Merry CHRISTmas, part two

I found these glasses last week at the local second-hand charity shop. When my mom came for the birthday dinner, she confirmed my suspicion that they came from her house =) She & Dad were trying to not bother me with another hand-me-down. They are laughing, and so am I. Best five bucks I've spent in a long while.



Water in glass glasses, salad in a crystal bowl... what a royal feast!



My dad was horribly sick last weekend, so Mom came to dinner by herself. Thankfully he's feeling better finally - he probably wasn't laughing then!


Another pic from the chocolate coating marathon...



The Cattleman was a shepherd in the Christmas program. He is in the back row with a white tie on his head-covering. His and the Popper's classes sang most of the songs... which is why I have so many pics of the Popper yawning ;-)


The Cowgirl's pics are too dark. But here are the older girls (Miss Artist and Miss MusicBox) singing in a double duet...


MONDAY morning we headed up the road to Wisconsin to visit with most of Tim's family. This is his great-niece Miss B modeling Tim's White Elephant prize from earlier this month... lovely? (you're supposed to wind up the button on the nose, then the eyebrows and mustache go up and down -- you want one now, don't ya?)
We did have LOTS of fun and feasting together. =) Only 27 hours on the farm, but most of that was spent awake. Miss B even rode with us home to our house since we were traveling with Tim's NM brother (her grandpa) and family as they headed to Kansas City Tuesday, so the cousins enjoyed another six hours together.


We had the Napping Van, while Neil's was the Game-playing... (ever seen the card game Rage?) It was good travel until we hit questionable weather south of the Twin Cities, but the road was only wet the whole way that we could determine... just didn't want to be the first to learn otherwise.
Note for next time: Listening to (stressing about) chariot races etc. in Ben Hur audio is not helpful for not stressing about freezing rain...

WEDNESDAY
Tim called the part place about our washing machine pump assembly that he'd ordered online on the 15th... On Backorder?! He canceled that order and found it elsewhere... can you say LOCAL?! um, yeah, the store with my much-needed part was just half a mile from my grocery store. Oh well... I am a Laundry Queen again... in our very own basement =) (and I should probably go switch today's load #5?) I was actually still doing some Christmas shopping yesterday. Crazy. But I'm pleased with my 12th-hour final plan for the little gifts my siblings like to exchange. The bagger at the grocery store wanted to come to the party I was buying food for -- ha ha -- I love consumable gifts.

((uh oh, just remembered that Miss MusicBox and I don't have our grab-bag gifts ready... she wanted to bake bread... guess that's on tomorrow's list))

Recognize that bell, Lynn? =) Thinking of you!

Wednesday I also wrapped about a bazillion packages. 'nuff said?

TODAY I finished the sewing projects I need for tomorrow. (between loads of laundry and making chicken soup for my stomach-bugged family and catching up with Face Book and blogs) Sorry, no pictures until they are opened tomorrow!

And Miss Artist and her younger sisters made cut-out cookies... tomorrow they need frosting.

Miss MusicBox recuperated this afternoon with some piano practice. Tonight she had her brother (who says he's not the Professor... the Computer Geek, I guess then) do some recording... But her name is also The Perfectionist, so that's on tomorrow's list until it's finished... hopefully sometime in 2009 ;-)

Merry Christmas to All
and to All a Good Night!

merry CHRISTmas catch-up!

...the stockings were hung by the chimney with care (and still empty because tension curtain rods can only hold so much weight!)

FYI

...from the National Weather Service...

POTENTIALLY CRIPPLING WINTER STORM THROUGH EARLY SATURDAY...
.THE WINTRY MIX OF PRECIPITATION IS BEGINNING TO TRANSITION TO ALL SNOW OVER NORTHWEST AND WESTERN SECTIONS OF IOWA. THE TRANSITION WILL BE DELAYED OVER SOME OF THE EAST AND SOUTHEAST COUNTIES UNTIL FRIDAY MORNING. THE MOST INTENSE PERIODS OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY WITH ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL LINGERING INTO SATURDAY. IN ADDITION... INCREASING NORTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY WHICH WOULD CAUSE CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW WITH DANGEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS OVER MUCH OF WEST AND CENTRAL IOWA.

Thankfully, we aren't going very far to celebrate Christmas with my family. We're also hoping my brother's family and a niece & her family, who don't live quite so close, will be able to join us.

And to back up -- here's where we've been the past week:
Friday night, as I said, we went a bit crazy in the kitchen... cake, cookies, cookie mixes... and a big mess to show for it all.








SATURDAY
This is what happens to cream cheese frosting when you use Neufchatel. But it was another beautifully yummy strawberry cake.





The Artist enjoyed her presents as much as the wonderful dinner of calzones and Caesar salad with Grandma H here to celebrate with us! =) This box within boxes held a shiny penny from her siblings. "We all chipped in," teased her big sister.


I found these vases complete with flowers - at the local second-hand shop - earlier this year. They begged to come home to live with Miss Artist, and so here they are, already inspiring her to draw on her VERY OWN NEW white board!






SUNDAY
We drove part way to church in the snow. The interstate was icy we soon learned as we came upon a crunched car. We turned around at the next exit and saw more vehicles in the ditch on the way home. If we had the road to ourselves, it would have been good to continue on to church, but we had no idea if the roads would get better or worse... So, here's the Cattleman and the Popper having fun with our Bible felt figures at home.


The afternoon was spent with candy-making. Peanut-butter fudge, No-fail fudge, and dipping-dipping-dipping everything in chocolate! Tim requested an attempt at 'moon pies' - Miss MusicBox put marshmallow creme between graham crackers, then coated them in chocolate. (they taste rather like s'mores)



We did make it to church Sunday evening for the Sunday School Christmas program... The Popper is either yawning or singing - in back row at left end. ;-)
(sorry I didn't do any red-eye editing!)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

...to be continued AFTER I feed my now-hungry Cattleman (recovering from a very quick stomach bug) AND finish my sewing projects!

no TIME to post

crazy. life is just plain crazy here.



I need a good dose of gratitude, so I am revisiting this theme tonight.

the pump in the washer broke. part is ordered... meanwhile, I've eliminated a LOT of quarters from our house. today it was $13 just for the washers at the laundromat.

a note of thanks: I'm incredibly thankful for a husband who can take something apart and determine what's wrong, then find the part online... and when it ever gets here, make the machine run like a charm again. :-)

and today, I took my youngest girls to help me fold the laundry when it was done. and since the thermostat on the Suburban said 32* I decided to take it through the carwash for a much-needed clean-up. The Popper hasn't been through the carwash that she can remember... (my poor, deprived children) So they were hilariously entertained. "Was that ONLY $5, Mom?!" I'm gonna remember that joy when she has money to spend and the thing needs a wash ;-)

Monday was again too cold for the builder to pour the upper walls of our new house. BUT Thursday lived up to the forecast for temps near 30 -- so it's D>O>N>E> And we are all glad about that! Thank you, Lord!

Psalm 127:1 is still on my mind =) And the gift item did come this week =) Hmm, guess who's stocking will hold that? (hint: the man who needs encouragement in this challenging-learning-curve project)
(should I tell you that I think I got it for F.R.E.E.? -- am I thankful?!)



I will choose to be thankful that our friend can't start on the roof next week, which frees Tim to take us to visit his family for a quick Christmas get-together. I haven't stopped to count how many people will be sleeping under one roof, but I did make & freeze a triple batch of taco rice casserole today to serve for a meal there. I love his family, and I will especially enjoy seeing some I haven't seen for TOO long. And, Lord willing, next summer we will see even more of that wonderfully big family at a wedding!

tonight, my big girls are busy in the kitchen (still). Miss Artist has a birthday tomorrow, so another strawberry layer cake is in the oven (since we didn't have any at last Saturday's fun party). And Miss MusicBox is working on a big batch of 'Peanut Butter Kisses' (pb cookies with chocolate stars instead of Kisses). Y.u.m.m.y.

Tim is home from rotating tires... And I want to be asleep before it's tomorrow (for a change)...

Good night! and Merry Last-week-before-Christmas!

As Sarah mentioned last week in church, I need to take time to be like Mary, 'who kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.' She and Jim sang, "Let My Heart Be Quiet." Very good. Thank you again, Sarah!

another recipe for chocolate aficionados

Triple-Chocolate Cookies (Cooks Country – Stephanie Alleyne)

makes 26 cookies

3 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 ½ c bittersweet chocolate chips (9 oz)

7 T butter, cut into pieces

2 tsp instant coffee (optional for us)

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 c sugar

½ c all-purpose flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 ½ c semisweet chocolate chips

1. Melt unsweetened chocolate, bittersweet chips, and butter in a heatproof bowl set over saucepan of simmering water, stirring frequently, until completely smooth and glossy. Remove bowl from pan and set aside to cool slightly.
2. Stir coffee powder (opt) and vanilla extract together in small bowl until dissolved. Beat eggs and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer at medium-high speed until very thick and pale, about 4 minutes. Add vanilla-coffee mixture and beat until incorporated, 20 seconds. Reduce speed to low, add chocolate mixture, and mix until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds.
3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. Using large rubber spatula, fold flour mixture and semisweet chips into batter. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 20-30 minutes until batter firms up (it will more closely resemble thick brownie batter than cookie dough).
4. Meanwhile, adjust two oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350˚F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Using 1 heaping tablespoon batter per cookie, place cookies 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets – staggering rows to fit 13 cookies on each baking sheet. Bake until cookies are shiny and cracked on top, 11-14 minutes, rotating baking sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking time. Transfer baking sheets to racks and cool completely on baking sheets before serving or storing.

“Tasters liked a relatively small amount of unsweetened chocolate balanced by equal amounts of bittersweet and semisweet. I found that premium bittersweet bar chocolates were actually too rich and greasy for this recipe. I had better luck with bittersweet chocolate chips, which contain less fat than the bars…

“…We especially like Hershey’s Special Dark and Ghiradelli Double Chocolate bittersweet chips.”

July 2009 -- Miss MusicBox used 3 oz. Baker’s Unsweetened Baking Chocolate Squares, 8 oz. Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate (2 bars), and 9 oz. Guittard semisweet chocolate mini chips.

Note: the recommended Ghirardelli “Double Chocolate” bittersweet chips are now called “60% Cacao” – available in either chips or bar form.

Strawberry Layer Cake

Y.u.M. This recipe is from C&H Sugar ~ that should tell you something about just how (bad it is for you) good it tastes! This the cake that my girls decorated for Mr. & Mrs. H.'s party :-)



Strawberry Layer Cake

3/4 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. vegetable oil (I used additional butter)
3 c. C&H granulated sugar
5 large eggs
3 c. cake flour, sifted (I used/sifted all-purpose)
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 Tbsp. strawberry gelatin (straight from the box)
1 c. frozen sweetened strawberries, thawed and pureed (I used UNsweetened berries from our freezer - grown in our garden)
1/4 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 tsp. red food coloring (I omit this unnecessary stuff!)

Preheat oven to 350* F. and arrange racks to oven center. Grease three 9" round layer pans and line bottoms with rounds of waxed paper or parchment paper. Grease top of paper and sides of pans well, then dust with flour.
Beat butter with oil until smooth and creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until very light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Sift flour with baking soda and gelatin powder, and set aside.
Blend pureed strawberries with milk, vanilla extract (and food coloring - yuck).
Reduce speed to low and stir flour mixture and milk mixture alternately into the batter, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
Divide batter evenly among pans and bake 30-35 minutes or until tops spring back if lightly pressed in their centers. Cool layers in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto racks to completely cool before frosting.

Frosting

1 1/2 packages (12 oz.) cream cheese, softened
3/4 c. butter, softened
6 c. powdered sugar (1 1/2 pounds)
2 tsp vanilla extract

Beat cream cheese with butter until smooth. Gradually beat in powdered sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Blend in vanilla extract and continue beating until frosting has s satiny appearance. Spread generously between layers and over the sides and top of the cake.

Note: When I made this for the Cowgirl's birthday last year, we didn't have enough frosting for the sides of the cake. When we made it this last week, the girls put the cream cheese frosting between the layers and used buttercream frosting for the outside. Yummy, any way you frost it!

saturday's surprise party

Yesterday we were able to surprise our friends with a really nice party celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Miss Artist and Miss MusicBox decorated this beauuutiful cake for them. The Artist learned how to make frosting roses Thursday night! They also studied a website called Project Wedding for ideas... before spending 5 or 6 hours with the actual cake. (Intense Home Ec. credits accomplished on Friday! ...but not much algebra or geometry...)


I have so many good friends who were willing to help me get the food and the fellowship hall ready. They also made the place look lovely and festive for the occasion...



... and a relative brought this gorgeous floral arrangement. The tablecloth is hand-embroidered from Israel (and belongs to a friend whose daughter is in Haifa with her family).


Our pastor said a few jokes and read some verses from I Corinthians 13 ~ while the shocked couple regained their composure a bit. ;-) Mrs. H. cut the cake and fed a bite to her dear husband, just like she did on December 22, 1959. We had a good number of people able to attend, even some folks who were at their wedding!

It was a great day!

Cake recipe will be posted soon... It looked good ~ and tasted great! :-)

"For this God is our God for ever and ever:
he will be our guide even unto death."
Psalm 48:14

snow much fun

I called these rainbows, but was corrected... they are sundogs. It looked very cool at any rate.
(This was after our record-breaking snowfall & blizzard last week, so it was nice to see the sun.)


This is the south side of our house -- (the door to the sunroom is in the middle with the white trim) -- the snow drift was huge and just outside the door.


Big enough to dig this snow cave...