Posts Tagged ‘home’
Merry Christmas!
Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, home, Thoughts on December 25, 2021| Leave a Comment »
A First
Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, cooking, family, home, Marcus Samuelsson, Thoughts on December 24, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Today is the first time I will be making Swedish meatballs for Christmas Eve. I’ve helped my father, many times, but have never made them in my own house.
The recipe we grew up with was my grandmother’s. Every year we would pull out the little wooden recipe card box and find a three by five index card in her handwriting, with my father’s annotations at the edges. You could tell which one it was by all the lingonberry stains.
I loved that it was a family recipe, and that every time we made it I remembered Christmas as a kid at my grandparents’ house in Chicago.
I will admit that I didn’t exactly love the recipe. A decade or so ago we all admitted that maybe, just maybe, the meatballs weren’t all they could be (sorry, Grandma!), and tried an alternative. Here’s what I had to say about that:
… a few years ago we made the shift from Grandma Johnson’s handwritten recipes (so homey!) for dishes like Swedish meatballs and limpa and roast pork to the spectacular versions of same in Marcus Samuelsson’s Aquavit. Yes, an Ethiopian-born immigrant throws down on traditional Swedish food and wins big. See what I mean? The food still says home, only better:)
— The Universal Language? | J.R. Johnson
So this year we’re doing the new old family recipe. It won’t be the traditional Christmas Eve smorgasbord with family, but it will feel like the holidays.
Mr Man and I have already made the quick-pickled cucumbers and are letting them steep (half the sugar though, and no apologies!). As soon as the juice is at full flavor it will be time to make the meatballs.
Until then we’ll kick back, listen to classic Christmas music and make the most of this Christmas Eve.
God jul everyone!
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Magic Numbers
Posted in Food and..., tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, #MaybebitoffmorethanIcouldchew, cooking, home on December 22, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Today’s numbers: 18, 6, 4, 2.
- 18: pounds of mushrooms*
- 6: pounds of pears
- 4: quarts of mushroom soup
- 2: loaves of bread
I made cream of mushroom soup, fresh bread, plus pears poached with lemon, cinnamon and cardamom. And that was pretty much my day:)
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* That was a lot of mushrooms.
Shouldn’t It Be You?
Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, #stupidpandemic, holidays, home, inspiration, Thoughts on December 17, 2021| Leave a Comment »
One thing about adulthood is that you get better at peering behind life’s facade and seeing its complexities.
That’s not always fun, but the good part is that you get to decide what to make of it for yourself.*
If there is a wizard behind the curtain, shouldn’t it be you?
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This holiday season won’t be what we hoped. I won’t be seeing my family in person this year. I keep reminding myself how tiring the drive is but it’s thin consolation.
What isn’t thin is that I can rest easy knowing that I won’t be passing on any Canadian Covid, or even the flu, to my immunocompromised family members. That’s a whole lot of yay.
We also now have the option of making this holiday whatever we want. An author I follow had a good take on this idea so feel free to head on over and take a gander.
It’s ok, I’ll wait.
It’s not like I’m going anywhere.
“This won’t do.
You still have a right to peace and happiness this holiday season, whichever holiday you choose to celebrate. Decide what that happiness is and go for it.”
— Ilona Adrews
Excellent idea.
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* Also, if you want to have ice cream for breakfast, dangit, you can.
Are You Ok?
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, community, home, pandemic musings, Thoughts on December 14, 2021| Leave a Comment »
This pandemic just keeps on keeping on, and while we are in a much better place than we were last year we’re not back to normal yet.
I watch my neighbors walk by, the teenager who gets off the school bus alone every day at 3:45, the man who drives a cab that may or may not be in demand, the new father who strolls up and down the street every afternoon, the older couple who always hold hands as they walk their dog, and the orange cat we are (almost) certain has a home.
I wave and say hello but mostly I want to ask, “Are you ok? Are your homes warm, your pantries full, your hearts whole?”
I know that in my neighborhood and others, the answers will not always be what I hope. And so I smile and wave and when I can, I help food pantries, animal rescues and other groups who do their best to keep our community strong.
And that helps me be ok, too.
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Raising a Monster
Posted in Food and..., tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, gardening, home, inspiration, Laura Ingalls Wilder, memories, Thoughts on December 8, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Here’s a memory that would have been perfect for Halloween or Thanksgiving, but just came to me when I ran across the video below.
The first thing I planted in a garden (aside from myself) was okra. I’d never eaten it but knew that it was a staple in the South by way of some African food traditions. Once grown, I didn’t know how to cook it. The resulting dish was… ok. (If you’re wondering, I recommend using okra in stew or breading and frying the bejeezus out of it. Very good.)
The first thing I grew that I was really proud of was a pumpkin. This was a year or two later and I was still vertically challenged. That may explain why the pumpkin remains a giant in my mind, but maybe not. I’d read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books and somewhere in there, probably Farmer Boy, they discuss milk-fed pumpkins. Well, who wouldn’t want to try that?
And it worked. Huge, that’s how I remember this pumpkin. Between the vines and the body the plant took up a whole section of the garden. I would ease down the little hill, through the tall grass and into the tilled area, basking in the hot summer sun while hoping to raise a monster.
A strong, bright, delicious monster, of course. A girl’s got to have standards.
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New Word of the Day
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, cookies, creativity, home, Thoughts on December 5, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Did I make any progress on writing projects today? I did not. Today was about baking and Formula One (Team Hamilton!).
I tested the first of several batches of sugar cookies. Today, brown-edge cookies. Very good, especially with cinnamon on top. Up tomorrow, my sister-in-law’s favorite sugar cookie recipe. The dough is chilling in the fridge now, and I hope for great things!
In completely unrelated news, I learned a new word today: procrastibake. 🙂
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My Wish for You, Too
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, home, Thoughts, yay on December 4, 2021| Leave a Comment »
We had snow this morning and now the sun is out, streets are white and skies are blue. It’s lovely. I have work to do but I’m grateful to be able to carve out a little time to drink tea and read by the fire.
Happy Saturday!
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I’d Rather Be Baking
Posted in Food and..., tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, baking, cookies, creativity, home, learning@lunch, Thoughts on November 29, 2021| Leave a Comment »
I’m working today but I’d rather be baking. While in Montreal last week I picked up some sugar cookies. Mediocre, not good, stale cookies. They were, to put it mildly, a disappointment.
I hate disappointment. What do I like? Recipes that are satisfying, easy enough to make whenever I want, and showcase flavor rather than perfection. A little flash doesn’t go amiss, either.
We’re watching The Great Canadian Baking Show and I am reminded that there are so many interesting things out there to learn. So while I’m looking for the perfect sugar cookie recipe, I may also start building a list of essential* recipes and methods I don’t already know.
And then start baking.
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* My definition of essential will almost certainly differ from yours, but I’m aiming for techniques that can be used in a wide variety of recipes, help build flexibility into both recipes and bakers regardless of skill level, and eschew fiddly for fun. That said, how have I never made a pithivier? Also, buying puff pastry is absolutely acceptable in my book.
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We Earned This One
Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, family, holidays, home, Thoughts on November 25, 2021| 1 Comment »
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