Susiej

The year 2008 hangs by a thread; tonight beckons the big parties, the celebrations and the New Year’s resolutions. I’m still content to look back at the big fade of the Christmas season, as its ripples cast an ever-widening circle until it is completely gone; yet absorbed into who we are.

I liked 2008. Just the way it was. The end of the year beckons us to evaluate the year in one big chunk, and apply the grades, positive, negative, pass or fail, good and bad. This can be a formidable task; one that I’m really not up to after those solid months of the fast-paced routine of back-to-school, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. For 363 days, I live one day at a time, from one cup of tea to the next. Just to keep everything low-key and low-stress, I’ll be doing the same on December 31, and January 1.

Instead of trying to sum up the year in one big chunk, I’ll just savor the little moments that somehow managed to bring me a year.

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Filed under: holidays, memories, the lake house by SusieJ - 7 Comments →

The newspapers tell us daily about our ongoing recession, and desperate retailers are slashing prices at deep discounts to get customers back at the register. However, whenever I shop I find the stores crowded, and the huge promised discounts missing.

The week before Christmas, I bought my husband this mug, in “D”, at Anthropologie for $3.00, 50% off the regular $6.00 price. A couple of days later a friend told me the mug was now 75% off. So, after Christmas, I went back to Athropologie to pick up an “S” for me — assuming, at that price, all the “Ss” would be gone.

I found the shelves full of mugs, and the price, back up to full price. Full price. I once worked in retail, and there was one golden rule: once a product started a price descent, the remaining tumble would be swift and quick. Unsold-marked down merchandise would be shipped in cardboard boxes to some discount warehouse in the sky. Never once would a price go back up. At that wasn’t even during a recession.

Target advertised 75% off sales after Christmas. We went shopping for an alarm clock, socks, underwear and a basketball. Nothing in our cart carried a 75% discount. Ditto for ice skates I craved. Even though the sports store was empty, the bin overloaded with skates, the manager refused to budge on the price. So, I didn’t buy them.

Of course, this is unlike Macy’s. Everything is marked down, and once you’re at the register, you discover that there’s an additional 20% off your purchase.

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After the presents are unwrapped, they still go back to their train, duct tape and scraps from the recycling bin.

Materials:  Duct tape, paper towels tubes, plastic vegetable trays, green tissue paper (for grass) and the front of an organic panda cereal box.

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Filed under: Laugh, boy by SusieJ - 4 Comments →

Our living room

Get your own at CaptureTheMagic.com.

Now, they ALL believe.

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Filed under: Laugh, Life, holidays by SusieJ - 2 Comments →

If you look close, you’ll see that our attachment to our treasured decorations is rooted in the object’s history, rather than the beauty of the object itself. History, of course, takes time to develop, and builds momentum while we are not looking.

I clearly remember the day I found this wooden nativity at my favorite hometown shop, Global Crafts.  I specifically chose this one because I thought the wooden figurines would be durable enough to withstand lots of boy-handling; and they have.  Moving the Holy Family to our wooden toy barn gives us enough room for Mary, Joseph, the angels, and Baby Jesus to mingle with the animals.

When I pull this nativity out of its box year after year and smile, it is not because I am so pleased that the set has held up so well; I am instead, remembering the day I bought this.  My boys were licking Christmas cookie dough from the spoons at Grandma’s house, while she was busy baking.  I was just a few blocks away, picking out this set.  A world I once took for granted; and has now, remarkably vanished from my life — in just a short time. This nativity set reminds me of the way the world once was; so that I don’t forget.

I mourn less now; and try to remember more. This year, I can look back on those days in wonder, as I try to recall exactly how it was; I’m forgetting so quickly now as new grooves and patterns are replacing these older ways.  Yet, what I wouldn’t give for just 10 minutes of her time to fill her in on all that’s new, and watch her react to all that she discovers about us.

For one, I’d like to introduce her to our Elf, who always seems to drop in when you least expect it.  Personally, I just think he’s trying to make amends for that snowball fight.

Merry Christmas to all.

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Filed under: Life, Tears, holidays, memories by SusieJ - 5 Comments →

Cinnamon Rolls baking in the oven on Christmas morning.  This could happen with just a few, easy preparatory steps. Make the dough, roll the rolls, stick them in your freezer and thaw in the refrigerator on Christmas Eve.  On Christmas morning, you bake the rolls.

Maybe it’s something about having four boys around you all the time, but your mind races for quick-fixes, shortcuts, and easy-way-outs.  These paths always lead to destruction, I’ve found. For example, I realized that brioche is a sticky dough, so I thought it might be wise and quick-and-easy to use my food processor to mix the flour into the melted butter and honey.  I stopped what I was doing long enough to tie a costume. You know that fine line you can cross on the work bowl of the food processor?  I crossed it; and before I knew it, I had this:

That would be melted butter, honey and eggs. My, this is fun.

This cinnamon roll recipe starts with a rich, and easy-to-make brioche dough from the book Bread in Five Minutes a Day. The dough will give you enough to make four pans of rolls. (Give some to friends, or store the excess in your freezer.

• 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (2 packets)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 8 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup honey (this is my all time favorite!)
• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
• 7 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• Mix the yeast, salt, eggs honey and melted butter with the water in a 5-quart bowl, or lidded (not airtight) food container.
• Mix in the flour, using a spoon until all of the flour is incorporated.
• Cover (not airtight), and allow to sit at room temperature for about two hours.
• Chill dough to make it easy to handle. Or you can freeze the dough here, in one-pound servings.

The cinnamon rolls:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 30 pecan halves

The Filling:

• 4 tablespoons salted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 cup chopped and toasted pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350. Cream together the butter, salt and brown sugar. Spread half of the mixture evenly over the bottom of a 9-inch cake pan. Scatter the pecans on top.
2. Cut of a grapefruit size chunk of your brioche dough, dust with flour and shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around the bottom on all four sides. Watch video for technique.
3. Roll the dough to a 1/8 inch thick rectangle.  Use a bit of dough to keep from sticking.
4. Sprinkle remaining half of butter mixture on dough. Roll the dough into a log.  You may need to chill the dough so that you can cut it at this point.
5. With a serrated knife, cut the log into 8 equal pieces.
6. Bake 40 minutes.  While still hot, run a knife around the inside of the pan to release the rolls and invest immediately onto a serving dish.

Check out these gorgeous bread on a stick rolls, direclty from the Artisan Bread website.  See how to make these here.

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