Susiej

I don’t like surprises. They make me nervous, no matter how sweet and well-intentioned the gift. But thinking back, here are a few of my most memorable gifts.

1. A J Peterman black linen dress.
2. To have absolutely nothing else to do on a pre-Christmas snowy afternoon so that I can watch the black and white version of The Bishop’s Wife.
3. The flowers my husband sends on my son’s birthdays. He remembers how much each one of those days is really an internal birthday of my own.
4. The essential oil blend of pure rose, lavender, clary sage and grapefruit, which I mixed into a jar of sea salt and olive oil. I scrubbed this onto my body every morning before my shower, and slowly nursed myself back from a bout of post-partum depression.
5. The “Create your own bottle of wine” gift from my brother. It’s awesome, because we’re making it an a group — him, his wife, his son and wife and us.
6. The Williams Sonoma Gift Card my Dad faithfully gives me every year. No matter what day I use that card, whether it is New Years Eve Day, or a dreary blistery day in March, the minute I pull open the doors of that delicious store of tools, it always feels like Christmas.
7. And of course, my personal shopping excursion with my fashion consultant.

If you’re racking your brain trying to figure the perfect gift, try Excitations. A gift-giving site that offers an “experience” rather than a “thing.” How about something like a personal chef party or a Personal Fighter Pilot Experience, or Skipper for a Year. Check them out - they are amazing. See more memorable gifts at PBN’s blog blast.

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I really don’t think it has a thing to do with the fact that we once cut our own tree and every needle fell off two weeks before Christmas,

and just like The Grinch, we had to take every single ornament off the tree,

but the boys really want an artificial tree this year.

Three years ago we found this awesome Christmas tree farm in the town where I grew up. Nestled among valleys and the two castles there is a sweet family working their tree farm to put their three children through college. They sell ornaments and have hot chocolate and cookies — but it’s not a flashy overwhelming set-up.

It’s just a place that makes me feel closer to home, closer to Christmas. And they remember me. (How could they forget the year they had to drive over an hour and replace our Charlie Brown Christmas tree?) This is the new tree they brought us.

We go back to this tree farm every year, despite the fact that our maiden tree fell apart.

But this year, the boys, taking to heart all they have learned in school about the environment and global warming, are willing to cast tradition aside and go for an artificial Christmas tree. They did mention something about being “tired of the mess.” I think there is some research that proves it’s more environmentally friendly to cut a tree than buy some plastic thing made in China. Still, there is something heart-wrenching about watching that ax take that first cut into a perfectly normal tree.

But you know what? I really could care less. I’m knee deep in finishing these videos. It’s worse than I thought. But the good news, it’s going much faster than I thought — I’m going to make my Christmas deadline, for sure. But this work does take a toll on you. Really, I had no idea how much whining we had going on in our house last year! And I’ve go to listen to it all AGAIN! I’m editing it all out — lots of tape on the cutting room floor. And then, I come out to hear more whining!But, I’ve had lots of laughs — stuff I can’t believe I was lucky enough to catch on tape. The hardest part if finding the files on my computer — they’re so old I can’t remember what they’re named! And the software attaches all of these extra files so I have no idea what’s what.

Latest stats: I just finished four movies — Jan- July 2007!! Plus, two Christmas movies are done, and Thanksgiving 2006 is on the agenda for tonight. Once that’s done, all that’s left is Summer and this fall. Oh, yeah, and the Disney vacation — ugh. That one will be tough. It is draining folks. Draining.

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Wordless Wednesday

Works for me Wednesday

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My boys just learned how to give power to a radio with lemons, how to row a canoe (make a “j” in the water) and how to build a snowball. And no, they didn’t learn this from The Dangerous Book for Boys. They read The Daring Book for Girls. This is an awesome Christmas gift. Lead and choke-free and will be loved by generations to come. My very thorough review is here.

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The fact that this picture is fuzzy is ironic. This was taken during a fuzzy time in our household. The day this picture was taken, I came home from the grocery store; a sitter was here to watch everyone so that I could buy the groceries. I was bleary-eyed from lack of sleep from nursing a newborn, and this little guy was two years old. He saw the bread in the grocery bag, and he wanted it. I started to cut him a piece from the loaf, and he said, “No, No, No.” He wanted the whole thing.

Arguing with him was, and still is, pointless. He will wear you down. So, here he sits, happily with his bread.

I stumbled upon this picture while working on the home movies. As I look at this photo now, it becomes apparent to me that these “fuzzy daze” are gradually fading away from my life. Their legs are getting longer; it’s taking me less time to clean the house (not a WHOLE lot less, almost imperceptible); they don’t complain when I give them “big kid” plates instead of Toy Story plates, and I have fewer arguments over bread.

The photo, fuzzy and all, is framed in my kitchen now as a reminder of those fuzzy days when I was bleary-eyed, and needed a sitter just to go to the grocery store. It’s also a reminder of how just how “little” those “big” problems will look in just a few short years.

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One of my goals is to finish editing our home movies by Christmas. I add pictures, edit the video and put music with them. Where am I? I just started working on January - March, 2007.

When I started working with this tape, it was just so ugh! Gray skies, no leaves on the trees, and pretty boring. But, you add a little music, some funny pictures and it just flows. What was not very exciting is now a little gem.

However, it’s only a 25 minute video, and I’ve been working for 3 hours straight now. Not really fun. I wonder if it’s even worth it? But, how can I stop? All this video footage, all these photos? It’s quite a quandary I’ve gotten myself into.

Making a home movie with all of the new software really is a lot like making a quilt. There are threads on the screen to match the video and the audio. If you had music, that block will have another thread. They are all labeled on the screen for you, stacked on top of each other. The threads are what you use when you want something to fade (audio or video), by dragging the line downward at an angle. To stop the picture or the sound — you simply cut the thread. Then, you move it and literally pull the thread out to make the video come alive somewhere else. Some things you cut, and discard, and you continue to pull more threads out to bring you the creation you’re looking for. And when you’re done, you do have a collection, all sewn up, much like an heirloom quilt made from patches you found around the house here and there.

I am hooked because I have this… “gift.” I pick the most amazingly perfect songs for the videos. And I don’t realize I’m doing it, until it’s all done, and the words and the rhythm all just comes together perfectly.

Here’s an example. I was making a movie about my husband’s Ironman. There was this part, a few minutes before the race starts, when he and his buddy were pumping their tires, checking their gear, etc. They were so amazingly calm. The sky was hazy, because it was 6 a.m., and the sun wasn’t quite up yet. It really was not exciting — but it was a crucial part of the video, because whenever they watch it, they smile and say, “I was so nervous then — my heart was just beating so fast.” So, the music needed to be something smooth and quiet, with a nice beat. I picked Sting. I ran through the songs, clicking on the songs in Itunes until I found the perfect one. It sounded GREAT. The name? Be Still my Beating Heart. How great is that?There’s even a line in the song that says, “My body isn’t made to run this fast.” Perfect!

However, there is still the matter of the time involved. Apparently, I’m not alone in this problem of the movies taking so long to make. Check out the opening of this article in the November 21, 2007 edition of the WSJ:

If you have put off turning those video tapes or reels of film in the closet into the finished film you’ve long promised your kith and kin, it may be because you suspected you’d be getting into something that was less a simple project and more a full-time hobby. You were right. Editing software makes movie-making easy in the same way that a word-processing program makes it easy to write a novel. But crafting a film is one of the most gratifying things you can do on a computer, so it will be time well spent. Thus, just in time for the holidays, here’s a how-to based on a recent home project of my own.

I just need to keep reminding myself, “This is time well spent. Future generations will enjoy these movies forever.” As long as I preserve them right. I worry a bit about the music I’m adding for today. Will we dread hearing this 10 years from now? It’s a snapshot of our time, so I guess it’s OK.

So, if you want to join me, start with one of these. Many have trial versions you can try for free. Each product has it’s drawbacks — and they all have their pluses. Even if you have a camera that does tape directly to a DVD, it still must be translated to play on a TV. I still have camera that uses tape, and the experts say tape is still the best quality. It’s amazing how far behind this technology really is. But it takes lots of time….

Here’s my You Tube page.

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The first thing I like to do on Friday after Thanksgiving is to clear the decks of the orange and browns of Thanksgiving and usher in the beautiful bright colors of Christmas as soon as possible. I have a ritual for this — I make cookie dough. I didn’t say I make cookies — I just make the dough, and then I store the dough in my freezer.

Once it’s there, it’s so easy to pull out a ball of dough and roll them out for cookies whenever the Christmas Elf mood strikes us — with half of the mess that baking cookies traditionally requires. I see the whole cookie baking process, with kids in the house, as a step by step process. Baby steps; break things down.

I’ve been tagged by Angie, and Motherwise for some memes. First, I will do that seven weird random things meme. Angie’s will take some time.

1. I wear socks to bed every night. Even in the summer. If I get cold, then I spend the rest of the night getting up to pee. So, I just wear socks, and everyone gets some zzzs.
2. After my Mom died, I kept checking my e-mail — I just had this feeling that she had some lost e-mail left out in the cybersphere that didn’t make it to me yet. And that e-mail would just explain EVERYTHING. It has yet to arrive. OK, Mama Milton, I’m sticking with the weird here too.
3. When I do get up to pee at 2 a.m., I have deep dark thoughts. They frighten me. Does anyone else out there have those? I’d like to have a discussion about them on the blogsphere — get them all out in the open while it’s daylight. Because, during the day, these deep dark thoughts don’t look so deep and dark. And then, maybe, at 2 a.m. I could just read what we said during the day –instead of bugging you with a phone call at 2 a.m. — and I wouldn’t be so frightened.
4. I’m a very good at the piano. I won contests and stuff.
5. I have a passion for design and architecture magazines. I drool over Metropolitan Home, Better Homes and Gardens (did they just fold or something), and I have a subscription to Architectural Digest. But, I can’t figure out where to put the sofa, or hang a picture. But I like the pretty pictures in the magazines.
6. I used to be an avid gardner — before kids. I knew the names of plants, just by looking at it’s leaves. I knew when to plant it, when it would flower, the best time to prune it, and where it originated from (it’s habitat). What is more fascinating, to me, is that I never formally studied this. I just watched a few shows on TV, visited a lot of garden stores, and started gardening. But, when I had kids, I found it very difficult to focus on the plants and hear what they were trying to “say” as I weeded. I got so frustrated that I just walked away from my shovel, took off my gloves and never looked back. Surprisingly, I don’t miss gardening — but I still remember everything about the plants. It was a language I seemed to have learned.
7. I feel like cooking everything in site today. Mainly, because I just want to eat everything in site today. I’m taking advantage of it and baking like a fiend — Chex Mix, Marshmallows, Gingerbread — because I may not have this muse later on this month when I really need it.

Who to tag? Patios, Crunchy Domestic Housewife, Zena, BusyMom (no, you’re not the worst) Jenny, Painted Maypole, Slouching Mom and my fun single girl-friend Garnet have already been tagged. Leslie and Aussie Mum did the 8 meme, which I am staying far away from. The Wink, Melinda Zook, Sabbatical from Sanctity, Kiwi Countdown, Damama, Whoisgoingtotellyou and therapydoc. are tagged, So, who can I tag? For sure, Amy, Janey, Melody, Louann, Sassafras (how have you been lately?) and Mountain Mama. Maybe Gift of Green could do 7 green things about her, besides freezing her bum.

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you would have heard the little boy ask, “Can you cut me off a piece of chicken from that turkey?”

Also, the baked sweet potatoes would have been very, very chewy. At my house, there are baked sweet potatoes every year. Not candied yams, or sweet potatoes covered in marshmallows, just plain and simple baked sweet potatoes, topped with butter and powdered sugar. Today, as I bit into the sweet potato — it was so DRY!! It actually had the consistency of wall paper paste; not that I know what that tastes like — but I was finding it difficult to make my mouth move to chew around this mass in my mouth. I kept waiting for that burst of sweetness; and then it dawned on me. This is NOT powdered sugar — this is cornstarch!

So, what else would you find at my house if you joined us for Thanksgiving? Here are some of the things you will find every year, without fail. Like this bowl of bowl of nuts.

There was always a bowl of nuts at Grandma’s house when I was growing up, when everyone looked ten feet tall, and I guessed that the oak staircase at her house was probably at least 4 stories tall.

There will be Lemon Meringue Pie. I make this every year now for my brother. It’s his favorite, and my Mom always made one for him. I see it as my duty to make sure he finds one at the Thanksgiving table every year.

While cooking it this year, I wondered why the pudding wouldn’t thicken — and then I realized that little brown packet of lemon pudding was still unopened, on my counter.

Moving on then, you will have turkey, the oyster stuffing my husband loves that his Mother makes, and of course lots of cornbread. I forgot to make the gravy this year. Everyone was very kind and said they didn’t even miss it. This is our pet turkey, Gobble, made from a grocery bag.

After dinner, those nuts will make another appearance when we play Monopoly using the nuts as hotels. The red plastic pieces are missing, of course.

I never made it to the hotel phase today. The first five times I passed “Go,” I had to pay the $200 to someone else. I went to jail 3 times, and I landed on Boardwalk, owned by my son, who had loaded the joint up with two hotels already. I was, and am always, the shoe. Makes me feel like I’m Mary Poppins or something like that.

The Thanksgiving muse thankfully came and visited me yesterday; allowing me to fly through the house getting all the preparations done, cleaning the house, while still miraculously having time to focus on the kids. I was zooming through chore after chore, almost wondering where all of this invisible help was coming from. I love it when that happens.

The only reason I took the pictures I took today, and I wrote this post today is because of NaBloPoMo. Without this post in my archives for my little ones to read 15 years from now, I doubt they would ever remember the time they bit into a sweet potato that tasted like wall paper paste. For once, I am thankful for NaBloPoMo. It’s all over now; I’m already in my jammies, teeth brushed, and all done.

Hope you all had a wonderful day.

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If you’re here for Thursday 13 Champagne Facts, click here. The Bread Baker’s Apprentice will help get you through a bleak dry winter. This cookbook has true baking secrets. Like, did you know it’s better to let bread rise cold, rather than warm, overnight? This will bring out more flavor. If BBA is not in your kitchen yet, put this book on your Christmas Wish List. Written by Peter Reinhart , this masterpiece was named cookbook of the year in 2002 by both the James Beard Foundation and the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

I will admit I am weary from trying to do too much to get ready for the feast, with too many interruptions from little ones who have no idea what I’m trying to get done. The kids are home today, so I will be cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner — and snacks, and cleaning up after each meal, on top of the food I’m trying to get done. I’m wondering just how can I make it to the grocery store within the next 24 hours for the onions I forgot on my list. I’m thinking it was a silly idea for me to host this year — my house is too crazy, and it takes 3 times longer to get anything done with little ones under feet. This is one of those times when I do feel more alone, as I miss all that my Mom usually does. Not that I don’t have any help others are busy cooking parts and pieces of this meal too as we speak. It just takes a little getting used to when you remember that you could always count on her to make gravy with no lumps, and this year you can’t count on that.

Would anyone really mind if I just ordered pizza Thursday? It’s all about the family time anyways, isn’t it? We could have pizza and cornbread. Well, there is that matter of that bird thawing in my fridge. He will need to be cooked.

Thankfully, this bread is already made, sitting in my freezer to be warmed up for Thursday. I make it without the bacon — using butter and light olive oil in its place, and it still tastes yummy. (In all due respect Peter, I’m sorry. I know that the crunchy bacon combined with the soft sweet corn reminds you of your favorite Thanksgiving memory.) If you need one last dish, there’s still time to make this cornbread. It starts with an overnight soak. You’ll have to excuse me now, while I rid myself of some cortisol.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (6 ounces) coarse cornmeal (also packaged as “polenta”)
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 8 ounces (approx. 10 slices) bacon
• 1 3/4 cups (8 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 1/2 cups
• (16 ounces) fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 2 tablespoons bacon fat or vegetable oil

1. The night before baking the corn bread, soak the cornmeal in the buttermilk. Cover and leave at room temperature overnight.
2. The next day, to prepare the bacon, preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
3. Lay out the bacon on 2 sheet pans. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the bacon is crisp. Save the fat. When the bacon has cooled, crumble it into coarse pieces.
4. Lower the oven setting to 350°F (175°C). Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir in the granulated sugar and brown sugar.
5. In another bowl, lightly beat the eggs.
6. Dissolve the honey in the melted butter and then stir the warm honey-butter mixture into the eggs. Add this to the soaked cornmeal mixture.
7. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture and stir with a large spoon or whisk until all the ingredients are evenly distributed and the batter is blended and smooth. It should be the consistency of thick pancake batter.
8. Stir in the corn kernels until they are evenly distributed.
9. Place 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat into a 10-inch round cake pan (you can also use a 9 by 13-inch baking pan or a 12-inch square pan). Place the pan in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the fat gets very hot. With good pot holders or oven mitts, remove the pan, tilt it to grease all the corners and sides.
10. Pour in the batter, spreading it from the center of the pan to the edges.
11. Sprinkle the crumbled bacon pieces evenly over the top, gently pressing them into the batter.
12. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the corn bread is firm and springy (the baking time will depend on the size of the pan) and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The top will be a medium golden brown. The internal temperature at the center of the corn bread should register at least 185°F (85°C).
13. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes before slicing it into squares or wedges. Serve warm.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thursday 13

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And I’m thankful for that.
Wordless Wednesday

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The kindergartners put together a Thanksgiving recipe book. I’ll share some of the gems here:

Recipe for Turkey

• Cut off feet and bones
• Pour 10 pounds of pizza sauce on top
• Add lemon
• Add 3 cups of sugar
• Add 10 pepperonis
• Cook for 24 hours at a temperature hotter than the sun

Pumpkin Pie

• Take one pumpkin and mash it in a blender
• Add 2 pounds of sugar
• Add 3 cups of butter
• 1 glass of water
• Make crust by mixing 4 cups of flour and 1 teaspoon of yeast
• Flatten it with a rolling pin
• Bake for 20 seconds at 1000 degrees

Mashed Potatoes

• Smash 1 potato with a knife or a spoon
• Cook on the stove, add pepper and salt
• Cook 15 hours
• Add 2 scoops of butter

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