Rock To Wind A String Around

Nothing caps a festive holiday like a terribly long road triip.  Christmas was divine–the kids loved their gifts, Astrid Meklit is now aces when it comes to opening presents–she managed to open all of hers and help the rest of us too (such a multi-tasker).  The weather was cooperative–it was chilly but dry enough to allow Elliott a chance to try out his new ripstik.  By the time our friends joined us for dinner, he had more or less figured out how to use it successfully, so we all were treated to multiple demonstrations of his mad ripstik skilz.  We had a lovely dinner–onion pudding followed by root vegetable gratin, spicy-sweet roasted cauliflower, broccoli with garlic, and some beautiful  dinner rolls that Elliott made (there was also a ham with red current glaze, but I’m not including it because I didn’t eat it).  We cleaned up, digested, and made room for dessert (gingerbread with spiced peaches and vanilla sauce).  Our friends left and then we flew into TRIP-PREPAREDNESS MODE!

After last year’s big cross-country move two days after Christmas, I was pretty sure I’d never leave home again during the week between Christmas and New Year.   Hmmm, I guess the pain of packing and traveling fades as quickly as labor  pains do.  With all of the EOR stuff on my plate in this last week, I didn’t really do much to prep for our two week trip south and wow.  All I can say is, “wow.”  There was a lot to  do in such a short span of time.  We  ended our Christmas celebration with a marathon laundry session and ended Boxing Day with a marathon wrapping session.  We’re giving everyone on the gift list family pictures this year, and while they were guaranteed to arrive by Christmas, they still hadn’t arrived by the end of the mail day yesterday, so we wrapped a ton of empty picture frames and wrote charming gift tags about giving half-presents.

We spent today in the car and will be in Atlanta until Monday, giving our relatives the joy of Astrid Meklit for Christmas.  We adore this aunt and set of cousins, and NEVER see them as often as we like, so we’re thrilled to be here.  After, we’ll zip to Florida for another week and a half of sunshiny goodness–Albert’s family is in St Augustine, so we’ll head there first to dip our toes in the Atlantic, but we’ll start 2009 with our toes in the Gulf of Mexico–much happiness abounds!

Happy last Sunday of 2008!  Do something fun with it!

It’s officially winter, and I’m delighted!!!  Really, even with the dry hands and heat bills and plans that could be scuttled at the last minute due to weather–I’m feeling the love today.  It’s probably in no small part due to the lateness of the hour.  Christmas is close, and this time next week we’ll be in Florida with loved ones, so I have a lot to be tickled about.  I’m also thrilled that EOR’s annual campaign is out the door.  Close to 400 letters went in the mail today.  I definitely wanted them out before the end of the year, but this close to Christmas was extra tricky–hours and hours of folding, sorting, stuffing, writing, editing, stamping, and mailing.  I had lots of team help, for which I am truly thankful.  I’ll be even more thankful if this project bears fruit.  I’m hoping that we’ll have 100 monthly donors by February, so we’ll need a return rate of more than 28%.  Not impossible, since I asked our personal contacts as well as previous supporters, but I’ll feel a lot better about the whole thing once I know that people are signing on to give.

Now that the letters are out, I can finish the millions of little projects started earlier in the season, and I’ll be baking tomorrow too.  We did a pretty thorough dust up before Pops arrived on Friday, so I just need to neaten a bit–a little pillow fluffing, a bathroom scrubbed, and the kitchen cleaned after baking and all should be well–for once I won’t be frantically cleaning 2 days before a major holiday–huzzah!  And really, once the annual campaign went out the door and the extra copies/envelopes/stamps went into the EOR closet, it looked a million times better. This post will serve as a reminder, and should ward off my need to scrub the top of the fridge at 11 pm on 12/24.
Off to find some coins of the realm (EzE lost a tooth) and dip my hands in a vat of cocoa butter.  Let the good times roll!

I was out for the afternoon on Tuesday.  An eye appointment followed by some holiday shopping with some groceries thrown in for good measure.  Knowing I’d be gone for awhile, I left the ingredients for chick pea curry on the counter and went on my way.  I came home several hours later, and cinnamon and onions were in the air.  Albert couldn’t find the recipe for the chickpea curry (um, cause it’s in my head) so he found a more than acceptable substitute, “Gypsy Soup” from the original Moosewood Cookbook.

I don’t use the original Moosewood very often–too much dairy and oil for my taste, but I keep the cookbook out of sentiment–it was my first vegetarian recipe collection, and I cut my veggie teeth on many a buttery recipe in there.  The soup Albert found though?  Hearty, but not full of fat–I’m glad I’ve dragged this book along on my last 11 or so moves–this recipe is a keeper.

Gypsy Soup

2-3 T olive oil

2 cups chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 cups chopped, peeled sweet potatoes (or winter squash)

1/2 cup chopped celery (omitted from this batch because it wasn’t in the fridge)

1 15 oz can chopped tomatoes (or 1 cup fresh)

3/4 cup chopped sweet peppers (thanks Trader Joe–we had a bag of frozen three color peppers to use)

2 cans of chickpeas

3 cups vegetable stock

2 tsp paprika (Albert used smoked paprika–highly recommended)

1 tsp turmeric (um, not in ours–we’re out)

1 tsp basil

1 tsp salt

dash of cinnamon

dash of cayenne (Albert used a bit more, maybe 2 dashes)

1 Tbs tamari

and 1  bay leaf (also excluded from our spice cabinet)

In a soup kettle, saute’ onions, garlic and sweet potatoes  (and celery if you include it) in the olive oil for five minutes.  Add seasonings, except the tamari, and the stock.    Simmer covered for 15 minutes.  Add the remaining vegetables and chickpeas for another 10 minutes or so, until everything is tender.

We ate this with a simple green salad dressed with grape tomatoes, carrots, almonds, and a honey-mustard dressing.  The second night we ate it, I made the same salad, added some oranges to it, and made some multi-grain dinner rolls to go along with it.  A perfect winter dinner on a perfect winter night.  Enjoy!

4 shades of busy today.  Yesterday was Elliott’s first choir concert.  It was predictably darling, with sweet ensembles, instrument solos and a variety of folk songs making up the program.  We dressed for the occasion and planned a dinner out after the show, and well…we made it to Steak and Shake.  We all like Indian food, so that had been the plan, but Elliott noticed that kids eat free at S&S over the weekend, and suddenly the battle cry became, “Fries!!”  Out with the no-nap AM, Steak and Shake seemed a faster route to bedtime, so we acquiesced.  There are zippo vegetarian options at S&S,  so Albert and I ordered burgers without the meat.  Yum–so filling!

Today, I’m picking up presents, mailing presents, hosting a steering committee meeting for Enqutatash, and putting the finishing touches on the annual campaign letter.  I’m breaking up all of this gaiety with a trip to Tuba Christmas–my favorite holiday performance of the year.  It’s a little wacky, and a nationwide tradition.  Tuba players get together to practice for an afternoon, and then give a performance later that evening.  If you live in Cowtown, you can enjoy this festive event today at 5:30 or 7:30 at Capital University.

Albert is working from home this week, so we’ll see him lots.  in fact, he’s not scheduled to work away from home until the middle of January.  30 dinners together in a row?  Unheard of!

Here’s a link to the joy of big brass.  There’s still time to make it, Chicago readers!!!

A recipe for a tasty tree

Using the way-back machine:

Prepare to set up majestic tree in a corner of the tiny 2-flat livingroom in December of 1999.

Open box of ornaments and realize that the tin stars (in box) have 5! points each.

Agree with BFF that these look sort of sharp and dagger-like as they fall from the tree.

Agree that the 11 month old Elliott looks handsome with 2! eyes

Agree with BFF that a paper-only Christmas should be instituted.

Sit down with BFF to make origami boxes and stars to cover tree.

Make 6 boxes and 4 stars

Decide origami is for chumps and buy a great roll of white giftwrap from Hallmark to craft snowflakes, lots and lots of snowflakes (that have turned translucent over the last 9 years–it really is great paper)

Set way-back machine to medium and consider 2000:

Decide tree looks too bare–make delightful, whimsical paper stars and circles to hang on accordion pleats.

In 2001, conscript small boy (with 2! eyes):  make many paper chains for the tree

In 2002,  conscript small boy (still with eyes numbering 2):  make many paper chains for the tree

Decide in 2003 that paper chains are so 2002.  Find delightful new garland to make using dental floss (a winning ingredient in any holiday plan) gum drops, colored straws, and construction paper circles.  Encourage visiting grandmother  to ‘enjoy’ this project with the rest of us.  Giggle helplessly as delightful Gigi curses (more than once) while involved.  Hang these on the tree for one season only–those ridiculous gumdrops are sticky.

In 2004, make delicious cinnamon applesauce star and gingerboy ornaments for the tree (boy child participates fully in this endeavor). Add button wreaths to the mix.  Receive ornaments from childhood as a gift–leave them packed in a box.

Add paper doves in 2005 (again with help from the family)

Woven paper hearts in 2006 (see above for participating members)

In the holiday bonanza of 2007, make new cinnamon and applesauce dough ornaments for the tree–bossy boy begs for ornaments shaped like cable cars, but A, we can’t find a cookie cutter to facilitate this insanity and 2.  we are moving across the country 2 days after Christmas–why oh why are we decorating anything?  At the last-minute, decide that I must make felted mittens for our holiday dinner with friends.  The remaining mittens climb on the tree.

In 2008, decide that the children will love making pompom garland for the tree, with real live pompoms.  22 minutes later, find self stringing pompoms (alone) while boy declares the project “too hard” and small girl acts toddlerish and goes to bed at her normal time.   3 seconds later (or 2 days, this recipe is flexible) help boy  (who still has 2! eyes) make rag ball ornaments, so he can do a project for the tree, because he always makes something new for the tree.  Resist urge to gaffle boy over pompom garland refusal.  Later that day, scatter small pony bead across kitchen floor so Astrid Meklit can make her own pipecleaner/bead ornament.  Leave the beads for 2 additional days because, “I still working on my job.”

As a final touch, sit under the tree alone tonight, and marvel at the amount of “us” that’s gone into this recipe over the last 9 years:  doves,  origami boxes and stars, accordion hoo-has, button wreaths, snowflakes, rag balls, and pompoms.  It’s the most delicious thing we’ve ever made. Those ready-made ornaments of my youth can’t hold a candle to such homemade goodness…

Tomorrow, I’m mailing one of the original origami stars to my BFF.  She has her own 10 month old now.  I think she’s going to need it…

Well isn’t this a sad state of affairs.  I forget this tiny little blog the minute my husband is home.   Get ready for slim pickins if he starts work in town–I’ll never remember to post again!

Can’t really blame my absence on the bewitching nature of my spouse–with the busticated  laptop and a chilly kitchen,  it  was only too easy to curl up in the livingroom with Albert each night.  Oh, and we were usually piled high with Christmas cards–more than 100 went out in the mail today.  So it’s not like we gave ourselves over to reckless passion in my bloggy absence–we were stuffing envelopes and licking stamps, and reviewing our lives in exhaustive detail (bet you hope you’re on the card list now…)

My delightful children persist in thinking they have the plague.  Most of our weekend plans were scuttled and although Madame insisted that she, “go out to snow to spin around and around in circles”  (her exact words) the cold air makes her cough much worse, so we’ve all been inside for days relishing the gift of one another.    It hasn’t been bad really–lots of Christmas crafting going on, with some games and lots of reading thrown in for good measure, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to a trip to the orthodontist tomorrow.

Lots of lovely items flying out of the store in the past few weeks.  If you want to order a holiday gift, do so by Friday–I can’t guarantee delivery after that.  We still have lots of terrific things available.

So, about 847 years ago, back when we were young’uns living in Indiana, we received a copy of ‘Babe’s Country Cookbook‘  80 completely meat-free recipes (because Babe would never eat his friends!) as a holiday gift.  This cookbook was a movie tie-in and was bought mostly as a joke, although the completely meat-free part did seem like something that might appeal to us.   Little did we know that 13 years later we’d still have it on the shelves.  Today, I made the Honey-Oatmeal muffins (an old favorite)  and shared the recipe’s origins with the other playgroup parents.  In turn, they told me about some of the fabulous cookbooks they have at home. S owns the Starwars cookbook, M the WWF book of culinary delights.  Beside these weighty tomes, the 80 recipes (from Esme Hoggett’s kitchen) seemed less laughable.

Later, I’ll share “Cousin Dick’s Smooth Cream of Fennel” Soup.  Today, the muffins:

Honey Oatmeal muffins

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 cup flour

1/2 cup each:  raisins, chopped nuts

1/3 c firmly packed brown sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 c milk

1/3 c vegetable oil

1 egg, beaten

1/3 c honey

*

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Line 12-14 muffin pan cups with papers.

In a large bowl, add all dry ingredients.  In another smaller bowl, add all wet ingredients.  Stir wet into dry until just moistened.

*  At this point I should add  that once i mix this together, I think, “hmmm, there should be spices in this.”  Then I throw in some cinnamon, maybe a little ginger and cloves, or some nutmeg.  Not Esme Hoggett sanctioned, but I don’t think she’d mind.

Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full and bake for 15-18 minutes.  Serve hot with honey butter,  nut butter, or solo.  The book points out that they’re a great accompaniment to Babe’s Porcini Omelet with Feta and fresh sage.  Good thing there were some leftover–we’re out of porcini mushrooms, but everything else is here.  I imagine this will be brunch tomorrow.

Pain free after our spill (not the computer, but …)

Thanks for the love!