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I thought he might be a bit young for the job, but Gavin Watson insisted he had what it takes to be a guest blogger on Tall Tales from Kansas.
He said that having fun and eating good are topics he knows about and it seemed like that is what I tended to write about.
The boys want you to know that licking beaters and playing in the bath are right up there with drinking martini's and knitting.
I am head over heels in love.
We went to the museum of Natural History on the KU campus today. It's a good place to take kids when it's cold outside and they need to run off some energy. Plus they get to see bugs, polar bears, wolves, etc...
The exhibits were great. But I am in talks with the person in charge of exhibits about opening up a special wing on the 2nd floor for 2 year olds. This wing would have nothing but buttons to push, switches to flip, locks to figure out, doors that open and close. In other words, some action on their part that initiates a noise, a light, a reaction of some sort. These twin boys are all about figuring our the environment around them and how they might best be able to interact with it. Fascinating and entertaining to watch. I might have needed a 3 hour nap at the end of the day. Might have.
Is it a requirement that one knit up all the yarn purchased last year at the after christmas sale at the local yarn store before one purchases more yarn at the after christmas sale this year? No? Whew. Good. That's what I thought.
If you want some good grub for breakfast in Kansas City high tail it on down to Room 39. It's right up the street from KU hospital - yes, right on 39th street.
They can also whip you up a first rate cappucino with perfect foam in a nice sturdy cup. Just the right size to go with breakfast. Not too little and not too big. Did I mention the totally cool art work on the walls? That alone is worth a visit.
If you're lucky, on your way out the door a very nice amateur photographer will offer to take your picture. In the event that your set-up shot happened to be a bit on the blurry side. Always better safe than sorry.
These are just a few of my favorite things from this holiday season. Merry Christmas to all... and to all a good night!
It's Christmas Eve with Carol and Santa, circa 1963. Photo taken upon the occasion of my graduation from Elf School. I was so proud of my teal colored, velvet, elf hat. We could only wear our hats in the company of fellow elves... at "official" elf events.
I never, ever, snuck mine out and wore it at home when no one was looking while I practiced elf things. Not even once.
It is absolutely my intent that you will receive my holiday greeting the week after christmas. When you have the time to sit down in front of the fire and prop your feet up. Maybe pour that second cup of coffee, try to decipher my hand-writing, and remember with me the friendship we have enjoyed through the years.
One of my most favorite things about the holidays is sharing a piece of pumpkin roll with my friend Barb on December 23rd or 24th. She always makes it and brings it in to work. We usually start the pumpkin roll eating tradition with a brief dicussion of how easily (or not) the cake flipped out of the jellyroll pan this year. Then we proceed to sit, have coffee or tea, take the first bite, and look at each other cross-eyed and extol the many virtues of pumpkin and cream cheese.
Because Barb is smart and knew the day would come when this tradition might get momentarily disrupted she taught me over the years to make my own pumpkin roll. It won't be the same without you Barb. Lets call each other on the 23rd. I won't be able to eat that first bite until I tell you how mine fell apart when I flipped it this year. AND how I saved the day by not going into a panic and successfully putting it together so no one could tell the difference. Luckily you taught me that too.
On a gray, chilly, rainy, day in the midst of all this holiday hoo haa it is possible to slide right into a pre-holiday funk (PHF). There are a multitude of things that can precipitate a funk (not to be confused with the multitude of heavenly hosts from the christmas story). I hate it when I feel my mind starting to veer off into that direction. If I feel it in time I try positive self-talk (snap out of it Carol) and other cognitive behavioral interventions but when no technique is doing it for me I resort to the sure-fire, never-fail, funk-buster remedy. As a public service I share it with you now in case you too might be prone to the occasional bout of PHF. It's a 2 step method.
Step 1: Go get a gingerbread latte
Step 2: Proceed to the closest day spa/salon and get your toe-nails painted red. You can NOT be in a funk when you have OPI "not really a waitress" on your toes. Even if they are stubby toes. (This works for men as well as women. I am not kidding. Don't knock it until you have tried it.)
Hey come to think of it this is a great idea for a christmas present. Gift certificate for latte + gift certificate for pedicure = Funk Buster Fa La La.
What is it about shiny things in big glass jars? Maybe I was a magpie in a former life? I think pack rats like shiny objects too. But I digress.
I like to sit right in front of these jars and re-read the Christmas cards I have received and think about sending out a few of my own. Maybe light one of those yankee candles in a jar that make the whole house smell like Christmas. Like it did those years when we went out and cut down a tree with our nephews because we thought it was an important part of their upbringing that should not be overlooked. Now that's a Christmas memory I can get all nostalgic about. In a good sort of way.
Way back in June of 1988 I found a recipe for Mint Devil's Food Cookies in Creative Ideas for Living magazine. I have been making them with some regularity ever since. This past Sunday I pulled out the cookie sheets and rustled up a double batch. Enough for both Chris and I to take to work and maybe a few left over for Angie.
I don't know who came up with the name for these cookies. They really should be called lumpy, bumpy, chewy, melty, minty, nutty, chocolate cookies.
You can call them whatever you like. They are just plain darn GOOD. If you decide to make them the recipe is below. I always fiddle with a recipe. I use walnuts not dry roasted peanuts and I leave out the coconut. I don't frost the tops with a mint. That makes them too hard to stack in a container. The quantity of 9 dozen listed on the recipe is incorrect. It makes closer to about 30 cookies depending on how big you make them of course.
I rarely go to movies at the theatre. I am one of those people who always think I don't have time for it. Me. So important I don't have time to go to a movie? Ok. That is just plain ridiculous. So this weekend when it was 50 degrees out and we should have mowed the yard one more time and maybe washed the sheets... we went to the movies instead.
We saw the Descendents.
My recommendation? Go! Watching George Clooney for 2 hours is absolutely the balm for all things holiday related.
I have been meaning to introduce you to Marti Huff for some time now. Mostly because of the grace with which she lives her life. She also has this incredible sense of style she has passed on to her daughter, my friend, Nancy (who gets photo credit for the above shot).
And now there is a new reason. Yesterday I was the recipient of some of Marti's home-made toffee.
Using every ounce of will power that I posess, I did not eat it in the car on the way home. Instead I saved it for this afternoon where it could be paired with a nice cup of tea. Those of you who make, or are the recipients of, home-made toffee will understand when I tell you the perfect snap that transformed into a buttery crunch that mingled with the smooth chocolate and made my whole mouth smile ... caused me to momentarily swoon.
Thanks Marti, I thoroughly enjoyed your very kind expression of seasonal sharing.
Tonight as I sip on this nice mellow glass of red zinfandel I am choosing to focus on the teensy bit of Christmas decorating that has been done on the front porch. Not, the whole house which is still looking very understated.
Come to think of it, I heard the very understated look was in for Christmas this year. Which could in fact mean that I might be done with all of my decorating.
I like where this is going.
Is it my imagination or does a cinammon raisin bagel toasted with honey on top become elevated to the status of fine gourmet pastry when it's served on christmas dishes?
Especially when it's on a weekday in December and you happen to have the day off and you are listening to Judy Collins Christmas at the Biltmore Estate.
Guess who's coming to dinner? Oh never mind. You will never in a million years guess. But it was someone who Angie loves.
Her baby brother. Oh dear. Get a load of that look on her face. Did I say love? I meant adore. Serious adoration.
Have you been to a poinsettia farm before? Well I hadn't either but I went to one today. I walked in to the pinsettia farm through a grouping of freshly cut trees and hand tied greenery shaped into wreaths that smelled like the essence of christmas. When I walked in and saw the sea of red I got all giddy and smiley and passed out. Apparently it's not an uncommon reaction. The lady who revived me told me it's called poinsettia intoxication.
And then I loaded a bunch of these into a wagon and came home and put them all over my house and called the decorating done.
Well that's what I wanted to do.
I have to park about 4 blocks from where I work. I like listening to the sounds of the city as I walk from the car to my building. Most days I like it I mean. Most days in the spring and summer. When it's not too hot and it's not too cold. Here is my latest remedy to walking 5 blocks when it's 20 degrees (or colder) outside.
I can slip it up over my ears and it keeps my face warm. As I breathe out I sometimes fog up my glasses. It feels great. This past week I proclaimed it the most useful thing I have ever knit.
I used this yarn and size 17 needles. It took about 1 1/2 skeins of yarn. Cast on 3o stitches. Do a K1 P1 for 3 rows and then switch and do a P1 K1 for 3 rows. Just repeat that pattern until it's as long as you want it. I made mine 29 inches and then sewed it together and put some buttons on it. I slip it over my head, settle it around my neck, and it stays put.
When it's cold it's all about staying warm. Anyway you can.
I like holiday store window displays.
Seeing these was just what I needed to get me in the mood to do some decorating around the house this weekend.
I sure wish this store would have been open when I walked by the other night. It was all I could do not to break the glass and take a box. It would have been the perfect reward for bringing those boxes up from the basement AND finding the christmas CD's.
As it is, I will have to dream up some other way to treat myself. Something other than simply the knowledge that a job well done is it's own reward. Whoever said that doesn't have the same definition of reward that I do.
Tonight I told the Quails "... really, cooperative subjects make for the most flattering photos". They try and humor me as I stick the camera in their faces over and over again - trying to capture a good shot in a low light situation with my very simple point and shoot camera.
After I came home and looked at what I had in the camera I realized that what I really meant to say was "inanimate objects make the best subjects in low light when you have had a glass of wine and your hand might not be so steady."
Meet my new friends, wine glass, baked squash, edamame with green tea sea salt, and 2 desserts. You are not as good conversationalists as my quail friends but you sure know how to hold still when I am taking your picture. Next year - tripod.
We are a week or so into December and the Christmas lights have been turned on downtown on Massachusetts's street in Lawrence Kansas. They're old fashioned and pretty and I like them. The lamp posts have been festooned with red ribbons to add to the festive flair.
Just the jumpstart I need to get a couple of wreaths on the front porch and maybe find those Christmas CD's. For some reason I have trouble tracking them down every year. Even when I find some place extremely logical that any reasonable person should be able locate.
"A cup of roasted red pepper and smoked gouda bisque with a half of a ham and cheese sandwich on whole wheat with lettuce, tomato, and mayo please. Plus one Cream soda, hold the glass I'll drink it out of the bottle."
That is all you have to remember when you go to Foo's at 95th and Mission in Leawood Kansas for lunch tomorrow. Oh you weren't planning to go there for lunch tomorrow? I think when you see this you will change your mind.
Oh the bisque, the bisque, the bisque. It was thick and chunky and smoky and sweet and I was satisfied right down deep in my soul as I ate it. You might know Foo's as a place to get a frozen custard or a great coffee. But oh they are so much more.
I smiled as I walked up and saw the sign out front. I am a sucker for anything peace and love and hand drawn on a chalkboard.
Yes mums are THE fall flower, but who knew that a nice selection of spring tulips would look perfect with the rust, orange, brown, and golden yellows of November?
My thoughtful Thanksgiving houseguests. That's who. What a nice surprise.
Have you seen Stephen Kings' book, "On Writing"? It's been awhile since I read it, but the thing that stuck with me was his notion that each of us is the main character in our own story. I think about that a lot. Everyone's life is a book. Each person the hero of their book.
I was reminded of this last week when I met a woman at work who wanted to get the heck out of the hospital. She told me me she needed to get home so she could take care of her plants and work on writing her obituary. It's not often you meet someone who has thought about their death enough to know they might want to do that. In a real way. She told me she wanted to say goodbye to some people and thank them for what they had meant to her. And I thought of Stephen King because of course the main character of the book should be the one who writes the last chapter don't you think?
I read a great obituary about 10 years ago. In it the woman reported that she had been the "May Queen" of her home town back in 1956. It's these little details that people want to tell that someone else might overlook in the writing of accomplishments. I'll be looking for your obituary Jerline. I want to read the things you thought were consequential about your life.
I am not a white wine drinker by nature. Unless of course, I am in Italy and it happens to be the regional favorite. OR if there happens to be a bottle or 2 left over from thanksgiving sitting in my refrigerator when I unexpectedly come home from the grocery store with an assortment of olives.
A little chilled Riesling, blue cheese stuffed olives, a few kalmata olives, and pita chips are the perfect snack to accompany some serious blog reading.
Did I mention the olives? I hope you have a grocery store with an olive bar. So much better than buying a couple of jars that might sit in the refrigerator for awhile if you are the only olive eater in the house.
At this time of year in the Midwest, many of us go to work in the dark AND drive home in the dark. Tonight I raced out of work at 5:15pm. My routine is to step out the door, look up at the sky, and see what is playing for the nightly walk to the car. Tonights presentation was "Dark Branches + Pink Sky =Winter Beauty".
I could have sat and watched a double feature of this one.
A couple of weeks ago my sister sent me this. She said we would have to try it. So try it I did. And it was good. But as my mother in law would have said it was on the "boozey" side. I also thought the color was a little bit anemic. A caramel should be a rich buttery tan color. So I put on my martini thinking cap and I believe I have improved the recipe.
Salted Caramel Martini
1 - oz coffee liqueur (kahlua or tia maria)
1 - oz butterscotch schnapps
1 - oz cold brewed coffee
1 - oz milk
Mix all ingredients in a martini shaker packed with ice and strain into a martini glass that you have rimmed with sea salt. You don't need a ton of salt on the rim. Just a touch is plenty.
I tried using half and half instead of milk on the first try. It was ok, but regular milk is great and does not change the consistency or flavor. I started a love affair with cold brewed coffee this summer. It is still going strong. The addition of the coffee and decreasing the amount of milk gives it the perfect caramel color and the flavor of coffee just lingers in the background and does not interfere with the caramel which remains the star of the show.
A couple of these will make writing out your holiday cards waaaaaay more fun.
