Holiday Cheer...or Not

This begins the season of holiday parties, and you know all the good things they include.  I'll steer away from the dangerous topics of casseroles and desserts and chocolate—although really, those are some of my favorite subjects for discussion at any time of the year!

Instead, let's talk about gifts. 

Not the kind you love to give.  The kind you love to give away.  You know, in those grab bags and games you play where everyone receives a gift from an anonymous giver.

One year I participated in a "Silly Santa" grab bag and received a pair of fuzzy animal slippers.  Envision this:  they were purple, with red eyes and long black claws, and—I'm not kidding—from front to back, they were two feet long.

Let's just say I found them...

Umm...

Spectacular! 

The slippers received a lot of attention at that particular Christmas party.  And you'd better believe they went right into the very next grab bag I could find.  (grin)  The winner absolutely loved them and wore them the rest of the night. 

Obviously, one person's "umm...spectacular" is another person's favorite gift.

To be fair, these games—and gifts—aren't all bad.  I'll admit I've been lucky, too.  At another party, I received a pair of holiday earrings that I still wear during the Christmas season every year.

Got any grab-bag stories, either for the best or worst gift ever?

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who will celebrate it later this week!

All my best to you,

Barbara

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Barbara White Daille

http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com

http://www.facebook.com/barbarawhitedaille
https://twitter.com/BarbaraWDaille

August 2012

Short Trips of Fancy

Hi, all.
I don't know what it's like in your part of the country, but St. Louis has a reputation for changeable weather. It wouldn't surprise me to hear this is where the famous saying, "Don't like the weather? Wait five minutes" originated. This winter and spring have lived up to that rep. We've had "winter" days so warm, windows were open and shirt sleeves were short. On Monday, we were in the 90s; now I'm in my winter pjs and fuzzy slippers.


So we treasure those brief glimpses of pleasant weather, and tend to run after them, as joyful as children catching bubbles. I dragged my mom to the Missouri Botanical Garden for the orchid show. It was a lovely day, in the high 70s, and windy enough to whisk us off our feet. Fortunately, the show itself was inside. There are more pix on my FaceBook page if you're interested.


My next mission is to meet my critique partner at the St. Louis Zoo and walk around all day, brainstorming and soaking in the sun. Of course, that'll have to wait until the good weather returns.

And you know I have to say it -- can't wait to catch a game in person!

One of my recent "mad adventure" days saw my husband and I at Crown Candy Kitchen. We've always wanted to go there, the sun came out, and off we went. It made perfect sense at the time. This place is a landmark for good reason. A small candy store from 1913, it became a soda shoppe in the 1950s. The booths are intimate and the food is to die for. Almost literally.
I had to try the Heart Stopping BLT, with roughly a pound of bacon, plus tomato, lettuce and Miracle Whip on toast. No kidding: see the bacon? Then the lettuce, tomato, and atop bread slice. And that pic is only half the sandwich. I had to take out a bunch of bacon just to pick it up! And yes, I teamed it with a chocolate shake. The shakes come with a challenge--can you drink five in thirty minutes? The answer is no. Trust me. They are huge.

Now that we've been talking raving about CCK, several friends have mentioned wanting to go for their first time or return again. I'm game, although I may try some other temptation. And of course, there's the candy...

So, is there someplace you've been wanting to go "someday?" Do you have a "mad adventure" day and jump in the car? Where do you wind up on those luscious sunny spring days?

Megan

www.megankellybooks.com

Fudgey Christmas Memories

I have to keep with the spirit of the season posts here, as today I'm baking cookies. I've been gathering new recipes and might stir up some rum balls for a change of pace. However, my family demands I make Chocolate Chip cookies, and people tell me they hope I give them some in tins. Which is strange because my "secret" recipe is the Nestle Toll House Cookies recipe on the bag of semi-sweet morself. LOL So everyone could make them, if they wanted to. The only thing I do that's not listed on the bag is put foil on my baking sheets (because I reuse the cookie sheets during the baking of a batch). Here's what I made for Santa last year. He didn't eat all of them, but he made a pretty big dent.

I like rolled cookies that are pretty shapes and have icing, but not sprinkles or sugar. Making them is a chore, however, even though I like to decorate the ones that turn out. There's something about rolled dough that challenges me. You can use your Valentine heart cookie cutter for Santa, just put heart tip at the top for his hat. For a few years, I made Linzer cookies, which are basically shortbread-like cookies with red raspberry preserves. Again, they're not easy--too much rolling and cutting and perfecting. I'm more the drop-from-a-spoon type. Maybe that says something about me in general, but I'm not going there. :)

Could be I'm missing the rolling-dough gene. My mom wasn't a cookie or pie baker, but she made moist cakes with frosting that would make your knees buckle and FUDGE to die for, just from the smell. I'd love to be able to make it like she did. But Mom cooks by experience, not by a recipe, so we may have lost this treat forever. She can't cook with anyone in the kitchen, nor can she cook when trying to write down what she's doing. This doesn't bode well for us, especially as Mom hasn't been able to make Fudge for a few years now. Since I don't have a grasp of what a "hard ball or soft ball stage" looks or feels like (or how a drop of fudge cooked to that stage reacts in a cup of water!), I tried to make fudge using a candy thermometer. No luck. I tried different measurements of liquid to attain a "messy but not sloppy" consistency. I kid you not! That's how much milk to add, according to Mom. Now you're getting an idea of what I'm up against. I won't even try to explain how you know when you've beat it enough, but it includes the words shiny and glossy (however, you only want one and the other is bad).

But even if we can't have the Fudge itself, my siblings and I will cherish the memories of buttering the dish, getting to eat the fudge off a beater or scrape the bottom of the saucepan, waiting for the fudge to set enough to eat that first cut bite, still warm, or cheerfully assuring Mom that the "bad" batch of spoon candy (when it didn't set up) was not really a disaster because it tasted so good. Same with the rock hard, chisel-a-chunk-free batches. That smell of rich, luscious fudge cooking on the stove--aaah, my mouth waters!--would bring us from wherever we were in the house.

So, no, I never missed home-made cookies when we had something a zillion times better. Fudge, cooked with love, by Mom. Thanks for the memories, Mom.

Is this peculiar to my family, or is there a food in your family that no one else can make or there's no written recipe for? Do y'all have any suggestions for me--perhaps a good recipe I should try?

Wishing y;all a happy holiday season, with warm fudge, warm times with loved ones, and warm memories for your future.

Megan Kelly
www.megankellybooks.com

Health food or not?

Hi, and Happy New Year!

On New Year’s Day, I gave up chocolate. And except for a couple of health bars--which you know don’t contain the real thing, anyway, and sure don’t give you that sweet, smooth, chocolate-y taste you crave--I’ve stuck to my resolution. Oh, I’ve wavered some but have managed to hold back. And I’ve been faced with a lot of temptation.

One of our favorite restaurants (you’ll recognize which as soon as I say this) gives foil-wrapped mint chocolates to their customers at the end of their meal. The last time we went there, I bravely told the waitress not to bring the mints along with the bill. Another restaurant prominently--and permanently--displays their dessert menu in a handy-dandy little booklet that remains on your table all through dinner. Are you noticing a dangerous trend here?

Maybe I should eat at home more often?

While she was carrying me, my mother’s cravings consisted of tangerines and chocolate candy bars, eaten together. A heck of a lot better than pickles and ice cream, don’t you think? Anyhow, though I say this jokingly, it’s true: I’ve been a chocoholic since before I was born!

And lately I’ve been reading that chocolate, especially the dark variety, actually is a health food. It has all those great antioxidants that your brain and body need. Unfortunately, it also has all those calories and fat...which wouldn’t be so bad if I could just quit eating after one serving. But who can stop when it comes to chocolate?

So what do you think? Good or bad? Health food or not?

Do I put chocolate back on my menu???


All my best to you,

Barbara

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Barbara White Daille
http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com

Simple Pleasures

I spotted these pink tulips in the grocery store the other day and almost walked right by them. They were gorgeous, but I've been trying to watch our budget and $10 for flowers seemed like a big splurge.

But they were so beautiful and on impulse, I bought them. I brought them home and put them in a vase, then remembered this pink ribbon I'd saved from a candy box and tied that around the vase.

I think they're beautiful and I can't tell you how much pleasure they've given me. Every time I pass through the living room and see these tulips, I smile. I count it $10 well spent.

I'm not always good about indulging myself with little pleasures, but I'm getting better. For instance, last time my favorite dark chocolate bars were on sale, I bought a bunch and stashed them in my closet. They are my own secret pleasure -- a little bit of luscious chocolate all for me.

And books -- who could forget books? A paperback book is one of the best cheap pleasures around, even in these expensive times.

What secret pleasures do you indulge in?