Hello Crushers!
If we were on a running date, I would have a lot to tell you. First, I'm signed up for another half marathon. This time I'll be running through the gorgeous Peninsula State Park in Door County. This will be the longest race that I've run since Ellie was born. I did a training run on Saturday for 6.29 miles! WHOO!
If we were on a running date, I would confess how hard it has been to get back into running. Since Ellie has a spring birthday, I got to take her on lots of walks and we took her hiking all over Wisconsin and even took a trip to Denver to visit friends (Hi Susan and family!). There were lots of people that saw us hiking through the mountains, and stopped us to say, "You have a baby. On the trail. In the mountains." Yes, yes we do have a baby. She hikes. She's awesome.
But you know what? It's not awesome when you're struggling with this weird guilt that you want to go and do something by yourself (run) and you miss your running partner (Steve) because you now have to share. You have to split your running time so that one person runs while the other person watches the baby. As much as she loves the running stroller, she probably wouldn't sit in it for anything more than 4 miles. Plus, there's this jealousy that Steve got to go running while I couldn't. And even now when she doesn't sleep through the night, I'm just tired even though I know I need to keep running for my health and sanity. It's rough. Mommies need to stop judging each other. We judge ourselves plenty!
If we were on a running date, I would catch you up on a few things in our family. One of Steve's sisters and my sister had a baby in 2014, too! That's right, there are lots of tiny girls in our family! So many little ones to bring us joy, and wow they are good at it! Sadly, we had to say good bye to my maternal grandfather (pictured here) in January. He got the flu, pneumonia, COPD, and had other health issues related to those things. He was doing alright until something took a quick turn for the worse. Grandma missed him and God called him home to Heaven. As much as I miss him, my friend, and I miss him A LOT, he is in a better place. The best place. My paternal grandfather is starting to slip away from us with Alzheimer's disease. He is angry a lot of the time and taking out his struggles on my dad. Please send up a prayer if you have a moment. Both for the arrival of healthy babies (another of Steve's sisters is due with her 2nd baby in October!), and for those who are/were caregivers.
If we were on a running date, I would tell you that we had a delicious weekend (this is a food-based blog, right?) with homemade coleslaw, a new recipe for a torte I'll try out in the next few weeks, and lemon garlic hummus. Not to toot my own horn, but I came up with the lemon garlic hummus and submitted the recipe to Wildtree and they made it and took a picture (that credit goes to Wildtree) and posted it on Instagram and it was amazing! Not amazing - my run-on sentence. Whatever. I FINALLY HAVE A PUBLISHED (sort of) RECIPE! WHEE!
Ahem.
If we were on a running date, I would also tell you that the next few weeks are going to be fun because a) Girl's Weekend, b) Easter, and c) Ellie's 1st birthday. And I am good at themes and Pinterest recreations. How cute are these? Some bunny is going to be turning one... he he he... So many silly things I can do with that! Since her birthday happens to be after Easter this year, I am planning on getting deals on decorations and stuff. Or raiding a dollar store... Whatever.
If we were on a running date, I'd also tell you that class is going well. Most of my students are awesome and the rest are still nice. I also started a new job as a content writer for some manufacturing companies' websites. It won't be nearly as fun as this, but a nice challenge.
Coleslaw recipe coming soon...
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Monday, March 23, 2015
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Happy Halloween: Barmbrack Bread
Happy Halloween, Crushers!
Our office has a Halloween challenge where groups of employees are allowed to take some time to decorate the area by their cubicles and then we all "trick or treat" visiting each other's cubicles or set ups. It's really fun and makes the afternoon go by quickly. Everyone has a sugar crash by the end of the day! This was a huge team effort, so thanks to all my co-workers for doing an amazing job!
Since my client is an international one, we decided to see how people celebrate Halloween or other ghoulish holidays around the world. We picked Ireland, where the Celts are supposedly the first to celebrate. The rituals and celebrations focused on Samhain, a festival celebrated over night of October 31 around harvest time seem to have evolved into Halloween. Beltane bonfires were lit, turnips were carved (eventually turning into jack-o-lanterns as we know them), and Barmbrack Bread was eaten.
In Mexico and many other countries, celebrate Dia de Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Again, this is a day to gather with family and friends to pray for and remember relatives who have died. Skeletons and marigolds are familiar things to see around homes, cemeteries and altars. Lots of meals are shared and one special item, pan de muerto (bread of the dead), is shared by family and friends near the gravesides of the deceased.
In China around August, a festival called Yu Lan, or the Ghost Festival,
is when the deceased is said to come visit the living. People will
provide food to hungry ghost visitors and even set empty places at the
table for the ghosts. There is lots of food!
I was in charge of bringing pumpkins for the Ireland set up and making barmbrack. Here is the recipe that I used (it's made in two stages and traditionally has trinkets baked inside, but I skipped the trinkets):
Barmbrack Bread
First stage
Mix together:
1 cup of sultanas
1 cup of raisins
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup cold tea
Cover these ingredients and leave to soak overnight (or in my case, a few hours).
Stage Two
Prepare these ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 level teaspoon of baking powder
1 egg beaten
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1. Add the four, baking powder and spice to soaked fruit mixture.
2. Mix in the beaten egg.
3. Spoon into a well greased loaf tin and bake for 1 1/2 hours at 150 degrees Celsius (300 degrees Fahrenheit). If you're making it in cupcake form like I did for work, bake it at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.
4. When cool brush the top with warmed honey for a glazed surface.
Our office has a Halloween challenge where groups of employees are allowed to take some time to decorate the area by their cubicles and then we all "trick or treat" visiting each other's cubicles or set ups. It's really fun and makes the afternoon go by quickly. Everyone has a sugar crash by the end of the day! This was a huge team effort, so thanks to all my co-workers for doing an amazing job!
 |
| Photo: Sarah Smith |
 |
| Photo: Sarah Smith |
 |
| Photo: Sarah Smith |
In Mexico and many other countries, celebrate Dia de Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Again, this is a day to gather with family and friends to pray for and remember relatives who have died. Skeletons and marigolds are familiar things to see around homes, cemeteries and altars. Lots of meals are shared and one special item, pan de muerto (bread of the dead), is shared by family and friends near the gravesides of the deceased.
 |
| Photo: Sarah Smith |
 |
| Photo: Sarah Smith |
 |
| Photo: Sarah Smith |
 |
| Photo: Sarah Smith |
 |
| Photo: Sarah Smith |
 |
| Photo: Sarah Smith |
I was in charge of bringing pumpkins for the Ireland set up and making barmbrack. Here is the recipe that I used (it's made in two stages and traditionally has trinkets baked inside, but I skipped the trinkets):
Barmbrack Bread
First stage
Mix together:
1 cup of sultanas
1 cup of raisins
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup cold tea
Cover these ingredients and leave to soak overnight (or in my case, a few hours).
Stage Two
Prepare these ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 level teaspoon of baking powder
1 egg beaten
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1. Add the four, baking powder and spice to soaked fruit mixture.
2. Mix in the beaten egg.
3. Spoon into a well greased loaf tin and bake for 1 1/2 hours at 150 degrees Celsius (300 degrees Fahrenheit). If you're making it in cupcake form like I did for work, bake it at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.
4. When cool brush the top with warmed honey for a glazed surface.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Cookie Crush - Contest Coming Soon!
The annual Holiday Cookie Contest is coming up in our local newspaper, and I am thinking that this is my year to enter. I've got less than a month to come up with a recipe either adapted or original. I think I want to enter the "Localicious" category where you need to use products from Wisconsin (not counting butter).
I decided to check out what the top Wisconsin crops are to give me some inspiration. Besides dairy products, they are: corn (human food and livestock food), soybeans, potatoes, and cranberries. Apples and cherries are also grown in Wisconsin, but didn't come in at the top. I knew most of these thanks to my years of working at the Wisconsin State Fair, but I don't think I could make a cookie with potatoes. I'm thinking cranberries would be the way to go.
After checking the products list and reading the rules of the contest, my first thought was, "I need to raid Grandma's recipes" for some advice. For about 20 years, since the time I was old enough to be trusted to not lick my fingers between every chocolate-dipped peanut butter truffle I rolled (about 5-years-old) until a few years back when Grandma had a few strokes and lost most of her vision, we have made Christmas cookies at Grandma's house. Grandma is one of my kitchen crushes.
During the Great Depression, my young adult grandmother and her two sisters took jobs to help support their family. My great-grandpa died when the girls were small children (one great aunt was a newborn), so they depended on taking in boarders and other family members to help pay the bills. My Grandma, a college graduate despite financial hardship, became the head telephone operator in Watertown, located in southern central Wisconsin. Her mother continued to keep house while Grandma and her sisters worked.
In 1942, halfway through World War II, Grandma and Grandpa got married. As a "career woman", Grandma didn't know how to do many common household chores. One family story tells about how as a newlywed, she starched Grandpa's boxer shorts so much that he could barely get them on! So, at 26-years-old, Grandma learned how to cook and bake, and became quite the domestic goddess. She could whip together a dinner party without trouble, and collected cookbooks from around the country until Grandpa claimed she could not possibly fit one more in their house.
Now at 96-years-old, Grandma doesn't cook anymore. Mom makes almost all of their meals. Like I said, Grandma had a number of strokes and has lost her vision almost completely. She still dreams of cooking and often wakes up from her afternoon nap wondering if they are having the lamb chops she baked in her sleep for dinner. Her dreams are so vivid she tells Grandpa (also 96) that she can smell them cooling in the kitchen.
I can describe to her any meal I make by giving her a detailed list of ingredients and description of how I made it. She will close her eyes and mentally walk through every step of the process. She's a tough judge. There's been a few times where she'll ask why I did a certain step or suggest that I maybe not make that meal again. On the plus side, she is spot-on with her suggestions. Grandma even gave me the idea the first meal I made for my husband while we were dating (stuffed pork chops).
Grandma still enjoys the Christmas cookies that we make and has her favorites (meringues and pecan fingers). Most of them are her recipes after all. We've switched baking in her kitchen to Mom's. Although she's not there commanding the kitchen in person, she's there in our minds when we ask, "Will she like this?" or "This is how Grandma did it." We even use her ancient nut chopper and Sunbeam stand mixer. Some things you just don't mess with.
I guess I'll have to make some test cookies up and bring them over for her to see if they get her approval for contest submission!
How about you? Do you have any family favorite cookies? Do you have any tips for submitting recipes for contests?
I decided to check out what the top Wisconsin crops are to give me some inspiration. Besides dairy products, they are: corn (human food and livestock food), soybeans, potatoes, and cranberries. Apples and cherries are also grown in Wisconsin, but didn't come in at the top. I knew most of these thanks to my years of working at the Wisconsin State Fair, but I don't think I could make a cookie with potatoes. I'm thinking cranberries would be the way to go.
After checking the products list and reading the rules of the contest, my first thought was, "I need to raid Grandma's recipes" for some advice. For about 20 years, since the time I was old enough to be trusted to not lick my fingers between every chocolate-dipped peanut butter truffle I rolled (about 5-years-old) until a few years back when Grandma had a few strokes and lost most of her vision, we have made Christmas cookies at Grandma's house. Grandma is one of my kitchen crushes.
During the Great Depression, my young adult grandmother and her two sisters took jobs to help support their family. My great-grandpa died when the girls were small children (one great aunt was a newborn), so they depended on taking in boarders and other family members to help pay the bills. My Grandma, a college graduate despite financial hardship, became the head telephone operator in Watertown, located in southern central Wisconsin. Her mother continued to keep house while Grandma and her sisters worked.
In 1942, halfway through World War II, Grandma and Grandpa got married. As a "career woman", Grandma didn't know how to do many common household chores. One family story tells about how as a newlywed, she starched Grandpa's boxer shorts so much that he could barely get them on! So, at 26-years-old, Grandma learned how to cook and bake, and became quite the domestic goddess. She could whip together a dinner party without trouble, and collected cookbooks from around the country until Grandpa claimed she could not possibly fit one more in their house.
Now at 96-years-old, Grandma doesn't cook anymore. Mom makes almost all of their meals. Like I said, Grandma had a number of strokes and has lost her vision almost completely. She still dreams of cooking and often wakes up from her afternoon nap wondering if they are having the lamb chops she baked in her sleep for dinner. Her dreams are so vivid she tells Grandpa (also 96) that she can smell them cooling in the kitchen.
I can describe to her any meal I make by giving her a detailed list of ingredients and description of how I made it. She will close her eyes and mentally walk through every step of the process. She's a tough judge. There's been a few times where she'll ask why I did a certain step or suggest that I maybe not make that meal again. On the plus side, she is spot-on with her suggestions. Grandma even gave me the idea the first meal I made for my husband while we were dating (stuffed pork chops).
Grandma still enjoys the Christmas cookies that we make and has her favorites (meringues and pecan fingers). Most of them are her recipes after all. We've switched baking in her kitchen to Mom's. Although she's not there commanding the kitchen in person, she's there in our minds when we ask, "Will she like this?" or "This is how Grandma did it." We even use her ancient nut chopper and Sunbeam stand mixer. Some things you just don't mess with.
I guess I'll have to make some test cookies up and bring them over for her to see if they get her approval for contest submission!
How about you? Do you have any family favorite cookies? Do you have any tips for submitting recipes for contests?
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