2013 Christmas Season, ..... Part 2

Pardon me, but this will be a bit long.
So, here are a few of the things that kept us busy this month......

First, our regularly scheduled life came to a halt when we got a snow day. Despite being in Northern Idaho, snow can be hard to come by because of our low elevation. We often get rain instead, when everything around us gets snow. So a few inches of snow meant sending the kids (the only two at home that day) out to play!

Emma loves making snow angels, and..... throwing snowballs.

Then came building the snowman. Emma thinks she did it herself, with Darcie. Let's just say that Darcie was a major constructor this time. But Emma helped....

We won't talk about the part when mom broke part of the grill while retrieving coal piecesfor the snowman's features. Whoops. Sorry, sweetheart!

 

(only baby carrots were in the fridge -- guess he has a small nose, huh?)

 

 

We tried a number of hats, but ended up with this one. Taking photos made me late for work that day, but it was totally worth it.

 

This season, we also had a cold snap here that was pretty intense for our little valley. No snow with that one, but it was bitterly cold. Single-digits. So, we delayed the familytrip to our lighted park because we didn't want to be miserable there. It was still cold, but not knock-your-socks-off cold.

 

 

(I love that picture of Cameron!)

 

Here's Emma, ringing the bell on the train:

 

(Emma loved the park. I love the wonder in her eyes.)

 

Darcie explained to Emma [again] about how the pressure-sensitive lightpad works with the lights on the tree in front of them:

 

 

.... under the arches...

 

And we always stop at the nearby McDonalds for eggnog shakes and ice cream.

 

 

Emma's preschool is sponsored through a local Lutheran church. It's a very good program, with a very energetic teacher, and one of the nice bonuses is that since it is through a church, the Christmas program also features the nativity story, acted out by the kids. It's not just Santa and winter and ho-ho-ho.

 

Here's Emma waving at us during one of the songs:

 

 

The "Reindeer Hoky Poky":

 

And the kids after the nativity play. Emma was Mary -- which wasn't a speaking part, but very high-profile, right?

 

Four of the kids actually are members of our church, and this cutie singing next to Emma is one of her friends from Primary.

 

This was one of the events that we brought a platter of Christmas cookies to -- I'll betyou know where at least SOME of those cookies came from !  

 



2013 Christmas Season.... Part 1

Christmas this year has simply been a whirlwind. If it weren't for the photos, I know I'd forget so much of the fun details that happened. I've pulled some of my favorite photos to share the highlights of our season, which --for us-- begins with the day after Thanksgiving and decorating the Christmas tree:

 

We always decorate in the middle of the room, and then move the tree into place afterwards.

I feel bad that there was an entire group of older ornaments that never made it onto the tree. My personal tree-decorating approach is that more is more, and I like to see it simply covered in ornaments. Maybe next year. Or maybe, as the kids leave home one by one, and they take "their" ornaments with them, we'll fill back in with the really old stuff.

 

Our traditional eggnog toast. Maybe next year we'll convince Emma that eggnog is "deee-licious!"

Whoops...... Don't forget about Thanksgiving!

So, it dawned on me that I almost skipped Thanksgiving. Which would be a shame, because it was such a nice day and a yummy meal. This and the next few posts are going to be more pictures than words. I hope.

Here we go.....

We smoked our turkey (of course!) ..... I wish I had a good photo of it when it was done. Missed that. (But I take enough pictures to make up for it, right?)

Cameron had just got his new glasses..... handsome man!!

The girls are a lot of help to me for meals like this:

 

Emma was anticipating the homemade rolls.....

 

(Todd laughing..... that is a one-in-a-million photo. Trust me.)

Grandpa and Grandma (and Indri) ..... they're the best!

 

Mmmm.....

 

 Best part of my day was when I asked Cameron which pie he wanted for dessert. He didn't even pause to think about it. He wanted the homemade pumpkin pie, saying, "I have waited two years for this!"

Apparently he was not a big fan of the store-bought pies he had on his mission Thanksgiving meals.

Melted my heart!

 

Cookies Galore!

 

Christmas and cookies go hand-in-hand, right? I've baked cookies at Christmastime for for-EVER. And I enjoy it, too .... this is not a complaint. And, I have previously admitted that I have a problem when it comes to assembling Christmas goodie trays. It's always a delicious problem to have, though, right??

 

 

So, a friend of mine throws an annual Cookie Exchange party every December. There are different approaches to this kind of a party but here is how hers works:

 

13 people are invited. Every guest slot must be filled for this to work right, and when you agree, it's a commitment. Once you're on her guest list, you have an automatic "in" to the next year's party. Anyone who pulls out at the last minute, doesn't get another invitation ... it's just too stressful for her to find replacements.

 

Each person bakes and brings 12 dozen of the same kind of [holiday] cookie, divided into 1-dozen packages. Copies of the recipe and your name are to be included with each dozen cookies. (Most are usually put in pretty bags or boxes, sometimes in tins.)

 

She serves a sit-down dinner, which is soups, bread bowls, and salads. Several invited guests help with the meal. The guests eat and visit together -- she decorates her home beautifully, and the tables with Christmas place settings, so it's really quite nice.

 

At the end of the evening, each guest brings home a packaged dozen of each of the other ladies' cookies (and recipes), but not their own cookies that they brought.

 

So, the final result is that each guest has 12 dozen different cookies that she didn't have to bake, herself. What do you do with 12 dozen cookies? They are given to friends, neighbors, taken to work parties, visiting teaching ladies, .... Seminary students ... [wink, wink]

 

If it sounds like a lot of work, well, .... granted, it is. Which is why I sidestepped her invitation for a number of years. However, I am now on my third year of doing this cookie exchange. Every year in December, I think to myself, "I am never going to do this again." And every year in October-November, I get amnesia and I agree to it. I get grand plans of baking early and freezing my cookies -- but it doesn't really happen that way.

 

(Plus, if you think it's a lot of work -- think about this: my same friend actually throws the same party TWICE. She does it for a group of women from her husband's workplace, and then again for a group of her own personal friends. Now that, my friends, is dedication!!)

 

So, this year, I didn't get real inventive with my cookie dough for the exchange. It's just your basic shortbread. In the past, I have done spritz cookies, which are dang easy to knock out 5 or 6 dozen in a short amount of time. Especially since I have an electric cookie press. This year, thinking I would freeze in advance, I got a bit more ambitious -- if not with the type of cookie, then with the method.

I did the basic shortbread cookie -- but as a roll-and-cut cookie. What was I thinking??? This was more time-consuming than I left time for. I did freeze 5 dozen a few days in advance.... but I was baking the rest the night before!

 

 

And then, the afternoon of the exchange, I started to dress them up, dipping them in chocolate....

 

Well -- half-dipped. Which, with me is not really dipped, but schmeared. (It's a technical term.) I am not a fan of having the chocolate on the underside of the cookie, so instead, I spread it on top to make it *look* like it was dipped. I know -- I overthink this stuff WAY too much. Then add sprinkles for color and interest:

 

Yep. One cookie down, 143 others to go...... 

 

Lined up like little soldiers on the counter. This was only half of them. Even with my long counters, I couldn't fit 12 dozen on at the same time.

And then packed into 12 individual boxes.

 

(I found these Christmas tree boxes at the dollar store. No photo of the lids for you, though.)

 

And there you have it! 12 dozen Christmas cookies. And that was just the start of my baking.  Since I still had our own trays to do, there were also 5+ dozen gingerbread, another 2 dozen shortbread, pineapple spritz, pecan tassies...... well just add about another 14 dozen of my own cookies. And 3 pounds of fudges.

 

Talk about a sugar high.

Whew!!

 

The Divine Miss Em

 

Two weeks ago, Emma gave a talk in Primary. The topic she was given was, "Prophets foretold about the birth of Jesus Christ". Despite acting shy around people she doesn't know, she actually really enjoys getting up and speaking in front of others. She often has asked if she can give a talk, and we explain to her that that's not how it works -- they have to ask you to speak, you don't really volunteer for it. And you have to give other kids a chance to speak before you get another turn.

So, we came up with this little talk for her. We focused on prophets from the Book of Mormon, and colored some pictures for her to use for visual aids. The pictures actually work as triggers to help her remember which lines to say.

On the day of her talk, I was prepared to stand next to her as she spoke, to help her with the pictures, and be there as moral support in case she forgot her lines. As it turned out, she decided to do it all on her own, and I just sat in the back of the Primary room.

She did an amazing job, much like this practice run-through that we did at home before church. I think you'll probably agree that she has a knack for memorization. Enjoy!!

(This was off my phone, and you might want to turn up the volume to hear her. Thanks!)

 

P.S. Seven lines obviously wasn't enough. Note to self: longer talk next time.

Hello, Mr. Christmas!

I just have to share what happened at our last Family Home Evening, two nights ago, that made us all giggle to pieces. But to tell the story, you need a little background information.

On our Christmas tree, we have a novelty light accessory.  It has two connected parts. The first is an ornament-looking control:

 

(That's supposed to be a music stand with a conductor mouse in the center.)

 

The second part is an in-line box:

 

 

You use your own tree lights, and instead of plugging them into the wall or into a timer you plug them into the green box, and that plugs into the wall. If you can see it in the photo, there are different settings. We have it on Voice Control.

 

So, the little book-looking ornament has a list of the songs it can play. On voice control, to activate it, you say, "Hello, Mr. Christmas."

 

It will answer (in a man's voice, with a proper British accent),

"Well-l-l, Hello!"

"To see what I can do, say 'Lights on!' or 'Play a carol' "

 

If you say, "Lights on!", it will turn the tree lights on and say, "Ta-Daaa!!"

If you have it play a carol, you can select from the list, say the title, and it will play the music and the tree lights will blink in time with the music.

 

If the lights are already on, then when you say, "Hello, Mr. Christmas", it will say,

"Well-l-l-l, Hello!!"

"To see what I can do, say 'Lights off' or 'Play a carol'  "

 

Even when it turns the tree lights off, the white LED light over its own music stand-ornament stays on all the time.

 

Remember, all of this is done in a British accent. And you can't interrupt it. If it's speaking, then it doesn't register anything you say, until it's quiet again. Hmmm.... I wonder if Brits are like that, too?

 

Anyway, it's rather a nifty little thing, but we didn't get it ourselves. Grandma Huffaker bought it for us a year ago, I think. She has one for her own Christmas tree, and she thought Emma would get a kick out of being able to control the tree lights by herself.

 

The ironic thing, is that the unit can't recognize Emma's voice. Maybe it's too soft, too high, or she just needs to speak more clearly. At any rate, she can't control it on her own yet. It just doesn't respond to her. It also has a motion-activation setting, but in our family -- we've got way too much happening around it for the tree to randomly turn itself off or on, or start music.

 

Ok, so .... having told you that.............

 

 

Two nights ago, during our Family Home Evening, we were sitting in the living room and discussing upcoming events and activities and obligations during our busy Christmas season. We were all talking, sometimes at once, sometimes one at a time.

 

We never heard anything from the tree that whole time.

It kinda makes you forget that Mr. Christmas is even there.

 

We had our opening song, prayer, discussion, ......

NOTHING from the Christmas tree, at all.

 

Cameron, who was sitting at the opposite end of the living room (farthest from the tree), was asked to give the closing prayer. So he began,

 

"Our dear Heavenly Father, ..."

 

"Well-l-l-l, Hello!!"

[Proper British accent]

I think we all gave a little jump, .... and then we all LOST IT!!

Nobody could keep from giggling all during the rest of the prayer.

It was like an Alma the Younger moment. In case you were wondering, Heavenly Father does answer prayers. And He does it in a proper British accent.

Have a great day, and enjoy this beautiful Christmas season!!

Fall Requirement: Pumpkin Bread

So, I started this post almost two weeks ago. And then it hit me.

That is, the worst cold I've had in years, ... HIT me. Like a brick, that is.

And I feel bit guilty for being a baby about it, especially when the same cold hit Todd a few days before, and he worked right through it, and didn't miss a day on the job or anything. Me? I laid around and slept most of that Sunday away, and I just plain felt like crap. So, I broke down and went to the doctor about it, because I did not want to deal with the sinus infection while I'm trying to do a bunch of holiday stuff. I'm not a big one for going to the doctor. When I went to my pharmacy, they commented that I don't get sick much. They'd seen me about a year ago (an infection), and then the last time before that was when Emma was born. Been to the doctor twice in 5 years, and one of those was for childbirth? Yep, that's me!

(There was also the issue with the pharmacy not finding me with current insurance coverage. A nasty little lie that Todd dealt with a few days later. We have a refund coming to us now. May I say that we are NOT fans of the new health care coverage? Our plan is dropping us in January, and we are scrambling to get "finalized" for a new plan. Todd spent 1/2 hour on the phone -- on hold -- today, only to be given a different number to call. And when he called that number, he was informed he needed to call the original number. Oh, the frustrations!)

But, I digress.

The real point of this post is that I made pumpkin bread Saturday morning. I had actually started it Friday night, but knowing I didn't want to stay up late enough for it to finish baking, I just set up a little mise en place the night before, and baked first thing the next morning.

I rather like this recipe for pumpkin bread -- and so does the family. It's an adaptation of the Betty Crocker recipe, just a couple of small changes. It rises well, and is not so flat-in-the-pans like a lot of quick breads can be. Here's the recipe....

2/3 cup shortening
2 2/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 can (16-oz.) pumpkin
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons lemon extract
2/3 cup chopped nuts
2/3 cup raisins

So, a few notes here:

1. I have become a believer in butter-flavor shortening. When you need the shortening to do the job, but you want it to taste better, this is your product.

2. The size of the pumpkin cans has changed slightly over the years. I think it's only 15 ounces now. No matter. It's the small size can.

3. I love-love-love lemon extract in this recipe. You don't taste it as being lemony, but it makes a difference overall. Trust me on this one.

4. This is one of the few recipes that I use nuts in. I'm not a big fan of nuts IN things. I'd much rather munch them straight. My preference is pecans for this recipe, but walnuts were what I grabbed. They work fine, too.


Anyway... Let's get going!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms only of two 9"x5" loaf pans.

(By greasing only the bottoms, it gives the rising bread something to grab onto -- on the sides of the pans. If you grease the sides too, it probably won't raise as high. And I use non-stick baking pans.)

Mix shortening and sugar in a large bowl. Like, pretty much your biggest mixing bowl.

Add eggs, pumpkin, water, and lemon extract.

Blend in dry ingredients, except nuts and raisins.

 

Stir nuts and raisins in by hand. This is so you don't chop up the poor raisins in your beaters. Resist the temptation to take a big fingerful of batter into your mouth. Pour the batter into loaf pans.  I know I said two large loaf pans, but this time I did the small ones.... gift size. I use 5 smalls for this recipe. Bake about 1 hour, ten minutes -- until loaves test done with a toothpick. Cool slightly.

 

Ok, well if you're baking the smaller loaves, you'll cook for a little less time -- you just kind of have to judge it. Check them at about 45 minutes. You still want them to test done with a toothpick.

 

Loosen sides of loaves from pans with a skewer or spatula. (I'd use a butter knife, but I am loathe to scratch my non-stick pans!!) And then remove the loaves from pans. Cool on a rack, cooling completely before slicing.  Really. They slice SO much easier when they're cool.

Yep -- that's it!! I wrap them in foil if I want to freeze them for later. Or eat them right away. Or bring them to that day's Relief Society Super Saturday at church. Whatever!

Sooo yummy!!