Retro Recipes, Part One

Drinking bird.  Retro enough?

I think it started last weekend when we were in Florida.  My mom is from St. Pete and we visited every summer when I was a kid living in the northeast.  I also went to school in Tampa and lived/worked there for several years thereafter.  Visiting last weekend was a true flashback for me since I hadn't been there in years.  I made poor Henry drive for miles (he was really gracious about it) so I could re-visit all those places that held memories for me.

Here's a picture of my grandparents' house.  It wasn't fancy, but we had great times there, playing Kanasta on the back porch and eating simple, delicious food.  My grandmother was a great cook (I'm sure that's where my "cooking gene" came from) and she was the original farm-to-table advocate.  She had a huge peach tree, an avocado tree, a mango tree and a grapefruit tree.  As a kid, I loved nothing more than walking around with her as she carried her basket and selected only the ripest, juiciest fruit.

I started cooking when I lived in Tampa.  I had two cookbooks which were my bibles.  I made everything from cheese fondue (c'mon, it was the seventies!) to roasted turkey and chocolate souffle.  Not everything was a huge success, but I taught myself a lot and created the backdrop for a lifelong joy of cooking (yeah, I had that book, too).  Too bad the guy I was married to then subscribed to the "eat to live" philosophy instead of my "live to eat" credo.  Guess that marriage was doomed from the start!

Alright, I'll get to my point now.  (Sorry for the ex-husband rant).  When I got home, I pulled out those old cookbooks and thumbed through them.  I came across the butter crisp cookies I used to make from the McCall's Cookbook.  I decided they would be my next experiment.

Mind you, the original recipe was good enough.  But I tweaked it a little and now it's even better.  These are crispy on the outside, tender on the inside and not crumbly like shortbread.  When you bite into one, you get the crunch of the sides and bottom, a hit of the mace (crucial to this recipe) and just a teeny-weeny hint of salt.  I substituted vanilla paste for the vanilla extract and it resulted in a little extra crunch of "vanilla bean-i-ness."  If you can't find the paste, pure vanilla extract will do just fine.

BUTTER CRISPS (adapted from The New McCall's Cookbook)

1 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground mace
1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
1 cup confectioner's sugar

Sift flour and mace together.  Set aside.

In electric mixer, beat butter, salt and vanilla paste until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Scrape down bowl often.

Gradually beat in sugar, the flour mixture.  Beat just until smooth.

Flatten dough into an oval, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until chilled.  Using a 1-1/4-inch ice cream scoop, form dough into small balls.  Place on a baking sheet and freeze for at least 2 hours (note:  you can keep these, well-wrapped in the freezer for up to six months).

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350-degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.  Place frozen balls on baking sheet, spacing them 2-inches apart.  Bake for 12 minutes or until sides are just golden but tops are still pale.  Cool slightly, then remove to a baking rack and cool completely.

Yield:  approximately 2 1/2 dozen cookies

Please don't overbake these (that seems to be my mantra recently).  When you take them out of the oven, they should be slightly puffed and just golden on the sides.  If you wait until the tops are golden, then you have blown it!

BTW, there is a freshly baked batch of these sitting in my kitchen right now.  Oy veh.  Will she or won't she?

Swim With Your Feet Up

Well, the Sisters Four split again. This time it was Sarah and Sage who went to Colorado for a whitewater rafting adventure while Anna and Tera stayed here to take care of the home place and go out to eat and bowl and watch movies.



Sunday morning early, the two of us and our brother John and friend Hannah loaded up the van and trailer and headed to Howard, Colorado. We took the shortest route, which somehow ended up being very, very long - and I'm sure that had nothing to do with pulling over twice so that the van would be still enough for Sarah and Hannah to play "The Impossible Game" on Hannah's iPod touch. Also, tip of the summer for you other road trippers: "100 Days and Nights" in New Mexico is not a festival. And it's not fun.



We made it to camp a bit before 7:00 pm, and set the home base for the next nights. It was fun greeting friends as they made it into camp: Lance, some of the Hartmans, some of the Dortignacs and Jeremy and Caleb all made it by midnight and everyone was ready to hit the river the next day.

What a great trip! What a wonderful time! What amazing friends!

We didn't lose a single person out of the raft - which is a first for us - but we wonder if that had something to do with how cool the weather...and especially the water...was. We had a great time at the swimming hole...skipping rocks and staying as dry and warm as possible.


Sarah did the food for the trip, with help from the campers. It was fabulous...but did I really have to tell you that?





The first day went really well. We did a section of the river that we've done for three years in a row, with a lunch stop at Salida...and ice cream at a great little coffee shop in town. Mom and Scott met us there for lunch, and Courtney came a bit later so she could complete the day with us on the river.






We had a good day on the river, but the second day was even better. We skipped what is normally our second section, and did a 12 mile run that had quite a few class II's and III's. More excitement than any run we've done on our own yet. The guides did a great job, but it was a pretty funny moment when one of the boats (I won't say who was guiding) got stuck on a rock right in front of about 50 other rafters who had pulled out for lunch. EMBARRASSING!!! One of the professional river guides on the bank asked if we were training or just playing around. I should have told him we were training. He then asked if we'd done "Three Rocks" before, a bigger rapid that was coming up. As we shoved off we told him we hadn't and his parting warning came ominously out over the water as we drifted away, "SWIM WITH YOUR FEET UP!!!"

Three Rocks and Spikebuck were really exciting, but none of us had to put that warning to use. Yay!!! Our take out point was just before the Royal Gorge....but I think we all really wanted to just keep going. Maybe we'll tackle that next.

The only injuries, besides sunburn, happened when John backed right into a cactus. And then poor Hannah H. did the same thing, just so that John wouldn't feel so stupid and alone. Isn't she great!

We had a great time on the river and off. What a super group of people! We played games and took pictures and had some wonderful devotions that were encouraging and uplifting. We prayed together and sang songs and ate food and laughed until we couldn't laugh anymore. How could it get any better than that?

A big thank you to our amazing, responsible, diligent, incredible organizer and river guide:

He really is THAT amazing.

Are we having fun yet??? I'm so ready for next time!!!

Until then....take care, be safe and

SWIM WITH YOUR FEET UP!!!

Devotional Reflections

This morning I finished reading the book of Philippians. It is only 4 chapters long, but I found a lot of encouragement in this book. I have been highlighted texts in my Bible that find a lot of meaning to me. Green is for the new testament, blue for the old testament, and pink for verses that relate to being a Proverbs 31 woman. I want to share with you the verses I highlighted in pink today, there are actually three.

The first is Philippians 4:4
"Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand." This verse really truck me as a Proverbs 31 verse, because as that kind of woman we should be gentle in our temperament as well as our voice! I tend to forget that a lot, especially if I am frustrated with a situation or with someone. So I thought this was a special verse to remember, Be gentle and let others see it because Jesus is coming soon!

The next verse that I highlighted in pink is Philippians 4:8
"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." I like how the Bible that I am using online has highlighted the important words in this text. Whatever things are true, just, pure, lovely and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things! I think the praiseworthy things are one of the most important things to remember when it comes to our husbands. I know, at least for me, it seems like I am mostly nagging or asking him to do something and then complaining if it was not done the way I would have done it. And then I wonder why he won't help me out with things anymore!! But if we as wives concentrate on things that we can praise our husbands for, I bet we would have happier husbands who would be more willing to help us out when needed or asked!

The last verse for today is Philippians 4:13
"Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:" The verse before this, Paul is thanking the Philippians for the help they sent him. I have been struggling with being content lately in life. It seems like everything I want, or want to do, particularly being a mother, won't come soon enough. Instead of learning to be content with where I am right now and following my husband's lead and his plans, I want my plans to happen right now! However, God's timing is perfect and I just need to trust in his timing for my life!

I hope these verses encourage you today as they have for me! Have a blest day! 

~ Heather

i, sy, dan aku

assalamualaikum! thee. sy baru balik kerja about an hour ago. dan sy offday hari ahad nanti. maka sy cuma nk bgtahu sy akan update jgk blog esok! janji! update bergambar! haha. ye ye cik rainbow? sabar menanti tuan mu yg senget ini.

sy belum mkn dr tgh hari td. sbb sy tgh tunggu nabil yg on the way ambil sy. sy kempunan mahu mkn itu ayam goreng mc d. oh maybe chicken mc deluxe. eh entahlah, i suke 2 tuh. ice cream and fries wajib. hee.

ok sy tgh pakai baju kelawar lg, rambut pun basah lg. x pe sy sempoi je pakai kejap lg. hehe. oh ye. ape motif letak awan gedabak ni? cuma mahu jelaskan sy tiada kekeliruan identiti ya =P sy guna semua kata ganti diri ini depends on dgn siapa sy berkomunikasi.

sbb tu kadang sy menulis guna aku. kadang guna sy. dan tak lupa, i. jgn ingt sy gedik2 nak tukar2 atau jd org lain, sbb sy mmg guna 3-3 ni. bergantung pd org dan tempat. itu saje buat masa ni.

esok sy ke IJN, cover news ttg birthday IJN ke-15! wuhuu~ IJN itu institut jantung negara ye buat siapa2 yg kabur2 tuh. haha. =P good nite & have a great weekends friends.

Super Red!

Hari ni boring sgt2.huhu.

Esok ain balik.InsyaAllah.

Tak sbr rasanya.

Tp ain tak jd tido melaka.

Balik hari je,

Mcm2 conflict berlaku.

Huhu.

Td tgk cite "Janji Kekasih"

Mcm best jer..hehe

Buat di UiTM lagi tuh.

Teringat tau.hehe

UiTm di Hatiku.

Jumpe website Looklet

Try wat a look.

Mcm dressing dress game.

haha.

Mcm budak2 kn.

Tak tau esok nk g mana di Melaka.

Dulu masa sekolah tadika

slalu rombongan di Melaka

hehe. Di masuk Rumah Hantu lar.

ain dah la penakut.keh keh.

tertinggal di blkg.

org lain dah kt depan.

Mie pun g holiday gk.

ngan kwn2 die

kt Pulau Perhentian

12 org.

huhu =(

Nanti kalau ain dah keje,ada duit

mesti pergi holiday

hehe.Impian ain =)

di bwh ni gmbr2 'A look' yang ain design.hehe. Enjoy!

p/s : ngah tgk Fast n Furious : Tokyo Drift di TV3.enjoy! mlm ni Portugal vs Brazil.Agk2 sape menang ye?