Giving and receiving, The yin and the yang of The Season

Christmas 1992 in Richland Washington was a doozy for me. After Thanksgiving, Mike went to his new Job in Houston Texas at the University of Houston. Our second Daughter was due December 24^th, the plan was for me to stay behind and sell the house, have the baby. Then Brenda, our 3 year old daughter, the baby and I would join him in Houston.

The first snow fell in November that year. Nothing really unusual for that time of year in that part of the Washington, except it stayed. And then a whole bunch more fell. The most snow they had seen in 25 years. Figures.

Brenda and I puttered around; we brought home a little Christmas tree and decorated it. I shoveled the sidewalks. My mom called and nearly fainted when I told her about the snow removal I had done. That must have bothered the neighbors to. Faye, Ken, and Bruce got together and decided to rotate shoveling my walk. It took me awhile to figure it out. The guys got out there early and had it done in the morning before I opened the blinds. I could hear them but always thought they were clearing their walks. I don’t know why I never wondered why my walk was clear if they were shoveling there walks. We had a light dusting of a snow fall one afternoon, so Faye, who was in her 80’s, thought she would give their work a touch up. When I saw my elderly neighbor lady shoveling my walk, I was out the front door like a shot. That is when I learned of their plan to keep my walk clear. I got a stern talking to about accepting people’s gifts and she was just fine and fit enough to shovel this walk thank you very much. I went back in the house.

That was a good lesson Faye taught me that day. We always hear it is better to give than receive. Part of the joy of giving a gift is the happy acceptance of that gift. To graciously accept a gift is a gift in return.

A different kind of Sleigh Ride!!!

Christmas 1982. All of my brothers and sister were home, Mike was back in Oregon visiting during Iowa States winter break, and Craig’s girlfriend, Julie, was over. Being young and restless we decided we need an adventure. It was decided we would drive up in to the hills to the snow. So the six of us pilled in a jeep Wagoner, and took off at around 4:30 or so in the evening…just going to be gone a little while we told mom and dad.

We cruised along up into the hills trying to find “good” snow, snowman building kind of snow. It was getting dark so we decided we needed to head back home. Then the headlights went out and a few seconds later the engine died. Great.

We decided to try to do a rolling start. To do that we needed to get out and push the Wagoner up the hill. When we got it to the brink of the hill my brother Craig set the parking brake and we all jumped in. Craig released the parking brake and away we went…nothing, the engine wouldn’t start. We coasted down the hill and part way up the next. We all decided we should just keep pushing up hill and ridding downhill, that way covering some distance before we pooped out. By now it was dark and Craig needed to see. He and my brother Todd found a flashlight and decided Todd would hold the flash light out the front passenger side window and shine its beam on the road so Craig could see. So my sister Emily, me, Mike, Todd and Julie got behind the jeep and pushed, Craig pushed and steered at the driver’s side door until , again we reached the brink of the hill. Down we went again only this time, Todd was hanging out the front passenger side window with the flashlight…one candle power, but better than nothing I guess. Todd had to duck a couple of times as tree branches threatened to smack him in the face. I think we repeated this maneuver two more times, until we came to a hill that was just too steep for us. So we set the brake, locked the doors and started walking.

As we walked along a coyote yipped in the distance. Someone sharply drew in their breath, someone else said, yips, so my brother Craig started telling stories. He pretended he was a news anchor interviewing the survivors of a great ordeal. “Yes we only had one soda cracker between the six of us; we peed on each other for warmth.” We thought this was hysterical, everyone added their “facts” to our fantastic survival story. Soon the story ran its course and we walked along in silence. One of us noticed how the trees made a dark silhouette against the sky. The stars were very bright that night and Mike pointed out the different constellations. At the top of a hill there was a break in the tress we could see the hills before us, folding in on themselves, stretching into the night.

After some time we came to a house all lit up with Christmas lights. We decided a mob of us appearing on their doorstep, might be unsettling to the home owner. So we stood under the yard light as Mike and Craig went up to the front door to ask if we could use the phone. Craig turned back to us and yelled to come on. The kitchen was warm after being out in the cold. As we waited for my dad to come pick us up the lady of the house, concerned that we were too cold, made us all Hot chocolate. We held the warm mugs in our hands, steam rising up in our faces. It was the best hot chocolate I ever had.

Following is my Granny’s hot chocolate mix. Put it in canning jars and attach directions…makes great gifts.

Hot chocolate Mix (yields 15 cups of 45 servings)

10 cups dry milk powder

4 ¾ cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

1 ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 ¾ cup powdered non dairy creamer.

Mix all ingredients. Store in an air tight container.

For serving, 1/3 cup mix in a mug add ¾ cup boiling water

THE HOLLY AND THE IVY - MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER

Today’s selection, “The Holly and the Ivy” is a song dating back to the 15 or 16 century. I love this arrangement. I have added another recipe below using herbs…sort of an old idea that taste great.

I love Rosemary. In Southern California the shrub form of this herb is grown as a ground cover. I live it ‘s little blue flowers, not to mention its aroma. I cut sprigs’ some from the rosemary bush in my yard and bring it in, just like cut flowers. The language of flowers came to England in the 1700s. Each plant had a different meaning. Rosemary is for remembrance. In December we remember our friends and family, following are a couple of recipes in which rosemary can be used and send a delicious message to your loved ones that they are remembered.

From the book “The Pleasure of Herbs.” By Phyllis Shaudys

2 tablespoons of crushed dried rosemary can be added to any angel food or pound cake batter. Add the same amount to any white frosting or whipped cream.

Last spring I was lucky enough to judge a 4-H food fair. The winner had submitted rosemary shortbread cookies. They were delicious. Here is her recipe:

Rosemary Shortbread Cookies.

1 ½ cups unsalted butter

2/3 cups white sugar

2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary ( 1 tablespoon dried rosemary)

2 ¾ cups all purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons white sugar for decoration

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and 2/3 cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the flour, salt and rosemary until well blended. The dough will be somewhat soft. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. Preheat the oven 375 degrees F. line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

3. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to ¼ inch thickness. Cut into rectangles 1 1/2x2 inches in size. Place cookies 1 inch apart on the lined cookie sheets. Sprinkle the remaining sugar over the tops.

4. Bake for 8 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden at the edges. Cool on wire racks, store in an airtight container at room temperature

Makes 36 cookies. Flavor improves with age. Best after 2 days, Will keep for a week.

Food for the Soul.

I know what you are thinking…Oatmeal? Yes oatmeal. On those long awaited and far too few snow days, my mom always made Oatmeal for breakfast. I can still see her at the stove stirring the oatmeal, the kitchen extra bright from light reflecting off the snow outside. My brothers and sister and I would be anxiously sitting at the table pestering her by asking over and over again, “Is it ready yet?” When the oatmeal was done, we wolfed it down, burning our tongues in the process. We jostled each other trying to get our empty bowls to the sink so we could run out the door and play in that snow!

On Christmas morning we were allowed to open our Christmas stockings but had to wait to open the presents under the tree until after breakfast. Yep, you guessed it; we had oatmeal and toast, so I am a little mushy over oatmeal.

Following is a great recipe for Oatmeal. I like it because you can tweak it anyway you want. I leave off the pecans. You can sub in dried cranberries or blueberries for the raisins, add fresh fruit, whatever. The vanilla and nutmeg add a really interesting pop of flavor. Only takes about ten minutes to make. So below find the recipe for Vanilla Spice Oatmeal. Enjoy!

Vanilla Spice Oatmeal (serves 4)

½ cup pecans

3 ½ cups water

2 cups old-fashion rolled oats

½ cup raisins

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 cup low-fat milk, or to taste

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Toast the pecans in a dry skillet over medium high heat, stirring frequently, until golden and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Chop them coarsely

Combine the water, oats, raisins, and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring a few times, until the oats are tender, about 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla and nutmeg. Swirl in the brown sugar and place the oatmeal in serving bowls. Sprinkle with toasted pecans and cinnamon. Add milk to taste.

The little things do count.

In the winter of 1983-84 the state of Iowa saw the 10th highest snowfall in a winter season, a total of 57 inches. This also happened to be my first winter in the state. My roommate Nancy and I lived in a trailer park near the Skunk River on the very southern edge of Ames Iowa. Nancy was a graduate student at Iowa State University and over the winter break she was flying home to Seattle to plan her upcoming June wedding. Her last words to me as she went out the door were, don’t let the pipes freeze and keep the bird feeder full.

The feeder hung in a 10 foot tall maple tree, growing in the grass strip between our trailer and the neighboring trailer. The feeder must have been the talk of the bird world in Ames; it did a brisk business, patrons waiting for their turn in the branches of the tree.

I was working a split shift at a Pizza Hut about a mile up the road. I went in at 10a.m and worked till 1p.m., then back for the dinner shift from 4pm to 7pm. I made a habit of checking the bird feeder when I came home from the lunch shift. Even though I kept the feeder full, from time to time the wind and cold would be too much for the smaller birds, I found their tiny little body’s in the drifts up against the trailer.

I have to admit, some days it was all I could do to force myself to check and fill the feeder. I walked to and from work, four times a day six days a week. Some days I just wanted to get inside, put my feet up and get warm!

On Christmas Eve I came home after the lunch shift to find a bag of wild bird seed, adorned with a red ribbon, a note attached, leaning against the door of the trailer. The Note read, “Thank you for thinking of our feathered friends, even on the coldest days.”

So to all my friends who are donating to food drives, toys for tots, taking used blankets and towels to animal shelters, dropping 50 cents into the Salvation Army bell ringers kettle, or keeping the feeder full, thank you, every little bit helps.

Pine cone bird feeder, remember these??

Big pine cone

Bird seed

Crisco shortening

String for hanging

Plate

Put some bird seed on the plate. Tie the string on the end of the pine cone. Slater on the Crisco. Roll the cone in the bird seed. Hang the cone and watch the birds feast!