texture. But first I have to write a little about this season of cookie baking and what it means to me.

When I started baking cookies for family I developed a process that brings me immense pleasure. I make a list of all desirable cookies. This is a large and cumbersome list and would scare the faint of heart. I won't bake each cookie but I am developing a list to assure the best will be included. I include family favorites as the base then cull my cookie recipes for additions. I have 5 cookbooks exclusively for cookies, 6 cookie magazine collections and then a stack of cookie recipes that I collect throughout the year. So part of the pleasure and process is reading and eliminating, noting some as maybes, others as musts and compiling the initial list. Then I code the cookie list as to type of cookie - bar, rolled, drop, sliced, etc. The second coding is for chocolate, nut, frosted, fruit, butter, citrus, fruit, spice or some other standout ingredient. The final step is to cull the list to develop a list of cookies that are balanced by type and ingredient. I try to make sure that there is a balance of flavors and textures so we don't have an over abundance of any one type or kind of cookie. While some may see this whole process as pretty picky or even anal or perhaps compulsive it is a critical time for me.

The process is so much more than making a list. It gives me a sense of what the platter will look like and the variety of tastes. But mostly it starts the anticipation and excitement of the reality of cookies and baking and smiles. As I've written before, I have thought about each person and their cookie and them. I think about my memories of them through the years and the more recent past memories. I have hopes and dreams and gratitude for the presence of each person in my life. I think about the history of the cookies in my list. There are always some made from a recipe from someone who has passed on. Making those cookies allows me an opportunity to connect with all of them and bring so many happy memories back to the present. This is a most spiritual experience for me and without meaning to offend I see this process and baking and sending and enjoying cookies when they reach their destination to be a unique form of communion among the generations and the ones loved so well. Communion in shared meals is one of my beloved rituals of life and when family and dear ones are so far apart it brings everyone a shared experience to mark the time until we can unite at our summer vacation.

Today's cookie is a cardamom butter square. The recipe was developed by the McCormick Spice Company. Cardamom is an exotic spice and in my mind underused in cooking. This cookies combines several favorite flavors - spice, butter, espresso and bittersweet chocolate. They are rolled into a log and chilled. When ready to bake they are sliced and baked then decorated with drizzles of bittersweet and espresso frosting. They are very contemporary looking and just delicious.

Cardamom Butter Squares

3 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp gr. cardamom
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1 C softened butter
1 1/4 C granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and spices in a bowl.

Beat together sugar and butter in the bowl of an electric mixture for two minutes until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low and beat in flour mixture until just combined.

Form dough into two 12 inch logs wrap each in plastic wrap. Use your hands to roll, press and square the sides of each log. Chill logs on a baking sheet until slightly firm, about 1 hour then smooth logs with plastic wrap and flat side of ruler to achieve straight sides. Chill until firm, 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut scant 1/4 inch slices from a log to fill two ungreased baking sheets. arranging slices about 1 inch apart. (Chill remaining dough in plastic wrap.)

Bake cookies switching positions of the sheets midway during baking, until edges are golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on sheets 3 minutes then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Repeat process with remaining dough.

Icing

1 tsp instant espresso powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 - 2 T milk
1 C confectioner's sugar

Mix the above together to make a thick but pourable frosting. Spoon into a sealable bag and snip 1/8 inch from corner. Use the bag to drizzle thin strips of espresso icing on the cookies.

3 oz melted bittersweet chocolate

Put 3 ounces of melted bittersweet chocolate into another sealable bag, snip 1/8 inch from the corner and drizzle over the cookies. You have a two layer drizzle on each cookie. Let cookies stand on the racks until the icing is set about 2 hours.

This makes 6 dozen cookies.

Matt Ford's Cookie

After a chat with his mom Sue, I learned that her son Matt Ford is a chocolate chip kind of guy. Matt is a graphic artist and very talented musician who migrated to California with his new wife Halle years ago. Matt and Halle were married in October at a beach side wedding with immediate family only. The pictures are beautiful and really convey the special day as a sublime experience. Matt is a very funny guy. He is so intense about his passions and he lives life large. He loves to experience his life fully and jumps in to life with all of his being. Matt is a redhead and has that sparky personality to match. As a little guy, Matt took up fishing and at one point managed to cast himself off the dock in his enthusiasm. He also tormented his younger sister by putting his thumb through the bottom of a shoebox and putting ketchup on it and displaying it much to Becky's horror.

Several years ago he had the opportunity to take a trip with some colleagues near Baja to run cars in the desert over several days. Matt brought many pictures and regaled the family for over an hour with stories from the trip. He summoned the excitement he felt during the trip and we all could feel his excitement. Matt is exuberance and passion personified. He is a party in a person.

Matt's cookie according to his Mom would be a chocolate chip cookie. That notion of a cookie for him didn't sit well with me until I remembered an article in the NYT about chocolate chip cookies. Apparently someone whipped up a very fine batch of chocolate cookie dough and allowed it to sit in the fridge for several days before baking. The notion was that holding the dough in this way allows the texture and the taste of the cookie to be transformed into something even more rich and delicious. I can't imagine making Matt sit for three days to bring his passion to a higher level but I can see Matt experiencing this cookie in a new and different way that really ramps it up for him to a higher level of pleasure and excitement.

This is a recipe for the cookie adapted from the baker and chocolatier Jacques Torres

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 C minus 2 T cake flour
1 2/3 C bread flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
\1 1/4 C light brown sugar
1 C plus 2 T. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks (chips) at least 60 percent cacao
sea salt

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.
Using a mixer fixed with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes.
Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5-10 seconds.
Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them.
Press plastic wrap against the dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment or nonstick baking mat and set aside.

Scoop 6 3 1/2 ounce mounds of dough onto the cookie sheet making sure any chocolate pieces that pop up are horizontal. (makes a more attractive cookie) Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies to another wire rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches.

Makes 1 1/2 dozen 5 inch cookies.

A Tom Ford Kind of Cookie

Tom Ford is the husband of my sister Sue and Dad of Matt and Becky. He is a graduate of Purdue with an advanced degree in engineering. Tom is laid back and can be quiet but he is an keen observer and will contribute a dry remark based on his observations that will surely make you laugh. He also laughs and has a fine sense of humor which has served him well being the last man standing as one of the husbands of three siblings. He has more than paid his dues through the years and knows the Henry's backwards and forwards. It would be fun to be a little mouse and hear some Henry stories as he would relate them from his perspective.

We have some great Tom stories that we have laughed about that brought us to tears of laughter. Tom is a devoted fisher and golfer. On one fishing adventure he returned home with a hook attached to the back of his head. He apparently landed his biggest catch ever - himself! He clipped the line and went to the ER where they helped him release his catch to fish again. He approached this whole experience with a look of chagrin and quiet fortitude and perhaps a small degree of disgust that he had to share this situation with many different people. He didn't grin but he really bore it. Tom is quite handsome and in my mind reminds me of Howie Long. Tom can't see it because there is a height and size difference but it is apparent to me. Last summer he appeared at vacation with very short hair and suffered a lot of teasing about his "do" from Aunt Buck and generation 3. It had a very military style to it and someone ended being called Sarge but it may not have been Tom.

One of my favorite pictures of Tom is him bending over on one side of a glass door to make a smile at Jon my son when he was such a little guy. It is a sweet picture and so much captures Tom's kindness and affection for family. Tom is a person who is warm and kind and a person of quiet strength. He'll stand with you through thick and thin but can help you see your strength and the humor of a situation. He has character and purpose that anyone would want to have and a better partner for my sister could not be found. I am proud to have Tom as a member of my family and each of us are better for having him there. He is just a great guy and such a treasure. I couldn't ask for a better brother or brother - in law.

When I asked Tom about his favorite cookie he described a cookie Mimi made that was crisp on the outside and soft on the inside and of course chocolate. He further stated that if I didn't know what he was talking about I could just post a chocolate cookie recipe and that would be heaven. Well, surprise Uncle Tom. Your favorite cookie is known as the Really Good Christmas Cookie. The cookie came to us by way of our back fence neighbor Helen Johnston. Helen and her husband Doc were characters of the first order and great people to have as neighbors. Mimi baked these cookies just for Tom year after year.

Really Good Christmas Cookie

2 pkgs Bakers German Sweet Chocolate
1 T. butter
2 eggs
3/4 C. sugar
1/4 C. flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 C. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt chocolate and butter over hot water. Stir and cool.

Beat eggs until foamy add sugar 2 T. at a time. Beat 5 minutes. (Don't cut this corner!)

Blend in chocolate mixture.

Add dry ingredients. Blend

Stir in vanilla and nuts.

Drop by teaspoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 6-8 minutes and cool.

A Cookie for Cammy

Cammy is my niece, daughter of Buck and the tail end of generation three. She is actually the bridge between generation 3 and 4. To the very young members of generation 4 Cammy is Miss good time. She will play with the boys endlessly, entertaining them with games and activities and just having a lap to sit in and cuddle. For Miriam she is a connection to be a member of the Henry girls - an awesome cadre of women with personalities that are pretty big and wide. Don't feel bad Henry guys. You are each unique and special and have big personalities but as Bobo can tell you there is some disparity with the women that tends to give things a unique tilt. It all works doesn't it. When Cammy was a toddler she hokey-pokeyed endlessly with the family and played and watched the laughter and craziness of her family. One night as her Mom was tucking her into bed she asked, "Who are those crazy people?" Her Mom steadily replied "Cammy that's your family." I think it was a lot to sleep on but she has grown into her role. When we celebrated Cammy's birthday Sue created a quiz based on Cammy's social life. The best question dealt with the number of text messages and Cammy had over 5000 text messages per month. Take a deep breath. So when I wanted to learn to text I consulted Cammy who taught me patiently and I text her from time to time along with my other texting buddies. Jon my son was texting me and when we got together he shared a very telling observation when he told me I texted like a 13 year old. The mark of Cammy.

Because Cammy was the tail end her two aunts had great experience and raising children before their baby sister got her chance. However Rebecca was very helpful to her older sisters and had great advice from her experience as a psychologist to offer her sisters. Cammy was is a special and unique person in her own right but definitely shares many Henry girl and guy traits. She is fun loving and athletic and all about an adventure. She is a senior in high school and her Facebook lists her friends as well over 500 nearest and dearest people in her life. Cammy is an accomplished ice skater and skates competitively and teaches ice skating at the rink where she skates and holds down a part-time job. Her academic career is going well and we expect great things for her future from what we know about her as a person. It's been fun for Sue and me to watch Becky and Cammy's relationship over the years. Beck 's done a great job with Cammy working to give her daughter freedom and the opportunity to make her own choices yet protect her from the challenges people Cammy's age experience. They survived the challenging time and continue to travel forward.

Cammy's cookie choice is Peanut Butter Blossoms. The cookie with as Beck describes as peanut butter with a blob of chocolate in the middle.

Peanut Butter Blossoms
48 Hershey's Kisses Brand Milk Chocolate unwrapped
1/2 C shortening
3/4 C creamy peanut butter
1/3 C granulated sugar
1/3 C brown sugar packed
1 egg
2 T milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 C flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
granulated sugar

Heat oven to 375 degrees
Beat shortening and peanut butter together in large bowl until blended. Add granulated and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla, beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt and beat into peanut butter mixture.
Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a kiss into the center of each cookie. The cookie will crack around the edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 48 cookies.

Love you Sk8rgrl!

Rebecca's Bar

"We live by the mantra: We never met an Annie cookie we didn't love!" That was the response I received when I emailed my sister Rebecca and her daughter Cammy and asked what might be their favorite cookie each. Great answer. That's the kind of answer that inspires a baker and helps us break out of the baking box. And I must share that Rebecca or Buck as she is known can be very inspirational when it comes to fun and living life to the fullest with great care and love for her family and others. I would tell you she is thoughtful and you would say oh she thinks of others. That certainly is true but she is thoughtful meaning turning on her thinking processes to bring out her best when we talk about the things and people that mean the most to us. Like the rest of my family she is caring and has a huge heart for others. Rebecca wears her heart on her sleeve for others and is filled with compassion. She is a softy with a very strong and keen intellect.

She sounds like Mother Teresa doesn't she but good as she is she is not quite there. Buck balances her kindness with her keen sense of fun. It's a family trait I tell you! Rebecca is the person who is always up for a game or a good time. She will tease and mock during the nightly slip a$$ game on vacation to throw her opponent and secure a win. She nicknamed Elijah E-Z-E and recognized his rockin' nature as a little guy. She proclaimed her star role as the funniest kid in class when confronted by a dad who thought she might do better academically in grade school but she also won the annual MUGS award from that same school. Quite an honor. She has no patience with long processes and has been known to announce as we drove on the first leg of a family vacation "If I knew it would take this long I would have stayed with Grandma Henry!". She didn't appreciate the cooking process and met the right guy (Thank you David). She confronted me about a recipe I shared that had more than 4 ingredients and took about 6 hours to produce. David would say I was the beneficiary of a Buckburst. So at risk of the more atomic Buckruption I will cease to share more sister stories of this beloved sister. Just know that I love her with all of my heart and it is my good fortune to have her as a sister!

So Rebecca's favorite cookie ........it would be a lemon bar. Like Rebecca tart but sweet, crisp yet creamy , multi-layered and an all around great choice to balance other flavors on the Christmas cookie platter.

Luscious Lemon Bars

Crust:
2 C. flour
1/2 C confectioner's sugar
1 C. butter or vegetable shortening

Topping:
4 large eggs
2 C granulated sugar
1/3 C fresh lemon juice
1/4 C flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
zest of a lemon - I use this for extra kick but it is optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly grease a 9 x 13 pan
To make the crust, combine the flour and sugar in a bowl. Cut in the butter or shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake 20 minutes

While the crust bakes make the topping.
Ina large bowl beat the eggs until thick, and light-colored. Beat in the sugar. Beat in the lemon juice. Beat in the flour and baking powder.
Pour the topping over the baked crust.
Bake for 20-25 minutes longer until light colored and firm to the touch.
Cool in the pan on a wire rack before cutting into squares.
You can substitute lime juice and make lime bars as well.

Adapted from 1001 Cookie Recipes.

Mimi's Cookie

My mom AKA Mimi is the person who enabled me in the kitchen. She pretty much gave me free reign and let me experiment and bake to my heart's content. She was gracious through my culinary highs and lows. Mimi refers to herself as a plain cook and not gourmet but she definitely makes great food and wonderful meals. She also has some dishes that people just love and ask her to make. Mimi's applesauce is a family legend. Her cottage potatoes and potato salad are wonderful. Growing up, her fried chicken with white gravy was a birthday treat. Every Christmas Mimi made a braided tea ring from the Betty Crocker cookbook. It was a beautiful yeasted ring with filling and decorated with frosting almonds and candied cherries. When I started baking Christmas cookies Mimi quickly asked me if I was making gumdrop bars. Mimi's cookie is a brown sugar based cookie filled with chopped gumdrops. It's a very sweet cookie but it is called a Jewelled Cookie because of the pieces of gumdrops in the cookie. They are glazed with a thin lemon frosting.

There is another member of the family that appreciates gumdrop bars. My dog Jack the beagle in his younger days was quite a devil. One year I baked the bars, cut and frosted them and put them on foil on the counter. Jack was able to stand on his hind legs and tease the foil to the edge of the counter where he ate half a recipe of gumdrop bars! That's 2 C. of gumdrops and a C. of sugar and butter people and the results were lovely. I will not describe anything beyond that. I will never forget making gumdrop bars without thinking of my Mom and of course Jack.

Gum Drop Bars

Mix together thoroughly:
1/2 C shortening
1/2 C. unsalted butter
2 C. packed brown sugar
2 eggs

Stir in:
1/2 C sour milk or buttermilk

Sift together and stir in:
3 1/2 C flour
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt

Mix in 4 C. chopped gumdrops

Place in a greased 9 x 13 pan and bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool and frost with a lemon glaze

Lemon Glaze

2 C confectioners sugar
3 T lemon juice
1 T. melted butter
zest of a lemon

This is a great cookie. Thanks Mimi and Betty Crocker

Back to the Bars

Well not literally the drinking establishments but bar cookies. As one of the basic types of cookies bars are fundamental. They lend themselves perfectly to layering and a resulting composite of tastes. Infinite combinations of favorite flavors can produce hundreds of different cookies. Mathematic in scale it would take an engineer to assess the number and layered shapes.

One of my favorite engineers is a software engineer my son in law Josh. Josh is another cookie lover. Josh is a master of fun and fantasy for his little crew of kids. He is expanding his woodworking skills and makes wooden toys and projects for the children's school. He takes time to listen to the children intently and converse with them. He is working on creating his home through cooking, canning, barbecuing and home projects. He and Jen are great partners in creating their home and family and he is a blessing in our family.

Josh happens to like peanut butter in cookies. I discovered this during one of my recent visits to Seattle. So of course I made a batch of peanut butter cookies for him. He liked them and they were a hit with his two young sons as well. Jen was telling me she was planning to make some cookies during my baking hiatus. Jen asked for some recipes and discussed cookie options. One of the options was a cookie for Josh based on peanut butter. I searched through the cookie files and found one for chocolate peanut butter layer brownies. They have a peanut butter base with a chocolate brownie top. Given Josh's love of fun and dry humor about all things of life these should tickle his palate and evoke some happy times with his family.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer Brownies

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 stick softened unsalted butter
1 1/4 C sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2/3 C all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 C chunky peanut butter
3 oz. fine quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour a 9 in square baking pan. Knock out the excess flour.
In a double boiler or metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate stirring , until smooth and remove the top of the double boiler or bowl from heat. Cool chocolate to room temperature.
In a large bowl of an electric mixer beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy and beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and vanilla.
Into a small bowl sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and beat into the butter mixture just until well blended.
Divide the batter between two bowls. Whisk peanut butter into batter in 1 bowl. Whisk the melted chocolate into other bowl and add the chopped chocolate and stir to combine.
Spread peanut butter evenly into the pan. Drop chocolate batter by large spoonfuls onto the peanut butter base and spread carefully to form an even layer.

Bale brownies for 35 to 40 minutes in the middle of the oven. Cool brownies completely in the pan before cutting into 16 squares.

Hey Josh, enjoy with my love to you.

A Chocolate Blog

Like most of America and the world, I live amidst a family of chocolate mavens. One particular maven is my sister Sue. Sue is my middle sister and the organizer of the family. She is affectionately called Miss Mom by the family and my parents conjecture that she has Grandma Henry's drive to run the family and rule the world. She is intense and perhaps not to that degree of ruling the world but she has definite ideas about how things need to be. Are you seeing a continuing theme in the Henry family?

She is amazingly fun and a laugh a minute. She staged a picture to look like she fell down the dunes and was clawing her way to the top of the hill. In another picture she plastered her nose with chocolate cake batter and staged a shot of her lunging for the bowl of cake batter I held. There are more stories but the stories could fill a book. She is one of two very special sisters I have and I love them both to distraction. Sue as a chocolate maven had a challenge with my Mom over Sue's desire for a chocolate wedding cake. Mom believed at that time it just wasn't done. A great aunt told Mom that the Groom's cake could be chocolate so the wedding cake was half chocolate and half white. Knowing her love of chocolate and my love for her I am dedicating this special recipe to her. This is a triple chocolate espresso cookie that will sate the chocolate desire of any chocolate maniac. So Miss Mom here is your cookie. Love you!

Triple Chocolate Espresso Cookies

1 3/4 C flour
3 T. cocoa powder
2 1/2 tsp. instant espresso powder
1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
12 oz semisweet chocolate
1/2 C softened unsalted butter
1 C dark brown sugar
1/2 C sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 C (6 oz.) chocolate chips

Sift flour, cocoa, espresso, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
Melt chocolate in a metal bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally so it melts evenly; remove from heat when smooth.
In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugars on medium speed for several minutes until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
Pour in melted chocolate and beat until combined.
Add flour mixture and chips and mix on low until just incorporated.
Cover dough and refrigerate 15-20 minutes until firm enough to scoop.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line several cookie sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats.
Roll dough into 1 1/2 " balls and place on sheets 2 inches apart.
Bake 8-10 minutes - cookies will appear soft but will firm up on cooling. Cool cookie sheets on wire racks before moving with a metal spatula.

Enjoy!

Cookie Blogs III

Today I had a wonderful experience. One of my dear friends emailed me and asked me to visit. She thought I might be missing Christmas cookies and baking because of my knee. She and her daughter baked and she wanted to share some with me. She dropped off a beautiful platter of eight different assorted cookie varieties. How nice. I never receive Christmas cookies. It was such a treat to look at the variety and sample a cookie. They are delicious. I said to Nancy the giver , "You have rugelach." "Oh you mean sour cream roll ups?", she asked. Isn't it funny that so often the things we see as the same are different or vice versa. But the enjoyment of tradition and flavors though different can evoke fond memories of tastes, smells and experience.

Today I offer another bar cookies. In the process of making over 1000 cookies you learn some efficiencies. Lots of bars, lots of slices created from rolls of refrigerated dough and drops. Spritz are individually shaped but by a cookie press which makes a pretty fast process. Little time for rolled cookies - plus they may be too fragile to travel.So yet again a bar cookie. I'll go a bit further and tell you it's a sleeper cookie. Sleeper because it looks pretty average. Crumbs adorn the top but it is a pretty plain undecorated cookies. Your eye wouldn't be drawn to it as you might an iced cut-out or a frosted drop or swirled marbleized cookies with sprinkles. But it is a mouthful of caramel and crumbs. It's an easy cookie because it's based is refrigerated cookie dough. I know that's kind of a trick from a cook who likes to make things from scratch but it is a delicious cookie none the less. The cookie is one of Miss Jen's favorite. She is a cookie lover and I thinks she loves the exotic name with the very simple caramel note of the cookie.

Dulce de Leche Bars

2 rolls refrigerator sugar cookie dough (18 oz each)
1 3/4 C. rolled oats
2/3 C firmly packed brown sugar
2 Tsp. vanilla
1 bag of caramels (14-15 oz.)
1/2 C. butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz.)
3 T. caramel topping

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Break up 1 cookie roll into a large bowl. Add 3/4/C of the oats, 1/3 C brown sugar and 1 tsp. of the vanilla; mix well. With floured fingers press the dough mixture evenly into the bottom of ungreased 15x10x1 inch baking pan to form the crust.
Bake 13 to 18 minutes or until light golden brown.
Meanwhile in the same bowl break up the second cookie dough roll. Add the remaining oats, 1/3 C brown sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla; mix well.
In a large heavy saucepan heat caramels, butter and condensed milk over medium low heat, stirring frequently until caramels are melted and the mixture is smooth.
Remove partially baked pan of cookies from the oven. Spread caramel mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining cookie mixture evenly over the top of the caramel.
Return to oven. Bake 18-22 minutes longer or until light golden brown. Cool 15 minutes. Run knife around the edge of the pan to loosen. Cool completely - 2 hours. Using a small spoon drizzle the caramel topping over the top of the cookies. Cut into bars.

Here's to you Miss Jen. Enjoy the cookies.

Cookie Blog

Jon came over yesterday to spend some time and he said he read the Grasshopper Squares blog. He asked when would I blog about his favorites - Golf Balls. I had to tell my sweet son that I had already posted about his favorite cookie at the end of last year. You can search under golf balls or Christmas cookie to go to that particular blog. Jon is really craving golf balls and it was almost as if by blogging they would become reality. Oh the wishes of the young. I would so make him golf balls if I could.

His wishing reminds me of one of the most important steps of any activity I do when I'mmaking something for someone else. Whether quilting or cooking or any other activity when I am making something for someone or someones special. I spend time thinking about the person. I remember happy times together, the little quirks and eccentricities of the person. I imagine the look on their face when they see or taste the outcome. In so many ways to me it is a communion of spirit that transcends mere baking and sewing and brings something unique to the experience of making the cookie or the quilt or whatever. The process can become almost meditative particularly when the process is another step in a long tradition.

I love making golf balls for several reasons. They are a cookie beloved by my family in general. They are especially loved by my Dad and my son - two very important men in my life. My mom and I made this cookie together so many times and I have wonderful memories of cooking with her that I will treasure forever. Finally the taste of the cookie itself is nutty, buttery and slightly sweet and the cookies just melt in your mouth. Go find that recipe! They are alternatively known as Mexican wedding cakes or Russian tea cakes.

So for today's cookie I have a very fun cookie beloved by my children and friends. It's a year round cookie good anytime but its incredible chocolatey, caramelly sweetness can bring you to your knees. So it's a great cookie on a cookie platter at Christmas. The cookie is also special because the recipe was found in a cookbook given to me by my children when they were quite young. It is one of the first cookbooks in my collection and it still stands proudly on the shelf. My dear friend Khristopher loves the cookie. Khristopher is a friend of long standing who is a mortician/drag queen. He lives in LA and is now a mortician to the stars. Khristopher asked for the recipe for a bake off at the funeral home in Columbus where he worked. Let it proudly be known that this cookie won first prize at the Schoedinger Funeral Home staff picnic. I hope you'll enjoy this cookie.

Turtle Bars

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan

1 package German Sweet Chocolate cake mix
1 small can evaporated milk
1 12 oz package of chopped pecans
3/4 C. softened butter
1 15 oz package of caramels

In a bowl combine cake mix, 1/3 C evaporated milk, and butter. After spraying your hands with cooking spray press 1/2 of the cake mixture into the bottom of the pan spreading evenly. Bake in the oven for 8 minutes.

Melt the caramels with 1/3 C. evaporated milk in the microwave stirring frequently until smooth and creamy.

Sprinkle the chopped nuts over the partially baked cookie base. Drizzle the caramel mixture over the nuts and cookies using it all. Then crumble the rest of the cake mixture evenly over the top of the cookies base. It doesn't need to cover perfectly. The crumbles will melt and nuts and caramel will peek through after baking.

Bake the cookies for 15 - 20 minutes and allow to cool. For best results I bake the cookies the day before serving so the caramel can solidify and make cutting in squares easier. This is a great cookie and wonderful as part of a holiday selection.

The next cookie is a favorite of Miss Jen's Dulce de Leche bars!! Stay tuned.

The Christmas Cookie Blogs

Due to recovery from knee surgery - how many times will I have to say this? -I cannot follow my usual holiday tradition of cookie baking for my family and Lee's. In past years we baked 12-15 different kinds choosing family traditions and mixing with new and exotic cookies. They would be sorted and boxed according to families and numbers of people and sent across the United States. All told more than 1000 cookies were baked and sent. It is fun and a time filled with spirits of Christmas past, the joy of Christmas present and hope for Christmas futures.

Because I cannot bake I've decided to do a series of posts of Christmas cookies that I have baked for loved ones. There will be a little story with each recipe that talks about the cookie, its tradition or the people that love the cookie.

I am starting off with the youngest generation of folk. Eli and Gabe ages 7 and soon to be 4 live in Seattle. They are great Christmas aficionados and love tradition. Their favorite cookie happens to be grasshopper squares. Grasshopper squares are a lovely combination of chocolate and mint. The boys love this flavor combination and the creamy, minty frosting. The recipe description says, "These cookies fairly explode in the mouth with silky, fudgy chocolate and cool mint ganache. " Yowser! Jen asked for the recipe as she will bake some cookies for the season as her momma couldn't come through. The boys will help her bake and as it is with most child bakers we have to wonder how much will end up on faces and hands and how much cookie will be left. I'll be waiting for pics of baking on their web site www.diamondfamily.org in the Picasa gallery.

Please oh please if you choose to bake any of the cookies use high quality ingredients. Follow quantities and directions explicitly. You'll have the best results. I promise.

Okay so I won't keep you waiting a minute more.

Grasshopper Squares adapted from Gourmet

Brownie Layer

1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter
10 1/2 oz fine quality bittersweet chocolate finely chopped (no more than 60% cacao)
1 1/2 C packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 tsp. vanilla
3/4 C all purpose flour
1/4 C plus 2 T. unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa
3/4 tsp. salt

For Mint Ganache
1/2 C heavy cream
10 0z. fine quality white chocolate chopped
2 T. creme de menthe
1 tsp. peppermint extract

For Chocolate Ganache

1 C heavy cream
10 oz. fine quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened) finely chopped

Brownie Layer
Put rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 375. Lightly butter a 13 x 9 baking pan and line with two criss-crossed sheets of foil, leaving a 2 inch overhang on the sides. Butter foil.

Melt butter and chocolate with brown sugar in a 3 qt. heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat. Whisk in eggs and vanilla until combined. Whisk in flour, cocoa, and salt until just combined.
Spread batter evenly in baking pan and bake until set and a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs adhering, about 20 minutes.
Cool completely in a pan on a rack 90 minutes.

Mint Ganache
Bring cream to a simmer in a 2-3 qt. saucepan and remove from heat. Pour over white chocolate in a bowl. Let stand 1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Stir in creme de menthe and extract and chill, stirring occasionally until thick, 1 hour.

Chocolate Ganache
Bring cream to a simmer in a 2-3 qt. saucepan and remove from heat. Pour over bittersweet chocolate. Let stand 1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Chill, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 30 minutes.

Assemble layers

Spread mint ganache over brownie layer in a thin even layer using an offset spatula, then chill until firm but still slightly sticky, about 30 minutes.
Spread chocolate ganache over mint and chill until firm, about 2 hours.
Lift dessert out of pan using foil overhang. Run a heavy knife under hot water and wipe dry, then trim 1/4 ' edge off each side of dessert. Cut dessert into small squares and peel foil.

This makes 6 dozen cookies.

Traditions

Holidays are days of traditions laid end to end to bring family and loved ones together in joy, peace and connection to the past, present and future. People at the festivities change or may be absent for a time or two but the traditions celebrated near or far unite loved ones. Like many families my family has rich traditions that have been continued and celebrated through the years and passed on to future generations to keep and tend and even modify a bit as new traditions are forged out of old. My grandparents were great at keeping traditions and welcoming family. Special foods of course, but Santa's visit on Christmas Eve at the farm, a meal crowded with cousins around a huge dining room table, a special gift chosen with great care for each child, great aunts and uncles sharing a meal on a cold evening and tales of parents as young ones over the years. Participating in traditions always evokes stories of events past and memories dying to be shared.

In my immediate family, traditions have been passed down and been created to weave the familiar personalities and fun with foods and activities. On Christmas Eve a tradition was built to serve charcuterie which is a divine mixture of cured meats, cheeses and pickles as a first course with breads and crackers and condiments. The second course is James Beard turkey in lettuce leaves - a recipe already on this blog. Finally Christmas cookies are served. In years past I am the cookie monster er master. Each year I bake about 13 - 15 kinds of cookies to share with my family scattered throughout the states. Cookies are a mix of bars and drops, shaped, molded and flavors. There are some cookies that are always there - golf balls, turtle bars, chocolate mint brownies and much, much, more. This year the Christmas cookies are giving way to knee replacement. There is no way to make cookies to send 10 different ways with this knee. My family assures me it will make the cookies taste better next year.

I have been watching the younger generations as they build their families to see what traditions they keep and what they add for them. Facebook has shared some clues as to what is ahead for the family. Last night Jen and Josh and the kids put up their tree. They had a family expedition to select a live tree and brought it home to put it up. Gabe has been asking for the tree daily so finally he is getting his wish. According to Jen Eli has matured and you can tell as he places his ornaments in a variety of sites on the tree. Gabe follows early Eli and tends to decorate one spot on the tree. Miriam gazes up from her spot on the floor and parents try to plan for safety for some low hanging ornaments.

Jen loves tradition and has been trying to find the holiday time that is right for them to add charcuterie. Well tree decorating night seems to be the perfect time. Jen and Josh prepared a plate of charcuterie and like any good tradition added several new options. She added shrimp cocktail and mini-pizzas. Of course with two boys of such different personalities there must be not one but two kinds of pizza. Eli likes the silver dollar sized pizzas and Gabe likes medium mini pizzas. Jen and Josh have really added to the wonder of tree transformation by combining a tradition from another holiday time. The time is a festive family party of rediscovering ornaments and adding new ones to the tree remembering occasions and why we have which ornament and how it came to the family.

With our family separated by states it is a joy to see what they are doing to celebrate occasions and create traditions of their own as well as keeping family traditions. I hope each of you celebrates your own family traditions in the way you love and cherish this holiday season.

Support and Revelations

Since my knee replacement and the long recovery I have been the beneficiary of gifts that are the best not as material objects but the gifts of revelation. I had underestimated the challenging nature of this surgery and throught I would be back to normal within a few short weeks. LAUGH NOW ALL OF YOU I WAS REALLY CRAZY WASN'T I. I now awaken every day waiting to see how the day goes as a barometer of progress in the road to recovery. I evaluate the pain, number of pills needed yesterday versus today and the stiffness of the knee and its perceived mobility. I do the exercises and try to gauge my progress in degrees and ability to tolerate knee positions. It is exhausting. While I have been recovering my family and friends have come forward to support me at a level which I never expected. I have received gifts of food, meals and I do mean complete meals with extras for the freezer, magazines, fruit arrangements, cookies, restaurant lunches and each comes with a visit which is very nice. These friends have been such a revelation of kindness. I had no idea that we would be the recipients of such generosity. Amazing and wonderful. I feel like Sally Field - You like me! It is the best feeling in the world and I will never underestimate the meaning of support and showing up for the people in your life.

Lee is also the beneficiary of this kindness and she too marvels at people's kindness and generosity. Lee has been saved many nights of cooking thanks to this kindness and generosity and for that we are both grateful. Last night Lee made pasta and salad which was lovely. It was the first meal she actually cooked. So this is Lee. "Anne when I cook the pasta does it go in the pan with the cold water or do I do something else?" Sigh. The pasta was lovely but slightly undrained. I asked about this and she told me she drained the pasta by spoonfuls. Such commitment. By the way I froze meals before surgery so we had marinara sauce for the pasta. Lee makes an excellent salad. Last night's was romaine, carrots, kalamata olives, pignoli and freshly grated parmesan with purchased dressing. After three weeks of TLC from Lee I would tell you she is the second revelation. She is eager to offer assistance whenever needed and for anything. She is patient and kind and almost never says no - she refused to make turkey tetrazinni and we had one more Thanksgiving meal in a row. When I am frustrated and down she is upbeat and encouraging. She makes me laugh and she has really stepped up to a huge plate. We have three dogs and feeding the dogs and me can be an ordeal. Jack the elderly beagle has warm broth and rice mixed with medicine and he eats that first. When he finishes that he gets his kibble mixed in. Dude and Doris are not so picky but require the kibble and broth mix with meds for Doris. Then she gets to feed me. Our only debacle has been oatmeal. I love old fashioned oast undercooked, sprinked with brown sugar and granola and sliced bananas with milk on the side. The first time she prepared oatmeal she boiled it and it was overcooked and gloppily inedible. The second time she tried the micowave and it wasn't as overdone but could have cooked less. She then mixed it all together - yech! So now no oatmeal ever again. I guess I can live without oatmeal until I can do it myself. Lee has been my second revelation in patience and kindness. Thank you Lee, you are the best!

The third revelation is much more mundane and in keeping with my usual focus on food. The other day I expressed an urge for a cupcake and Lee said "I will get you a cupcake". This involved a trip to the Ele' Cake Company and a beautiful white cupcake with pink frosting. This cupcake looked so traditional yet the cake was a specialty cake of raspberry cake cloaked in white cake topped with raspberry frosting. OMG. I could only eat half at a time it was so very rich and the tastes so true to fresh raspberry. I have been watching Cake Boss with Lee and we marvel at the specialty cakes produced. I wonder how would they taste? Well if they are anything like my cupcake they are unbelievable as a dessert and as well as a design. Now I am on a quest to understand cakes and will be returning to Rose Levy Berenabum's Cake Bible. Rose took cake baking to a science and spent years studying baking science to produce luscious and beautiful cakes. One of the things I most love about her cookbook are the sections that she terms "understanding" that convey information about baking that really changes the concept of baking. Studying Rose gain should help me take another step up in my baking ability. The other part of this revelation in taste that is so exciting is that one of the owners of the Ele' Cake Company is the cousin of Mr. MW. Mr. and Mrs MW are celebrating their 25th anniversary and will be serving three cakes from Ele'. However the best news is that the owner may be attending the party. I so hope to meet her and drag her into a corner to talk about baking and her business - cake business that is.

The recipe below is the cake I made for Mr. MW's birthday. It is not an Ele' cake but it is a cake from a recipe by Dorie Greenspan of baking and Julia Child fame. Mr. MW's favorite cake is a carrot cake and this is Big Bill's Carrot Cake. The only problem with the cake is that there was no pineapple and in my mind one must have pineapple in a carrot cake. So I decided to make a filling of rum and pineapple to put between the layers and on top with cream cheese frosting on the sides. I added dark rum to the cream cheese frosting to hit the ball home so to speak!

Mr MW's Carrot Cake adapted from Dorie Greenspan

Cake:
2 C all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder.
2 tsp. gr. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. salt
3 C grated carrots
1 C coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 C moist plump raisins
2 C sugar
1 C canola or safflower oil
4 large eggs

Filling
28 oz can crushed pineapple drained
2 -3 T. dark rum
3 T. cornstarch
1/2 C brown sugar

Frosting
8 oz. cream cheese at room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter
1 lb. confectioner's sugar (3 3/4 C)
1 T dark rum
1/2 C shredded coconut

325 degree oven butter and flour 3 9 " cake pans. For the cake: Whisk together the dry ingredients for the cake. In another bowl combine, carrots, coconut, nuts and raisins. In a mixer beat the oil and sugar togetheron medium speed until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until smoother. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture mixing until the dry ingredients disappear. Gently mix in the fruit and nut mixture and divide the batter between the three pans. Bake 40 - 50 minutes rotating the pans in the oven so they bake evenly.. When done a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean and the cake begins to come away from the sides of the pan. Let cool 5 minutes then invert the cakes, unmold them and allow the cakes to cool to room temperature.

Filling
While the cake is baking combine the filling ingredients and cook over medium heat until thickened. Cool.

Frosting
In the stand mixer beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the sugar and beat until smooth. Add the rum and coconut and beat to smooth.

To assemble the cake put one layer on a plate or stand and frost the top with one-third of the fiulling. Repeat for the next layer. Top with the third layer. Using the frosting frost the sides of the cake. Finally using the last of the filling dress the top of the cake.

This is a wonderful cake.

Thanksgiving

Yesterday was a wonderful holiday for me on so many levels. Mom and Dad in from Florida, Jon joining us as a Dayton resident, Becky Ford in from Colorado and then Sue and Tom, Aunt Dorr, Tom's dad Bob and Bob's wife Jane. A traditional gathering from near and far. It was especially wonderful for me because I actually was able to go. Surgery 16 days ago and lots of hopes and wishes to be able to go. Being able to go was a little iffy from the beginning but particularly so after a grueling day Monday of doctoring, PT and recovery. The rehab PT on Tuesday gave me my marching orders to do nothing but ice my knee, exercise the proscribed number of times and relax and see. So I did just that and was able to go. Going was not so simple and required generous spirits on the side of my precious sister Sue and her husband Tom. They went out of their way to make me comfortable and welcome. For me going was like taking a baby - pillows, cooler with bags of frozen veggies for knee icing , meds and patience. I planted myself in the recliner and iced while the holiday activities unfolded.

My perch on the recliner was the perfect spot to watch all of the activities in the kitchen. It was very hard to sit there and see all of my favorite activities occurring without being in the middle, helping, advising and chatting and admiring. Sue and Tom and Mom and Dad took major leads in preparing the wonderful meal. Sue's meal is always traditional and it really touches the core of what I understand Thanksgiving to be. Yet like many dinners it is a compilation of traditions. The main meal is always pretty much that of the past. Sue does get wild and crazy with appetizers and desserts. So it is very fun and full of surprises. Appetizers were a delicious creamy bleu cheese dip with celery and onion served on crackers and a hot crab and artichoke dip with red peppers, cream and parmesan cheese baked and served with toasts. Oh those yummy chunks of crab were to die for.

The main part of the meal was a beautiful juicy turkey sliced by the engineer and beautifully displayed on the platter. Sides included mashed yukon gold potatoes with gravy, peas and onions, cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes, rolls and two kinds of stuffing. The sweet potatoes come from niece Becky. They are peeled and steeped in water and baking soda. After that they are drained and poached slowly in a brown sugar, butter and cinnamon syrup. They are so awesome. Each bite has butter and cinnamon. The flavor just permeates through the potatoes. So unlike sweet potato casserole where there are potatoes souffleed and covered with a glaze of nuts and brown sugar and butter. With that you eat through layers of flavors. These potatoes are simple and incredibly delicious.

Our family enjoys simple bread dressing baked in the bird. Tom's family grew up with stuffing balls. Balls of stuffing are scooped on to a cookie tray and baked to crispy goodness in the oven while the turkey rests. So you really have to savor stuffing both ways. Dessert was a cheesecake made by Sue and Tom together. Pumpkin cheesecake with gingersnap crust topped with marshmallow creme glaze. It is so rich you have to have a very slim piece to savor. It is a sneaking up on you dessert - you take a bite and then another, each bite accruing flavor and sweetness and your tummy just leaps with joy at the last bite. This was as Lee described the best cheesecakes she ever ate.

That wonderful food combined with joy and laughter, sharing and stories was the perfect day - the Thanksgiving I dreamed about. We had calls from those not present wishing everyone well so we had more opportunities to share being family. My sister Sue is the person we call Miss Mom and tease her about her energy about the family. It's an energy we all share and treasure because it is what makes each occasion with our family so unique and special. Sue and Tom make their home a gathering place for all and welcome everyone with open hearts and warm spirits. Laughter overflows and loves bounces off the walls from hearts together. Sweet Becky Ford their daughter is a warm heart and spirit who is loving and joyful. They worked together to make a very special holiday for their family and we all say thank you to them from the bottom of our hearts.

I am including Sue's recipe for Bleu Cheese Dip. It is simple and delicious and is a great appetizer.

Bleu Cheese Dip with Celery and Onion

1 8 0z package of room temperature cream cheese
1 C crumbled bleu cheese
1 C sour cream
1 C mayonnaise
1/2 C finely chopped onion
1/2 C finely chopped celery
2 garlic cloves minced
1 tsp. celery salt
1 tsp. black pepper

Combine chill 1 hour and serve with crackers or veggies.

Catching Up

Way too long since I've blogged. Not that there haven't been themes and topics but I haven't been available. October is breast cancer awareness month and November is Knee month - well not for everybody just for me. On November 10th I had a total knee replacement. I am recovering from surgery and doing rehab. What I've learned about knee replacement surgery and recovery is that there is not a single path. There are multiple paths in recovery. Those paths are not always coordinated and interdependent. On the one path I have a new knee. The knee straightens and flexes and will allow me to have more mobility and comfort as I go about my days. I'll climb stairs, can walk on hikes and stand without discomfort. The other path is that my knee was opened, bone and joint sawed and removed and the prosthesis was hammered and glued into place. That path sounds like something out of a horror movie and therein lies the rub. When I had my gallbladder removed I rested and gained strength over two weeks and was back to work and normal routine in two weeks. Pretty simple as it all seemed to work so well together. With the knee, the new joint is in a cocoon waiting to erupt in usefulness. The only barrier is that the new knee has to break out of a shell of stiffness, swelling and pain. Do you know among knee patients OW is the most common word used in the lexicon of recovery. I do mean OWWW! So to help the butterfly knee emerge from its' strong cocoon there is PT and rehab. Rehab is a commitment to the future. A true opportunity to teach one the meaning of keeping your eyes on the prize. I am gritting my teeth and surreptitiously whining inside as I go through this. Well six weeks more I will probably be recovered and on my way back to life as a I knew it. I have missed all of the events of my normal life. I am so convinced that it just can't happen without me. Oh my delusions are huge. But I am getting better and it is something that doesn't happen alone so I am grateful.

Along the path I didn't blog about a number of things. I didn't blog the birthday of my precious 7 year old grandson Eli. I did complete his Frogs, Lizards and Reptiles of my quilt. I was rewarded with a picture by cell of a boy wrapped in the quilt like a burrito and I get reports that he sleeps in his snuggy quilt every night. He is a precious, precious boy with a very old soul and wit and intelligence that will light the future.

I missed blogging about the wedding of Matt and Halle. Matt is my nephew through Sue and Tom. He and Halle chose an intimate beach side wedding in California. Though many of us didn't go we were so joyed at their wedding. Matt and Halle are musicians and artists and very fun members of the family. Matt and Halle are an integral part of family times and we love Matt's stories about life in LALa land. They are two treasures who we all hope will share a long and happy life together.

I so missed blogging about my Mom's birthday and all that she means to me. She is awesome and ever her warm special self. She is genuinely loved by so many because of her warm smile, interest in connecting with others and true enjoyment of the family and social scene. Mimi loves her family and friends and we are all rewarded with her lovely grace and warmth. She is fun and lovely and treasured by her family. We have heard that there are other Mimi's but we always know ours is da bes!

I didn't blog about my brother-in-law Tom's birthday and what he means to me. Tom has been a part of our family for nearly 50 years. To me he is the brother I never had. He is joyful and has a wonderful hearty laugh. We are very different people but probably alike in the ways that really count. He listens to my stories of life with interest and humor and can add an observation that truly enhances my own perspective. He is one of my very favorite people because he relates to me as if I am fun, interesting, unique and playful. Plus he really likes me I can tell. I love Tom and his dear presence in my life. He is the kind of friend that makes you feel alive.

The day after my surgery was Veteran's Day. Veteran's Day is an important day for me because my Dad and my uncle are veterans. When Aunt Jimmie died this past summer we lost another veteran. I blogged about her many contributions to us and her own family. Her husband Uncle Jack and my Dad have long been two of my very important heroes for the wonderful people they are. Their love of country, sacrifice for others, and commitment to making life better for everyone and genuine valor is inspirational to me as I go about my life and my purpose. Thank you gentleman for all you are.

The last but not least event I missed blogging about was Jon's birthday. Jon came over to share an evening pre surgery and we had smoked Texas brisket, Lee's pinto beans and macaroni salad and beer. Jon requested no dessert so there was no traditional Mexican Chocolate cake. It was a fun evening with laughter and sharing. I blew it though when I forgot he hated hardboiled eggs and added some very fine minced hard boiled eggs to the macaroni salad. Poor Jon couldn't eat the salad. He has to be vigilant against hardboiled eggs lest they appear in food and shock his sensitive palate. Despite my teasing he does have a great palate and is one of my favorite appreciative eaters. He has even been known to share kitchen time as his Mama's sous chef. He is great at chopping despite no formal training. Jon is newly back in the Dayton area having a promotion. It is a huge treat to have him nearby. We've been able to have several dinners that have been so fun. He even came and brought pizza post surgery to tempt his Mama. What a great guy!

We talk a lot about comfort and what that means but recovery from surgery for me is the time I am having revelations about comfort. My family and friends have gone over board sharing meals, fruit, reading materials, treats, flowers, cards, calls and laughter. Sometimes comfort food is described as homey, plain fare. To me comfort food is so much more. The taste of love and care. The search for the right food to bring warmth and security. In lovingly prepared dishes the infrastrucure of the ties of love and support. It is awesome to experience and singular in its feeling. It is achingly beautiful to sore bones to feel such love and caring.

So as I catch you mid Thanksgiving preparations and gathering of your respective clans treasure the time you spend anticipating and working on that holiday meal. It's equally part of the fun and extends the joy of the special day. Take time to think of those near and far away. Those who we don't know who take care of our safety and security around the world. There are many people everywhere who share our hopes and dreams and work toward their being. Happy Thanksgiving each and every day to all of you.