Making Pizza Together

My sister-in-law and brother encourage their children to be involved in food, too.  Okay, all my siblings do.  Since my mom and dad tried to involve us in the kitchen, we are passing that along.  Like most families, food is always a big part of our gatherings.  I have sweet pictures of the cousins making bread sticks with my older sister at an Easter gathering when they were toddlers. This week, my niece turned 9, so we went up to Seattle to make pizza and celebrate her birthday.

My creative sister-in-law made 7 small rounds of dough and everyone got to top their own pizza.  Della, the birthday girl, had chosen cheese and pepperoni for the pizzas.  The kids had a great time building their own pie.  The youngest, Hank, had a little too much encouragement from his big cousins and got a little carried away with the pepperoni.  He doesn't actually eat much pepperoni, so his mom helped him take some off.

The pizzas were great fun to make and eat!  These memories go a long way.  I know these four will talk about Della's birthday for a long time.  I included a picture of Della and Hank's dog, Otis.  He is a sweetie.

Experiencing Christmas Traditions

As adventurers, the kids and I love to hear about the traditions of families.  My sister-in-law, Heather, comes from an English family in which they drink ginger wine on Christmas.  Her English cousins sent her a bottle, so she brought it to share with us on Christmas. 

Of course, this adventure in food was only for the adults.  I happily took part!  Apparently in the English/Scottish tradition, ginger wine is a grand sharing experience.  It definitely had a spicy, ginger-ale taste.  I tried it mixed with ginger ale which was very smooth and relaxing.  I also tried it on ice.  It was a little spicier and left a stronger after taste.  I recommend it with the ginger ale for a more relaxed drink.  Apparently the Scots make a drink called the Ginger Mac with a splash of ginger wine in whiskey.  Not really my style, either, since we don't keep whiskey in the house.

I'm very pleased to have had the opportunity to try ginger wine.  Bloody good stuff!

That reminds me to clear my calendar for the upcoming Burn's Supper.  I shall report about haggis afterward!  Have you tried haggis?  I did last year, before I started my blog.  Maybe I will suggest that they serve ginger wine at the Burn's Supper to help us wash down the haggis.

Gift Giving (and receiving) is My Favorite Part of Christmas

I realize how improper that title sounds coming from a traditional Catholic.  All my life elders have tried to teach me that giving of ourselves is what matters most.  We aren't supposed to get caught up in the materialism of Christmas. However, I find thinking about a person you love for weeks, trying to choose what to give them, a satisfying and spiritual experience.  It is a time for being considerate - even if we are on a budget - and bringing those people close to your heart.  I love this process and have been teaching my children to love it, too.  We spend a few days discussing their cousins and coming up with ideas before we go shopping for them. 

Mara and Della are a lot like Katie.  In fact they are all within three years of each other, so usually Katie has a handle on what they might want.  This year, she wanted to shop for them at Justice.  If you have a young lady in your life between the ages of 6 and 14, this is the store for you.  We picked out a cute t-shirt for each of them.  Della's was a beautiful mixture of blues with a subtle ruffle at the bottom.  Very appropriate for Della's quiet but strong demeanor. For Mara, on the other hand, we picked out a sparkle-filled, spunky light blue shirt.  She is the older and more boisterous of the three girl cousins.  We also bought Della a draw your own Star Wars book - she received two different drawing books at Christmas.  I love the feeling you get when it is obvious that you hit the target with your gift.  She was excited about the books, holding each up to show her mother.

Erik and Hank are the boy cousins that we buy for.  Hank is 5.  He is a riot to buy for.  We couldn't decide but knew we wanted to buy from the toy aisle.  We finally settled on a Hot Wheel toy that had a gorilla attached to it.  The gorilla holds cars in his hands and swipes at the cars flying past him off the track.  Cool.  He opened the box immediately and made his dad help him put it together in the middle of the present-opening circle.  Cute.  And Erik, the thirteen year old.  We searched for gifts for Erik, but always came back to iTunes.  Erik is very musical and technological.  iTunes made sense for him.  He opened it with a smile and said to his mom, "Cool.  iTunes to spend."

My turn.  I had my big sister's name.  She is a single mother who doesn't really think about herself much.  I shopped for her in Seattle, looking for something unique and personal that she could have to herself.  At Pike's Place Market, I found pretty and pint size ring bowls and jars for her dresser.  They were a pretty green color and had a dragonfly on them.  She liked them.  I also found a really pretty rosary for her and wrapped it inside one of the jars.

Since I hosted, she brought me a gift even though she didn't have my name.  A very fun and meaningful bottle of Merlot from Middle Sister's winery in California.  Hopefully you made that connection.  I am the middle sister.  I immediately posted a picture of it on Facebook.  So fun.  She was even nice and picked the Merlot which was called "forever cool."

My sister-in-law had my name.  Awesome.  She knows me well.  I got this beautiful purse.  She is like a mind-reader.  I switch my purses often, depending upon my mood, clothes, the weather...I love purses.  Last week I was wishing that I had a light brown purse to accent some of my more colorful clothes.  Now I have one!  It's a great, roomy but manageable sized purse.

In support of my blog, she also gave me a dutch oven.  I'm so excited.  I have all kinds of recipes that I could make in a dutch oven, but didn't have one!  Hey!  Cyberspace, share your dutch oven recipes with me!  I'd love to see some in the comments.  Merry Christmas to everyone.  I hope you felt as gratified about gift giving as my family did.  I'm sure that Jesus appreciates how much we think about each other during the gifting process.

Adventure Means Chocolate Chip Bacon Cookies

During an episode of Ace of Cakes on the Food Network channel, one of the women gave chocolate chip bacon cookies as a gift.  Hmmm.  I've had chocolate covered bacon.  Liked it.  I've eaten a chocolate bacon truffle.  Liked it.  I should try chocolate chip bacon cookies.  Bet I'll like them.  The family thought I was nuts.  Robby said, "What?  Weird."  Katie wrinkled her nose and Arnie laughed.

I found a recipe on All Recipes.  Sounded like a standard chocolate chip cookie recipe with maple extract and bacon.  I did a little adjusting on the recipe to make puffier cookies and added more chocolate.  Oh my!  The cookies were delicious.  The maple flavoring (I had to use imitation because none of the stores around me had extract) gave just a hint of breakfast to back up the salty bacon.  The chocolate chips were the star of the cookie and the bacon was the excellent back up singer.

After the first pan came out, I called, "Taste testing in the kitchen," and waited to see who came.  They all three did.  They all three gave the cookie a thumbs up and wanted more.  I made them wait.  These are being served on Christmas!

Here's my version of the recipe.  I'm grateful that someone else had tried these first so that I had a base to work from.  Hurrah for adventurous eating!

Chocolate Chip Bacon Cookies

Ingredients
2 1/2  cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp maple extract
1/3 cup chopped cooked bacon
1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips (or whatever kind of chips you like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl together.  In a separate bowl, beat the butter and the brown and granulated sugars with an mixer until smooth. Beat in one egg until smooth.  Beat in the other egg and the extracts until blended and fluffy.  Stir in the flour a little at a time, mixing until just combined.  Stir in the bacon and the chips.  Scoop onto parchment covered cookie sheets.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes.  Cool.  Enjoy.

The Emerald City at Christmas Time

Every couple of years, I take Robby and Katie to Seattle to stay a weekend and see the big city.  Growing up in such a small, country-like atmosphere, they really don't know what hustle and bustle means.  When we shop, we know the clerks in the store and often we know the owners/managers.  I like the small town atmosphere.  My kids are welcomed and comfortable here.  However, I also like the excitement of the big city with its beautiful buildings, activities, and crowds.  Yes, I love a great crowd.  That's a different topic, though.

We stayed for two nights at the Red Lion Hotel, right in the middle of downtown.  With the car parked underground safely, we stepped out and experienced different modes of transportation.  The monorail took us to the Seattle Center.  Both kids had ridden the monorail before, but who gets tired of that ride?  On Sunday, we took a taxi to church.  This was a new experience for the kids.  They were nervous and tried to get their seat belts on quickly.  Not an easy task, but the ride lasted a quick 5 minutes.

We shopped for hours on both days walking the main part of downtown to the Westlake Mall and surrounding shops.  Robby's favorite store was the Husky Store.  He added to his Christmas list there.  Katie loved Fireworks, where we bought Auntie Rochelle's Christmas present.

On Sunday, we spent a few hours down at Pike Place Market.  Watched fish get thrown, stuck gum on the gum wall and ate Humbow.  The kids had never tried Humbow before.  Robby chowed on it and declared it the best new food of December.  He wants us to try to make it.  I'll have to research some recipes.  Any suggestions from cyberland?  Katie wasn't as keen on the Humbow.  She liked the baked better than the steamed, but said the bread was a little too chewy.

Besides the window where we bought the Humbow, we ate at a couple of great restaurants.  We had lunch at the Tap Room.  Yummy and fascinated to look at the 100 beer taps they display (and use!).  We had dinner at the Sky City Restaurant in the Space Needle.  Incredible views and they had just installed a snow machine, so as we rotated around, it would periodically snow outside the window.

In the Tradition of Advent...

Advent means Christmas is coming.  Soon we get to celebrate Jesus's birthday.  I've always loved the preparations of Christmas and Easter.  They are full of traditions.  In Advent, we start with the advent wreath.  Then we hand decorations.  Just like my mother, most of my Christmas decorations are the artwork the kids have created over the years.  I love the many Christmas trees, wreaths, angels, and Santa's that have come home.  I have two of many because the kids have had the same teachers for most grades.

After we get the decorations up, we go to a tree farm and pick a tree.  Every year we try to talk ourselves into buying a different kind of tree and every year we buy either a Noble or a Frasier.  This year we picked a grand.  Very pretty.  Except that it was too tall.  We ended cutting the top off which makes me sad.  The bend at the top made me giggle.  Everyone helps put on ornaments for a while.  Even Arnie who can be rather Grinchy and Scroogy this time of year.

We pour eggnog - an adventure in food.  I cut it with milk to change the texture slightly.  Each year, Robby and Katie like eggnog better and better.  This year, Robby drank most of his.  Katie drank all of hers.  She even wanted to buy more soon.  Excellent. Next year maybe we'll try to make it.

Well.  We have so many ornaments that everyone peters out after a few hours.  Arnie usually leaves first, always with a project to finish in the garage.  Then Robby gets interested in a football game.  Katie hangs in there until the bitter end usually, when I have to go make dinner.  She and I work on the ornaments together over the next week until they are all on.  Sigh.  So beautiful.  We can't wait for Christmas.

Except that now we've lopped off the top and the star doesn't fit.  Have to fix that still!

The next tradition - wrapping presents to go under that shiny tree.

Maureen Puts Up a New Shelf

Our house is small.  We store everything under very cramped circumstances.  I struggle constantly with how to keep the house from being too crowded while accommodating everyone's needs.  Including the cats.  I love my cats, but it is really inane to have two indoor cats in a small house.

Their litter boxes cause some of our space issues.  Yuck.  This is the downside of keeping cats indoors.  (The upside where we live is that they don't end up as coyote food.)  The cats have done their business in the laundry room ever since we've lived here. 

This week, as I was cleaning the boxes, I was wishing I could have more storage in that room.  It is a small rectangular room, 10 feet by 5 feet.  It has a back door in it which we really don't use since we have a slider about 20 feet down the same wall in the kitchen.  The room holds a drying rack and an extra bar for Arnie's shirts.  He has so many that they don't fit in his closet.  The downside of having a clothes-horse husband.  (The upside is that he is very handy around the house and knows a lot about building stuff.)

Kneeling on the floor and looking up at the laundry room wall, I thought, "How silly.  Look at all this wall space that is hidden from view.  Why am I not using this?"  Arnie was interested in my query.  We really do need space.  Could we build shelves on the wall and put the cat boxes under the shelf?  Possible.  Cats have to do their duty no matter where their boxes are.  However, Arnie suggested a pre-fab shelf instead of building one.  Cheaper and lighter to move around if needed.

Off to the home store we went.  I found a great shelf that would hold a lot of stuff and had adjustable shelf height.  Perfect for giving the cats room.  Arnie said he could put the shelf together but had a few things to finish in the garage.  Honestly, I was too impatient to wait till June.  Once he is in the garage, we don't see him for hours.  So, I put the shelf together myself.  I did ask him to bring a leveler to help me make sure it was even.  What a relief to re-arrange and have more storage.

A is for Advent and Anticipation

My two favorite church seasons are Easter and Advent.  These spiritual times tell the story of the Church so beautifully and call upon us to think and feel more deeply about our faith.  I love how the church changes physically during these times as a reminder to us to be aware.  The preparations for Christmas, especially, tug at my heart.  I have very fond memories of Advent from childhood.

Mom had lots of Christmas decorations.  She saved all the art work we did as children, which was especially fun because we often had the same teachers.  There were four Rudolphs with big red noses.  There were four angels and four Christmas trees.  Some of the art pieces were originals, though.  My brother made an angel from a reader's digest in one class.  Each page was carefully folded down and spray painted gold.  The angel's Styrofoam head bobbled around on a wire and her doily wings never stayed flat.

Early on in our adult lives, Mom started buying us girls Christmas dishes to help us decorate our own homes.  I was so excited to start my collection of Christmas dishes; I would pour over the catalogs looking for new pieces of  Winterberry.  Now, on the first Sunday of Advent, we clean out the cupboard, put away our daily dishes, and put in the Christmas dishes. The Christmas dishes heightens our awareness of the season, reminding us every night that we await the birth of Christ.

The Advent wreath goes in the middle of the table until Christmas Eve and the manger scene gets set up in the living.  I think setting up the manger scene is one of my sharpest memories.  How I loved to unwrap each piece and talk about who they were and where they should be.

The Wise Men went at the farthest end of the table since they would arrive after Christmas.  The angel would attach precariously to the peak of the stable, and the animals would surround baby Jesus.  Except for "the evil lamb".  One of the lambs in my mom's manger scene made us all shiver in fear.  We dubbed him "the evil lamb".  He was lying on his stomach, feet tucked in.  A bit stubby looking.  His head unnaturally turned to look directly over his back.  Not possible in the real world.  We found him unsettling, so every year, we hid him somewhere in the room.  Far, far away from baby Jesus, who seemed too new and fragile to deal with the devil.  In time, we knew Jesus would put Satan in his place, but while he was still a baby, we were protective.  Mom would periodically find the lamb during the season and place him back among the animals.  We couldn't let bygones be bygones, though.  As soon as she wasn't looking, we hid him again.

Finding our own traditions has been fun.  We never put baby Jesus in the manger scene until after Midnight Mass on Christmas eve.  We play lots of Christmas music and decorate the whole house.  We get everyone a new ornament every year.  This is a joyous season full of music, decorating, and anticipation.  Padme got into the spirit of Christmas and started a new tradition at our house this year.  Talk about unnatural - check out the giant cat in our manger scene:

 

The Water Street Hotel Experience

The hotels in Port Townsend can be really fun and interesting.  The Water Street Hotel is an old Victorian building that is really fun to stay in.  The ceilings are 18 feet high. The wood work is original - beautiful pine doors and thick open woodwork.  See the amazingly tall windows?  They rattled and whistled with the wind at night.  The hotel sits right in the middle of downtown - in fact next door to the Lewis's favorite candy store - Elevated Ice Cream Shoppe.

The kids thought this loft was really cool until it got dark and windy outside.  Admittedly, the mom in me was super worried about the kids coming down the stairs/ladder in the middle of the night.  They were fine, though.  When it got too dark and windy, they decided they needed company.

Then they opted for the hide-a-bed out in the main room by the queen size bed.  The room could sleep six people.  Pretty impressive.  I'm sure that at some point in time these were apartments.  They would have been cozy places for a couple or a single person.

 I took this picture of the kitchen over the top of the half wall to try to get a better view.  The stove and refrigerator are on the left side of the shot.  We brought all the makings for frittata, bagels, and cut up fruit for breakfast on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  We invited Bruce, Sandy, and Rochelle to come downtown and breakfast with us.

 

Some people sat at the round dining table to eat.  Can you see the pretty wood floor in the kitchen behind Rochelle?  Such a great place.

Since the table only had four seats, others of us spread out to the many places in the living room to enjoy breakfast.  Yummy and fun to hang out at the hotel.