Pickled Happiness

When I wished fellow knitter Silvana a happy birthday on Wednesday via email as I was unable to knit with the group, she mentioned that she was laying in some things that made her happy. (All birthday peeps should do this of course!!!) One of the things she mentioned that she was unable to find was Beet Pickled Eggs. Really I thought, beet picked eggs. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that a. I must make her some and b. these damn things must be pretty good! To be included on a must have to properly celebrate my birthday list---- well that is beyond high praise.

So I made some. Easy enough with ingredients on hand. *Yes, I do keep a jar of beets on hand*. The color of the eggs is GORGEOUS, even if you didn't eat them they'd be a happy inclusion to any table. But the taste? Well, they are pretty outrageously good if I do say so and I'm happy to have "found" them. They're so good and so pretty, I will be putting some out beside the traditional deviled eggs this Easter Sunday!!! I've given the recipe below should you be so inclined (and you should be!)

Beet pickled eggs

• 8 eggs
• 1 (15 ounce) can sliced beets with liquid-- not the kind that say "pickled"
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 cup superfine sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional) (I used a bare pinch)

Hard Boil the eggs using your preferred method. The argument about how to cook a hard boiled egg rages on. I don't mean to get involved but I place eggs in a pan with enough water to cover. Bring 'em to a boil and reduce to simmer, cover the pan. After 12 minutes, pour off the boiling water and run cold water over for a fair bit. Then peel the eggs and put them in a glass or plastic container.
Then, in a smallish saucepan, combine  the beets and all of the liquid in the jar (or can), the  vinegar, superfine sugar (which dissolves faster. If you have regular, so be it) the water and cinnamon if you're using it.Boil it up and give it a go until the sugar dissolves, which really doesn't take very long. Pour over the eggs and roll 'em around a little bit so the color is more even. When not crazy hot, place in the fridge. They need at least four hours but I think overnight is fabulous.  Slice and serve---

This whole beet pickled egg thing caused me to wonder if they might be a nice addition to my version of "the best salad I've ever had in my entire life", which I make often. The short answer is yes. HEAVEN.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good, and PRETTY too! Lettuce, dried cranberries, golden raisins, a little bit of cheese, blue cheese dressing, croutons (home made is best but I resorted to bagged today), and sliced beet pickled eggs. Top that with a nice handful of some brown sugared (with a pinch of cayenne) pecans and it is about as good as it gets. I love to add chopped dates too but upon inspection mine had become mummified blobs and I had to soldier on without them!

So---- it wasn't even my birthday and I got the present of discovery. Beet Pickled Eggs---- you're mine forever!

Chocolate Heaven Fluff Pie

Since my knitting seems to be, well-- a bit "off" these days, maybe I'll cook. I've been cooking a lot lately, I do work out a lot of stuff in the kitchen. One of the things that seems to have really peaked is my pie crust, good news/bad news. Good news in that I finally GOT it, bad news in that I'm afraid there will be more pies coming out of the kitchen. Last night this pie made its debut along with a giant wok full of fried rice with bok choy, tofu and radishes. The radishes sound like an odd addition but they were pretty darned good.

I FINALLY made knitting with the group last night---- which was lovely. And since all knitting is made of frustrating stuff what else to do but start a new project which is frought with frustrating elements of its own. The Magnified Lace Scarf from Lion Brand, a free pattern. I saw this simple piece styled with a pair of jeggings, a white shirt and wide belt and it looked fabulous. I immediately thought of my oldest daughter and what a great gift it would make. Mind you, while I played with gauge and resulting fabric from the heavily acrylic yarn (my daughter doesn't care well for garments), those at knit group reminded me that the fabulous Emily just completed a gorgeous shawl knit from high quality spiderweb and teensy needles in a complex lace pattern. In a foreign language. Ahem. This is a simple lace, knit on needles so large they're like broomsticks (which do have their own inherent problems) and tripled bulky yarn. We shall see. Two repeats in I'm not sure, just not sure. My yarn is a rich jewel toned teal.



Well it is a long weekend coming up, right? What better way to enjoy a long weekend with something from the kitchen that shouts to the world what a great catch you are! Pie! Pie? Not just any pie mind you but a rich yet fluffy slice of chocolate heaven. Pair it with takeout pizza or bbq if you must but let there be the labor of pie. Personally I believe that if you make something fabulous they'll leave you alone to be creative for a bit....... I could be wrong.

Chocolate Heaven Fluff Pie

1 baked pie shell (from scratch is lovely, I mean don’t be lazy!)

¾ cup sugar + 2 Tbs.

¼ cup cornstarch

½ cup heavy cream

2 cups milk (you can use any kind but you’ve gone this far, use whole)

¼ cup dark cocoa

2 Tbs. butter

4 egg yolks, beaten gently

2 Tsp. good quality vanilla

1 cup mini marshmallows

With the pie shell cooling (because you did make it from scratch, right?) prepare the filling. Tumble together all of the dry ingredients and whisk up. Slowly add the cream and stir, add the milk and heat over a medium heat. You can use a double boiler if you like but whatever you do stir constantly. When the liquid begins to steam, add a bit slowly to the beaten yolks and stir up, then remove them back to the mixture on the stove. Continue stirring, add the butter. The filling will go to a stage where it looks kind of lumpy or grainy, keep stirring. When the mixture reaches a bubble, turn off the heat, add the vanilla and the marshmallows and stir off the heat. When the filling has incorporated all of the marshmallows, take a taste. (You know you want to!)

Place the chocolate fluff filling into a totally cooled pie shell and place a sheet of plastic cling over the top to keep a skin from forming.

In the “old days” I’d make a nice meringue for the top but the state of chickens and raw eggy-ness has made me either leave things plain, or add a whipped cream topping if necessary. Luckily this pie is creamy and dreamy enough to need neither unless you just want to take it entirely over the top. It is of course up to you!

Cool the pie at least 4 hours.

Enjoy-------

Slow Cooker Short Ribs

I love to cook, really and truly. Right now life is beyond madness with a move in a couple of weeks and a business to run. (And chickens to knit). I can get by on fast food, ordered in food, or always the oh so delightful food from the yummy case at W*hole F*oods but for just so long. When I need real food, home cookin', and a little on the plate love I turn to my slow cooker. That and my pressure cooker are my go to's when it comes to great food fast.

So.............. I was in the mood for comfort food, short ribs were going to fill the bill.

Slow Cooker Short Ribs

• "Long” short ribs, boneless (I get mine at C*ostco where they are gorgeous, almost looking like strip steaks) I used 3 big ones to serve 2 (twice). The leftovers are awesome.
  
• 2 large sweet onions, sliced thinly
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 bottle of beer (I happened to have Fat Tire)
• 1 cup white wine (I had an open bottle of a nice Pinot Grigio)
  
• 1 tbs. Dijon mustard
• 1 tbs. Maille Mustard (or any coarse grainy mustard)
  
• 2 tbs. Worcestershire
• 1 tbs. dark brown sugar
  

Dredge in seasoned flour (flour, salt, pepper, a bit of garlic powder) and brown all sides for a couple of minutes.

Lay the sliced onions on the bottom of the crock pot and place the browned ribs on top.

Deglaze the pan with the wine, add beer, mustard and brown sugar

Pour over the short ribs.

Cover and slow cook for 8-10 hours on low. (low on some crock pots is somehow different than low on others. Do not ask me why this is, I just know it is true!) It seems as a rule of thumb if you have a large crock pot where the short ribs can be in a single layer that less time is required. Also, the more ribs you have the longer it takes.

The browned short ribs sitting on top of the onion bed with the liquid poured over.

And the finished product, sliced and topped with the oniony sauce, sitting next to a serving of scalloped potatoes. Served with a nice green salad it is indeed comfort food heaven!

Knitly, the chicken is progressing happily. The base is done and an inch or so is traveling up her little chicken sides. The cabled cardi is not. 'nuff said.

Cable Luxe Waffles

No, I most assuredly did not place Cable Luxe into the waffle iron------ although its' recent state of languish needs a shake up of some sort.

All promises of a sunny morning flew right out the window at first light----- more rain today and it won't wait for the afternoon. Walking shoes will have to wait, I'm disappointed so what to do????? I know------ Waffles! I haven't made belgian waffles in forever!


Check out that rather nasty waffle iron. My ex, Mr. Snarky withheld or destroyed a LOT, but apparently deemed this waffle iron fit to come live with me. She isn't very pretty but can turn out a nice product. It looks especially appealing overflowing with batter. Ack. A new recipe uses buttermilk (which I did not have and had to substitute vinegar soured milk) and baking soda along with baking powder to leaven the waffles. I guess I'm not only out of waffle practice but didn't count on the new recipe to have quite as much lift as it did..................... like molten lava over the edge it was!

Waiting on a sprinkline of berries or a puddle of syrup............................ waffles on a weekday, a bit of a splurge!


Wonder Waffles

1 3/4 cups buttermilk (If you are like me and don't keep buttermilk, use 2 tbs. vinegar in your milk and let it sit a couple of minutes)
2 extra large eggs
1/3 cup cooking oil (I know, it does sound awful but just take the plunge)
1 tsp. good quality vanilla

1 'full' tbs. sugar and a big squeeze of honey (another tbs. give or take)
1/4 tsp. baking soda
just shy of 1 tbs. baking powder
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour, sifted
pinch of salt

Mix the wet ingredients well and add the dry ingredients that have been stirred together. Mix just until combined.

Let the batter rest for about 5 minutes, preheat the waffle iron.

Use cooking spray to spritz a hot waffle iron and add batter per your irons requirements. *This batter has a lot of oooomph to it because of the double leaveners.

Cook in the waffle iron until nicely browned. Serve with berries or syrup. Yum!


Now.......... speaking of Cable Luxe, I have actually taken it OUT of hibernation!!!!! I'm pretty tickled to tell the truth! The first sleeve is an inch from being done, a mere inch. I've promised myself no new 'big' projects until I finish Cable Luxe and Twilight.

It had been awhile since Cable Luxe has seen the light of day! She's been napping in the fabulous Japanese print bag, too long if the truth be told. It took a few minutes last night to get back into the zone with this sweater, a couple shakes to remember that I'm not using the double row counters any more but just Ms. Blue (my oldest little counter). My first thought was that I had cannabalized the red counter for another project and would never be able to sync them back up together. But no............. while a younger brain would have no doubt been able to remember this sooner :) I moved on. Woo Hoo---------- let Cable Luxe get back on track please!!!!! Basically one sleeve to go, that should provide adequate motivation! (Not that it did before, but we will just ignore that and happily sail onward).

I'll be casting on a mindless project later on today just for wedding knitting this weekend. I'm hopeful that the mailman will drop off a package at the studio today or plans will have to change a bit. Plans are for something simple because I don't want to fluff anything else during a weekend of distracted knitting! Lots of travel time this weekend as the wedding tomorrow is out of town an hour and a half and Sunday has us at Mizzou for engagement sessions. I'll be missing knit group for work again, ack.

Hope your weekend is completely fabulous!

Apply Chocolate

I have to tell you---------- I'm exhausted by the sadness of what has become known as the "Kirkwood Massacre". There is, to be sure, much sorrow for the families, the friends, the community of the shootings---- and more than that there is such pain that somehow it has become okay, to justify it when life feels unfair you shoot people who you feel have wronged you. It is just so sad.

Still no MOJO----- thanks to all who left comments or wrote such sweet emails! I know full well that we all go through spots that just seem a bit, well....... dry. As do I. The nice part, at least if using past history as an example is that when the MOJO comes back it seems much more creative, with great power and energy. That's what I'm hoping for anyway!

Apply chocolate, when the world closes in a bit, that is my credo. Love and chocolate, both of which only help any situation. Of course, love does not come front loaded with calories----and my pants are getting tight (Lolly helllllllllllpppppppppppppp!!!!!!!!!!!) but chocolate it is.

It's almost Valentines Day as well, five days away--- I feel less than romantic somehow. But I do know that a few handmade candies are always well received and put a smile on the face of amour, friend or family!

Homemade Toasted Coconut Haystacks! YUM! And the best part is that they are easy peasy. There is nothing like making a delicious little treat with your own hands for your Valentine, friends and family. I have to say, they are not QUITE as good as the ones from that shishi store in town ---- but they are pretty close!

Toasted Coconut Haystacks

• 1 bag Angel Flake Coconut
• 1 bag good quality chocolate chips--- I used semi sweet but substitute your fantasy
  
• Gulf Wax (available near the canning section)
• parchment paper

On a large, flat baking dish lined with aluminum foil, sprinkle the coconut in a thin layer. Broil about 8 inches away from the element and WATCH CLOSELY. Toss the coconut as soon as it begins to brown. This takes a bit of time to keep moving the coconut so it does not burn, and all of it gets nice and lightly brown and crisp. You want it to crisp up but not get completely brown through, it should have crunch but still have a nice coconutty taste. Let cool.

In a double-boiler, place the chocolate chips and just slightly less than 1/4 of a sheet of the paraffin. Let it melt together over the simmering water. Remove the chocolate from the hot water and let it sit for just a few minutes until it just begins to thicken a bit. Add in the coconut and stir carefully, incorporating all of the chocolate.

Using two spoons or a tiny ice cream scoop (sprayed with cooking spray) drop the candy onto parchment paper.

Allow to set up (if you can) and it is ready to taste!

Let the love start early this year, we could all use it I think!

Bliss of the Domestic Variety

Almost the very last thing we spoke about was how much I hated the gym. As in, getting in the car to go spend an hour on the treadmill (ack) and the eliptical just puts me in the worst sort of funk. Not to mention that my favored (not only) branch of the YMCA has 5 'eliptical' machines, all of which I have discovered were not created equally. The two StarTac are against the wall and despite the welcome addition of a little fan in the front ride horribly. The two machines next to the aisle are some sort of off the track invention that probably burn enough calories to make you instantly thin but are extremely difficult. Then there is my chosen implement of torture the EFX which I have decided stands for extra-f'ing-exacerbating. Or something. So in light of that, you would think that a blessed weekend of domestic bliss would not include things of maximum calories. And then some. But it did, oh yes it did.

I took the weekend off. As in OFF. I'm one of those odd women who find true creative pleasure and an optimum working (relaxing and creative) environment when my home is clean so I started Saturday by cleaning the house when I got home from the gym and got to the bottom of the laundry basket. Wonderful! Once set to rights I was ready to sink into bliss. It was a very short and simple direction to rationalize the fact that knitting would be even more comforting when the smells of home baking wafted from the freshly clean house. Baking----- ah baking!! A pan of "Perfectly Peppermint Brownies" were created and too many were consumed. I discovered a bag of York Mini Peppermint Patties in the pantry, leftover from the holidays when I was going to use them for something or other and didn't. On the side of the bag was the recipe and it was completely delicious. Just in case they rotate the recipes on the bag, I'll pass it along for your next bout of domesticity.

Perfectly Peppermint Brownies

1 package of York Mini Peppermint Patties
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2/3 cup melted butter, divided
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 cup flour
1 tsp. good quality vanilla extract

heat oven to 350 degrees and grease well a 13x9 baking pan

stir together the cocoa and baking soda in large bowl. Stir i 1/3 cup of the melted butter. Add boiling water and stir
until the mixture thickens, then add sugar eggs and remaining 1/3 cup of butter. Add in the flour, salt
and vanilla blending completely. Stir in the mini peppermint patties making sure you eat at least five
of them for the purpose of quality control. Spread in prepared baking pan and bake for about 35 minutes.
Watch carefully the last 8 minutes or so, you don't want the edges to get too done.

Cool completely and cut into squares. Nice big squares.

Yum-my. Does life get better???? Why yes, it does!!

Day off. Clean house. Peppermint brownies. Good mail day! Check out that wonderful inscription----- a lovely personalized autographed copy of a much yearned for book=====

"2 - at - a - time - Socks" by Melissa Morgan Oakes. GREAT book and well worth waiting for. I love the lay flat spiral binding, that makes big points! It is well thought out, seemingly quite simple to follow, well photographed, lots of good 'tips' and the socks within the book are really CUTE! I am into the cuff of my sock on DPN's, the super simple haul it around sock----- so I'm looking forward to doing some Loopy Ewe damage this week to lay in some fresh smelling sock yarn to go with my ready to roll long circ. Melissa----- in case I get befuddled, which as we know is extremely likely to happen, I'll be cyber knocking on your door with socks in hand! The great part is that I know without a shadow of a doubt that you will be there to answer, you are the best!

On the great mail day theme, this next item filled my heart with nearly inexpressible joy!!! Woo Hoo---- and thank heavens it arrived early in the day, before the cleaning frenzy....

My new vacuum cleaner! But not just ANY mere vacuum cleaner, oh nosireejimbob!!!! An Oreck XL, and REDDDDDDDDDDDDD to boot. I have coveted an Oreck since I lost mine in the divorce. (There is nothing like a man scorned, one evil and hateful enough to steal a woman's vacuum cleaner!) My old vacuum cleaner was a piece of total crap, and I was tired of buying a new vacuum every year or so. Hence my new love, Miz Oreck. As my blitters know there ain't a lot of anything sucking around here besides my vacuum cleaner :) and this one is wonderful. Light as a feather, will clean the basement from the second floor I'm telling you, and did I mention red?????

My cup I tell you is running over. Clean house, peppermint brownies, new book, new vacuum cleaner, one sock PAU (done) and the back of Cable Luxe completed. Retirement (come quickly please!) is going to be heaven!!

Every once in awhile it is a fine idea to take the weekend off and fill the creative tanks, and that is exactly what I feel like! Rested, relaxed and ready to hit this week running. Yesterday afternoon was Knit Group, and how wonderful was that????? A perfect end to a great weekend! It does bring musings that are for another time---- after I've spent all this time blathering on about my new vacuum cleaner it is time to hit Monday running!

Love me some Wedding Cake

A dear friend of mine recently asked about my wedding cake.Or more accurately, the recipe for it. The wedding cake I baked for myself over 25 years ago! She remembered that it was a carrot cake and that it was pretty much the best carrot cake EVER! It made me think of again of that wedding cake from many moons ago.I believe the last time I baked that cake was about 6 years ago, for no reason other than as I said, it is a remarkable recipe--- even if you don't particularly like carrot cake! I initially used this recipe when I baked my own cake (and it would have made Martha proud!) for my home wedding for 75 people. Getting married at home I discovered is a great idea because it is smaller in scale, you don't have to deal with a lot of big scary details, and it is more intimate. It is also so much work you wonder on more than one occasion why you didn't go somewhere else and get on with it! I think it is kind of like having a birthday party for your kids in your living room after you have discovered the joy of taking their happy selves off to Chuck E Cheese or something! It took me two days to make that cake! We won't even discuss the time cleaning the house, decorating or the general catering. Regardless, it was really quite pretty, the cake itself was a carrot cake from a recipe that has remained one of my favorites over the years. It was frosted with a traditional sour cream frosting and piped simply with a frou frou tip of some sort and decorated with lovely fresh pink roses and ferns. I had purchased a kit to make the cake three tiered and carefully set to work installing platforms and dowels, a feat of engineering. Well, there is a reason that I am not an engineer because by the end of the evening that cake was beginning to list to the right! It still makes me smile that I baked my own cake and that everyone enjoyed it so much.

So with the bit of reminiscing over with, I set about to look for the recipe. I knew exactly where it was--- in my trusty old wooden recipe box, I can still see it; handwritten on a froofy old recipe card that was stained and dog eared. Filed under CAKES. Well, it wasn't there. Anywhere. I looked and re-looked because I am pretty famous for the inability to find something that is flat right under my nose! It seems that my ex-husband (whom I have discussed here before in all his mean glory) had removed my recipe marked "Wedding Carrot Cake"!!!! I suppose his tiny little pin brain could not think of me ever preparing that yummy cake recipe again. I knew he had pawed through my recipe collection before he returned it to mewith a set of boxes I paid dearly to ship. It arrived after my marital departure together with an opened box of tampons, outdated coupons, a collection of hotel shower caps and miscellaneous crap that he should be ashamed he had me pay for the freight company to handle. I knew that he had pilfered by recipes because not long after it arrived I was looking for another recipe and found it missing, it was my favorite shrimp curry recipe to be exact. At the time I thought him ridiculous but NOW I find his antics rude and idiotic. I can guarandangtee you that he did not prepare that recipe! Ack! Lucky for me I was able to ask my Aunt for the recipe, and bless her heart she still had her copy in even worse condition than mine had been. It gave me great, huge, humongous pleasure to write it down and file it away. Now, I'm sharing it with you dear Blitters!

Wedding Carrot Cake

2 1/2 cups finely grated carrot (I use the fine shredding attachment of the Cuisinart)
1 1/2 cups pecan pieces (don't buy the whole ones for this recipe)
1 cup canned shredded pineapple (drained with the excess liquid blotted off)
3/4 cup shredded coconut (I use the store brand, it is dryer than the premium brand)
2 cups all purpose flour (measure carefully)
2 teaspoons good quality cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon allspice
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups oil (I use canola)
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups sugar
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare two 10 inch cake pans by lining with parchment paper, butter well and use powdered sugar to coat. Tap out excess sugar.

In the preheated oven, gently toast the pecans for about 5 or 6 minutes. Don't over-toast. Let them cool and then coarsely chop. Using a large mixing bowl combine the carrots, drained pineapple, and In a large mixing bowl, toss together the carrots, pecans, pineapple, and coconut with 1/2 cup of the flour. Make sure that everything is nicely coated with the flour.

Sift together the spices, salt, soda and last 1 ½ cups of flour in a sifter or through a mesh strainer.

If you have a stand mixer, use the whip attachment. Otherwise, try not to over-beat the dry ingredients. Mix the eggs and sugar until light yellow and fluffy and slowly add the oil. Fold in the combined dry ingredients. Add to the bowl with the carrot and pineapple mixture. Very gently combine and pour the batter evenly into prepared cake pans.

Bake the cakes about 1 to 1 ¼ hours, rotating once in the oven. Cool on a rack, turn out of the pans and remove the parchment paper.

Sour Cream Frosting:

• 2 ½ cups of powdered sugar
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Pinch of salt

Beat all ingredients on low until combined and then at high speed until light and fluffy.

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Seussing? I am almost done. I've begged and pleaded until a computerly techie friend will see if there is a way to finalize the Outlook work to be done. I'm ready to move on to other projects. This whole thing has exhausted me and made me lose my sunny disposition for sure!

No knitting has happened, again----- and although my head is spinning I do have hopes that I'll reacquaint myself with needles later this evening. Because I have acquired some distance from Cable Luxe, I'm suddenly a bit worried about my decision to leave out that single column of knit stitches among the sea of purls between the cables. I thought it was simpler/dressier without that element and yet....... I hate it when I second guess myself but it does leave me with the choice of forging ahead with my first plan or frogging the whole thing back and starting again, this time inserting that knit stitch. I know I could drop the stitch down all the way to the beginning and hook it back up as a knit stitch but that sounds less than exciting at the moment.

Next Monday evening finds me at the local B&N for Kate Jacob's "Friday Night Knitting Club" book reading. I do love to hang around a flock of knitters and am looking forward to it. That of course means to get together a new bunch of biz cards with my new banner/logo! The new ones are not Moo's----although I do love their tiny sweetness----- these are just regularly sized biz cards. I can't wait to pick them up from the lab, Starbucks is on the way and as we know it is pretty much impossible to drive right on by!

No wedding to work tomorrow, no brides to wrangle. I'll just have to make a wedding cake right here in my very own kitchen and have a slice in my jammies. Good thing I have a great recipe!

Happy Friday! Now---- anybody have a recipe for Shrimp Curry?

Day 23: Christmas Eve Casserole

Another recipe is just imperative----- truly. I would have to say that it is one of my longest running holiday traditions and something I make every Christmas Eve for Christmas morning brunch. Fabulous. And delicious! Don’t ask me why but I never make it any other time, which is pretty weird, but perhaps it just solidifies it as WHAT you eat on Christmas Day!

The first time I made this my youngest daughter was enjoying her first Christmas. She as the 'end of the road' child was super special on so many counts. First of all perhaps because she grew in my heart and not my body, she joined our family from Korea as this perfect, tiny, always squalling little person with a head full of thick black hair that stuck up all over her head like Don King. Every one of my noble attempts to slick her hair down, or put it in tiny barrettes fell short of the mark and her hair just did its’ own thing. She had (and has) the attitude to match so it was all good! I’d gone to one of the pricier grocery store in town, at that time in life it wasn’t the store that I did the majority of the family food shopping at but surely did enjoy popping in for specialty items and just to look at all of the goodies. They had, as many of the higher end stores still do, a tv show kitchen and a staff of home economists who created all manner of culinary delights. Christmas Eve casserole was such a dish but one they made for purchase and didn't necessarily give you the recipe for. This was a 'begged for' recipe. I remember making it that first Christmas Eve with my precious baby sleeping like an angel and knowing that the night would be a short one as the older siblings would have the house awake at o’dark’thirty to check and see what Santa brought them. Getting up the next morning I preheated the oven while coffee was brewing and I could slip away and put the casserole in the oven and know that when the gifts had been opened, brunch was ready. The kids have all asked for the recipe and make it for themselves on Christmas Day if they are not home for the holidays. Bless their hearts they always say it never tastes as good as when the family enjoyed it together. I agree with all my heart! We won't have full crew on board this Christmas Day but somehow it will taste great knowing that this delight will be enjoyed in two households on the U.S. mainland, each sending hugs over the miles and toasting each other with love and laughter.

Christmas Eve Casserole aka Jenny’s Eggs

• 6 cups (generally one large bag) frozen hash browns, thawed
• 3 cups sharp cheddar, shredded
• 2 cups milk
• 16 ounces bacon, fried crisp and crumbled
• 1 cup onion, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard
• 10 eggs, well beaten with the milk
• 2 packages of broccoli florets cooked and drained
• 1 package of fresh mushrooms, sliced (I use Baby Bellas)
• 2 packages of Knorr (or good quality) hollandaise sauce mix
• 3 teaspoons of lemon juice

In a greased or sprayed 13x9 pan layer the potatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, bacon and cheese. Pour over the milk/egg mixture.

Bake, covered with foil for ½ hour in a 350 degree preheated oven

Uncover and bake for another 30-40 minutes

In the last ten minutes of cooking, prepare the packaged hollandaise sauce adding the lemon juice

Cut into squares and serve with the hollandaise sauce.

You can make this the night before, or the day of--- just adjust the cooking time a bit upward if preparing from a refrigerated cold state.

I’m telling you, this is just amazingly wonderfully ho ho ho good.

Of course, we serve this with Orange Biscuits and a variety of juices.

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A GREAT Saturday before Christmas was enjoyed at my house yesterday! My son and I sat and watched a movie (his choice) while I knitted a bit on my hat. It’s over halfway done and I think I must have had a brain freeze because somehow I had to get more yarn. The beauty of that plan was that a run into my LYS, Knitorious was in order. Thanks Rachel for reminding me about the big sale after Christmas. Not that I needed the reminder you know!

We all went out for the yarn expedition and did a bit of afternoon bummin’. Lunch was enjoyed at Fitz’s, St. Louis’ extraordinary stop for burgers and root beer right across from Blueberry Hill. My son bought his girlfriend a fabulous piece of jewelry (a necklace if you must know) from a gallery in the Loop. It was by a local artist and really and truly great, she will love it! I don't think Miss Thang reads the blog (yet, she's a somewhat new girlfriend) but just in case I won't give you a photo or more details. Then it was time to stop by Starbucks for my beloved Venti Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha. A last minute stop just before getting home took us to Gringo Jones and The Bug Store, local favorites for eclectic and really fun merchandise.

It’s Christmas Eve Eve Blitters! Finish up your loose ends (and maybe pick up the makings for Orange Biscuits and Christmas Eve Casserole while your out buying the necessities) so you are ready to relax and enjoy.

After all, the day will come whether you are ready or not so you might as well get ready to sink into the spirit of the season and smile.

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Oh----- the Gingerbread Martini? Seriously good. Getting back into the fitness groove is just going to deeply and profoundly suck.

Day 19: Still Considering Food

Wasn’t the interview with Jenny and Nicole from Stash and Burn yesterday great? I loved being able to hear them, and of course they’re funny. Very funny. Thanks again ladies, it was wonderful! All of the S&B fans thought that they'd taken their holiday break so of course it was really fantastic to have them back for a podcast---- just for us! I have more really great interviews planned until the 25 Days of Knitting Contrisstmas are over.

I’m on the downhill slide of work that makes me crazy------ and entering into a season that has the possibility of being more relaxed! Okay, okay---- I've made it an effort to remain calm and cheery up to this point but still! Personally, I think it is the lure of those after Christmas days that promise to be amazingly peaceful. The last deliveries were made today (I think) and definitely the last time I made a Fed Ex run. I was there twice yesterday, I should be on payroll. I’ve decided that January, which is known as bridal show season will be a walk in the park. Meeting with herds of brides and talking until my lips melt off will actually be kind of a nice reprieve from the holiday season in a photo studio!

That means that I can see full time jammies from here!

I have to add that our last bride’s Mom picked up her wedding proofs yesterday morning at the studio and brought me chocolate! Not, mind you, just any chocolate but a big white beautiful adorned with a gold bow box of Lindt Truffles…. The assortment. Please do not tell a single soul that I have already eaten five of them. FIVE! And I haven’t been on the treadmill or elliptical in a week, the shame of it all. (But they were SOOOOOO good!) I’ll tuck one or two into the knitty baskets going out this weekend, it is my only defense I think.

Before I get to the jammie point there is a bit of menu planning and cocktail planning before a morning spent grocery shopping. Not fun, but necessary. I have decided that libations will be all out and tons of fun! The Food Network Stars special had some Sandra Lee cocktails that are on the agenda, the Gingerbread Martini’s, the Candy Cane Cocktail, and the very festive (and blue with a coconut rim) Frosty Cocktail. I’ll be stopping by the liquor store and loading up. I absolutely adore h’ors d’oeuvres and cocktails, who needs dinner when you’ve enjoyed a good happy hour anyway? It is something I never indulge (okay, rarely) during the year outside of the holidays so in honor of my son in the house (who is quite of legal age) I’m planning some great munchies. My favorite recipe is super easy and when I make it, everyone asks for the recipe and can’t believe the ingredients. This is what I'm planning---- we have a few toddies and some lovely little canapes and nibbles and who really needs big elaborate meals????

Crabmeat Canapes

1 package of English muffins (I like Bays for this recipe)
1 jar of Old English cheese
1 stick of butter (yes, one stick) VERY soft
garlic salt--- I use a teaspoon but I like garlic
2 cans of crabmeat

• Open the crabmeat, drain and pick it over well so there is no shell
• In a medium bowl, beat up the cheese you have wedged out of the jar, and the butter. It should be nicely mixed up with no cheese or butter lumps
• Add in the crabmeat and stir to combine
• Split the English Muffins and cut into quarters
• Top each quarter of the muffin with a good tablespoon of the crabmeat mixture, spread to the edge--- but you still want a nice little mound of crabmeat
• Pop the completed muffins into the freezer in a single layer until they are frozen hard
• That step is important---- really it is!
• When they have frozen you can prepare them or you can put them into a freezer bag for later use
• Pre-heat broiler
• On a baking sheet lined with foil and sprayed lightly with cooking spray, place the muffin triangles topped with crab
• Place the canapés under the broiler and watch carefully
• You want them to be nicely browned but not overly brown.
• Place on a pretty tray with some nice holiday napkins and enjoy
  

Another great favorite for a party or family gathering is Sweet and Hot Pecans. something munchy and crunchy and spicy and sweet. And hard to stop eating, that is the problem!

Sweet and Hot Pecans

2 cups of shelled whole pecans
½ stick of butter, melted
½ cup of light brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. black pepper
½ tsp. cayenne

• Mix the all of the ingredients except the pecans. Taste a pinch to see if you would like it hotter. It gets a bit hotter when it is baked!
  
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
• Toss the pecans in the butter and coat well
• Add the sugar mixture and give it a good mix up
• On a baking sheet covered with foil and sprayed with cooking spray, arrange the nuts in a single layer
• Bake for about 8 minutes and give a turn----- bake for another 2-3 minutes
• Watch carefully, you don’t want the sugar to burn
• Let cool
• Place in a pretty bowl and munch away
  

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No knitting happened yesterday, anything serious anyway. I did manage a few rows of the diagonal ‘Broadway’ scarf, it is turning out so pretty! I'm liking this season of I'M DONE instead of the rushed and cranky knitknitknit thing! Instead I worked on the grocery list so I can get that done and over with, ran errands to pick up the last of the ordered gifts (a sewing machine was the request of my very spoiled partner’s Mom--- shhhhh don’t tell her!) and when I finally got home from work and grilled cheese and tomato soup was about all I could muster up---- I watched the finale of Biggest Loser and read a little bit of the holiday Debbie Macomber book, Christmas Wishes. It is pure and simple mindless reading, and sometimes this time of year that is okay! CW was an early Christmas gift from my daughter along with some bubble bath---- both sound delightful right about now! Being domestically responsible does have to have a payoff somewhere along the line, don't you think?

I’m finishing up some gift tags for my knitterly friends----- instructions to come. Super easy and they do make you look like you did the big ole’ fuss over.

On the knitting front I have still been wandering around with Norah Gaughan Vol. I in my hand. I love everything in there and because I can't twitch my nose like Samantha in Bewitched and magically have everything in there, or knit 12 items at once with lightning speed I think I have to choose. And I can't. Manon is so great----- it is still the front runner but it isn't like there is anything easily crossed off the list. Well except for the fabulous skirt made of lacy hexagonal shapes. Not that I don't love it but I think my tush needs to be a bit tidier first. Decisions, decisions. This is all your fault Norah!

While I'm stocking the pantry, and getting a couple of studio projects off my desk I'll be hoping that the Blitters get a lot accomplished today and are feeling as merry and bright as the law allows!

Day 16: Let the Serious Preparations Begin!

Day 16: Let the Serious Preparations Begin!

(Or, it's the time of year that thins the herd)

I’m exhausted! Days off are never off days. They are days that while interspersed with wild playing about of all sorts (to include knitting, but not exclusively so) you come to the end of them tired. Really. I can say that at least yesterday was fun and there was no laundry involved. It probably should have but, well, there you have it. None done.

I began Saturday knitting. I managed to finish the cute red lil’ scarflette for Mary who does the best hair ever. She will love it because she adores all things handmade, Mary will wear it in some fabulous and inventive way that I could never have imagined and yet want to imitate! Then I cast on for those seen everywhere pocketbook slippers. Casting on 5 stitches hardly counts as casting on but it’s done. And I did a strap. That would be 6 rows. Of five stitches. No counting please, it is not a Saturday marathon knit by any stretch of the imagination! Lisa has some really cute ones, with a personal twist over at her blog.

Those yummy little pretzelly cookies were made, two whole bags of kisses worth. You know, you put the unwrapped kisses onto a little twisty (the kind that have arms) pretzel and let a 250 oven do its’ magic for about 3 minutes give or take. Pop a little red or green M&M on those babies when the chocolate is all melty and you have delish! Salty and sweet, and easy. Did I mention easy? We have a running debate at the house as to whether or not they need to go into the fridge to set up. I say yes because I basically want to eat one faster and I don’t like them all smushy. That is not to say that a smushy one is not consumed during the time they are setting up all nice and hard. My rules are flexible when it comes to chocolate.

Marshmallows were next! Homemade, divine marshmallows! A mountain of fluff and magic that comes from basically sugar syrup into gelatin. Under half an hour later you have a 13x9 of the stuff sitting there waiting patiently. I on the other hand am not so patient. Last year we poured them into a pan that was lined with toasted coconut, and a layer of the same on the top. Fab! This year, we’ll dip some in caramel and some in chocolate. The problem is that they always have to sit out uncovered for 24 hours so they sort of glom together better. (Sorry Mom, that was a Home Ec education at it’s finest!) I tried Alton Browns’ recipe this year, not that the recipes for marshmallows are that different but mostly because he prepares the pan by using cooking spray and dusting on a mixture of powdered sugar and cornstarch 1:1 and uses that as well when the marshmallows are cut. I think this might well be genius. I'm going to cut these this afternoon, the first one always gets the place of honor in a cup of really good hot chocolate made with Godiva cocoa powder and whole milk.

The marshmallows don't look like much as schlumpy and patted into a pan do they? Never fear, when cut they will be absolute heaven!

The soap elves were busy as well. We made a veritable barge of soap. Some olive oil, some oatmeal, some lavender, some plumeria. Some striped, some not.

This holiday season there will be clean friends and family! :) I'm not wild about the peachy colored soaps, they might need to be melted down and more color added or something.

The kitchen is thankfully large. I adore my kitchen! We did a remodel in this 100 year old grande dame about 3 years ago and it is glorious. Fabulous maple cabinets with a glaze, great countertops, and a big Viking range as the centerpiece--gorgeous! As a matter of fact, it is my favorite place to sit and work. The kitchen at the moment is also wrecked, bits of marshmallow here and there and dribbles of soap that remain behind. I’ll roll up my sleeves and do a good scrub later on while looking out at the snow. Lots of snow, there will be shoveling. (I'm so glad that I went out last night about 11 p.m. and got the majority of it off.)

Remember when I threw up my hands in despair (or glee?) and said that I was not going to finish the Mystery Stole and that was just the way it was? Not that I didn’t love it, I did. Not that I didn’t think the design was cool and really inspired, it was. Basically I just ran out of steam and interest. It became stress and angst and all of those things that knitting (for me) should not be. I had a good point of the stole finished, I think I was maybe ¼ of the way or so through Clue Two. It sat around and aged a bit and then I knew I just had to bid it a fond adieu! I bound it off and set it aside to be re-purposed. Today was that day. I decided to make my birth Mom a pillow from it and wanted to use the knitted triangle as the flap on an envelope style pillow. I scouted around for the perfect fabric and finally found one last week. I chose a very subtle soft green in a twill weave, nice cozy softness to the fabric. I simply stitched together the pillow on four sides, sandwiching the knitting on the top and left an opening to turn and stuff. Turn and stuff I did, that pillow (which is a biggie) used almost two big bags of polyfil, I stuffed it quite firm, especially the corners so it would hold its’ shape. It turned out nice I think, I know I’d be pleased to have it in my home!! I’ll box it up and get it out in the mail tomorrow---- yay, the mailing will be done!

My baking today will be my absolute favorite holiday cookies in the world, Almond Spritz. The recipe was given to me about 20 years ago from my friend Eris when we lived in Minnesota. The Spritz came from her Mom who had been baking them for ages. I love them because the recipe makes a LOT, they are cookie gun easy, you can involve a lot of hands in the decorating so it is fun. Mostly I love the recipe because it is the best spritz cookie I’ve ever eaten. The bonus is that the cookie dough is really, really good. Because I'm not normally a raw dough girl, that is high praise indeed. I’d like to share this excellent with you as well! I shouldn’t be the only one eating all of this butter for petes’ sake!!!

Almond Spritz Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Lay out some good cookie sheets, I like the double/insulated kind

• 1 pound of butter at room temperature
• 2 cups of sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• Heavy cream (a small little container)
• 5 cups of flour
• 4 tsp. good quality almond extract
• Cookie sugar sprinkles (a friend told me last night that she started stockpiling sugars in October using the 40% off coupon at the craft store--- brilliant!)
• Mini cinnamon red hots
  

Cream the butter, sugar and egg yolks in an electric mixer until it is light and fluffy.

Add the flour to the butter mixture a bit at a time. When you still have about half left, add in some of the heavy cream My recipe never had an exact measurement for whatever reason. I’ve usually found that about 3 tablespoons is a good starting point. You adjust the remainder of the flour up or down----- that is, you want a dough that is heavy enough to make a nice cookie but not so heavy that it is tough--- or won’t go through the cookie gun. Add the almond extract at the end, it always smells so nice!

Divide into batches if you would like to color the dough (red, green…..) but I usually skip this step preferring the natural colored dough and lots of sprinkles.

Load the cookie gun and off you go! I make trees, stars, hearts and whatever else stirs my fancy at the time. Decorate with the different sugars and cinnamon candies and bake for about 8-10 minutes. It really does depend on the kind of cookie sheet you have and your oven. Check at 8 minutes and increase if necessary. They should be lightly brown, very lightly. Let them stand a couple minutes and remove to a wire rack.

They keep very well, you can freeze them if you must (but I bet you don’t) and everyone loves them.

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Whether you are seeing the snow fly or warm as can be, I hope that your Sunday is wonderful and full of knitting and holiday preparations!

Day Eleven: Let there Be Calories!

I am uber cranky this morning---- for some techy reason I don't know, many of the photos that were part of the Knitting Contrisstmas posts have disappeared. ACK! I'm busy rebuilding them but if you are as organized as I am during the holidays you will understand that it is harder to do than it sounds. Especially the very photo heavy post for the Haute Sock Knitting Bag----- dang it.

The holidays tend to be bad for me when it comes to food. I don't eat wisely. And I eat too often. Especially when it comes to items from the treat category. So it goes. Please do not feel bad if you find yourself absolutely compelled to tell me to stop chewing and get to the gym! I do love the fabulous candy creations, they're an excellent food group unto themselves, I wish I didn't but that's just the truth of it.

I have a cabinet full of recipes, and I'm pretty organized. Manilla file folders each labeled with the type of food. Such as soups, salads, desserts (this is a BIG file), Pacific Rim, Asian Cuisine and the like. Candy and Confections are a pretty fair sized folder as well. But my favorite recipes reside in a wooden file box. It was my homework project when I was in third grade. We still had home economics in school then and my assignment was to assemble a collection of recipes in some sort of container. I found the wooden box and stained it with my very own hands, very home eccy if you ask me. The stain was "provincial", I remember it clearly as if it were yesterday--- and most assuredly it was not. My Mom was a crafty sort of gal and she had been stripping and staining a chair, actually an antique sewing rocker. So with my finished recipe file box I set to copying favorite recipes from my mothers' stash. I still have the handful of recipes that were in my hand back then, they've been joined by others over the years. But the rules are strict! To reside in the recipe box you have to be really, really good! When I reach for the wooden recipe box you know that there will be something fabulous on the horizon!

My candy recipes in that box are wonderful and because I'm feeling particularly generous these days I'd like to share a couple with you. They've both been fiddled with a bit over the years, as all favorite recipes tend to be. They're awesome. I hope you add a few calories to your own holidays! I'm going to share some of my favorite wooden box cookie recipes before the end of Contrisstmas. Just in case you start feeling weak and puny that is--- we can't have that!

Chocolate Pecan Turtles

• 3/4 pound of pecans, carefully shelled
• 1 can of Eagle Brand condensed milk
• 1 cup of White Karo Syrup *Karo has undergone some sort of label revamp in the past couple of years and those of us with old and yellowed recipe cards have to stand there quite a long time staring at the many kinds of Karo. Choose the syrup that is clear.
• Good quality chocolate bar, plain & nice and thick * When I first made this recipe, and for years actually, I chose good old Hershey bars. This is still a great choice but today I might use a dark chocolate or even one of those schmancy brands. It's your choice entirely!

On a sheet lined with parchment paper, arrange the pecans in little clusters of 3 or 4 pecans. It will depend on the size.

In a medium saucepan over a low flame (or heating element) combine the Karo and the condensed milk. This needs to cook nice and slowly until it is thick and caramel colored. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon. This step usually goes through several kind of ugly phases where you wonder just what in the world is going on.

When the caramel is done (and if you are unsure try to make a turtle, you'll know right away if it needs a bit more time) pour a nice puddle of caramel over the pecans, slowly. Working in small batches, place a square of chocolate onto the HOT caramel and let sit while you make more turtle clusters. When the chocolate is melted, smooth it gently over the turtle.

Let cool and remove from the paper. So good..................

And some fudge because it isn't the holidays without a good pan of fudge or four!

Easy Rocky Road Fudge

• 1/4 stick of butter
• 2/3 cup of evaporated milk
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 cups of sugar (I like to use vanilla sugar** if I have it)
• 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips
• 2 cups of marshmallows (the little ones)
• 2 tsp. vanilla

**Vanilla Sugar is simply a screw top jar (think peanut butter) filled with sugar in which there has been a vanilla bean or two split and inserted. You can even use the sticky little black vanilla beans in another dish and use the leftover pod for the sugar.

Rocky Road Additions:

• 1/2 cup of Golden Graham cereal and very slightly broken (you can use real graham crackers like I used to, but I find the cereal holds up nicely in the fudge.
• 1/2 cup of marshmallows, again the small ones
• 1/2 cup of chopped pecans *you can use any nuts, pecans are just my favorite
• 1/2 cup of dried cherries (You can omit if you like, but why would you?)
  

In a medium heavy saucepan over medium heat combine the butter, milk, sugar and salt and boil. Don't stop stirring for 5 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and add the marshmallows, the chocolate chips and the vanilla and beat. It will take some elbow grease, beat it like a person removing all aggression from life! After a few minutes when it is all melted together and smooth, add the rocky road additions but don't beat until it melts. Pour into a buttered, foil lined 8x8 pan. Let cool and then remove from pan and peel off the foil. Cut into squares. Make sure you eat any immediately that are not pristinely pretty. You can't serve those, it wouldn't be fitting!
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Oh thank heavens the last hat is done! Finished! I was so excited to get it finished I was almost giddy with glee! The Knitty hat joined all of it's friends and now to haul out my blocking bowl and give it a bit of a final pat and putter. I am quite glad they are not all the same hat----- even though there is not a huge amount of difference. One "Unoriginal Hat", Two Knitty Hats, One earflap hat, and four rolled brim hats of varying degrees. My favorites? Well they all were actually! The folled brims were my favorite because they were so fast to work up, the Knitty hats were my favorites because the peace sign in the earflaps and the great colorwork pattern were such fun, and the "Unoriginal Hat" was lots of fun because it was fast and the cables were a joy to work.

I need to finish my scarf today from the fabulous Byzanz yarn and I have a couple of projects to finalize so I can share them with you! Does the list ever get smaller? Actually, I don't think so!

Officially two weeks until Christmas for those of you who celebrate! That is really 13 days because Christmas Day doesn't count, you should be done by then! :)

Don't forget to comment on the Haute Sock Knitting Bag if you want a chance at it!

I have spent the past X hours very crankily adding the photos to the pattern again so all is well. I still don't know if Blogger is being argumentative or if the stars just lined up against me. I was thinking about moving the blog after the first of the year and perhaps this just solidified it for me. Oh well. I'll be late getting in to the studio today, which means late coming home. Sigh...........

Day Six: Orange You Glad?

Knitting Contessa’s Orange Biscuits

We celebrate Christmas around my house. Thoroughly, completely, with mad abandon and then some, all because I said so! I love all of the faith traditions and enjoy weaving in bits and pieces to enrich my life most assuredly. But when it comes to Christmas Day I’m a bit of a traditionalist, okay, a stick in the mud. I sadly shake my head and tell you that my children will agree with that statement, 100%!

When I divorced in 2004 I was shaken a bit, nothing was the same and I had to rebuild my life from the ground up. The best (and the worst) thing was that I could pick and choose what to bring into my life and what to leave behind. Nights upon end of soul searching and an ocean of tears led me to question who I was, where I was going and what mark I wanted to make upon the world. My spirituality, which had always been an important part of my life, flourished and branched out in directions I would never have chosen. Yet, my growth has been steady and grounding.

One of the things I knew I had to keep in my life was celebrating tradition, keeping old ritual and building new into a rich fabric that would sustain me, give me hope and nourish others along their paths.

Orange Biscuits are one of those traditions. I received the recipe from a friend in 1994, she had come up with her recipe after trial and error to recreate biscuits she had loved as a teenager. Not being able to leave well enough alone, I gave the recipe a few tweaks of my own over the years and the result is a much loved classic, a Must Have on Christmas Day. When I still had kids at home the biscuits were made in the wee hours before stumbling off to bed for a few hours of sleep before being woken up by gleeful shrieks that I miss to this day. As the kids got older and actually wanted to sleep in on December 25^th, I could make the biscuits early on Christmas morning while enjoying a tiny slice of quiet over my coffee. Today, I make them because I must. Because Christmas is a part of all of us who celebrate this special holiday and this tradition is one that warms my soul and brings with each bite a memory of warmth, and laughter and incredible love.

I bring to you my very special recipe and hope that no matter how you celebrate the holidays that you might give it a try and enjoy it. Perhaps it will become part of your own holiday tradition, that would be lovely!

• ½ cup of softened butter (don’t mess around, use butter. It’s the holidays for pete’s sake!)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tsp. cinnamon
  
• 1 cup of orange juice (fresh squeezed is delightful but you can definitely use a really good brand, with pulp)
• 1 1/2 oranges zested (don’t get the bitter white pith. Orange zest is very important but especially if you are using prepared juice)
  
• ½ tsp. vanilla
  

Prepare the 9 x 13 pan by buttering it well

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees

In a saucepan combine the butter, orange juice, orange peel (reserve 1/3) and the orange juice. Bring it to a gentle bubble and stir it until the sugar is dissolved. Take off the heat and add the vanilla. Pour the orange syrup into the prepared 9x13 pan and set aside while you make the biscuits.

Biscuit Dough

• 4 cups of flour
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 8 tbs. shortening
• 6 tsp. baking powder (make sure your baking powder is fresh! I always pick up a new can just for the occasion)
• 1 ½ cups of whole milk (you can use skim or 2% but you’re already using butter, don’t skimp now!)
• 1 orange, zested and very finely chopped

In a medium bowl combine the flour, salt, ½ of the orange zest and baking powder. Cut the shortening into blobs and use a pastry blender (or two knives if that is your way) until the flour looks crumbly. I use my fingers and rub the flour and shortening together, it’s messy but fun! Add the milk and stir with a fork until the dough begins to hold together. On a board or countertop, sprinkle generously with flour and turn out the dough. Give the dough a gentle kneading until the dough holds together. You need to get the dough to about ¼” thick so you can roll it or do as I do and give it a good pat until the dough is a flat disc of even thickness. Brush with the softened butter and sprinkle with the sugar and the cinnamon. Roll up the dough trying to keep it nice and tight. Pinch the last edge to close the roll. Using a piece of thread (or non-flavored dental floss), cut the roll into 1 inch slices. Carefully pick up the biscuits and plop them down into the orange syrup cut spirals facing up. Combine the last half of the orange zest and 3 tbs. sugar and sprinkle evenly over the biscuits.

Bake in the preheated 450 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

I hope you enjoy one of my cherished traditions! Cheers! Oh--- and make sure you have enough biscuits, nothing turns a crowd to cranky if there aren't enough of these babies, trust me!

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Orange Eggnog

Decadent and delightful to go with Orange Biscuits is a Christmas Morning Classic, orange eggnog. While not normally a ‘brown liquor’ aficionado, I do love me some bourbon in a nice eggnog! But for Christmas morning a lighter touch is usually in order. Unless you are with relatives that make your teeth itch, then medicinal toddies are required!

• Good quality store-bought eggnog (don’t get those funky flavors, just good ole’ eggnog!)
• Grand Marnier
• Superfine sugar
• Orange slices
  

Into each little shortie glass (like a highball) pour about ¾ full of eggnog. Don’t be stingy! Just in case you didn’t get what you wanted for Christmas you will want a little creamy comfort! Pour in about a half shot of Grand Marnier (it is pretty much up to you) and dip the rim of the glass into a shallow dish of water and immediately into some superfine sugar. If you can find the pretty colored sugar, go for it! Garnish the rim of the glass with a slice of orange.

Have two, no one is looking and after all you are in the kitchen watching over the biscuits!

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Yesterday afternoon my mailman left me a package from Jessica Knits! WOO HOO! The last ball of yarn I will need to finish what is going to be a fabulous scarf. I’m all about great customer service and in addition to Jessica Knits being one of the greatest knit shops of all time, the service shines as well. Thanks Deanna for the fast delivery of the yarn and for the sweet note! The yarn is “Byzanz” by Gedifra, 60% acrylic, 20% wool, 15% polyamide and 5% metallic.

It is so fabulous I can’t even begin to tell you. Two yummy very soft roving/very unspun looking yarns side by side and actually stitched together with a metallic zigzag and next to the zigzag on each side is a row of black. Delish! When I saw it I said the obligatory “I could DO that!!!!”, but of course I never would! (I admitted that just for you Kelley!) The color is taupey, mossy, mauvey and really soft and wonderful. The metallic joining is just right. It knits up super soft and is delightful. I’ll have a photo when it’s done, which should be very soon!

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As I drove to lunch yesterday from the studio it started to snow! Not a pretty nice fluffy snow or anything, the very fine powdery snow that doesn’t stick to anything and it was snowing sideways due to the gale force wind out there. Sheesh. First flakes of the season and nothing to write home about! As much as I really don’t enjoy the cold a whole lot it makes me think once again that the holidays really are easier to get up for when the weather is that traditional North Pole thing. Cold. Snow. Y’know. Years of living in Hawaii (while delightfully decadent) as well as living in my hometown of Orlando Florida had made me struggle to really get into the ho ho thing in a tropical climate. It’s hard to shop and wrap and box and mail and bake and the like when it is 85 and Santa is wearing shorts on a surfboard! Remind me of this when I’m really cold and cranky and I’d love to be on the beach! For now, I'll enjoy the cold weather and even hope for snow up until Christmas Day. Then? I'm pretty much over it and ready for spring. Until spring however, there is the snow thing.

My last Christmas in Hawaii was miserable if the truth be told. My marriage had been pretty much over for quite some time and the only thing keeping me there was my last daughter who was still in high school. She was deeply entrenched in her rebellious phase (which pretty much lasted from age 2 to 21 and still raises its' ugly head from time to time) and she was no big thrill that year either. The weather was particularly warm and sticky and my holiday spirit had gone with the tradewinds. I can remember listening to endless rounds of "I'll Be Home For Christmas" sung by every singer who had ever recorded it and wishing for weather that represented the season. I wanted Santa to bring me happiness and knew down deep that such a gift is one we only give to ourselves, hard fought and almost always with a cost of some sort.

This year, while definitely colder and far away from Hawaii here in the Midwest U.S. is all about the happy. Or perhaps more accurately all about continually working toward the happy. This afternoon we're due for (as the weather man says) a 'quick hit'--- about an inch or so of accumulation. Ho Ho Ho? Sounds like it might be great incentive to wrap some gifts!

After all, it’s all about the journey and love is all that matters!!

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See you tomorrow for an interview with the one and only Grumperina!