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

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

Christmas/Holiday Activities: Part 2

Image: Emailed Greeting card from my Alma Mater.  Though it was the College of Arts and Sciences when I graduated with my history degree.

23rd – Thursday - Christmas Eve Eve party in Utah

Bringing
• Cheeseballs & crackers
• Devilled eggs
• Mostacholi
• Presents for kids, Salt scrubs for women

I ended up not getting presents for the kids. I didn't know how old Glen's kids were so I just bagged the idea altogether. We left around noon and arrived right at 2:00. We'd have been early if the fog hadn't slowed us down. Dinner was great and it was good to talk to the fam. Sam may be leery of dogs, but Tom sure wasn't he followed Barkley around and around and around. Nick had bathed him the night before and had fluffed the poodle into one big puffball. He is irresistible. When Tom wasn't following the dog, the dog was following the kid. He knew Barkley sat for us on command, but his high pitched voice didn't register as a command with the dog, who ignored him. I read many chapters of the Harry Dresden book 'Small Favor' on the way down and back. The feasting was good, the conversation awesome. I'm hoping we can do this one again.
Attendees: Aunt Susan and Harry; Glen, Nicole, and their kids Zach and Abigail; David, Jen and their kids Amy, Aubrey, Sam, Tom and Jen's mom.

24th – Friday - Christmas at home with family
In the end Rebecca and Hannah went to Texas so it hardly seems like it counts for a social activity since it was just the three of us. We kept it low key but had a great time.

25th – Saturday- Christmas at home with family

Menus
BREAKFAST
• Homemade bread (machine)
NOT • Sourdough bread
NOT • Boiled eggs
NOT • Tomatoes
NOT • Cucumbers
NOT • Cheeses: Havarti, Swiss ...

Simplify, simplify, simplify became our motto so a simple breakfast of eggs and homemade bread worked great for brunch. We decided to SLEEP in.

LUNCH
NOT • Veggie tray

DINNER
• Persian chicken and rice stuffing
NOT • Dolmathes
NOT • Greek olives
• Pita bread
• Swiss chard ala Nick
• Greek Salad
NOT • Tiropitakia
NOT • Baklava

The simplify motto came into play for dinner too. We're going to bring the baklava and tiropitakia to New Year party instead. Christmas was awesome, we sat on the sofa's and opened presents and laughed and enjoyed each other's company. I got the cutest fairies EVER, and a movie I had been dying to see (The Expendables). Shanna snagged a cloak and Nick got a new GPS along with a stocking full of mini-bar items. We also received many other wonderful gifts such as the bird book from Melinda, hand crocheted scaves & hats, clothes, kitchen stuff...

26th – Sunday - Breakfast with Annie
Shanna and I met up with Annie at Elmer's where we had a great breakfast and talked and talked and talked. Nick had pain in his back so he stayed home and worked on thesis.

29th - Wednesday - Visit from Sarah & Lance Bitter
Weird. It was weird seeing Lance again after 30 some years. Seeing him in the context of him marrying my sister was even weirder. I'm sure it'll get more normal as we see each other more often, and I am very happy for her. He is a nice guy and she deserves nice, funny, kind. They're great together, it's just weird.

27th – 30th Mon-Thu (South Family xmas Party)
(NOT) The South family party never got off the ground. We're all just too busy at this time of year. I think that next year I may suggest moving it to November, cause after Xmas just didn't work.

31st – Friday New Years Eve party
Nick is making roast lamb and chicken with olives. Shanna and I are making baklava and tiropitakia. Dinner should be awesome...

And it was, other people brought greek salad, hummus and pita chips, stuffed saffron rice, rum soaked fruited couscous. We were joined by Nancy & Dan, Janet, Heather & Duo, and of course Maura & Jim - it was their house after all. We sat and ate and talked and laughed and talked and laughed and Jim shared some of his alcohol from foreign countries and we laughed and talked some more. We started toasting the new year at 10:00, it was the new year in New York, and then at 11 for Chicago ... I just wish we'd started the silly idea earlier in the evening. We never got to the movies though we did manage to stay up till midnight.

Miscellany for December 2009

Written December 2010... Ooops, I had the notes I just forgot to convert them to a blogpost.

December activities included:
Getting away from it all, I took off one day to think and found myself driving up Scout Mountain way. I spotted:
Magpies
Dark eyed juncos - Oregon race
Horned larks (flocks)
Crows
Ravens
And best of all, the above Ruffed grouse crossing the road.  He was moving ever so slowly. Stealthy. But unfortunately for him, he stood out clear as day on that tarmack.

This was the year of the pink birthday cakes. They were awesome.  Shanna's includes Swedish Fish in honor of her Swedish Fish Inn gingerbread house. 

For Christmas Hannah and Rebecca stayed with us. They were delightful to have around. Funniest thing was doing a little stocking stuffer shopping. We decided to get the girls their favorite candy. Hannah was easy, but Rebecca was hard. Nan did not know, Hannah did not know, Melinda remembered seeing her buy a Three Musketeers bar so that's what we got.  What's truly ironic, is that since I'm writing this a year late, I don't remember what the real answer was.  I do remember having a lot of fun with them.  This was the first year we tried the middle eastern feast for our Christmas feast.   Rebecca, having spent time in Turkey contributed the ideas for breakfast.   Nick managed to find a bunch of funny, yet useful, stocking stuffers for her at the grocery store. Things like fingernail clippers and a fly swatter...