Very Merry and Happy Wishes to You from Me!

Sounds and Sights of the Season

• Me still sneezing and coughing - since October 9th, people!
  Now I'm on new meds. I got a prescription for these sparkly little yellow cough pills, which bear a suspicious resemblance to the substance of the Life Savers Gummies® that I've been eating for my cough.
  
  
• Other sick co-workers discussing the merits of their Neti pots...eww...
• I didn't feel up to dealing with our big artificial tree this year, so we moved our little artificial tree from the tv room to the living room. Love.it.
  
  
• These sweet little ceramic bird light covers were given to us by Meester's mom just before she passed away; lighting the tree brings a tear to Meester's eye. (I found a couple more birds on on eBay to surprise Meester with for Christmas!)
  
  
• A mercury glass ornament from Meester's family that is about a hundred years old.
  
  
• One of my precious Margaret Furlong ornaments, given to me by my two daughters.
  
  

Peace and Grace,

Red

...and a vanilla bean in a pear tree

Sing to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas".
In the last week before Christmas, I've bought 12 dollars of stamps...11 feet of packaging tape...10 pounds of flour...9 bags of Christmas candy...8 pounds of sugar...7 bags of nuts...6 colored sugars...5 golden pounds of butter...4 bags chocolate chips...3 dozen eggs...2 baking cocoas.....and a vanilla bean from Nielsen-Massey.

Just to ship a few dozen homemade cookies to our kids. I'm too busy at work to have enough energy when I get home for making fancy decorated sugar cookies, but for pure buttery vanilla flavor, these simple cookies are just fine. These are the sugar cookies for which I get requests.  I have no idea where I found this recipe, but if I'm not giving someone proper credit, I apologize.

Vanilla Sugar Gems

For the vanilla sugar:
2 Cups white granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean

Pour the sugar into a re-sealable container. Split one vanilla bean from top to bottom, and with the thin blade of the knife, carefully scrape all the tiny seeds inside into the sugar. Rub the seeds into the sugar with your fingers until thoroughly mixed. Add the bean to the sugar and seal the container. Wait a couple days before using the sugar.

For the cookies:
1 Cup powdered sugar
1 Cup white sugar (use regular granulated sugar; not the vanilla sugar)
1 Cup butter, at room temperature
1 Cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract
4 Cups plus 4 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Mix the powdered and white sugars together with the butter, vegetable oil, and eggs. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours to make it easier to work with.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put 1/2 cup of vanilla sugar into a small bowl. For holiday color, you can mix some fine colored sugar with the vanilla sugar. Scoop a teaspoon of dough and roll it into a ball. Roll the ball in the vanilla sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about 3 inches apart(these cookies spread). Use a spatula to slightly flatten the dough balls. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Pop a few warm gems in your mouth and try to save the rest for friends and family.

Meester taped this package of cookies as though we were shipping real gems.

Dear Hallmark,

I know I’ve mentioned this before, actually every time I enter a Hallmark store, but you apparently haven’t heard…so I’m bringing it up again.

I have major issues with your overuse of glitter.  I Do.Not.Like.Glitter.

Help, I am having a glitter nightmare!

glitter-graphics.com

I can’t walk into your stores without getting glitter all over me. If I shop for greeting cards on my lunch hour...no matter how careful I am to avoid touching greeting cards with glitter...I end up returning to my office with glitter clinging to my eyelashes or sparkling on the end of my nose. I look like I spent my lunch hour partying...especially when my nose is also red because it’s cold outside...then I look like I spent my lunch hour partying and drinking. (Believe me, I could use a drink at lunch, but I don’t need my boss to think so.)

I know it’s possible to simulate the glitter effect on a card without using actual glitter; I’ve seen it somewhere. If I could remember where I’d seen those simulated glitter cards…I’d go there to shop. Just cover the damn glitter with a layer of decoupage glue or something, or separate your stores into glitter and non-glitter sections. I’m pretty sure that glitter segregation is not against the law – yet.

Yes, I could shop for greeting cards elsewhere, but I really love your crabby old lady Maxine character(no surprise there), and those insane hoops & yoyo characters(I'm giving myself away here). And you have a lock on all the themed characters that the grandkids want, like Disney, Scooby-Doo, etc.

So I’ll keep dragging myself to Hallmark stores when I have to, and your poor employees are going to have to keep listening to me rant about glitter. I may just start making my own homemade greeting cards.....if they will let me have scissors here.......

Sincerely,
Red (the Grinch) Hamster
Who's with me?

want something soothing for the holidays?

Now that the weather is nasty and I can no longer go outdoors or have my windows open to birdsong (The birds are smart; they have flown the heck out of Iowa!), I'm playing my CDs more. The CDs I'm playing the most are from the together 10 CD Collection.

A while ago, Meester discovered the together website featuring pianist Carl Doy from Auckland, New Zealand. Seriously, this is the most beautiful piano music I have ever heard. The piano sound is so pure it's heavenly. The Christmas CD played on a cold winter night will make you weep. Maybe this music has so much soul because, as the website says, "every note you hear on this Collection is played by a living, breathing musician."

Not just CDs in a plastic case, the together collection comes in an elegant book format featuring photographs from the M.I.L.K. collection.

At least one CD from the together Collection is always in our CD player. There's a CD for every mood, from Bacharach to the Beatles, from Sinatra to Streisand. If you're looking for a unique gift for a music aficionado, you can't go wrong with this music collection.
I receive nothing for promoting this music; just doing a public service for weary shoppers.

Is my rack high enough?

No, not the rack mentioned in the last picture of my previous post. I know that one is lower than it used to be......

Being "under the weather" for a couple weeks has slowed me down enough to ponder some kitchen mysteries. Just little wonderings, not the eternal kitchen mysteries for which there will never be an answer, nor a solution. Like, after I just scrubbed the kitchen counters to sparkling, WHY does my spouse choose to make himself a meaty, cheesy sandwich and grease up the counters again?

I cleaned my oven just before I got sick, and now I'm looking at the placement of the oven racks, and wondering if they are at the optimal height for baking? (note the lovely sparkle and be envious)

What do you think?

Oh, and feel free to comment on whether covering the bottom of the oven with foil is good or bad? And if foil is acceptable - then should the foil be placed shiny side down, or up? In 300 words or less, discuss and debate whether anyone should care about this.