Rice Crispy Treats

The library did a treats day and I wanted to bring something that those who have Celiac can eat. Rice crispy treats are the obvious choice, super simple and tasty. I wanted to do something unusual with them so I booted up the computer and googled 'decadent rice crispy treats'. I found this recipe for caramel, chocolate, rice crispy treats and knew I had a winner. (https://lilluna.com/chocolate-caramel-peanut-butter-rice-krispies-treats/) However, instead of melting the chocolate into peanut butter I just sprinkled chocolate chips throughout. They were super yummy.

After that success I decided to have more rice crispy treats for the holiday parties. (I had a Christmas Eve Eve/Jolabokaflod party, a Christmas Eve smorgasbord, and a Christmas dinner.) First I made a batch of plain/standard rice crispy treats. Then I created my own treat. Shanna and I both love mint. Earlier this month Shanna found a bag of crushed/chipped Andes Mints and I added them to my cabinet for future cookies. So when I started making rice crispy treats and she pulled out a bag of pink peppermint marshmallows I knew what to do. I used the pink marshmallows, replaced the vanilla with mint extract and stirred in the Andes Mint chips. These were also super yummy. 

I think rice crispy treats are going to be standard fare for our future Christmases. - Jenny

Slow TV

There's this new thing (okay not that new, but new to me as of today) called Slow TV.  

"Slow television, or slow TV (Norwegian: sakte-TV), is a term used for a genre of "marathon" television coverage of an ordinary event in its complete length. Its name is derived both from the long endurance of the broadcast as well as from the natural slow pace of the television programme's progress. It was popularised in the 2000s by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK), beginning with the broadcast of a 7-hour train journey in 2009.[1][2]" - Wikipedia, 12/17/21 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_television

I'm now going to incorporate this into my Holiday Traditions.  I can put one of these amazing videos up on my big screen tv, mute the sound, and play my holiday music. I'm looking forward to doing this.  Here are a few of my favorites Slow TV shows via YouTube so far:

These remind me of home:

Snow Falling on a Winter River (https://youtu.be/KFopoC1VCU4)

Snowy Forest #1 (https://youtu.be/Q0NbGurj_os)

Heavy Snowfall in Light Wind (https://youtu.be/o0heG65MqpI)

Snow Falling in the Evening (https://youtu.be/LNFU0fWtd7c)

Fast Falling Snow (https://youtu.be/V4Oosy-ZtGY)

And then there are these videos that take me somewhere new:

Snow Falling on Christmas Street (https://youtu.be/opDqVQAf9GQ)

Snow On The Canal (https://youtu.be/YwfsVPr1Hvk)

Winter at Kew | Kew Gardens (https://youtu.be/Yn_KRG86DFY)

Finally an antidote to the cold:

Fire in a Fireplace (https://youtu.be/-RZKdWXfpz8)

Fire in a Fire Pit (https://youtu.be/6Haqb0zNr3g)

There are hundreds of these types of videos.  I found out quickly that the ones from moving vehicles like trains or cars make me a little dizzy.  But I love the ones showing snow.  I don't get much snow here anymore.  The person who drives the car (yes that would be me) is happy with this change, but the person who sits and reads, and looks out the window (yes this is me too) is very sad. - Jenny

Christmas Eve Eve Party

We (my friends and family) are going to do a Christmas Eve Eve party based on the Icelandic tradition of Jolabokaflod.  Google it and you'll find a ton of stuff about Jolabokaflod, including how to pronounce it.  

The basic idea is to get together, gift each other books, and stay up all night reading, of course there's food too.  I saw one article that talked about reading and eating chocolate and loved that idea. 

There are 7 of us and originally, we were going to draw names for the book exchange, but this morphed into giving books to everyone. We also decreed that used books and books from one's own library can be gifted.  This makes it much more affordable.  It will also give us options on what we want to read for Jolabokaflod.

Soup and bread for dinner, a bunch of chocolate desserts, books, sofas with cozy blankets and pillows, sounds like a great party to me.  Napping will be allowed/encouraged. Frankly I think I'm too old to stay up all night.  

I gotta say that I am really looking forward to this party. - Jenny

Recipe: Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

 I created this recipe for a party celebrating National Chocolate Day.  My version is not very hot (cayenne wise).  If you want it hotter add more cayenne.  These are a soft cakey cookie.  Reduce the flour to make it act more like a traditional chocolate chip cookie.   

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 cup softened butter
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Additionally:

• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
• Wet Mix: Beat sugar, butter, vanilla, and eggs till fluffy
• Dry Mix: Fork flour, cocoa powder, salt, spices, and raising agents together.  Slowly and gently add to wet mix.  Fold in chocolate chips
• In a separate bowl mix the Additional ingredients sugar & cinnamon together for coating
• Roll heaping tablespoons of dough into balls. Roll balls in the sugar-cinnamon mixture and place on the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until centers are set and edges crack slightly, about 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes.

The Lord of the Rings

I discovered the Lord of the Rings trilogy while I was in Jr. High in the late 1970s. I became obsessed. I read and re-read them regularly. My mom helped my obsession by purchasing the Rankin/Bass record & book version of the cartoon Hobbit movie. She must have taken me to see that movie but this was before we all had movies at our fingertips so it was a one-shot theater experience.

This obsession has stayed with me for 40 some years now. First I found other books by Tolkien including The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, and the Tolkien Reader. Then I found books about Middle Earth including:

• Tyler, J. E. A., The Tolkien Companion 1976
• Day, David, Tolkien Bestiary 1979
• Day, David, Characters from Tolkien 1979
• Fonstad, Karen Wynn, The Atlas of Middle-Earth 1981

I remained on the lookout for Lord of the Rings related material but I had neither the budget I wanted nor the access I wanted. In library school I found other sources including articles about Tolkien, his colleagues, and assessments of his work. This was all fine and good but I wanted the magic of the stories. Then Peter Jackson's movie trilogy came out and I was blown away.

I recognize that he had to edit some scenes out but his visuals more than made up for the cuts he had to make. He brought alive scenes that I was unable to fully visualize in my head. I bought the movie DVD releases as soon as they came out, then the extended versions on DVD, then the Blu-ray versions. I also bought many of the books associated with the movie including:

2001

• Fisher, Jude, The Fellowship of the Ring Visual Companion 2001
• Howe, John, Myth and Magic: The Art of John Howe 2001
• Kors, Lisa, Lord of the Rings: National Geographic's Beyond the Movie 2001 (documentary)
• Sibley, Brian, The Lord of the Rings Official Movie Guide 2001
2002

• Fisher, Jude, The Two Towers Visual Companion 2002
• National Geographic Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring: Beyond the Movie 2002 (documentary)
• Sibley, Brian, The Making of the Movie Trilogy (The Lord of the Rings) 2002


2003

• Fisher, Jude, The Return of the King Visual Companion 2003
• Sibley, Brian, The Maps of Tolkien's Middle-earth 2003
• Smith, Chris, The Lord of the Rings Weapons and Warfare 2003
later

• Cordova, Carlene Ringers - Lord of the Fans 2005 (documentary)
• MacKay, William, Tolkien Trivia A Middle-Earth Miscellany 2012
• Howe, John, A Middle-Earth Traveler: Sketches from Bag End to Mordor 2018

I'm always interested in another book about my favorite books/movies. Nowadays I watch the Lord of the Rings Trilogy right after Thanksgiving. I put up my Christmas trees and decorate my house and watch the movies. This is a tradition I have maintained for almost 20 years now.

I can't close this blogpost without mentioning the Hobbit movies. When Peter Jackson and his team were working on the Lord of the Rings they had a lot more time to polish the scripts. For the Hobbit Jackson was brought in late and his inner 12 year old boy was given more screen time than he got to have in the Lord of the Rings. If his team had more time with the script I think we would have seen less crude humor and gross out the audience scenes. There are parts of this trilogy that I truly love, including any scene with the elves, the opening scene in the first movie where the dwarves show up at Bag End and Galadriel at Dol Goldur. I love the blending and retelling of pieces of the Lord of the Rings appendixes and the Hobbit. I think they did a great job honoring the theme and visually much of it was amazing. But I do not watch this over and over. I get tired of the gross out parts and juvenile humor.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone and I hope you too get to watch The Lord of the Rings trilogy this weekend. Oh, and if you're wondering what to get me for Christmas any book about the movies or the trilogy will make me happy. - Jenny

Cold Weather Bedroom

It's autumn and time for a new bedroom look. I love linens and fabrics, colors and textures and use my bedroom as the canvas for my fabric/décor art or obsession. For years I've changed out my bedding every spring and autumn. Summer bedrooms are lighter and brighter celebrating the sun and the warm weather. Winter bedrooms are more moody, cozy, comfy and dramatic celebrating with gratitude warm houses and comfortable beds.

Because of my new more country or rustic pieces and my smaller bed I needed to make some changes. I usually keep what I would consider fancy fabrics such as raw silks and velvets together and casual fabrics such as cottons and linens together. I rarely let them cross over or mix. This fall I had to make a change. Retaining the washstand in the bedroom just made me feel that I needed to rethink this separation of fabrics. So here's my cold weather cowgirl bedroom in red faux raw silk with cotton ecru and roses old fashioned quilts and fabric. I mixed in woven cottons and velvet curtains. I also swapped the summer painting for my fringed leather western jacket.

Planning for Thanksgiving

I get a lot of pleasure out of planning. Sometimes I find it more fun to plan an activity than to participate in it. I'm working on this problem with a mindfulness practice.

I try not to put expectations on my plans. That was a necessary mental adaption that I resolved in the 1990s. Plan, make lots and lots of plans, but expect nothing. Things fall apart and it's better to have lots of options in place than to get heartbroken when something/anything goes awry. That was a hard lesson to learn. But once I accepted the reality I've enjoyed everything much more, including planning. If someone is unable to attend, if weather forces us inside, if a car breaks, if everyone gets violently ill, if I acquire a severe burn, I am better able to roll with it.

So on to the planning. In mid October I start thinking about the holidays: Thanksgiving & Christmas. I send out feelers and invitations (with no expectations). I have learned that when I plan for an event like this the most important person to make happy is me. If I'm happy with what I'm planning then everyone else will be happier. I try to get information from invitees about what they need to make it feel like the holiday.

For instance, to me Thanksgiving is always going to require turkey and dressing with mashed potatoes and gravy. Everything and anything else become lovely additions. But I know of other people who must have cranberries from a can or the right version of yams etc. The more details I can get from my partygoers the happier we all will be.

Usually guest volunteer to bring items, but this is never required. This year dinner is going to include a couple of yummy new items from my guests/family: a sweet potato soufflé and oat dinner rolls. I'm really looking forward to trying these. But if it doesn't come to pass It'll be fine. After all I still have my mashed potatoes and gravy.

Other information I like to know is who is going to be coming and staying at my house and for approximately how many nights. Will others be staying with other friends, at their own houses or at hotels? Why does this matter? Well for one thing other meals may need to be planned for (or stated as 'on your own') and other activities might be fun to arrange.

Once I know these things real planning starts. Let me demonstrate:

I know a couple of my friends may/will be arriving on Wednesday after they get off work (midmorning). They live 3.5 hours from my home so I expect they may arrive sometime between late in the afternoon and late at night. It would be nice of me (and helpful to my own food plans) to provide dinner.

As I started thinking about autumnal foods, multi day visits, leftovers, and breakfast/brunch on Thanksgiving day a couple of ideas/themes came to mind: 1. apples and cinnamon and 2. middle eastern food. This planning phase is going to evolve as we get closer but here's the current menu plan:

Dinner on Weds night Bean & turkey chili with crackers/tortilla chips (here we have a super healthy dinner choice to help balance the desserts of the holiday) Apple cinnamon & regular baklavas (this lets me create additional desserts for Thanksgiving including one that has the apple cinnamon flavors that I love.)

Breakfast/brunch on Thurs morning, I'm still deciding between:

1. Scalloped potato and sausage casserole with huckleberry muffins
   Here's a version of the breakfast casserole
INSERT IMAGE of orange cake
2. Mideastern buffet: pita & tzatziki, vegetables, hummus, cheeses, nuts, olives, orange cake
   Here's a version of the orange cake

Thanksgiving dinner = the traditional fare plus the new stuff sweet potato souffle, oat rolls, pumpkin bars w/cream cheese frosting, cheesecake, and the rest of the apple and/or standard nut baklava.

The rest of the weekend food will be about leftovers. Though Chinese takeout may make an appearance.

As for activities I currently have too many things in mind and this will narrow as we start getting closer to the day. I'm taking the whole week off from work so maybe...

Possible activities:

1. Create gingerbread houses. I've done this on several Thanksgivings and it's fun if frenetic. (Check out previous gingerbread houses at the end of this post
2. Going to Lava Hot Springs to soak.
3. Set up the lightbox and play with still life photography/art - everyone coming is an artist of one kind or another.
4. Create tea advent boxes - we all love tea so this could be fun.
5. Drawing names for the Christmas book exchange based on the Icelandic custom.
   For more information on this custom see: NPR article or Yahoo article
6. Get the holiday decorations out of the basement and put up the outdoor ones.
7. And of course there's always playing board games or watching movies, and napping which I may desperately need.

Will we do all of this? No it's just not possible. Will we do some of this? Absolutely. If everyone bails because of weather or other reasons will I still have a great Thanksgiving? Certainly because I like everything that I've listed. - Jenny

Gingerbread house 1:

Gingerbread house 2:

Gingerbread house 3:

Danish Chicken Noodles over Mashed Potatoes

One of my favorite foods that my mother made was homemade chicken noodles served over mashed potatoes. She said they were Danish and got the recipe from her mother. I remember helping her unroll them on the countertop to let them dry. I remember sneaking bits to eat before they were cooked, and I remember loving them oh so much over mashed potatoes. 

 

Chanel & Rebecca's making the noodles (click on image to get to the video)

I wondered what my siblings remembered about this dish. I found out that they too remember unrolling the long noodles to let them dry and getting to eat the bits and pieces that weren't long noodles. 

Chanel rolling out the dough

Nanette wrote: "Mother’s homemade noodles over mashed potatoes were my favorite and I requested them on most of my birthdays. I have one early, specific memory associated with them though. 

In about 1968 or 1969, we were living in Chicago. Mother was rolling out her noodles on a floury countertop. She let me climb up and sit on the counter across from her. I believed I was helping her. A slim, black AM radio sat next to us playing popular music of the time. Mother cheerfully chatted with me while she rolled her dough and then cut it into noodles, handing me bits and pieces every so often. A few times she let me have an entire noodle. I liked the dough about as much as the finished noodles and potatoes. 

 I didn’t pay much attention to the music coming from the little radio until the song, “Yesterday,” started to play. As Paul McCartney strummed his guitar and sang, I began to feel melancholy. I remember watching my mother’s bowed head and I suddenly wondered why I felt like crying. It was the first time I consciously thought about how music affected my feelings. Everything was perfect in that moment…the noodles, my mother and the melody. 

Many years later, before we were married, Gary and I visited his sister, Pat. I was nervous about meeting his family for the first time, but we were greeted at the door by the smell of chicken soup and by her husband who informed us that Pat was in the kitchen. 

We found her stirring a pot of homemade chicken noodles which she served to us over mashed potatoes. It turns out that he also has ancestors who hail from Denmark. True love and homemade noodles!" 

Chanel unrolling the noodles

Melinda wrote: "I remember the first time I had them I was very skeptical that it would be any good but Nan and Mom both said I would love it and I believed them. I remember mom fixing them only a few times — special occasions. Rolling out the dough, rolling up the dough, cutting it into unreliable strips, helping unroll the strips, stealing bits of dough. Then the deliciousness that followed." 

Jessica wrote: "I always asked for it on my birthday as well. I told my Sunday School class about it just after Mom died. When my birthday came around that year a random sister showed up with homemade chicken noodle soup. It wasn’t Mom’s. But it was a sweet gesture."

Jamie had mom's recipe card AND she created a gluten free version: 

Judy's Danish Chicken and Noodles 

Chicken: 

• Select 2 1/2 - 5 pound chicken; disjointed or leave whole; cover with hot water; add 2 tsp salt. Cook slowly 1 hour or till tender. Remove Chicken and set aside.

Noodles: 

• 1 beaten egg & 1/2 teaspoon salt; 2 tablespoon evaporated milk; 1 cup sifted flour. 
• Combine egg, salt, milk, add enough flour to make stiff dough. 
• Roll VERY THIN on floured surface; let stand 20 min. 
• Roll up and slice 1/8 inch thick; spread out and dry 2 hrs. (or less) 
• Drop into boiling chicken broth cook 10 min, add boned chopped chicken or serve chicken on the side. Makes 3 cups uncooked noodles. 

Noodles are traditionally served over mashed potatoes. 

Jaime's Gluten Free Noodles: 

To make it GF I simply replace the flour with Bob's red mill 1 to 1. However, the GF stuff is hard to roll out, so it helps to add 2tbl of Xanthum gum to help roll it out, and you don't have to let it sit for 2 hours, If it's really being difficult I drop the dough in and make it chicken and dumplings. 

My version: 

Noodles 

• 2 cups flour 
• 3 egg yolks 
• 1 egg 
• 2 tsp salt 
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup water 

• Mix flour and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the center and add eggs. Mix everything together adding water until it holds together and makes a ball. Knead until smooth and then roll out onto flour covered surface until it's the desired thickness. Once it is at the right thickness roll (like a jelly roll) into a log. Use a very sharp knife to cut dough into strips. Unroll the strips and place on floured surface to dry. 
  

• When dry (or not) add to boiling chicken broth 12-15 minutes or until tender. 

• When noodles are almost done, add cooked leftover chicken pieces and serve over mashed potatoes. 

Chicken 

• I usually use a leftover roasted chicken or turkey carcass to create this soup. If I don't have time to cook soup within two or three days of serving a roast chicken dinner I will put the carcass and all leftover bits and bobs (onions, herbs, uneaten chicken pieces) in a freezer bag (double bag) and pop it into the freezer for later. 
• Thaw frozen chicken carcass in refrigerator overnight. Put chicken carcass in large pot, add water to cover. I usually roughly chop a small onion, sage, thyme and a little garlic and add to the pot. Simmer till the chicken comes off the bones. I then strain the broth into another pot and pick through the strainer for the good chicken pieces. I set aside the chicken pieces to use later. If there is a lot of leftover chicken on the carcass I will sometimes pull it off before making the broth and set it aside to add later. Once the noodles have been cooked in the broth I will add all the chicken chunks. 
• Put the broth back on the stove and bring to boil, cook noodles. 
• If I want to up the vegetable content I zap frozen veggies in the microwave and add them along with the chicken at the end.

So yummy:

Decor: Halloween Simplified

Usually we do big decorating for Halloween, lights, costumed stuffed bears, pumpkin collection, and lots and lots of ravens. This year I've perhaps been too depressed, too tired, or too busy to pull out the boxes so I cheated.  I usually keep these ravens in my glass fronted cabinet mixed in with the native pots collection.  I pulled them out and put them on the mantle to give a nod to the season.  

Here's the mantle:

The black bear is a hand painted ceramic that I picked up in New Mexico.  

I collected these onyx sculpted ravens at various rock shops.  Shanna and I both really love the little one with blue eyes.

These small pots came from a variety of sources.  The two on the left are completely hand made. The one on the right is hand painted with the horsehair technique. 

The stem looking object on the left is actually a ceramic vase. I bought it from a talented potter in Boise she used a log as a mold.  The raven on wood is a mass produced cast resin object from a gifts shop.

And my final raven came from a craft store.

As I sit on my sofa working on needlepoint and watching tv I get to look at this collection of objects that represent autumn and Halloween the season of ravens.  

Next year I'll have to bring out all of the things.

-- Jenny

Beyond Van Gogh

10/16/21
Beyond Van Gogh
Salt Lake City, UT

My tribe: Jenny, Rachel, Joey, Shanna

I heard about Van Gogh immersive several years ago when it was being featured in an old quarry in France. I seriously thought about going to France in order to see it. Of course that wasn't a feasible idea and then coronavirus happened.

Jessica (framed in the dark) had a ticket that let her start 15 minutes after ours

A few months ago I found out it was going to be in Indiana, then I saw it was going to be in Texas and finally I found it was going to be featured in Salt Lake City! 

The exhbition begins with a queue through a series of open frames and panels with a bit of the life story in both English and Spanish

Van Gogh immersive is a visual feast and emotional experience. Paintings and parts of paintings are projected on the walls and floor. My niece said that the transitions are excellent. And she was right, they are showing the paintings in new ways with movement, quotes from his letters to his brother and other sources, and color.

Starry swirls on the floor and walls (with Rachel, Joey, and Shanna)

My mother loved art. She studied art history and we had prints from Van Gogh, Picasso, Mary Cassatt, Rembrandt, and from many other artists in the house. She had many art books and if we showed any interest we would get lectures in the disguise of conversations about art.

The wonder of being in a painting

The oldest classic pieces I remember in our houses were Pinkie by Thomas Lawrence and Blue Boy by Thomas Gainsborough. But pride of place was held by Van Gogh's Starry Starry Night. In Texas she had one room covered with a gallery style installation of many of Van Gogh's prints.

I found the Beyond Van Gogh immersive experience to be awe inspiring. First the paintings are fabulous. Second the projection and transitions were sometimes playful, sometimes moving, and always wondrous. And finally, I found moments where feelings for my mother ebbed and flowed. I remembered her smile, her love of family and art, and I reverenced her memory and the many art conversations we had.

Paintings growing over other paintings

I'm hoping to go see this again. You might look at this page to see if a version of this show will be near you: https://www.afar.com/magazine/where-to-see-immersive-van-gogh-exhibits-in-the-us-in-2021 

- Jenny

True magic

College Rodeo in Logan 7

Sept 24 & 25, 2021
An assortment of photos

Getting ready


And waiting


Saddle bronc with Pickup men

Spotted bull

Post rodeo clean up

Open air stables

The Fairgrounds

Mallard

Canada Geese