Well, if anyone is still stopping by here, it's pretty evident that I rarely blog anymore. This is, in fact, my farewell to the blogosphere. I've been spending some time in very serious reflection lately. It seems that "blogging" is a bigger thing than ever. The bigger it gets, the less I want to do it, and that needed some consideration from me. Is it just because I hate fads? After all, I refused to see Star Wars in the theater the first time it came out, JUST BECAUSE everyone was so obsessed by it. It was a (possibly futile) gesture of independence from the "crowd." Is that why I no longer want to blog, nor troll endlessly through others' blogs?
As I was thinking, I ran across this column by George Will. I'll lift a few quotes:

Franklin's extraordinary persona informed what he wrote but was not the subject of what he wrote. Paine was perhaps history's most consequential pamphleteer. There are expected to be 100 million bloggers worldwide by the middle of 2007, which is why none will be like Franklin or Paine. Both were geniuses; genius is scarce. Both had a revolutionary civic purpose, which they accomplished by amazing exertions. Most bloggers have the private purpose of expressing themselves, for their own satisfaction. There is nothing wrong with that, but nothing demanding or especially admirable, either. They do it successfully, because there is nothing singular about it, and each is the judge of his or her own success.

Time's issue includes an unenthralled essay by NBC's Brian Williams, who believes that raptures over the Web's egalitarianism arise from the same impulse that causes today's youth soccer programs to award trophies —"entire bedrooms full" — to any child who shows up: "The danger just might be that we miss the next great book or the next great idea, or that we will fail to meet the next great challenge ... because we are too busy celebrating ourselves and listening to the same tune we already know by heart."


I've had to ask myself: Do I want to be a part of that? I've at times, I admit, enjoyed my year-long experiment here, but at the very core of my being, something is still reacting strongly against the entire idea of blogging. At the beginning of my "experiment" I suspected that there was more than a little narcissism involved. Now, at the end, I know that there is. I know because I've experienced it, and let it blind me for a while. Now in the cold clear light, I have to 'fess up and admit it: I've been navel-gazing. And cheering others on while they navel-gazed. And, to no one's suprise, this has not made me more intelligent. Or more Christlike. Or more sensitive to the needs of others. It has, at best, been neutral, and at worst, encouraged me to fixate upon my own feelings and opinions. In short, I do not believe that, were Christ upon the earth, He would have a blog. No, He would be out, one on one, serving and loving others with no thought for Himself. I need to go and do likewise. I'm not trying to sound sententious here, but honest.

Might there be blogs of real value out there? Sure. But my time is limited, and trolling through the blogosphere for hours to sift out a few worthwhile nuggets is a poor use of my time. I don't want to miss the next great book or the next great idea or fail to meet my next great challenge because I was too busy celebrating myself. I'm not worried about depriving the world of my genius--I don't have any. I do have love, but that is not a commodity in trade in the blogosphere.

So I'm signing off. I wish the blogosphere the best. I actually hope that it moves away from navel-gazing and towards something more genuine. Until it does, though, you can find me reading a book, loving my family, and trying to serve my neighbors.

Well, I didn't get as much done this week as I'd once hoped. PMM was derailed by a stomach virus, which naturally derailed me too. Pretty hard to get much done while doling out sips of gatorade every five minutes. LOL I will try to get my dipped gingersnaps done today, as they are my dh's partner's favorites.
Have had a request for Chocolate Truffle Cookies, which are one of my family's favorites.

Chocolate Truffle Cookies
1 1/4 c butter, softened
2 1/4 c confectioner's sugar
1/3 c baking cocoa
1/4 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 c flour
2 cups chocolate chips
1/4 cup chocolate sprinkles

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar and cocoa until light and fluffy. Beat in sour cream and vanilla. Add flour, mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour. Shape into 1-inch balls, dip in chocolate sprinkles, and place on ungreased baking sheets 2 in. apart. Bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes or until set. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. About 5 dozen
We usually double this. They are very, very good! :-)

 

In Iowa, Santa drives a John Deere, what else? These photos are from our community lights display; different sections are paid for by different area businesses. This one is, you got it, from John Deere.  

 

Montserrat wanted to know how we kept our waistlines in check with all the baking we do. Well, you haven't seen our waistlines. LOL Dh and I are not exactly in the running for Thinnest People. :-)
But, when I do Christmas baking, we each get one or two things, then I immediately pack them for the freezer. Then we make up trays and give the vast majority of it away. We started doing this long ago, when we didn't really have money to buy "real" presents. And now that things aren't so tight, I've tried a time or two to "switch" over to buying stuff, but people seem to expect the goodies now, so. :-)
Anyway, I have a lot of "big batch" recipes. I made 11 dozen Chocolate Truffle Cookies yesterday, and Saturday I will be making 14 dozen Dipped Gingersnaps.
Here is the recipe I made last Saturday:
Macy's Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients:
2 c butter
2 c sugar
2 c brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 c flour
5 c old-fashioned oats
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
24 oz. chips (I like to use one bag chocolate and one bag peanut butter)
1 tsp salt
3 oz Hershey's bar, frozen

Put flour and oatmeal in batches in the blender, processing until powderlike. Do the same to the frozen Hershey's bar. (Do the flour and oatmeal FIRST.)
Mix butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla in a VERY LARGE bowl. Combine dry ingredients and chopped chocolate bar. Add to mixing bowl and mix well. Stir in chips. Bake on ungreased sheets at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
OK, now, you need a very large bowl and a super-powerful mixer if you want to use an electric mixer. I have a big, deep dough mixer, the hand-crank kind. I use this, and it is a hard, tough job to get this batch mixed! I did it on Saturday so dh could help me mix. We burned off a few calories just with the mixing, let alone the running around with cookie sheets. LOL

Well, the baking is in full swing here now. We've had a busy week! Saturday we made a huge batch of our favorite chocolate chip cookies, Macy's Cookies. This recipe makes 14 dozen! Saturday evening we went to Bah, Humbug! a local school's Christmas play/concert. A young woman we know and love played the Ghost of Christmas Present. :-) It was nicely done. Sunday, I found myself without a calling. Having just been released from a Primary calling so I could focus on Teacher Development, I found that the entire Teacher Development position, program, and all, has been discontinued! LOL I helped out in the nursery, not being sure what else to do with my newfound freedom. :-)
Today I made some plain cookies for us to take with us tonight. For FHE tonight, we will drive around looking at Christmas lights, and drive through our town's large for-pay display. It is a new tradition begun last year, and was a lot of fun!
Then, we made a double batch of Chocolate Truffle Cookies, one of my dh's favorites. I'm about baked out for today, but hope to get more done tomorrow.
Fa la la la la!

Happy Birthday Tallman!
Thirteen years ago today, after so much waiting and hoping and praying, I finally became a mother. And Tallman finally arrived, after uncharacteristic dilly-dallying! :-)
It's hard to believe it's been thirteen years, and I'm now the mother of a teenager. It was just the other day I was carrying him around and people were stopping me and exclaiming about his eyes and his soft blond hair that stood straight up.
Anyway, Tallman arrived on Pearl Harbor Day, 1993, and weighed in at 10 lbs. 15 1/2 oz.
Happy Birthday, Tallman, you're the best!

It's Saint Nicholas Day! We read about him and about the various German/Austrian traditions here. Our pfeffernusse are in the oven now.
Also today we are trying a new recipe, Nutmeg Sugar Crisps. The dough for that is chilling now.
Tallman's Church youth group are in charge of bellringing at our local Hy-Vee today so he'll be coming and going as he takes his turn. They have a pizza party lined up for all the bellringers this evening.

Peppermint twists! These will be packaged up (the ones I salvaged from being eaten) in Christmas mugs with a bag of hot chocolate mix and given as gifts. They were a bit of trouble but pretty and tasty enough to do again.

It's still a German-Austrian Christmas celebration around here! Yesterday we learned about Barbarazweig, although we did not do it ourselves. We also made peppermint twists (not necessarily German, although they were yummy!) We made gingerbread cutout cookies and decorated them last night for FHE. No pictures, the kids ate them too quickly. :-(
Today we made pfefferneusse dough. We'll bake it in a few days, then put the cookies aside for a week or two before eating! I sure am glad that this German-American housewife has a mixer and does not have to do all this mixing and beating by hand only. :-)

Next I begin Fudgefest. I'll be making 8-10 batches today. No, that's not necessarily German either, but we always do it. We are keeping it simple this year, and only making chocolate and possibly chocolate-raspberry. I'm frustrated, though, that my favorite Hershey's Raspberry Chocolate Chips are not in my stores this year. I am trying a new product but do not know if it will melt and turn out well. We'll experiment at the end of Fudgefest.
I'll post recipes if anyone is interested.

Well, once again it's been a long time! I spent a few days driving to Kansas City to shop with my mom and sister. We had a terrific time, and much of my shopping is done. We've been trying to decorate for Christmas, surviving an ice storm and power outages, and getting ready for Christmas School. Today is the first day!
This year we will be focusing on traditions, crafts and recipes from Germany and Austria for Christmas School. About.com has a nice German advent calendar; Dec. 1's entry is here. Our activity for the day has been to make an Advent wreath; we put it on the table around a lovely Nativity candle set I own and use as a centerpiece. I'll try to post a photo of the completed centerpiece later.

Cheery took these two "pizza cakes" to the Cub Scout cake auction and did very well, earning $65 for his pack.

PMM in his cool new dinosaur jammies!

We loved this little path and bridge in a local park. It looked like it was going somewhere important. :-)

We were so impressed with this gnarly old tree against the deep blue sky in a local park, we had to take several pictures of it. I'll bet this tree could tell some interesting tales.

Just found this site today. It predicted, based on dh's height and mine, how tall the boys are likely to get. Their predictions? Perpetual Motion Machine and Cheery will be 6'1". Tallman? 6'7". Really. NBA, anyone?

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat!

LOL. What is not yet fat is my freezer. I haven't even begun the "goodies" yet this year. Nevertheless, Christmas prep is in full swing this year. I have almost all my soap and candles done, and last night we got the rest of the kids' Christmas gifts decided on. I'll start ordering this week.

For Christmas school this year we've decided to shamelessly steal the idea from my online friend Katrina, and focus on Christmas in different countries, especially countries involved in our family history. This year it is Germany and Austria. I'll be trying to put the things we do and try here.

One fun new Christmas tradition we have is a terrific new game! My dh occasionally visits this website, Familyman Ministries, because it's by a homeschooling dad. He discovered this new game they sell there, called To Bethlehem. It is a combination of learning and thinking about the meaning of Christmas, and hilarious family fun. We laughed last night until we cried. Some of the spaces are labeled things like "Last rest stop before Bethelehem. Go flush a toilet" "You're tired. Sit on someone's lap until your next turn." Definitely a keeper! Interested? Look here.

Pumpkin Bread
Well, I seem to be fixated on food. Not too surprising for me, now that it's November. This is the beginning of Baking Season here at my home. I "initiated" the season Saturday by making my first batch of Grandma's pumpkin bread. I often make a dozen or more batches of it in November and December. I know the recipe well enough that I need to look at it the first time each fall, then I remember it well enough to forge ahead without it.
Somewhere in my ancestry there must lurk a pumpkin grower, lol. My grandmother is just a "pumpkin natural" She can make anything out of pumpkin, and her pumpkin bread and pie recipes are the best I've ever had. I no longer make her pie recipe often, as it involved beating the egg whites separately and folding them in, and I just hate to do it. :-) And I've tried, and liked, many other pumpkin bread recipes (I guess I have a pumpkin gene too) I really enjoy trying to make Grandma's recipe healthier. But, when push comes to shove, Grandma's is THE recipe. Nothing else really touches it, IMO. Rich, tender and sweet, it is a dessert, not a bread. I've collected pumpkin bread recipes from all over, but the ONLY time I ever found the equivalent to Grandma's is in an old Amish book I found somewhere. Grandma made her loaves in coffee cans, and I loved the beautiful perfectly round slices. Being short on coffee cans here, though, I use 9x5 loaf pans; the recipe makes 2 of these. One to enjoy, and one to give away!

Grandma Zella's Pumpkin Bread

2 cups sugar
2/3 cup water
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups cooked or canned pumpkin
4 eggs
1 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
3 1/3 cups flour


Beat sugar, oil, and eggs in a large bowl until creamy. Add pumpkin and water, then dry ingredients. Mix well, and pour into two greased 9x5 loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-65 minutes; bread is done when cracks on top of loaf are dry and a toothpick inserted off center comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out to cool.

Eat this like a bread, or for a real treat, top slices with vanilla whipped cream with a little nutmeg sprinkled on top. Yum.

Tuesday I also decided to reclaim my heritage and attempt "old hen and potpie" This is an old family recipe that came down from my father's mother's family. We had it at all family get-togethers. It's essentially a stewed chicken with homemade noodles. Why it's "potpie" is beyond me. The first time, after I hit adulthood, that I went to a restaurant and saw "potpie" on the menu, I ordered it and got a BIG surprise! LOL
Anyway, my grandmother steadfastly refused ever to give me a recipe. Not even any help. Just start with eggs and add flour until it looks right, then cook it until it's done. LOL I have been too "chicken" to try it on my own. But last month we had a Relief Society class where a sister shared her homemade noodle recipe. It looked JUST LIKE Grandma's, except this sister rolled and cut them thinner and dried them overnight before cooking them. But it gave me just enough courage to try it on my own.
So, Tuesday night, I made my attempt. I didn't stew an entire chicken for one meal for 5 people. I "modernized" by using canned broth. I made my noodles (for 6 eggs' worth, add 2 1/2 cups flour , 3/4 tsp salt and mix, if too sticky add up to 1/4 cup more flour) I rolled them out on a well-floured dishtowel, but left them sort of thick and rustic looking. I rolled them about the thickness of pie crust; the sister who did our class rolled them thinner. I also cut them about an inch or so wide, and tore them in pieces (this was the job of the oldest granddaughter at my grandma's house!) and dropped them into simmering broth. After they'd cooked, I added a package of shredded chicken I'd cooked and frozen previously, and thickened the broth.
Apparently they were a big hit. I thought they were remarkably good considering this was my first attempt and I skipped the "old hen" part, lol. And my guys kept going back until every last noodle was gone. I liked my "modernization" because it was much faster (this took my grandma ALL DAY!) and much lower in fat than the way she did it. Maybe I'll try it the "old" way once soon when I have extra time. But I surely am pleased with my attempt!