January is Gingerbread.

One of the many many things I learned the first time through "Simple Abundance" was that January is Gingerbread. If you've never spent a year with the daily readings and inspiration of Simple Abundance, hasten to the nearest used book store and find a copy. Sarah ban Breathnach (pronounced "bran-nack) has authored many books, this is her crown as far as I'm concerned. I read it almost every year, enjoying all the margin notes I've made over time and seeing where I've grown, what I've pondered over the past years, what I want to bring into my life for this precious year.

On to the gingerbread:
Gingerbread is a quest, finding the perfect recipe. I've tried quite a few. This week I pulled one of mom's older cookbooks off the shelf to see if it had a gingerbread recipe. The angels must have guided my hand. I love, love, LOVE this gingerbread! Granted, I added a few elements from past recipe endeavors, but boy howdy, this one I think is my El Dorado! Just LOOKING at it, makes my mouth water!

GINGERBREAD

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix with a fork in a med. bowl (or sift, if you're a purist):

2 3/4 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. sea salt

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. cinnamon

In large bowl, beat thoroughly:

1 c. veg. oil

3/4 c. honey

3/4 c. mild molasses (or sorgham is even better)

1 heaping tsp. minced FRESH GINGER (key ingredient)

Beating smooth after each addition, alternate adding half of flour mixture and half of:

1 c. buttermilk (no buttermilk? Put 1 T. vinegar in bottom of measuring cup, fill to 1 c. with milk, let set a few minutes)

ending with last half of buttermilk.

Pour into 9x13 pan prepared with Pam Baking Spray (the eighth wonder of the modern world). Bake at 325 degrees for about 40 min. Start checking at 35 min. , do not overbake!

Cool on rack, cut into large pieces while warm but not hot. It's out of this world served warm, but it's wonderful not warm, too!

This moist straight-from-heaven goodness doesn't need whipped cream, ice cream, frosting, or any other gilding of the lily.

I've never had such good crumb, perfect moistness, divine flavor, inviting aroma, or just plain WONDERFUL gingerbread come out of my oven. THE gingerbread recipe has arrived. The long quest is over. For me, anyway. I love cakey supermoist gingerbread. If you prefer another texture - well, it's your quest.



If you INSIST on a little gilding - actually, it's mandatory - make sure you have some small doilies on hand before embarquing upon this gingerbread adventure. This stuff deserves the royal treatment on the serving plate. I'd eat it with a gold fork if I had one.

February? Dust off your Cole Porter, and have your library put a video/CD of "Out of Africa" on hold for you.

C D B D I's

We're still harvesting carrots and beets from the garden. Once in awhile we get a smart aleck...
C D B D I's??

I know.

I play with my food way too much.

My mother always told us, "Don't play with your food!"

But now I'm my big girl self, and I do it anyway!

Elvis Kisses

If you were a '60s kid, you grew up knowing that peanut butter and bananas were supreme, because that's what ELVIS noshed on! Here's my spin on his fav snack:

ELVIS KISSES

Slice half a banana into bite-size chunks.

Mix about 2 T. raw almond butter with a heaping teaspoon of cocoa powder and 1 tsp. agave. This is a "to your taste" recipe. I'm not sure it's even a recipe, just something I threw together! You can use regular peanut butter if you are a purist. The raw almond butter is better for you...

Pile small dollops of the nutbutter fudge on top of banana chunks, saving a good teaspoon full to mix with more agave which will make the chocolate sauce to drizzle on the plate. If there's any left, drizzle a line of sauce along the top of the kisses. The extra sweetness of the sauce really complements the fudgey banana bites.

Rich thick chocolatey flavor, fudge-like texture. Four pieces are a perfect snack or dessert.

Oh. There's one missing. Wonder where it went.....

Don't forget to lick the plate.

Mmm-wah. From Elvis.

Four-legged Slumber Party

A call from a friend resulted in an overnight guest and playmate for Birdie. At least that was the plan...

Meet Coco. I soon changed her name to "Coco-nut"! She and Birdie are almost the same size. They could wear the same size jammies!

"Here I am, all full of fun! See my sparkly eyes? Yep, fun, that's me!"

Birdie did a good imitation of "I don't seeee you, I'm watching birds out the windooooow...."

"Hey, ya wanna play? Hey. HEY. I'm talkin' to you, girl!"

"OK, sista, ya wanna play, eh? Poke that pointy little nose a little closer..."

"Take THAT, ya little invader!"

"Yikes, there's STICKERS on the end of those fluffy paws! Na, na, missed me, now ya gotta kiss me!"

"Hey. HEY. How come you get to be on the counter? I can climb too, ya know. Hey. HEY. Ah, come on, come play again!

They actually did get to the point of playing, in their own individual dog and kitty fashion. "Chase" and "King of the kennel" were favorites. There was a territorial issue regarding their personal food dishes, but we worked through that.

At one point they had me laughing out loud. Coco-nut had seen Birdie napping on the cushion of mom's rocking chair. As soon as Birdie vacated, Coco quietly moved in, and snoozed for quite a while before all of a sudden Birdie noticed her as she sauntered by. Oh boy. Fizzy fur, flat ears, ugly looks - but no sound. She stalked stiff-legged around the chair a few times, until Coco noticed her. Then Birdie switched tactics. She did "cute kitty", which she performs regularly for us. She rolls onto her back, all feet in the air, fluffy tummy exposed, wiggling coyly.

Sure enough. Coco took the bait. She thought the cat was ready to play again - poor disillusioned pup. As soon as she jumped down to join the fun, the cat jumped UP, onto the cushion. And sat there. Smugly. It was such an obvious CAT ploy!

Coco-nut didn't have a chance.

Well, that's what pajama parties are all about, getting to know your friends.

Culture on the Coast

At first glance one might suspect New York gangster...

Happily, these are the GOOD guys - REALLY GOOD guys.

An evening concert, FREE from our library I might add, enticed us to make the 1o minute drive into Tillamook. As soon as we entered the room, I was kicking myself for not grabbing my camera on the way out the door. Six antique guitars, one a guitar-lute, were displayed on a table. Gleaming wood - cedar, oak, rosewood, and others. Lovely unexpected forms and carving. We were soon listening to velvety music plucked from the strings of these fabulous restored instruments.

We were introduced to unfamiliar (to our day) composers, music that made you close your eyes and waft back in time. Bach had walked 300 miles to study for 3 months with one of them, whose music composition was purported to be perfect. No disagreement from the audience. Other composers, several different countries - I wish I had written down the names, but I couldn't even pronounce most of them. Different styles and tones, played by virtuoso muscians. Who were also very personable, presenting bits of history and information with humor and humbleness. Foti explained one piece as being composed by a Brazilian, played on German instruments, by a Greek and an American!

A delightful experience.

No. More than that.

Exquisite.

It's a puzzling thing...

What to do on a day when the frost is thick outside, the fire is crackling in the stove, and the cat is asleep...

a jigsaw puzzle, of course!

A Christmas gift from Pat and Tonya - it's not hard to figure out what we might like!

This is a big 'un - 38" x 12". 750 pieces. Had to round up a big piece of poster board to go over the card table, which was strategically placed in front of the fire.

Too bad Birdie was asleep - she would have loved this one!

Knitty Kitty

Granddaughter Elyse celebrates her birthday two days after Christmas. Is that double-dipping??

This year we were blessed to have her with us at Greatgramma's house. We helped her turn 13 - lots of joking and teasing, of course. And PRESENTS!!

I decided to make her a Kittyville hat, out of one of my pattern books (Stitch 'n Bitch, by Debbie Stoller; pg.127 photo, pg 165 pattern directions). Elyse has been a "purple" girl most of the time. I checked my stash of yarn and just used what I had on hand. Not enough purple for the whole thing, but it worked out OK!

It's actually easy to make, looks more difficult that it really is. Unless you decide to use black yarn, which is what the pattern calls for. I absolutely refuse to knit with black yarn - one exasperating experience, many hours of squinting, and red-rimmed eyes convinced me that there is no good reason to knit ANYTHING in BLACK.

So take my advice: make it any color you want. It's so cute, the lucky receiver won't even care.

Best of all, Elyse loved it!

(NOTE to perspective mothers: think about how you time the arrival of those babes - birthday shopping on top of Christmas can be a challenge, to say the least...)

HERE'S TO A GRAND NEW YEAR!!

It's all about attitude! We're never to old to teeter-totter - as long as you can climb on and not fall off :)


Here's my challenge to you for grand new adventures:

LISTEN HARD
WALK ON THE EDGE
PLAY WITH ABANDON
LAUGH OFTEN (ESPECIALLY AT YOURSELF)
BREATH DEEPLY
CHOOSE WITH NO REGRETS
APPRECIATE FAMILY AND FRIENDS
DO WHAT YOU LOVE
HAVE FUN
LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST!