COD LIVER OIL

I get a lot of medical related emails, but this morning one in particular made me laugh out loud. The title was: Important Update on Cod Liver Oil. Really? Anyway, I’m easily amused these days.

LET THERE BE LIGHTS!

For the past few years, our house has been conspicuous by the absence of Christmas lights.  More and more houses were illuminated each year and when Larry across the street elaborately dressed his tree this year I thought – huh – the little bit of light from the tree in the front window is kind of weak.  And, let’s face it, I really do like the lights, even the houses that are just gaudy beyond belief and have all those blow up figures in the yard.  So, I determined THIS YEAR we would have lights.  The icicles that everyone has.  I like them.

Saturday morning dawned clear and unseasonably warm.  I went to 2 grocery stores and the hardware store, then came home and accompanied Husband to the gym.  Upon my return,  I set to work.  I’m not a fan of ladders, heights make me queasy, and I’m not altogether certain that a woman of my age has any business on a ladder, but I wanted the lights up!  So, I started to work.  Husband had already put the hooks up (the hard part, as he likes to point out) some years ago and they are still there.  Save one.  But not to worry.  It was warm and I was actually kind of enjoying my task – the annoying part was trying to untangle the icicle parts.  They are strings of 3, 4 and 6 lights repeated over and over.  They come in a box of 18′ and are just wadded up inside.  Each icicle has to be urged into something of a straight drop – tedious to say the least.  Particularly when leaning against the rung of a ladder that bisects one’s thighs.  I was grateful for the warm sun and worked happily until I realized that I did not have enough lights.  We had 3 boxes – I was going to need 4 and probably part of another.  Husband was dispatched across town to the same store where the original boxes were purchased….on the Saturday before Christmas….he was a really good sport.  Really.  While he was gone, I made his favorite pasta casserole and began the Praline Milk Jam recipe (more about this later).  Ashley and James stopped by to drop off a newly refilled IPod for Husband and borrow holiday cookie cutters, and then Husband arrived, lights in hand, and 4 more bottles of Martinelli’s.

So, back to work.  It was something of a pain to navigate the little Japanese Maple that was not supposed to even reach the roof line but stretches several feet beyond, but that was done and then came the garage roof.  The ladder had to be extended and now I was on concrete and higher than I really liked to be.  Our next door neighbor came over and said, “Are you doing this all by yourself?”  Well, clearly.  Then, the old man across the street and 2 doors down who is out sweeping the leaves from the gutters every morning when I leave for work at 7:30am came over and offered to finish the job for me.  I told him I really did appreciate his offer but if I was going to have bragging rights to the job, I’d best do it myself.  They both admonished that I needed someone to be there to hold the ladder and make sure if I fell to call 911. Reassuring.  So, I marched inside and bullied Husband out to stand watch for the last 2 strings.  The part over the garage was not fun – higher than I liked and over concrete.  And the ladder made the shingles sound like they were disintegrating where it leaned against them – an unsettling sound, somehow. Then, even tho the beginning end was a plug, the ending end turned out to be a plug, too.  A problem.  Husband took off to the hardware store and returned saying – uh, you have to find where you screwed up and then do it over.  Seriously?  Well, not now.  It’s too late to start over.

Now, I turned my attention to the Praline Milk Jam.  The recipe has few ingredients:  4 1/4 C whole milk, 6 C sugar, 9 oz each of hazelnut praline powder and ground blanched almonds.  I found out last weekend that blanching almonds is best left to experts.  I had ordered the hazelnut praline powder a few weeks ago and had been saving it.  Hazelnut praline powder is praline made from hazelnuts and then pounded into little pieces.  Only I thought the little pieces were too large, so I whirred them in the Cuisinart  for a bit, along with the slivered almonds I bought in place of the blanched ones.  You put the milk and sugar in a double boiler (borrowed) for 4 hours, stirring occasionally.  It’s supposed to make a caramel color the consistency of stiff honey.  It never did.  The color, yes.  The consistency, no.  Fine.  At the 5 hr mark, I added the ground hazelnut powder and kept at it for another hour.  It was then about 6 pm.  Finally, the last step is to add the ground almonds, turn the mixture into another pot, bring to a boil and then jar it immediately.  I realized that although it never seemed like honey, the mixture did set up on the spoon rest and I suspect that I may have cooked it longer that was ideal.  Nevertheless.  The yield was six 8 oz jars and a little 4 oz jar.  And, the obligatory custard cup for tasting.  Though somewhat thicker than it should be, it is quite delicious.

Today, cloudy and cool, I went outside to, as my Daddy used to say, “lick that calf over.”  I saw that the error had been made at the first joining of the strings.  Phooey.  That mean the remaining 5 strands had to be removed and reversed and re-connected.  So, this time with Husband standing guard at the ladder, I started over.  It didn’t take too long and it wasn’t too cold, and we got another visit from the neighbor lady across the street who is a sweetheart.  She confided that they had only put lights on the shrubbery this year as the roof lights were troublesome and Dan was getting too old to go up a ladder.  Can I just say that I think I have about 5 or 10 years on Dan?  Whatever.  Just as we were about 10′ from the finish, it started trying to rain.  You know, those drops that are just frequent enough to make you think it’s going to let go and pour any minute?  Well, it didn’t pour, it just teased and we finished and plugged in the lights.  The only dark spot was right where the end of the garage came and the light strand came down to meet the extension cord from the garage.  I appreciated that little favor.  Now, here’s another favor:  when stringing the lights on the garage, I had to back my car up.  And when the rain started, I completely forgot that I had left the keys in an unlocked car just sitting there.  When I started looking for the car keys about an hour later because I was going to get the grandchildren to take them to see The Tale of Despereaux, I remembered where the keys were – in the car!  I was relieved to find the car still there!

I could see the headline:  Local Woman’s Car Stolen from Drive Way…..BECAUSE SHE LEFT THE KEYS IN THE UNLOCKED CAR!  I was distracted by the rain and the sore muscles from the day before and the cold wind, and, and, well, no excuse, really.  But very grateful to still have my little car.

I learned a lot this weekend and gained a new appreciation for those really elaborate light set ups.  And, I also know why it’s sometimes Easter before some of the lights come down!

CHOCOLATE WATERFALL

It’s Christmas and that means CHOCOLATE. Last year, the firm received FOURTEEN (14) pounds of See’s candy, mostly nuts and chews! The deluge has already begun, although we only have 4 pounds so far.

While I was gone Friday afternoon, a tray arrived from another firm’s party full of fudge, cookies, rocky road candy and brownies, both frosted and plain. Spiced nuts arrived today. This is difficult, to say the least. Just a tiny piece of fudge, oh, that was good. Then another really little one, and just that piece of rocky road that broke off from the big piece….some nuts to get the sweet taste out of my mouth. You know how that goes.

Of course, I had to add to the bounty by making the orange and chocolate “jam” over the weekend. Let me tell you, that stuff is addicting! A royal pain to make – takes 3 different simmerings, each a day apart, but the results are sinful. It’s a nice big batch at seven 8oz jars, but I made six 8 oz, one 4 oz and poured the remainder into a custard cup. It took a lot of willpower not to just drink the cup down. It’s smooth, like the pear/chocolate, and has a slight orange flavor, not too sweet. The recipe said to tie up the seeds from the oranges in a muslin bag and boil along with the jam but I couldn’t find any Valencia oranges, only navel. So – no seeds. I wonder how much difference the seeds would have made? Next time.

On other Christmas topics, after having the tree up for 8 days, I finally put the decorations on it Sunday afternoon. We have an artificial tree because Husband is allergic to the real thing – it’s a pretty one – Noble fir with tiny white lights wired into the branches. It’s not so much fun to decorate a tree all by yourself, even with Garrison Keillor and all his friends chatting away in the room. But it is fun to see the old ornaments the kids made and remember the trips that some represent. Only Cait’s ornaments are still here – the other kids have taken their collection to dress their own trees. Cait has lots and lots of SHOES from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Here’s a few photos…

I really like the little clock. You can see part of the paper chains that Jen and Jay made when they were just very little. We sat on the floor and cut strips from construction paper and glued them together. The colors have faded and the chains are quite fragile now, but they are the first things to go on the tree. You can see one of my acorn ornaments – there are a lot of them – acorns in many incarnations. You can see the red cranberry ropes, too. We used to string popcorn and cranberries – they are really my favorite thing to put on a tree but they are, let’s face it, a real pain to make. Such patience left me long ago.

Here’s my friend Sock Monkey. I LOVE SOCK MONKEYS. Can’t explain it, they just make me smile in any shape or form. My tree is put together in layers. First the paper chains. Next, the cranberry ropes. Then, red balls. The larger ones near the bottom, the medium ones in the middle and the smaller ones around the top. This is the background for the rest of the many, many different kinds of ornaments. I had a friend who used to have quite a fashionable tree with color coordinated bows and birds and lights and such – it was beautiful. But, she wouldn’t let her son help her decorate it. I thought that was weird. What’s a Christmas tree without paper ornaments with school pictures glued on them or candy canes or wreaths made from little colored beads? We have the gamut on our tree – elegant glass and paper from kindergarten. This includes Santas of all varieties – one made from a dried okra pod and the tackiest purchased in a tourist trap across the street from Notre Dame in Paris who has an Eiffel Tower in his pack!

Here’s the okra one and the starburst one. Also the little Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus book which is dear to my heart. In 9th grade, we had to memorize a Christmas story and go around to the other English classes and tell it. After spending WAY too much time trying to find a story about the manger animals talking that I heard on the radio in the car on the way to my Grandparents’ home, I had to hurriedly memorize this story. I still love it and can’t read it without tears. You see the little elf? That was from my grandmother’s tree. One year, she had a beautiful tree with red velvet bows and red birds, the tree was flocked white and there were very ornate doo dads all over it. She liked it so much she left it up until Easter! This little elf wasn’t an inhabitant of that tree but she used many of them in decorations around the house. Every room had some embellishment at Christmas – even the toilets had festive seat covers. I’m not so energetic, nor nearly so clever.

Well, it’s getting late – I went to see Nathan’s Christmas Concert earlier tonight. I confess that I come later so as to miss the band. They are just god awful, but I do enjoy the chorus. The kids memorize a lot of songs of all description and have a good time sharing them. Children singing make me cry. Can’t be helped. There’s nothing more evocative of the Christmas season than a cafeteria full of parents and grade school kids standing on risers singing all kinds of Christmas songs. And Hanukka ones, too. The little brothers and sisters are all wriggly and the parents are sticking up their various cameras and videos capturing the moments. It’s just fun and I like it. The last song at this school is always Let There Be Peace on Earth. Amen and amen.

PETER AND THE WOLF

The concert master strode confidently through the sea of violins and took his place at the first chair.  He looked all of 14 and was still growing into his feet.  His sandy brown hair fell over his forehead and brushed his glasses.  He looked directly at each section of the orchestra and they began the tuning process at his lead.

The stage at the Flint Center was full of fresh-faced confident young people dressed in black , their various instruments at the ready.  At least 3 boys wore shiny patent tuxedo shoes and several of the girls wore bejeweled strappy evening sandals.  Some of violins were also dressed for the occasion with clusters of small red balls and shiny red and green tinsel attached to the tuning keys.  Several red Santa hats were peeking from beneath chairs.  The musicians were eager and relaxed.  The audience was buzzing with anticipation.

The conductor  finally appeared and literally leapt onto the podium.  He could as easily have been a gymnast as an orchestra conductor – young with almost curly thick brown hair and a quick smile, he welcomed the audience with confidence and grace.  The San Francisco Youth Symphony was about to present a concert of Christmas music and Peter and the Wolf.

Our seats were 8 rows back and just slightly right of center.  We arrived much earlier than need be, partially because of my phobia of being late and partly because I love to watch the orchestra tune up and the audience trickle in.  I am an incurable people-watcher.  I was particularly looking for grandmothers, mothers and granddaughters dressed in their holiday finery.  I was not disappointed.  And, this being California, there were more jeans and t-shirts than Sunday best.  As my Christmas present for the grandchildren this year, I bought tickets for them and their mother and me, of course, to attend Peter and the Wolf a performed by the San Francisco Youth Symphony.  I’ve been taking the boys to plays and musicals since they were old enough to sit that long and lately we’ve added the girls.  We frequent the children’s productions at Montalvo and the boys and I have been entranced by touring Broadway productions of The Lion King and Peter Pan at the now defunct American Musical Theater.  This was our first symphony venture.

The opening piece was the March from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker and it was beautifully and professionally presented.  The conductor looked as though he might break into dance at any minute and seemed to be having the time of his life.  There was a bugle piece that I’d never heard with 3 strapping young men front and center, cheeks bulging and red faced.  Then, the waltz from Sleeping Beauty (also Tchaikovsky) and I wondered how many of the children in the audience were seeing scenes from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty in their minds.  I was, tho not particularly happy about it.  Still, it is a beautiful piece.  The next was the most astonishing drum production.  The huge kettle drum was rolled onto the stage, front and center, and a tall young man wearing black pants, a white dress shirt and a Santa hat took his place before it, back to the audience.  The spotlight shown on his head and back and I thought:  Gee, no pressure!  What followed was just, as Alexander later said, powerful.  The kettle drum began, then slowly, slowly, a snare drum emerged from stage right.  The rhythm was restrained, the drummer sliding his feet along as he inched toward the kettle drum.  Another snare and another entered as slowly and dramatically as the first. Finally, four snare drums stood opposite the kettle and the intricate rhythm increased as well as the volume.  I think everyone was really quite spellbound.  I certainly was.  When the drummers finished, it was the audience’s turn to explode.  Really great fun.

Now for Peter and the Wolf.  What a delightful piece and it didn’t hurt that the Narrator was Leonard Nimoy.  I was both horrified and amused to find that “Spock” is now 77 years old!  He was elegantly dressed in black and shades of gray and his voice, as well as his hair color,  is showing its age.  Still, he has a commanding tone, even if he was only First Officer.  He seemed to enjoy himself and the young musicians acquitted themselves admirably.  I doubt a stage full of ‘grown-ups’ could have done any better.

After, we sang 3 Christmas songs along with the symphony and then begged them into a couple of encores.  The last piece was a very jazzy and sophisticated arrangement of Winter Wonderland.  It was just, well, WONDERFUL!

I had such a good time!  I had forgotten how much I love being in a concert hall with live music – the energy is electric and you feel each piece through your whole body.  I thought the gift was for Jen and the kids, but I’m pretty sure I had the best time!

55 CENTS

Awhile back, I mentioned that we were having “issues” with the door to the medicine cabinet in the master bathroom. The issue was that it had, essentially, come off. I had noticed that the door seemed kind of wonky and so one morning decided to take a closer look. It seemed that the the screw that held the top hinge (for lack of a better description) of the door to the cabinet itself was loose. When I tried to tighten it, it just same out in my hand! Husband and I fussed with it for a bit and thought we had it fixed. But the next morning, I opened it to retrieve my toothbrush and when I closed it, the top screw fell out and the door nearly came crashing down. Luckily, I caught it and prevented what would have been sure disaster.

We finally decided that the fault was with the top screw and that the threads had stripped so that it would not hold the door to the cabinet. I finally figured out who made the door (American Standard) and on the advice of a hairdresser who works with mine who used “to be in plumbing,” I called them directly. I was told that while the manufacturer really wants to make me happy, they do not offer replacement parts for the hardware that connects the door to the actual cabinet itself. You can buy the pieces that connect the 3 parts of the item to the wall, but the parts that actually experience wear and tear and are thus more likely to give out, are not, so sad too bad, available. Here’s the cabinet and it’s pieces. As you can see, it’s something of a big deal to install – and it’s really wonderful for the truly vain of us as you are afforded almost a 360 view!

I was thinking, well, I can’t believe I’m going to have to buy a whole new contraption, here, for what is probably $2.50 worth of metal. I obsessed on that for a few days while waiting for the weekend and a trip to Home Depot. We took the brackets off the cabinet and put them along with the failing screw into an envelope and I took off for Home Depot – without much hope, I must add. Stores like Home Depot make my eyes roll back in my head – just TOO MUCH STUFF for me to take in. Nevertheless. I found a clerk who was very kind and patient and listened to my entirely too detailed explanation of my dilemma. He suggested 2 options: 1) Lock Tight; 2) new screw. Then told me to head to Hardware and find Neil.

I found Hardware and was standing in front of a display of what seemed to be a million or more screws of every size and description and just as my eyes started their northward course, a small, somewhat wiry man appeared around the corner asking me if I needed some help. Help? I’ll say! Well, I stammered, Charlie told me to find Neil…….the little man pushed aside something or other on his apron to reveal a name tag that read, incredulously enough, NEIL!

Another painful description and emptying of the envelope of brackets and screws. He quickly surmised that I just needed a replacement screw and darted to the wall where he ripped open various plastic bags, pulled out screws and put them back. Finally, he said – your problem is that it’s METRIC. OK. Then, we went to a series of red drawers that held the mysterious METRIC screws. The regular screws were just out there on the wall in little plastic bags for all to see and try, but these METRIC screws were safely tucked away in small, shallow drawers with dividers. On the second try, he found what we needed. I was effusive, to say the least and Neil somewhat shyly admitted that they called him “McGuiver” as he never gave up on a project until he solved the problem. Faced with what I thought might be a cost of well over $300, I was incredibly relieved to have such a simple and cheap solution!

The small plastic bag held 3 screws. They cost 55 CENTS!

HOW I SPENT MY THANKSGIVING VACATION

It’s been a busy week here in Lake Wobegon San Jose.  The firm closes every year the day before Thanksgiving so we have 5 days off in a row.  It’s really nice, particularly if you have dinner at your house.  I ordered a 16 lb fresh turkey but when I went to pick it up, they gave me a 20 lb one!  That’s OK, I cooked it anyway.  Made the usual stuff and Jen brought a gluten-free cornbread, cranberry, curry stuffing – it was good – and a scratch pumpkin pie she and the kids made.  A&J brought peas and a really wonderful carmelized onion dip.  There was WAY too much food, but that’s the idea, right? I did think about taking a photo of the table but then everything was happening so fast that I just didn’t get it done.  It was fun to have the little kids this year. Sophie claimed a turkey leg – and I think Nathan got the other one?  Anyway, they seemed to all enjoy eating at the “kids table.”  Truth be told, the hit of the day for the kids was the Martinelli’s apple cider.  Willow is a big fan of whipped cream, as am I! 

I’m still mad that Williams Sonoma discontinued the dishes I like to use for family dinners now without telling me.  I only have 10 plates!

On Friday, Husband and I sat around in the morning and watched movies that made us cry so decided we’d better get up and go somewhere – went to the gym.  Did some more dishes and putting away of items that are used only a couple of times a year.

On Saturday, I cleaned out my closet.  7 or 8 lawn and leaf bags full.  It’s a humbling endeavor, cleaning out a closet.  See, you have to do it in your underwear because there are 3 piles.  One pile is keep, one pile is definitely OUT and then there’s the third pile of “maybe.”  This pile requires a final try on – so you need to be ready, thus the underwear.  There were so many things that I put on and thought:  SERIOUSLY?  I wore that OUT OF THE HOUSE?  Also some stuff that might be older than some of my kids………for sure some of the grandchildren.  There are coats, too, and shoes.  On Friday, Hope comes around to pick up the bags – I wonder if anyone else’s parking strip will be covered in bags?  The thing is, tho, that there is still stuff in that closet that needs to go!  I bought a new shoe rack so now there are 3 in the closet and only 5 pair under the bed!  I gave away some really nice clothes – I hope someone enjoys them.  I made a huge pile on one side of the bed and thought about taking a picture of it, but then decided against it.  It was really kind of embarrassing to have held on to that stuff for so long.  There are 2 or 3 coats and a couple of jackets, so I hope they keep someone warm this winter.

Friday night, I started a batch of clementine, lemon and cinnamon jam.  Here’s the fruit covered with sugar:

I was surprised at how long it took to peel and section and de-membrane all the clementines, but I finally got it done. Thinly slice a couple of lemons and add sugar, 1/8 tsp cinnamon and 2 cinnamon sticks and bring to a simmer. This takes awhile but you eventually get a wonderful syrup that smells like Christmas!  This goes in the fridge overnight and the next day you put the fruit and syrup in a chinois and then the syrup into Fanny to bring to 212 degrees F.  Then, add a small jar of green apple jelly made earlier in the summer for just such an occasion.  Boil til you think it will set – I’m getting pretty good at knowing when it’s ready.

 

I thought the clementines might cook down but they didn’t. In fact, they got a bit candied in the process.  I have to say that I really like this jam – it’s not too sweet and has a little bite from the lemon and the syrup has a kind of a carmelized cinnamon flavor.  It made 4 small jars and a baby one and there was probably enough for another baby jar but I poured it into a small bowl and nibbled on it for a few days!  It tastes really good on gluten-free cornbread and just about anything else you can find.  I splurged and bought a loaf of gluten-free bread with lots of kinds of seeds at Whole Foods and made some toast on Friday morning.  Yum. But, it sure is idiotic to pay $9 for a loaf of bread!  I put a few pieces into several plastic bags and froze them.  Sheesh!  My next effort will be orange and chocolate – but it’s a 3 day process, so it will have to wait for the weekend.  If it’s nearly as good as the pear/chocolate, then it will be well worth the work.  Oh, and I also washed and bleached the sheets – nothing like a freshly made bed!

These last Sundays, we’ve been taking day trips around this beautiful place we live.  When we went to Monterey, I whipped out my camera only to find the battery dead.  But this weekend, I made sure it was charged.  We drove over Hwy 9 to Hwy 1 – a beautiful drive through the mountains in itself.  We stopped at La Honda and I bought a jar of wildflower honey from the cutest kid.  He had red hair cut in a bowl cut, freckles and a round face and the bluest eyes!  He carefully explained each variety of honey and extolled the health benefits of bee pollen as well as any grown up.  He was probably 10 or maybe 11 – very cute.  

We passed a LOT of bicyclists and motorcycles on the trip. Apparently, they were all headed for La Honda, and maybe Alice’s Restaurant which is just to the right and down the street from the honey table.  I guess a clear and unseasonably warm autumn day is an open invitation for folks with an affinity for wheels of all kinds to “hit the road!”

 

 

 

 

I apologize for the gap – the formatting on this program is either crappy or I’m too lame to figure out how to make it better. Anyway, we finally reached Hwy 1 and stopped at the Pescadero beach parking lot.  The news people were saying all weekend how the tides were really running high and there were wave warnings out for the coast.  So, we wanted to see for ourselves!

Trying to take a picture outside with a digital camera is frustrating – you really can’t see what is on the screen.  And trying to photograph the ocean is pretty pointless but I did make an effort and will share the puny results with you.  The waves were enormous and were breaking violently both near shore and far out into the ocean.  I kept thinking of a children’s book that has wonderful illustrations of breaking waves with horses in them – the author’s name starts with a T and I could tell you the exact location on the shelf at the bookstore where I used to work…..I hate when that happens!  The waves were pretty amazing and even better because we weren’t scoured by the wind and it was pretty warm for the last day of November.  As we were standing on the edge of the cliff, we noticed someone apparently sleeping right on the edge.  At first, I thought it was a crazy thing to do but after thinking about it, I think I’d like to try it.  You get the full effect of the waves, can probably feel them somewhat and certainly hear them wonderfully well.  I don’t know if the woman was really sleeping or just lying there being one with the shore but I bet it was nice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guess that’s it.  I could get used to sleeping in!  

On the down side, we are having “issues” with the door to our medicine cabinet in the master bathroom.  As in, it kind of fell off.  I have some hope that it will be resolved favorably, and if it is, I will tell you all about this fascinating event.  If not, then I’m probably not going to be able to even speak about it.  Keep your fingers crossed.