Sunday - Rainy and Cold

This past week has been a whirlwind - it is hard to believe that one week ago, everything seemed to be calm, with nothing looming on the horizon out of the ordinary!

So this week, we have baby Jake, who Maddie has informed me can not go visit me at my house, because he is theirs, and I can't have him. I guess she is attached to him, you think? She and I went out for a swim date yesterday and had ice cream too. I think she was still in CIRCUS mode from last Monday, because she picked Cotton Candy as her flavor. I actually think she was attracted to the color, which was bubble-gum pink! Click on the word CIRCUS and see all the pictures from that trip from last week.

This past week also sent me back to the dentist for a crown, and a prep for another. I also had an appointment for new glasses, so I should be in good working order here soon! It wasn't planned this way, as the glasses broke last week after yoga, and I was forced into going in since repair was out of the question.

Today I knitted new toes into a pair of socks for Eric. He had worn the bottoms out. I read my noted from when I made them, I had reinforced the heels with wooly nylon, but not the toes. Lesson - reinforce all his foot with wooly nylon!

This week the knitters come for a visit, and I have hopes of working on Jake's quilt. I finished the cradle blanket Becky didn't get done, and will make a small flannel crib sheet for the Moses Basket he sleeps in downstairs. There is just enough fabric left from the blanket.

We've had a cold wet rain, off and on all day. Not the nicest weather, but at least not snow. Hopefully it will be clear tomorrow, we plan a trip to SAM's and Kroger's on Tuesday. Very exciting, no?

Jacob is now at home!

Jacob is now at home!

Jacob Michael

Newest Addition to the Family

Here we are welcoming Jacob Michael, first encounter for me, Zack and Maddie. He is a cute little guy, just .3 of a lb short of 6 lbs and is 18 3/4 inches long. He'll be in the step down NICU unit for a few more days until he is eating well enough to go home. Being 4 weeks early he is slow to eat, he'd rather sleep. There are more pictures HERE .

Hazardous Weather Outlook

TODAY AND TONIGHT...

VERY COLD AND DRY AIR WILL HOLD OVER THE REGION TODAY...WITH
TEMPERATURES OVER MUCH OF THE AREA IN THE SINGLE DIGITS
EARLY THIS MORNING. WIND CHILLS WILL RANGE FROM ZERO TO TEN DEGREES
ABOVE ZERO THROUGH MID MORNING.

A QUICK SHOT OF SNOWFALL WILL DEVELOP LATER TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY
MORNING AS A SHORTWAVE MOVES OVER THE REGION. ALTHOUGH MOST AREAS
WILL SEE SNOW ACCUMULATION UNDER AN INCH...SOME SHORT LIVED SNOW
BURST MAY ALLOW FOR SOME LOCATIONS TO RECEIVE UP TO AN INCH.

February Already?

I can't report a great deal of action going on here in Virginia. We are having a pretty cold spell lately, with temperatures this week scheduled to be 16 tonight, and 8 tomorrow! Sillly has an answer to the new cooler temps:

Yes that is the desk area in front of my TV. She discovered this is a warm place, what with the cable box being on the shelf underneath the table. We have now moved her bed here, so she is even more comfortable. And, when she is feeling extra lazy, she can still see the birds outside by turning around and to face the window and rests her head on the side of her bed.

I also made "Warm Windows" for the 5 back windows of the house. This is a gread product, and though not the easiest to handle, has defnitely made a difference in the overall temperature in the Florida room and my sewing room.


This past Satrday I met with the sewing guild at Meadow Farm and we finished up the quilt project we have been working on for the last few months.



I promise more soon, as it is late now and almost dinner time. Hope all is well with everyone!

The bread recipe - A great loaf of Bread

I promised this recipe last week, and never got around to pulling it up again and transferring it to the blog. We are still enjoying the first loaf of this bread, eating the last of it as toast. The crust is still chewy and wonderful, and the crumb very moist. The title above is a link to other sites showing the bread, remember to click your back button to get back here.

Recipe: No-Knead Bread

Published: November 8, 2006
Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.

And if you want a visual - here it is!


Click the button on the slidder to watch.

And Here are excellent step by step pictures of the whole process.

And here are more tips for this process. Click on "Fine Tune Your Bread".
Fine Tune Your Bread
I think I am on my way to make another loaf!

Bread

The Bread Click on the words, The Bread, and you will be taken to a slide show of this fantastic bread. Yes, it is good enough to eat!

Sunday Surprise

Yeterday's field trip was a great experience; we had a pleasant bus trip, a delicious meal, and absolutly wonderful weather, in the high 60's. As I wore several layers, being unsure if the bus would be heated if it were chilly, I was totally comfortable all day. Even went without jacket and sweater at times! It was a spectacular day in all ways. One of the things I had forgotten about Chippokes Plantation is that it has the honor of being one of the oldest continuously farmed properties in the US. It has been operating since 1619. It is bounded by 2 other plantations, two creeks, and the James River, so it's size, 1403 acres, is unchanged since 1646 when the original 550 acre grant was expanded. This feature of being unchanged also makes it unique. This is the view, towards the James River, taken from the front door.

During our tour of the museusm and the mansion, we were told to look upstairs at the fossils of Chesapecten jeffersonius. The docent told us, if we visited the river beach, and if we looked, we could hunt for and possibly find specimens of this fossil, and could take ONE. Well, you know me, beaches and shells! That was almost a challenge.

Meet Virginia's state fossil, the scallop Chesapecten jeffersonius! It fittingly honors one of the state's most illustrious citizens -- Thomas Jefferson. This mollusc lived in the shallow waters of the continental shelf during the Late Miocene and Early Pliocene Epochs, some 4 - 5 million years ago. I am amazed at the size of the one I found, and that it is intact, both shells still connected. Many found halves, broken, or a few smaller ones, melded together. I was the only one to find one that looked as nice as the one in the mansion on display. To say the least, I was thrilled.

Long Overdue

It has been ages since I posted. So what excitement can I report?

The most important news on the home front is that the gutters are finally back on the house, so repairs to the roof after the big "tree" falling are finally complete. It only took four months and four days to get it back together again. Who would have ever though it would take so long? Eric was infinitely patient with them, but they still took their time.

Out weather has been like a ping pong tournament. One week warm, next week cold. We have set records for warmth, and unseasonable temperatures. The men that know (???do they really know??) say that next week we will be normal. Whatever that is? I see banners outside houses proclaiming "Let it Snow", but really do not know if we will have any this year or not. I know the plants are very confused, I still have petunias on the front porch that are alive.

This weekend, on Saturday, I am going on an Appreciation Day field trip with other volunteers from Meadow Farm. We are going to Chippokes Plantation. This is the same place Eric and I visited 2 winters ago for their Christmas Outdoor Sale. The Plantation has a very large museum, so this will be part of out itinerary for the day. Lunch is going to be in Surry. It should be a great time, and the weather is supposed to be "mild" according to the guys in the know.

Thursday is here and it's hard to believe. The few days since Christmas have been quiet, except for the sounds of Kleenex being ripped from the box and the constant honking of me blowing my nose. Last night was the first night in a week I slept through the night without being up every hour like a child checking to see if Santa had come! But today seems to be the beginning of the end of this cold, I'm thrilled to report.

This morning we are at 31 degrees, right now, at 9am. I am sure we were in the 20's overnight. Silly has bravely gone out to sit in the sunshine, so she must think things are improving.

Not much is happening, here in this lull between Christmas and New Years. I have not been out to the stores to see any of the sales, and doubt that I will. Rebecca went out yesterday to return things that didn't fit, and even thought I didn't feel well, I don't think I could have braved that chaos even if I had felt up to a trek to the mall. I know she was gone longer than she thought she would be.

Today we are going to change out a ceiling fan in the Florida room. One night about 6 weeks ago one I could hear this loud humming in my sewing room. I checked out all the electronic things in the bookcase, and the sound wasn't coming from there. I went into the living room and figured out it was the ceiling fan. During the yearly warranty period an electrician was here for another reason (bathroom light) and he told us it was the fan itself. Eric had already checked the wiring and thought the same thing. So, on the word of the "electrician" when we called the fan company they agreed to send a new fan. So today is the day. I get to hold Eric on the ladder .... hopefully this will be a simple task!

I can also report that the squirrel has managed to climb to the top of the bird feeder. He does lovely flying lunges from it to the pole. So far, he seems most content to eat off of the ground. If he gets too greedy then we will try the soda bottle trick. At least all the birds and the squirrel are keeping Silly occupied in the morning. She sits and supervises them quite well.

A Family Recipe for Friends - Coconut Macaroons

We are having guests today, Jennifer from Baltimore is coming and bringing her friend Chris. Since this is Christmas, I decided to write to Jen's mother Linda and see if there was something I could make that would surprise Jen, something that was a family favorite. Linda responded immediately with the following recipe. Linda said this is one she made every year, and in fact was from her own teenage years in 4H. I admit, I had never seen a recipe for Macaroons with corn flakes in it, but in spite of how it might sound, they are delicious and easy to make too!


Coconut Flake Macaroons
2 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup shredded coconut
2 cups corn flakes
Add the salt to the egg whites and beat until foamy. Add sugar, about 2 tablespoons at a time, and continue beating after each addition. Beat until the egg whites form peaks that tend to bend over a little when you draw out the egg beater. Fold in flour and vanilla. Add the coconut and fold in gently. Add corn flakes and mix in lightly. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls, about 2 inches apart, onto greased cookie sheets. Bake in at 325 degrees about 20 minutes. They should be a delicate brown. Makes about 30 macaroons.

Birthday - Birthday

Today is a double Birthday, two special people in my life celebrate today: Madeline (Maddie), my grand-daughter, and Sally, my sister-in-law. Maddie will be three today, and Sally 29 or something! Sally and her family celebrated earlier this week, as Brian and Christine and Michelle were in Florida visiting. Maddie will have her family party today at two. So Happy Happy Birthday Birthday, to both of you! Here's a look at Maddie, taken about a week ago. I promise a birthday shot or two later!

Cookie Exchange

It's always reassuring to know that you are doing something fun, and not totally "old fashioned". According to Google, where there are over 250,000 hits for Cookie Exchange, and our local paper, Cookie Exchanges are all the rage. Last night I held my holiday cookie exchange with my friends. It was lots of fun, and we had an amazing selection of cookies to share with each other. There were no duplicates, and each kind is just begging to be tasted. We had iced cookies, chocolate (dark and light), cookies with and without nuts, and cookies with and without fillings. Just too yummy. We had a fine evening, sharing stories and experiences, and of course, exchanging our cookies!

Toffee Almond Sandies

Today was my baking day for the cookie exchange I am hosting on Wednesday evening. We are each bring Six dozen cookies to exchange. I chose to make Toffee Almond Sandies, a recipe I received from Julia the day we tied the quilt at Meadow Farm. This recipe came from Taste of Home, 1999 (page 127) and as promised by Julia is delicious. I must admit, my sampling proved her right. Here's the recipe in case you would like to make a few .... which the way I made then turned out to be about 10 dozen.

Toffee Almond Sandies

1 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp. almond extract
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. salt
2 cup chopped almonds
1 pkg. (6oz) English toffee bits
Additional sugar

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add oil, eggs and extract; mix well. Combine flours, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in almonds and toffee bits. Shape into 1-in. balls; roll in sugar. Place on ungreased baking sheets; flatten with a fork. Bake at 350° for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned.

Yield: about 12 dozen

My variations: Roll some in ground almonds rather than sugar, also into center of some, press an M & M.

Blog News

Blogger has added new features, and changed some things with the new Beta Version. I am not sold on every new change, and think it will take awhile before I learn how to do some of the things that no longer seem to be available. Nothing new is without some difficulties though! One new feature you will notice in the sidebar is LABELS. If you click on a label, you will be able to bring up all the posts that I have tagged with a label. Obviously, since this blog has lots of posts, I may not go back to the very beginning to label each and every post. However, I am labeling each new post, and have added labels to the most recent posts. How does it work? Click a label, like cooking, and you will see each posts that have something to do with food, cooking, recipes, etc. Looking for something specific about family, then click on family! Simple, right?

Making Cookies

Wednesday kept us busy, making and baking Christmas cookies. We did Eric's favorites, snickerdoodles, sand tarts, and candy canes. Next week, I will make date nut pinswheels, and a new recipe, almond toffee cookies. Don't these look good? Come on over and we will be glad to share. In fact, my cookie exchange is on the 13th, 7pm. Bring 6 dozen of your favorite cookies and we will swap!

Decorating for Christmas

Monday night I hosted the monthly Bunko group that I joined. With lots of help from DH Eric, we docorated the house for this event and to start the holiday season off. This weekend we plan to add the tree and then we will be finished unless I decided to change some of the houses into table top displays. We are really enjoying our new house, and the chance to celebrate the seasons.

Caramel Corn

1. Popcorn, 2. Syrup, 3. Caramel Corn

We have had a busy week, Eric and I. Monday (day after tomorrow) is Bunco night and my turn to host the other 11 ladies who play once a month. Getting ready for company is not a big deal, as the house is still pretty straight from Thanksgiving. However, there are things to be tidied up, and on top of that is decorating for Christmas. And food, food for 12 ladies. The past months of Bunco have seen lots of different senarios as far as food is concerned. Some have obviously worked for 3-4 days cooking up things. Others have taken a more simple route. I am somewhere in between, choosing a simple menu of snacks and finger foods. After all, the main reason we get together is to play Bunco, food is a sideline. The picture above shows the magic progression of sugar and popcorn into caramel popcorn. I had truly forgotten how good the recipe I have is. It's one from Onva, a friend on my mom's. Eric popped up the corn, and I cooked and stirred, and we have a wonderful batch stashed away. We had to hide it, because it might not make it to Monday if we kept in reach.

Later this week I'll attempt to show our decorations outside and in. So far, we think the holly tree with the red and green lights is our best effort.

Family and Friends, thankfulness

Well, it's turkey time again for everyone. But more than that, it's time to be thankful. I'm so thankful for all you, my family and friends. Your love and support over the years has been such a gift. I'm so pleased that my family was able to be together a few weeks ago in Texas. This past year has also connected me to new and old friends. I can't express what it means to know them and to share with them the events of our lives.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day tomorrow. I'll be thinking of each and everyone of you as we sit down to have our dinner of Thanksgiving.