Sunday, December 21, 2008

December 2008 Food Co-op

Food Co-op for December $14 Half Share:
2 lbs. chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 2-lb bag whole carrots
2 grapefruit
3 Utah red onions
6 Gala apples
1 bunch celery
1 carton mushrooms
5 bananas
1 lb bag black beans
1 loaf Stone Ground Artisan Wheat Loaf

Back to regular mundane posts. Enough with the candy! (besides, I'm sure there will be more candy in a few days)

Just for comparison, here was the offering for the Harvest Share $14:
1 5 lb. bag Yukon Gold potatoes, 3 grapefruit, 2 bunches celery, 4 Utah red onions, 2 2-lb bags whole carrots, 8 Gala apples, 1 carton mushrooms, 6 bananas, 3 avocados, 1 lb bag black beans and 1 loaf Stone Ground Artisan Wheat loaf.

And the Standard share $23:
2 lb Eye of chuck beef pot roast, 2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 4 4-oz center cut pork chops, 1 5 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, 2 grapefruit, 1 bunch celery, 2 Utah red onions, 1 2-lb bag whole carrots, 5 Gala apples, 1 carton mushrooms, 4 bananas, 1 1-lb bag black beans, and 1 loaf Stone Ground Artisan Wheat loaf

Orders for January are due by Friday January 9th. For more information go to www.foodco-op.org

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Part 9 Gingerbread Finale (We make our own!)

After seeing so many wonderful examples of gingerbread houses at the Festival of Trees, we were able to make and decorate our own gingerbread houses. I awoke early to make the houses with enough time for cooling before assembly. We were using molds loaned to us from my uncle and with my aunt's recipe, we were able to make three houses. The mold needed is John Wright Gingerbread House Cookie Pan 14-in and can be found at Amazon for around $26. For assembly I made sugar glue for the first time. Hence the burnt dark brown/black sugar glue for the first house. After using up the first batch of sugar glue, I attempted another batch, watching it more closely and taking it on and off the heat as it started to melt, while stirring with a wooden spoon. This second batch came out to a golden amber and tasted quite yummy from the little drizzles that we enjoyed after they cooled.
At a family party we decorated the houses. And here is Eva's beautiful gingerbread cottage with a frosting door.
Sarah went with a pink and red theme for her gingerbread cottage. They both included a lot of gummy bears with a few fish.
So this ends the series on Gingerbread for now.
Note: Sugar glue is merely melted sugar. Measure 1 cup sugar into a heavy pan and place over high heat. Stir occasionally at first and then constantly near the end - taking on and off the heat as needed to keep the syrup amber and not dark brown or black. Do not attempt to make sugar glue unless you have previous candy making experience since the syrup is far hotter (350-365 degrees F) than boiling water (212 degrees F) and can result in third degree burns. It requires a lot of patience and caution-definitely do not have children around while gluing the houses. Do a line of sugar glue on the base and then place the smoothed bottom of the wall onto the glue and hold until stable. Repeat with remaining walls. Drizzle sugar glue down the seams of the walls to seal together. Once the walls are assembled and the glue has hardened (about a few minutes) drizzle glue on the tops and apply roof pieces. Drizzle more glue along the top ridge of the roof to seal the roof together.

Friday, December 12, 2008

From Farmhouse to The Big Apple to North Pole Gingerbread Part #8

# 1 Thatched Roof Farm House
People celebrate Christmas from all kinds of habitations including farmhouses.#2 The Big Apple
And they celebrate in the cities with advertisements on buildings for Target and Coca-cola. And let's not forget movies like Twilight-does there seem to be a small fad for Edward Cullen among the gingerbread makers this year?
#3 North Pole Sweets
And what is something that they celebrate? Why, sweets! And some of the best sweets come from the North Pole.
(Please know that this is the materialistic and commercial celebration of Christmas-the birth of the Saviour of the World is the meaningful part and the focus of our lives but I think we are also here to enjoy things and the Festival of Trees is very enjoyable. Plus the Festival of Trees along with the accompanying gingerbread houses and wreaths and play cabins and other trappings represent a beautiful example of charity at work of helping others by raising money through donations and volunteers for Primary Children's Hospital.)

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Part 7 From Gingerbread Cottages to Castles

#1 Janie May's Cottage
I really like the stone foundation and pretzel tree.#2 Castle (sorry, I didn't get the name in the picture)
How many turrets are on this gingerbread castle?

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Gingerbread Christmas Part #6

# 1 The Christmas Village
Traditional style gingerbread houses with candy canes and gumdrops and mints.#2 Christmas Carousel
Unique design and artful use of gingerbread reindeer.
#3 Kalahari Christmas
A generally warmer climate makes for a less insulated Gingerbread house although it can get below freezing in the winter in the Kalahari.

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Part 5 From Candyland to Princess Land to Bah, Hum-BUG!

#1 Candyland
Isn't the Gingerbread Plum Tree fantastic?
#2 Candyland
In this picture you can make out the licorice fort.
#2 Princess Land
I like the jellybean/gumdrop daisy flowers.
#3 Bah, Hum-BUG!
And this was both clever and odd but full of creativity.

Monday, December 08, 2008

Part #4 Gingerbread Authors

#1 Dickens Bookshop
A Christmas Carol written in 1843-need I say more?
#2 Louisa M. Alcott Home
If you haven't read Eight Cousins, I can highly recommend it.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Gospel Gingerbread part #3

# 1- Cozy Christmas Church
#2- Salt Lake LDS Temple
#3- BYU Hinckley Center

Click on pictures for more details.

Saturday, December 06, 2008

Part 2 Gingerbread Romance

First up is "A Twilight Christmas"-who could possibly be in the tree with a sign below saying "The City of Forks" ? Click on the picture to see more detail including Bella's truck.


Next is a classic, "The Highwayman" I love the original poem by Alfred Noyes and the vocal version done by Loreena McKennitt. You can her beautiful rendition on various videos on youtube. (Picture is at the bottom after the poem.)

Alfred Noyes (1880-1958)

The Highwayman

PART ONE

I

THE wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding—
Riding—riding—
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.

II

He'd a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,
A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin;
They fitted with never a wrinkle: his boots were up to the thigh!
And he rode with a jewelled twinkle,
His pistol butts a-twinkle,
His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky.

III

Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard,
And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred;
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Bess, the landlord's daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.

IV

And dark in the dark old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked
Where Tim the ostler listened; his face was white and peaked;
His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like mouldy hay,
But he loved the landlord's daughter,
The landlord's red-lipped daughter,
Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say—

V

"One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize to-night,
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;
Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,
Then look for me by moonlight,
Watch for me by moonlight,
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way."

VI

He rose upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand,
But she loosened her hair i' the casement! His face burnt like a brand
As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;
And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,
(Oh, sweet, black waves in the moonlight!)
Then he tugged at his rein in the moonliglt, and galloped away to the West.

PART TWO

I

He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon;
And out o' the tawny sunset, before the rise o' the moon,
When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor,
A red-coat troop came marching—
Marching—marching—
King George's men came matching, up to the old inn-door.

II

They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead,
But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed;
Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets at their side!
There was death at every window;
And hell at one dark window;
For Bess could see, through her casement, the road that he would ride.

III

They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest;
They had bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast!
"Now, keep good watch!" and they kissed her.
She heard the dead man say—
Look for me by moonlight;
Watch for me by moonlight;
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way!

IV

She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good!
She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!
They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like years,
Till, now, on the stroke of midnight,
Cold, on the stroke of midnight,
The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!

V

The tip of one finger touched it; she strove no more for the rest!
Up, she stood up to attention, with the barrel beneath her breast,
She would not risk their hearing; she would not strive again;
For the road lay bare in the moonlight;
Blank and bare in the moonlight;
And the blood of her veins in the moonlight throbbed to her love's refrain .

VI

Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs ringing clear;
Tlot-tlot, tlot-tlot, in the distance? Were they deaf that they did not hear?
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,
The highwayman came riding,
Riding, riding!
The red-coats looked to their priming! She stood up, straight and still!

VII

Tlot-tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot-tlot, in the echoing night!
Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light!
Her eyes grew wide for a moment; she drew one last deep breath,
Then her finger moved in the moonlight,
Her musket shattered the moonlight,
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him—with her death.

VIII

He turned; he spurred to the West; he did not know who stood
Bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own red blood!
Not till the dawn he heard it, his face grew grey to hear
How Bess, the landlord's daughter,
The landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.

IX

Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky,
With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!
Blood-red were his spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
When they shot him down on the highway,
Down like a dog on the highway,
And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.

* * * * * *

X

And still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,
When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
A highwayman comes riding—
Riding—riding—
A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.

XI

Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard;
He taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred;
He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Bess, the landlord's daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.

I really appreciate that the artist of the house kept the highwayman on his horse to visit Bess. So many versions have him dismounting and going up the inn and that's not accurate to the poem.


Friday, December 05, 2008

Gingerbread Houses Part 1

Ginger bread houses at the Festival of Trees. Look for more pictures everyday this week.

The first is "A Christmas Cottage" I especially like the chocolate kisses along the top of the roof continuing the red, white and green Christmas color scheme.


The next is "The Warmth of Friends". Note the caramel corn at the base of the tree and the height of the cabin complete with a sledder going down the hill.