Treat Bags Ready To Go!

 The number of bags is based on the number of last year's trick-or-treaters.

If we get more, I may have to dig into the secret stash of M&Ms . . .

Or York Peppermint Patties . . . 

Oscar Night 2020

A dear friend has been hosting a glamorous pajama party for 20 of her nearest and dearest women friends and relatives for the last several years.  So, while her husband watches football upstairs, Cathy takes over the man cave and transforms it into a swanky lounge and theatre in which to watch the Oscars on TV.

Over the years, the ladies have begun bringing gifts for the other guests, not in any regular way, and it's all completely unpredictable in nature, it's certainly not required, and there's no expectation whatsoever, but we all end up going home with some fun swag.  I think, it's because we are all women, and the caring instinct takes over, especially in the midst of so many other wonderful women.  We all seem to want to give!

This year, remembering the success at Christmas, I decided to bring the ladies some Fannie May candy. 

When I went to the store, I noticed that Fannie May was celebrating its 100th Anniversary, and thought it would be special to take advantage of this opportunity.  Sometimes, things click into place so easily!

The reusable tin box contains creamy caramels covered in chocolate, and features the iconic Chicago "L" — the system of elevated train tracks that loop parts of Chicago's downtown.   I'm not sure how much this would be appreciated outside Chicago, but it was a hit at my Christmas Eve party, and I hope the ladies approve.

The lights were dimmed, and there was a lot of glitter and sparkle . . .

There was lots of champagne!

And, popcorn, of course . . .

as well as many other snacks.

Ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille . . .

A Winter Wonderland - Christmas continued

We were busy at our house this December, this time, hosting my son, John's friends from NIU - Northern Illinois University.  Now that they've all graduated, it gets harder and more complicated for this tight group to see each other, so Christmas break seemed to be the perfect time - the only time actually, in which this group could get together.

I needed to cleanse my tablescaping palate, after all the reds, greens and gold that we used earlier in the month (plus my cream-colored tablecloth was still at the cleaners), so we went with a silver and white color scheme . . . with a teensy bit of red thrown in . . .

It was so exciting to be able to go to my stash and pull out all the elements of this table without having to spend a cent!  I had all these things in my basement from previous Christmases.  What a delight to be able to use them again.

The snowflake napkin rings have been around forever.  I still have the original Marshall Field's box in which they came.  Now that Field's is gone, I can never get rid of the box!

Every guest received a box of Frango Candy Cane mints.  The boxes were so pretty I didn't feel they needed any additional wrapping.  I love the pop of red against all that white and silver.  What do you think? 

The menu:  Crab cake on a bed of arugula, served with lemon wedges and tartar sauce, chicken noodle soup, served with oyster crackers, filet of beef au jus, served with Roman potatoes.  There was no point in serving a green vegetable to this bunch, so I saved myself the trouble.  Dessert was Coconut Flan, Oreo mini-trifles, and a tray of cookies, including Pecan Butterballs, Potato Chip Munchies and Double Chocolate Chip Candy Cane cookies.  Then we served coffee, and, since I'm still on a Venetian high, I served shot glasses with limoncello.

And here's the Motley Crew, including my son David, who showed up at our house unexpectedly on Christmas morning, on a second short leave from the Army, giving us the best present we could have hoped for this holiday season!  I am so grateful to have had all these young adults around!  They are such genuinely nice people . . . and they keep me young!

Linking to Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.  Don't miss the talented tablescapers who join this fabulous party!

Coconut lovers beware . . .

I spotted these at the checkout counter of my local grocery store.  I love, love, love coconut, so despite my son's warning that coconut M&Ms were just wrong, I bought them and eagerly opened up the bag on the way home.  I couldn't even wait to get home to try them . . .  And, well . . . they were not very good . . . I could hardly taste the coconut! 

I turned over the bag to read the ingredients and this is the list (capitalization theirs): 

MILK CHOCOLATE (SUGAR, CHOCOLATE, SKIM MILK, COCOA BUTTER, LACTOSE, MILKFAT, SOY LETHICIN, SALT, ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS), SUGAR CORNSTARCH, LESS THAN 1% - CORN SYRUP, DEXTRIN, COLORING (INCLUDES YELLOW 5 LAKE, RED 40 LAKE, BLUE 2 LAKE, YELLOW 6 LAKE, YELLOW 5, BLUE 1, RED 40, YELLOW 6, BLUE 1 LAKE, BLUE 2), ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, GUM ACACIA.

No coconut?  How can you have Coconut M&Ms without coconut????  I turned over the bag again and looked at it a little closer . . .

Remember the old Wendy's Commercial "Where's the Beef?"  Well, where's the coconut?

Christmas . . . Continued . . .

Check out the Christmas Eve centerpiece, more than 15 days later, revamped for another family get-together . . .

I removed the wilted roses, calla lilies and hydrangea, and inserted white carnations, alstroemeria, and, since the pickings at the supermarket were rather slim, I found an alternative to a third flower right on our Christmas tree - royal blue balls with silver swirls . . .

The blue/white/silver theme was reinforced with a navy tablecloth - a more forgiving color for such a casual dinner; blue and white York peppermint pieces in the white ramekins, and Lindor truffles resting on top of the napkins . . .

This was a very informal affair and everything was served buffet style, but buffet-style can still be organized, and welcoming, and, hopefully, a bit charming . . .

And here's the gang, two of my husband's sisters, their spouses and our rambunctious niece and nephew, who are growing up way too fast!  For some weird reason, my brother-in-law, Jim, ended up wearing my pink, sequined cowgirl hat . . . 

I have now officially closed the book on Christmas 2010 . . . but I'm still putting away the decorations . . .

Tea Bread Tuesday: Cookies

Surely, at this time of year, it must be all right to take a detour from tea breads, and move into the realm of cookies, wouldn't you say?  I love cookies, but I don't enjoy baking them all that much.  I don't mind mixing the dough, but the baking process seems to take forever.  In and out of the oven with the cookie trays, the cooling racks . . . and they seem to me to be a bit persnickety with the oven temperature and the time in the oven.  They certainly aren't very forgiving if you become distracted . . . But, ahh . . . they are so wonderful! 

There's something magical about cookies, especially Christmas cookies . . .  So, instead of tea and bread, this week my husband and I enjoyed a fresh cup of coffee and a cookie plate, featuring Butterballs, Chocolate Chip Cookies and Cranberry-Chocolate-Chip Biscotti made by my sister-in-law, Angela!

Angela is a wonderful cook.  Everything she's ever baked for us has been delicious, and I'm not just saying that so she'll read this and send us more biscotti (but if you want to, Angela, Lee loves the ones you made with pistachios).  She sent us the biscotti for Christmas and I hid it from the kids.  Am I a horrible mother?  See, the thing is that my kids do not have a very sophisticated palate and it seemed a waste to let them eat these scrumptious morsels, when they'd be just as happy with Oreos . . . and I did let them eat the homemade Chocolate Chip cookies, which is what they always ask for anyway . . .

For the Chocolate Chip cookies, I just followed the directions for Nestlé Toll House Cookies.  The Butterballs came from The Silver Palate Cookbook.  Here's the recipe for the Butterballs:

8 tablespoons (1 stick) sweet butter, softened
3 tablespoons honey
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup shelled pecans, chopped moderately fine
¾ cup confectioner's sugar

1. Preheat oven to 300°F.  Grease one or two cookie sheets.
2. Cream butter.  Beat in honey; gradually mix in flour and salt, then vanilla.  Add pecans.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
3. Form balls by hand, the size of quarters.  Place 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.  Bake for 35-40 minutes.
4. Remove from oven; as soon as cool enough to touch, roll in confectioner's sugar.  Allow to cool and roll again in sugar.

Yields about 36 cookies.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

FLASH UPDATE ON THE COMPUTER SPEAKER:  My son, John, is taking it with him back to school.  I'm glad that it's going to be put to use, but this can be such a horrible setback!  The last thing a pack-rat needs is to be emboldened by someone actually needing something they've picked up.  They can't wait to say:  "See?"  "I knew it was a good thing to bring home!"  It makes it ever so much more difficult to discourage them . . .

Happy Easter!

There are so many memories gathered in this photo. All of this Easter stuff has been around since my sons were little. Sometimes, we'd add something new, but for the most part, the boys didn't like it when we messed with their traditions.

Always had to have a package of Peeps . . . to blow them up in the microwave!

The dents on these candy tins are like badges earned for the many years of service . . . The one with the rabbit was John's . . .

And the one with the sweet boy dressed as a bunny was David's . . .

I bought the papier maché eggs at a store called Logos, not far from our old house in the city. I could get lost in that store for hours perusing their book selection and all the charming collectibles they offered. Sadly, the store has gone out of business.

One of the nice advantages of these eggs was that they were large and took up a lot of room in the basket. We tried to fill the baskets not so much with candy, but with books, or the occassional small toy.

Uh, oh . . . ! There's a Peep missing!

Happy Easter memories to everyone!

Yemitas and saints

Yemitas, "little yolks," are the Cuban version of "Yemas de Santa Teresa" (St. Theresa's Candied Egg-yolks). In the Middle Ages, Spanish wine makers used egg whites for clarifying their wines, and they would donate the left-over egg yolks to the nuns of nearby convents, who would then use them in making treats such as these and selling them at a small profit. The influence of the Moorish occupation of Spain, combined with the availability of egg yolks, are two important reasons why there are so many egg-based dishes in Spanish cuisine.

These candied egg yolks were originally made at the famous convent in Avila, which was founded by St. Theresa. The Cuban version is very similar, but the candies are smaller, and are rolled in granulated sugar, instead of confectioners' sugar.

The yemitas are left out overnight, so that they dry a bit and form a "skin." The resulting candy will be crusty and crunchy on the outside, and will have the texture and consistency of fudge on the inside, except flavored with cinnamon, lemon and vanilla.

Yemitas were a special favorite of my godmother, Mama Lala, who would make them every December 3, for the annual vigil of the Feast of St. Barbara, a saint to whom she is devoted. There was a yearly gathering on this day at our house, and I have a memory of Mama Lala, dressed in red (the color associated with St. Barbara) passing a tray of yemitas to the guests.

I hadn't made these in a very long time, and had forgotten how much work they are to make. It occurs to me now that only poor nuns in desperate financial straits would ever want to make these on a regular basis. And, after all that work, the recipe didn't even yield very many of them. Of course, the work was worth it for the wonderful memory it brought back . . .

And this beautiful tray was a Christmas gift last year from my sister-in-law, Angela. I think the colors work rather nicely together . . .