Snow Day - "G'ma, can we come over to make the gingerbread house?"

YAY! SNOW DAY! Hangin' with Aubs 'n' Gav and Listening to Great Music!

GUEST BLOGGER!

Hi, I am Aubrey and One Direction is my favorite band in the history of bands! My favorite is Louis then it is Harry. The rest are ok but they are all GREAT singers. What I like about this video is that it shows pictures of their families from younger to older people [younger kids to older kids and younger parents to older parents].You should all watch this video… it is an awesome video. I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE VIDEO!!!♡

Watch Billy et al on December 29th! YAY, Piano Man!!!

The Dangers of Cupcake Wars

We're in a post-Breaking Bad slump. Nothing seems to meet our new standard for incredible TV viewing. I'm sure this, too, shall pass - eventually. So, we ended up on the Cooking Channel, last night. Yep, you've got that right. Cupcake Wars. Dangerous show. It left us not only wanting more Bad, but needing a CC fix, as well. What to do?

Let's cook bake, of course. This recipe for easy CampFire WinterFire Cupcakes was previously posted. It filled today's bill for a quick hit. The rest of the lot went into the freezer, to be added to the Christmas table.

Breaking so deliciously bad!

A Christmas Story ★ Starry Night

Today's iPhonePhoto

When (link) Jim was alive, we had this watch-each-other's-house thing going on. Our lives were pretty constant, back in the day. If anything seemed awry, Joe might receive a phone call with a heads-up from Jim, and vice versa. Those were the days before cell phones, so a little searching was in order.

I remember once when Jim asked Joe, "How come you didn't watch the Yankee game last night?" Seems our living room was dark and he wondered where the distant symbol of fan-ship was. Joe's response? "'Cause we were AT the Yankee game!" No, Jim wasn't being nosey. Just watching our backs.

Why do I tell you this? Well, to cover myself, in case I'm soundin' like a busybody, here. NOT! It's just that when you live rurally with acres separating houses, you can't help but notice what little action there is… bringing me to this little anecdote:

Jim's widow, Judy, has been away. The house was dark and quiet till yesterday, when in rolled their daughter, Carol. A delivery truck soon followed, and then, a few hours later…

There it was. A brightly lit Christmas tree visible through the large front window, presumably a surprise for her Momma when she returns home.

Kudos to Carol. How special she must be. And this neighbor is lovin' the lights, great additions to starry nights.
COLOR ★ ME ★ INSPIRED

RealTime Reflections

iPhonePhoto

Let's Cook - "Breaking Bad" - No Spoilers

In a single word to describe this series from start to finish, we say, "WOW!" 

We must have been living in a bubble to have missed mention of the show, but it's not on Joe's "clicker circuit" and we did just that. Then not too long ago, the Internet was aglow with rave reviews about the final episode. Without reading spoilers, I thought to buy the first few seasons. That was in October. There the vids sat in protective cellophane, till one night in mid-November I went ballistic over the click-clicking from "Dancing With The Stars" to some other inane reality show. Out came Season 1, Disc 1. A few Amazon orders later brought us to this morning and that above-mentioned finale. Yep, 62 fantastic episodes. The show never falters. Never stops twisting. Never stops surprising. And never ceases to amaze, as a gazillion questions about human foibles arise. 

Thing is, we wonder if the (d)evil sleeps in all of us, just biding his or her time till we leave the path of straight and narrow only to break bad… really, really bad.

"Let's cook" takes on a whole new meaning. Realization of the depths of drug issues conjure up too many feelings of fear and despair. But human nature aspects drive the story and sub-stories home in a more personal way. Consider:

  How well do we know the strangers lurking within ourselves or our loved ones? What could or would we be capable of, in the name of "family"? How well do we really "know" outsiders, so easily allowed into our lives? How little or how much could or would sway our moral compasses? How fine is the line between love and hate? The queries go on and on.   

If you've not watched, I'm envious. You have an incredible adventure ahead for which I recommend purchasing the series. Short of that, there's Netflix. Whatever your poison, pun intended, enjoy the ride. It'll give you incredibly new perspectives on power, money, greed, humility, morality, family, good versus evil, and, sadly, love lost. And...

How awesome to watch sequentially and at one's will, not having to wait till the next season or even the next week for answers. Each and every cliffhanger was amazing. We just might watch from start to finish again. Not to worry, though, as we'll take a little break, first. But I'm already missing Jesse, Skyler, Flynn, Hank, Marie and Saul. Oh, and I can't forget Mr. White…

But there's no sympathy for the devil, here.

Nelson Mandela 1918-2013

Quick 'n' Rustic Apple Pie

These are somewhere between pies and tarts, ready for our Christmas freezer. Instead of making one double-crust pie, I split my dough into rounds, placed on a cookie sheet, covered each half with waxed paper and pressed into larger circles. After piling a simple mixture of assorted apple slices, brown sugar, lemon juice, flour, maple syrup, cinnamon and ginger, I dotted with butter. Up came the sides with a double-check for breaks - simply push the moist dough together, if that should happen. Into a preheated 400-degree oven for 40 minutes and voilà! 

Best Crust:

2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour

1 tsp salt

½ cup Canola oil with 5 tablespoons of icy water added

Mix flour and salt with a fork, add liquid and quickly stir into the easiest dough ever. If rolling for traditional pie, do so between waxed paper sheets. Otherwise, place right onto your pan and make it rustic!

AMAZING New York News!

Billy and the Garden made a deal! Yep, it's true. He's playing there once a month till we get tired of him. Y'all know that will never happen! I'm SO psyched 'cause now there's no worries about missing New Year's Eve at the Barclay Center. YAY, Billy. This Long Island girl never stopped keepin' the faith! 

"Playing Madison Square Garden is an experience that never gets old," Joel said. "A show a month at the Garden for as long as there's demand means more opportunities to connect with music fans and provides a unique and memorable show every time we play here."

Decorate THIS!

Our local GrandLoves were positively adorable, over the weekend. They have a way of quickly accelerating the Christmas spirit! I continue to place a Santa here or a bow there, in anticipation of their further glee. Chances are that I'll probably "play" with decorations till the 24th. 'Tis the festive season, you know, and I've clearly been put in the mood. Now, an anecdote...

♡

Gavin was so cute when he spotted the wreath I'd made many moons ago, in honor of our beloved Giant Schnauzers, Baron and Sly.

"Is this Mambo, G'ma?"
"How did you make this?"
"Oh, I get it, you started with a big circle."

And on and on. He has always been interested in the "how" and "why" something works. Always.

After he framed his face and tried the big pouf as a pillow, I moved it to an upstairs bed in the new and improved kids' room, decorated in like colors. Later on, when I returned with a hammer and nail for hanging it on the wall, there it was -- perfectly placed on the cool, zebra-striped hook. The little man has a good eye! It shall bring a daily smile, during Advent 2013, and...

Not to forget mention of my virtual pal, Auntie Peaches, who will love the updated use for an Anthropologie hook. :-)

Advent

'Tis the Season! The exciting countdown begins for the children. Here at the Old Homestead, we continue a beautiful tradition begun by dear old friend, Lynn. She made her mark upon our hearts and souls in seemingly little ways that resulted in ginormous memories. One such way was her yearly gift to Brian and Christian of an Advent calendar. The tradition continues. And…

What better time to have Aubs and Gav sleep over than tree-trimming night? Joe erected the tree, but they did the rest. When hunger pangs began…

Joe offered the diner, but the kids preferred to stay here. Gramps "cooked" and kindly took orders, before running around town to find barbecued wings for Gav and matzoh ball soup for Aubs. What can I say? We had no clue that Gavin is such a wing-man. But, "… not homemade or in a box from a freezer - only from a restaurant…" The Little Man clearly knows what he likes.

A nice night with an easy bedtime. And a sweet morning, 'cause new traditions are always being born on Stacey Drive. Do you have a Boogie Board sitting on your counter, yet?

Good Morning and Happy December
♥

So, Do You Like?

Ah, the universal language. Just gotta luv it. And where the heck has this guy been? Why didn't I hear about him till today, when I found word of him on none other than a Neil Diamond board. See what happens, Neil, when you don't tour? Fickle fans. I digress…

Back to Johnny Reid. He's categorized as a (Scottish) Canadian country singer. I'm callin' his genre "crossover". I like. If he decides to grace our shores, I just might be there to welcome him to the good ole US of A.

Caution!

So, it's Black Friday. But the merchants couldn't wait and BF began on TT, Thanksgiving Thursday. What an awful thought. The ruination of such a beautiful time of family, friends, peace and the giving of thanks. But can we blame retailers? The stores were mobbed.
I simply cannot imagine. 

Having said that, here I am pursuing a few necessary list items… online, of course. Only once in my lifetime did I shop in brick-and-mortar stores on BF. Once. It never happened again. I can summon up the feeling of claustrophobia as Macy's Cellar consumers crowded and pushed me. Here within the confines of my beautiful cucina, though, I am safe and mob protected. I digress.

My favorite go-to pan is looking a tad scratched. Number 1 bit the dust a few years ago. Number 2 still has some life in it; but I'm not taking any chances of being caught short. Look what I found. Be assured, these are the same model, C1210P 10" crêpe pan. Makes one think twice before ever clicking that enter key, eh? Here ya go:

Quite surprised to find this one on Amazon, one of my favorite bargain spots:

At Calphalon's very own online site, though, look at the "Exclusive" that awaited my click-click:

A Quiche Tip

It seems that I goofed with my pie dough and didn't bring it high enough, before blind baking. Soooo, all of the custard prepared didn't quite make the cut. I prefer a deeper quiche. But that's not what really needs to be shared, here. This healthy version of a tried and true, anything-goes favorite was made with light coconut milk, rather than fat and calorie-saturated cream or half 'n' half. Try it, next time! YUM 

GivingThanks

ThanksGiving is such a special holiday. Reason to pause from daily life as it zips by at warp speed. Reason to remember significant Thursdays of years gone by. Reason to offer gratitude for life's blessings, especially precious family members and friends, whether still with us or residing in our hearts. Reason to look forward to another year of reasons to say, "Thank you," to each other and to a higher being of personal belief. 

Counting my blessings and thanking BKAG for sharing part of the day with us. And thanks to Aubs for capturing Mambo-In-The-Middle. 

Happy ThanksGiving

 ♡

My Jewish Half Says, "Happy Chanukah!"

Mouths of Babes ♡ Chloe

As part of our weekly phone ritual, Chloe and I discuss the previous week's artwork. She has a fabulous teacher, this year - Miss Stephie. One Sunday's perfectly clear description of what they'd done in class led me to an Internet search and quick discovery that it is called "resist art". 

We further discussed what supplies were needed in order to…

 "… show you how to do it, G'ma."

Adorable. 

So, on Christening Weekend, Aubs and I learned to draw with oil pastels and crayons, after which we painted with watercolors. Therein lies the resistance, as the wax and oil repel paint to show pretty designs. Honestly, at six years old, her teaching capabilities are astounding. 

Chloe had other projects that she'd saved for me, as well. Upon handing me the "sunflower" with her photo, she said…

"G'ma, this is so you don't forget me."

Be still my heart.

Let It Snow 'n' Hot Off The Needles

The anticipated Nor'easter has begun with a snowfall of about three inches. Pretty. And just in time for a warm 'n' fuzzy project just off the needles. It looks cute on my Dad's bear, brought to the kids many moons ago. Agreed? 

Something old. Something new. Fresh view.

Lil Miss Lyla's Day ♡

She knew! Yes, she did! Lyla was totally aware that the party was in her honor. Her christening. What a beautiful day for a beautiful babe. 

GrandLovin' was in the house, that's for sure. The kids had a blast, as they always do on such occasions. The highlight for Aubs, Hunter, Gavin and Chloe might have been when it began to snow. Such elation! 

The only low point of the day was knowing that Joe and I would not see Todd, Yvonne and Baby Grace for a long time, since they are moving south. With that said, however, we are so happy for their excitement and for the new home awaiting their arrival.
Good Luck to a special family.

NIK had a bit of a breakdown. Turns out that it was a faulty SD card - thankfully nothing major, but my camera was retired for the day. With Dawn to the rescue, we have some lovely mementoes, above. The sketchier ones below were taken with my iPhone

Giving thanks.

The Day Walter Cronkite Cried

I liked today a lot more a few moments ago, before recalling the date. Fifty years. Who can believe? 

That day's events are embedded in my memory, just as they are for countless others. The questions still remain. "How?" "Why?"

Most distressing is the return of heart-wrenching feelings and overwhelming emotions that seem never to fade.

JFK. Mourning the loss. Remembering the life. Forever back to the sea.

“I really don't know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it is because in addition to the fact that the sea changes and the light changes, and ships change, it is because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have, in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch it we are going back from whence we came” JFK

GavArt '13 - Robot

How amazing is Gavin's incredible attention to detail?! He couldn't wait to show me what he'd recently learned in art class - step by step, line by line and quickly committed to memory. I'm in awe.

"Do you see the pattern, G'ma?"

♡

Remember Me?

What better recipe for success on a nasty day? Yep, it's that time of year again. Tried and true favorites of many varieties pervade our psyche. How can we forget, when we've tasted the delicious bread and experienced this very Garden concert, circa '05 (below)?

To Note:
I switched up the bread recipe yet again, subbing in white whole wheat flour for ⅓ of the amount called for. Very nice result and nearly the color of warm sand… yet another favorite. But as for Mr. Diamond and summer sand, I wouldn't change a thing…
"Warm Baby, warm Baby, warm… say, do you remember me?"

Baking bread. Missing Neil. Wanting sandy shores.

FYI - My Online Affair

To others, "O" might mean Oprah. But here at the Old Homestead, it symbolizes Overstock. I've been a fan for a very long time. As a matter of fact, ever since their site had exactly one page - that's right - one page of listings. A very early purchase was a 3-piece, tall, heavy wrought iron designer screen with 6 flowerpots. I used it on the corner of our patio for many years and Bri/Kell's wedding photographer found it (all done up with Impatiens flowers) intriguing for some great captures. It cost 50 bucks and weighed a ton. Well, not exactly a ton, but I need to impress that shipping has always been free or a total of $2.95, for Overstock.com. Go figure. This fact has made me a shipping cheapskate all over the internet. No joke. So, this all brings me to my bargain-of-the-week from the site that now has countless pages of items ranging from soup to nuts… or not exactly. But don't be fooled by "For The Home". I've found some pretty awesome sarongs 'n' such there, too. Is it almost summertime? I digress... FYI:

I've been Christmas shopping online for several weeks, now. One thing I've noticed is that even virtual inventories are not massive, these days. Shopping early guarantees success, especially for brand names. And besides, the price war has been going on forever. But this week, the best result of my wheeling and dealing came with a little purchase from the Big O. In search of a specific-but-relatively-inexpensive item for one of the GrandLoves, I found it on sale at O, reduced to a mere $15.99 from $24.99. I logged into the site through eBates, guaranteeing me an instantaneous 2.5% cash-back reward. When I went to check out, I found over $11.00 in Overstock money in my account - this from my 5% O reward on my last purchase. Shipping was free. Ahem. Just do the math! There's nothing like a nearly free stocking stuffer.

Have a good one. I'm off for some cyber retail therapy.

Picture This

We've not yet started to feed winter birds. Therefore, there are no decals on our huge picture windows in the living room. Still, you'd think avians would be smart enough to avoid them. Not so. It seems when they see their reflections in sparkling glass, inward flight occurs. They attempt hook-ups with imaginary pals of like feathers. You know -  Birds of a feather flock together. I digress…

While Great White Hunter was in the drenched swamp, yesterday, I was cozy on the couch, alternately sipping coffee, playing WORDS, reading a book, catching up with TV series and knitting a neck warmer. I multitask. However, the pitter-patter of the rain was soothing, and in spite of the caffeine, it seems I dosed off. Till...

A loud crash awakened me. The front window. Right past the dense holly tree. Look hard. There's a gray imprint left as proof. Can you see?

Thing is, there was no evidence of species lying on the ground. This Big Bird was resilient. Strong. Apparently, he flew away, leaving me wide-eyed and imagining the consequences had he come through the glass.

My Protector

"Who goes there?"

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

A glimpse of our chilly morning

It's a cold and blustery day, perfect for baking-to-freeze, in anticipation of the holidays. This one shall be for Thanksgiving brunch. It comes from ClosetCooking online, though I did change the sour cream that was called for to vanilla yogurt.

Ah, the divine aromas in my cucina!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

The batter:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup white whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking soda

½ cup butter, room temp.

½ cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar; lightly beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients.

The pumpkin:

3 cups pumpkin purée

1 egg
¼ cup granulated sugar

cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg to taste

Lightly beat together.

The streusel topping:

1 cup flour

1 cup oats

½ - ¾ cup brown sugar

2 tsps. cinnamon

⅓ cup melted butter

1 cup chopped nuts

Mix it well, using fingers to squish together, if necessary.

Assembling the cake:
Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with PAM. Spread half the batter into it. Add half the streusel mix and then a layer of all the pumpkin. Spread with rest of batter. Top with remaining streusel. Bake in preheated oven for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Here's what it looks like, sliced:

ClosetCookingPhoto

♥Birthday Girl♥

Her shirt says it all…

Our Sugar is all about L♡VE!

Happy 11th Birthday to our Aubs - our first-of-five GrandLove -  growing up way too fast!

We love you with all of our hearts…

And speaking of "firsts", Mother Nature has her very own version as your gift, this morning.

She knows you're ready to ski. 

What Do We Know?

"What do we know about people who have access to our children?"

Childcare Givers

Teachers

Clergy

Sunday School Teachers

Camp Counselors

School Aides

Neighbors

Friends

NEW LOVERS

(brought into the home by single parents)

The list goes on and on...

Saluting All Vets, Past and Present...

… for all they've done and continue to do in protecting our freedoms.

It's true - freedom is not free. We are in their debt on a daily basis.

Real Time - Fire In The Sky

This morning, Old Sol managed to battle a heavy cloud cover, affording us a brief, albeit brilliant, show.

Bananas - Sleep On This

Please be sure to search 'em right here on CMI for lots of recipes -
but eat 'em like this at bedtime.

Bananas:

Readily available, delicious at varying stages of ripeness from pale greenish-yellow to bright yellow, still usable for baking and shaking when dark and overripe, heart healthy with potassium and cheap, to boot. But did you know they're referred to as "a pill in a peel", as mentioned in today's Yahoo article regarding sleep-helpful snacks: