Holiday Toast

As we dine tonight,

As the food surrounds us,

The smells envelope us . . .

As we sit before the tree,

With packages aplenty,

And the trimmings, too . . .

Let us forever remember,

We are the fortunate few

But, not the fortunate forever.

As we define our past,

As we define our future,

Let us not define our fortune

In our food and presents . . .

But, let us define our fortune

In each other.

Andy LePere

12/25/94

Fresh snow

We had such a pretty dusting of snow overnight, that I just couldn't resist a short walk to enjoy the beauty.

The days are short and the sun is low .... I look like clown on stilts!

Back inside where it's warm and back to work on more wrapping....

~Michele

Spritz Cookies

At this point in the season, time is at quite a premium. I like this recipe because it is so simple and makes a lot of cookies. If time allows, I divide the dough and use a different flavorings and food colorings in each half.

Spritz Cookies

2 C butter; softened

2 C sugar

3 eggs

1 T vanilla

6 C flour

2 t baking powder

colored sugar for decorating

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Combine flour and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Dough will be quite stiff; I have found it's easiest to stir in the last couple cups of flour by hand.

Use a "cookie press" to drop cookies onto an ungreased shiny cookie sheet. I like "Doughmakers" when I need a shiny cookie sheet. (for a dark sheet I have found "Chicago Metallic" works great) Decorate cookies as desired. Bake at 350 for 9 - 12 minutes or until edges are just just to lightly brown.

Yield: 18 - 19 dozen one inch cookies. Stored in a tightly sealed container, in a dark cool area, these cookies will keep 2 - 3 weeks or much longer in the freezer.

If you are looking for more holiday cookie recipes, this web site is great "Christmas-Cookies."

~Michele

Poppy Seed Cookies

I don't know why, but I love poppy seeds and I love these cookies. You've got lots of flexibility for colors and you can choose different nuts.


We made two batches. One with the ground walnuts and one with almonds. On the latter we replaced the 1 tsp vanilla with 1/2 tsp almond extract.


Eating a serving of walnuts each day actually lowers your cholesterol--really! You can then trick yourself and say that instead of eating cookies you're taking . . . supplements. ;->

• 1 cup soft butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup finely ground walnuts
• 1/2 cup poppy seeds
• 1 tsp salt
• Colored sugar

Cream the butter with the sugar, egg, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, almonds, poppy seeds, and salt. Gradually add to the butter mixture and beat well. Divide the dough in half and roll into logs. Roll the logs in colored sugar. Wrap in waxed paper and chill for a few hours. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Slice the logs about 1/4 inch think and bake for about 12 minutes or until the edges start to brown.

  

Enjoy!
Andy

And More Shopping

Yes . . . shopping the Saturday before Christmas. Somewhat dreaded, but in actuality--we had fun! To our credit we didn't have a lot to do. 

We just took a deep breath, shopped and took in all of the wonderful decorations. One of our local and nationally well known resorts, Grand Traverse Resort, not only had decorated, but held a gingerbread house contest. In pretty much any of the pix you see of these delectable domiciles everything is edible including the life size cottage with the train tracks curving out the front door! Within 20 feet of the display we could smell the ginger!

They had thousands of lights both inside and out. And, both Suttons Bay (our home town) and Traverse City did much the same. The Traverse City tree at the very end of this post was lit the first week in December. 

Well, we're happy to report that we're done! 
Andy

Last minute Holiday Shopping

I feel so fortunate to live in our small village, where last minute Holiday shopping is fun!

~Michele

Christmas Revelry

Before the blizzard hit us on Sunday, Michele and I had a great time taking in the holiday season on Saturday, the day before. A re-zoned, wonderfully re-developed area (Building 50 or The Village) had a Christmas walk earlier that day. 

We did some shopping, took in the trimmings, had a wonderful dinner (at Trattoria Stella or simply Stella's), and finished up with a music concert. (Luckily, Michele was able to rest a great deal in prep for this day--her immune system disorder severely limits her activity.) 

The concert included a friend of ours, Jim Hawley, who helped found "Peter, Paul and Mary Remembered". A very fun time was had by all!

Andy

BLIZZARD! w/ a Vid

Well, we were going to blog the fun time we had YESTERDAY, but this storm took precedence! 

We got at least a foot of snow and it keeps coming. In these shots, the snow drifts next to and around our house are anywhere from 2 to 3 feet deep. To be a blizzard, winds need to be at least 35 mph (56 km/h) and have 1,330 feet (400m) max of visibility. 

No, we did NOT go for a drive to "test" the visibility for ourselves. We took the weathermen's word for it, waited for a good break, cleared some snow and took these pix and vid. Again, the vid was during a break in the weather. Sometimes throughout the day we could not make out the rows of pine trees in the distance!

Glad we did not have to go out, yet sure hope our plow guy can make it . . . our drive-way is about a 1/4 mile long . . . whew. Stay warm!
Andy

Christmas in the Village: with REINDEER!!

Well, I guess we're sentimental. Drifting snow, "Christmas in the Village", and reindeer!

Very pretty, very Norman Rockwell-esque. 

And, one of the many cool stores, Enerdyne, held their annual "Antlers and Elves" event.

We always enjoy shopping this store and seeing these hooved creatures.

Happy Holidays,
Andy

Green Grocery Bag Challenge

For years my family has been wrapping our holiday gifts in cloth bags which we reuse each year. (I will do a post on those next week.) This year I heard about the Green Grocery Bag Challenge and decided to join in on the fun! To learn more about the challenge check out their facebook page "Green Grocery Bag Challenge." Or this link: "sewmamasew."

The pattern I used is from the book called "Simple Sewing." It's a great book, filled with quick and fun projects.

I'm adding a tag with Green Grocery Bag Challenge information to each tote.

Take a small step toward a greener holiday season this year,

~Michele

Baking

When I was young my Mom always made these Wedding Cake cookie look-a-likes for me, because I didn't like the nuts in the traditional ones. (To this day, I still don't like nuts in baked goods.)

Meltaways

1 C butter

1/2 C powdered sugar (plus extra for rolling)

1 t vanilla

1/4 t salt

2 1/4 C flour

Cream butter and sugar; add vanilla, salt and flour. Chill dough till firm. Preheat oven to 400. Use a melon ball scoop to scoop teaspoons of dough. Roll in to balls* and bake on shiny cookie sheet for 7 - 8 minutes; till set but not brown. Roll in powdered sugar while still warm.

Yield: 3 - 4 dozen

* You can also roll a couple chocolate chips in the center if desired.

Take a break, have a cup of tea and a cookie; enjoy the season.

~Michele

Grandpa

This is the kinda story that sends shivers down my spine . . . still. 


A few years ago for Christmas I gave CD's of some favorite songs. When my two Aunts looked at the playlist they stopped and stared at me. "You like I'll Fly Away!?," they asked. I said I had just gotten into Alison Krauss' version earlier that year and loved it. 


They explained that their father, my Grandpa, ended every Sunday service with that song. My Grandpa was a Baptist Minister and died two weeks before I was born. I was not aware of hearing this song . . . post partum. They and my Mom all loved the song and had always said that I looked like young pictures of Grandpa. It was intriguing.

My oldest sister had been watching all of this and nicely slipped her gift to me asking to open it next. As I pulled back the wrapping, I could see a hand-made mosaic with an old picture of my Grandfather in the center about the age of 20 or so playing a fiddle. This was super-imposed on a background of sheet music to "I'll Fly Away." We were all stunned.


Now fast forward to the recent family gathering we had last week for the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving. I relayed the story above to my brothers from out of town. They too were amazed and those that could shared tender stories of Grandpa for the next 15 minutes or so. My brothers then left for a 5 hour drive to their next destination.


About 15 minutes after they left they gave us a call. They had stopped at a Starbucks for some coffee for the road. When they walked in playing on the stereo was . . . "I'll Fly Away."


May your Holiday Season also be filled with much wonder and delight.
Andy