Peach Coglo

Weekending ~ December 18, 2011

Joining sweet Amanda at the habit of being today . . . .

 

This weekend went by too fast.

We started Friday with the movie Million Dollar Duck.  I do appreciate these old super-slow Disney movies, even if they are a bit sexist. 

Saturday morning was spent cleaning.  I finally made up a batch of wood cleaner solution from Make Your Place.  I am so happy and proud of myself.  This stuff works like a dream.  Spots I couldn't get off my furniture with commercial cleaner (even the "healthy" kind) came off like a dream.  I loved that it took no time to make up; cost pennies to concoct and didn't offend my olfactory system.  My furniture looks so much better too.  I never would have believed it.

Saturday afternoon found me looking all over for a white dance outfit for Helena.  Thankfully she needed new tights and she will be wearing her leotard and wrap skirt in class and again for  the Easter Vigil mass.  

Regarding the dance: I am amazed at how much the girls can remember after only two rehearsals.  Saturday is the big day with the orchestra and full choir.  It promises to be very dramatic.  I am hoping I won't be sitting in the pews crying, but I probably will.  That seems to be how I roll after having children.

At rehearsal on Saturday, Helena and Elijah were just amazed that the priest wore "normal" clothes. 

Sunday was nice an slow.  Greg baked sugar cookies with the kiddos. They used the iced Christmas tree cookie and glace icing recipes from Christmas Cooking with Kids (our version has marshmallow snowpeople on the cover; I am not sure if the version pictured is the same as the one that we have).  I made some lip balm using a recipe from SouleMama.  Then Greg and the kids molded and baked the makings of this year's gingerbread house.

This reminds me of Jackson Pollock.

There was roast chicken with lemon and thyme from Apples for Jam.  The house smelled so good between the cookies, gingerbread, beeswax and chicken.

Between all of that, I knit, and I am still knitting. It's a good thing I enjoy it.  Now the kids are saying they want Grumpy, the knitted lump of coal).  They'll have to wait to next year on that one.

The late afternoon was all about Christmas movies.  The kiddos watched Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol and George Balanchine's The Nutcracker.

Late Sunday night caught me making and editing lists.  It's supposed to get shorter not longer right?

How was your weekend?

Birthday Doings

We celebrated Greg's birthday on Sunday. Each year I try to make the celebration more special as well as more simple. Is that possible? I think so. As I get older, I feel more of a need to celebrate milestones, birthdays, as well as big and little things. Celebrating definitely brings more joy to life.

We went to my mom's house where she made him a birthday dinner, and of course, a birthday cocktail. We had a great time joking around, taking a walk, talking about science (yes we party like that), and watching one of Greg's birthday videos.

We are actually still celebrating. My dad has this tradition of making his birthday celebration a month-long occasion. I think that is a great idea. His approach always gives me more time to finish his gifts because you know I am forever late with the homemades. We'll probably make Greg's birthday celebration last a week as we have Doran's birthday coming up very soon too.

So yesterday we gave Greg some flowers. Helena gave him a "Dad dot-to-dot". There will be a sprinkling of some more simple gifts throughout the week.

What kinds of birthday traditions reign in your family?

Happy Tuesday!

Winter Peaches

This summer we collected a few peaches from one of our favorite produce farms.  I specifically made some peach jam for the cold winter days.  Well, we have definitely had some cold winter days lately.  It is the perfect time for some of Greg's homemade bread and some peach jam.  He got the recipe from here.  This book is filled with tasty and simple bread recipes.  They are practically no-fail.  The kids blasted through two loaves of bread in one sitting.  Doran and Elijah ate most of it (with Greg, Eden, Helena and me bringing up the rear), and this was after dinner.  I couldn't have had more than one slice even if I had wanted.  I am raising lumberjacks.  In any case, this is a sign that Greg's bread baking needs to be a more frequent occurrence.

 
This bread was made from a sourdough based recipe-quite tasty.

We would like to have some organic peaches where we can eat all of the peach.  Even thought the orchard sprays its peaches as little as possible, we'd like to try to eliminate it entirely.  One reason I made jam with the peaches instead of something else is that was the best way to deal with the skin-peel it off.  I hope I can remember the 'recipe' next summer, as I made it up and didn't write it down.  Nice move Ang.

In our quest for our own peaches, we purchased a Georgia Peach tree from the Arbor Day Foundation.  They sell trees at reasonable prices and are quite knowledgeable about caring for them in different zones of the country.  They sent us dormant trees and we planted them this past fall.  Right now the baby trees are completely covered in snow.  I am a little worried about them, but Greg says they are fine.  Hopefully we will have our own peaches in a couple of years sans insecticide spray.

It looks like there is more snow on the way for tomorrow.  It's the perfect time for more bread and jam!

 
Do you have any plant or tree planting dreams?

Have a great weekend everyone!

Right before the canning seal was broken . . . .

Finalement Accompli

 

I can't believe the gingerbread house is now finished.  It was still drying on Solstice, so the children could only do a little bit of work on it despite my goal.  Last night, all was accomplished.  They built the house according to their plans and they were so proud of themselves.   Greg builds a house with them every Christmas season, and I am so glad we have this tradition.  One year I would love to build a gingerbread lighthouse.  I can picture the look on Greg's face now.  ;-)

We were pretty hands off with this project.  The kids did all of the decorating.  Greg baked, made the icing, and made sure things adhered.  We had a great time seeing their building plans come to fruition. Helena has proclaimed that this the best gingerbread house ever!  Her enthusiasm is rather contagious. 

 

 

 

These are some of Helena's gumdrop people.  I love how she achieved their "hair".

 

 

 
Elijah told me the brown M & M's  were supposed to be Santa's footprints in the snow.  He wanted black M & M's but they don't make them, so he settled for brown.  Elijah informed me, "These are a part of my plan."

 

 

 
 Elijah's Santa

 

And there you have it! 

 

Gingerly Constructing Gingerbread

There really isn't enough time in the day.  Many, if not most, of our little holiday projects around here require several days to complete.  The Annual Gingerbread House is one such project.  For one thing, it always takes a day for the icing to set so the house won't collapse under the weight of gumdrops, licorice and M & Ms.  (If anyone has a quick, super sticky foolproof icing recipe, I would love to see it!)  This year there is the expected icing issue and well just stuff.   As the person who is in charge of all of the scheduling and organizing around here, I am sure hoping for some sort of Fairy in the New Year who will help me organize myself and the masses.  But it is getting done in stages, much to the chagrin of the children.  They have their gumdrop people and trees all ready.  They even drew up gingerbread house plans unbeknownst to me.  They have been more than patient.  Yes the house will definitely have to be completed today.  I think we can fit that in with the garland making for Solstice.

 
This is Eden's first time participating in gingerbread construction.  As she is with everything else in life, she was all in from the word 'go'.  Somehow she knew the gingerbread crumbs had to be eaten.  :)  You can see Helena is consulting the house plans.

 

 

 
Elijah was very eager to place his peppermints just so.  I like the effect myself.   Yes the Gingerbread shall be completed today.

Happy Solstice everyone!

Blueberries and Buttermilk

 
A page from my all-time favorite cookbook, Apples for Jam. . .

Many of you already know that we have been shameless blueberry fiends lately.  As a matter of fact, we went blueberry picking yet again on Saturday.  We have picked so many that we had to find some immediate uses for our berries.  Many were made into a delicious jam; we have already wiped out one pot of jam for use on Greg's homemade biscuits.  Others were frozen but some didn't make it to the freezer because they were eaten or they became overripe.  Having learned our lesson to use or preserve the blueberries immediately, we were back in the patch again.

One good recipe we discovered came from Apples for Jam.  It is a blueberry buttermilk cake.  It is not an incredibly sweet cake. It doesn't resemble the traditional cake you would find in a bakery or even the usual birthday cake.  It is kind of like a coffee cake, but not too heavy on the sugar.   Greg thought it to be a tad dry, but I have heard that some homemade cakes can be drier compared to their boxed counterparts.  I don't know if it was the way the oven behaved that day, the lack of humidity or the cake's personality.  All that being said, it was still delicious.  The berries were so juicy.  Their juice soaked up the top of the cake and mixed with the bits of crystallized sugar.  At first Helena was not too sure about it and she didn't eat much.  Then sometime during the day, she couldn't get enough.  It was the kind of cake you could give your children for breakfast and not feel like you are neglecting them.  I daresay it's kind of a healthy cake if such a cake truly exists.  I fear they are a little like unicorns.

This is our (meaning Greg's) effort.  The cake didn't get as brown as the one in the cookbook even though it was thoroughly baked.  Despite it's rather pale complexion, the cake was tasty.  I think with Helena, Greg and Eden eating it, the cake only lasted two days. 

All in all, a very good cake.  Now we are on to the next blueberry recipe.  Happy Monday!

Murphy's Magic

In yesterday's post, I introduced you briefly to Murphy. His first name is Charles, but we call him Murphy.  He has been a friend to my mother for many, many years.   He is basically a brother to her and an uncle to me and my brother.  Rarely has there been a family milestone or celebration where he was not present.  Even though we have moved around the country, we have continued to be close.  We have met up with him in Texas, Florida, D.C., and even Canada.  This is all very incredible not just because of the number of years of friendship that have passed, but also because Murphy is not a fan of flying.  Consequently he travels by train.  You can get a lot of places on a train. 

Murphy is also quite the cook and baker.  He made a beautiful groom's cake for my wedding that traveled all the way up North on the train from Georgia.  Following the tradition, he made the groom's cake chocolate.  He constructed a chocolate basket filled with candied fruit.  The fruit cascaded out of the basket and down the cake's sides.  His cake completely outshone the wedding cake in taste and beauty.  I so wished he had made my cake too!

Murphy also carried my parents' anniversary cake on the train too!  It was eaten in minutes flat although it had many tiers.  My brother and I, with the help of my dad's brother and his wife, planned a surprise anniversary party for our parents.  One final surprise for my mom was Murphy.  After the initial shock had begun to wear off.  Murphy called my mother to express his sorrow for not being able to attend.  Then he walked around the corner.  My mom almost fell over.  We have had such fun and adventure with Murphy over the years.  He brings such light and joy to our lives and to the lives of many other people too!

He surprised my mother again for her birthday party this past weekend.  Murphy also brought another cake via the rails.  This time it was strawberry shortcake!  Again, it completely outshone the "official" birthday cake.  I mean it went fast.  Guests were actually scheming on how to get more before it ran out.  I was a part of several interrupted conversations as people bolted for the shortcake when they saw it dwindling!

 
Here is the beautiful and delicious cake that was the backbone of the shortcake.  He's done it a lot, but I still can't believe he toted this cake all the way from Georgia on the train!

I rarely use them, but I love punch bowls.  There is something so 70's about them.  My grandmother gave me this one.  She was appalled that I didn't have a punch bowl in my cupboard.  She was right of course; I did need it.

Ah and there it is.  This was the best strawberry shortcake I have ever eaten.  Murphy should have made two!

I was so happy to see Murphy again.  We have all been through so much together, sad times as well as incredibly happy times!  Murphy is just family, despite that Incident with the cat (she wouldn't let him in the house for some reason), and my brother's attempts to reengineer Murphy's Curtis Mathes television.  He still loves me even though I stole his collard greens off of his front stairs one evening as a practical joke.  He had really been looking forward to them too.  ;-)  He is an incredible and magical man.  Thanks so much for everything Murphy!

 

Lots and Lots of Birthday Cake!

How many birthday cakes can two people have to celebrate six trips around the sun?  Four!  That's right four cakes!  I really couldn't believe it until I thought about it some.  There was the dirt cake for the "friend party", one cake each for Elijah and Helena's actual birthday and then one cake from Grandma and Opa when we celebrated with them yesterday.   Each cake really served its' purpose.  It's a good thing we have a large family, but I think we're good for birthday cake for a long, long while.  I don't think it's something we will repeat.

Helena and Elijah had a wonderful time celebrating their birthday.  They got to have a special birthday breakfast of scrambled eggs, pancakes from my treasured Apples for Jam cookbook, and cinnamon toast.  They were very happy with their Chinese food dinner too.  After all of that and the cake, I feel like we need a week or two of nothing but spinach, tomatoes, raspberries and water.

I really want each birthday to be a celebration of the person and not a huge gift grab.  We have wonderful and generous relatives who give the children lovely gifts, so we try to restrain ourselves a bit.  This is always hard for me.  I can always think of just one more book, special toy or art supplies that I think they can't possibly live without.  I think we did pretty well this year in that regard.  It's so easy for there to be too many gifts.  The children become overwhelmed, where nothing is special or cherished, not too mention my gift budget being blown to bits.  I think Helena and Elijah were very happy and felt celebrated and loved.

On the way to a friend's house for some birthday fun at the pool (The Oasis  http://peachcoglo.typepad.com/peach-coglo/2010/05/the-oasis.html ) . . . .

 

Cloudburst Frosting!  I got the name and the recipe from Alicia Paulson over at Posie Gets Cozy.  You can find the recipe for this divinely light-as-air frosting here: http://rosylittlethings.typepad.com/posie_gets_cozy/2010/06/my-goto-birthday-cake.html .  This frosting was so good that I am thinking of using it on my Christmas Red Velvet.  I know it's sacrilege for a Southerner to use anything but cream cheese frosting on Red Velvet Cake but it's that good!

 

The next morning, Elijah went right to his new crayons.

On Sunday, we went to Grandma and Opa's house where Grandma had made a special birthday dinner for Helena and Elijah.

We made some special strawberries with white chocolate, sugar and orange zest.  Elijah and Doran refused them, Helena only ate the chocolate, sugar and orange zest, but Eden devoured these.  Well, they looked really festive and pretty.

Another birthday cake, but this time it's chocolate.  All the kids rejoiced over that!

There was a strange light outside where things turned an intense green.

Blowing out candles with Opa . . . .

 

Helena recreating the candle-blowing scene in crayon . . . .

 

Elijah always seems to find the teeniest baby worms-everywhere.

It was a wonderfully fun weekend.  It makes me wish we celebrated people in our lives a little more often; I think I'll start doing that a bit more.  Here's hoping your Monday is filled with celebration, and all the things and people you enjoy, but maybe not as much cake ;-)

And the Cake Goes On

Today's post is a bit more brief than usual (okay a lot more).  Greg and I have Doran's Planning and Placement Team meeting today where we review and plan his education program for the next academic year.  We look at things like what he should be learning in math, reading, science, social studies, etc.  We also review his various therapies and look at his overall progress.  It's a pretty big deal, so today I have a little less time to ramble.  However, tomorrow I'll be back to my usual long-winded ways for better or worse.

In the meantime . . .

Two days later, the dirt cake is still being enjoyed.  The kids are working through the leftovers.  I thought we had plowed through most of it at the birthday party.  The guests did put a serious dent in it, but that recipe just made for a whole lotta cake.  It probably didn't help that I doubled the recipe to be sure we had enough for everyone. 

 

Here is just some of the boatload of pudding I made for the cake filling.  No wonder there is so much cake left!  All the same, it was a fun process.  I think after today, the cake will be all gone.  I do kind of hate to see it go.  It almost seems like part of the family by now.

 

Eden likes her cake with a subtle touch of sweet potato souffle.  Looks divinely yummy.

Until tomorrow . . . .

Can He Make a Cherry Pie?

 

One of the things I adore and admire about my husband is his love of baking.  This man who works so hard takes time to craft some baked goodness for us.  His specialties are many -  bread, biscuits, chocolate chip cookies - but the other day he made some cherry hand pies.  The children have been picking cherries off of our trees for days.  We did share the fruit with the birds though.  The only problem was the birds weren't clear on the concept of sharing with us.  It was an epic battle of wills between the children and the robins for a while there.

So first Elijah and Helena picked the cherries, then Greg pitted them with some help from little hands.  I remembered a recipe over at angry chicken's blog.  She has a recipe for rhubarb hand pie that worked well for her: http://angrychicken.typepad.com/angry_chicken/2008/07/3-words.html .  Greg adapted it for our cherries.  They were a hit to say the least.

There went the flour.  It was for a good cause though.

Helena's Cherry Pie Recipe.  I love that it's illustrated.

Voila! Cherry Hand Pies!  They were large as you can see so Greg just sliced them up like a regular pie.

 

I hope the cherry trees are good to us again next year.